Chapter 56: Coming to Kill You

"A fast blade, but still a dead man."

With the flashing gleam of three blades, under the watchful eyes of the numerous martial cultivators of Linqing City, they charged toward Yang Le. The sharp intent to kill was vividly apparent even along the edges of their weapons.

However...

Such bladework posed no real threat to Yang Le whatsoever. Under these circumstances, striking out was merely a way for Yang Le to survey his surroundings, which was the only reason they had been granted the opportunity to make a move.

Otherwise...

Before death claimed them, they wouldn't even have had the chance to lift the swords in their hands.

"Kid, I've seen plenty of arrogant people, but this is the first time I've laid eyes on someone as arrogant as you."

"Tonight is the night you die!"

"Given this, you, Yang Le, are destined to perish without a doubt."

If it had been before Yang Le made his move, the three members of the Heavenly Tiger Gang might have felt a lingering dread, intimidated by his formidable reputation.

Yet, the moment they launched their preemptive strike, that fear vanished into thin air without a trace.

It was as if, under these very circumstances...

In their eyes, this fellow Yang Le was already a dead man walking.

"Come collect the spoils, the man is already dead."

What a pity...

They had vastly overestimated themselves. Yang Le's sword was so blindingly fast that they didn't even have time to react.

Their words had barely faded from their lips.

A thin trace of fresh blood had already appeared along the edge of Yang Le's blade—the blood of the three Heavenly Tiger Gang members before him.

"Master, stop looking. They're all destitute wretches; whatever they carry belongs to demonic cultivators, just another pack of human scum who surrendered to the demon race."

The three heads rolled into the drainage ditch lining the alleyway, while Li Qier nearby didn't even bother to step forward and search their corpses.

He merely frowned, cast a dismissive glance at the bodies before him, and immediately concluded that they were penniless paupers.

"Quite right. Such people truly possess nothing of any value."

Yang Le had never intended to grow wealthy through slaughter. Seeing that Li Qier had already reached a verdict, Yang Le instantly shifted his gaze away from them.

His eyes locked once again upon the crowd gathered in front of the massive gates of the Xue family estate.

"Are the rest of you members of the Xue family?"

The sword in Yang Le's hand was still dripping with blood, but he paid it no heed, simply raising his weapon once more. "If you are all people of the Xue family, then I, Yang Le, shall begin the slaughter right here and now."

"No, not me! I'm not, don't kill me!"

"Young hero, I'm just here to deliver provisions! Spare me, I don't know anything!"

"Hurry, leave! The Xue family estate is a place of disaster; this is no place to linger!"

True to expectation, as Yang Le began his bloody work, those who had previously stayed behind simply to watch the spectacle finally grasped one stark reality.

The Yang Le before them was genuinely not someone to be trifled with, and if they continued to linger here...

They themselves were very likely to end up as corpses.

Amidst a flurry of panicked exclamations, the dozens of onlookers gathered before the Xue gates dwindled down to barely twenty-odd people.

In short, every single martial cultivator beneath the seventh rank had fled for their lives during that brief window of time.

"It seems we'll have to let the Xue family handle this. This fellow's martial cultivation is rather peculiar; he's most likely concealing his true strength."

"Hard to say, but we can just watch from the sidelines. The people from the Xue family should have arrived by now."

"How fascinating. To discover such an interesting youth right here in Linqing City—I truly wonder how the Xue family intends to deal with this fellow."

Even those who remained still harbored a shred of wariness toward Yang Le.

It was simply that they refused to believe Yang Le would actually dare to turn his blade against them before they themselves had made a move.

Meanwhile, the martial cultivators of the Xue family had finally arrived on the scene.

Given the circumstances, these onlookers chose not to leave, preferring instead to observe Yang Le with the detached gaze of spectators watching a theatrical farce.

To have instantly slain three sixth-rank martial cultivators in the blink of an eye—

Indeed, it was formidable.

