Chapter 60: Striking Out, Full-Force Blow

"You are no member of the Xue family, yet you are courting death."

Before Xue Tianlong could speak, Yang Le cut in directly: "A dog-like creature, capable of nothing more than incessant barking?"

Yang Le's words were harsh, yet he voiced them without hesitation.

In fact, at this very moment, Yang Le had already mentally added the arrogant fellow holding the white paper fan to his list of those who must die.

The sword in Yang Le's hand had never slain the innocent, nor was he strictly compelled to execute the deeply wicked.

Unless someone provoked him or sought his life, Yang Le would generally not go out of his way to kill.

After all, Yang Le was simply Yang Le, not some saviour-hero wandering through the vast lands of Daqian.

To him, there was fundamentally little difference between the villain and the virtuous.

What truly mattered to Yang Le were those connected to him.

Those who showed him kindness would undoubtedly be repaid in kind.

As for those who bore him malice,

Yang Le's solution was remarkably simple: with the sword in his hand,

he would slaughter the evildoer.

Clearly, Qi Tianque, who sat watching Yang Le with a mocking gaze, fell squarely into the category of the wicked in Yang Le's eyes.

"Are you venting your fury upon me?"

Yang Le's voice was not particularly loud; though the surroundings were crowded, it was far from chaotic. Under such circumstances, Qi Tianque was hardly deaf and naturally heard every word.

Instantly, Qi Tianque rose to his feet, a cruel, cold smile flashing across his face: "Lord Xue, if you do not kill this wretch, I believe I shall have to do it myself."

Though his tone carried no overt trace of anger, a hint of dark malice already smouldered within his eyes.

The feud between Yang Le and the Xue family

was merely a spectacle for Qi Tianque to observe.

However, because Yang Le had foolishly and recklessly redirected his wrath toward him, uttering such unbridled arrogance in his direction,

Qi Tianque was no longer a mere spectator.

"Ever since I attained the Fourth Rank, you are the very first person to speak to me in such a manner."

At that moment, the gaze Qi Tianque fixed upon Yang Le finally held a trace of genuine murderous intent.

The gap between the Fourth Rank and the Sixth Rank was vastly greater than the distance between a man and an ant.

Normally, Qi Tianque would never deign to acknowledge someone as insignificant as an ant like Yang Le.

Yet if the ant took the initiative to presumptuously bite him,

then...

Qi Tianque would not mind crushing the creature to death.

"To offend both the Xue family and Lord Zhang simultaneously, and even dare to walk right into a trap—this fellow is truly courting death."

"It matters not; whether he dies sooner or later, a mere human who escapes death today will inevitably be treated as raw material within a week at most."

"Haha, well said! Who could expect otherwise from a human? He's dead either way!"

As Qi Tianque spoke, the surrounding demons essentially concluded that the Yang Le before them was already a dead man.

Only a small handful of individuals continued to observe Yang Le with curious expressions.

The reason was quite simple:

they wished to discover why Yang Le's sword differed from those of ordinary sword cultivators.

Arrogant though he might be, this fellow had genuinely slain Xue Ting, whose cultivation was at the Fifth Rank, and Xue Tianhu, who had just stepped into the Fourth Rank.

No matter how flawed a Fourth-Rank practitioner might be, the Fourth Rank was still the Fourth Rank.

To slay a Fourth-Rank opponent with the cultivation of the Sixth Rank—regardless of the methods employed—

must mean he possessed some extraordinary capability.

"To think there is even the presence of a White Lotus Heart; this young man is truly remarkable."

Up on the second-floor corridor of the Xue estate, an elegant and refined woman was staring fixedly at Yang Le: "A single White Lotus Heart is hardly enough to leap two ranks and kill."

"Mistress, shall I have this fellow brought directly to us? A White Lotus Heart may not be priceless, but we shouldn't turn away what delivers itself to our doorstep."

Behind the woman, a pretty maidservant's eyes flashed with a hint of amusement upon hearing mention of the White Lotus Heart.

"A mere White Lotus Heart. Since it has appeared before us, it is bound to be ours."

"Does the Mistress mean to..."

The maidservant looked up, not daring to let her focus wander for a single instant.

"If he dies, we shall collect his corpse. The White Lotus Heart upon him shall serve as our payment for the funeral rites."

"The Mistress is truly benevolent."

After offering this praise, the maidservant smiled again: "And what if he remains alive?"

"He cannot possibly survive."

With that, the elegant and refined woman turned and walked away, refusing to cast another glance at Yang Le.

A mere Sixth-Rank...

under the watchful eyes of two Fourth-Rank experts, possessed zero chance of survival.

"What the Mistress says is true; this brat certainly cannot live."

Seeing this, the maidservant hurried to follow closely behind.

As a gentle breeze swept past, a token fluttered briefly from the woman's waist.

Inscribed upon it were the characters: *Gongsun Lin of the Elegant Pavilion.*

...

"Master, two Fourth-Rank opponents. They look considerably stronger than the fellow you killed before."

Yang Le remained standing in place, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword hanging at his waist, while Li Qi'er sounded somewhat nervous: "If Master has no other trump cards, in this disciple's humble opinion, making a tactical retreat is hardly a shameful thing."

"You think your master will lose?"

Instead of rushing to strike, Yang Le calmly met the gazes of Xue Tianlong and Qi Tianque.

"It's not that I think Master will lose, I am merely probing for your foundation so I can have some peace of mind."

Li Qi'er certainly did not believe her master would lose. As for running away?

Pardon her, but that was merely Li Qi'er being facetious.

After all...

if her master truly could not handle the trouble before them, she, Li Qi'er, was perfectly capable of stepping in.

"Wait here for me. Don't forget to scavenge these fellows' good treasures."

At that precise moment, Yang Le drew his sword and took the initiative to attack.

His target was unmistakably clear.

It was Xue Tianlong, standing right before him.

"It seems I worried needlessly. With such sword intent, I daresay I won't even need to strike."

Originally, Li Qi'er had even prepared herself to intervene, but the moment Yang Le drew his blade,

she understood.

She had no need to act.

Her master would use his sword to resolve every trouble in sight.

"Courting death!"

Xue Tianlong had never expected Yang Le to dare strike the first blow under such circumstances, and instantly sprang into motion.

A towering surge of blood qi completely enveloped Yang Le, its density exceeding that of Xue Tianhu by several times over.

"The one I killed earlier was your younger brother, wasn't he?"

Looking at the ferocious Xue Tianlong charging straight at him, Yang Le smiled: "Before he died, he said those exact words to me as well."

What a pity...

Faced with the overwhelming tide of blood qi, Yang Le showed no intention of retreating.

Instead, he gripped his sword with both hands.

As Yang Le condensed the sword momentum within his dantian entirely onto the blade,

an overwhelming wave of murderous intent...

burst forth from his body.

Simultaneously...

deep within Yang Le's dantian, the miniature sword suspended there seemed to sense something.

It vanished instantly.

Behind Yang Le,

a colossal phantom of a sword was rapidly taking shape.

From a small one-meter blade, it grew to ten meters...

then a hundred meters...

and finally...

the sword shadow behind Yang Le reached a height of a thousand meters.

At this moment, every corner of Linqing City could behold the towering sword shadow looming behind Yang Le.