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Chapter 158 - A Sword Beckons the Lightning
The rain poured down, and the ground was nothing but mud.
Chang Guoke fell to the ground, covered in blood and startling wounds; his injuries were obviously severe.
Cha Jin’s heart shook.
She’d long since found this hard to watch. On several occasions, she only just barely resisted the urge to intervene; when she saw that even now, Su Yi wasn’t reacting, she had no choice but to endure.
But this time, when she heard the regret and guilt in Chang Guoke’s voice, Cha Jin could bear it no longer. Her conscience wouldn’t let her stand back any longer.
“Die!”
All of this took a while to explain, but it happened in a flash. As soon as Chang Guoke fell into the mud, the hunchbacked elder seized the opening and leaped toward him, swinging his massive axes.
Whoosh!
The snowy ax light burst, lighting up the night sky. It was as intimidating as could be.
“Enough!” Cha Jin’s clear shout rang out. She whipped out and crossed her daggers.
Clang!
Shockingly, she managed to block both axes before they landed.
Amidst the scattering sparks, the hunchbacked elder shook slightly. Despite himself, he was surprised. “That lass isn’t so simple!”
Chang Guoke had already resigned himself to his inevitable death, but now, he was stunned, and his eyes filled with bewilderment. Is this young woman actually a hidden expert?
The scholarly man and woman in blue glanced at each other, their brows furrowing slightly.
Meanwhile, within the stone cave and beside the fire pit, Su Yi glanced at Cha Jin but said nothing.
Cha Jin took a deep breath, and she looked a bit tense and uneasy as she explained, “Young Lord, no matter whether this man lives or dies, those three won’t let us go, so I
.”
This left the onlookers flabbergasted.
At first, they thought that this peerless beauty planned to get involved. They assumed she’d charge bravely into the fray.
Who’d have thought that she’d turn around and act like a child caught doing something she shouldn’t? She actually apologized and explained herself to the young man seated within the cave!
It seemed
. that she didn’t care about anything else. All she cared about was the blue-robed youth’s attitude.
But before Cha Jin could finish her explanation, Su Yi rose from his wicker chair and said calmly, “You did nothing wrong. He’s the one who invited this trouble, and if it gets him killed, he deserves it. But now that his trouble implicates us, it’s an entirely different story.”
Cha Jin felt a massive weight lift off her shoulders. When she intervened, she was incomparably nervous; she feared her choice would provoke Su Yi’s displeasure, and that she’d have to suffer the torment of the Soul-Binding Rope once more.
Now, it seemed she needn’t worry.
“How is it different?” The ax-wielding hunchback narrowed his eyes and laughed.
“All of you will die,” said Su Yi. He emerged from the cave, still holding his jar of wine.
He then pointed to the gravely injured Chang Guoke lying in the mud. “Of course, your deaths are on his head. They have nothing to do with me.”
The hunchbacked elder was momentarily stunned. Then, he couldn’t help but turn to his companions. “Did you hear that? This early-stage Qi Accumulation youth actually said that after he kills us, he’ll push the responsibility onto Chang Guoke
.”
After that last sentence, he couldn’t help but burst into uproarious laughter. “For crying out loud, I’ve cultivated all these years, but this is the first time I’ve heard something so brazenly arrogant.”
He laughed so hard, he almost cried.
The woman in blue couldn’t help but grin too. “For him to have Qi Accumulation Realm cultivation at his age is impressive indeed,” she said softly. “Add that to his even more impressive attendant, and it’s no wonder he’s confident to the point of arrogance.”
She spoke as if she were good-natured and understanding.
The man in Confucian robes furrowed his brow, and his eyes flashed like lightning. “Young Lord, might I ask your name and surname, and which sect you hail from?”
His cautious bearing stunned both of his companions, and their smiles quickly faded.
