The Zhenyuan power within his body surged wildly. A brilliant sword light erupted from his hand, and his figure shot directly in front of Ye Jingyu, the sword tip aimed straight for Ye Jingyu's heart...

He no longer cared to interrogate Ye Jingyu about the source of such immense physical strength; all he wanted was to escape this unsettling youth as quickly as possible...

Seeing the sharp, gleaming sword light, the mocking smile on Ye Jingyu's lips deepened. He showed no intention of dodging. Seemingly slowly, he raised his right hand, but the very instant the sword tip struck, his hand was fully extended horizontally, and he pointed forth with a single, gentle finger...

This single point struck the tip of the sword, instantly shattering the brilliant sword light. Immediately following was the silver blade itself; the massive rebound force numbed Lü Yun’s single hand, while the tiger's mouth burst open...

At this moment, the horror in the eyes of the onlookers intensified. This fellow clearly possessed not a trace of Zhenyuan power, yet how could he be so strong?

He actually shattered his own strongest sword strike with a single touch...

"Overreaching..." Ye Jingyu uttered these words, and his figure was already positioned in front of Lü Yun...

"Shatter..." he spoke the word lightly, followed by another pointed finger landing on Lü Yun's shoulder. Lü Yun's shoulder instantly disintegrated, exploding into a puff of bloody mist, accompanied by Lü Yun’s agonizing shriek...

"Shatter again..." Ye Jingyu pointed once more, striking the other shoulder. That shoulder too blew apart into a bloody mist, leaving him utterly unable to raise his hands, and Ye Jingyu simply pressed the attack...

"Keep shattering..." Ye Jingyu continued to chant, as if reciting a dark incantation. The moment the words fell, his foot lashed out, kicking directly into Lü Yun's right knee. The protective Zhenyuan within Lü Yun seemed like nothing more than tissue paper, utterly unable to resist the overwhelming force...

His knee exploded once more, forcing his body to collapse onto the ground, the look of agony on his face growing ever more profound...

"Shatter all together now..." Ye Jingyu’s voice resonated again, as his other foot slammed into Lü Yun’s other thigh. A series of sickening crack-crack sounds followed; his bones and flesh were being ground into a paste under Ye Jingyu's relentless assault...

"Aaaahhh..." Lü Yun’s screams were absolutely heartbreaking, the excruciating pain nearly causing him to faint...

Witnessing such a gruesome scene, the two remaining unharmed thugs were completely paralyzed. Their Master, who stood as high as a god in their eyes, possessed not the slightest ability to resist this youth. How could this be?

Looking at Lü Yun crumpled on the ground, and then at Ye Jingyu, who appeared demonic, their faces were already bloodless with terror. Especially when they saw Ye Jingyu fix his gaze upon them, they felt as if Death itself had locked onto them, their entire bodies turning ice-cold...

The two men scrambled backward, but Ye Jingyu continued to advance, step by measured step, as if he were merely strolling through his own courtyard...

At this point, the two men had retreated to stand in front of the two young women, clutching them as if they were a lifeline. Each man pulled a dagger from his person and pressed the cold steel against the girls' throats...

"Y-you... you... don't come any closer, or... or I’ll kill her..." The voices of the thugs trembled, clearly overwhelmed by the shock Ye Jingyu had inflicted upon them...

As for the girls held hostage, initially driven to despair by the torment they had suffered, and then stunned into silence by Ye Jingyu’s brutal display, they now remained vacant and lost, even while being held at knifepoint. It seemed that life or death no longer held much meaning for them...

Ye Jingyu’s advance halted. His eyes, luminous like distant stars, settled upon the two captured girls. In their eyes, he could see absolutely no spark of life...

What manner of treatment had they endured to render even their young hearts incapable of craving survival?

In what way were they different now from mere walking corpses?

With a silent sigh in his heart, Ye Jingyu spoke once more, his voice flat: "You... you truly deserve to die a thousand deaths..."

The sound was chilling, devoid of any emotion, like the Grim Reaper decreeing the final moments of a soul...

"Y-you..." The two brutes attempted to utter a defiance, but before the word was fully formed, a blur of motion appeared directly in front of them...

Ye Jingyu’s hands slammed downward, striking the tops of both men’s heads. Instantly, their skulls ruptured like overripe watermelons struck by a sledgehammer. White brains and crimson gore sprayed everywhere, splattering across the faces of the two girls standing before them...

Yet, strangely, the girls showed no reaction. However, standing by the doorway, Luo Ling'er’s face turned ashen. She had never witnessed such carnage...

But despite the extreme brutality, Luo Ling'er did not avert her gaze. She forced down the urge to vomit and watched it all unfold silently...

She was Ye Jingyu’s wife; she needed to bear everything with him...

At this moment, everyone remaining dared not move further. Ye Jingyu’s speed was too profound, having surpassed the limits of ordinary men. Even a Martial Saint could not attain such velocity...

The world’s fastest thing was light, and when Ye Jingyu mastered the Star Apertures, his speed had increased exponentially. It wasn't just that these men’s cultivation was far beneath his; even those stronger than him could never match his pace...

In the blink of an eye, having executed the two men, Ye Jingyu paid no further heed to the girls. He turned back toward the remaining thugs. Excluding the two injured by Lin Xiaoyi, the others were heavily wounded and possessed no ability to flee...

With a single stride, Ye Jingyu was once again before Lü Yun. Facing such an overwhelmingly dominant Ye Jingyu, Lü Yun had stopped screaming. He finally understood: this time, he had collided with an iron plate—an immense and unyielding one at that. With Ye Jingyu’s level of cultivation, he was at least a Martial Saint, perhaps even the legendary Martial God...

A Martial God! Such beings were practically figures of legend, existing only in myth. How could one appear here? How could one involve themselves with a mere street performer like him?

To die by the hand of a Martial God—was that fortune or tragedy?

The thought nearly brought tears to Lü Yun’s eyes...

A supreme Martial God coming to deal with a tiny minnow like himself? This damned world... what a tragedy...