Chapter 27: Never Retreat, Kill!

The leading youth’s face darkened. “Do you know who I am? I, Yang Wei, have already shown you enough mercy by telling you to get lost, and now you want to kill my servant?”

Xia Jiuxuan’s expression was indifferent. “I asked you to kill that old dog yourself as a favor to you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be the only one to die.”

Arrogant!

To those present, these words were especially grating. Since when had anyone from the Yang family of the Imperial Capital been so belittled? This was an immense humiliation! How could a lowborn, ignorant wretch dare to be this insolent?

“Young Master Yang, allow us to kill him!” Several young men at Yang Wei’s side volunteered themselves.

Their cultivation was not low, each having reached the fifth tier of the Palace Entry Realm. For their age, this level was far superior to the so-called geniuses from small places like Longxue City.

“Kill him? For what?” Yang Wei furrowed his brow, waving his men back.

“He’s so brazen—are you really going to let this dog live?” they asked in bewilderment.

Yang Wei snorted coldly. “Didn’t you see even Old Yang had his arm shattered by him? We’re all at the fifth tier of the Palace Entry Realm. If he lashes out in desperation and injures one of us, it’s hardly worth it.”

Instantly, they understood. “Young Master Yang, you’re truly prudent.”

Then Yang Wei sneered, calling out, “Guardians! Where are you? Kill this brat at once!”

As a young master of one of the great families of the Imperial Capital, he would never travel without powerful protectors in secret. Such protectors were generally called Guardians.

Whoosh, whoosh—

Two figures shot out from the forest nearby, landing at Yang Wei’s side in a blink.

“Greetings, Third Young Master.”

Both wore tight black attire, their presence deep and steady as an abyss.

Experts—at least by Xia Jiuxuan’s current standards, they were true experts.

Profound Enlightenment Realm! A realm above the Palace Entry Realm. A whole level higher, far beyond what Xia Jiuxuan could deal with now. If he fought them, he had no chance of victory.

“Kill him at once!” Yang Wei was ruthless and decisive, ordering those of higher cultivation to strike so nothing could go wrong. Clearly, he was no stranger to killing.

At this point, it was pointless for Xia Jiuxuan to explain or beg for mercy. The outcome had been decided from the start.

“You want to kill me? Why shouldn’t I want to kill you?”

Wasting no time, Xia Jiuxuan immediately activated his advanced footwork technique. His cultivation was now much higher than it had been just days ago, so the backlash was not nearly as severe—at least not enough to cripple him in the short term.

He needed only a few heartbeats.

Like a shadow flitting through space, he appeared before Yang Wei so quickly that not even those in the Profound Enlightenment Realm could track his movement instantly.

“Be careful, young master!” the Guardians shouted in alarm, sensing something was wrong.

Swoosh! Blood spurted everywhere.

The old man surnamed Yang fell, headless, before anyone could react.

Almost simultaneously, a black spear pierced straight through Yang Wei’s skull.

“Ah!” Yang Wei let out a final shriek, dying with his eyes wide open.

It was too fast.

No one had expected that, even under the intimidation of two Profound Enlightenment experts, the boy could still exhibit such terrifying speed and power.

Then again, who would ever seriously guard against an ant’s sneak attack?

Having succeeded, Xia Jiuxuan instantly unleashed the full power of his tenfold demon blood, pushing his strength to the peak.

“Kill!”

With a reverse sweep of his spear, shadows flickered, and four more heads fell in rapid succession.

“Damn it!” The two Guardians felt as if they were elephants being harried by ants—enraged beyond reason.

“Suppress him!”

Boom!

One of the Guardians finally locked onto Xia Jiuxuan’s position and unleashed a full-strength strike. Mystical energy erupted, making the very air thunder with explosive force. That one blow could have shattered a small mountain.

Yet Xia Jiuxuan did not retreat. Instead, he lunged forward to meet the furious palm head-on.

Bang!

Summoning all his true strength and gathering it in his chest, Xia Jiuxuan rammed into the Guardian’s palm.

How could someone in the mere Palace Entry Realm have the gall to collide with an attack from a Profound Enlightenment expert? It was suicidal, with no chance of survival.

But the next moment, everyone was dumbstruck.

The scene they imagined—Xia Jiuxuan being blasted into a cloud of blood—did not happen.

His figure was flung backward at a speed almost too fast to follow, black fragments scattering through the air.

“Damn it!” the Guardian cursed aloud, unable to contain himself.

His palm throbbed with pain from the recoil. What on earth was that armor—so unbelievably hard!

Meanwhile, Xia Jiuxuan spat out blood, but used the tremendous force to retreat, swooping up Xia Ran and holding her close as he continued to fall back.

They had no idea he wore the Dragon Scale Armor, forged from genuine dragon scales. Once removed from the dragon’s body, the scales’ defense was greatly reduced, but it was still not easy for a Profound Enlightenment expert to shatter them. If the Guardian hadn’t struck with his full strength, the armor would have only cracked at most.

All of these actions happened in the blink of an eye.

But every outcome was precisely within Xia Jiuxuan’s calculations and expectations.

If he’d tried to flee from the start, those experts would have pursued him relentlessly and might well have caught him. He needed to use their power to widen the distance between them.

He calculated the armor’s defense, his own burst speed, and force. He charged in, took several heads, enraged the Guardian into a full-strength attack, then used the momentum to retreat.

It was a plan with multiple benefits: he killed those he needed to, and even got help from his enemy to escape—why not?

“Where do you think you’re going!” the Profound Enlightenment expert roared.

It was a flawless plan. But now Xia Jiuxuan would have to face the full fury of two experts.

“You old fools, come at me if you dare—I’ll send you straight to the underworld!”

What infuriated them most was that, even as he fled desperately, the boy’s mouth was as insolent as ever. Once they caught him, they would tear him to pieces.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The speed of the Profound Enlightenment Realm was terrifying. Even as Xia Jiuxuan forced himself to endure the backlash and use his advanced movement technique, he was only slightly faster than them. After all, his cultivation was still too low and his body too weak.

“Run—let’s see where you can go!”

A youth’s threats meant nothing to the two experts. They gave chase without hesitation.

Within a dozen breaths, Xia Jiuxuan’s speed began to drop. Soon, the two Guardians would catch up. Gritting his teeth through the pain of torn meridians, Xia Jiuxuan burst forth again, darting toward a mountain slope beside the road.

Xia Ran, huddled in his arms, was completely stunned.

It was her first time being held by her second uncle, and she was both terrified and afraid. But this time, no matter how frightened she was, she didn’t cry.

The crushing pressure from behind was already upon them.

Xia Jiuxuan was nearly spent, yet his mood was relaxed, and a cold, murderous smile played at the corner of his lips.

Closer—his destination was finally near.

Ahead stood a sheer cliff, with a stone gate carved with mystical runes embedded in the rock.

“Die, brat!” came the shout from behind. The two Guardians were now only several yards away. Their unleashed mystical energy was close enough to strike and kill Xia Jiuxuan.