Chapter 16: The Two Characters for Fate

It took a long while before the crowd finally came back to their senses, and an uproar broke out at once.

“Lin Yu... he really won?!”

“He only just entered the Second Rank, yet he defeated a prodigy at the mid stage of the Second Rank. This Lin Yu is truly terrifying!”

“He is finished. Lin Yu is absolutely finished. Ye Yong was one of the most outstanding talents of the younger generation that the Primordial Yang Sect has produced in the last hundred years, and he was also the personal disciple of the Primordial Yang Sect’s Sect Master.”

“Now that Lin Yu has killed Ye Yong, the Primordial Yang Sect will definitely never let him go.”

“...”

The crowd could not stop sighing in amazement.

Above the valley, Lin Yu pulled the sharp sword out of his arm, then sat down cross-legged on the ground and began circulating his cultivation art. The savage Baleful Aura surrounding him grew thicker and thicker, as though it were about to solidify into something tangible.

A blood-red mist wrapped around Lin Yu, creating a scene that was both shocking and eerie.

Under everyone’s watchful gaze, the blood-red mist flowed into Lin Yu’s body. All the injuries on his body healed completely, and his cultivation even advanced from the early stage of the Second Rank to the mid stage of the Second Rank.

Lin Yu opened his eyes, and deep within them flashed a trace of weariness too subtle for ordinary people to notice.

Lin Yu rose to his feet and cast an indifferent glance at the crowd below the valley. In an instant, the entire valley fell silent. Not a single person dared meet his gaze.

Lin Yu tightened his grip on the long spear in his hand and turned to leave Juexia Valley.

Only after he had gone far away did the people in the valley let out long breaths of relief.

“Is Lin Yu really only at the Second Rank? That sense of oppression was far too terrifying. Facing him felt as though an entire army were standing in front of me...”

“With that kind of killing aura, there is no doubt that Lin Yu came out of the military.”

“After defeating Ye Yong and breaking through again, Lin Yu’s momentum is soaring to the heavens. The Hidden Dragon Ranking is probably about to undergo a huge upheaval in the days ahead...”

Everyone was filled with amazement.

Just then, one of them suddenly spoke up.

“Wait! Did none of you notice the direction Lin Yu left in?”

The moment those words were spoken, everyone recalled the direction Lin Yu had gone and immediately looked at one another, their faces full of shock.

“Has Lin Yu gone mad?!”

“Is that not the direction of Shuxia Domain? He just killed Ye Yong, yet instead of fleeing for his life, he is walking straight to his death?”

“Could it be that he actually thinks the Primordial Yang Sect will spare him?”

“A storm is brewing. I have a feeling Shuxia Domain is about to be thrown into turmoil!”

“Then let us hurry there as well!”

“Right!”

One after another, the crowd set off in the direction of Shuxia Domain.

Before long, Juexia Valley, which had been packed with people just moments ago, became desolate and empty.

Seeing this, Su Yanran drove the carriage into Juexia Valley.

The moment the carriage entered the valley, the familiar system prompt sounded in Chu Feng’s mind.

【Ding! Detected that the Host is in Juexia Valley. Would you like to Sign-In?】

“Sign-In!” Chu Feng answered silently.

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the Sign-In. System reward: Xuanyuan Sword!】

【The reward has been placed in the System Inventory. Please check it, Host.】

As soon as the prompt ended, Chu Feng immediately sensed a space appear within his mind.

At the center of that space floated a golden sword. One side of the blade was engraved with the sun, moon, and stars, while the other depicted agriculture, animal husbandry, and the art of unifying the four seas.

With only a single focused glance, an indescribable supreme pressure came crashing toward Chu Feng.

Chu Feng was inwardly astonished. As expected of the legendary Emperor’s Sword.

Although Chu Feng had never seen any of the world-famous Ten Famous Swords, based on this aura alone, he could say with certainty that the Ten Famous Swords were utterly incomparable to the Xuanyuan Sword.

