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The battle came swiftly and ended just as quickly, lasting only a short duration before Mo Zilin and his companions were all defeated by Gu Chen.
At this moment, the field fell into a profound silence, with not even a bird chirping, as the warriors remained immersed in the aftermath of the recent battle, their hearts filled with a complex mix of emotions, unable to extricate themselves.
"Brother Zilin!"
Then, Yang Mingyue of the Heavenly Saber Sect let out a startled cry and ran toward Mo Zilin, who lay on the ground, long unable to get up.
Mo Zilin was covered in blood, with numerous broken bones throughout his body, displaced internal organs causing waves of burning pain, and his chest rising and falling ever so faintly.
Seeing this, Yang Mingyue grew even more frantic, repeatedly calling out, "Brother Zilin, Brother Zilin, how are you? Look at me, how are you..."
"Junior...sister..." Mo Zilin's face was as pale as paper, his breath weak, and it took him a long time to catch his breath after just one sentence.
Upon seeing this, Yang Mingyue's eyes turned bloodshot, and she lifted his head and glared at Gu Chen with a mad scream, "Ah—I'll kill you, I will kill you, Gu Chen, I will kill you!"
Her face was ferocious, her expression twisted, like a vengeful ghost, her obsession with Gu Chen devouring her sanity, driving Yang Mingyue nearly to the brink of madness.
Due to her status as the heavenly prodigy daughter of the Lord of the Heavenly Saber Sect, everyone she met from childhood had coddled and pampered her. Gu Chen, however, had not given her face upon their first meeting, and to make matters worse, he had dared to lay hands on her directly.
This naturally made Yang Mingyue intolerable, feeling personally offended, and she wished she could execute Gu Chen on the spot. Eventually, only after much persuasion from Mo Zilin and Hu Wanyuan had she managed to suppress her murderous intent toward Gu Chen, waiting until now.
Yet she didn't expect that Mo Zilin, whom she respected second only to her father, would be gravely injured by Gu Chen right before her eyes, causing Yang Mingyue's murderous inclination toward Gu Chen to intensify to its limits.
She couldn't care less who Gu Chen was or what the Jing Tian Department meant, Yang Mingyue only knew that anyone who defied her, provoked her, or made her uncomfortable had to pay the price!
After all, within the influence of the Heavenly Saber Sect, Yang Mingyue could be said to be extremely spoiled, getting whatever she wanted, with no one daring to provoke her. The sect leader, Yang Ling, showed her excessive favoritism and indulgence.
And it was this indulgence that had fostered such a stubborn and imperious character in Yang Mingyue, who required everyone to be completely submissive to her in order to be content.
Otherwise, she would lose her temper as she did now, but as crazed as she was today, it was the first for Yang Mingyue.
It was evident how much she truly hated Gu Chen.
At this moment, not knowing what she was thinking, Yang Mingyue actually charged forward, desiring to strike at Gu Chen.
Finding her own repeated provocation tiresome, Gu Chen had initially thought her to be an idiot and had not intended to pay her any heed, but now, she had unexpectedly rushed toward him.
"Miss!"
Seeing Yang Mingyue charging in, Hu Wanyuan's expression changed instantly, and with a flash, he hurried over here.
Having just witnessed Gu Chen's strength, and knowing that Yang Mingyue, only at the External Qi Stage—buoyed by elixirs—would likely not withstand even a single move from Gu Chen.
Master Hu was afraid that Gu Chen would hurt Yang Mingyue and shouted with urgency, "Our miss is the legitimate daughter of the Heavenly Saber Sect leader, Gu Chen, you must not harm her!"
Gu Chen's expression remained calm, intending to deal with Yang Mingyue swiftly, but then, an image flashed through his mind, and his intuition sent him a frenzied warning. A strong sense of crisis emerged in Gu Chen's heart, causing his expression to change immediately.
Crack!
Yang Mingyue, her expression manic, pulled a dark cylindrical object from her bosom, and the sound of a mechanism rotating rang out. In an instant, a streak of silver light burst forth.
"Breaking Gang Arrow?!" a warrior at the Gang Qi Stage exclaimed, his face turning pale with shock.
