343: A fool who delivered himself to my doorstep [6500 words completed today]

Absolute Heart was full of vigor and ambition; with careful planning against an unsuspecting opponent, his progress was smooth. He was sure that his father had already taken over the World Society!

"Master, I'm sorry!" Sword Morning continued to regret.

"I don't blame you, you had no choice!" What else could Nameless say, looking at the Disciple he had raised since childhood.

It was all his own fault!

"Master, will Godless really enter the Central Plains?" Sword Morning asked. If he brought invaders into the Central Plains, his sins would be even greater.

"Overlord is not as simple as he imagines!" Nameless's mouth curved into a smile. Although he had only met him once, he knew that Overlord would not fall as easily as he did.

Absolute Heart escorted Nameless and Sword Morning, unimpeded, directly to the magnificent plaza of the World Society's main altar.

This gave him a false impression: if his father had not already taken control of the World Society, how could their journey have been so smooth?

Thinking that his father, Godless, must now be seated on the throne, with all the heroes of the World Society bowing down, waiting for him to present the 'martial arts myth' as a grand gift, his heart swelled with pride and ambition.

However, the moment he stepped through the main altar's gate, the smile on his face froze.

The anticipated scene of fluttering banners and his father's Ghost-Forked Rakshasa controlling the situation did not appear.

On the plaza, the World Society's members stood in orderly silence. Though no one spoke, their cold gazes, like sharp swords, fell uniformly upon him and his party, carrying undisguised hostility and... a hint of inexplicable pity?

On the high platform, the golden throne symbolizing supreme power remained empty; his father, Godless, was nowhere to be seen.

But beside the throne stood a young figure: Frost of the Qin, the Hall Revered Master of the World Society's Frost Hall, Overlord's eldest Disciple.

A strange silence permeated the entire plaza, like the calm before a storm.

Absolute Heart's heart sank abruptly, and an ominous premonition arose.

He forced himself to be calm, grabbing Nameless by the neck, his gaze sweeping across the entire plaza, and he shouted sternly: "Where is my father? Where is my father?"

His voice echoed in the empty plaza, but no one answered. Only the rustling of flags in the wind added to the grim atmosphere.

Frost of the Qin sneered:

"Godless?"

"He dared to invade our Divine Land and was personally annihilated by my Revered Master on the shores of the East Sea, his body and Soul utterly destroyed, leaving no trace."

"We have been waiting for you to walk into our trap for a long time!"

"Senior Nameless, how have you been recently?" Looking at Nameless, Frost of the Qin bowed respectfully:

"Revered Master has prepared a erhu for you; he said he has long wanted to hear your mastery of the instrument!"

"What? Impossible!!" Absolute Heart felt as if struck by five bolts of lightning, his face instantly turning ashen, almost unable to stand steady.

He shook his head violently, his eyes filled with incredulous madness, "Nonsense! My father's divine power is unparalleled, his indestructible golden body is immune to all techniques. How could Overlord possibly kill him?

You are just bluffing!"

He clutched Nameless's neck tightly, as if trying to draw the last shred of confidence from this 'hostage', and shrieked with feigned ferocity towards the empty throne:

"Overlord! Get out here! What kind of skill is it to hide your head and show your tail! If you have the guts, come out and fight me!"

Nameless, held captive, though his power was lost and he looked disheveled, sighed slightly at this moment and said calmly in a hoarse voice:

"Absolute Heart, stop now. Your father is dead! You, too, are likely to die!"

"Shut up! Old man!"

Absolute Heart, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, interrupted Nameless sharply, increasing the force in his hand, choking Nameless until he struggled for breath, his face turning green, "If you dare to babble any more, I'll kill you first!"

"Overlord, you come out. Nameless is in my hands. If you let me leave, I will spare his life!"

"It's useless. From the moment Overlord discovered you, your life was no longer your own! My life, likewise, is not something you can control," Nameless advised:

"I suggest you change your tone..."

"If I change my tone, can I live?" Absolute Heart asked with red eyes.

"No, but you can die with more dignity!"

Nameless's words were like a final judgment, completely shattering the last shred of hope in Absolute Heart's heart.

The madness on his face gradually gave way to a desperate pallor, and the hand clutching Nameless's neck trembled slightly.

Just then, that familiar and Soul-shaking pressure, like the Nine Heavens collapsing, silently yet irresistibly enveloped the entire plaza.

Absolute Heart stiffened, as if frozen by invisible ice, even his breathing becoming difficult.

He laboriously, little by little, raised his head and looked towards the highest point.

On the eaves of Number One Tower Under Heaven, Lu Jiuyuan had appeared silently at some unknown time.

