Primordial Unity
Liu Yanran's already beautiful eyes widened, staring intently at Li Xian, her face full of shock, terror, and disbelief.
He drew his blade!?
Li Xian...
Actually drew his blade!?
He...
Would he really kill her?
Did he really dare to kill her!?
Could he really bear to kill her!?
Crimson blood, still warm from her body, spurted from the gaping wound on her neck like a spring, dyeing her pale blue gown black.
Her body stumbled, leaning against the windowsill, helplessly sliding to the floor.
At the same time, she clutched her neck with both hands, desperately trying to plug the wound and prevent the blood from gushing out.
But no matter how hard she pressed, more and more blood still seeped incessantly between her slender, fair fingers.
The terror of death frantically gnawed at her mind, quickly making her forget all her tender affections with the Young Lord Yan, erasing all those once-inseparable vows. In this moment, she only wished to live, only wished to breathe...
"Gurgle... Li Xian...save...save me..."
Unfortunately, Li Xian's gaze never lingered another instant on her.
His blade was now aimed at the remaining guards who attempted to carry Yan Ruxue to safety.
This scene drove Liu Yanran's fear of death to an unprecedented extreme.
She struggled to open her mouth, yet could not utter a single word.
Blood gushed from her neck and mouth, tearing her speech to shreds until only the faintest "heh-heh" sound was left.
Cold.
So cold.
As blood loss drained away her consciousness in icy torrents...
Her vision gradually darkened, and her thoughts grew muddled.
Until she faded away completely.
...
Even among the most loyal palace guards, not all were brave enough to face death unflinchingly.
After Li Xian had slain nine men in succession, the remaining guards finally lost their nerve.
They could no longer care for the little commandery princess Yan Ruxue and fled in terror, scattering in despair.
With Yan Ruxue left unguarded, completely exposed before Li Xian, all her former arrogance and domineering demeanor vanished from her face.
She cowered in a corner, watching Li Xian in horror, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.
"Don't come any closer! Stay away from me!"
The commandery princess of the Duke of Yue's Residence could no longer rely on her status to bring her the slightest sense of security.
Because...
He was insane!
Li Xian was absolutely insane!
Even Liu Yanran, the one he loved most—he killed her without the slightest hesitation.
If that wasn't insanity, what was!?
What did a madman care for your status? What did he care about the consequences of killing you!?
He only cared about his own satisfaction.
"Not going to kill you? Then how will you kill me?"
Li Xian flicked the blood from his blade.
"You said I was doomed to die today, that not even the gods could save me. Looks like I don't need the gods after all."
However, his gesture was a bit forceful—a few drops of blood flickered through the air and splattered onto Yan Ruxue's pale face.
That icy touch and the sharp scent of blood made her scream in terror: "Ah!"
Cowering backward into the corner, her body gave way and she collapsed, kneeling in panic.
"Don't kill me! I shouldn't have spoken so loudly, I shouldn't have offended you—it was my fault! Please, don't kill me!"
Ma Fu, witnessing this, couldn't restrain himself and shouted sternly: "Li Xian! Yan Ruxue is of the Great Zhou imperial clan. Do you realize the price for slaughtering imperial blood? You are provoking the honor of the entire royal family!"
Li Xian glanced at Ma Fu and originally didn't intend to speak.
But, in the end, he was a man of reason, so he responded, "Life and death—there's nothing greater. You all know why you set this banquet today. Why do you think, when you come to kill me, that I ought to hesitate or worry about the consequences?"
These words...
Made Ma Fu choke up.
"This..."
At that moment, Yan Ruxue, grasping for hope, suddenly blurted out, "You...you said earlier, you wouldn't kill me."
Her eyes brimmed with desperate will to live: "A prodigy like you surely keeps your word. You'll honor your promise...right?"
Ma Fu, hearing the little princess's words, could only shake his head with a bitter smile.
Not kill her?
Too naïve.
If Li Xian's blade had even hesitated for a second when it struck at the Young Lord Yan just now, maybe then he would have believed it.
