Chapter 40 - 38: The Curtain Falls, Who is the True Dragon?

Chapter 40: Chapter 38: The Curtain Falls, Who is the True Dragon?

At the moment the clear light illuminated the void, whether it was Qi Yun Mountain, Zhao Wuji, or the many experts of the Qi Family, all paled in horror and roared in fury.

"Brat, stop!"

Qi Yun Mountain’s eyes were entirely bloodshot. Having just snapped out of the shock from the echoing dragon roars, he wanted to save Qi Tianyang at all costs.

But it was too late. There was simply no time. By the time the crowd recovered from their utter astonishment...

WHOOSH!

SLASH!

The white-clad youth’s sword had already fallen, cleaving down in a single stroke. Only at this moment did Qi Tianyang finally seem to wake up. His eyes, brimming with unwillingness, resentment, and despair, gradually lost their color.

For a time, all of Xingyue City was stunned. As if struck by an Immobilization Technique, hundreds of thousands of pairs of eyes blankly stared at the scene. The towering figures of the Qi Family also stiffened, gazing blankly at the corpse slowly plummeting from the sky.

Even the countless disciples of the Celestial Sword Sect were completely dumbfounded at this moment.

In the center of the vast sea of people, above the boundless battle platforms, only that figure in white remained standing in the void. A gentle breeze lifted two strands of Jiang Hao’s hair. At this moment, the entire world fell silent.

Jiang Hao also knew that this sword strike would thoroughly change his life. A cultivation path paved with blood and storms officially raised its curtains on this very day.

It was not until a long while later that the crowd regained their senses from the scene. Yet, everyone looked as if they had been struck by lightning—by millions of bolts of lightning.

"The Qilin Child... is dead?"

"Heavens, the Qi Family’s Qilin Child is dead. He’s really dead!"

In an instant, Xingyue City exploded into an uproar. The way everyone looked at the figure in white underwent an earth-shattering change. The Qi Family’s Qilin Child, the chosen one born in the Xingyue City Earth Realm, was actually dead. And he was killed by the very trash despised and scorned by thousands.

The contrast was simply too massive. Almost all of Xingyue City could not accept this reality.

"Mother, Qi Tianyang... is dead? Really dead? Killed by that trash?" In the crowd, Ye Xiaotian could hardly conceal his shock. He stared blankly at the familiar figure standing in the void, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He wasn’t the only one in disbelief. All the Ye Clan Members, including Liu Ruyue, were stunned. Everyone was stunned. The Qilin Child who, not long ago, had kept the entire Ye family in a state of constant panic—just died like this? And died at the hands of that trash? This was far too absurd. It felt like a dream, so utterly surreal.

In the crowd, Wang Jiang was deathly pale, gasping for breath as he muttered, "Impossible. He... he killed Qi Tianyang?"

Only when the entirety of Xingyue City shook did everyone finally confirm that the Qi Family’s Qilin Child was truly dead.

Within the countless tea pavilions, terrifyingly powerful young figures also widened their eyes to the point of tearing, turbulent ripples surging in their gazes.

"A True Dragon Martial Soul—a martial soul even more terrifying than the Qi Family’s Qilin Child’s!"

One peerless genius after another recalled the scenes from just moments ago, their expressions horrified, their eyes filled with shock. Whether it was stepping from the Peak of Body Refining Realm into the Unity Realm in just three months, that final sword strike, or the clash of the martial souls—all of them were like bolts of heavenly lightning, smashing fiercely against their hearts.

"A peerless monster. A peerless monster of the Sword Dao."

"Jiang Hao? His name is Jiang Hao?"

"This man is the true peerless genius born in the Xingyue City Earth Realm. He is the peerless genius that we need to be wary of!"

In a certain tea pavilion, even the young woman wearing a bamboo hat couldn’t help but lift a corner of her veil. Her gorgeous eyes stared at the figure in white in utter shock.

The old man beside her was equally horrified. Only after a long while did he say, "Another monster qualified to participate in the Genius Supremacy Battle. To think that this small Xingyue City Earth Realm would simultaneously birth two peerless geniuses." Finished speaking, the old man seemed to remember something and immediately added, "Miss, if you can pull this person into your small faction, your chances of winning the Genius Supremacy Battle will increase significantly."

As he finished, the young woman muttered, "Uncle Haoyan, go investigate immediately. What is his background? And what kind of entanglement does he have with the Celestial Sword Sect?"

It wasn’t just the young woman. At this moment, countless terrifying young figures paled in shock. Some revealed apprehension, while others were filled with soaring battle intent, feeling as if they had finally met their match.

"Jiang Hao. His name is Jiang Hao?"

"I’ll remember this name. Jiang Hao of Xingyue City."

For a time, countless peerless geniuses were murmuring this name. Even the representatives of various factions who had come to recruit the new generation of Pill Masters subconsciously memorized it.

"The True Dragon Martial Soul... what grade of martial soul is that?"

"It seems to be a Ninth-Grade Celestial Tier Martial Soul!"

"What did you say? Ninth-Grade Celestial Tier?"

Evidently, although Jiang Hao’s martial soul had manifested to protect its master, he had still deliberately suppressed its Soul Power release. What Jiang Hao was displaying right now was merely a soul level around the Ninth-Grade Celestial Tier. Yet, this alone was enough to make the countless factions who had crossed mountains and rivers to be utterly horrified.