His red hair like flames, his Dragon robe trailing on the ground, he stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze calmly overlooking below.

He didn't even look at Absolute Heart; his gaze fell directly on the captive Nameless, and he spoke lightly, his voice clearly reaching everyone's ears:

"Nameless, it's been a long time. Meeting again, your demeanor is much more disheveled!"

"Gang Leader Xiong's demeanor is even more magnificent than before; you make me ashamed!" Nameless said with some shame.

Absolute Heart was completely enraged by the utterly dismissive attitude of Lu Jiuyuan and Nameless, these two bastards.

He, the Young Lord of the Godless Absolute Palace, was now being treated like air and ignored!

I'm a kidnapper, damn it! The hostage is in my hand!

"Overlord!!"

Absolute Heart roared hoarsely, his face twisted with extreme anger, ferocious and terrifying. His five fingers curled like hooks, clutching Nameless's throat tightly, his nails almost digging into the flesh, and he shrieked:

"Look closely! Nameless is in my hands! You and I are a hundred steps apart. If I want to kill him as a shield, can you stop me?"

His hoarse threat echoed in the empty plaza, carrying the madness of being at the end of his rope.

He finally succeeded in attracting that gaze.

Lu Jiuyuan's sight, for the first time, truly fell upon Absolute Heart.

There was no anger in that gaze, no anxiety, not even a ripple; only an indifference like looking down at an ant.

"A hundred steps?"

Lu Jiuyuan finally spoke, his voice so flat that no emotion could be discerned:

"Who told you that a hundred steps counts as a distance?"

Before his words finished, Absolute Heart hadn't even seen any movement, only feeling as if the space before him had subtly twisted.

The next instant, a figure, like a ghost, had appeared beside him out of thin air, disregarding the hundred-step distance!

It wasn't an afterimage, nor a trace of high-speed movement; it was as if he had been standing there all along, but Absolute Heart had never noticed.

Lu Jiuyuan!

He still stood with his hands behind his back, his red hair gently fluttering in the breeze, not even looking at the hand Absolute Heart used to clutch Nameless's throat.

Absolute Heart's pupils suddenly constricted to pinprick size, and boundless fear instantly drowned all his madness and anger.

He wanted to exert force, to issue the command of destruction with that hand, to crush Nameless's throat!

However, he discovered in horror that his body... couldn't move.

No, it wasn't that he couldn't move.

It was that his 'consciousness' had issued the command, but his arm, his fingers, every inch of his muscles, seemed to have been stripped from his control, frozen in place, unable to even produce a tiny tremor.

Time, at this moment, seemed to be infinitely stretched.

He saw Lu Jiuyuan slowly raise his right hand, his fingers together like a sword, a faint, almost invisible dark-red Qi glow lingering at his fingertip, gently pointing towards his brow.

The movement was slow, elegant, with an indescribable rhythm.

But in Absolute Heart's eyes, this one finger was faster than a meteor, fiercer than thunder, filling his entire vision, blocking all possibilities of evasion!

He wanted to shriek, to beg for mercy, to fight to the death... but he could do nothing.

He could only watch as that finger, imbued with the aura of annihilation, continuously magnified in his pupils.

"Puff--"

A faint thud, almost inaudible.

Lu Jiuyuan's fingertip gently touched Absolute Heart's brow.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no scene of flesh and blood flying.

Absolute Heart's body trembled violently, the hand clutching Nameless's throat weakly loosening and sliding away.

The ferocity, madness, and fear on his face... all expressions instantly froze, as if turning into a stone statue.

The light in those eyes, once filled with violence and ambition, rapidly dissipated like a receding tide, becoming hollow and dim.

A tiny line of blood slowly seeped from the point on his brow touched by the fingertip, winding its way down.

The next moment, he fell straight backward, hitting the cold plaza ground with a "bang," raising a little dust.

His breath was completely gone.

The Young Lord of the Godless Absolute Palace, Absolute Heart, was dead.

From beginning to end, Lu Jiuyuan had not even touched Nameless's clothes.

The Heart Abandoning Seal that had tormented Sword Morning, at the moment Absolute Heart's breath ceased, also melted away like snow under the sun.

Sword Morning gasped, collapsing to the ground, coughing violently, his face filled with the bewildered relief of someone who had survived a catastrophe.

Nameless's expression remained unchanged, as if everything was within his expectations.

"It seems I was right, your Disciple really screwed you over!"

Nameless glanced at Sword Morning, finally letting out a soft sigh, and cupped his hands, saying: "Thank you, Gang Leader Xiong, for saving my life. A Disciple one chooses and raises oneself, no matter how bad he is, one must still support him."

