Zhao Wu’s eyes were practically splitting with rage, his killing intent surging. Yixiang Building was his territory, and the people dying below were his men—many were even his disciples.
With a roar, not even bothering with the stairs, he leaped directly from the fifth-floor window, pouncing on his target.
While still in mid-air, his iron palms took on a metallic black sheen. He descended with a ferocious gust of wind, striking down at the Cloaked Guest’s skull, aiming straight for a fatal blow.
This was none other than his signature technique, the Black Death Palm, a move powerful enough to shatter mountains and crack stone. In the hands of a Grandmaster like him, its explosive might was beyond imagination.
Lady Yu’s face went pale. She gripped the window frame, her body trembling as she stared at the river of blood below. All of her earlier charming composure from the negotiations had vanished. Her power was far inferior to Zhao Wu’s; she had only just barely reached the Upper Three Grades. But the butcher below had already killed several Upper Three Grades experts.
Facing Zhao Wu’s rage-fueled, vicious strike, the Cloaked Guest didn’t even look up, not so much as frowning.
He simply flicked his wrist, and the longsword in his hand swung upward in a seamless, traceless arc.
The flash of the blade was like a cold moon rising into the sky—launched second, but arriving first.
CLANG—
A deafening, ear-piercing clang of metal echoed throughout Yixiang Building.
Zhao Wu’s iron palms, which were strong enough to withstand swords and blades, collided violently with the seemingly ordinary edge of the longsword.
The Powerful Qi exploded outward, shattering everything nearby and scattering debris across the floor.
In the next instant, however, the savage grin on Zhao Wu’s face froze, replaced by boundless horror.
He felt a cold, tyrannical, and incomparably sharp Powerful Qi, like a drill, instantly invade his body through the meridians in his palm.
The Qi Blood of his Black Death Palm, which he had honed for a century and believed to be indestructible, was like paper before this Sword Qi. It was torn apart effortlessly, unable to put up the slightest resistance.
CRACK—
With the sickening sound of shattering bone, Zhao Wu screamed, his face a mask of horror. His arms twisted at unnatural angles as his entire body was sent flying backward, faster than he had leaped down, as if struck by a charging elephant.
With a BOOM, he slammed into a wall of Yixiang Building and was deeply embedded within it. The wall spiderwebbed with cracks. His bones were shattered, and he was in extreme agony. He coughed up a torrent of blood; it was clear he wouldn’t survive.
One move!
Just one move!
The First Grade Perfect Grandmaster, the notoriously infamous Iron Hand Zhao Wu, the very pillar of Yixiang Building who had been locked in a bitter struggle with Qinhuai Building for decades and harmed countless of its women, was killed. Just like that.
Tu Gang’s pupils contracted sharply. He immediately realized the person before him was no First Grade Grandmaster, but a Super Grade Celestial Human.
’Is he at the Super Grade Initial Stage, the Super Grade Middle Stage, or perhaps the Super Grade Late Stage, like me?’
’But to kill Zhao Wu so cleanly, he must be at least at the Super Grade Middle Stage.’
Even though he had guessed Zhao Wu was no match for the Cloaked Guest, he never expected him to be defeated so decisively, without being able to fight back at all.
’This person’s strength is likely even greater than I estimated.’
"Who are you, sir? What grudge do you hold against Yixiang Building? Are you aware that Prince Zhenbei’s Mansion also has business interests here?"
Tu Gang shouted in a deep voice, suppressing the shock in his heart. He was trying to use the name of the Prince’s Mansion to intimidate the man, to make him hesitate.
At the same time, he silently gave a hand signal. Several First Grade and Second Grade experts from the Prince’s Mansion who had come with him appeared, positioning themselves to surround the Cloaked Guest. Their intention to attack as a group was clear.
The Cloaked Guest finally lifted his head. From the shadows of his hood, a pair of cold, indifferent eyes, like an Ancient Cold Pool, swept over Tu Gang and the men he had brought. He paid them no mind whatsoever.
There was no answer. Only the longsword.
His figure left a faint afterimage as his real body vanished like a phantom.
In the next instant, a First Grade expert from the Prince’s Mansion who was closing in from the side found his vision blurring. He felt a cold sensation on his neck, and then the world was spinning. He saw his own headless body, blood gushing from its neck, slowly topple over. He’d had no chance to even resist.
Fast!
Incredibly fast!
Unimaginably fast!
Tu Gang’s expression finally changed completely. With a furious roar, the Soft Sword at his waist shot out like a venomous snake striking from its hole. It carried a bone-chilling aura and a piercing whistle as it stabbed toward the vital point on the Cloaked Guest’s back.
He had put his full power into this strike, his Cultivation at the Super Grade Late Stage on full display. Before the blade even arrived, its fierce Sword Qi had already carved a deep fissure into the floor.
The Cloaked Guest seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. At the very moment the Soft Sword was about to strike, his body twisted bizarrely, like a boneless fish, and he dodged the fatal blow by a hair’s breadth, completely unscathed.
At the same time, he executed a backhanded slash, aiming for Tu Gang’s sword wrist. The flash of the blade was like lightning, the angle cunning and ruthless, making it incredibly difficult to defend against.
Tu Gang hastily changed his technique to parry, not having expected his opponent to be so fast.
CLANG CLANG CLANG...
In the blink of an eye, their weapons had clashed more than a dozen times, sending sparks flying with the constant ringing of metal.
With each collision, Tu Gang felt his arm grow more numb. The Power transmitted from his opponent’s longsword was as heavy as a mountain, yet as sharp as a needle. It made his Qi Blood churn to the point of nausea, and a chill crept into his heart.
’This man’s Qi Blood is even stronger than mine! He must have reached Super Grade Perfection, and his Sword Technique is bizarre and unpredictable. How am I supposed to fight this?’
The longer Tu Gang fought, the more terrified he became. He had immersed himself in Swordsmanship for over a century and believed he had few rivals among those in the Super Grade Late Stage. He even dared to take on experts at Super Grade Perfection. Yet before this Cloaked Guest, he was suppressed at every turn, as if his opponent could predict his every move.
And while locked in combat with him, the Cloaked Guest still had enough energy to spare, sending out flashes of his longsword like splashed water toward the other experts from the Prince’s Mansion and Yixiang Building who were trying to launch sneak attacks.
A series of wretched screams rang out. The First Grade Grandmasters and Second Grade Grandmasters, all considered skilled experts in the Jianghu, were like lambs to the slaughter before this reaper. They fell one after another, not a single one able to withstand a single move. Their opponent’s strength was simply too formidable.
This wasn’t a battle; it was a one-sided slaughter. They had no way to resist.
Watching from across the street, Song Yuyan felt her heart about to leap from her chest. ’He’s strong. He’s just too strong!’
’The combat power the Cloaked Guest is displaying is definitely at the level of Super Grade Perfection, and he isn’t a weak one at that. Could he really be that mysterious expert?’
’Furthermore, his combat experience is terrifyingly vast. His grasp of timing, application of techniques, and control over his Power have all reached the Transformation Realm.’
’In front of him, Tu Gang is like a clumsy apprentice, being led around by the nose.’
Song Yuyan was horrified, her delicate face a mask of shock. ’This person is no ordinary Super Grade Perfection. Why have I never heard of him before? He’s probably already close to the True Monarch Realm. But why is he hiding his identity? And why use a longsword? His aura, his build, his Sword Technique... I’ve never seen them before. He’s definitely not His Highness, and he’s not the one who left that familiar aura earlier.’

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