The Breaking Gang Arrow, a secret weapon developed by the Thousand Mechanism Sect, just as the name suggests, could penetrate the protective Gangqi of a warrior at the Gang Qi Stage. The Thousand Mechanism Sect had spent countless efforts, resources, and a significant amount of time to create this formidable weapon, which was expensive to produce and rarely circulated in the outside world.
For this journey, the Lord of the Heavenly Saber Sect, Yang Ling, had spared a huge cost to provide Yang Mingyue with this weapon specifically for her protection. Not even Mo Zilin and Hu Wanyuan were privy to it, but now she had used it against Gu Chen.
At this moment, Hu Wanyuan couldn't care less if Gu Chen was from the Jing Tian Department; if Yang Mingyue were to die here today, Hu Wanyuan would also be killed by Yang Ling upon returning.
Instantly, he struck out with his palm, and a mighty gust ensued, stirring up sand and rocks, while the ground cracked in numerous places.
This was the strike of a martial artist at the Gang Qi Stage, and Hu Wanyuan, even at the inner Gang Qi Stage, was terrifyingly powerful.
Whoosh!
Gu Chen's body flashed, like a shadow shifting shape, and he instantly dodged Hu Wanyuan's attack.
At that moment, Gu Chen's expression was icy cold, showing no intention of releasing his grip. As he gradually exerted more force, a snapping sound followed, and Yang Mingyue's head twisted at an unnatural angle. Her body stiffened on the spot, motionless.
"Young Miss!"
Seeing this, Hu Wanyuan was shocked, never having imagined that one day he would witness Yang Mingyue dying before his very eyes.
With Yang Mingyue dead, Hu Wanyuan knew his own life was not safe. Anger surged in his heart and he brimmed with intense murderous intent towards Gu Chen, the root cause of this disaster.
"Gu—Chen!"
Hu Wanyuan seemed to squeeze these words out from between his teeth with extreme hatred, his aura swelling with anger.
"Master Hu, calm down!"
At this moment, a middle-aged beautiful woman from the Yao Platform Sect quickly stood out, blocking Hu Wanyuan's advance, fearing he would continue to attack Gu Chen.
When Yang Mingyue earlier used the Breaking Gang Arrow to attack Gu Chen, she had been terrified; if Gu Chen had died at Yao Platform, who knew if Jing Tian Department would also hold them accountable?
"Master Hu, Lord Gu is from the Jing Tian Department. You must stay calm!" the middle-aged woman urgently pleaded.
"I... I..."
Hu Wanyuan's chest heaved violently with anger, struggling to utter a complete sentence.
To provoke such a reaction from a Gang Qi Stage martial artist like Hu Wanyuan, it was clear how tumultuous his inner emotional turmoil was.
Gu Chen casually tossed Yang Mingyue's body to the side, his own mood extremely foul. His indifferent gaze fell on Hu Wanyuan as he said, "What was that you just said? You wanted to kill me?"
At this moment, Hu Wanyuan was shaking with rage. He could already envision how furious the leader of the Heavenly Saber Sect, Yang Ling, would be when he received the news. Without a doubt, he would be the first to be punished!
"Junior Sister!"
At this point, Mo Zilin, who had just caught his breath, saw that Gu Chen had actually killed Yang Mingyue. He was both shocked and afraid, knowing that even though he was a true disciple of the Heavenly Saber Sect and Yang Ling's chosen successor, Yang Ling would not spare him either if he returned after Yang Mingyue's death.
"Gu Chen, you—"
Mo Zilin pointed at Gu Chen with his hand, his eyes bloodshot, barely able to restrain his impulse to tear Gu Chen apart on the spot.
Gu Chen, still burning with anger and without a chance to cool down, saw Mo Zilin daring to point at him and coldly said, "Since you like your junior sister so much, then go down and accompany her!"
Boom!
As soon as he spoke, Gu Chen made his move, his powerful inner energy surging forth and transforming into a violent palm wind, instantly turning Mo Zilin into a mist of blood.
Until his last moment, Mo Zilin was completely dumbfounded, never having expected that after killing Yang Mingyue, Gu Chen would dare to kill him on the spot without a word of disagreement.
The remaining martial artists were shocked. They knew things had escalated—Gu Chen's killing intent had indeed flared up!
The rumors of Gu Chen from Xu'an County, who with a single sword could hunt souls and slay thousands, now seemed very likely to be true!