Volume Two, Chapter Thirty-Six: The Young Master of the Alliance

The young lord paid no heed to the crowd, his eyes lifting slightly at the corners as he cast a cold, fleeting glance at the two men. With a hint of surprise, he remarked, “Oh? You’re still alive? How peculiar!”

“Out of the way, quickly. I have urgent matters to attend to, and no time to waste on you,” Yu Mu snapped impatiently. He couldn't be bothered with this so-called young lord; with Meng Fang’s injuries still unclear, he was desperate to get Meng Fang back for treatment.

The young lord, however, seemed entirely oblivious to Yu Mu’s words. He observed the two as if no one else existed, muttering to himself, “Impossible! These two little thieves ought to be dead. How could anyone survive Second Sister’s hand?”

Yu Mu found this man’s dawdling and nonsensical behavior insufferable. He shouted, “Out of my way!” and raised his hand to push him aside.

“Insolence!” Before Yu Mu’s hand could make contact, two figures flashed from behind the young lord. With a mere wave of the hand, both Yu Mu and Meng Fang were sent flying.

With a crash, the two slammed into the wall behind them, shattering tables and chairs along the way.

Yu Mu spat out a mouthful of blood, while blood seeped from Meng Fang’s nose and mouth.

Nascent Soul stage experts!?

The strength of these two instantly filled Yu Mu’s heart with dread.

“Uncle Wang, Uncle Li, I told you I don’t need your help. Just two little thieves at the Core Formation stage—do you think I can’t handle them? I’m just curious how they managed to survive Second Sister’s poison.”

He pointed at the two of them. “Tell me, how did you neutralize the poison in your bodies? If your answer pleases me, I’ll allow you to choose your own way to die.”

The young lord’s words only confirmed Yu Mu’s earlier suspicions and revealed his true identity: the younger brother of that poison master, the young lord of the Free Alliance.

Hatred burned in Yu Mu’s eyes. All this was the result of insignificant misunderstandings, yet the wretched Alliance had pursued and humiliated them so viciously. This was truly intolerable!

“If you’ve got the guts, come kill me. If not, get lost—I don’t have time to watch your little performance.”

“Courting death!” the young lord’s face darkened, and he was about to fly into a rage when another man entered from outside, whispered something in his ear. The young lord froze for an instant, then murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

“So, you two little thieves not only crossed Second Sister, but you’re also the culprits responsible for Senior Sister Xiaomei and Junior Sister Shuer missing the Holy Tomb trial!”

Yu Mu and Meng Fang, too gravely injured and drained of spiritual energy, could no longer maintain their disguises; their true faces were exposed. Now that their identities were known, there was no way this would end well.

The young lord clapped his hands together gleefully. “Excellent, excellent! Today fortune smiles upon me: I’ll avenge Second Sister and win Shuer’s favor in one stroke. I’ll chop off your limbs and present you to Shuer as a gift. Hahaha—strike!”

As he uttered the last word, a long blade appeared in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, a black arc of blade light swept toward Yu Mu.

A metallic clang rang out. Yu Mu had blocked the blade with a wooden staff. Yet the blow sent them crashing into the wall once more, and Meng Fang slipped into unconsciousness.

“A spirit weapon!” The young lord’s eyes lit up. His own long blade was a spirit weapon, and for a mere Core Formation youth to withstand his strike, with his weapon intact, it must be a spirit treasure as well.

While the young lord coveted Yu Mu’s emerald staff, Yu Mu was also eyeing his opponent’s blade. It strongly resembled a Japanese katana from his memories, only narrower and longer. Its blade was as dark as ink, the hilt white as snow—black and white in sharp contrast—clearly no ordinary blade.

The young lord threw his head back and laughed wildly. “Heaven favors me! Not only will I win the beauty’s smile, but I’ll also gain a spirit treasure. Hahaha...”

His laughter broke off abruptly. Eyes aflame with greed, he turned to the two. “Nameless nobodies—how dare you possess such a treasure? What a waste! Don’t you know those who covet jade are doomed? Better let a worthy man like me have it!”

As he spoke, he leapt into the air, both hands gripping the blade as he slashed down with all his might.

Yu Mu raised his staff to meet the attack, employing the Skyward Sweep of the Proud Bone Heaven staff art. He had not yet had time to practice the new Primal Chaos Staff technique, so this was all he could muster.

With a thunderous clang, Yu Mu spat more blood. This blow was far fiercer than the first, and this time, the blade carried poison.

Just one stroke left Yu Mu coughing blood and drove his feet deep into the ground. Despite his youth and spoiled demeanor, the young lord’s strength was in no way beneath that of the two Dao sisters.

Had Yu Mu not absorbed some of the blade’s force and let the vine branch take the poison, this attack would have been far more than just a mouthful of blood.

The young lord, surprised, had not expected such an ordinary Core Formation cultivator to withstand his full-force blow.

After two fruitless attacks, the young lord grew angry and embarrassed, especially in front of his subordinates.

“I don’t believe I can’t kill you,” he roared, refusing to change tactics and slashing down again from midair.

Again, a clash of metal and a spray of blood—the same result, but now Yu Mu’s feet were buried to the ankles.

“I just don’t believe this—”

Clang, clang, clang...

The young lord’s blade fell like a hammer, hammering Yu Mu deeper and deeper into the ground, as if nailing him in. His childish, headstrong actions left the two uncles behind him shaking their heads.

Clearly, the young lord’s strength far surpassed his opponent’s, yet he insisted on using brute force alone. This would need correction in the future.

The two elders watched for a while, only growing more astonished. Though Yu Mu seemed to be in mortal peril with each stroke, on the verge of death, they noticed that although his injuries worsened, his spiritual energy was steadily increasing. By now, the young lord could no longer drive him even an inch deeper.

For all their experience, they had never seen anything like this. Unbeknownst to them, the young lord’s method of attack was inadvertently aiding Yu Mu.

Pinned into the earth, Yu Mu could transform the buried part of his body into a tree trunk, drawing spiritual energy from the ground into himself without end.

Moreover, with each blow falling on the emerald staff, though it injured him, it also channeled spiritual energy to him.

With his exceptional healing ability, Yu Mu could recover from any wound that wasn’t fatal. What he needed most was replenishing his spiritual energy. This was, in fact, the ideal situation for him.

By now, even the young lord sensed that something was wrong—the staff’s recoil grew stronger with each blow. Yet he was already riding a tiger and could not back down, lest he be ridiculed for life.

He was certain Yu Mu could not endure much longer under such punishment, and his judgment was sound. The two elders, seeing more clearly from the sidelines, allowed him to continue his reckless assault.