Chapter 68

Chu Xiyue never thought that a sudden whim would lead her to such a crisis.

She had heard on the road that Gu Yang, the new seventh-ranked contender on the Qianlong List, was in Pingjun City. On a whim, she came to see this formidable person who had landed at seventh place upon his first appearance on the Qianlong List.

Even she and Wu Xingyun, when they first appeared on the Qianlong List, were ranked far beyond the top ten.

Wu Xingyun had climbed the ranks step by step.

She had fought her way up one by one.

Someone like Gu Yang, who had directly landed at seventh place upon his first appearance, was unheard of before.

Earlier, she had sensed the aura of a Second Rank powerhouse in the carriage, and out of curiosity, she left the carriage to come and take a look.

Who would have thought that as soon as she stepped into the courtyard, she was locked onto by a blade intent.

That blade intent was hidden but gave her an unprecedented pressure.

Her intuition told her that this blade intent was extremely dangerous.

What was even more unbelievable was that the source of this blade intent was that young man.

If her guess was correct, this person was the master here, Gu Yang.

Wasn't he a Third Rank?

Why was his blade intent more terrifying than that of a First Rank powerhouse?

Chu Xiyue, with her rich combat experience, remained calm despite the shock. She stood still, pushing her true essence to the limit, guarding herself to deal with the possible thunderous strike at any moment.

Wu Xingyun, who was behind her, responded in the same way.

Thus, because of their arrival, the originally imminent battle situation fell into a strange balance.

...

"Pity!"

Gu Yang's hand was on the hilt of his sword, suppressing the urge to draw it, waiting for the best moment. Until Xu Ruomei appeared and walked over.

He sighed inwardly, no longer hesitating, and drew his sword.

The blade intent he had cultivated for twenty-eight years finally blossomed in the world.

In an instant, it seemed as if the wind and clouds changed color.

The terrifying blade intent seemed to devour all the light, plunging everyone present into darkness, where only a streak of sword light could be seen.

...

"Yu'er, with your talent, it seems that the prosperity of our Mo family will depend on you..."

"Yu'er, the Mo family's inherited cultivation technique can only reach the Fourth Rank at most..."

"Yu'er, are you really going to join the Lin family? Isn't that the same as becoming a son-in-law? If you dare to go, I'll disown you!"

"Yu'er... If you weren't born into the Mo family... you wouldn't have suffered so much..."

...

In an instant, Mo Yu's consciousness became fragmented, the last scene fixed on the moment before his father's death, his father holding his hand, speaking with a blood-curdling voice.

Then, he fell into eternal darkness.

Until his death, he couldn't even draw his sword.

...

Chu Xiyue and Wu Xingyun, who were a bit further away, both spat out a large mouthful of blood and collapsed, unconscious.

In addition, everyone else present also fell to the ground.

The only ones who remained conscious were the sword slave who had come to rescue Xu Ruomei, and the two Third Ranks, Wu Lao and Cao Xu, who were watching from a distance.

The rest were all knocked out.

The power of this single strike was so great.

It killed one Second Rank on the spot, severely injured two others, and affected the surrounding martial artists to varying degrees.

...

After Gu Yang's strike, he felt as if he had been drained of all his strength.

This strike had consumed too much of his energy, almost depleting his spirit and vitality, and he could barely hold onto his sword.

At this moment, he couldn't even move forward to deliver a finishing blow.

His gaze swept over the face of the sword slave.

The sword slave's eyelids twitched, bowed to him, and turned to leave.

That earth-shattering strike was worthy of his respect.

He knew that he absolutely couldn't withstand that strike; if he faced it directly, he would surely die.

In the martial world, only strength mattered.

Gu Yang's strike had earned his respect.

As for the other two who were still conscious, they were both in a daze.

The power of that strike had surpassed their imagination.

A Third Rank had defeated three Second Ranks with a single strike!

This scene was too shocking; if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed it.

Throughout history, those who could fight across ranks, defeating Second Ranks with Third Rank strength, were legendary figures.

The last person with such a miraculous record was Qin Wu, who had created the tenth most powerful surname in the world with his own strength, four hundred years ago.

Now, Gu Yang had faced three opponents and, with a single strike, killed one Second Rank and severely injured the other two. This was almost like a myth.

At this moment, Wu Lao and Cao Xu, looking at the man standing in the middle, thought to themselves: Could the Great Zhou be about to see a second Qin Wu?

Suddenly, a ghostly figure appeared, the old woman who had been with Xue E. The commotion had alarmed her, and she rushed over immediately.

Seeing the scene before her, she was somewhat surprised. Suddenly, her gaze fell on Mo Yu's corpse, and a tidal wave of shock surged in her heart.

It was Lin Family's retainer, Mo Yu!

He was actually dead?

Who killed him?

The old woman's shock was indescribable.

A few years ago, Mo Yu had come to Pingjun City, visiting the Fang family to spar with her and another Second Rank.

In the end, both of them were defeated by Mo Yu's sword. From then on, the Fang family seemed to have lost its backbone and dared not defy the Lin family.

A single retainer from the Lin family was enough to crush the Fang family; how could they dare to say no?

Now, this powerful retainer of the Lin family was dead here.

Who killed him?

The old woman's gaze fell on the only person still standing, Gu Yang, and a ridiculous thought popped into her mind: Could it be him?

...

Seeing the old woman appear, Gu Yang's heart tightened. At this moment, he was in the worst state possible, with no means to defend himself.

He hadn't expected that the strike would consume so much energy and that it would take so long to recover.

Without hesitation, he opened the system, and a prompt appeared before his eyes: [Simulation ended, you can retain one of the following.]

[1. Martial realm at age forty.]

[2. Martial experience at age forty.]

[3. Life wisdom at age forty.]

Before the battle, Gu Yang had prepared and conducted a simulation in advance, but he had left the reward unclaimed, waiting for this moment.

"I choose the first one."

Instantly, a surge of powerful true essence welled up within him, and the energy and spirit he had just consumed were instantly restored to their peak state.

"Indeed, it works!"

Gu Yang's mind was set.

He had previously guessed that claiming the reward would overwrite his current state. No matter how severe the energy consumption, he would immediately recover to his prime.

Now, he had confirmed that this method was feasible.

It could be used as a trump card.

The first thing Gu Yang did after recovering was to approach the two severely injured Second Ranks, raising his sword to eliminate the threat once and for all.

PS: I'll talk about the release. It will be about two weeks before the release. As for the updates after the release, it depends on how many drafts I can accumulate in the coming days.