Among human cultivators, someone of such a tender age could well be considered a proud darling of heaven.

Unfortunately...

Yang Le had provoked the Xue family.

Therefore, no matter how much untapped talent Yang Le had yet to display, after tonight...

It would all vanish like bubbles in the foam.

For dead men possess no talent.

Even if you could slay a million enemies with a single sword, even if you were destined to become the greatest powerhouse in the Great Qian Dynasty, if you are slain today—

You will be remembered as nothing more than a corpse.

"Watching a spectacle, in truth..."

Yang Le caught the expressions shifting across the faces of the crowd, and a low, resonant voice issued from his lips. "...can also cost you your life."

Yang Le always kept his word.

If anyone had chosen to walk away from his presence within ten breaths, even if they were of direct Xue family blood, Yang Le would never have pursued them to take their lives.

But after ten breaths—

Even those who had merely come to the Xue estate as hired laborers were, in Yang Le's eyes...

Already numbered among the dead.

As for this crowd that chose to remain before his eyes, Yang Le asked no questions regarding their motives.

He simply regarded them all as dead men.

"The breath of a single sword, severing seven!"

Swords flourished like blooming lotuses in Yang Le's grasp. Like a lone wolf plunging into a flock of sheep, he unleashed his overwhelming intent to kill.

Charging forward alone amidst a swirling vortex of wind, he instantly lopped off three more heads.

"Thinking of fleeing now? It's too late."

Yang Le's wrath was simple. Originally, this was merely a matter between the Xue family and himself, yet these wretches insisted on looking at him with the amused gaze one reserves for performing monkeys.

Yang Le utterly loathed that look.

And so, they had to die.

"A madman! He's absolute mad!"

"We didn't even make a move!"

"This fellow has completely lost his mind."

Yang Le's sudden and violent assault caught everyone completely off guard.

They weren't even members of the Xue family! Why on earth was Yang Le turning his blade upon them as well?

"Wishing to make a desperate final struggle now?"

Sensing that the surrounding crowd intended to unleash their full strength at last, Yang Le moved faster still.

He poured every ounce of his sword Qi directly into the blade.

And struck with all his might!

A single sword stroke!

The dense, pale-white sword Qi materialized into something tangible, completely sealing off both sides of the narrow alley.

Whoosh!

With a single piercing hum of steel, Yang Le's sword Qi surged forth.

Seventeen lives severed in a single breath!

Torn limbs and shattered bones flew wildly through the air, while the pooled blood of the victims converged upon the ground, flowing in a sluggish, crimson stream.

The remaining heaps of mutilated flesh completely blocked the grand front gates of the Xue estate.

"The eradication of the Xue family begins now."

With a flick of his sword, Yang Le scooped up a portion of the blood-drenched stream from the ground, sending it splashing high into the air.

Whether by pure coincidence or deliberate design—

That smear of dark, crimson blood splashed directly across the grand plaque bearing the characters "Xue Residence" above the main gates.

"You..."

"This..."

At that very moment.

Reinforcements from the inner courtyards of the Xue family finally arrived.

A heavily built, middle-aged man clad in grey-white robes strode forward, gripping a massive, heavy saber. His gaze carried the haughty disdain of one accustomed to lording over others.

Xue Tianhu, younger brother of Xue Tianlong from Cizhou, and concurrently the master of the Linqing City Heavenly Tiger Gang.

Trailing closely behind him were some forty or fifty elite experts.

The gruesome scene of butchered flesh before the gates sent a visible shock through this veteran martial cultivator who had roamed the pugilistic world for decades.

"You must be Yang Le?"

"I am."

"Here to court death?"

"Here to kill you!"

Glancing once at Xue Tianhu before him, Yang Le uttered not another wasted word.

He struck instantly with his sword.

He had already spent far too much time dispatching those stinking fish and rotten shrimp; from this moment onward...

Yang Le had no intention of wasting any more time.