57: Chapter 57 The Turmoil in Qing Shi Town

The words of the one-eyed burly man were like a drop of water dropped into boiling oil, causing the already oppressive atmosphere of the inn lobby to instantly freeze.

The diners were as silent as cicadas in winter, lowering their heads to shove rice into their mouths, wishing they could bury their faces in their bowls.

The shopkeeper wanted nothing more than to shrink under the counter.

Scarface, Lin Dong, and Chen Feng took a step forward.

They faintly protected Ye Chen, Lin Qingxue, and Liu Yiyi in the center, their gazes cold as they stared at the group of road-blockers before them.

Scarface no longer hid his aura of the Peak Ninth Level of Meridian Opening.

Like a volcano about to erupt, it pressured those seven or eight burly men until their breathing hitched and their expressions changed slightly.

However, relying on their numbers and seemingly having someone backing them, they did not retreat.

“What? You want to start something?”

The one-eyed man glared with his single eye and smashed the wine jar in his hand onto the ground with a 'clatter.' Wine splashed everywhere as he grinned hideously.

“Scarface, don't think I don't recognize you! You're just an old dog of the Lin family! If you're smart, leave Ye Chen and those two little chicks behind and get lost. I might consider letting you live!”

Scarface's face darkened, and killing intent was revealed in his eyes.

“One-Eyed Wolf, you think a motley crew like you dares to block our path? You're looking for death!”

“Whether we're looking for death or not, we'll only know after we try!”

One-Eyed Wolf laughed wildly and waved his large hand.

“Brothers, go! Capture Ye Chen, and the Wang family will reward us handsomely! As for those two women, whoever catches them gets to keep them!”

“Awoo!”

The seven or eight burly men behind him immediately howled and rushed forward. Their blades and swords were drawn, cold light flickering, carrying a reckless bandit-like aura.

These people were clearly local thugs from the town, bribed by the remnants of the Wang or Ye families to wait here for their prey.

Although their cultivation was not high, their coordination was seamless and their strikes were ruthless.

Scarface gave a thunderous roar and advanced instead of retreating.

He threw a punch, the wind from it fierce and powerful.

He directly sent the man at the Fifth Level of Meridian Opening at the front flying, along with his saber, crashing into and collapsing half of the counter.

Lin Dong and Chen Feng also swung their swords to meet them, the sword light flashing as they engaged in battle with several of the men.

Liu Yiyi protected the still-weak Lin Qingxue, watching the surroundings vigilantly.

Ye Chen stood in place without moving, his gaze calmly scanning the battlefield.

Scarface and Lin Dong were enough to deal with these small fry.

He was more concerned about the several faint, more obscure and dangerous auras from outside the inn that had locked onto him.

The real killers had not yet shown their faces.

Sure enough, just as Scarface and the others were about to finish off this group of thugs...

Outside the inn door, three black shadows floated in like ghosts!

The leader was tall and thin with a sallow face, holding a pair of Water-Dividing Emei Piercers. His aura was cold and gloomy—he was actually at the Eighth Level of Meridian Opening!

The other two, one fat and one thin, also had cultivation at the Peak Seventh Level of Meridian Opening!

As soon as the three entered, their powerful auras immediately locked onto Ye Chen, not giving even a glance to the battle Scarface and the others were fighting.

“Bronze-rank Assassins from Shadow Fiend?”

Scarface's expression changed as he recognized their attire and aura.

They were indeed the “Shadow Fiend” assassins who had hunted them before, and their strength was even greater than those they had encountered previously.

“Young Master Ye, be careful!”

“Kid, let's see where you run this time!”

The sallow-faced lead assassin's voice was hoarse, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

Before his voice had even faded, his body turned into a trail of black smoke. The Emei Piercers in his hands were as fast as lightning, stabbing toward Ye Chen's throat and heart!

The Move was ruthless and tricky, carrying a cold, poisonous energy!

The other two assassins also lunged from the left and right, sealing off all of Ye Chen's paths of retreat!

Clearly, they were the true killing blow.

Their goal was clear: to kill Ye Chen in the shortest possible time, regardless of the cost!

Facing the combined lethal strike of three “Shadow Fiend” Bronze-rank Assassins, Ye Chen finally moved.

He did not draw his sword, nor did he even look at the assassins attacking from both sides.

He simply raised his right hand toward the sallow-faced assassin charging from the front, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and lightly tapped forward.

At his fingertip, a nearly imperceptible, tiny vortex of interwoven icy blue and golden-red flashed and vanished.

It was the embryonic form of the “Ice Fire Seal”!

