Chapter 59: Killing Chen Xiao!

"Shameless! That Chen Xiao used a talisman to ambush Li Yun, nearly killing him, and you expect me to stay put?!" Li Zhen roared, his fury shaking his frame. If Li Yun had truly died from that underhanded strike, Li Zhen would have fought Chen Yishen to the death without hesitation.

"City Lord Bai!" Patriarch Li Jinyun’s voice was solemn, each word deliberate. "If you cannot give us an explanation for this, then take it as my Li Family severing all ties with the Zhao Family from today onward!" His tone left no room for doubt, the sneak attack could not be ignored.

Bai Xueqin’s brows drew together. Even she hadn’t expected Chen Xiao to stoop so low. A talisman, against a junior duel? It was disgraceful. But as City Lord, she was now caught in a dilemma. Favoring Li Yun was one thing, openly clashing with Chen Yishen was another. For the moment, she remained silent, weighing the consequences.

"What explanation?" Chen Yishen sneered, his voice dripping with arrogance. "If Chen Xiao was able to acquire a talisman so rare that none exist in all of Azure Wind City, then that is his strength. No further explanation is needed." His domineering tone brooked no argument.

Just then, movement stirred the square.

Li Yun rose to his feet.

The upper half of his robes were gone, scorched away, his back seared black with burn marks that still sizzled faintly with lingering flames.

"He stood up! Li Yun’s still standing!"

Gasps rippled through the crowd, though most quickly shook their heads.

"It doesn’t matter... he’s finished. Look at him, he’s barely holding on. There’s no way he can keep fighting."

"Damn it, Chen Xiao’s too shameless. A talisman in a duel?"

"Shameless or not, the Zhao Family only cares about victory. In the end, power decides everything."

Whispers and outrage spread like wildfire. Many pitied Li Yun, he had been in fine form before the sneak attack. Now, few believed he could win.

Chen Xiao sneered, his spear tip glinting as he stepped forward. "What’s that look? Angry?" His lips curled mockingly. "Don’t you know that in the life-and-death struggles of martial artists, anything can be a weapon?"

Yet beneath his scorn, frustration gnawed at him. That talisman had been meant to end it in one blow. To kill Li Yun outright. And yet... the boy still lived. Injured, yes, but alive. If he struck again now, he knew the City Lord or the Li Family elders might intervene. The perfect chance to kill Li Yun had slipped through his fingers.

Truthfully, Li Yun’s fury burned without end. The crowd might not have noticed, but he knew with absolute clarity, Chen Xiao’s talisman strike had not been a sneak attack to heavily injure him. It had been meant to kill. If not for his reflexes and instinctive reaction, he would already be a corpse.

’To strike with killing intent when there was no need...’ Li Yun drew a deep breath, forcing his rage into silence. The crimson energy within him surged again as he circulated the Crimson Flame Scripture at its ninth layer. In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished.

When he reappeared, he was directly before Chen Xiao, his previous low level sword in hand.

The moment Li Yun unleashed the second form of the Blazing Sky Sword Art, Scorching Ascent Pierce, something shifted within him. His mastery of the technique rose abruptly, breaking through to the perfection stage. Scarlet flames roared to life, wreathing his sword until it seemed more inferno than steel.

With a single thrust, he aimed straight for Chen Xiao’s chest.

"Li Yun, you can’t kill me! Stop now, you... audacious!" Chen Xiao’s voice cracked with panic. His aura scattered chaotically as the realization hit: Li Yun still had strength left, more than enough to kill. He hadn’t expected it, hadn’t prepared for it. He had never imagined Li Yun would dare.

The attack was too fast. Too sudden. No one in the square had time to react.

"STOP!" Chen Yishen roared, his killing intent surging as he tried to intervene.

But Bai Xueqin’s aura crashed down like a mountain, pinning him to his seat. Her eyes were sharp as blades, she would not allow interference.

A heartbeat later, Li Yun’s sword struck home.

BOOM!

Flames erupted violently as the blade pierced through Chen Xiao’s body. His upper torso exploded into a blazing inferno, consumed in a storm of fire and ash.

The force of the strike was so great that even the low level sword could not withstand it; the weapon crumbled into ashes, destroyed by the sheer power of the Blazing Sky Sword Art executed at perfection stage.

Chen Xiao would never have believed his life would end here, on this day.

Before the age of forty, he had already stepped into the 9th level of the Body Tempering Realm. For Azure Wind City, that level of talent was considered dazzling, enough to leave countless cultivators forever trailing in his shadow. Had he lived, stepping into the Xiantian Realm would have been all but guaranteed.

But today, he died.

He died at the hands of Li Yun, a youth only at the 5th level of the Body Tempering Realm. A fate neither he nor anyone else watching could have imagined.

"Whoosh!"

The figure of Chen Yishen, Patriarch of the Chen Family, flickered and appeared at Chen Xiao’s side in an instant. His expression was terrifyingly grim.

