Chapter 86

Xuan Jing looked at Tan Ye who was protecting Su Heng in front of him, his face full of bewilderment and disbelief.

He had only met this disciple a few times, but in those few encounters, he had determined that this disciple was indeed exceptionally talented and had a gentle and upright temperament. However, now Xuan Jing saw Tan Ye openly defending that enchanting demon, and his heart was filled with unexpected shock.

“What’s wrong with me protecting my wife?” Tan Ye asked in return.

The two of them wore bright red wedding attire adorned with exquisite dragon and phoenix patterns, which complemented their already outstanding appearances, making them look even more compatible.

“If someone tries to harm my wife or my father, as a husband and a son, I must protect them. For those who wish to harm them, I will repay them with blood for blood and tooth for tooth, and I will return it double.”

The chilling tone in Tan Ye’s words made people shiver even in this hot weather.

Dao Jun Xuan Jing’s beautiful face showed an indescribable anger, but he couldn’t find any room to refute Tan Ye’s words.

As a husband and son, it was natural to protect one’s parents, wife, and children. This was a principle that applied throughout the six realms. Even he couldn’t point at Tan Ye and say that what he did was wrong.

“Do you know what she just did?” He saw those people who were originally still twitching, now lying motionless on the ground, and his grief and anger were even greater than before.

“They were all your former fellow disciples! How could you just sit back and watch?”

Su Heng felt that these people from Chaoyun Sect must have something wrong with their brains. “What did you come here to do? You came so aggressively, bringing the mortal enemies of their father and son, and you all drew your swords and shouted to kill us. And now you complain that we actually dared to fight back.”

She came out from behind Tan Ye and stood in front of him, her face full of mockery. “I say, old man, don’t tell me you’re like that pair of father and daughter from Danxun Valley, thinking that everyone in the world is your father and mother. If they are a little polite and tolerant towards you, it becomes taken for granted, and the whole world has to give way to you. Your Chaoyun Sect is so capable, why don’t all of you go outside and call everyone you meet your father and mother.”

“Maybe you can even recognize a few dozen more fathers and mothers, so you don’t have to roll around on the ground looking for someone to do it!”

Bohai Jun had dealt with the few people in front of him. Zhu Chi came prepared, but even facing Bohai Jun, he couldn’t subdue him in a short time. He originally thought that after suffering the torment of the earth fire for so many years, even if Bohai Jun recovered at a miraculous speed, he wouldn’t be able to fully recover in such a short period of time, and he would have a chance to take advantage of the situation. However, Bohai Jun’s toughness far exceeded his imagination. After a round of fighting, he couldn’t gain the slightest advantage and nearly got captured by Bohai Jun several times.

He waved his hand, letting the people beside him act as cannon fodder, while he leaped back several zhang to avoid the attack.

Bohai Jun casually waved his hand to flick off the dust, not minding at all. Hearing Su Heng’s words, he burst into laughter. “My daughter-in-law is absolutely right. Who do you think you are? You’re only allowed to kill and set fires, but we’re not allowed to fight back! If you don’t have enough skill, you accuse your opponents of being ruthless!”

He stood there, his eyes full of mockery, not hiding it at all. “You know, only those who can’t win and can’t swallow their pride would have such a shameful attitude!”

“If you can beat us, then fight. If you can’t, either obediently die or get lost. But today is my son’s wedding day, and you actually dared to ruin his joyous occasion. If we let you run away like this without teaching you a lesson, I’m afraid next time you’ll be even more presumptuous and ignorant of your own mortality.”

“We have a righteous cause, so why wouldn’t we dare to come?”

“Then may I ask, Dao Jun, what crime of mine do you have in your hands?” Tan Ye asked, his face filled with murderous intent, completely different from his former forbearance.

“Is it because I entered the sect as a dragon? But back then, I passed the assessment of the sect master and several elders, including you, Dao Jun. Besides, what bad things did I do in the sect that required you to kill me as soon as possible? In my years in the sect, I have a clear conscience. It was Dao Zhen who, for his own selfish desires, oppressed me in every possible way. When I was most helpless and lost, no one spoke up for me or upheld justice on my behalf.”

“His eventual fate was well-deserved. I have a clear conscience towards the sect, but what about the sect? All the elders, including the sect master, turned a blind eye to Dao Zhen’s actions. As long as I wasn’t dead, they allowed Dao Zhen to humiliate me. The so-called kindness of guidance is not even worth mentioning!”