"He was controlled this time, against his will! He couldn't help himself, I don't blame him!"

Lu Jiuyuan looked at Sword Morning: "Sword Morning, do you think so too? What wicked deeds have you done recently? Tell us all about it!"

Sword Morning, sprawled on the ground, trembled violently upon hearing Lu Jiuyuan's question, as if whipped by an invisible lash.

He dared not look up, his forehead pressed tightly against the cold ground, blood, tears, and dust mixed together, making him look utterly wretched.

"I... I..."

His voice was hoarse, every word seemingly squeezed from his throat, filled with endless shame and regret, but he dared not conceal anything. Since Overlord asked, he must already know everything.

"Speak!" Lu Jiuyuan's voice was not loud, but it struck Sword Morning's heart like a heavy hammer.

Sword Morning trembled violently, banging his head on the ground: "I'll speak! I'll tell everything! I'm not human! I'm a beast!"

He raised his tear-streaked face, looking at Nameless, his eyes filled with overwhelming remorse:

"Master! Disciple... Disciple was not only coerced by Absolute Heart to give you Soul-Corroding Powder and Blood Severing Poison! That was unfilial.

Disciple... Disciple also... also before that, while Senior Brother Bu asked me to escort Yu Chuchu, my mind became chaotic, consumed by lust... I... I defiled Miss Chuchu!

That was unrighteous."

"Afterward, although I received the understanding of Senior Brother Bu and Miss Chuchu, the wrong had already been done, and Sword Morning truly has no face to see anyone! I beg Master for punishment!"

Nameless took a deep breath, suppressing the churning Qi and blood, stepped forward, stood in front of Sword Morning, and bowed deeply to Lu Jiuyuan: "Gang Leader Xiong!"

"The crimes committed by Chen'er are indeed deserving of death! But... but he was ultimately controlled by Absolute Heart's Heart Abandoning Seal, his mind lost, not of his own will.

All the sins, their root cause lies in my inadequate teaching and lack of vigilance."

He raised his head, looking at Lu Jiuyuan with complex eyes, carrying a hint of plea: "Gang Leader Xiong, considering he still has a trace of remorse, and was once harmed by villains... could you spare his life?"

The fact that Lu Jiuyuan asked this in front of him, Nameless knew, meant Sword Morning's life... was hanging by a thread!

"Master!" Sword Morning, hearing this, suddenly looked up, tears streaming even more, a mix of gratitude and overwhelming shame.

Lu Jiuyuan looked at Nameless and gently shook his head: "He indeed had his difficulties, but in life, who doesn't have their difficulties!"

Before his words finished, he held his fingers together like a sword, and without any visible movement, a condensed, extremely potent dark-red Sword Qi, imbued with the aura of annihilation, shot through the air and accurately pierced Sword Morning's brow!

"Uh..."

Sword Morning's body stiffened abruptly, the regret and tears on his face instantly freezing.

He widened his eyes, looking at Lu Jiuyuan, then at Nameless, his lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately no sound came out.

The light in his eyes rapidly dimmed and dissipated.

He fell straight backward, hitting the ground with a "thud," completely breathless.

The inheritor of the hero sword, Sword Morning, was dead!

Nameless's body trembled, and he slowly closed his eyes.

Lu Jiuyuan coldly withdrew his fingers. "Take him away and bury him!"

"Yes!" Two World Society members stepped forward and expressionlessly dragged Sword Morning's body away.

Nameless watched his Disciple's retreating back, as if he had aged ten years in an instant, his figure desolate, filled with endless sorrow and powerlessness.

"Frost of the Qin, arrange for Nameless's poison to be treated and his injuries healed!"

"Yes, Master!"

...That night, the moon was dark and the wind was high.

Behind the World Society's main altar, in the back mountains, before a newly built grave mound.

A dark figure, like a ghost, quietly emerged; it was Xu Fu.

He looked at the simple grave, a wicked smile appearing on his face.

"Tsk tsk, to kill him just like that, what a pity."

He squatted down, a faint blue light glowing on his fingertips, and gently pressed it onto the grave soil.

The soil silently parted, revealing the body wrapped in a straw mat inside.

Xu Fu looked at Sword Morning's pale yet still handsome face, and the tiny red mark on his brow, his eyes showing even more interest.

"Another fellow with an extraordinary fate who died a violent death! Hehe, just right to keep Youngster Broken Wave company! Hehehehehe!

Lad Lu, you have Wind and Cloud, I have Morning and Wave. When the time comes, let them clash and see who trains them better!"