“What the f*ck!”
The powerful cultivators who had just entered Zhang Mansion all watched the attack from this one sword in disbelief.
It was so shockingly powerful that it was as if they had witnessed a great Buddha chop in broad daylight.
“This… This…”
“Who is this person?”
“A Sovereign swordsman? Even a Sovereign swordsman might not be this powerful, right?”
“Oh my God, look at what he is wearing… Is it a guard? Isn’t he a Zhang Mansion guard? I walked past one in the morning while I was buying some biscuits, and one of them even pushed me!”
“Does this guard have issues with Zhang Mansion?”
“Are you blind? One look at this and you can tell that Zhang Mansion was attacked. What does it have to do with the guard? Even if it does, the guard was probably possessed by someone else!”
“…”
Zhang Mansion was in chaos.
Dong Qing Street surrounding the Zhang Mansion was also in an uproar.
The difference was that the Zhang Mansion was literally in chaos while the uproar in Dong Qing Street was just the crowd in disbelief.
One sword…
It was such a casual and simple-looking sword.
Even when that person raised his sword, everyone could not tell how much power was actually contained within it.
It was as if it was a sword attack by an Innate Cultivator using an ordinary grade-nine spiritual sword.
It seemed as if it was a dream.
Zhang Taiying was dumbstruck. Zhang Zhongmou was dumbstruck. Zhang Duoyu was also dumbstruck.
The scariest part was not the fact that Zhang Mansion had exploded. That was something to be expected during a battle between Sovereigns.
The younger and less powerful members of the family had already been rapidly evacuated under the care of a few family elders. Thus, there were not many casualties.
But…
The Hidden Scriptures Pavilion was gone.
That was the only area in Zhang Mansion protected by Sovereign spirit-gathering arrays.
Even if Zhang Taiying were to take out all of his belongings, they would not be worth as much as the value of that spirit-gathering array.
Now, with the unveiling of one sword, it was gone.
Six Sovereigns had just been fighting to the death, and then this person casually took out a sword and sliced.
The pavilion was gone.
There wasn’t even any sound, yet the protection barrier and ancient tower were destroyed.
It contained decades of the Zhang family’s decades efforts and treasures.
It held immensurable wealth and fortune, as well as countless spiritual techniques.
Both of Zhang Taiying’s eyes were bloodshot.
“You…”
“You are very good!”
He growled lowly as if the beast within him had been fully released. “Today, if I, Zhang Taiying, do not kill you, then I am not a human!”
That terrifying murderous look scared Xu Xiaoshou so much that he shrunk back.
Unleashing that one sword had used up all his energy. The hand holding Hidden Bitter was bleeding.
‘Is it that powerful?’
Xu Xiaoshou looked around Zhang Mansion, which was filled with holes. If the people there hadn’t evacuated earlier, other than the Sovereign cultivators and those masters who were tough…
No one else would have been able to survive.
‘How could it be?’
‘It was just one stroke of unrefined sword cognition, and it was only a semi-finished product…’
Xu Xiaoshou’s thoughts stalled.
‘Yes, it was that man’s sword cognition. Is his sword cognition actually this terrifying? Just a small breath of it destroyed Zhang Mansion…’
‘That included the Hidden Scriptures Pavilion.’
Gulp.
Xu Xiaoshou swallowed a mouth of saliva. He felt like blacking out and almost fell down.
He was exhausted.
He didn’t have a single drop of energy.
All of it had been used up.
Being able to sustain his standing position was only thanks to his Toughness.
Even so, facing the murderous intent of Zhang Taiying, Xu Xiaoshou lightly flipped Hidden Bitter over.
Swish!
A soft sound rang in the silent surroundings. The three people from Zhang Mansion were nervous again.
This guy had already proved himself to be very strong.
Even if Zhang Taiying was in his berserk mode now, he was not confident that he could take on that sword from earlier.
‘Is he going to attack with his sword again?’
Everyone retreated as they looked at Xu Xiaoshou slowly and casually return the black sword in his hand back into its scabbard.
Afterward, they saw this young man lift his head.
No expression could be seen on his face, which was covered with dirt.
Yet, weakness could be seen filling his eyes.
‘Hmm? Weakness?’
‘It must be fake!’