Although he had only used a fraction of its power, using it against a Cultivator in the Meridian Opening Realm was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Seeing Ye Chen being so overconfident, a flash of cruel pleasure appeared in the sallow-faced assassin's eyes.

It was as if he could already see the scene of the opponent's throat being pierced by him.

However, just as the tip of his Emei Piercer was three inches away from Ye Chen's fingertip—

“Puff.”

A sound so slight it was almost inaudible. The sallow-faced assassin's forward-charging body suddenly stiffened, and the hideous grin on his face froze.

He looked down at his chest in disbelief.

There was no wound and no blood, but he felt all the life force within his body...

And all his True Essence, were in an instant struck by an indescribable, bizarre power that simultaneously contained extreme cold and extreme heat.

Completely frozen, then incinerated!

He didn't even feel pain before his consciousness sank into eternal darkness.

His body went limp and fell backward, its surface covered in a thin layer of white frost.

But the skin beneath the frost showed a strange, charred blackness.

One strike, an instant kill of an Eighth Level Meridian Opening assassin!

The other two assassins who had lunged close had their pupils shrink abruptly, and death warnings screamed in their hearts!

They hadn't even seen clearly how their companion had died!

A chill of death instantly rushed from the soles of their feet straight to the crowns of their heads!

The two of them forcefully stopped their forward momentum, wanting to retreat.

“Since you've come, then stay.”

Ye Chen's calm voice sounded like the whisper of a death god.

He pointed with his fingers on both his left and right hands.

“Swish! Swish!”

Two similarly tiny ice-fire vortexes entered the foreheads of the two assassins almost simultaneously.

The two assassins remained in their retreating postures, standing frozen in place.

The light in their eyes quickly dimmed, and then they fell to the ground with two 'thuds,' dead.

Their deaths were exactly the same as the sallow-faced assassin's: frost on the outside, charcoal on the inside.

Silence.

A deathly silence once again enveloped the inn.

Scarface and Lin Dong had also finished off the remaining thugs.

One-Eyed Wolf had his arm severed by Scarface's blade and was stepped on, so terrified that he had soiled himself.

But at this moment, no one could spare a thought for him.

Everyone's eyes were fixed intently on the three bizarre corpses of the assassins.

Then they looked at the youth in green robes who had only moved his fingers from beginning to end, his expression terrifyingly calm.

The air in the inn seemed to have solidified.

A bronze-rank “Shadow Fiend” assassin of the Eighth Level of Meridian Opening, killed in an instant?

Just what kind of strength was this?

The Wheel Sea Realm?

I'm afraid even an ordinary Lunhai Realm First Level couldn't do it with such casual ease, right?

Liu Yiyi covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes filled with shock.

Chen Feng also widened his eyes.

Although Lin Dong and Scarface knew that Ye Chen's strength had greatly improved, seeing such a shocking scene with their own eyes...

Still set off stormy waves in their hearts.

Lin Qingxue looked at Ye Chen's back, and a complex ripple flashed deep within her cold eyes.

Ye Chen's speed of improvement and his bizarrely powerful methods had already far exceeded her expectations.

Ye Chen slowly withdrew his fingers, the strange phenomenon at the tips having long since disappeared.

He didn't even look at the corpses on the ground, his gaze sweeping toward the inn entrance. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried out clearly.

“Friends outside, you've been watching for so long, are you still not going to show yourselves? Or do you also want to try this Ye's finger?”

A moment after his voice fell, two people slowly walked into the inn.

One was dressed in luxurious clothes with a sinister face—it was Wang Mang!

The other was a middle-aged scholar with a fair face and feminine eyes, holding an iron fan. His aura was deep—he was actually at the Lunhai Realm First Level!

He was the Guest Elder Wang Mang had hired with a heavy price, known as the “Iron Fan Scholar”!

“Ye Chen! It really is you, you little bastard!”

Wang Mang's eyes were blood-red as he stared fixedly at Ye Chen with heavenly hatred.

“You killed my son Teng and brought my Wang family to this point. Today, I will certainly grind your bones to ash!”

“Wang Mang, you're not dead yet; you certainly are resilient.”

Ye Chen gave him a faint glance, then his gaze fell upon the “Iron Fan Scholar.”

“Lunhai Realm First Level? This is what you're relying on?”

When the “Iron Fan Scholar” was swept by Ye Chen's calm gaze, he actually felt a strange palpitation.

But then he thought that the opponent was only in the Meridian Opening Realm.

That bizarre method just now might have been some forbidden technique or treasure. As a dignified Wheel Sea Realm expert, how could he lose his nerve?

He snorted coldly and snapped his iron fan open, cold light flashing on the fan's surface.

“Kid, stop being so arrogant! Kneel and accept your death, and I can leave your corpse intact!”

