Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ace
Chapter:
Chapter Title: Rampage Against the Zhao Clan
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Li Tianqing's heart was pounding with extreme tension. He wanted to reach out and grab him, but it was already too late. He cursed inwardly.
Without a second thought, he leaped to his feet and charged madly after Chen Shi.
As he ran with all his might, he activated the Galloping Horse Talisman on his legs while mobilizing his Divine Embryo.
The Six Yin Jade Wheel Art was fully engaged. Six jade wheels spun and danced around him in silence—deadly and without a sound.
But then his heart sank.
He finally understood why Zhao Ziyu and those maids had seemed so relaxed.
Ahead, about a li away, stood a makeshift camp guarded by numerous Embroidered Uniform Guards. Zhao Ziyu and his group were clearly heading there, and the guards in the camp had to be Zhao Clan members as well.
"So many Embroidered Uniform Guards... that means the Zhao Clan visitors aren't just that one young master! There must be other high-ranking Zhao Clan members!"
His mind raced. He immediately thought of the demonic upheaval over the past few days.
"These Zhao clansmen are most likely tied to the upheaval! The Zhao Clan has been operating in Xinxian County for years, squeezing out the other great families' power. Their goal has always been the Tomb of the True King in Qianyang Mountain. With Zhao people showing up here, the Evil Bodhisattva is probably connected to them—maybe they even unleashed it!"
Fear gripped him even tighter.
If Chen Shi charged that Zhao Clan young master and was spotted by Zhao experts...
"No, he might not even get past those maids! I have to save him!"
He threw himself forward recklessly. But even with the Galloping Horse Talisman activated, the distance between him and Chen Shi kept growing.
The camp was quite large, spanning four or five mu, filled with yurts of various sizes.
Xuan Ying Mansion Lord Zhao Yanlong was standing on a table right then. The reason he was on the table was that he had entered the Kiln Works, been affected by it, and turned into a Porcelain Doll.
Standing on the table with him were Second Miss Zhao Minrou and the surviving sixth brother, Zhao Yanchu.
Beside the table stood his youngest brother, Zhao Yanliang, who had avoided entering the Kiln Works and thus escaped unscathed—his body remained normal, un-porcelainized.
Though Zhao Yanlong had unleashed the Evil Bodhisattva and triggered this upheaval, nearly half of the Zhao Clan's elite forces remained intact. They hadn't all perished in the Kiln Works. It was thanks to his father and two uncles holding the rear that most of their strength was preserved. Some more had died amid the chaos since, leaving just over a hundred survivors now.
Among them, aside from the thirteen Zhao Clan scions, the rest were maids and Embroidered Uniform Guards.
After this calamity, Zhao Yanlong was grief-stricken but forced himself to rally.
"Sixth brother, Minrou—no need to worry. Our Zhao Clan patriarch is the Governor of Xinxian County. We have three other mansions' forces besides, and Xinxian Province is brimming with powerhouses. They'll surely eradicate this demonic domain and rescue us. Rest easy and await good news."
Zhao Minrou and Zhao Yanchu were Porcelain Dolls too and could understand his words, but Zhao Yanliang could not.
Zhao Yanchu laughed.
"Big brother, Zhao Ziyu has really impressed me these past few days. He used to chase skirts and harass women everywhere, but now that the family's in crisis, he's stepped up like a man. The youngest brother stayed behind to hold the camp these days, but without Ziyu going out to forage, we never would have lasted this long."
Zhao Ziyu was the eldest young master of Xuan Ying Mansion—a former wastrel. Zhao Yanlong had never liked this firstborn son and had favored his second daughter and third son far more.
But the second daughter had become a Porcelain Doll, with no hope of ever reverting in this lifetime, and the third son had died in the countryside.
What delighted Zhao Yanlong was that his eldest son, Zhao Ziyu, had finally wised up and started shouldering the family's burdens. It made him truly happy.
Though pleased, he still had to play it humble.
"The boy's got some talent, sure, but he was too lazy before. Good thing a prodigal son turns back—not too late."
Just then, an Embroidered Uniform Guard's voice came from outside.
"Mansion Lord, the eldest young master is back!"
Zhao Yanlong was pleasantly surprised.
"My son returned so early—must've had a good haul."
He looked toward the camp's edge. Zhao Ziyu and his eleven maids came into view, each girl carrying a slab of spirit beast meat—some twenty or thirty jin apiece—as they approached.
The other Zhao Clan scions in the camp, along with the Embroidered Uniform Guards, all broke into smiles.
Zhao Ziyu's group had brought back plenty of spirit meat this outing. They could hold out a while longer.
