Volume 4: Hidden Struggles, Chapter 280: Throwing Eggs at Rocks
The Zhan father and son had been overjoyed, thinking they were fighting normally when, in fact, their ultimate patron had arrived. No wonder the ancestral teachings stated that one must not defy the commands of the Holy Sovereign—this was the source of their strength and their progenitor. All members of the Zhan family were required to undergo a so-called “Baptism of Holy Blood” after birth, to select those capable of embracing the Holy Sovereign’s bloodline and planting the seeds for the awakening of their powers…
But what they never expected was that the very lord they had worshipped for generations would issue such heartless orders. Their hearts were filled with conflicting emotions—utterly bewildered.
“W-Why? We had no idea during the ambush that it was you, the Holy Sovereign! Ignorance is not a crime. With your powers, our reckless attempt at an ambush could never pose any threat to you, let alone harm you in the slightest! Why must you be so petty? Please, you can’t…” Zhan Yupeng couldn’t help but shout angrily at Chu Tianyu.
“Yupeng, shut up!” Zhan Tian snapped before Yupeng could finish speaking.
After shouting at him, Zhan Tian slowly turned to face Chu Tianyu, his expression dark and lifeless. He said, “Holy Sovereign, please show mercy. Today’s mistake lies with the Zhan family for offending your authority. I, Zhan Tian, will take full responsibility. I am willing to bear this fault with my own life, begging you to spare the rest of my family…”
“Father…” Zhan Yupeng cried out in grief before breaking into sobs.
“Family head…” The Zhan family’s disciples behind him also spoke with emotional sorrow.
As these emotionally charged voices grew louder, suddenly shouts arose from the crowd: “What kind of fake Holy Sovereign? He’s just creating trouble out of nothing! We’re fighting outside to protect the Holy Sect. For such a trivial matter, he wants to kill us without even hearing our side. He doesn’t deserve to be our patron! Even if his powers are immense, he can’t be this tyrannical! We’ll fight him to the death!”
“Well said. If we unite as one, maybe we still have a chance…” another voice added.
“Right! Anyway, death is death—let’s fight bravely!” yet another voice said.
“Yes, rather than committing suicide, let’s fight him with all our might. Maybe there’s still a chance of survival…”
“Let’s fight! Let’s fight…”
With the words spoken by Master Zhan and his son, anger immediately surged among the crowd. The disciples of the Zhan family, who had earlier appeared terrified, were now filled with rage under the incitement of their words. They cursed loudly, targeting Chu Tianyu across from them.
Although Chu Tianyu had shown formidable strength by easily killing two Sky Illusionists, it was a common trait among warriors that no one would admit they were inferior until they were truly defeated!
Moreover, due to the red mist, each of them had absorbed new energy, greatly enhancing their skills. As the saying goes, “In martial arts, there is no number one; in literature, there is no number two.” In these times, who could really say who was superior?
Yet, to the anger of the Zhan family disciples, just as their fighting spirit was ignited, Zhan Tian secretly sent a message to Zhan Yupeng: “Yupeng, when our father leads the men forward, you must take advantage of the chaos to retreat in the opposite direction. Run for your life without looking back. Return to the Zhan family estate first to gather items from the secret room. Then find a place to hide and avoid trouble—never come out again…”
“Remember! Don’t hesitate. The legacy of the Zhan family depends on you continuing it. Otherwise, you will be the eternal sinner of the Zhan family!” Seeing Zhan Yupeng’s reluctance, Zhan Tian sent another urgent message in anger.
Chu Tianyu listened to their messages and shook his head at Zhan Tian, a look of contempt on his slightly raised lips. He thought to himself, “I thought you were someone important, truly caring for the Zhan family’s descendants. Turns out you’re just like Liu Bei playing with A Dou—hypocritical, trying to trick others!”
Faced with the restless crowd from the Zhan family, the members of the Heavenly Sacred Gate led by Yun Qing were furious. Their cooperation with the Zhan family had already been unpleasant lately. The Zhan family members, relying on their dominance in the area and having not followed the orders of the Heavenly Sacred Gate for years, were used to being unrestrained. They would only obey orders from their own family and ignored everyone else, not even respecting Yun Qing. They would need Zhan Tian or Zhan Yupeng to relay orders before acting, otherwise they would ignore them completely.
Thus, the members of the Heavenly Sacred Gate had long had complaints about their behavior. But with Yun Qing’s pressure and being on their territory, where everything was arranged by them, it was difficult to confront them. However, their resentment grew increasingly. So, when Chu Tianyu caused them trouble this time, it suited the Heavenly Sacred Gate members perfectly, and they all cheered in approval.
