The dim interior of the room was barely illuminated by the faint, struggling light of a single candle.

Qiao Zhong slumped on the floor, his four limbs hanging uselessly, sweat beading on his contorted face as he stared fixedly at Ma Jinshao. He had never imagined... the person before him could be so ruthless, to not only cripple his martial arts but also break both his legs and arms.

He was utterly destroyed!

“Ruthless?” Ma Jinshao sneered.

With his mouth gagged, Qiao Zhong emitted a sound of bitter refusal through his nose, his gaze seeming intent on tearing the murderer before him to shreds.

“Qiao Zhong, do you remember, twenty-one years ago, when you were just a centurion, passing by a hamlet called ‘Ma Family Village,’ dozens of miles north of Mount Xiaoyao?” Ma Jinshao fixed his gaze on Qiao Zhong, missing no twitch of his expression, no flicker of his eye—

At this moment, Qiao Zhong’s hatred brought Ma Jinshao a profound sense of satisfaction and relief!

“Nnngh,” Qiao Zhong shook his head desperately.

“You don’t remember? It seems you’ve committed so many wicked deeds that you’ve forgotten them all,” Ma Jinshao scoffed. “You, Qiao Zhong, currently possess nineteen concubines. Among them, the sixth one, her surname is Ma. Am I correct?”

Qiao Zhong’s eyes immediately widened.

“Her name was ‘Ma Qiao’er.’ You abducted her from Ma Family Village back then and took her as a minor concubine. However, this Ma Qiao’er hated you intensely and was beaten to death by you on the third day of becoming your concubine, isn't that right?” Ma Jinshao’s expression grew colder.

Qiao Zhong urgently tried to speak.

“No need to say anything; I know. Ma Qiao’er was going to poison you,” Ma Jinshao laughed mockingly. “That’s why you killed her!”

“But! Why would she want to poison you? She was just a frail woman—why would she want to kill you, a Centurion of the Xiaoyao Palace Divine Guard Corps?”

Ma Jinshao roared in suppressed fury, lowering his voice, “Because you killed her man, you killed her parents, you killed her uncles and elder uncles—a full thirty-eight lives! Simply because they dared to obstruct you when you were trying to seize a married woman! A full thirty-eight lives!”

Qiao Zhong offered no defense now; the man before him clearly knew everything in detail.

To the bandits of his former gang, massacring a village was nothing. As a Centurion of the Divine Guard, casually killing a few people was something he never paid any mind to in the past.

“Thirty-eight lives! And the other clansmen in Ma Family Village were so terrified by your slaughter that they dared not intervene,” Ma Jinshao’s face became menacing. “Fortunately... I wasn't home that day. On that day, the guards protecting the village were out buying New Year goods in the city! I survived! Only I remained of my family!”

Qiao Zhong’s eyes widened in sheer terror.

“Listen clearly. Ma Qiao’er was my older sister!”

“Ma Qingyang was my father!”

“Liu Minghua was my mother!”

Ma Jinshao glared at Qiao Zhong and growled, “And I am Ma Jinshao!”

Qiao Zhong’s body began to tremble uncontrollably upon hearing this.

He felt regret; he felt immense hatred!

If he had known that this brat from Ma Family Village would grow up to be so ruthless, he would absolutely have eradicated the roots back then!

Ma Jinshao drew the battle saber in his hand: “Don’t worry, I won’t strike you too many times. Thirty-eight lives, including my sister, makes thirty-nine. I will give you thirty-nine cuts... and with every cut, I will be very slow.” As he spoke, Ma Jinshao reached out and sharply pressed a point on Qiao Zhong’s neck.

Thwack!

Qiao Zhong’s throat convulsed.

“The first cut will be your tongue.” Ma Jinshao pulled the cloth out of Qiao Zhong’s mouth. That single press had already struck a vital acupoint on his neck; at this moment, Qiao Zhong was silenced.

“Don’t be afraid, I’ll be very slow.”

Ma Jinshao caressed the battle saber in his hand. “This blade, I obtained it from ‘Miyou Island’ among the archipelagoes of the East Sea. To be able to kill you, I apprenticed myself to masters in the East Sea Islands and trained relentlessly for twenty years. Unexpectedly, my aptitude wasn't bad; I managed to reach the Xuantian Void Core realm.”

“I originally thought killing you would be easy. Who knew that so many from Xiaoyao Palace would descend Mount Xiaoyao and reside in the Prefectural City. Your residence alone has quite a few Guardians and Elders. The surrounding residences also house many experts, including those at the Xuantian realm.”

“I knew that if I was discovered carelessly, I might very well die.”

“But I couldn’t wait any longer. I had no idea when those cowards from Xiaoyao Palace would finally return to the mountain. So, I acted today.”

“Twenty-one years! Father, Mother, Sister, Uncles—they have all waited long enough.”

Ma Jinshao gently swung his battle saber.

Like slaughtering a pig or ox, he began his retribution upon Qiao Zhong’s flesh.

...

On the rooftop, Teng Qingshan faintly overheard Qiao Zhong’s muffled gasps of intense pain, interspersed with Ma Jinshao’s murmurs.

“Twenty-one years—Ma Jinshao has been suppressed by hatred for twenty-one years,” Teng Qingshan sighed inwardly. From a psychological perspective, being oppressed by hatred for twenty-one years would likely cause an ordinary person to collapse; if they didn't collapse, their psyche would become severely twisted, and becoming a bloodthirsty maniac wouldn't be surprising.