"With Ziyu here, we'll definitely last until rescue from the provincial city!"
Zhao Yanlong laughed.
His laughter hadn't faded when suddenly, from the midslope, a figure charged down like a dragon—straight for Zhao Ziyu's group!
Zhao Yanlong's face changed drastically. He shouted in alarm.
"Ziyu, careful!"
Chen Shi was charging in!
In just a few steps, his speed hit its peak—wilder and fiercer than a runaway stallion. Almost the instant Zhao Ziyu and the eleven maids heard the wind whistling, he was already behind them!
His qi and blood surging, he threw a punch at one maid's occiput. The immense force sent her flying flat, her brains rattled, blood pouring from all seven orifices as her body crashed into the maids ahead.
One maid. Dead.
Chen Shi gripped his shortsword in a backhand swing. As he batted the first maid away, the blade swiftly sliced the neck of the maid beside her, then reversed to slash her throat.
That maid had just turned her head—right into the edge.
Two maids. Dead.
His feet never stopped. His figure surged forward to meet the vigilant maid, left hand stabbing with the shortsword—left, right, left again, right again.
She had turned by then. As she did, his left thrust pierced her chest, right slashed her throat, left stabbed her liver and spleen, right ripped open her belly!
Three maids. Dead.
Ahead came the bangs—the maid he'd first punched had bowled over three more.
Chen Shi reached Zhao Ziyu's side!
Zhao Ziyu's Golden Bell Talisman was active, his protective charm glowing. A divine manifestation appeared behind his head; his Divine Embryo had emerged. He opened his mouth to spit out his golden core.
Once the core emerged, even if Chen Shi got close, it would crush him into a puddle of muck!
Chen Shi's fist blasted out. The Golden Bell rang with a deafening clang. The light screen it formed shattered under the colossal force, countless shards and glints scattering everywhere.
Chen Shi's left-hand shortsword slashed toward Zhao Ziyu's throat.
Zhao Ziyu instinctively raised a hand to block. Five fingers and half his palm flew off in a spray of blood. Chen Shi's fisted right hand extended two fingers, stabbing into his eyes.
Zhao Ziyu's vision went black. His protective charm detonated, and his golden core shot forth.
At that moment, Chen Shi's blade crossed his throat. His right elbow smashed Zhao Ziyu's temple.
Zhao Ziyu's mind reeled into haze. His head jerked aside as he toppled backward. The golden core flew out—but veered off course, smashing into the cliffside. The wall collapsed with a roar. The core's energy erupted, burning a massive molten cavity through the rubble. Lava bubbled and gurgled within.
At the same time, Chen Shi dropped both knees onto Zhao Ziyu's abdomen. His left hand rose and fell with the sword—in an instant, three stabs into the heart nest.
He then flung the shortsword from his hand. It whistled through the air, trailing blood, and pierced the throat of a vigilant maid ahead who had turned and was channeling a spell.
The thrown sword's force was tremendous—it punched clean through her throat, tip emerging from the back of her neck, sending her tumbling backward.
Four maids. Dead.
Chen Shi's legs exploded with power. He shot forward like an arrow, knee raised to slam another maid's groin.
Her face twisted in agony. The Divine Shrine she'd just summoned shattered at once; she couldn't hold the spell steady and doubled over, collapsing.
Five maids. Dead.
Chen Shi strode forward, his form ghostly as he sidestepped her. He drove an elbow backward—the tip smashing the heart nest of the maid behind her. The crack of shattering ribs echoed as the broken bones pierced her lungs and heart. Blood surged up her trachea.
Six maids. Dead.
Chen Shi rolled forward. When he rose, he had already yanked the shortsword from the throat of the flung maid.
The remaining five maids had summoned their Divine Shrines by then, Embryos at the ready, spells fully formed. They cried out sharply—two channeling the Flying Dragon Demon-Slaying Art, three the Meridian Slay-Evil Sword. Invisible sword qi and dragon-shaped spells hurtled toward Chen Shi together.
Chen Shi trod the North Dipper Seven Stars Step, its seven variations unfolding. His body wove like a swimming dragon along the narrow mountain path—now advancing, now retreating, left, right.
It was as if he had eyes everywhere. He saw through the invisible sword qi's trajectories and sensed the dragon spells' shifts and tendencies.
The five maids pinched sword arts or bizarre mudras, each with their own footwork. But in a flash, one found him behind her. The shortsword plunged into her back heart—sidestepping every rib with butcher-like precision.
