Translator: Sparrow Translations  Editor: Sparrow Translations

The sword was thrust out.

The strange purple light had become a flowing purple line and entered the back of the last woman nearly at the speed of teleportation.

At the same time, the woman at the front let out a scream.

“What?!' It was obvious that upon realising that Fang Zhengzhi had disappeared on the spot, the woman in red was thrown into consternation and screamed:

“Disperse!”

The woman in red could see, but not the women behind her.

When the women at the back had heard her scream, it was already too late. Their minds were only registering blinding pain.

“Hum!” The Traceless Sword pa.s.sed through their bodies like a ghost. There was an explosion of purple light and blood.

The blood that fell onto the Traceless Sword was absorbed hungrily by its blade.

The darkness gradually dissipated.

A sliver of purple light had grown bigger until it was able to tear the darkness apart like lightning in the night sky.

The whole world fell silent at that moment.

Whether it was the disciples of Ling Yun Tower who had fallen to the ground, the seriously injured Cang Yue or the two white-robed women standing beside her, everyone remained silent.

Everything had happened so quickly.

From the point where the world turned dark to the point where the darkness fell apart, only a very short time had pa.s.sed.

It came quickly but it went away even quicker.

The problem was that everything that had happened had been totally unexpected. The aftermath was unacceptable.

One sword!

Five people?!

Cang Yue could not believe her eyes. She knew very well what the five women were capable of. This made it all the more incredible.

Appalled. Outraged.

These were not enough to describe how Cang Yue felt at that moment. Lifeless might be the right word. She did not feel alive enough to think or breathe.

The white-robed women standing beside her were dazed as well. They gazed intently at the five women and Fang Zhengzhi, who was standing behind them.

“Impossible!”

“How could this be?”

The two white-robed women could not for the life of them figure out how five masters had been defeated in this manner.

Sunlight fell down upon the earth. The purple light was brighter still and the world was painted purple as a result. It was as if the sun had lost its light.

Lin Mubai's expression had frozen into place.

Ping Yang's eyes were bulging as well. Her eyes carried with them amazement and a building excitement.

Very powerful!

She had finally realised that within half a year, she had become more powerful. Fang Zhengzhi had become more powerful as well. In fact, he had become extraordinarily powerful.

“Puff!”

The five women spat out mouthfuls of fresh blood.

They were stuck to each other. They had been impaled with a longsword that sparkled with a purple light.

Would the length of a sword suffice to run through five people?

No one had bothered to figure out this question but Fang Zhengzhi had an answer to it now. The answer was that it was close, but it was not enough.

The Traceless Sword had not pierced through the body of the woman in red entirely. It was barely halfway through.

“Not long enough? Sigh… a miscalculation!” Fang Zhengzhi blinked and sighed lightly.

The woman in red fell to her knees and keeled over. Her face was white as a sheet and she s.h.i.+vered violently.

Blood flowed out of the wound on her back.

Even though the Traceless Sword had not run through her completely, she had been severely hurt.

Of course, the pain she felt in her heart hurt even more.

The Five Sects of the Holy Region had established their own spheres of influence beyond the imperial court and were respected by thousands. They enjoyed great prestige and as a member of the upper echelons of Ling Yun Tower, she had lived a brilliant life.

But now…

The brilliance was gone.

She was not dead yet, but she had been defeated. The fact that she had managed to live because the sword was not long enough was a huge joke.

How humiliating was that?

“Why, why did things turn out like that?”

The woman in red did not understand. She had so much faith in her judgement and was so sure that she had made the correct decision.

Still, it was true that she had lost.

She had been completely defeated, defeated to the point where she had no idea how she had ended up this way. She could not even feel sorry for herself.

Yes, she did not feel sorry about her loss.

She had seen Fang Zhengzhi disappear and she had made her choice. Nevertheless, she had not managed to avoid the blow that came from behind her.

She had seen it but she had not been able to avoid it.

It was because she had not been fast enough.

“Zah!”

The woman in red heard a pained utterance and saw her four comrades fall to the ground around her.

They did not scream or shout but fell to the ground quietly. Like her, they had looks of disbelief on their faces.

The woman in red turned around.

She looked at Fang Zhengzhi in his pitch black eyes. His blue robes flapped about gently in the wind.

She finally understood to some extent.

A counteraction?

Yes, it was really a counteraction.

A counter-reaction not between the Daos but between people. She had been completely overcome by Fang Zhengzhi.

Not too long ago, she had heard his name for the first time…

She had not paid much attention to the name back then. She could not even remember who had mentioned the name and when it was mentioned. It was a forgettable name.

