Chapter 586: Complete Annihilation

Not long after Emperor Qianwei descended the stairs, a thunderous explosion erupted from the backyard.
In the backyard, the two sides finally engaged in close combat.
On the side of Tianwei Pavilion, there were ten peak-level warriors, along with nearly a hundred warriors at or above the Fifth Stage of Xin Ni. Such strength was undoubtedly formidable.
Lin’s Inn was no less strong. Ding Lao Tou, who had been renowned throughout the Great Han Kingdom for a century, and Lin Dong, who could harness all the spiritual energy in the world—just the two of them were enough to rival six or seven peak-level warriors.
Add Feng Yue and Yun Lan to the mix, and the combined strength of these four could overwhelm the ten peak-level warriors of Tianwei Pavilion.
Jiang Kui, Cheng Bao, Hua Wu Yue, Qiao Tian Hao, Yu Ling Long, and Li Xun—these six top chefs from Lin’s Inn also all belonged to the ranks of peak-level warriors. With just their combined strength, they were not afraid of even a hundred warriors at or above the Fifth Stage of Xin Ni. Moreover, when they worked together, their strength multiplied exponentially, enhancing their combat power by ten times or even more.
Among them was Li Xun, a master of hidden weapons.
After reaching the rank of peak-level warrior, with his abilities, aside from Lin Dong and Ding Lao Tou, who were several realms above him, there was no one in Lin’s Inn who could match him. Even Yun Lan and Feng Yue were helpless against his hidden weapons.
Jiang Kui let out a loud roar, stunning nearly a hundred warriors at or above the Fifth Stage of Xin Ni. Cheng Bao then swung his golden sword wildly. A surge of spiritual energy, carrying immense killing intent and brutality, swept toward the leading members of Tianwei Pavilion. In an instant, severed limbs flew into the air. As golden light flared, over a dozen warriors at or above the Fifth Stage of Xin Ni were instantly decapitated.
Soon after, Li Xun fired thin needles crafted from ninth-tier spiritual minerals, emitting streams of silver-white light. Though not as dominant as Cheng Bao’s sword strike, their power was no less fierce. Almost as soon as Cheng Bao retracted his sword, another dozen warriors were pierced through the throat by the needles.
Despite suffering heavy losses, the warriors of Tianwei Pavilion did not retreat. Taking advantage of the brief pause between the two fighters, they charged forward in unison.
Instead of retreating, the six of them pressed forward.
Not far away, six others were dealing with those warriors at or above the Fifth Stage of Xin Ni. Lin Dong freed his hands to focus on dealing with those six peak-level warriors who could not break free from his control in a short time.
With the pressure reduced significantly, although Lin Dong fought with all his might, he still couldn’t free his hands to eliminate those six peak-level warriors. But thanks to his endless spiritual energy, it was easy for him to keep them immobilized for three to five years.

Soon, in another battle circle, Old Ding was responsible for slowing down the four peak-level warriors, while Yun Lan and Feng Yue focused on finding gaps in their defenses. The seven of them fought evenly, with none able to gain the upper hand. Although it wasn’t possible to drag out the battle like Lin Dong could for three to five years, it wasn’t difficult either to decide a winner within a few days.

Three battle groups were stuck in a stalemate, while the other group, undoubtedly, was dominated by Jiang Kui and his six companions.

In just a moment, thanks to their highly coordinated efforts, the outcome was decided the instant the two sides clashed. Qiao Tianhao struck like lightning, Yu Linglong moved with unpredictable speed, and Hua Wuyue employed versatile sword techniques. Though the three of them were less crucial to their team than Jiang Kui, Cheng Bao, and Li Xun, they were by no means useless.

In an instant, nearly a hundred corpses appeared in the backyard of Lin’s Inn, and the smell of blood began to fill the air.

“Owner, hold on! I’m coming to save you!”

Despite his strength as a peak-level warrior, Qiao Tianhao’s amusing personality remained unchanged. After dealing with the warriors above the fifth level of the Heart Rebellion stage, he let out a howl and rushed to support Lin Dong’s group first.

From afar, Jiang Kui unleashed a roar like a lion at one of the peak-level warriors. This man was already forced to desperately use his spiritual energy to resist Lin Dong’s pressure at the Yu Tian realm, leaving him with no strength to deal with Jiang Kui’s roar. Suddenly attacked by the sound wave, he immediately closed his eyes—this mighty peak-level warrior was knocked unconscious by the roar.

The next second, Qiao Tianhao’s black iron kitchen knife mercilessly chopped him into thousands of pieces.

Behind them, Cheng Bao and Li Xun acted almost simultaneously—one swung a golden blade, the other fired a line of needles. One aggressive, one gentle—these two peak-level warriors, once controlled by Lin Dong, had no chance to resist and met the same fate as the one Qiao Tianhao had faced.

In the blink of an eye, six peak-level warriors were left with only three. With half the pressure gone, Lin Dong’s Yu Tian realm grew twice as powerful. Yu Linglong and Hua Wuyue took on one warrior each; by the time they finished off their targets, the other had already been chopped into pieces by Qiao Tianhao.

After quickly eliminating two groups of enemies, Lin Dong waved his hand, and Jiang Kui’s six companions rushed at the last group.

Thunder rumbled, and the scene between Yun Lan and the four strongest peak-level warriors sent by the Tian Wei Pavilion was the most spectacular and terrifying.

