Chapter 80: Chapter 78: Wrongdoing Warrants Execution

Hou Qingshan, Chen Tu, and Du Xueling walked slowly, treading on rubble as they passed through the smashed ruins of the shop.

“Brother Qingshan,” Chen Tu said with a smile. “What about those three over there?”

Hou Qingshan glanced over, his eyes lighting up slightly.

Up ahead, the old man holding the Broken Blade was advanced in years, but his vitality was still respectable. He was probably a Five-organ Grandmaster—mid-to-high-grade blood food.

The young man squatting on the ground, closing the little old beggar’s eyes, had crystalline skin, and a faint aura of Life and Death seemed to circulate around his body. Hmm, high-grade blood food.

As for the last girl… though her face was obscured by a mask and sunglasses, her exposed arms and legs were like limbs carved from white jade. At the very least, she was also high-grade blood food!

Hou Qingshan grinned.

“They’re all quite good, but the old one is a Five-organ Grandmaster… Hmm, let’s not take the old man. We’ll just grab the two young ones.”

It wasn’t that he was afraid of one Grandmaster. It was just that a Cultivator of that level likely had some status in this small city. Abducting him openly for blood food might cause a stir and attract unnecessary trouble.

Beside him, Chen Tu and Du Xueling exchanged a glance, their expressions growing a little serious.

Then, Chen Tu said with some hesitation:

“Brother Qingshan, Xiaolian and I are only Grandmasters. I’m afraid we might not be able to defeat that old man…”

“Didn’t I tell you to capture the young ones?” Hou Qingshan said, annoyed. “If that old geezer dares to interfere, he’ll be provoking me. And if he provokes me, I will of course kill him.”

Chen Tu and Du Xueling looked at each other, then replied respectfully in unison:

“We understand!”

With that, they slowly walked forward, paying the trio no mind. They continued to chat and laugh, with the two humans offering flattery while the one Demon strolled with his hands behind his back, his head held high in arrogance.

「Meanwhile.」

Lu Xuan slowly closed the little old man’s unclosing eyes and let out a soft sigh.

His initial plan was to fish.

He would bait the troublemaking descendants and followers of the Celestial Humans, drawing them out one by one to capture them all in a single sweep. The most guilty would be killed; the less guilty, imprisoned.

It was a good plan, but seeing the little old man’s shattered body, hearing the curses he had muttered until his very last breath, Lu Xuan suddenly had a realization.

’Some people don’t deserve to live in this world for even one more second.’

Beside him, Xiaoyan also clenched her fists, silently touching the big red apple the old man had given her, now in her pocket. Lu Xiuyuan’s expression was terrifyingly grim as he clutched his Broken Blade and stared at the approaching trio.

Lu Xuan started to rise, but Lu Xiuyuan pushed him back down.

“You two, be careful and stay back. I’ll handle this,” the old man said, his voice frigid. He was hunched over, and the Broken Blade in his hand glinted with a dark red sheen.

“Teacher Lu…” Lu Xuan said softly. “Let me handle it.”

He paused, then said in earnest:

“Below the rank of Celestial Human, I should be invincible.”

Lu Xiuyuan froze.

Up ahead, Du Xueling let out a delicate laugh.

“Did you hear that? The boy said he’s invincible below the rank of Celestial Human…”

Chen Tu sized Lu Xuan up for a moment, then relaxed and chuckled as well.

“His vitality is average, and it’s fluctuating, sometimes strong, sometimes weak. He’s a Cultivator, I’d guess, but a low-level one whose practice has gone awry. He’s probably suffering from qi deviation… It’s no surprise he’d make such a claim.”

Only then did Lu Xiuyuan notice Lu Xuan’s strange condition. His faint vitality was surging and ebbing, and his aura was incredibly unstable!

His expression changed, and he asked gravely:

“Xiaoxuan, what went wrong with your cultivation?”

“I’m fine.”

Lu Xuan’s voice was perfectly flat, without the slightest change in pitch, and it carried a distinct chill.

Lu Xiuyuan frowned for a long moment, then sighed softly. He took two steps forward, positioning himself in front of Lu Xuan and Yan Jiangxue.

The old man raised his Broken Blade, pointing it directly at the trio and fixing his gaze on Hou Qingshan.

“Young Demon, who is Hou Shentong to you?”

He had fought and bled on the Great Wall for decades; he could distinguish between a Demon and a human with a single glance.

Lu Xuan’s eyelids twitched slightly. ’A Demon?’

’Did he come with the Demon King that Uncle Ao mentioned?’

’Hmm… I haven’t killed a Demon yet.’

Meanwhile, Hou Qingshan’s expression froze. He stared at Lu Xiuyuan for a long moment before speaking.

“Who are you? How do you know my father?”

“Your father?”

Lu Xiuyuan gently caressed his blade, his hunched back straightening. With an air of solemn finality, he asked calmly:

“Is he here?”

“Your Human Race wouldn’t dare let my father cross the border,” Hou Qingshan sneered, raising his head proudly. “My father is a Little Saint of this era… Who exactly are you?”

“My name is Lu Xiuyuan,” the old man said simply.

Hou Qingshan’s expression stiffened, and his smile vanished.

“Lu… Xiuyuan?”

First came terror. A chill exploded from the base of his spine, surging through his entire body in an Instant.

But just as quickly, Hou Qingshan began to laugh again.

“Lu Xiuyuan… It’s you, it’s really you!”

He snarled, grinding his teeth:

“So this is where you were hiding… Excellent, just excellent! Your Dao Foundation was shattered by my father, and now it looks like even your Acupoints have all collapsed. Are you nothing more than a Five-organ Grandmaster now?”

Lu Xiuyuan nodded calmly.

“Yes. You could say I’m a ruined man.”

As he spoke, he gently caressed the Broken Blade in his hand, stroking the deep, dark-red hue on its surface.

“In that case, Hou Tian must have been your older brother. He was slain by this very blade. Today, I wonder… can this blade slay you as well?”

As his words fell, Chen Tu and Du Xueling exchanged confused glances. Lu Xuan and Yan Jiangxue were also stunned.

’Teacher Lu… Who is he, really?’

At this, Hou Qingshan strode forward, a savage grin spreading across his face.

“Slay me? My Third Uncle is in this very city, and I have reached the absolute peak of the Jade Tower realm. You say you’re going to slay me?”

His smile grew even more unrestrained, filled with malicious glee.

“I can just imagine it… a once-great Earth Immortal, about to grovel at my feet… Wonderful, just wonderful!”

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