Chapter Forty-Eight: The Chu Family Bloodbath

Long Yun’s gaze froze as he looked toward Chu Xuan beside him. The latter, with a face full of pleading, gazed back at Long Yun, and this moved Long Yun so deeply that his nose stung, nearly bringing him to tears.

“Benefactor!” Old Chu’s face flashed with a look of grim resolve. He looked at Long Yun and said, “Please take good care of Xuan’er for me!”

“No—” Long Yun’s face changed instantly. He had seen a hint of utter despair in Old Chu’s eyes.

Just as Long Yun spoke, Old Chu jerked his neck, driving a sharp blade into his own flesh. A torrent of blood spurted from his throat, yet Old Chu’s face showed not the slightest regret—only deep contentment.

Old Chu’s wife opened her weary eyes, great tears rolling down her cheeks. She had only just regained consciousness, not yet tasted the joy of family reunion, when her husband was already slain before her eyes.

Her gaze shifted to Chu Xuan, who was sobbing uncontrollably behind Long Yun. A faint smile curved her lips, and then, biting through her own tongue, she ended her life.

“No—!” Long Yun’s furious, hoarse roar pierced the heavens. An overwhelming aura surged forth, sword intent swelling mightily, and in that instant, his murderous intent exploded without restraint.

“All of you will die—” Long Yun’s eyes grew chillingly cold. A wisp of true energy surged into Chu Xuan’s body, causing the youth to fall unconscious at once.

“Hmph!” The three elders had not expected Old Chu and his wife to be so unyielding, choosing death rather than risking implicating Long Yun. They could not help but feel a twinge of regret.

Yet the couple were but minor figures; their lives meant little to the three. Dead, they were of no consequence.

Sensing the power rising within Long Yun, the three exchanged glances. At last, the leading elder snorted, “Long Yun, I admit your cultivation advances quickly, but you haven’t yet reached the Bone Transformation Realm, have you? Let’s see how you deal with the three of us!”

All three were masters who had transcended the Mortal Form, a formation against which Long Yun should have no chance. But at this moment, his murderous intent had already reached terrifying heights.

Within his body, the barrier toward the Bone Transformation Realm shattered with a roar. Driven by grief and furious jealousy, he broke through at once, reaching the new realm. Though he had not yet replaced his spirit bone, his cultivation had soared by a great margin.

Long Yun’s eyes now burned crimson. His sword hand swept forth, unleashing a golden sword light that flickered and surged, forming a terrifying sword energy that slashed horizontally toward the three elders.

With a single blow, he aimed to take all three lives. His sword intent was pushed to the limit, merging with his sword energy and multiplying its power exponentially.

Long Yun’s brow furrowed tightly as countless rays of light spun rapidly around him. In his mind, one thought remained: to kill all three of them.

This sword strike drove the power of the Bone Transformation Realm to its utmost. The golden radiance carried a hint of sacred majesty—an aura born of pure sword intent.

“Overreaching fool!” The three transcendents laughed coldly in unison. Then, their sword energies formed a triangular formation, intercepting Long Yun’s attack.

“Boom—” The collision sent violent waves of force rippling outward in all directions.

Long Yun staggered backward, his face flushed. Wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, he let a cruel smile creep across his lips.

“What?” Though they had forced Long Yun to retreat, the three elders were far more shocked than he was.

They had expected that a youth who had just reached Bone Transformation, without even replacing his spirit bone, would be annihilated by their combined might in a single strike.

But the truth left them dumbfounded. Long Yun had only coughed a little blood and retreated a dozen steps; he was otherwise unharmed. The three could scarcely believe their eyes.

No wonder the Grand Elder had given so many warnings—this boy must indeed possess some secret means of survival. He truly was not ordinary.

Still, the three were a full realm above Long Yun in cultivation and so regained their composure quickly after initial surprise.

“We’ll attack from three directions. He must be killed—no mercy. Otherwise, we cannot rest easy with someone like this alive!” declared the elder who had spoken before.

The other two nodded in agreement.

The three figures split, each taking a point and surrounding Long Yun at the center.

Within Long Yun, his aura continued to climb. To the naked eye, waves of force rippled outward from his body—an indescribable spectacle.

“Die—” the three roared in unison. Their swords became three streaks of lightning, slashing down at Long Yun’s vital points.

Long Yun’s eyes narrowed. With a slight shift, a vast sword intent surged forth. Completely immersed in the energy within, his whole being seemed to transform into a peerless divine sword.

“Whoosh—” As his sword energy erupted, Long Yun’s figure flickered like a ghost, slipping through the onslaught with hair’s breadth precision. At the same time, his sword tip flicked up, clashing with one of the sword energies.

“Clang—” With a burst, the sword energy shattered. The struck elder grunted, his attack destroyed, while Long Yun’s form slipped through the gap.

“Think you can escape? Not so easily!” the other two elders sneered, their swords tracking Long Yun relentlessly, refusing to give him even a moment’s respite.

Long Yun’s face remained expressionless. Years of deadly struggle had honed him to perform at his peak in the direst danger.

In this moment of release, a hidden power within his bloodline suddenly erupted. Having had his bloodline’s energy extracted before, this mysterious force now burst forth, fully awakened.

A dazzling golden light exploded before him, forming a massive shield of energy.

At the same time, a pressure descended from the heavens themselves, magnified many times over by the surge of sword energy.

The Dragon Realm—the world created by the Primordial Dragon God—was the domain of the dragon race, the greatest beings in existence. And within Long Yun ran a bloodline of unknown origin, one of this world’s most primordial forces.

Thus, as his bloodline was awakened, a golden sphere of light rapidly coalesced before his eyes, then struck the incoming sword energies with savage force.

“Boom—” The sword energies were swept aside like autumn leaves in a storm. Using the recoil, Long Yun darted forward, his sword blazing as he slashed directly at the elder whose attack he had just shattered.

The other two elders were sent flying by the shockwave of Long Yun’s bloodline-fueled strike.

“Die—!” Long Yun roared. Five dazzling rays shot from his sword hand, merging instantly into a single sword energy aimed straight at the elder’s chest.

It all happened in a flash. By the time the elder reacted, Long Yun’s fivefold sword had already formed, radiating an unrivaled, domineering aura as it slashed down with overwhelming might.

“Not so easily!” In this life-or-death moment, the elder drew on every ounce of strength, channeling all his true energy into his sword. Under this immense force, the sword itself began to wail, unable to bear the strain.

He struck out, sword whistling, hoping to block Long Yun’s attack and buy time for the other two to come to his aid so that together they could strike Long Yun down.

But alas, reality rarely matches expectation. Back when he was only at the Spirit Concealment Realm, Long Yun’s fivefold sword could already resist experts of the Transcendence Realm.

Now, having reached the Bone Transformation Realm, his strike was vastly more potent. With almost no resistance, his sword shattered the elder’s defense.

In the next instant, his blade pierced the elder’s chest, exploding into a storm of sword energy that obliterated his body, scattering blood and flesh through the air.

“Scoundrel! How dare you kill him!” The two remaining elders shivered with dread at the sight of their companion’s gruesome death. Especially when Long Yun’s gaze swept over them, they dared not even breathe.

But the only answer they received was Long Yun’s sword energy, fierce and blazing like the rising sun.

With one sword stroke, swift as a startled swan, his sword intent locked onto both of them, enveloping them once more. At this moment, Long Yun’s killing intent had reached its zenith—he would not rest until both were cut down.

“Kill him!” The two elders’ faces changed dramatically. Their swords moved in a secret formation, striving to block Long Yun’s inexorable sword energy.