"Shu Mountain Sword Art — Majestic!"The sword light screams out. Li Tailong's blade cleaves the sky again, shredding the phantom mountain into glittering fragments. His inheritance lives up to its name — he fights like a warrior born to it.
Chen Xiao merely nods. "Impressive."
Li Tailong whirls, rage flaring. "Do you really think you can stand against Dachang with that scroll?" he snarls.
Chen Xiao chuckles, unbothered. "You're right — a trinket is still a trinket." He slings the Mountain and River Map onto his back and, calm as ever, says, "Bee Woman, let's finish Dachang."
The crowd snorts. This kid just put away the treasure and dares to threaten them? Suicide, they all think. Only the Bee Woman steps forward.
"Seeking death," someone mutters — and right on cue a figure behind Li Tailong moves. It's Wang Kun, twelfth on the Sanjiang Power Rankings, holder of the SS-rank magic talent Thread Pattern. He lunges for an easy kill; a flashy show for Tailong.
Dark threads spin, black light crawling like a living net. But suddenly chains erupt from the air — not Wang Kun's work. The battlefield turns to mire; his movements slow. Li Tailong's eyes narrow. This woman's power isn't a joke — at least SSS rank. Why would someone with that talent be stuck in Jiangbei?
Wang Kun scrabbles, then the Bee Woman blurs forward. A flying kick, a brutal impact — his jaw is ripped away, blood and teeth flying. He claws and crawls, stunned and helpless. Ouyang Miao's speed is lethal; she moves in a flash and finishes him off. Dead. Solo kill.
Li Tailong exhales a bitter laugh. Dachang's generals fall like pieces. The kid from Jiangbei — and his woman — are a depth he hadn't expected. His tolerance snaps.
"Jiangbei — you've been given a hundred chances. Why don't you cherish them?" he bellows, voice dripping with menace. "If I want you dead, you die. I'll skin you, pull out your bones, and throw the woman beside you into Dachang's slums!"
He lifts the Green Snake Jasper Sword. Red light roils around him, blood-hot and dazzling — a blood-energy surge that sets the air aglow. The carved green snake on the blade seems alive, writhing in the crimson blaze.
Chen Xiao remembers the Cangzhou listings — Li Tailong's signature is a blood-energy enhancement. This is it: raw, terrifying, and mass-murder proven.
The crowd murmurs: "He's gone all out. That move killed hundreds before." "If Tailong uses it, we're finished." Fear washes through them.
Chen Xiao takes a single step forward. Another. Hands behind his back, a slow, ridiculous smile on his face — no fear, no hesitation.
They shout: "Use the scroll! Don't be stupid!" "You can't take him head on!"
Li Tailong, drenched in red, snarls. He dashes like a comet, a streak of murderous light. The Green Snake Jasper Sword carves the air.
And then — faint, deliberate, four words slip from Chen Xiao's lips:"Nine. Foot. Seal. Imprint."
He raises a hand, syllable by syllable. Under Dragon Aura detection, the red storm surges within three meters of him.
Li Tailong sneers — this kid will be cut in two. Not even the Mad Ghost Butcher could withstand this move, he thinks.
A palm meets Li Tailong's face.
Everything collapses.
Where the blood-energy and sword aura should have roared, there is… nothing. The secret technique, the crimson tide — gone. The palm lands with the force of an avalanche. Li Tailong is launched like a ragdoll, teeth raining down, blood spitting into the sky like a serpent.
He slams into a distant building and buries himself deep in cracked masonry. No figure rises from the rubble — only a smear of blood and shattered stone.
Silence, then stunned shouting. No one expected that.
Chen Xiao stands in the dust, expression cold. The Mad Ghost Butcher's slap just taught Dachang the cost of underestimating him.