However, Ma Jinshao clearly possessed good self-control.

At least, he was only killing Qiao Zhong and hadn't wiped out his entire family.

“There shouldn’t be any powerful experts around this residence. Otherwise, even Ma Jinshao speaking in a low voice, or Qiao Zhong’s earlier grunt, should have been heard,” Teng Qingshan judged. If he relied on his six senses, even from a corner of the residence, he would absolutely have noticed the commotion here.

Suddenly, Teng Qingshan, still prone on the roof, glanced toward the distance.

“I really have the ominous mouth,” Teng Qingshan shook his head.

He saw the middle-aged man with white eyebrows approaching with a puzzled look, but he made no sound, instead silently moving onto the veranda.

Teng Qingshan quietly lifted a roof tile and peered down.

Bang! The door was kicked open!

Ma Jinshao, who had been venting his hatred inside, carving away at Qiao Zhong’s flesh with his blade, was greatly startled.

“Sixth Junior Brother!” The white-browed man at the doorway cried out in shock and rage upon seeing the gruesome scene.

“Woo-woo!”

Qiao Zhong, whose eyes had been blinded, immediately became agitated, struggling to force air out. He knew... his Second Senior Brother had arrived! Even if he died, someone could avenge him!

“Only twenty-six cuts—you're lucky,” Ma Jinshao swept his battle saber, plunging it directly into Qiao Zhong’s heart.

Splat! Blood sprayed out.

“Die!” The white-browed man roared in fury, his longsword igniting with silver sword light. His figure blurred, transforming into an afterimage as he lunged toward Ma Jinshao.

“No need to escort me,” Ma Jinshao scoffed, simultaneously throwing himself violently toward the nearby window.

The white-browed man’s face seemed covered in frost. He spun, giving chase, but Ma Jinshao, who seemed to be fleeing, executed a bizarre, sudden pivot, delivering a sudden counter-attack. His battle saber manifested dark blade light, turning into a continuous flurry of shadows, slashing towards the white-browed man.

The blade shadows were blindingly fast!

“Your saber technique is decent…” The white-browed man’s voice still echoed inside the room.

Clang! Clang!

With two successive impacts, Ma Jinshao let out a low grunt and was violently thrown back into the wall behind him. With a deafening boom, the wall completely collapsed, shattering bricks and rubble flying everywhere. Tiles and roof beams also tumbled down. Such a massive disturbance caused many people nearby to gather.

“Quick!”

“Northeast side, hurry over there.”

A large contingent of patrolling Divine Guard soldiers quickly converged. “What happened? What’s wrong?” “Junior Brother, hurry, come over.” A group of Guardians, Elders, and others also rushed towards the scene.

“Hmph, daring to be arrogant with a mere Xuantian Void Core cultivation—seeking death.” The white-browed man moved like lightning. Amidst the flying debris, he charged forward, his body’s halo smashing the rubble aside. His silver-gleaming sword flashed once, arriving before the severely injured Ma Jinshao.

Ma Jinshao, whose hand grip was torn open, had no time to defend.

“So fast!”

Ma Jinshao felt a blur before his eyes, and the silver sword light flooded his vision. His face twisted in rage, he roared, unleashing all his strength, and surprisingly hurled his battle saber as if it were a throwing knife.

“Futile struggle!” The white-browed man dared not allow the blade to strike him. He simply turned his longsword to deflect the saber, then thrust toward Ma Jinshao’s throat.

“Father, Mother, Sister, Uncle, Eldest Uncle... Jinshao has avenged you all! I die without regret...” Carrying the burden of hatred for twenty-one years, once freed, Ma Jinshao faced death with surprising equanimity. Suddenly, in his mind flashed the image of the child who had stood before his mother against robbers. “Little He, Master wanted to teach you, but alas, in the future, you can only rely on yourself.”

Clink!

A crisp sound rang out.

The white-browed man felt an illusionary shadow strike his blade, carrying such immense force that he couldn't control his sword. He was aghast... A masked man in black suddenly appeared like lightning, kicking Ma Jinshao, who was on the ground, sending him flying into the air: “Hurry and go!”

Ma Jinshao, suspended in mid-air, finally reacted. The proximity of death and life stirred his spirit deeply.

“Thank you for saving my life!” Ma Jinshao shouted gratefully, cupping his hands in salute the moment he landed, then immediately leaped up to flee.

Seeing Ma Jinshao escaping, the white-browed man grew even angrier. The silver light of his sharp sword intensified, covering the fleeing black-clad man like a sword curtain, leaving him nowhere to hide. The intense air currents generated by the sword curtain even plowed deep trenches into the surrounding ground.

“Hmph!”

Seeing the black-clad man intercepted by the sword curtain, he let out a cold snort and slammed a punch directly toward the gigantic silver sword curtain.

Boom! The fist shattered the curtain and then struck the protective elemental shield covering the white-browed man’s chest. The man was hurled away like a comet, smashing through one wall after another, crashing through four walls consecutively before he miserably collapsed onto the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood. He struggled to look up.

The black-clad man had already leaped into the air; the Divine Guards arriving now were too late to stop him.

“Who are you!” the white-browed man roared in frustration.

“Overestimating yourself!”

The cold, sharp voice still echoed as the masked man in black vanished into the night.