With every collision, there was a deafening explosion, fierce winds howled, and massive craters formed.

Yet, what was astonishing was that the walls and buildings of Lin Ji Inn remained untouched. This was certainly not because the people from Tian Wei Pavilion acted rationally—killing someone did not mean destroying their property. The reason was that Lin Dong had activated the inn’s defensive attributes. Once activated, the buildings, furniture, and walls of Lin Ji Inn would all be protected by these defensive attributes. Only when the defense value was completely exhausted could any damage be inflicted on them.

Lin Ji Inn was now at level 9, capable of holding 25,600 spirit stones. The defensive power generated by these stones meant that even the residual force from a few peak-level warriors fighting fiercely, or even a group of them attacking the inn, could not cause any damage in a short time. With Jiang Kui and his five companions, along with the four peak-level warriors from Tian Wei Pavilion fighting to the death regardless of the odds, by the time Emperor Qian Wei entered the backyard and the guests in the lodging building and nearby residents woke up, the battle was already over. The entire backyard was in chaos, but Lin Ji Inn, aside from a slight depletion of its spiritual energy by people like Yun Lan, suffered no damage at all.

As he looked around, Emperor Qian Wei was stunned by what he saw in the backyard. Even Yang Shun was speechless, finding it hard to believe his eyes. Lin Dong had not chosen to flee but instead tried to buy time. He had already guessed that Lin Dong must have some advantage, at least one that could withstand Tian Wei Pavilion’s attacks. But he never expected that the battle, which had just begun, would end in just a few minutes.

Although Yang Shun was not a trained warrior, he knew that peak-level warriors had an incredible amount of spiritual energy. In a battle, unless one side had overwhelming strength, it was common for the outcome to remain undecided for days. Even weeks or months of indecision was not surprising. A few minutes meant that one side had overwhelming strength.

At a glance, all the corpses were dressed in black, clearly belonging to the same group, which indirectly proved that Lin Ji Inn indeed had overwhelming strength. But Lin Ji Inn’s enemy was Tian Wei Pavilion! Not only Yang Shun but even the two involved, Old Ding and Feng Yue, could hardly believe they could defeat Tian Wei Pavilion so easily.

Throughout the thousands of years of the Great Han Empire’s history, Tianwei Pavilion had not been without instances where miscalculations in assessing enemy strength led to the complete destruction of entire armies. Yet, sending out ten peak warriors and nearly a hundred warriors at the fifth level or above of the Heart Rebellion stage still resulting in total annihilation was absolutely the first time in Tianwei Pavilion’s history.

Lin Dong and the others didn’t think much of it. A few years ago, Tianwei Pavilion was still too distant from them. As a sword hanging over all martial artists’ heads, its influence on them was not significant. But Old Ding and Feng Yue were different. Having felt the invisible pressure exerted by Tianwei Pavilion for decades, even though they possessed the strength of peak warriors, they still held an indescribable sense of awe toward it.

Peak warriors were also human and feared death just like anyone else. The only thing that could threaten them was Tianwei Pavilion—the sword above them—and they felt its threat most acutely and directly.

Throughout the Great Han Empire’s thousands of years of history, almost all peak warriors lived under the shadow of Tianwei Pavilion their entire lives. As for those who dared to defy Tianwei Pavilion and challenge its limits, unless they retreated to remote mountains to live in isolation from the outside world, they could never escape Tianwei Pavilion’s pursuit and extermination.

Old Ding and Feng Yue believed that today’s battle would surely be one of the most important moments in the history of the Great Han Empire. Moreover, it was only midnight; the second half of the night would not be peaceful either. Even more astonishing history might unfold.

Killing officials and civilians in large numbers, amassing too much power… these were bottom lines that Tianwei Pavilion would never allow to be crossed. They were also the reasons why the Great Han Empire had remained standing for thousands of years. If any of these bottom lines were violated, it would eventually cause severe damage to the empire, even leading to its downfall.

To ensure that these bottom lines could not be crossed for thousands of years and to instill an irresistible sense of deterrence in the hearts of generations of martial artists, Tianwei Pavilion’s greatest asset was its strength.

Although no one knew exactly how many peak warriors Tianwei Pavilion had, it was certainly more than ten. Otherwise, even a coalition of sects from just a few famous mountains would be enough to deal a heavy blow to Tianwei Pavilion. With several such coalitions, Tianwei Pavilion would have long disappeared from history. Martial artists were always bold. In the history of the Great Han Empire, it was not uncommon for a coalition to be destroyed, prompting major sects to believe that Tianwei Pavilion’s strength had been weakened, and they would then unite with other major sects to challenge the empire’s limits. Yet, in the end, all such attempts ended in total annihilation, while Tianwei Pavilion remained mysterious, with no force able to uncover its true limits.

There’s no doubt that Tianwei Pavilion will not give up so easily, and Lin Dong never thought that just a few of them could defeat such a formidable force as Tianwei Pavilion. Ten peak-level warriors and nearly a hundred warriors at the fifth level or above of the Heart Rebellion stage may not be considered a mere appetizer, but they certainly won’t leave Tianwei Pavilion unable to fight again. In the front yard, after deceiving the guests who rushed over upon hearing the noise and sending them back, Ma Chun went to the inn’s entrance to explain to the residents who came to investigate. In the back yard, Lin Dong quietly watched Emperor Qianwei, whose face was filled with shock, a smile flashing in his eyes.