Chen Shi stood behind her, hoisting her body as a shield. He danced close to evade the other four's spells before drawing his sword. As he dropped her, he slashed her throat.
Seven maids. Dead.
As the seventh's corpse hit the ground, he darted out from beneath it. His shortsword flashed like lightning across the eighth maid's legs, severing her tendons.
The eighth tried to lunge after him. The instant her foot landed, her leg went limp. She pitched forward. Chen Shi's right leg snapped back—his heel crushing her throat, shattering the bone.
Eight maids. Dead.
An invisible Slay-Evil Sword streaked in. Chen Shi twisted aside. It grazed him and rang out with a clang, cleaving the maid behind him in two. Its momentum carried it over ten zhang farther.
Chen Shi spun with a sliding step, thrusting into another maid's chest. He yanked the sword free and hurled it casually—nailing the opposite maid's heart nest. The blade's pent-up force sent her flying, tumbling a zhang away.
Nine maids, ten maids, eleven maids.
Dead.
Chen Shi turned toward the Zhao Clan camp.
All along this mountain path—collapsed cliffs, molten walls, scattered corpses—only he still stood.
The Zhao Clan's pet Embroidered Uniform Guards at the camp's front had reacted now. They activated their Galloping Horse Talismans and rushed over like lightning, shouting and cursing.
Their divine lights manifested, Embryos settling into Divine Shrines, spells brewing.
Chen Shi's gaze passed over them, landing on a large yurt among them. There, three Porcelain Dolls stared back this way.
One was dazed, one furious—like Second Miss Zhao—and one older one overcome with grief, kneeling on the table with tears streaming down, as if wailing at the top of his lungs.
Chen Shi turned away. Li Tianqing had just run up—his talisman granting great speed—but by the time he arrived, it was all over.
Li Tianqing stared dumbstruck at the scene, unable to believe it, eyes bulging round.
He knew Chen Shi was fierce once he started fighting. They'd lived together these days, and he'd long noticed this trait: whenever killing intent stirred in Chen Shi, he always found a way to hunt down his prey.
But he also knew Chen Shi acted too rashly—never considering the enemy's strength or what failure might bring.
Chen Shi would only find the perfect moment to strike, then pounce and beat down the exotic beasts in a flurry.
But those were exotic beasts—not cultivators!
Not Golden Core cultivators!
And now? Eleven elite Divine Embryo Realm experts, plus a Golden Core powerhouse!
Just like that? So simple?
Just charge in and beat them all down?
Who gave him the guts to rush in?
How the hell did he pull it off?
The Qi Refining Stage had four realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Building, Divine Manifestation, Divine Embryo. The Transformation God Stage likewise had four: Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Incarnation, Divine Descent.
Chen Shi—equivalent to a Qi Refining Divine Embryo Realm—had beaten a Transformation God Golden Core expert to death!
Such a battle record was absurd.
Sure, it was a sneak attack while they were off-guard, but still absurd. He'd charged into the thick of them, surrounded by elite Divine Embryo Realm foes, and killed his way in and out—stabbing the Golden Core Zhao Ziyu dead.
Way too absurd. Li Tianqing shook his head.
He'd sparred with Chen Shi before—they were evenly matched. But now Li Tianqing realized just how terrifying Chen Shi's combat prowess became when killing intent took hold!
The scene suddenly brought to mind a poem by Emperor Taizu.
Slaughtered a million Jiangnan troops,
Blood still fresh on the waist-worn blade.
The mountain monk, unknowing the hero lord,
Yaps on and on, demanding his name!
If it had been him, could he have taken out those eleven elite Divine Embryo Realm experts plus a Golden Core powerhouse?
Perhaps.
By observing their habits and attire, deducing their techniques and spells, and planning meticulously, he could eliminate them in batches.
But it would take five or six days.
In normal times, no issue. But this was the demonic upheaval period. Too many variables in five or six days.
Something like Chen Shi's thunderbolt slaughter of all twelve in mere moments? He couldn't do that.
"Tianqing, what are you staring at?"
Chen Shi said in surprise.
"Run!"
Li Tianqing snapped awake and glanced at the Zhao camp. Over a hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards and a dozen Zhao scions were charging after them. One had already summoned his golden core from afar—even more perfected, his cultivation clearly far surpassing Zhao Ziyu's.
He shivered and hurriedly followed Chen Shi.
The two rushed up the slope. Blackie Pot was still waiting in place. Only when they reached him did he start running.
Li Tianqing was still dazed, but the dog was far more composed, slanting it an eye with utter disdain.
Little Tianqing just has no experience.
Black Pot Lord had seen scenes like this ages ago—
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