The entire upper half of Chen Xiao’s body was gone, completely incinerated.

"Dead... Xiao... dead!"

Chen Yishen’s trembling hand withdrew from his son’s charred remains. His voice was low, muttering as though refusing to accept reality. Yet the truth was undeniable.

Slowly, he rose to his feet, his eyes filled with a coldness sharp enough to freeze the air itself.

"You... killed Xiao!"

The words were ice. His killing intent spread like a storm, suffocating the space around him. Qi surged violently from his body, pressing down on Li Yun with a force that made the young cultivator’s expression shift at once.

The oppressive aura of a Xiantian Realm powerhouse, it was not something Li Yun could withstand.

Unlike the Body Tempering Realm, Xiantian cultivators had already opened their dantian, their strength vast and overwhelming. And Chen Yishen wasn’t just any Xiantian cultivator, he was already at the 2nd level, an existence leagues beyond Li Yun’s current ability.

"Patriarch Chen, what are you trying to do?" Bai Xueqin’s voice cut through the killing intent. Her face darkened as her figure slid in front of Li Yun, shielding him.

If Chen Yishen dared to strike here, it would mean trampling openly on her authority as City Lord. That, she would never allow.

Ripples of qi spread from Bai Xueqin’s body. Gentle to the eye, but brimming with power that made even veterans tremble. Her strength surpassed Chen Yishen’s.

"He killed Xiao. Xiao... was my son!" Chen Yishen’s voice was low, cold, and filled with grief.

The entire square fell silent.

"What?"

Even Bai Xueqin’s eyes flickered with surprise.

Chen Xiao, Chen Yishen’s son?

Shock spread across the crowd. No one had imagined such a connection. Even Zhao Lieyang, Patriarch of the Zhao Family, looked dumbfounded.

"Li Yun, you bastard... you killed my son. For that, you must die!" Chen Yishen’s voice was like a frozen blade, slicing through the air.

Chen Xiao truly was his son. But almost no one in the Chen Family knew. Chen Yishen had kept it secret for years because of the extraordinary identity of Chen Xiao’s mother. If it were revealed, the consequences would be enormous.

That was why he had hidden it from almost everyone, even from Chen Xiao himself.

Chen Xiao had lived all his life believing his parents had died long ago.

And so, he perished without ever knowing the truth: that he was the son of the Chen Family Patriarch, nor the identity of the mother whose blood flowed in his veins.

Hearing Chen Yishen’s words, Li Yun’s heart sank.

So, Chen Xiao had actually been Chen Yishen’s son.

But even with that knowledge, Li Yun felt no regret. Chen Xiao had tried to kill him first, was he supposed to stand still and wait for death just because the man happened to be the patriarch’s son?

Never.

He hadn’t intended to kill Chen Xiao at the start. But when Chen Xiao unleashed a killing strike, Li Yun had no choice but to respond in kind. If he hadn’t, he would already be lying dead on the ground.

Even if he had known beforehand that Chen Xiao carried the Chen Patriarch’s bloodline, Li Yun still would have acted. The only difference was that now, his strike had stirred up a storm far greater than he wanted.

He knew this would bring serious trouble. Now, his only hope was that the City Lord would step in to shield both him and the Li Family. Without her, his clan would never withstand Chen Yishen’s fury.

"Chen Yishen!" Li Yun’s voice cut through the tense air. "If your son’s life is worth something, then so is mine. When he tried to kill me earlier, I didn’t hear you say a word. But now that he’s dead by my hand, suddenly it’s an unforgivable crime? If he hadn’t stood here today representing the Zhao family, how would he have ended up in my blade?"

He didn’t bother softening his words. At this point, he knew nothing could quench Chen Yishen’s killing intent. A weak apology wouldn’t save him. Better to face it head-on than beg for mercy. Even if groveling really could spare him, he wouldn’t lower himself to that.

"How can your life compare to my son’s?" Chen Yishen’s voice rumbled like distant thunder, his eyes as cold as a frozen abyss. "Even if you die a hundred times over, it would not repay Xiao’s death."

His gaze shifted to Bai Xueqin, sharp as a blade. "Bai Xueqin, do you truly intend to stop me?"

"With me here, you cannot kill Li Yun." Bai Xueqin’s voice was calm, but every word carried iron. "I will not allow it."

She saw the murderous resolve in Chen Yishen’s eyes. No words could sway him now. The only way forward was to stand her ground, even if it meant completely opposing him.

Chen Yishen’s lips twisted into a cold sneer. "With you here, perhaps I cannot kill him now. But you won’t be able to guard him forever. The moment he steps outside the City Lord’s Mansion... that will be the day he dies."

His tone left no room for doubt, he had already cast aside all pretense.

Even if Bai Xueqin shielded Li Yun for the moment, eventually, Li Yun would have to leave. And when he did, not even the entire Li Family combined would be able to block the hand of Chen Yishen.