Chapter Sixty-Five: Li Zong's Demise

After a moment, the dust began to settle.

Whoosh!

A fresh breeze swept through.

The dust cleared completely.

Gradually, the figures of two men emerged.

Both men were breathing heavily, but Lu Han appeared worse for wear. His white robe was tattered in several places, exposing parts of his body, and a trace of blood lingered at the corner of his lips.

In contrast, Li Zong seemed unscathed apart from some dust in his hair, which made him look a little disheveled but otherwise unharmed.

The outcome of this clash was obvious at a glance.

Li Zong was a master at the Ninth Heaven of Postnatal Realm, wielding the Lu family’s most formidable martial art, “Unadorned Heavenly Water Palm.” Lu Han, meanwhile, had only just broken through to the Eighth Heaven of Postnatal Realm.

That he suffered only minor injuries was already a commendable showing.

“Lu Han, you’re the first person at a lower level than me who could use my own ‘Unadorned Heavenly Water Palm’ against me, but if this is all you have, then this is as far as you go.”

Li Zong’s voice was low and chilling.

Now, the feud between the Lu and Li families in Maple Leaf City had reached a point of no return.

Naturally, Li Zong had no reason to show mercy.

He once more formed a palm seal with his hands.

Lu Han’s dark eyes narrowed as he watched Li Zong.

This was the opening stance of the “Unadorned Heavenly Water Palm.”

“Master was right. Without using that move, I can’t defeat you. You truly are stronger than the average Ninth Heaven of Postnatal Realm. Alas, I still have to use it.” Lu Han’s internal energy surged violently, and the Bilu Sword, which had been embedded in the ground, shot up with a sharp whistle, landing firmly in his grasp.

Old Man Ling had warned Lu Han earlier that Li Zong was stronger than any Ninth Heaven Postnatal Realm opponent he had faced before. Even his “Star Shatter Palm” infused with the Frostforce wouldn’t be enough. But Lu Han had wanted to test his own limits, which had led to the earlier exchange.

“Li Zong, you’re right. This is the end!”

Lu Han pointed the Bilu Sword at Li Zong, and an icy aura swept forth, sending a chill through Li Zong.

He sensed a deadly threat from Lu Han—one he had only ever felt from innately powered elders.

Li Zong’s cold eyes fixed on Lu Han. “So this is your trump card? I’d like to see how you defeat me!”

Li Zong unleashed the “Tide Surge Technique” to its utmost.

Lu Han closed his eyes.

A shimmering veil of energy slowly formed over his body.

This was his confidence in going head-to-head: the high-grade Xuan-level defensive martial art, “Heavenly Raiment.”

His internal energy surged so powerfully that a thin layer of frost spread across the ground.

Lu Han’s aura grew increasingly terrifying; a white sword-light coiled atop the Bilu Sword. A powerful sense of danger surged through Li Zong’s heart, raising every hair on his body.

“This sense of danger is many times stronger than before,” Li Zong thought.

Almost simultaneously, the two men charged at each other.

Li Zong’s palm seal crashed forward, nearly twice as large as before.

Both unleashed their strongest attacks.

Lu Han kicked off the ground, body parallel to the earth, sword tip aimed at the massive energy palm, spinning madly.

A five-meter-long blade of sword-light shot forth.

Old Man Ling’s prized technique—high-grade Xuan-level—“Sword Earth Ice Lotus.”

Boom!

Sizzle!

The two powers collided; first, a thunderous crash, then a sizzling sound.

The temperature around them plummeted rapidly.

Lu Han’s sword-light shattered Li Zong’s attack, then surged into Li Zong himself. Starting from his feet, Li Zong was slowly encased in ice, forming the shape of a lotus blossom.

Li Zong remained frozen in the posture of delivering his palm strike.

At the same time, the backlash from the palm strike sent Lu Han flying backward, his body skimming the ground.

He spat a mouthful of blood in midair.

Using the Bilu Sword for support, Lu Han struggled to his feet, barely managing to stand.

He gazed at the now-frozen Li Zong.