The second time she had heard the name, it had already made its rounds. The person with the name had killed five powerful pugilists of the Holy Region beneath the mountain that housed the Heaven Dao Pavilion.

She had remembered the name.

Today, the person with the name had appeared at Ling Yun Tower before her. Now, this person was standing behind her.

SHe would never forget the name for as long as she lived because it gave her the chills.

Fang Zhengzhi, 18 years old, at the Sage State…

This was her original understanding of Fang Zhengzhi. Now, she knew better. After so many years, another apex martial artist had surfaced in the Holy Region!

“I've lost…” The woman in red turned to look at the golden roof of Ling Yun Tower.

The sun was not especially bright but for some reason, it reminded her of the startling red colour of blood.

“Yes, you've lost.” Fang Zhengzhi nodded solemnly as he glanced at the four women who had fallen around the woman in red.

“Why haven't you made your move yet?” The woman in red asked.

“To kill you?”

“Kill me? Hehe… you are too intelligent, too shameless to be asking me this question. There is a better alternative to killing me, that is to use me as a hostage in exchange for one or two lives.” The woman in red gave Fang Yuan a cold smile.

Fang Zhengzhi did not laugh this time and he had a faraway look in his eyes.

Nevertheless, he came to his senses quickly.

“I don't need a hostage.” Fang Zhengzhi shook his head calmly. The surety in his voice, however, was apparent.

“You don't?” The woman in red turned to look at Fang Zhengzhi blankly.

She was genuinely bewildered, but it did not last long. Her bewilderment gave way to determination.

The woman in red pulled out a dull-coloured knife from her sleeves.

“Seems like I was lucky to have escaped that?” Fang Zhengzhi looked slightly surprised as he examined the knife.

“Yes… and no! I've realised that even if I get close to you, I am not confident of being able to hurt you!” The woman in red spoke dejectedly.

“Anyhow, regardless of whether you knew that I was going to sneak on you or had not decided to take me as a hostage, I've decided to give up.”

After she had finished speaking, she switched to holding her knife with a reverse-grip and plunged it into her chest.

“Suicide?” Fang Zhengzhi had never seen such a thing happen in the Holy Region, and it involved a powerful figure that had attained the Sage State in her skills.

When one's prowess reaches the level of the Sage State, it means that their emotional state has reached a high level as well. There was no way that it could be weak.

However, the woman in red had chosen this way out and had done it with unfaltering resolution.

The key thing was that…

It was not out of not weakness, but a sort of staunch belief in the ideals that she valued more than her life.

Cang Yue watched on.

The white-robed women standing beside Cang Yue and the injured disciples of Ling Yun Tower lying on the ground were watching as well.

The surprising thing was that no one had stopped the woman in red from doing what she did. No one had said anything about it.

It was as if there was no doubt about how things would turn out.

Fang Zhengzhi gripped tightly onto the Traceless Sword. He would not stop the woman in red from taking her own life but he felt slightly unsettled by it.

“Red Shadow, you don't have to die.” A voice emanated from Ling Yun Tower. It was a serene voice but carried with it an air of authority.

Following that, a ray of sunlight descended from Ling Yun Tower and landed right before the woman in red.

The woman in red stiffened and a look of disbelief flashed across her face. The knife that she had used to plunge into her chest stopped dead in its tracks.

At this moment, a jade-white hand extended out from the sunlight and pried the knife away from the fingers of the woman in red.

“Master!” The woman in red prostrated herself in front of this person and shuddered. Blood flowed from her chest and stained the ground red.

The disciples of Ling Yun Tower that had collapsed onto the floor from their injuries now clambered onto their knees before prostrating themselves.

“We are all incompetent and deserve to be punished!”

“We deserve to be punished!” The white-robed women standing beside Cang Yue fell to their knees as well. Their faces were full of regret.

“Get up, all of you. This defeat is not your fault.” A figure emerged from the sunlight.

It was a woman wearing red robes laced with golden silk. The purplish-gold belt around her waist revealed her svelte physique.

Her long black hair fell down to her waist and was adorned with five golden leaves.

The woman had a very youthful appearance and looked to be 24 years of age at the very most. Her bright eyes sparkled with golden light.

There was a golden mark in the middle of her forehead which gave her an elegant and sophisticated look. It was hard to believe that this woman was the leader of Ling Yun Tower, one of the Five Sects of the Holy Region.

“Is this the Yu Er that His Majesty Lin Mubai has been pining after?” Fang Zhengzhi observed the woman walking out of the sunlight with interest.

He had not expected her to reveal her face and her youthful appearance was even more surprising.

After all, if he had guessed correctly, this was Ping Yang's mother, also known as Yu Er.

Why did she look so young?