Chapter 269: Your Life, I Shall Take

Within the Heaven and Earth Alliance.

"Hold the line! Die if you have to, but hold it!"

Huang Chui roared, slashing with his blade while berating the Heaven and Earth Alliance's men not to retreat.

The Heaven and Earth Alliance was now trapped in a courtyard by beast hordes.

If the beasts broke through even a single gap,

what followed would be massacre—then the dead would be tenfold, a hundredfold more than now!

"What exactly is happening?!"

Liu Tong's expression was tense; he had never seen such a massive scene—the beasts surged like a tidal wave, relentless, endless, impossible to kill off.

If not for Huang Chui leading them to hold this courtyard, even more would be dead by now.

As he pondered,

his gaze unconsciously flicked toward Liang He beside him.

The decision to retreat was said to be Huang Chui's, but it was really Liang He's—had Liang He not insisted on retreating citing Li Rui's orders, Huang Chui would never have withdrawn so quickly.

That was a vast fortune the Heaven and Earth Alliance had built.

To retreat meant abandoning everything they had painstakingly acquired to total destruction.

"Is property more important than life?"

That was what Liang He had said then.

Liu Tong sighed softly.

'I am truly no match for him.'

True geniuses reveal their resolve and talent most clearly in crisis—Liang He was undoubtedly such a man.

He had overshadowed Liang He daily with petty cleverness, with technique; Liang He possessed wisdom, the Dao.

There was a fundamental difference.

'I chose the wrong path.'

Liu Tong believed Li Rui had passed these abilities to Liang He—who else but a true disciple would receive such things, while he was merely a trusted subordinate?

At that moment,

Huang Chui smashed a beast close by with his hammer, then stepped back beside Liang He.

"Little He, what do we do next?"

Faced with such a furious beast tide, individual valor was useless—Liang He had quietly become the heart of the Heaven and Earth Alliance.

Liang He sighed lightly.

What to do?

The current situation was beyond human control, but remember—this was Qinghe, home to the Eight Great Sects and the Peacekeeping Guard. He observed: these beasts' strength was not overwhelming, still within manageable limits.

His gaze sharpened with resolve: "Hold on. The Alliance Master is coming soon."

Upon hearing "Alliance Master,"

every elder and disciple of the Heaven and Earth Alliance stirred with renewed spirit.

The Heaven and Earth Alliance had several masters, but if no surname preceded "Master," it could mean only one: Grand Master Li Rui.

He was the one who raised the Heaven and Earth Alliance to unprecedented heights.

He was the pillar of the Heaven and Earth Alliance!

Instantly, morale surged, shouts of battle echoing through the air.

Only Liu Tong's eyes flickered with unease as he looked toward Liang He.

'Will he come?'

Since the beasts first appeared, half an hour had passed—and not a trace of the Peacekeeping Guard or the Eight Great Sects.

What did that prove?

The Peacekeeping Guard and the Eight Great Sects were barely holding on themselves!

'He won't come.'

As he had just thought—he lacked wisdom, but he was clever enough not to expose Liang He's lie.

Hadn't the Hall Master once used a phrase—what was it? "Longing for plums to quench thirst"?

If morale collapsed, they'd die even faster.

Suddenly—

Someone's hoarse voice screamed: "It's the Master!"

The cry pierced the air like an arrow, drawing every eye.

There he was:

An old man, sword in hand, casually cutting down beasts that lunged at him.

One slash, one beast.

Truly—one slash, one beast—his sleeves soaked in blood, all beast blood.

In moments,

Li Rui stood before the Heaven and Earth Alliance members. Seeing Liang He, Liu Tong, Huang Chui, and the others unharmed, and the Alliance's spirit still intact, he smiled faintly.

Good.

Enduring hardship was not harmful to the Heaven and Earth Alliance—it helped bind their hearts together.

Of course, this was no training—it was real, life-or-death peril.

"Master."

"Hall Master."

"Big Brother."

Liang He and the others rushed toward Li Rui.

"Big Brother, I knew you'd come."

Huang Chui was genuinely moved.

He had thought the same as Liu Tong—that Li Rui could not possibly come tonight. Yet here he was.

Li Rui scanned the group: "Hold until dawn. Reinforcements are on their way."

Reinforcements!

Hearing this, everyone's hope ignited—even the clever ones: Huang Chui, Liang He, Liu Tong.

Li Rui's arrival brought comfort; reinforcements alone could truly resolve the crisis.

His thoughts stirred.

The Eight Great Sects had not appeared; Jiang Lin had vanished—this was far worse than imagined.

He did not know about the reinforcements.

But it was undeniable.

Reinforcements would come—without question—because this was Da Yu, the mighty, radiant Da Yu.