To his surprise, the people of the Zhan family, under Zhan Tian’s few feigned attempts to provoke them, dared to commit the ultimate treason by planning to attack the Saint outright—such defiance was unforgivable! So, before Chu Tianyu could react, they rushed forward and stood in front of him, showing their loyalty by protecting their master. A few of them even immediately began to scold loudly, “Dareful Zhan Tian! You refuse to obey the Saint’s orders and even incite your disciples to offend the Holy Lord! How arrogant and overconfident! We advise you to give up resistance now and commit suicide here as ordered by the Holy Lord…” “Fuck suicide! I’ll kill you first, then your mother!” Before the man could finish speaking, a loud voice came from within the Zhan family. At the same time, a burly figure shot forward like a cannonball toward the speaker. The man didn’t back down either; he quickly pulled out a gilded folding fan and unfolded it with a swish, creating thousands of fan shadows that blocked all of the attacker’s attacks. Forced to fight head-on, the man tried to punch the fan, but the soft fan surface easily deflected his punches with the force already present, leaving his attacks ineffective. That feeling of exerting full strength only to hit nothing was even more painful than taking a direct hit. As the two clashed back and forth, it quickly became the spark that ignited a full-scale battle between the two sides, with everyone fighting fiercely. Watching this from the sidelines, Chu Tianyu was utterly bewildered—what the hell was going on? Well, let them fight. He didn’t need to worry about some so-called true Holy Lord. He just had to wait and see if Zhan Yupeng would secretly escape, as his father Zhan Tian had suggested, in order to leave behind a legacy… As soon as Chu Tianyu thought this, he saw Zhan Yupeng slowly retreating as the chaos ensued, soon finding himself at the back of the crowd. Chu Tianyu pretended not to notice, focusing his eyes on the chaos in the arena, only occasionally glancing at Zhan Yupeng out of the corner of his eye to keep track of his position and movements.
As expected, Zhan Yupeng, who was already at the back, saw that Chu Tianyu wasn’t paying attention to him, and the fighting had reached its climax—both sides were now blinded by rage. Whether it was for some so-called “Holy Lord” or not, all that mattered now was to hurl their weapons and energy attacks at each other with all their might, knowing it was a fight to the death. Seeing the moment was ripe, Zhan Yupeng seized an opportunity. As a cold wind blew, he channeled his energy and slammed his palm onto the ground, raising a moderate amount of dust. At that instant, he pushed off with all his strength, bending forward and darting forward almost touching the ground… Unfortunately, before he could go far, Chu Tianyu’s finger strike reached him, creating a bloody hole in the back of his head. Blood gushed out, and he fell to the ground with a thud, dying on the spot! Yet his eyes remained wide open, staring into the distance, with an expression of utter confusion, for he truly never understood why this was happening! … The disciples of the Zhan family only possessed skills at the level of the outer-ranking families serving Tian Sheng Men, and they were still somewhat inferior to the people brought by Yun Qing. It was only because of their numbers that they could barely hold their own against Tian Sheng Men. But this stalemate didn’t last long—they gradually fell behind as the members of Tian Sheng Men calmed down, abandoning their initial one-on-one tactics and switching to their usual coordinated attacks, combining everyone’s energy into a single force to maintain a numerical advantage in close combat. Coupled with the existing skill gap between them, control of the battle quickly shifted to Tian Sheng Men’s hands. After dealing with Zhan Yupeng, Chu Tianyu simply stood by, watching the spectacle. He also noticed that this time, the Tian Dao Guan and its six elders hadn’t joined the Zhan family’s attack; instead, they stood at a distance, adopting an indifferent attitude. What puzzled Chu Tianyu was that, given their close relationship with the Zhan family—especially with Zhan Yupeng involved—they should have been their staunch allies. Why were they so unconcerned now? But whether they helped or not no longer mattered. With their current strength, their presence that night was truly unnecessary. No matter who they faced, they were utterly outmatched in terms of cultivation. Even at Yu Ji’s level, he could barely deal with one member of Tian Sheng Men, with the odds still fairly even.
“Stop fighting immediately!” Chu Tianyu uttered this cry with a tone reminiscent of the Buddhist lion’s roar. Just this single shout shocked both sides engaged in battle, causing them to involuntarily lower their weapons and retreat a few steps back to their respective camps. As soon as the fighting ceased and the echoes of Chu Tianyu’s words faded, Zhan Tian let out a mournful cry: “Yu Peng, Yu Peng!”