Chapter 623: I Alone Am Enough to Kill You

Chapter 623: I Alone Am Enough to Slay You

Everyone looked at Xia Longyuan, who sat cross-legged and motionless upon the high platform, and each remained speechless.

The man once so powerful that people believed he could never be defeated, the shadow that made everyone grind their teeth in hatred yet forced them to swallow their resentment, now had no voice left... His death felt almost surreal, for before he forcefully destroyed the sword spirits, he had not sustained any particularly heavy injuries.

The wound from Bo'er’s scimitar alone—perhaps the blade of the Domain Realm contained profound mysteries within, making it difficult to heal? But it should not have been fatal; once the fleeting surge of final vitality faded, the worst that could happen was that he would become a decrepit old man, yet with at least some remaining strength from his hidden secret realms, he could still have lived for a few more years.

Yet every person present could understand Xia Longyuan’s emotions at this moment.

Suppressing the realm under heaven for decades, only to end up decrepit and old, perhaps unable to defeat any of the people present... and then spending the rest of his life under the protection of a son-in-law who possessed widespread connections and considerable face?

Pointed at by a thousand accusing fingers, living in perpetual anxiety, taking shelter under another's wing.

Never mind Xia Longyuan, who had been proud his entire life and could never be willing; even if Li Shentong, Ying Wu, or Zhuque placed themselves in his shoes, they would not be willing either.

Death is but death; having climbed and crawled through the martial world for a lifetime, who among them did not look lightly upon it.

It was better to make a grand, spectacular final stand, completing his unfinished business and leaving an indelible mark upon the world.

Even if he had killed Wang Daoning and exterminated his entire clan, as long as the Sea-Tranquilizing Swords remained, another family could potentially rise in the future. Without the Wang of Langya, there would be a Zhang of Langya. But the moment the four swords were destroyed, there would never be another.

You organized a plot to kill me, so I destroy your roots. Eliminating both evils, including myself—is that not a joyous thing?

They did not know how to judge it; everyone’s heart felt deeply complicated.

Those who hated him most and cursed him to die a horrible death, like Li Shentong and Zhuque, also had to admit that this man still possessed a profound charisma; at the very least, it was fair to say he was a true man.

As for Zhao Changhe, though he had always opposed his methods, in terms of personal relations, the man was a fellow countryman and his father-in-law. Xia Longyuan could be considered to have held him in quite high regard, having previously given him fruit to eat, and he had not obstructed the matters concerning his children; he had even been magnanimous regarding Zhao Changhe's opposition, telling him to "come kill me yourself." For a relationship with a "fellow countryman" he originally did not know, this was giving him an immense amount of face.

Therefore, while he felt it was entirely normal for others to rebel, Zhao Changhe himself truly could not bring himself to do something like "killing him himself." He had even tried repeatedly through indirect hints to get Chichi to reconcile with her father, and this time, in essence, he had also stood on the man's side; no matter how many other grand-scale factors were considered, emotional ties had still played their part.

But Zhao Changhe had foreseen long ago that Old Xia only had gods and demons in his eyes and disregarded the common people; if something were to happen to him, it would in all probability be due to the backlash of his own terrible deeds, without the gods and demons even needing to strike. No one truly did things the way he did... advice had been given, more than once, and last time he had even advised him at the risk of provoking his wrath and being killed, yet the man was opinionated and self-willed; what could be done if he would not listen?

Reaching this point today, his mood was indeed complicated.

Zhao Changhe raised his head to look at Xia Chichi; Xia Chichi showed no reaction, only watching quietly, her gaze seeming to lose its focus.

A faint light glowed in the sky, but the Chronicle of the Chaotic World did not flash.

Aside from places that were concealed, there were two reasons why the Chronicle of the Chaotic World would not flash: one was that the person was not yet dead, and the second was that the Chronicle of the Chaotic World deemed the battle not yet over, as it habitually only made a summary after the entire matter had concluded.

This place had been breached by Ying Wu using spatial power, with people coming and going without any concealment, so which reason was it?

Everyone's gaze fell upon Wang Daoning.

Wang Daoning took half a step back, plotting a breakthrough.

He was still the only one of the Domain Realm present; if he was bent on leaving, he still had a very good chance of breaking through. Moreover, Li Shentong and Ying Wu might not necessarily have a reason to besiege him; the one colluding with the Hu barbarians was Li Gongsi, truly not him, and before this, he himself had not known about it either—it should be said that he had also been sabotaged, for without this wretched business, this dragon-slaying would have been even more successful. Why should others besiege him? To avenge Xia Longyuan? It was hard to say whether Zhao Changhe and Xia Chichi would even settle scores with them.