Outside the endless sea of people.

"Is it really just a Ninth-Grade Celestial Tier Martial Soul?" Gu Qingyan murmured to herself, a trace of imperceptible astuteness flashing through her shrewd, beautiful eyes.

And the moment the words "Ninth-Grade Celestial Tier Martial Soul" echoed out, all of Xingyue City thoroughly boiled over, like scalding water that could no longer be contained.

"A Ninth-Grade Celestial Tier Martial Soul?"

"Heavens, the martial soul that trash awakened is actually a Ninth-Grade Celestial Tier Martial Soul?"

"No wonder he could open eleven spirit vortices and step into the Unity Realm in just three short months."

Suddenly, everyone in Xingyue City seemed to realize it with hindsight. The martial soul that trash fused with was actually a Celestial Tier martial soul as well, and a Ninth-Grade Celestial Tier at that. With this, everything made sense. Whether it was his Unity Realm cultivation base, the terrifyingly powerful Qinghe Sword Technique, or that final sword strike—it all made sense.

This wasn’t some absurd fantasy; rather, the man himself was a peerless monster.

"The Tier Two Alchemy Master is him. The Alchemy Mark is him. The peerless genius of the Sword Dao is him. The peerless monster on Wuyang Mountain is him too?"

Not only that, but the one who triggered the heaven and earth phenomena that day was him, and the one who slew the Qilin Child was also him. Everything—it was all him! It was the universally acknowledged number one piece of trash in the entire city.

Only at this moment did the crowd of Xingyue City finally understand everything. It turned out that they were the clowns all along. All these seemingly fantastical deeds were brought about by that youth. For a time, people didn’t even know who the real Qilin Child of the Xingyue City Earth Realm was, or who the true dragon was.

At this moment, that figure in white seemed like an Exiled Immortal descending upon the world. He was like a slowly rising bright moon or a nascent, blazing sun—so brilliantly dazzling that it blinded the eyes of everyone looking.

At the same time, the moment Jiang Hao swung his sword and slew the Qilin, the countless experts of the Tang Family had also hurried over upon hearing the news, arriving late.

When Tang Xiaofeng and the towering figures of the Tang Family arrived at the rear of the sea of people, they happened to witness the scene of Qi Tianyang’s martial soul self-destructing, and the scene of that youth cleaving down his sword. Even Tang Xiao stood dumbfounded at the back of the crowd, his aged eyes brimming with an unconcealable look of horror.

"Heavens, he... he actually killed the Qilin Child?"

"And he killed him head-on!"

Only now did the Tang Family crowd realize in hindsight, guessing all the possibilities. That piece of trash they had given up on had actually forged the myth of reaching the Unity Realm in three months, and created the legend of counter-killing the Qi Family’s Qilin Child.

And prior to this, the Tang Family had held a clan elder assembly, abandoning their previous agreement and forgoing the decision to continue sheltering that figure.

"Patriarch...?" A Tang Family elder breathed rapidly, looking at Tang Xiao and Tang Xiaofeng with hesitation, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

As the acting Patriarch of the Tang Family, Tang Xiaofeng said with eyes full of regret, "We were wrong. We were all wrong."

The Tang Family’s decision to abandon that youth was completely wrong—a colossal mistake. The fact that the Tang Family did not appear in the spectator stands during the life-and-death battle had already made their stance clear. The connection between the Tang Family and that youth was destined to drift further and further apart. They had personally, and forcefully, pushed away a peerless genius who had proactively gravitated toward their family.

Tang Xiao was similarly dazed. No one understood better than this old Patriarch exactly what the Tang Family had lost. Perhaps the Tang Family’s loss wasn’t entirely obvious at this moment, but in the future, it would gradually magnify as that youth grew stronger.

At this moment, the Tang Family crowd was utterly green with regret.

"Patriarch, perhaps we still have room for redemption," a Tang Family elder spoke up abruptly, unable to help but feel tense.

Following the voice, everyone in the Tang Family instantly breathed heavily, as if they understood the hidden meaning behind the elder’s words. Although the life-and-death battle between Jiang Hao and Qi Tianyang had concluded, the storm was far from over.

"Right, right, right! We still have a chance for redemption. After killing the Qi Family’s Qilin Child, leaving Xingyue City will be as hard as scaling the heavens for him."

"Exactly. There is still a chance. Without our Tang Family stepping in, he won’t be able to walk out of this domain."

Some seemed to see an opportunity to once again draw closer to that youth, while others heaved heavy breaths and subconsciously blurted out, "But what about the Celestial Sword Sect...?"

At the mention of the Celestial Sword Sect, everyone in the Tang Family suddenly felt suffocated.

The reason the Tang Family abandoned that youth so decisively was largely due to the Celestial Sword Sect’s intervention with the Qi Family. No matter how much courage the Tang Family had, they wouldn’t dare clash head-on with a world-dominating sect.

For a moment, the gazes of countless Tang Family experts could not help but turn toward Tang Xiao. There was no such thing as unearned benefits in this world. To reap certain rewards, one inevitably had to pay a steep price.

Tang Xiao was caught in a dilemma, seemingly unable to make a decision. Little did he know, this brief hesitation would cost him even their final opportunity.