Chapter 236

"Ahhh!" Qiu Yichen knelt on the ground, cupping Ruan Shu's face, and suddenly burst out a heart‑rending roar.

That roar woke everyone inside the Five Absolutes Palace.

"No, don't..." Ruan Shu tried to grab Qiu Yichen's hand, but he slid his hand off her face, "Don't... like this..."

"Heh, the suffering I endured in the Five Absolutes Palace will be repaid double to its people!" Qiu Yichen said hatefully. Having spoken, he rose to his feet, stretched one arm, and the Falling Moon Blade flew straight into his hand. He stepped step by step toward the iron gate.

"Swish!" As his hand rose and blade fell, Qiu Yichen cleaved Ruan Shu's two youngest junior sisters in one stroke.

"You... junior sister! Junior sister! Ahhh!" Ruan Shu never expected Qiu Yichen to be so cruel; she watched helplessly as her two most beloved junior sisters fell beneath the devil's blade.

And that devil was someone she herself had set free!

"Junior sister... junior sister... Qiu Yichen... Qiu Yichen..." Ruan Shu, torn between clinging to the corpses of her two junior sisters and trying to hold back Qiu Yichen.

Qiu Yichen would not retreat; having emerged, he sought revenge.

The disciples of the Five Absolutes Palace gathered together, blocking the end of the corridor—the exit of the great prison. They stood in neat rows, eyeing Qiu Yichen warily, then readied their stances; this battle was inevitable.

"Just in time." Qiu Yichen murmured softly. He swept the Falling Moon Blade sideways, and true qi surged from his body, flooding the entire corridor and even bursting out of the palace roof.

"Don't... Qiu Yichen, don't! They are all my junior sisters, the ones I love most!" Ruan Shu cried out in tears.

"Eldest Senior Sister, move aside quickly!" the leading junior sister said to Ruan Shu, "He is the person the Palace Master imprisoned; although you released him, we cannot let him leave the Five Absolutes Palace!"

"Junior sister, hear me out—can we sit down and talk properly?" Ruan Shu turned again, pleading with her junior sister.

At that moment, Qiu Yichen stepped past Ruan Shu and slashed forward with his blade!

The junior sister who had just been speaking with Ruan Shu was instantly cleaved in two.

"Sisters, fight him to the death!" someone shouted, and the disciples of the Five Absolutes Palace swarmed forward, filling the narrow corridor and charging at Qiu Yichen.

The power of the Five Absolutes exploded instantly! Hundreds joined forces to unleash the ultimate Five Absolutes technique!

The entire corridor shattered! The hard marble was blasted into fragments in an instant.

Then it surged toward Qiu Yichen.

Qiu Yichen unleashed the Seven Hatred Devil Blade! Seven strokes passed, and the Five Absolutes' power was wiped clean.

"Fight him!" the disciples of the Five Absolutes Palace had not expected such a formidable opponent—just a few strokes shattered their ultimate move! Yet they were not discouraged; unless Qiu Yichen stepped over their corpses, they would not let him leave.

"Just as I wished!" Qiu Yichen snarled ferociously, and he also rushed toward the enemy.

"Swish swish swish!" Three strokes passed, and a row of the Five Absolutes disciples fell; after a few fierce kicks, many more went down.

In close combat, the disciples of the Five Absolutes Palace had no chance whatsoever!

Before Qiu Yichen, their lives were thinner than paper.

Qiu Yichen showed no sign of holding back; he plunged into the crowd, hand rising and blade falling with extreme cruelty—each stroke was like mowing grass, pouring all his hatred onto these women.

Hatred for the Five Absolutes Palace, hatred for its Palace Master!

"Ahhh!"

"Ahhh!"

"Ahhhh!"

The fallen were countless; Qiu Yichen had fully unleashed himself, and no one could stop him—he wanted to kill!

"Eldest Senior Sister, you aid the tyrant; Master will not spare you!"

In truth, the only one who could stop Qiu Yichen was Ruan Shu.

Ruan Shu is the eldest disciple of the Five Absolutes Palace; aside from the Young Palace Master, she is the strongest of the younger generation. At one point, her strength even surpassed that of the Young Palace Master!

Yet Ruan Shu did not move to stop any of this, even though she shouted herself hoarse. Her efforts were futile.

Moreover, Ruan Shu's heart was in turmoil, for she herself had released Qiu Yichen; the Palace Master would never forgive her. Even if she now stopped Qiu Yichen, having killed so many junior sisters, her guilt could not be escaped.

Qiu Yichen went mad with slaughter; corpses littered the corridor beneath his feet and beneath Ruan Shu's feet.

Since its founding, the Five Absolutes Palace had never suffered such a catastrophe!

"Palace Master! I will repay every bit of the suffering you inflicted on me! One day I will make you weep and beg for mercy before me!" Qiu Yichen swore, eyes red, gazing at the night sky.

No matter how many he slays, it cannot ease the hatred in his heart; no matter how much blood he spills, it cannot bring him satisfaction!

"Master, what should I do..." Ruan Shu wept as she asked; with the Master absent, she was really questioning herself, knowing she had stepped onto a path of no return.

……

After an hour, the townsfolk of Bear King Fortress saw a mass of flames rising in the north, blazing high into the sky!

"Isn't that the Five Absolutes Palace?"

"How did the Five Absolutes Palace catch fire?"

"A thousand‑year‑old heritage site actually caught fire—how could the Palace Master let his own fortress burn!"

The townsfolk pointed at the northern sky, chattering; even devout people knelt facing north. They knew Bear King Fortress enjoyed peace thanks to the protection of the Five Absolutes Palace, so the palace's fire was an ominous portent.

"Should we go fight the fire?"

"The Five Absolutes Palace has benefited us; we cannot stand by while it turns to ruin. Let us pool our strength and see if we can reach it before dawn to fight the fire!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Right, we cannot forget kindness and betray righteousness!"

It was Qiu Yichen who set the Five Absolutes Palace ablaze with a single fire!

Ruan Shu knelt before the Five Absolutes Palace as the fire spread wildly, already licking at her feet; she murmured to the palace where she had lived twenty years, "Five Absolutes Palace… my home! My home!"

Ruan Shu seemed to have gone mad, constantly muttering.

"It has become the past." Qiu Yichen gazed at the raging flames, at his proudest work, and said coldly, "If you do not acknowledge me, I will burn everything you have!"

"You harmed me!" Ruan Shu shouted at Qiu Yichen in anger.

"Hahaha! No matter what, we are now grasshoppers on the same rope. You and I alike are enemies of the Five Absolutes Palace Master—either she dies, or we perish!" Qiu Yichen laughed loudly, then shoved Ruan Shu to the ground with a violent fling.

Ruan Shu almost fell into the fire!