Chapter 73: Those Whom I Wish to Kill, Not Even Gods or Buddhas Can Save

Five masters of internal force—enough to dominate an entire region. In today’s world, as long as they didn’t encounter more than two supreme grandmasters simultaneously, these five, led by Elder Jiang, could walk unchallenged through the secular martial realm. Even the Hidden Sect, should they wish to make a move, would have to carefully weigh the consequences when facing five such masters.

Their combined might could sweep away all the forces in an international metropolis. Yet now, three lay dead and two gravely wounded.

The remaining two were already terrified out of their wits; whatever composure or pride a master might have was utterly worthless before the shadow of death. They had only one thought—flee as far as possible. If I cannot afford to provoke him, I can at least escape; this vast world is wide enough—once I leave Yuzhou, who could restrain me?

The two turned and ran; one even lost a cloth shoe and, glancing back, didn’t dare retrieve it, bolting barefoot in utter disarray.

“Run?”

Jiang Yu’s lips curled into a smile, revealing gleaming white teeth.

His body bent like a wooden bow, arms drawn back. This punch—a culmination of five thousand years of mastery!

“Do you really think you can escape?”

In an instant, it was as if heaven and earth shattered. Jiang Yu’s foot drove into the floor, cracks spider-webbing across the ground in a blink—purely the physical reaction to an unbearable force.

For that moment, Jiang Yu’s speed approached the speed of sound. The air around him burst into a visible vortex like a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier, clouds of mist billowing outward.

The heat from air friction sparked flames on Jiang Yu’s clothing.

A rush of air swept up, hurling tables and chairs to either side, scattering papers and dust in all directions.

Before the words “Do you really think you can escape?” even reached the two, Jiang Yu’s figure was already before them. Two white hands shot out, seizing each man by the throat and slamming them back.

At that instant, Jiang Yu’s sheer bodily speed nearly freed him from the earth’s gravity.

Just like in the movies, when speed reaches a certain threshold, the pull of the earth becomes almost insignificant.

A thunderous crash…

After two floors at the top of the Huating Building collapsed, the seventy-eighth floor began to shudder again. A wall was smashed to rubble by Jiang Yu, debris flying everywhere. The bones of the two masters shattered to dust, their lives snuffed out as soon as Jiang Yu drove them into the cement wall.

A supreme strike from someone at the peak of the Qi Refining stage.

In a blink, a third of Jiang Yu’s spiritual energy was drained.

After smashing through several walls, his figure finally came to a stop. He gasped for breath, loosened his grip, and the two grandmasters’ corpses slumped to the ground like mud.

Brushing sparks from his clothing, Jiang Yu gave a helpless smile. Though his body was strong enough to withstand the instantaneous heat, ordinary clothes could never endure.

If he truly surpassed the speed of sound, or even light, such a collision would not just obliterate Yuzhou—no matter how perfect a Taoist’s Five Emperors Unified Body might be, it could never withstand that impact.

Unless one reached the Golden Core stage above Foundation Establishment, when the divine body was fully formed, endurance was possible.

All five masters—annihilated.

Jiang Yu stood amidst the ruins of the seventy-eighth floor, gazing skyward as paper scraps drifted down and dust blotted out the sun.

His divine sense swept through the entire Huating Building in an instant. With hands clasped behind his back, Jiang Yu made his way step by step toward the stairs.

…

Sixty-fifth floor.

Xu Changming had long collapsed onto the floor in terror, his teeth chattering uncontrollably, strength completely drained from his body.

Qin Huishi’s face was ghostly pale; at last, the tremors had subsided.

Just a moment before, they had felt the very top of the Huating Building quake as if struck by an earthquake—windows shattering, thunderous crashes echoing from above.

Only now did she realize there had been a mistake in their intelligence. Judging by the power Jiang Yu had just displayed, he was at least at the late stage of Merging Force.

“It’s over.”

From childhood, Qin Huishi had always been in control, her every plan perfectly executed, never caught off guard. Yet today, all her confidence was shattered. If not for the two Hidden Sect grandmasters secretly dispatched and lurking in the shadows, she would have already fled.

So long as she was not herself a grandmaster, she could never feel secure facing the ruthlessly decisive Jiang Yu.

“Save me, I beg you, save my life—I’ll give you anything you want!” Xu Changming knelt before Qin Huishi, pleading in terror. He might not know exactly who this woman was, but from their brief acquaintance, her background was clearly formidable.

“Xu Changming, I warned you repeatedly: a grandmaster is like a celestial dragon, untouchable. Yet you ignored my warnings, secretly inviting five masters to ambush him. You’ve ruined the Hidden Sect’s entire plan, you imbecile.”