“In the end, the one who stepped forward to block Dao Zhen’s fatal blow for me was a junior brother who rarely spoke to me.”

Tan Ye laughed, but his laughter made people feel chilled to the bone. “I have seen your true colors very clearly. You’re just a bunch of hypocrites spouting self-righteous words. Why bother using so much righteousness to decorate your facade?”

“Since you came here to take my life, it’s only natural that I should take yours in return.”

As Tan Ye spoke, the long sword in his hand spun, and sword intent accompanied by bone-chilling coldness emanated from the ice-blue sword.

“In a battle of life and death, there’s no need for so much nonsense like you’re doing.”

As his words fell, he swung his long sword, and sword intent accompanied by a vast coldness swept the surroundings. Those affected by the sword intent, if their cultivation was insufficient, could barely support their bodies.

Tan Ye once again opened the prelude to the struggle. Su Heng’s actions no longer had any room for mercy, although from the beginning, she had never shown any mercy.

At first, she only struck to disable, but unfortunately, the lessons they learned from her disabling strikes were not enough. Since that was the case, she would truly fight seriously.

Su Heng did not enjoy killing, nor did she like the smell of blood spurting from wounds, so she never made a mess of blood everywhere.

When demons kill, why would they need to do so?

The people around her fell silently. These people all had some level of cultivation, but their cultivation and experience were still somewhat lacking compared to hers.

At a critical moment of life and death, any small mistake could cost them their lives.

She killed until the people around her retreated. Su Heng looked around; her interest had already been piqued. “Not daring to come up? Since that’s the case, I’ll come to you.”

As her words fell, she directly rushed over and in the next moment, she killed those people.

These people’s goal was to completely annihilate her, so she wouldn’t show any mercy either.

The red threads in her palm followed her command and flew towards those people, piercing into their flesh and feasting.

Screams and struggles of rolling on the ground were endless.

She stood still and looked around at the people who were either resisting with luck or panicking. In fact, the red threads were not that difficult to deal with. It was just that she had seized the initiative, and there was no turning back.

Su Heng smiled. “Come on.”

She pressed forward again. Vines suddenly shot out from the ground, coordinating with her attack. One person’s cultivation was truly remarkable, and the barrier around his body was seamless. The red threads could not approach him. As the two fought, the woman in front of him turned into thousands of illusions, surrounding his body. As soon as she caught a momentary flaw, vines pierced through his chest, leaving him hanging and bloody.

Tan Ye had already exchanged more than a dozen moves with Xuan Jing. A life-and-death battle didn’t need to last long. Tan Ye’s sword qi carried a vast water spirit dragon breath, breaking through the sword qi barrier in front of Xuan Jing. A faint dragon roar pounced in the sword qi, wrapping around his body and completely disrupting his protective spiritual power.

Xuan Jing took a few steps back. At first, he didn’t feel anything, but after standing still, he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Xuan Jing looked at Tan Ye in disbelief. Tan Ye swung his long sword to the side. “Your cultivation has actually reached such a level.”

“It’s not that it has reached such a level, but that I am inherently so.” Tan Ye looked at Xuan Jing with the compassion of observing an ant. “The life of a mortal is no more than a hundred years. It’s truly ridiculous for mortals to cultivate immortality.”

He said these words with compassion, and his eyes were also full of pity. His attitude towards these people was the same as towards Dao Zhen, Ling Mao, and others. He experienced their pain and watched their expectations gradually turn into despair. But he still felt genuine pity for them.

Xuan Jing, being looked at by him with those pitying eyes, felt his blood surging even more in his chest, unable to suppress it, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Can’t take it anymore?” Tan Ye saw that Xuan Jing looked somewhat puzzled at this moment. His sharp eyebrows showed confusion. “Or is it that you’ve deceived yourself to the point of firmly believing your own lies, so much so that when faced with reality, you simply can’t accept it?”

His words were gentle, but they were like blades, pressing on people sentence by sentence, especially since he had just taken real action.

Xuan Jing was shocked by his cultivation level. He originally thought that no matter what, he would always be able to suppress Tan Ye. But now it seemed that if he could escape with his life, it would be sheer luck.

On the other side, Zhu Chi had already been sent flying. Bohai Jun didn’t use his full strength against Zhu Chi, seemingly toying with him.

Zhu Chi fell to the ground. Bohai Jun had no intention of taking his life, but the force wasn’t much lighter either. His back heavily slammed against the ground, causing a momentary blankness in his mind.

At this moment, anyone else would probably have a broken spine and become a cripple.

