Qin Yu sheathed her longsword. The ground around her was littered with corpses, lying in disarray. She didn’t spare them a second glance, her fervent gaze fixed on the two figures locked in a deadly struggle in the center of the yard.

"Senior Brother Xu."

A strange light danced in Qin Yu’s beautiful eyes. "Didn’t Su Yu just break through to the Martial Artist realm? How is he wielding the Spiritual Ape Demon-Slaying Saber with such veteran skill? Look at his form—it’s fierce yet nimble. It even has a hint of Dad’s style from back in the day!"

"You see it too, Junior Sister. That kid, Su Yu, has an incredibly high aptitude, especially with this saber technique. It’s truly astounding. In my opinion, Master’s ultimate art is going to shine brilliantly in Junior Su’s hands!"

"Does Dad know?"

Xu Feng gave an honest smile. "Haven’t had the chance to tell him yet."

*Pfft.* Qin Yu covered her mouth and let out a soft laugh.

She looked at Senior Brother Xu’s guileless expression and couldn’t help but inwardly tease him.

’Senior Brother Xu, you’re just waiting to see Dad make a fool of himself, aren’t you? Once he finds out about Su Yu’s talent with the saber, he’ll have to shamelessly beg to take Su Yu as his disciple.’

’But it’s better this way. Dad was just bragging to me before, acting as if he had seen through Su Yu’s talent all along.’

’It’ll be interesting to see Dad eat his words.’

’Still, I should pay more attention to Junior Su from now on. I can’t let him feel like the White Ape Martial Arts Hall doesn’t value him!’

Qin Yu looked back at the fight and saw that Su Yu’s execution of the Spiritual Ape Demon-Slaying Saber was becoming increasingly flawless. It was faintly starting to exude the true aura of a demon-subduing technique, which sent a jolt of alarm through her.

’Is he...? He’s actually improving in the middle of a battle!’

「In the center of the yard.」

The Nine-Ring Saber in Su Yu’s hand moved with the agility of a Spiritual Ape one moment and the wrath of a vajra guardian the next. He forced Cao Bin back step by step, the number of wounds on his body steadily increasing.

’That’s about enough.’

Su Yu’s eyes turned cold. ’Cao Bin is a spent arrow. It’s time to send him on his way!’

"Die!"

A roar erupted from the Qi and Blood throughout Su Yu’s body, surging like a great river. He raised the Nine-Ring Saber high with both hands, the great dragon of his spine instantly tensing. His entire body was like a giant bow drawn to its limit.

"Zhenyue Slash!"

This slash shed all flourishes, leaving only pure weight and pure power!

The saber’s blade trembled, and the nine Copper Rings let out a low, indistinct hum, as if a great mountain were truly crashing down from above!

"Tiger’s Mouth Devouring Evil!!"

Cao Bin felt death’s approach and let out a desperate roar. He bent his knees slightly, held his saber aloft with both hands, and thrust it upward in a reckless attempt to block, making one last struggle.

BOOM!

The two sabers collided. A shockwave of energy blasted outward, making their clothes flap wildly in the wind.

Cao Bin felt a searing pain in his arms. The webbing between his thumbs and forefingers split open instantly. The terrifying force slammed him down onto one knee, and the sickening sound of his kneecap shattering filled the air.

Just as he was about to feel relieved for having blocked the attack, his vision suddenly blurred.

Su Yu’s figure had vanished into thin air!

Immediately after, a bone-chilling cold came from behind him.

"Look Back and Pluck the Moon!"

The blade’s light flashed like cascading moonlight, bizarrely shooting out from under Cao Bin’s ribs in an upward slash!

SPLASH!

Cao Bin’s right arm, the one holding the saber, was severed at the shoulder. Blood shot out like a fountain, splattering across the ground.

He clutched his severed shoulder as blood continued to spurt, frantically crawling toward the main gate of the courtyard. As he crawled, he screamed, "Brother Luo, come out! Save me! Save me! I’ll give you all my Black Mysterious Pills!"

However, behind that tightly shut door, there was only a deathly silence.

Inside the room, Luo Yuan watched this scene through the crack in the door, cold sweat pouring down his back. Beside him lay the corpse of a disheveled woman.

’Save you? I can’t even save my own ass!’

’Damn it all! This is a setup! He said we’d be dealing with one ordinary Martial Artist at most.’

Luo Yuan was a Hall Master of the Water Snake Gang. His strength was far greater than Cao Bin’s; he was a Martial Artist in the Skin Tempering Realm who had opened three acupoints.