Everyone was looking at Xu Xiaoshou, which caused him to feel nervous. He wanted to go faster but he couldn’t.
He took a deep breath. The crowd grew more anxious.
“I…”
Boom!
Once the word left his mouth, he could not sustain the Sword of the Void. It exploded.
Stepping sounds could be heard as the three people from Zhang Mansion retreated at the same time. Their faces were full of shock.
After waiting for a long time, Xu Xiaoshou still did not raise his sword to attack. They were so angry that their faces turned red.
Xu Xiaoshou was amused.
He was only weak to the extent that he could not speak, but these people were still so afraid of him attacking again.
“You, you little fella…”
Xu Xiaoshou raised his finger. He wanted to point at Zhang Taiying but found that he couldn’t even move his fingers.
He could only lift his chin and ask, “Didn’t you say that if you didn’t kill me, then you were not human anymore?”
“Quickly come at me. If you don’t, you will not be human anymore after tonight.”
Zhang Taiying’s face was filled with shock as his blood pressure rose. He almost released his energy to fly toward him.
“Calm down!”
Zhang Duoyu grabbed his hand from behind just in time, barely managing to pull the impulsive guy back.
“We can’t mess around!”
“Chief Elder is already old. Zhang Mansion cannot do without a master, so you must endure!”
Zhang Taiying was speechless.
Zhang Zhongmou also didn’t know what to say.
Her words made a lot of sense.
Still, she could have been less direct. She didn’t have to voice out the harsh reality.
The two of them were so angry that their faces darkened. But words of wisdom are words of wisdom, so Zhang Taiying still accepted them.
Xu Xiaoshou saw the three of them huddling together. He called Aje and Xin Gugu to his side by eyeing them.
With these two as protection, he regained some sense of security.
He knew that this moment was of utmost importance. If he showed some weakness or made a blunder, the three people from the Zhang Mansion would definitely come after him like hungry wolves.
He had to build his momentum to have a chance of escaping.
“That one sword…”
Xu Xiaoshou tilted his head. He paused for a moment before slowly speaking. “Punishment.”
Zhang Taiying clenched his fists so tight that there were cracking sounds. He almost jumped out immediately. Luckily, Zhang Zhongmou helped restrain him.
“Stay calm. This guy will not dare to mess around.”
“He should know that his one sword would have already alerted the City Lord Mansion. If he does not retreat now, it will probably be hard for him to do so later. Hence, he has no choice but to leave now!”
“Just wait a little longer!” Zhang Zhongmou communicated to him telepathically.
Zhang Taiying replied angrily, “Is Zhang Mansion a place where he can come and go as he pleases? How would the outside world see the Zhang family after that one sword destroyed part of our territory? How would they view me?”
Zhang Zhongmou sighed.
“Endure!”
“Endure for peace, and retreat for harmony.”
“The Hidden Scriptures Pavilion might be gone, but it can be rebuilt.”
“If you really want to fight, are you confident that you can take down those two Sovereigns, not to mention that one sword?”
Zhang Taiying was silent.
He gritted his teeth so hard that his gums started to bleed.
Xu Xiaoshou smiled casually. His eyesight had blurred, but he still managed to take out Yuan Mansion.
“As I said earlier…”
“The reason I came here was to simply retrieve an item from you Hidden Scriptures Pavilion, but you didn’t want to listen.”
Xu Xiaoshou looked at Zhang Zhongmou and said those words slowly.
He didn’t speak like that to annoy them. That was the only way he could speak due to his exhaustion.
If not for Eternal Vitality helping him hold on, he would have fainted.
Everyone looked at Xu Xiaoshou as he spoke to the air beside him. They weren’t sure what he wanted to do until he unveiled the Yuan Mansion in his hands.
Accumulating the last drops of energy in him, Xu Xiaoshou’s spiritual senses expanded and enveloped half of the Hidden Scriptures Pavilion that was on the ground.
The faces of the three strong cultivators from Zhang Mansion tightened as if they had simultaneously realized what was happening.
“No!”
Xu Xiaoshou shook his head slowly, squinted his eyes, and said to the air, “Too late.”
After that, a flash of light shone from Yuan Mansion. Half of the multi-story Hidden Scriptures Pavilion disappeared.
“I’ll take one of your items as punishment!”