The people around were already dead or injured, and some were so scared by the killing that they didn’t dare to approach, especially since the woman’s techniques were much more unorthodox than the father and son’s. It was hard to figure out what exactly her style was.

She wasn’t like a demon beast, and although similar to the demonic path, it wasn’t completely the same. This kind of unconventional technique was the most difficult to deal with.

Especially when she was in the mood for killing, no one dared to step forward.

Su Heng stopped and looked around. The ground was littered with corpses. “I’m usually the most amiable person, but look, don’t you think they deserve to be taught a lesson now?”

She was wearing a bridal gown, as fiery as flames, with lifelike phoenix embroidery. She was as gorgeous as fire, but also as unapproachable as fire.

Zhu Chi crawled up from the ground. He had taken several hits from Bohai Jun, and even though Bohai Jun hadn’t used his full strength, he was still severely injured.

He glared at Bohai Jun, who was approaching step by step.

Zhu Chi had already learned from Zhu Lang about the grudges of the previous generation and knew that he and Bohai Jun would fight to the death.

He raised his hand and made a few grasping motions in the air. Suddenly, a figure appeared in the previously empty space. Madam Man sat in a pile of corpses, looking at Bohai Jun in shock and fear.

Bohai Jun’s advancing steps paused, and his brows furrowed.

“She is your mother, yet you treat her like this?”

There was already a hint of anger in Bohai Jun’s words.

Zhu Chi’s palms were sweaty, and his heart was pounding like a drum. He licked his lips. “Mother? I already know about my own origins. She is not my biological mother, just a clay Buddha my father put in that position as a decoration.”

For so many years, Madam Man had only been immersed in her own sorrow and resentment towards Zhu Lang. She had never made any nurturing gestures towards him. He only had a superficial relationship with this so-called mother. Before knowing his origins, he would still show some consideration for her because she gave birth to him. But now that he knew they didn’t share a single drop of blood, he no longer needed to show any mercy when taking action.

“Especially since this woman once betrayed my father, do you think I would go easy on her?”

As Zhu Chi spoke, he moved his fingers, and Madam Man’s neck was restrained.

Bohai Jun’s footsteps came to a complete stop. He looked at Zhu Chi. “You and Zhu Lang are indeed a worthy father and son. When you can’t win, you use a woman as a shield.”

Zhu Chi hadn’t developed Zhu Lang’s thick skin yet. When Bohai Jun mocked him, his face twitched. Bohai Jun seized this momentary opportunity and pushed forward with a palm strike. By the time Zhu Chi reacted, Bohai Jun had already forced him to the front. He moved his fingers, and the invisible silkworm thread tightened around Madam Man’s neck, causing her tongue to stick out.

Seeing this, Bohai Jun’s advancing momentum paused, and he retreated.

Su Heng landed behind him. Bohai Jun sensed her eagerness to act and signaled her not to make any rash moves.

Su Heng understood the situation. If Bohai Jun truly didn’t care about the person Zhu Chi was holding, it wouldn’t matter even if Madam Man died. But Bohai Jun clearly did care.

She looked at Zhu Chi. “I never thought that in the end, you would be just like your father.”

Su Heng’s expression was calm, but it made Zhu Chi feel as if he had been slapped in the face.

Before coming, Zhu Lang had instructed him and made arrangements like this.

Madam Man’s neck was pulled, forcing her head to lift up. Her eyeballs bulged, and her entire tongue stuck out. Her fingers struggled and kept clawing at her neck.

“When you chose him back then, did you ever expect that you would end up like this?” Bohai Jun’s eyes were crimson red.

Unfortunately, Madam Man couldn’t answer this question. Her neck was restrained, and her hands were desperately clawing at her neck, trying to gasp for a few more breaths. However, after clawing for a while, she still couldn’t grasp the silkworm thread around her neck.

Using women and children as threats was extremely despicable. Zhu Chi knew that too. However, this despicableness was insignificant compared to staying alive. He knew that if he let go, Bohai Jun would definitely not spare him.

Zhu Chi tightly controlled Madam Man.

Bohai Jun looked at him. “What do you want to do?”

Facing Bohai Jun’s questioning, Zhu Chi unusually opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything.

“Father.” Tan Ye wanted to take action but was stopped by Bohai Jun.

The silkworm thread was in Zhu Chi’s hand. Even the slightest mistake could cause Madam Man’s head to fall off on the spot.

Su Heng saw this and realized that Bohai Jun still had lingering feelings for Madam Man. During this period, she hadn’t heard Bohai Jun mention Madam Man’s name even once, as if this person had never existed.

