The news of Elder Liu's death sent shockwaves through the entire Kaoshan Sect.
Elder Liu had been a Martial King, newly ascended, perhaps, but a Martial King nonetheless. Every Martial King was an irreplaceable pillar of the sect, a cornerstone of its strength.
Sect Leader Yun Yu was furious. He immediately ordered his subordinates to investigate the circumstances of Elder Liu's death.
Chen Ping, who had been close with Elder Liu, volunteered for the task. After questioning Elder Liu's disciples about his movements prior to his death, Chen Ping learned that Elder Liu had traveled to Songyang City.
"Songyang City? Isn't that Wang Teng's hometown? Why would Elder Liu go there?" Chen Ping muttered, puzzled.
One of the disciples explained that Wang Teng had asked Elder Liu to deliver some items to his family. Chen Ping understood at once. Wang Teng was currently in seclusion preparing for the Jade Secret Realm and had no time to visit home himself. Elder Liu, who had already been heading out on a mission, had agreed to make the delivery on his behalf.
Without delay, Chen Ping set off for Songyang City. After a journey of a full day and night, he arrived at noon.
The moment he entered the city, fragments of conversation drifted to his ears.
"Have you heard? The Wang and Liu families have been wiped out!"
"I heard too, apparently they went to the City Lord's Mansion to humiliate the young master, and the City Lord wiped them out in his fury."
"But why would they pick a fight with the City Lord's Mansion? Everyone knows the City Lord is the most powerful person in Songyang City. What were they thinking?"
"Exactly! Everyone in Songyang City knows that Young Master Ye Yu is the City Lord's most precious son. Going after him was signing their own death warrant."
What these people didn't know was that Elder Liu of the Kaoshan Sect had also been present at the City Lord's Mansion that day. News of his death there had been carefully contained within the City Lord's inner circle.
Ye Hao had deliberately suppressed it. For one thing, he considered it beneath public attention. For another, he had no wish to spark panic in the city. The Kaoshan Sect loomed large in the minds of ordinary citizens. If word got out that the City Lord's Mansion had made an enemy of the sect, there was every chance that the majority of Songyang City's population would flee in fear of being caught in the crossfire, a scenario Ye Hao had no interest in allowing.
As a result, Chen Ping was left with an incomplete picture.
"The Wang family?" he muttered. "Which Wang family? Could it be Wang Teng's family?"
He immediately approached the people talking nearby.
"Excuse me, this Wang family you're speaking of. Is there someone among them named Wang Teng?"
"Yes, that's the one," came the reply.
The revelation detonated in Chen Ping's mind.
Wang Teng's family had been annihilated.
The shock was no less staggering than Elder Liu's death. Wang Teng was no ordinary disciple, he was the Sect Leader's personal apprentice, a prodigy so exceptional that Yun Yu had declared openly, "This boy has the potential to become a Martial Emperor." Within the Kaoshan Sect, Wang Teng's standing was second only to the Martial King elders, and he was widely regarded as the Sect Leader's chosen successor.
With his entire family wiped out, the consequences would be catastrophic. Chen Ping shuddered at the thought of Wang Teng's wrath when he learned the news.
And there was still the unresolved matter of Elder Liu. Had he truly come to Songyang City? Was his death connected to this place?
Chen Ping found it nearly impossible to believe that anyone in this remote city could kill a Martial King. By all accounts, the strongest cultivator in Songyang City was Ye Hao, a seventh-grade martial artist. The gap between a martial artist and a Martial King was a chasm. It simply didn't add up.
Resolved to find answers, Chen Ping made his way toward the City Lord's Mansion.
He had two things to determine: how Elder Liu had died, and how the City Lord's Mansion had dared to destroy the Wang family.
But when he was less than a mile from the mansion, a crushing pressure slammed into him and pinned him where he stood.
"Stop."
The voice fell directly inside his mind, as though spoken by the heavens themselves.
A divine consciousness transmission.
Chen Ping's heart dropped. Only a Martial Emperor, or someone of even greater power, could project their will in such a manner.
A Martial Emperor had taken notice of him.
Martial Emperors were vanishingly rare. The Kaoshan Sect claimed only one, its founding ancestor. Even the Sect Leader himself was merely a ninth-grade Martial King, with no certainty of ever crossing that threshold. The step from Martial King to Martial Emperor had broken countless geniuses across generations.
Terror flooded through Chen Ping. Sweat poured down his face, his legs shaking beyond his control. He scrambled desperately to think of how he could possibly have drawn the attention of such a being.
"Are you from the Kaoshan Sect?"
The voice came again, calm, unhurried, and weighted with immense authority.
What Chen Ping didn't know was that Ye Yu had been aware of his presence from the moment he set foot in Songyang City. Ye Yu's divine consciousness blanketed the entire city, and nothing within it escaped his notice. With his strength, he could have extended that awareness across the whole of the Tianxuan Continent if he wished, but there was no need for such an extravagance.
When you possessed absolute power, schemes and plots amounted to nothing.
Chen Ping tried to respond and found he could not speak. Ye Yu had not granted him permission.
It didn't matter. Ye Yu already knew everything Chen Ping had come to do.
"Go back. I killed Elder Liu, and I destroyed the Wang family. If you want revenge, come when you have the strength for it."
With that, Ye Yu lifted the oppressive pressure, but left a faint trace of his aura clinging to Chen Ping like a brand.
Chen Ping crumpled to the ground, completely spent.
It had felt like walking through the depths of hell itself. Even now, with the pressure gone, the phantom of it still clung to him, making his skin crawl.
Run.
That single thought consumed everything else.
Chen Ping hauled himself upright and fled the city in a blind panic. He was so rattled that he forgot entirely that he could use his spiritual power to fly, and ran on foot like a common man instead.
The townsfolk stared after him in bewilderment. To them, he looked like a madman.
Chen Ping didn't notice and didn't care. His heart was still seized with a fear he could not shake.
Only when he was well clear of the city did his thoughts begin to settle. He needed to report to the Sect Leader immediately.
Songyang City was not to be trifled with.
Something unspeakable lurked within the City Lord's Mansion.