Chapter 72: Wushen Jue Palace

Just as Duan Fengyun and the others were still rejoicing over obtaining the Kirin Arm, the Under Heaven Society welcomed a group of uninvited guests.

The current leader of the Under Heaven Society, Wang Long, and the Deputy Leader, Wen Chouchou, stared at the man before them as if disaster were imminent.

The man was eight feet tall, in his early forties, and clad in thick, pitch-black armor; one could tell from his attire that he was not a person of the Zhongyuan.

Wang Long said tremblingly:

"Who are you, sir? Why have you come to my Under Heaven Society?"

A young man beside the man stepped forward to answer:

"This is my father, Jue Wushen, the master of the Dongying Wushen Jue Palace. From today on, your Under Heaven Society shall be renamed the Wushen Jue Palace."

"Sigh, Tian'er, I have taught you to convince people with reason; how can you speak with such a lack of decorum? After all, this is Leader Wang of the Under Heaven Society."

Jue Wushen said with a grin to his son Jue Tian, then turned around, stepped on Wang Long, and roared:

"Today, I, Jue Wushen, shall lead my Wushen Jue Palace to take over the Under Heaven Society, and from now on, the Under Heaven Society is renamed the Wushen Jue Palace. If anyone refuses to submit, they shall end up just like this man."

Jue Wushen exerted a slight force with his foot and sent Wang Long to the Western Heaven.

Seeing this, Wen Chouchou hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy:

"Palace Master, spare my life! Palace Master, spare my life! I am willing to submit to you, Palace Master."

Following the killing of Wang Long and the surrender of Wen Chouchou, the members of the Under Heaven Society, whose morale had long since scattered, threw down their weapons one after another and knelt.

"Hahahaha, from today on, my Wushen Jue Palace officially marches into the Zhongyuan."

Jue Wushen laughed loudly.

"Xin'er, you give the order: have the martial arts sects come to pay homage to my Wushen Jue Palace in three days. If any do not come, exterminate their entire sect."

Jue Wushen said to another young man standing to the side.

This was his eldest son, Juexin.

Juexin cupped his hands in a salute and said:

"I obey, Father."

Jue Wushen put his arms around the woman beside him and walked laughingly up to the throne of the former Under Heaven Society leader.

If Nie Feng had been present, he would have recognized this woman at a glance; she was none other than Nie Feng's biological mother, Yan Ying.

It turned out that on the day Yan Ying jumped from the Great Buddha into the river, she was washed ashore and saved by someone.

Jue Wushen held Yan Ying, looked down at the people below, and said to Wen Chouchou:

"Wen Chouchou, are there any formidable figures in the martial arts world today? Tell me about them."

Wen Chouchou replied respectfully:

"Reporting to the Palace Master, I believe there are five outstanding figures in the current martial arts world: the first is the Martial Arts Myth Wuming, and the remaining four are the former four Hall Masters of the Under Heaven Society: Qin Shuang, Nie Feng, Bu Jingyun, and Duan Fengyun."

When Wen Chouchou mentioned the name Nie Feng, Yan Ying's body could not help but tremble. Jue Wushen felt surprised but did not ask too much.

"Good. Tian'er, you go and capture these four former Hall Masters of the Under Heaven Society for me. As for Wuming, leave him to me to deal with."

Jue Wushen issued his orders.

Wanting to achieve something to show Jue Wushen, Jue Tian agreed immediately.

If he had known what kind of characters the four people he was about to face were, he probably would not have agreed so readily.

Jue Tian set off leading 50 of the Wushen Jue Palace's strongest soldiers, the Ghost Yaksha.

After Jue Tian left, Jue Wushen held Yan Ying and returned to the bedroom.

"Just now, when a name was mentioned, I noticed your body tremble. What is wrong? Do you know one of these people?"

Jue Wushen asked, puzzled by Yan Ying's earlier behavior.

