Chapter 58: A Tyrant Can Also Be a Hero (3)

"Stop!"

He stood still.

Hong Weimin, who had squeezed his eyes shut, slowly opened them.

Drip.

The pattern carved on the left side of his neck. Cold air pierced through, and blood began to flow. His neck had not been severed.

"No more disorder is possible! Third Young Master, please put down your sword immediately!"

Xu Liang’s eyes deepened.

The aura emanating from behind him was beyond what he had expected. He had felt it from a distance, but it had reached him in an instant.

‘Impressive.’

Without turning around, he spoke.

"Who are you?"

"I am the Third Captain of the Black Crow Corps of the Criminal Law Hall!"

"Oh? You again?"

"I repeat! Third Young Master, please put down your sword immediately and step back! No more disorder is possible!"

"I don’t want to."

"What, what did you say?"

"It’s a matter between the candidates. It’s not something the Criminal Law Hall should interfere with. I’ll wrap things up, so deal with it and leave."

"That’s not possible!"

"Hmm?"

"Even if you are the Third Young Master, we cannot stand by and let the authority of the Criminal Law Hall be ignored!"

"……Oh, really?"

"I say this for the last time! Put down your sword immediately and……"

At that moment, Xu Liang slightly turned his head.

The Third Captain’s mouth closed involuntarily.

"Do you have the authority to interfere in a dispute between candidates?"

"……!"

"Speak up."

"But this area is under the influence of the Criminal Law Hall……"

"Why should I care just because it’s under the influence of the Criminal Law Hall? And wasn’t the jurisdiction of the Criminal Law Hall supposed to include both the inner and outer courts?"

"……."

"I can show respect, but I don’t want to turn a blind eye to overstepping. I don’t understand why you keep making things difficult."

"Third Young Master!"

"Or what? Do you want the students to tremble in front of you regardless of their status to feel satisfied?"

"You are being too harsh!"

In an instant, Xu Liang’s sword flashed.

Rumble!

The Third Captain’s mouth gaped open. Though his face was hidden by a mask, it was clear he was shocked. Hong Weimin, who had been sweating cold sweat, was equally stunned.

A massive sword mark, three feet long, was now etched in front of the Third Captain’s feet.

"……Swallow."

A single stroke had split the ground. The depth was indiscernible, and the area around the sword mark was blackened, scorched by extreme yang energy.

The Third Captain, who had been staring blankly at the sword mark, raised his head to look at Xu Liang.

‘Suck!’

Flash!

His eyes seemed to spark with lightning. In the midst of transparency and indifference, a fierce and indescribable ferocity filled his gaze.

As the Third Prince of the Heavenly Demon Sect, not as Xu Liang, but as the Executioner of the World, Tian Xia Zhen.

For the first time in a long while, he had brought out the essence of the Executioner. There was no longer any trace of demonic energy in his eyes.

"I don’t like things getting complicated. So, I can tolerate minor issues."

With each soft word, it seemed as if a misty fog was being exhaled with his breath.

"But don’t ask me to tolerate empty words in front of my chosen prey."

Crack!

Red lightning, which had been flowing from the blade, surged up his arm and spread throughout his body.

"If you don’t want to make things difficult, listen."

The Executioner, enveloped in the aura of the heavens, was now exuding the energy of hell, the pinnacle of the non-human realm, stimulating the fear of death that every living being possesses.

Who could dare to open their mouth in front of him? The Third Captain couldn’t even look at Xu Liang.

Whoosh.

The oppressive red lightning that had been forming suddenly subsided.

Xu Liang smiled at Hong Weimin.

"The interference made it less clean. I apologize."

"……!"

"Let’s see, you said there was no last word, right?"

Hong Weimin’s cheeks trembled.

Xu Liang raised his sword again.

At that moment.

Startled!

"……Hmph."

Annoyance showed on Xu Liang’s face. The murderous intent he had tried to suppress was rising again.