“What do you want?” Bohai Jun asked, glancing at Madam Man, whose face had turned purple due to the silkworm thread around her neck.

“If anything happens to her, your fate won’t be any better.”

Reminded by Bohai Jun’s cold words, Zhu Chi slightly loosened his grip, allowing Madam Man to breathe.

Zhu Chi didn’t dare to let his guard down. He controlled the force in his hand while keeping his eyes on Bohai Jun and his son. He also didn’t dare to show any contempt towards Su Heng. This woman had a charming and delicate beautiful face, but her cultivation was not to be underestimated.

“What do you want?” Bohai Jun signaled Tan Ye and Su Heng to retreat, leaving only himself at the original spot.

“Father!” Tan Ye shook his head in disapproval.

Bohai Jun said, “Go. With you here, she probably won’t fare well in his hands.”

For someone truly loved, even if not expressing it on the surface, when it came to life and death, he still cared about her safety.

Seeing that Tan Ye still had something to say, Bohai Jun looked at Su Heng. Su Heng, under Bohai Jun’s gaze, lightly tugged on Tan Ye’s sleeve.

“Leave!” Bohai Jun sternly shouted when he saw Tan Ye still showing no intention of retreating.

Tan Ye pressed his lips together and retreated step by step with difficulty.

Bohai Jun looked at Zhu Chi. “Using a woman to threaten others is not how a man should behave. Your father is not respectable, but I thought he shouldn’t have taught you to be like him.”

Zhu Chi’s breathing was rapid, but he remembered Zhu Lang’s instructions before leaving. As long as Bohai Jun and his son were still around, he and his father would never have peace, and even their descendants would have to live in constant fear.

He suddenly leaped up, his figure eerily pouncing towards Bohai Jun.

Bohai Jun had already figured out Zhu Chi’s cultivation level. “Child’s play.”

He stretched out his palm, with faint traces of lightning in it, ready to deliver a fatal blow to Zhu Chi. However, in the next moment, Zhu Chi pulled Madam Man in front of him. Bohai Jun gasped and forcibly retracted the palm he had struck out. Zhu Chi took advantage of this moment and stabbed a fire blade into the spot below Bohai Jun’s collarbone.

That spot was his vital point and also an old injury.

With one stab and one pull, dragon blood spurted from the wound, splattering all over Madam Man’s face, who was pulled in front of Zhu Chi.

She stared blankly at the unsteady figure of Bohai Jun.

Tan Ye, disregarding Madam Man’s presence in front of Zhu Chi, summoned overwhelming lightning from the sky, striking Zhu Chi’s body. Even the most profound cultivators feared heavenly lightning. Zhu Chi, along with Madam Man, fell to the ground, spitting blood.

Tan Ye held Bohai Jun’s falling body. “Father!”

Bohai Jun covered his wound. The fire blade carried the flames of earth fire.

The fire poison quickly entered his body from the wound. Bohai Jun looked at Madam Man, who had just crawled up from the ground. “Did you tell him?”

Madam Man had suffered a small portion of the heavenly lightning, causing her internal organs to feel like they were burning. Upon hearing Bohai Jun’s question, she kept shaking her head. “It wasn’t me, it really wasn’t me!”

“It wasn’t me this time!”

“I know it wasn’t you this time. The positions are exactly the same. No one is as stupid as you.” Bohai Jun took a deep breath. Tan Ye wanted to treat his injury but was stopped by him.

“This fire poison will be transmitted to you. Don’t do it.”

Bohai Jun shook his head. “I originally had the fire poison corroding my body. Now that it has happened again, I’m afraid it will be difficult to recover.”

He looked at Tan Ye. “Except for concealing my true identity from your mother back then, I have no regrets towards her. But I owe you a lot. I almost let you fall into the hands of someone like Zhu Lang and made you suffer while relying on others.”

He closed his eyes. “I have felt guilty for a long time and didn’t know how to make it up to you. Now, let me do one last thing for you.”

As his words fell, Bohai Jun’s body underwent a sudden change. A dragon soared into the sky and heavily poured into Tan Ye’s head.

Su Heng saw Tan Ye transform into a dragon form the moment the dragon shadow entered him, his body enveloped in a dazzling light. She raised her sleeve to cover her eyes and heard the sound of dragon roars above her head.

Su Heng lowered her hand and saw that Tan Ye’s originally broken dragon tail had glimmering dots of light falling upon it. As the light flashed, the dragon tail was restored.