Su Yi picked up his wine jug and took a sip, then gazed into the downpour. “Heavy winds and pouring rain, a mountain in the middle of the wilderness. Don’t you think this is the perfect place to kill someone?”
The scholarly man’s brow furrowed even deeper, but before he could say anything, the hunchback laughed coldly and swung his axes at Su Yi. “I’ll slice you to bits first!”
Boom!
Both axes flew as if they were as light as feathers, then struck like bolts of divine lightning, forceful and ferocious. The air howled, terrifying the soul.
A faint, mocking jeer tugged at the corners of Su Yi’s lips. A Grandmaster inferior to even Qin Wenyuan wanted to attack him? The man was simply throwing his life away!
Clang!
A wave of sword hums filled the air as Guiding Mysteries emerged from its sheath. Then, with a casual forward stab, the faintly glowing blade slipped between the descending axes and pierced right through the hunchback’s throat without encountering the slightest obstacle.
It was a simple, understated stab, without the slightest flourish, yet it was unbelievably swift!
The hunchback’s throat had been run through. Blood gushed from the wound.
A single stab to pierce the throat!
His eyes widened, and he subconsciously glanced down at his neck, muttering, “What
 sword art
. Was that
?”
His words still echoed through the air as he fell onto his back, his eyes still wide with bewilderment.
Chang Guoke’s eyes widened too; for a moment, he almost thought his heavy injuries were making him hallucinate.
The young man he’d assumed to be a pampered noble could actually kill a Grandmaster in a single attack!?
“This
.”
The woman in the blue dress gasped. This scene left her completely stunned, and her scalp went numb.
All of them had assumed that Su Yi and Cha Jin were just bystanders unfortunate enough to get swept up in all of this. They directly ignored them.
At least, until Cha Jin attacked. That was when they first realized these young people weren’t as simple as they appeared, but even then, they weren’t worried.
After all, their group consisted of three Grandmasters.
But now, the woman in blue finally understood: the young man who looked like the son of a wealthy family was actually the scariest one here!
This was completely beyond their expectations.
Only Cha Jin remained calm. Her bright eyes even carried a thread of pity; these scoundrels think of themselves as dragons soaring through the heavens. They have no idea that Su Yi has killed numerous Grandmasters already!
“Run!” The man in Confucian robes quickly made his decision. He immediately turned to flee.
Su Yi’s attack was like a sudden clap of thunder. The scholarly man instantly realized that this situation didn’t warrant optimism. He naturally dared not linger.
This wasn’t cowardice, but rather, caution and the desire to preserve their lives.
“Want to run? Sure, but can you?” asked Su Yi, his gaze cold. Guiding Mysteries clanged and hummed in his grip, and a complex and mysterious symbol appeared on the blade: an Edict!
The tip of the sword pointed to the distant dome of the heavens.
Rumble!
It was as if something had called to the sky. A bolt of dazzlingly bright, eye-catching lightning fell, so radiant that the inky darkness was instantly as bright as day. The glow illuminated all the surrounding mountains and rivers.
Su Yi swung his blade at his distant foe.
The man in scholarly robes had already fled over a thousand feet. Beneath the onlookers’ disbelieving gazes, a sword as sharp as lightning struck him down.
“Ah——!” With a piteous wail, the man staggered, then fell into the mud. It was unclear whether he was alive or dead.
Everyone fell silent.
The woman in blue stared in a daze, as if she’d lost her soul.
If you said that Su Yi’s ability to slay the hunch-backed elder was still within the bounds of her comprehension, using his sword to call upon the power of heavenly lightning and kill an enemy from a thousand feet away was simply beyond her understanding. She just stood there, too stunned to think.
Cha Jin was dumbstruck too.
She’d only witnessed Su Yi slaying Nan Wenxiang as easily as if he were slicing through rotten wood. That was despotic and powerful enough already. She would never have guessed that he could even call upon the power of divine lightning!
These are obviously the methods of an Earthly Immortal
. Cha Jin’s heart shook.