"How can there be so many meddlers?"

Rumble!

The veins on the back of his hand bulged.

This time, it wasn’t that he didn’t strike; it was that he couldn’t. A massive aura, like a chain, blocked his sword.

The ability to control a person’s movements with intangible energy. It was not far from being called a form of telekinesis.

Xu Liang’s pupils turned red.

Crack!

Now, it was a clear form of lightning. The flamboyant fire and mist patterns he had shown before were no longer visible.

"Don’t block me. It will really cause trouble."

Crack!

The sword blade came down.

The unnamed expert, who had been controlling the air with his inner energy, was taken aback.

Telekinesis itself requires an extreme level of enlightenment. Without reaching the same level, it’s hard to resist with force.

But the Third Young Master was breaking through that enlightenment with his innate strength and powerful demonic energy.

Rumble!!

The inner energy chain became even more powerful.

Now, not just his arms, but his entire body was immobilized. The unnamed expert was using all his strength.

Crack!

Xu Liang’s body slightly swelled, a sign that he was using his muscles to their limit.

A real sword versus invisible inner energy.

"……Good."

He had been stopped twice. It was like pouring oil on the already burning murderous intent.

Swoosh.

Xu Liang released the strength in his hand.

He also reined in the demonic energy that had been sparking and burning. Naturally, the inner energy chain also disappeared.

But Xu Liang wasn’t giving up.

He just wanted to do it properly.

Sizzle!

Several thin, chain-like lightning bolts flickered around his body.

A dangerous aura. It felt like a bomb about to explode.

When the unnamed expert quickly gathered his inner energy, realizing the danger.

Boom!

A loud explosion echoed in the air.

‘Suck!’

The unnamed expert flinched. In his shock, he couldn’t even use his telekinesis.

A technique to disrupt the flow of inner energy by exploding hidden energy in the air.

In other words, an interference wave. Though not as powerful as telekinesis, it was still a remarkable countermeasure.

Swoosh!

Xu Liang’s sword, which didn’t miss the moment, rushed towards Hong Weimin again.

‘Where to!’

The unnamed expert also gathered his inner energy again.

Xu Liang’s eyes flashed.

Crack!

Just as the inner energy chain was about to bind him, Xu Liang’s body disappeared.

‘……!’

A movement so fast it vanished from sight.

But it wasn’t a level where he would panic just because he lost sight of him. A master’s sense is faster and more accurate than the eye.

His sense told him.

Where Xu Liang had disappeared to and where he was heading.

‘Could it be?’

His eyes widened.

Crack!

Xu Liang, emitting a fierce red lightning, moved at an incredible speed.

At the end of his path was himself.

Flash! Boom!

The wall of the warehouse, which had been standing alone, was swept away by the tremendous sword wind.

The unnamed expert, Gao Gu, shouted.

"Third Young Master!"

Whoosh!

Xu Liang’s figure stood in front of Gao Gu.

‘Fast!’

Though his demonic energy was deep enough to be called a supreme master, his skills didn’t quite match. Gao Gu judged Xu Liang’s martial arts as such.

But this movement technique was different. At least in terms of movement, it seemed to be on par with his own.

Xu Liang swung his sword.

Whoosh!

A single continuous technique that rendered Hong Weimin unable to fight or move, the Executioner’s martial art.

The Nine Nether Rending Disaster Blade Technique, which requires mastery of the basic technique, the Three Heavens Severing Blades, to the twelfth level to even begin.

Gao Gu swung his fist. Even if it was the Third Young Master, he couldn’t stand still in front of such a threatening blade technique.

Crack!

The air screamed with the endless explosions.

The first chapter of the Nine Nether Rending Disaster Blade Technique, the Six Linked Hell Winds, was unleashed.

Rip!

The end of his sleeve was cut off.

Though it was only a few inches, it had been a long time since his clothes had been damaged by someone else’s martial arts.