Minor incidents might be buried and ignored, but a city siege? That would surely alarm An Nan Town. Don't forget—Governor Yuan is currently in Yunzhou.

So it was certain: by dawn, reinforcements would arrive.

Then all chaos within the city would be quelled.

Li Rui stared at the beasts just before him.

'Clever tactics.'

He could almost be certain this beast uprising was the work of the Qi clan of the Southern Frontier—only they would dare such audacious acts.

If a large army had entered, scouts would have spotted them long ago.

But beasts were different.

They scattered through forests and mountains, hard to detect; unless they formed a tide, no one cared—and that's precisely how they slipped past Yu's hidden spies to stage this siege.

Such a deception—clearly the work of the Lady Ling Luo, Lord of Man Gu City.

'So what are they after?'

Li Rui narrowed his eyes.

This grand spectacle was like a massive firecracker—after the blast, nothing but wreckage, incapable of shaking Da Yu's foundations.

Lady Ling Luo would not waste effort.

So she must be using this to conceal her true objective.

'She must be in Qinghe right now.'

The Eight Great Sects' elders were no pushovers—yet none had appeared, meaning they were trapped. Only Lady Ling Luo herself could hold them all at bay.

Otherwise, if she could remotely intimidate the Eight Great Sects' elders, she wouldn't merely be a Lord of Man Gu City.

Li Rui would have fled the city—or even Yunzhou—without hesitation.

Though he suspected Lady Ling Luo was inside the city, he had no intention of acting.

To single-handedly save the collapsing heavens?

That was not the kind of heroics an old man like him could pull off.

Intelligence indicated Lady Ling Luo herself was only fifth-rank—how could she suppress the Eight Great Sects' elders? She must have brought other experts. Going now would be suicide.

The wisest course was to wait.

Wait for reinforcements to arrive.

The crisis would resolve itself—simple as that. And that was exactly what he was doing.

With Li Rui's participation, the Heaven's Alliance's pressure plummeted; his innate talent for slaying demons made him a natural scourge of demons—no demon could survive a single strike from him.

One after another, demon beasts fell dead before Li Rui, until their corpses gradually piled into a small mound.

Blood, slaughter, tears—countless grotesque scenes converged.

This night in Qinghe was destined to be unforgettable.

The night grew deep, time dragged painfully; no one knew how many would not survive it.

Huang Chui gazed at the improving situation before him and allowed himself a faint smile.

He was about to speak.

Before the word "Big" even left his lips, he saw a gaunt old man step out from among the demon carcasses.

After a night of seeing nothing but demons, encountering a human for the first time left him unnerved.

Huang Chui's eyes narrowed.

Without doubt, that old man was the mastermind behind tonight's scheme.

Yuan Gao, hands behind his back, sneered at Li Rui: "Ling Luo was right—you really would come here."

Li Rui narrowed his eyes.

He slowly spoke: "Banshan Yuanhou—Yuan Gao?"

Hearing Li Rui reveal his identity, Yuan Gao was startled. "Hmph! You've got some nerve—know my name. If you surrender now, I might spare your life."

Li Rui said nothing.

He recognized Yuan Gao because he had memorized every portrait of those recorded by the Ghost Ming Sect in imperial files.

Yuan Gao was no mere lackey.

Please... Your Excellency... collect_(!)

A fifth-rank Observer of the Sea, a minor master whose name echoed through the martial world.

For a fifth-rank minor master to target a man supposedly at sixth rank—truly a mark of respect.

Clearly.

Tonight's plot was aimed at him.

No—he was one of several targets; otherwise, it wouldn't have been Yuan Gao who came, but Ling Luo herself.

Yuan Gao watched Li Rui slowly draw his long blade, a cruel smile curling his lips.

"Let me break your limbs—leave you alive but wishing for death."

Thunder cracked!

Yuan Gao swung his entire arm—crackling thunder erupted in a chain of explosive snaps.

'Divine Ape Backfist!'

Faintly, a colossal divine ape, two zhang tall, appeared behind Yuan Gao, pounding its chest and roaring upward.

Yuan Gao's martial nickname, "Banshan Divine Ape," derived from his devastating Divine Ape Backfist and the Divine Ape Carrying Mountain painting—combined, their power doubled.

Countless famed martial artists had died beneath these arms.

Li Rui twisted his body, tapped his foot, and leapt like a kite soaring—without looking back, he vaulted over the courtyard wall and landed amid the demon corpses.

"Trying to flee?"

"Where do you think you're going!"

Yuan Gao leapt after him, relentless in pursuit.

The two chased and fled, moving at blinding speed, arriving at an alley a li beyond the Heaven's Alliance.

Yuan Gao slowed, sneering at Li Rui, now cornered.

"What, no more running?"