Though Li Zong was immobilized, his eyes still moved, and in them, Lu Han saw fear.

Lu Han wiped the blood from his mouth with a fierce gesture.

“I told you—this is the end!”

With great effort, he extended his left hand. As his inner strength circulated, his bloodless face grew even paler.

Lu Han’s fingers curled slightly.

Aimed at the icebound Li Zong.

He clenched his fist.

“Shatter.”

Lu Han softly uttered the word.

Crack!

A sharp sound rang out.

The massive ice lotus shattered into fragments.

Bang!

Li Zong collapsed to the ground, his eyes lifeless, one finger extended toward Lu Han as if trying to speak, but no words came.

“Ugh… ugh…”

“Zong’er!”

The head of the Li family, Li Zhengcheng, saw his son fall and his eyes blazed with fury.

“Li, my worthy nephew, distracted in a fight with me?”

A flash of golden light from Lu Hongying’s hand, and he chopped at Li Zhengcheng with a palm like a blade.

With a muffled thud, Lu Hongying’s blow struck Li Zhengcheng’s chest. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, flecked with shattered organs.

Li Zhengcheng had paid little attention to the duel. He’d thought none of Maple Leaf City’s younger generation could defeat Li Zong.

Lu Hongying was of the same generation as the Li family’s old patriarch, so calling Li Zhengcheng “nephew” was not amiss.

Their cultivation levels were similar.

Seizing his moment of distraction, Lu Hongying pressed the attack relentlessly.

Li Zhengcheng’s situation had become perilous.

Just as Lu Hongying seemed about to finish him, an innate-level elder of the Li family intervened, forcibly rescuing Li Zhengcheng.

“Zong’er!”

By now, Li Zong lay lifeless on the ground, cold vapor wafting from his body.

Lu Han sighed lightly. “Such are the laws of the continent.”

With a flicker, he rejoined the battle raging around them.

The melee continued.

…

…

The elder patriarch of the Lu family still dueled with the city lord, Wen Hao.

At this moment, the old master was growing anxious.

If this dragged on, he would certainly be defeated.

And if he was defeated, everything would be lost.

He could not afford to lose.

City Lord Wen Hao looked at the old master and said, “I didn’t expect you to break through to Xuan Lord Third Heaven. Otherwise, you would have lost long ago. Still, it makes no difference—you’re old, and defeat is only a matter of time. I’ll give your Lu family one last chance: swallow the Heart-Corrupting Pill I offer, obey my commands from now on, and your family will remain one of Maple Leaf City’s three great clans.”

“Hmph, Heart-Corrupting Pill? So the fate of the Lu family would be in your hands?” The old master sneered.

The Heart-Corrupting Pill was a deadly poison, its effects surfacing every six months. Without the antidote—kept by Wen Hao—the victim would die.

“Don’t dream. Even if the last Lu must fall, we will never take your poison and become your dogs!”

“Is that so? But your eldest son is willing. Like father, like son, perhaps?” Wen Hao laughed heartily.

“Don’t bother with your tricks. I’m a man of many decades. Trying to unsettle my spirit with such words is futile,” the old master replied.

…

Tianbao Pavilion.

“Princess, what brings you here?” Qian Santong asked cautiously.

“My father sent me on a mission nearby, so I happened to pass through.” The princess was still dressed in violet, her face veiled, her features concealed.

The old woman beside her suddenly frowned. “Princess, there’s a strong scent of blood. Qian Santong, what’s going on?”

“It’s like this…” Qian Santong quickly explained the situation.

“The Lu family? The same Lu family whose patriarch spent several times the price on a Soul-Nourishing Pearl for his wife?” The princess’s brow furrowed slightly.

She remembered Lu Tianhong well—at the auction, he’d paid many times over for the Soul-Nourishing Pearl, just to ease his wife’s suffering.

“Let’s go have a look,” she decided instantly.

“Princess, do you mean to help the city lord?” Qian Santong asked nervously.

“Help him? Why would I help him? If not for the Wen family’s influence, with what he did in the imperial capital years ago, he would be dead twice over!”

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