Chapter 374 - 174: A Martial Saint’s Heir Cannot Be Mediocre, That Old Man Is... Wang Xuanyang!?

Chapter 374: Chapter 174: A Martial Saint’s Heir Cannot Be Mediocre, That Old Man Is... Wang Xuanyang!?

In just a few short breaths.

Chen Hex’s originally scholarly and slender body suddenly shot upward!

His eyes grew sharp, his gaze turning predatory. His body stretched to a full ten feet tall, his frame becoming as broad as a tiger’s and thick as a bear’s. He looked like a small mountain!

As his hair cascaded over his shoulders, Chen Hex hefted his Black Back Broadsword. His once-loose robes could no longer contain his bulk and, with a loud RIIIP, were torn to shreds.

The scholarly gentleman had transformed into a monstrous beast of muscle in a single breath. The contrast couldn’t have been more jarring!

As Qin Zhuo and his other two direct disciples watched, dumbfounded...

...this muscular giant... slowly... took a step forward!

In that instant, the cultivation level that had seemed to be merely at the Qi Sea Realm began to skyrocket. His body became Leakless, and his eyes blazed with a terrifying light.

"You old undying bastard..."

"Have I been too damn easy on you!?"

"If I hadn’t learned a harsh lesson from the Sword Dao Ancestral Court in my youth, I would never have decided to lie low, painstakingly build up my School, and act like some refined, easygoing scholar."

"I even disagreed with that old fool Wang Xuanyang over it, but I still thought I was right."

"But..."

"Did you really think I grew up in a place full of pushovers?"

"No one from the Sword Dao Ancestral Court ever plays by the rules. You think a place like that could produce someone as ’refined and easygoing’ as me?"

"I’ve been acting this whole time!"

Chen Hex hefted his broadsword and sneered.

"It’s a shame, you old bastard. Why couldn’t you have just waited a little longer?"

"Give me a little more time, until my Qi coalesces into Dragon and Tiger. Once I’m unconstrained, you think I’d still be putting on this act for you?"

"When that time comes, you’ll spit out everything you’ve taken from me, with interest!"

"But since you’re being so relentless today..."

Chen Hex’s eyes flashed. With a horizontal slash of his broadsword that seemed to tear a rift in the air, he sent the braggart Chief Seat Wu Hong flying—right in front of Weii Changkong!

In that instant, stone and tile shattered!

Then, like a human tyrannosaurus, Chen Hex dragged the broadsword with a single arm. The aura of a peak Sect Leader-level expert within the Third Realm of a Grandmaster erupted from him, plain for all to see!

"Let’s see if I can’t take you down, even with a whole realm between us!"

Weii Changkong’s expression twitched.

He suddenly recalled the rumors about the Sword Dao Ancestral Court.

Sixty years ago, it was said that everyone from that place had an explosive temper. He had been puzzled as to why the scion of a Titled Martial Saint from there could be so... ordinary.

Now he saw how blind he had been.

’But why does it feel like ever since I came out of seclusion, everything has gone wrong?’

But watching Chen Hex display the power of a peak Sect Leader and cripple his own sect’s Chief Seat right in front of him, Weii Changkong’s expression turned grim.

"I have indeed misjudged..."

"But Chen Sect Master, if you hadn’t struck, there would still be room for negotiation."

"But now..."

"Do you truly believe that I, a man just one step from a Pseudo Title, cannot put you in your place!?"

Even if he had a nagging feeling that something was off...

His own disciple had been beaten senseless. If he, the Ancestor, didn’t retaliate here and now, in front of so many witnesses, his reputation would be utterly ruined by morning!

In a flash!

Purple Mist surged from Weii Changkong’s hair. He raised a single palm. Dragon and Tiger Qi erupted from his Sea of Consciousness and manifested as a tangible Anomaly. The Great Purple Cloud Hand, a Sect Establishment Level Secret Martial art, coalesced around his fingers before he brought it crashing down on Chen Hex!

The two clashed on the Sword Casting Platform, the tension explosive, ready to detonate at any moment!

As they fought, the air vibrated with a low hum, like the rumble of distant thunder.

The muscle-bound Chen Hex... actually withstood the Secret Martial palm strike head-on. The force of the blow made his blood vessels burst, spraying blood everywhere, yet his terrifying aura only grew stronger. With his hair whipping about, he looked like an Ancient Demon Deity!

Just as their battle threatened to collapse the entire Sword Casting Platform...

...Ji Xiu arrived at the School, a disheveled old man in tow!

...

Back when he was still outside Golden Turtle Island, Ji Xiu had seen the fleet of ships flying the Purple Mist Banner and knew something was wrong.

Only after entering the grounds of the Celestial Blade Style did he finally piece together the day’s events, and his heart sank even lower.

But his current status was far from ordinary.

He was not only the Head of the Mansion and Court, favored by Dean Pei Daoran, but he also had that old monster from the Mansion Courtyard, Xu Longxiang, as his Master. On top of that, he had ties to the Marquis’s Mansion.

Even if some Great Lineage Masters or Sect Leaders disliked him...

...they would have to think twice before acting against him in broad daylight. They couldn’t just attack him openly.

So, sensing trouble, Ji Xiu had quickened his pace, hoping he could be of some help.

He had just reached the Sword Casting Platform.

He saw shattered stones everywhere, the ground torn asunder as if by a landslide. In the middle of it all, a muscular giant with a broadsword was locked in a wild brawl with a grim-faced young man whose hair flowed with purple mist!

Ji Xiu stopped in his tracks and rubbed his eyes.

’Wait, where’s Senior Master?’

’Who... are these two?’

With his arrival...

...the two fighters glanced over in unison.

They didn’t stop fighting after the first look.

The muscular giant was drenched in blood, but a bloody gash on the purple-haired young man’s face was just as conspicuous.

As the Purple Mist Sect Leader, an expert at the Peak of Dragon and Tiger!

To be wounded by a junior—what a monumental humiliation!

Weii Changkong, naturally, would not let it rest!

And yet—

But then his mind flashed back to the fleeting glimpse he’d just caught of the old man’s face beside the boy...

He mulled it over for a second, and a sudden sense of familiarity struck him.

’That face... where have I seen it before?’ Weii Changkong’s heart skipped a beat.

"That face... have I seen it somewhere?" Chen Hex, leaning on his broadsword and looking terrifyingly fearsome, also frowned.

Wait!

SWOOSH!

It was as if their minds connected. With a WHOOSH, both men simultaneously snapped their gazes back to the dazed, bewildered old man next to Ji Xiu, and both gave him another, much more careful, look!

And in that instant!

It was as if Weii Changkong had recalled a terrifying memory. Despite having the upper hand, he flinched, stumbling back two steps with a trembling hand.

"Wang... Xuan... yang!?"

As for Chen Hex, he was panting heavily, leaning on his broadsword. His eyes were wide with disbelief.

"No way..."

"You old bastard... you’re really not dead?"