This time, at Cao Bin’s invitation, he had come to oversee the situation. He never expected three expert Martial Artists to show up at once.

’Especially that tall guy... isn’t that fucking Madman Xu from the White Ape Martial Arts Hall?’

’That Madman Xu looks kind but has a black heart. When he goes crazy, he kills without batting an eye. I might just lose my own life here!’

On Su Yu’s side, he paused his steps to digest the insights gained from the battle.

He glanced at the Skill Level increase for his Spiritual Ape Demon-Slaying Saber and discovered that this one fight had actually added over a hundred points.

’The Skill Level increases this fast in actual combat?’

Su Yu came to an understanding. The Spiritual Ape Demon-Slaying Saber was a pure killing art. It wasn’t like the White Ape Fist, which combined Pile Skill and fighting techniques into one system, primarily used to increase Qi and Blood and advance one’s realm.

’If I don’t have enough pills, I can’t force my body to train.’

’But with this Spiritual Ape Demon-Slaying Saber, I can just grind it hard. As long as my movements are correct, grinding will lead to improvement. And if I can use it in real combat, the improvement is even greater!’

His moment of insight over, Su Yu’s gaze fell upon the cornered Cao Bin.

He was slumped against the corner of the wall, a twisted, tragic smile on his face. "Never thought... I’d actually fall to a little bastard like you. Good! Good! Good!"

"To think the insignificant Su Family was hiding an expert like you! How laughable. I only had my men watch that good-for-nothing Su Can, but I completely missed a God of Slaughter like you!"

Su Yu’s expression was blank. He raised his saber and brought it down.

THWACK!

A head rolled across the ground, its eyes wide open, dying with a grievance.

"HAHAHAHA..."

Su Hong’s crazed laughter echoed through the courtyard.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Qin Yu took a precious Hemostatic Pill from her robes and handed it to Su Can, whose arm was still bleeding.

Xu Feng was a bit surprised. His junior sister had never cared about the life or death of ordinary people. Why the change of heart today?

But he didn’t press the issue. He simply helped the still-laughing Su Hong and Su Manjiang to the doorway.

Not far away, Su Da Wen stood in silence, letting the blood from his wounds drip onto the snow, blooming like crimson flowers.

Using his one remaining arm, Su Can struggled to lift his mother’s body and was about to give the precious Hemostatic Pill to her.

"It’s no use. A Hemostatic Pill can’t save her," Qin Yu called out from a distance.

But Su Can only hesitated for a moment before continuing to feed the pill to his mother.

Qin Yu’s brow furrowed. She had only given him the Hemostatic Pill because he was Su Yu’s brother. She never thought he would waste it on someone who was already certain to die!

At the doorway, Su Manjiang leaned against the wall, panting heavily. He trembled as he reached for the old smoking pipe at his waist, only to find nothing. He raised his head in a daze and looked at Xu Feng, his voice hoarse. "My grandson, Su Yu... is he a Martial Artist?"

"Yes, Old Master," Xu Feng confirmed with a nod.

"A Martial Artist..."

Su Manjiang muttered to himself, his mind in a trance.

"COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH!"

A violent coughing fit seized him, and he spat out a mouthful of black blood. It was as if all his spirit and vitality had been sucked out of him, and he rapidly weakened.

’How laughable! How utterly laughable!’

’He, Su Manjiang, had prided himself on being shrewd his entire life. To secure a future for the family, he didn’t hesitate to bankrupt them, take on high-interest loans, and even pour the very flesh and blood of the entire family into supporting his grandson Su Can’s martial arts training.’

’Who would have thought that the one to finally break through was Su Yu—the one he had suppressed and never thought highly of?’

’If only it had been sooner... If only he had shown Su Yu even a sliver of fairness...’

’Would the Su Family have come to this? Would it have come to this?!’

"Retribution... This is all retribution..."

"Haha, cough, cough..."

Su Manjiang’s lips moved, and then his head lolled to the side as he passed out completely.

"Grandpa?"

Su Hong turned and saw his grandfather collapse. He stopped laughing and let out a sorrowful cry. He dragged his broken body over, checked for breath under the old man’s nose, and only then did he let out a sigh of relief.

Looking back again, he saw his third brother with a severed arm and his third aunt hovering between life and death. Grief welled up from his heart, and he began to wail loudly once more!

His mother saw her son laughing and crying at the same time and pulled him into her embrace. "Everything is alright now, it’s all alright..."