“With just you?”

A cold arc curled at the corner of Ye Chen's mouth as he finally slowly drew the ice scar sword from his back.

The dark blue blade glinted with a chilling light in the dim environment.

“Just right, I'll use you to test my sword.”

“Arrogant!”

The Iron Fan Scholar was enraged. With a flash of his body, he was already in front of Ye Chen.

The iron fan was like a blade, carrying a sharp astral wind as it sliced straight toward Ye Chen's neck!

The speed was so fast it only left an afterimage in the air!

In a Wheel Sea Realm Cultivator, True Essence turns into liquid. Whether in quality, quantity, or control, they are far beyond what the Meridian Opening Realm can compare to!

However, facing this lightning-fast strike, Ye Chen simply took a step forward.

The ice scar sword in his hand seemed to casually slash upward.

“Ding!”

The sword and fan met, producing a crisp ring.

The Iron Fan Scholar only felt an unimaginable, massive force transmit from the fan. Within that force...

Not only did it contain a bone-piercing chill, but it was also mixed with a hint of scorching hidden energy, which instantly broke through his protective True Essence and surged up the Meridians of his arm!

He gave a muffled groan and staggered back three steps. The iron fan in his hand hummed and nearly flew out of his grip, and his face instantly flushed red.

The blood and Qi in his body churned; he had actually suffered internal injuries from the shock of this one sword strike!

“What?!”

The Iron Fan Scholar's eyes showed an unbelievable horror.

He was at the Lunhai Realm First Level!

To be shaken back by a single sword strike from a Meridian Opening Realm kid?

Just what kind of freak was this kid?

Wang Mang was also dumbfounded, the hideous grin on his face freezing.

Ye Chen did not let up. His figure followed like a shadow, and the ice scar sword turned into a sky full of blue sword shadows.

It enveloped the Iron Fan Scholar like a violent storm!

His sword technique was not flashy; every strike was simple, direct, and swift.

Yet it contained a strange True Essence interwoven with ice and fire, and a Sword Intent of annihilation.

It left the Iron Fan Scholar struggling to cope, his situation becoming precarious!

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

The sound of clashing metal was incessant.

The more the Iron Fan Scholar fought, the more alarmed he became. He found that the Wheel Sea Realm True Essence he was so proud of...

Under the impact of Ye Chen's bizarre True Essence, could not gain the slightest advantage.

Instead, he was troubled by that hidden ice-fire energy, which caused his Meridians to sting and his aura to become disordered.

Ye Chen's power, speed, and reactions were completely unlike those of a Meridian Opening Realm Cultivator!

Especially that Concept, which made his mind uneasy.

“Damn it! What kind of Cultivation Technique is this?”

The Iron Fan Scholar was both shocked and enraged. Knowing he couldn't hold back anymore, he gave a sharp shout.

His entire True Essence erupted, and a blinding white light burst from the iron fan.

“Wind Sweeping the Clouds!”

He used his ultimate secret technique, waving the iron fan.

It turned into a massive white tornado, carrying a momentum that could tear everything apart as it coiled toward Ye Chen!

Facing this grand-scale strike, a sharp light flashed in Ye Chen's eyes, and he no longer held back.

The Ice Fire Vortex within his body shook slightly, and a majestic power poured into the ice scar sword. On the blade, icy blue and golden-red light intertwined and coiled.

A Sword Intent of annihilation, far more terrifying than before, spread out!

“Mystic Ice... Blazing Sun Slash!”

He slashed out. It was no longer a simple sword Move, but a rainbow of Sword Qi, condensed to the extreme and interwoven with ice and fire!

Everywhere the Sword Qi passed, the air seemed to be frozen and then instantly ignited, making crackling explosions.

Carrying a terrifying Concept of ending all things and the union of ice and fire, it fiercely cleaved into the white tornado!

“BOOM—!!!”

In a deafening roar, the white tornado was split down the middle by the ice-fire Sword Qi and exploded violently!

The violent energy flipped the inn's tables and stools, and cracks even appeared in the walls!

The Iron Fan Scholar was hit as if by a heavy hammer, and the iron fan in his hand snapped into two with a 'crack.'

He vomited blood and flew backward, smashing through the inn's door.

He fell onto the street outside, a deep wound visible to the bone on his chest.

Half was charred black, and half was covered in frost. His aura was faint; it looked like he wouldn't survive.

The Lunhai Realm First Level, defeated!

Ye Chen stood with his sword, his breathing steady, although his face was slightly pale.

That sword strike just now had consumed quite a bit.

His cold gaze turned toward Wang Mang, who was ashen-faced and trembling all over.

“It's your turn.”