Gao Gu’s hands moved chaotically. It was a technique to suppress, not to attack.

That was his mistake.

The Nine Nether Rending Disaster Blade Technique is a blade technique divided into five chapters, but it is also a single martial art.

The connection between techniques is extremely smooth, leaving no room for the opponent to retreat, and naturally, the power increases as it progresses.

Rumble!

The hellish sword wind was replaced by a powerful heat. Xu Liang’s sword glowed red as if it had been taken out of a furnace.

Gao Gu’s eyes wavered.

The second chapter of the Nine Nether Rending Disaster Blade Technique, the Ultimate Uninterrupted Path, which contains the flames of the Eight Burning Hells, was revealed.

Rumble!

The world seemed to turn a dark red. It felt as if giant pillars of fire were rushing towards him from all sides.

Boom!

Gao Gu’s body, flying far away, emitted a thin smoke.

‘Hot!’

Though he had raised his inner energy shield to the limit, he didn’t suffer any physical damage. But if his inner energy had been a bit weaker, the merciless blade would have left no bone unscorched.

Still, it was fortunate that he didn’t suffer any damage.

What if the next attack comes?

When Gao Gu raised his head.

‘……!’

Boom!

Xu Liang, who had disappeared with a loud noise, was rushing towards Hong Weimin.

‘No!’

Only after realizing that he couldn’t block it with telekinesis did he decide to kill. The intensity of Xu Liang’s focus on his target made Gao Gu’s spine shiver.

"Third Young Master! Stop……!"

Boom!

Gao Gu’s face stiffened. The Third Captain, also shocked, opened his eyes wide.

Drip.

His eyes, wide open as if they would tear, and his face, shocked, with blood flowing from Hong Weimin’s nose and mouth.

A moment later.

"Ugh!"

Hong Weimin’s face turned pale as he spat out a cup of blood. He had already lost a lot of blood, and now he was spitting out a large amount of fresh blood.

But that wasn’t the real problem.

Bulge.

A pungent smell accompanied the purple poison that flowed from his entire body.

Breathing heavily, but with a calm gaze, Xu Liang spoke.

"I’ve been thinking."

Thud!

The sword that had pierced his abdomen was pulled out. Right above his dantian, where the core of the poison had been stored.

"Choke!"

"Considering the relief that will come later, the burden of killing you is something I can bear……"

Xu Liang smiled. A face more demonic than any demon.

"But I thought of a more satisfying and better method."

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.

Devil for a devil, despair for despair.

"You should lose everything you have, right?"

Sizzle!

Hong Weimin’s hair turned brittle.

Not only that, his well-trained body gradually shrank.

He had maintained his muscles through qi cultivation, not physical training. When the core of the poison and the dantian were shattered, the negative effects immediately affected his bones and muscles.

The limit of Hong Weimin, who had only increased his strength through imagination for years.

"He won’t die immediately, but he will suffer from poisoning for a few years. Of course, even if he recovers his body in a few years, he will have to start all over again."

Hong Weimin, trembling, looked up at Xu Liang.

"……You."

"Hmm? What did you say?"

"Rather, kill me!"

Xu Liang smiled, revealing his white teeth. He could read the sincerity in the voice of someone who desired death.

How terrifying it must be to watch everything he had built crumble. It wasn’t unreasonable for Hong Weimin to beg for death.

"I’ll send you some herbal medicine from time to time. I’m sorry, but that’s all I can do for you, Brother."

Xu Liang’s transformation was not cold or evil, but rather a change from a cold but not ruthless, and from a tyrant to a wicked but not evil.

Thud!

Hong Weimin, kicked hard, fell helplessly to the ground. A weak stream of blood was trickling from his unconscious abdomen.

Crack!

Just as the Criminal Law Hall members were rushing in from all sides.

Xu Liang, looking around, smiled and raised his hands.

"I’ve only been out for a short time, but…… feel free to do as you please this time."