Li Rui's panic vanished—only icy calm remained: "How do you know I was trying to escape?"

In an instant—

Blade intent surged through the alley; invisible blade qi scraped against the walls, ringing like metal.

Yuan Gao's pupils shrank sharply.

Unseen, a blade qi had grazed his neck and vanished into the darkness behind him.

"You're fifth rank?!"

He stared at Li Rui in disbelief, realization dawning: "It wasn't Jiang Lin who killed Zhuang Ren—he was you!"

Hidden so deep!

Yuan Gao never imagined this unremarkable, overlooked old man had concealed an entire realm.

Are you a turtle?

You've reached the same level as Cao Wei, Assistant Regional Commander of the Peace Guard—and yet you chose to remain a lowly Captain, hiding, biding your time—

Too patient.

And that single move just now proved he wasn't newly entered fifth rank—he'd been accumulating for years.

Even alone, he was a match for either of us—let alone capturing him alive.

At that moment, a figure appeared beside Yuan Gao.

Qi Rui eyed Li Rui warily: "Enough talk. End this quickly—before things grow complicated."

Fear flickered in his eyes.

He'd planned to stay hidden—but Li Rui's power shocked him into revealing himself.

They'd guessed wrong. Ling Luo had guessed wrong too.

Everyone had underestimated this old man overshadowed by Jiang Linxian's radiance.

But it didn't matter—this time, to capture Li Rui, they'd sent two minor masters: him and Yuan Gao.

The outcome won't change.

Yuan Gao was glad he'd listened to that woman, Ling Luo—otherwise, he might have joined the hundreds of corpses tonight.

"Attack!"

The two moved in tandem, perfectly synchronized.

They flanked Li Rui, cutting off all escape.

This man must die—even if not captured alive.

Li Rui lowered his gaze, ignoring the killing intent.

Still as the Ming King, unmoving as a mountain!

Just as sword and fist were about to strike his crown, he moved.

A sharp hiss.

A short blade shot from Li Rui's sleeve—Yuan Gao and Qi Rui were too close to react.

Both gritted their teeth.

Their strikes didn't falter—they traded blows for blows!

In the next instant—

Both their pupils shrank as one: as sword and fist struck Li Rui's head—

A celestial palace suddenly materialized in the alley, its roof coiled with divine dragons, enveloping Li Rui.

The sword and fist halted half an inch from his scalp, unable to advance further.

"What kind of qi form is this?!"

Neither was a fool—but Li Rui's strange qi form stunned them.

"He's a dual-form cultivator—hidden so well!"

Yuan Gao's face turned ghastly.

The intelligence clearly stated Li Rui was a Dragon form.

'What else is he hiding?'

Yuan Gao and Qi Rui's gazes grew heavier than ever.

Almost the instant the celestial form appeared, Li Rui's Barrier Blade struck Yuan Gao's chest—violent force tore open a gaping wound; had Yuan Gao's body not been exceptionally strong, the blade would have split him in half.

"Ugh!"

Yuan Gao, gravely wounded, staggered back.

Li Rui pressed his advantage, blade intent instantly engulfing Yuan Gao—he ignored Qi Rui entirely, obsessed, frenzied, raising his blade to strike Yuan Gao again.

Dragon power unleashed!

The Dragon-Elephant True Qi Force's brutal might exploded in its purest form of violence.

Each strike was wreathed in circling dragons, devastating beyond measure.

Li Rui fought two at once—not only holding his ground, but dominating them.

One slash.

Two slashes.

Thirty-seven slashes.

Ten thousand jin of force slammed into Yuan Gao—shattering his iron rod, snapping his bones, caving in his chest—spurting blood, splattering his face.

Dead?

Yes. Dead.

Li Rui even took a direct sword strike from Qi Rui to confirm Yuan Gao was truly dead—then turned.

"Done playing?"

"Now it's my turn."

Such a thing as a wounded opponent turning the tables must be utterly prevented.

"You—"

Qi Rui was terrified; he instinctively stepped back. In his eyes, Li Rui was a night demon from hell—no, the King of Hell himself!

Both were fifth-rank, yet Li Rui was terrifyingly fierce.

In strength, martial art, true qi, and qi form, Li Rui crushed him utterly—in other words, Li Rui was a true genius.

He wanted to flee, but it was already too late.

Li Rui's blade pressure came crashing down like a mountain and sea, severing his last chance of escape.

Fifteen minutes later.

Another corpse lay in the alley.

Li Rui took out Corpse-Dissolving Water and erased all traces of Yuan Gao and Qi Rui, ensuring no residue remained.

Only then did he turn and leave.

At that moment—

East of the city, a radiance of ten thousand zhang suddenly blazed forth; in the heavy darkness, a blazing sun hung high in the heavens!

(End of Chapter)