Yan Ying knew Jue Wushen's suspicious nature, and she had already prepared an answer in her mind:

"No, I was just thinking that there are actually so many formidable figures in the current martial arts world; I wonder if it will affect your grand plan for hegemony, Wushen."

Hearing Yan Ying's answer, Jue Wushen laughed loudly:

"My lady, do not worry. I have my own ways to deal with these people. You go to bed and rest first; I still have some matters to attend to."

Yan Ying obediently went to bed, and Jue Wushen muttered to himself while sitting on his chair:

"Wuming, ten years ago you used your own strength to block me from marching into the Zhongyuan. Now that my Killing Fist and Indestructible Golden Body are complete, let's see how you can stop me."

Meanwhile, Jue Tian and the group of Ghost Yaksha arrived outside Huo Family Manor. Wanting a quick victory, Jue Tian prepared to use sleeping smoke to knock everyone out.

But as luck would have it, this group of uninvited guests was just bumped into by Duan Fengyun and Youruo, who had just returned from a stroll.

Seeing the attire of the Ghost Yaksha, Duan Fengyun knew without thinking that they were Jue Wushen's underlings. It seemed Jue Wushen had already invaded the Zhongyuan; the Under Heaven Society was likely already renamed the Wushen Jue Palace.

Duan Fengyun told Youruo to stand aside, then quietly drew his Jue Sword.

Now that the Jue Sword had been unsealed by Qilin Blood, Duan Fengyun found it extremely satisfying to use; the Jue Sword and his Kirin Arm were simply a perfect match.

Duan Fengyun picked up the Jue Sword and swung it out.

Just as Jue Tian and the Ghost Yaksha were lighting the sleeping smoke, they suddenly felt a wave of intense heat behind them. Turning to look, they saw a massive fire beast charging at them.

Jue Tian and the Ghost Yaksha wielded their weapons and attacked the fire beast; after a flurry of hacking, the fire beast vanished into smoke.

Jue Tian stared at the dissipated fire beast, stunned. What was going on?

A Ghost Yaksha from the side stepped out and said:

"Young Master, this fire beast appears to be the manifestation of a peerless expert's Sword Qi/Blade Qi. Our opponents on this trip are not ordinary."

Jue Tian said dismissively:

"Experts? No matter how powerful they are, are they as powerful as my father's Killing Fist? My father's Killing Fist kills men if men block it, and kills Buddhas if Buddhas block it."

Duan Fengyun carried the Jue Sword and walked out with a wicked grin, looking at Jue Tian and the Ghost Yaksha and the others.

He pretended to know nothing and asked:

"Who are you people? State your names at once!"

Before coming, Jue Tian had seen portraits of the four of them, so he recognized Duan Fengyun before him at a glance.

Jue Tian replied with a haughty look:

"Listen clearly, brat: I am Jue Tian, the young master of the Wushen Jue Palace. I am here under the orders of my father, Jue Wushen, to command you to go to the Wushen Jue Palace and pay homage. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, the former World Congress has already been replaced by my Wushen Jue Palace."

"Heh, what kind of bullshit Jue Wushen or Wushen Jue Palace is that? I've never heard of them. You want me to go pay homage? Keep dreaming."

Duan Fengyun also said haughtily.

At this moment, the gates of Huo Family Manor opened, and Bu Jingyun, Qin Shuang, and Nie Feng rushed out, weapons in hand.

"Three senior brothers, this greenhorn says he's the young master of some bullshit god palace and wants to drag us off to pay homage."

Duan Fengyun said to Nie Feng and the others.

Nie Feng stared at Jue Tian, his half-brother from the same mother but different father, and said:

"If you want us to pay homage, ask the blade in my hand if it agrees first."

Seeing that the four refused a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, Jue Tian waved his hand, signaling the Ghost Rakshasas to attack.

The Ghost Rakshasas surrounded the four fellow disciples.

"Brothers, let's have a competition to see who finishes the fight first."

Duan Fengyun shouted, and after speaking, he charged at a group of Ghost Rakshasas with the Jue Sword in hand.