He only needed to break through from the hands of Zhao Changhe's family, which was not difficult.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Li Shentong and Ying Wu both size him up, a touch of disdainful irony in their eyes, and then each leaped into the air to depart. As they passed by Xia Chichi, both slightly cupped their hands, their meaning hard to discern.

Xia Chichi returned the gesture, nodding slightly more toward Li Shentong in particular, but she said nothing.

Previously, those who knew Xia Chichi was Xia Longyuan's daughter were truly not many; there were those whose knowledge was limited to suspicion, lacking solid proof, and more people still believed Zhao Changhe was the principal figure... but the conversation between Xia Longyuan and Zhao Changhe just now had made it crystal clear that Xia Chichi was the principal, and Zhao Changhe was the son-in-law he recognized.

The silent meaning conveyed by the two individuals on the Heavenly Ranking was somewhat along the lines of "if your father's death is to be counted on our heads, it can be, and if you want revenge, we will take it," but saying this directly would be very strange, because Xia Chichi herself wanted to avenge her mother, and Zhuque was one of her teammates this time, so what private feud was there to speak of? Thus they cupped their hands in greeting, observing Xia Chichi's attitude.

Xia Chichi's meaning was that everyone had no private feud, and could even be counted as teammates.

Among them, Ying Wu was a wanderer of the martial world, uninvolved in the struggle for hegemony, whereas the current Li Shentong was the leader of a faction. Since Xia Longyuan had fallen, the situation of the world fracturing into pieces had already taken shape; right now, regardless of whether Xia Chichi accepted this position of the Xia Emperor, the Sixiang Sect was also the master behind the Jianghuai Canal Gang, and would be in a position of contention against Li Shentong in the future. Thus the extra gesture meant that if I become your enemy in the future, it has nothing to do with private feud.

Both men understood, and both nodded slightly before drifting away.

Wang Daoning also stamped his foot, preparing to leave right after; in his view, since those two had left, the family present had even less qualification to stop him.

"Clang!" Bingpo left its sheath, its sword qi like frost.

Xia Chichi crossed her sword to block the entrance of the secret realm, saying coldly, "The battle on the sea, each had their reasons, so let it be. This time you joined forces with the Venerable One to slay the dragon, yet behind our backs you first killed our general; shouldn't you give an accounting?"

Wang Daoning did not take her obstruction too seriously; he casually deflected Bingpo and smiled, "The young girl ultimately still wants to find an excuse to vent her feelings over her father's passing, but unfortunately, you cannot stop this Wang."

But with this deflection, he was astonished to find that within this sword qi was contained a strange elemental water power, appearing to resonate with certain auras inside his own body; for a moment he became slightly stiff, actually failing to break out!

Strangely enough, that pair of a man and a woman, who he thought would inevitably besiege him again, actually did not come to besiege this time. Instead, the faint voice of Zhuque came: "Will you fight, or shall I?"

Xia Chichi retreated slightly by a few feet, biting her lower lip and hesitating for a moment: "I cannot beat him; I will just guard the flanks. I must trouble the Venerable One."

Wang Daoning was stunned; what did these people mean?

Are you choosing someone to fight me single-handedly? They actually even wanted to let Xia Chichi go first?

He instinctively looked toward Zhao Changhe; Zhao Changhe hovered not far to the side of Xia Chichi, appearing ready to support and guard the flanks, but he also had no intention of joining a siege.

Zhuque said faintly, "From the exchange just now, we already have a sense... Your Domain Realm is superficial, just like your sword spirits, using the energy of the Sea Clan to supplement your power without having your own comprehension. Your Wang family clearly intends to tranquilize the sea, yet instead you use the intent of the sea to supplement its soul; is this your path of the Domain Realm? It is no different from Li Gongsi leading the Hu barbarians into the pass—utterly ridiculous."

Wang Daoning said coldly, "What does the Venerable One mean?"

"Why use a siege to kill you? I alone am enough!" Flames rose from Zhuque's hand, reflecting upon the lower half of her face; the blood at the corner of her lips was not yet dry, looking demonic and beautiful.

Wang Daoning, who had wanted to leave, did not leave this time; he sneered, "Does the Venerable Zhuque mean that during the siege, she was dragged down by her man so much that she was instead injured?"

Zhao Changhe: "..."

Zhuque: "?"

A dense, mist-like aura rose from Wang Daoning's hand: "Then let this Marquis see just what extraordinary qualities the triple secret realms of the Venerable Zhuque possess!"