But Yan Ruxue seemed to realize this as well, and though she trembled more fiercely, she still stammered, "You know Yan Kaigui, as the Heir Apparent, must have treasures like golden-threaded soft armor for protection, so your blade, weakened by his inner armor, would injure but not kill him...even if the process differs, the result is unchanged—you spared him."
Li Xian looked at Yan Ruxue in amazement.
She could even reason this out?
"You showed him mercy. Shouldn't you also give me a chance? I beg you..."
Yan Ruxue's eyes widened, brimming with longing for survival.
She was the little commandery princess of the Duke of Yue's Residence, born with a golden spoon in her mouth, raised in extravagance and luxury—her greatest mistake in life was to provoke this mud-legged peasant.
Especially when this peasant turned out to be a madman!
As long as she avoided this madman and never set foot in the realm of the commoners again, her life would still be one of splendor and wealth.
Li Xian was silent for a moment.
He hadn't intended to kill Yan Ruxue or Yan Kaigui, in order to let them spread the news and summon all the guards of the Duke of Yue's Residence, bringing them out en masse to encircle him.
But thinking carefully, to deliver a message...
One person would be enough.
"You're right. You guessed my intent precisely,"
Li Xian said.
Joy blossomed on Yan Ruxue's face at that instant, as if she had narrowly escaped death.
But in the next second—
A flash of the blade.
A chill instantly spread across the little commandery princess's neck.
At the same time...
She heard Li Xian's voice by her ear.
"But you're too smart for your own good."
The hope in Yan Ruxue's eyes instantly froze.
...
"He's mad! Mad!"
Ma Fu, upon seeing this, couldn't help but cry out in shock: "Zhou Juechen, mixing with such a lunatic—you'll drag the entire Zhou family into utter doom sooner or later!"
However, Zhou Juechen paid him no heed.
At this moment, all his focus was immersed in this battle.
His speed grew ever faster, his force more ferocious, his moves shifting from complex to simple.
Seeing this, Li Xian seemed to realize something.
He stepped back to the stairway, intending to act as a guardian and prevent anyone from interfering.
The duel between the two continued.
In a sense, Zhou Juechen at this time was no longer fighting Ma Fu.
His true opponent was himself—
The self burdened by countless mental shackles!
With each punch thrown, all distractions and superficial techniques were refined and purified, simplified to the essence.
Through this distillation—stripping away the complicated for the simple—his own energy grew even more focused and condensed.
At a certain moment, an irrepressible light suddenly burst from his eyes.
His entire spirit seemed to leap into an entirely new state of being.
Driven by this state, all the strength in his body converged as one, as if forging into a single current, attacking as primordial unity.
"Bam!"
Ma Fu, standing in his way, could no longer withstand the explosive force of the Primordial Unity Fist.
The arm he raised to guard his chest shattered instantly, the unstoppable energy driving straight through him, striking his chest and sending him flying backwards, crashing heavily into one of Guan Tao Tower's columns.
The solid beam, as thick as a man's arms around, was shattered and splintered by the force projected through his body.
"Primordial Unity!?"
Ma Fu's eyes snapped open wide, staring at Zhou Juechen in disbelief.
Primordial unity—leakless body!
Zhou Juechen...
He had actually comprehended Primordial Unity in the midst of mortal kombat, breaking through to the leakless state, becoming a first-rate expert renowned throughout the region!?
"Spurt!"
A mouthful of blood burst uncontrollably from Ma Fu's lips.
His heart vessels had been completely destroyed by that blow.
He gave one last glance at Li Xian, blade in hand, before turning to Zhou Juechen; his gaze, though bitterly unwilling, held a hint of complexity.
"To help one achieve the leakless body at my death... I...have no regrets..."
With that, his body collapsed, lifeless.
Both of Yan Kaigui's marrow cleansing elite had died, becoming mere corpses.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
It's quite common for CN novels to have arrogant fodders become meek when they see the MC's strength...
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