She was from the Wheel of the Moon Sect, and she’d witnessed the power of the sect’s peak older-generation experts. They could control the wind and take to the skies, summon lightning with a shout, manipulate flames and fierce gales; it was like stealing fortune from the heavens.
But all of them had already stepped into the Origin Dao and become Earthly Immortals.
Who would dare believe that Su Yi, a young man in the early stages of the Qi Accumulation Realm, could manipulate the power of lightning too?
Chang Guoke’s jaw hung slack and his eyes widened. Did I bump into an immortal?
“Carry his body back.” Su Yi’s voice rang out. His words alerted Cha Jin, who hurried out of the cave and over to where the scholarly man had fallen.
“Why didn’t you run?” Su Yi glanced at the woman in blue.
She shuddered, then flung herself to her knees with an audible thud. Then, heedless of the mud and filth, she kowtowed and begged, “This junior was blind. I humbly request your magnanimity. Senior, please, spare my life!”
She quivered, terrified to the extreme. She subconsciously assumed Su Yi was an old monster who’d mastered the art of maintaining a youthful appearance.
“You laughed so casually earlier, more arrogant than anyone. Now, the moment you realized things don’t look so bright for you, you’re on your knees and begging for forgiveness. You’re a Grandmaster. Don’t you have any shame?” Su Yi couldn’t help but sneer.
By comparison, Chang Guoke’s valiant courage in the face of death was far more admirable.
“Before entering the Origin Dao, we’re all mere mortals. I might be a Grandmaster, but I’m still just flesh and blood. I failed to recognize your power, resulting in an enormous error in judgment,” she said bitterly. “If you spare my life, I’m willing to serve at your side. Whatever you need, I’ll be at your beck and call. I’ll work like a dog on your behalf, Senior.”
“Serve at my side?” Su Yi laughed dryly. “You’re not qualified.”
Although the woman in blue was pretty, and although her make-up was on point, in Su Yi’s eyes, her looks and temperament both lacked a certain charm.
She pleased neither his heart nor his eyes. Why bother keeping her with him?
It was then that Cha Jin returned carrying the scholarly man’s charred, bloodied corpse. When she heard the woman in blue’s offer, her heart inexplicably tensed.
But when she heard Su Yi’s response, that inexplicable nervousness disappeared, and her whole body relaxed.
Cha Jin’s pretty eyes darted around, and she took the initiative to request further orders. “Young Lord, how about you let me deal with her?”
The kneeling woman in blue shuddered, shot to her feet, and charged at Cha Jin with intent to kill.
She was a woman too, and she knew that when women dealt with other women, they were often far more ruthless than men!
Cha Jin’s clear eyes were suddenly serious. She hadn’t expected that someone who’d been so meek, terrified, and respectful just moments ago would turn so ruthless in the blink of an eye.
Splurt!
The tip of a sword pierced through the woman in blue’s throat. Her charge ended while she was still halfway in the air, and she fell into the mud.
She clutched her bleeding throat and stared fixedly at Su Yi, her gaze maddened and hateful. “You’ve gotten yourself involved in our affairs. You won’t live long either!”
She said this, then breathed no more.
Cha Jin patted her chest, her heart quaking with lingering terror. “I said just one sentence and she freaked out. She was insane!”
Su Yi glanced at her. “When you first provoked me, weren’t you much the same way?”
Cha Jin had nothing to say to that. Inside, she felt awkward and anguished.
“Gather and organize the spoils, then throw the corpses somewhere out of the way. If they attract wild beasts, don’t expect any peace tonight.” With that, Su Yi turned, walked back into the cave, and sat back down.
However, his gaze turned toward the whiskered man lying in the mud, Chang Guoke.
“The three of them might be dead, but you’ve brought us far greater trouble than I imagined. Go on and tell me: what’s up with the tiger?” Su Yi pointed at the corpse of the brightly colored tiger lying off to the side.