Whenever Qin Huishi recalled offending this young grandmaster Jiang Yu, she couldn’t help but tremble. She wished she could slap Xu Changming to death.

“I’ll give him anything, anything—I don’t want to die!” Xu Changming sobbed, snot and tears streaming. It wasn’t death itself that terrified him, but the agony of waiting for it—the kind of fear that could destroy anyone’s mind.

“It’s too late.”

A chilling voice floated in from outside the room.

Qin Huishi tensed as if facing a deadly enemy, eyes fixed on the doorway.

The door was gently pushed open from outside. Jiang Yu entered, his expression calm.

His presence here could only mean one thing: the five masters who had joined the ambush were all dead.

Qin Huishi’s heart pounded wildly. Even the Hidden Sect’s grandmasters couldn’t kill five masters at once.

She began to wonder—what kind of being was the Hidden Sect truly facing this time?

“Jiang Yu, enough is enough.”

Qin Huishi’s delicate face was frosty as she instinctively took a step back.

Jiang Yu snorted coldly. “Enough is enough? But when your people fired at me just now, I saw no such restraint.”

The cold killing intent in his eyes caused the temperature in the room to plummet.

If Jiang Yu’s strength hadn’t been enough today, if he had stepped into the Huating Building so trustingly under Qin Huishi’s assurances, facing five masters in concert, he would have barely escaped with his life. And that bullet just now had grazed his cheek—if it had been anyone else, their head would have been blown apart.

Afterward, what could Qin Huishi do but feel a bit of guilt? When things reached that point, apologies were useless.

Yet Qin Huishi, worthy of her Hidden Sect background, quickly regained her composure. “I promise, you’ll have a satisfactory explanation.”

An explanation?

Jiang Yu’s lips curled in a mocking smile, his gaze settling on the heap that was Xu Changming.

“The moment you ordered Elder Jiang to act, you should have accepted the consequences.”

With these words, Jiang Yu raised his palm and struck through the air.

A streak of green light shot out. Qin Huishi struck seven palms in succession, each one weakening the green light, until it finally dissipated.

“Jiang Yu, do you intend to kill Xu Changming as well?” Qin Huishi blocked his path. No matter what, Xu Changming was chairman of Huating Entertainment and a counterweight to the Rothschild family. For all Jiang Yu’s strength, his skill lay not in business, where Xu Changming excelled.

Jiang Yu’s voice turned icy as he looked at her. “What, do you want to fight me? If I wished to kill you, it’d take three steps—and the Hidden Sect agents nearby would have no chance to save you.”

Qin Huishi gritted her teeth. This youth was impervious to persuasion or threat; once he made up his mind, no one could stop him. If such a temperament was inherently good, that was fortunate—but if evil, he would be a disaster for all of China.

“Jiang Yu, do you truly mean to kill Xu Changming today?”

Jiang Yu sneered. “If I wish someone dead, not even the Hidden Sect—not even all the gods and buddhas in heaven—can save him!”

With that, Jiang Yu stepped forward and struck through the air. Qin Huishi’s face changed dramatically. He acted without a word, and she leapt aside. Behind her, the wall bore the imprint of a palm, pressed three inches deep, every detail clear.

“Jiang Yu, stop!”

Qin Huishi moved like the wind, her graceful form aloft as she unleashed all her strength.

Jiang Yu didn’t even glance at her; with a casual wave, Xu Changming’s head flew from his shoulders.

Before the Hidden Sect’s very eyes, he had slain five masters—and now the chairman of Huating.

“Insolent brat, how arrogant!”

An aged voice rang out of nowhere.

Jiang Yu turned and threw a punch, a blast of force surging forth. Qin Huishi staggered back over ten steps, the air slicing her face with a thousand invisible blades.

The old man’s aura was vast, his white hair shining, his face ageless, clad in coarse linen.

He retreated nine steps; Jiang Yu, only half a step. The two locked eyes.

Beneath his sleeve, the old man’s hand trembled slightly. Receiving that punch from Jiang Yu was like being struck by a mountain, nearly shaking his organs apart.

“If you dare intervene again for the Xu family, I’ll kill one more. Should you try twice, I’ll slaughter them all.”

Jiang Yu’s voice rang with supreme authority, making Qin Huishi’s blood churn and her senses blur.

After slaying five masters, no one dared doubt his words.

The linen-clad elder took a deep breath and managed a bitter smile. “Very well, then. I only hope that once this is settled, you’ll leave Yuzhou as soon as possible.”

By his strength alone, Jiang Yu had forced the Hidden Sect to yield.