After admiring it seriously for a while, Chu Feng pulled his thoughts back to reality.

The carriage moved unhurriedly through the valley. Towering cliffs rose on both sides, blocking out the sunlight.

The surfaces of the cliffs were smooth and flawless, as though they had been specially polished by someone.

Of course, such a thought was far too fanciful and unrealistic.

Chu Feng was more inclined to believe that the valley had been cleaved open by some sharp weapon.

After all, if he were given a sword, he could do the same...

At that moment, Su Yanran asked softly, “Young Master Chu, does Lin Yu truly intend to make an enemy of the entire Primordial Yang Sect?”

The Primordial Yang Sect was the number one sect within Shuxia Domain. It had countless disciples, and experts were as common as forests within the sect.

Among its upper ranks, even the weakest were at the First Rank, while its Sect Master was a Grandmaster who had entered that realm many years ago.

On top of that, Marquis Zhuming of the Great Xuan Dynasty had once been a disciple of the Primordial Yang Sect.

And Marquis Zhuming also had inextricable ties to Chu Jingshan, the Fifth Prince of the Great Xuan Dynasty.

Because of that, forget Shuxia Domain—within all of Yuezhou, hardly anyone dared provoke the Primordial Yang Sect.

Lin Yu was only a Second Rank martial artist. Su Yanran truly could not understand why he would choose to make an enemy of the entire Primordial Yang Sect.

Inside the carriage, Chu Feng’s expression turned heavy when he heard that. His gaze shifted again and again, and in the end, all of it became helpless resignation. He let out a soft sigh.

“The two characters for fate are written with only a few strokes. All living beings understand them, yet none can escape them.”

“This is Lin Yu’s fate. Since he has made his choice, the moment he began, there was no longer any way for him to stop.”

Outside the carriage, Su Yanran frowned after hearing those words. She only half understood and half did not, so she continued driving the carriage while quietly pondering their meaning on her own.

Chu Feng did not explain further. He merely brewed tea in comfort and savored it by himself.

Two hours later, the carriage passed out of Juexia Valley and arrived on a broad dirt road.

After continuing along that road for another two hours, the carriage entered a small grove.

The moment it entered the grove, the carriage suddenly came to a halt. The fine horse widened its eyes and scanned the surroundings, letting out restless, uneasy snorts.

Su Yanran tightened her control over the horse, and her apricot eyes instantly turned sharp.

“Young Master Chu, there is a smell of blood,” Su Yanran said as she turned her head toward the carriage in a low voice.

“It is fine. Keep going,” Chu Feng said indifferently.

“Yes.” Su Yanran nodded and continued driving the carriage forward.

After traveling several hundred meters farther, the smell of blood in the air grew increasingly thick. One of Su Yanran’s hands had already moved to “Spring Chant” at her waist, and she remained fully alert at all times.

The carriage advanced another hundred meters, and the scene ahead changed abruptly.

When she saw what lay before them, even though she had already prepared herself mentally, Su Yanran still could not help sucking in a cold breath as her pupils contracted.

Within a hundred-meter stretch before the carriage, the soil had been soaked through with blood. Severed limbs and broken arms were scattered everywhere. The scene resembled a hellish slaughterhouse.

Every corpse wore a twisted, terrified expression, as though each of them had encountered some unspeakable horror before death.

A cold breeze swept by, and the hairs on Su Yanran’s body stood on end.

She swallowed hard, climbed down from the carriage, and walked over to inspect the corpses. After a moment, she returned.

“Young Master Chu, these people look like... they look like they are all from the Primordial Yang Sect!” Su Yanran said, her voice full of shock.

“Mm.” Chu Feng gave a calm grunt and did not seem surprised in the least.

Su Yanran was extremely intelligent. Recalling the baffling words Chu Feng had spoken earlier, a bold guess immediately surfaced in her mind.

“Young Master Chu... were these people killed by Lin Yu?” Su Yanran asked.

“Yes.”