The other three did not decline, each choosing a group of Ghost Rakshasas.

After a round of output, the Wushen Jue Palace's strongest soldiers—the Ghost Rakshasas—were all sent to the Western Heaven.

"Hey, greenhorn, go back and tell your father he isn't qualified to make us pay homage. He can come and pay homage to us instead."

Duan Fengyun teased.

Seeing this, Jue Tian was already scared out of his wits; how could these four be so powerful? These were the strongest soldiers of their Wushen Jue Palace.

"You lot just wait, I'm going back to call for reinforcements right now."

Jue Tian shouted as he ran.

"Hahahaha," Duan Fengyun and the others mocked. They did not stop Jue Tian; someone had to go back to report the news, after all.

"What! They actually dared to kill my Ghost Rakshasas and even said such things? I must tear these four into ten thousand pieces to make an example of them."

Inside the Wushen Jue Palace, Jue Wushen sat on the leader's throne, listening to Jue Tian's report from below.

Jue Wushen was very angry now, and just at this moment, Juexin walked in; he had successfully "invited" the leaders of the various sects of the Jianghu to the Wushen Jue Palace.

Juexin looked at his good-for-nothing younger brother before him and sneered inwardly.

But on the surface, he pretended to be very enthusiastic and said:

"Father, since those four, Duan Fengyun and the others, refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, let your son lead the Ghost Rakshasas to deal with them. Second brother, wait for me to avenge you."

Jue Wushen thought for a moment and agreed to Juexin's request.

Jue Tian said to Juexin with a naive look:

"Brother, you must avenge me. Especially that Duan Fengyun; I must tear him into ten thousand pieces."

Juexin nodded and then left.

Jue Wushen looked at the steady and composed Juexin, then looked at the greenhorn-like Jue Tian, and shook his head.

Although Juexin was his eldest son, he was only born after Jue Wushen had lost control while drunk and favored a maidservant.

Jue Tian was born to the woman he loved most, and at the moment of Jue Tian's birth, Jue Wushen had already decided to pass his position to Jue Tian.

He had wanted to use this incident to temper Jue Tian, but who knew Jue Tian would be so unmotivated.

If he wanted Jue Tian to inherit his great position, Jue Tian still had a long road ahead.

Meanwhile, Juexin brought a group of Ghost Rakshasas back to the outside of Huo Family Manor.

But Juexin led the Ghost Rakshasas to search the entire Huo Family Manor and could not find Duan Fengyun and the others.

It turned out that after Duan Fengyun and the others knew Jue Tian had gone back to report, they knew Jue Wushen would not let it go, so they packed their luggage and left Huo Family Manor.

The group returned to Yu Family Village.

Duan Fengyun thought for a while and decided to tell Bu Jingyun about the opening of the Peerless Sword.

Taking advantage of the moment when Youruo walked away, he said to Bu Jingyun:

"Senior Brother Yun, to tell you the truth, when I went to Sword Casting Villa to retrieve the Jue Sword, Zhong Mei told me something.

The Peerless Sword in your hand has not yet finished its opening; the current Peerless Sword is not in its strongest state. He asked me to tell you the method for opening the Peerless Sword.

He said the Peerless Sword was cast from extremely cold iron and requires an extremely hot object to open it.

But he didn't tell me what this extremely hot object was, which is why I haven't told you until now; I wanted to wait until I found the extremely hot object before telling you."

After hearing this, Bu Jingyun asked in return:

"So you mean you already know what the extremely hot object is now?"

Duan Fengyun nodded and said:

"Yes, the extremely hot object is tears of true emotion. The tears shed by the sword's master when expressing true emotion can open the Peerless Sword."

This stumped Bu Jingyun; wasn't this deliberately targeting him?

The opening of the Peerless Sword actually required him, the Uncrying Death God, to shed tears to open it.

It seemed the opening of the Peerless Sword would have to be shelved.