"Shangguan Qingqing!"
Linghu Yue's gaze was cold and razor-edged. Every hope he had ever held in his life had been ruined by a woman as worthless as an ant.
Years ago, after his father Linghu Zhen had resorted to underhanded means during the competition for the Sect Leader's position and attacked a fellow disciple, and had been stripped of his rank as a true-lineage disciple and reduced to errand disciple status, both their standings within the sect had collapsed.
And Linghu Zhen's character had broken down utterly in his final years. He had stopped leaving his room, and when he was not drinking himself into a stupor, he was beating and cursing at Linghu Yue.
In those days, Linghu Yue could not hold his head up in the sect no matter where he went. Whether it was the gaze of his peers or anyone else in the sect, every look felt like a knife, and he felt as though every pair of eyes was filled with contempt and mockery.
From that moment on, in the mind of the young Linghu Yue, the gentle and kind father he had once known was already dead. And the blame for everything fell on the people of the Celestial River Blade Sect who had stripped his father of his standing.
From that day Linghu Yue had silently sworn to himself that one day he would take back what belonged to his father, claim the Sect Leader's position, and make every last person who had ever looked down on him kneel before him.
He would grind them all beneath his feet. Grind every humiliation and every bitter memory beneath his feet.
And it had all been so close. Everything he had hoped for had been nearly within his reach.
"I refuse to believe a single Tianjin Guards token was enough to make the Alliance Under Heaven withdraw!"
Linghu Yue's face was dark as ink, and the hatred in his heart would not be contained.
He reached out a hand, and from the cracks in the Celestial River Blade Stele a brilliant blade shadow flew out, hovering above his head in an instant, sending down trails of domineering and overwhelming killing intent.
"Shangguan Qingqing, let me see whether your worthless token can stop me."
In the next moment, Linghu Yue's figure vanished from where he stood, heading straight into the buildings and halls of the sect.
At the same time, the Celestial River Blade Sect leader, who had been channeling his energy to treat his injuries, suddenly furrowed his brow and looked back in the direction of the sect.
"That Linghu Yue has invoked the Celestial River Blade Intent again, and the killing intent is this strong. What is he trying to do?"
The Sect Leader's expression shifted with uncertainty. And then he suddenly seemed to think of something, and his face changed sharply.
"This is bad!"
He immediately moved, heading urgently toward a certain area within the sect.
At the same time, the disturbance Linghu Yue was creating naturally drew the attention of quite a few elders and hall masters.
Several of them, concerned that Linghu Yue might do something rash, also made their way toward the source of the Celestial River Blade Intent's aura.
...
Inside a small courtyard within the Celestial River Blade Sect.
A group of children surrounded Shangguan Qingqing, all of them talking at once and peppering her with questions.
Ever since word spread through the entire sect that Shangguan Qingqing had used a single token to drive away one of the four great top-tier forces of the martial world, the Alliance Under Heaven, and saved the whole sect, her reputation had spread everywhere. Especially among junior disciples and the young children of the sect, every one of them admired her deeply and had come rushing to see this remarkable senior sister.
"Sister Qingqing, can I see that token?"
"Yes! We all really want to see it. We want to know what is special about it that could drive all those powerful scary people away!"
A group of young children tugged at Shangguan Qingqing's sleeves, looking up at her with wide and pleading eyes.
Overwhelmed by all of them at once, Shangguan Qingqing could only let out a breath and wave a hand, "You are all too young to understand. What is truly powerful is not this token. It is the person who gave it."
At those words, all the children blinked and stared, seeming to think over what she had said.
Shangguan Qingqing shook her head, then took the Tianjin Guards token from her waist and held it out gently to a few of the children clustered closest to her, "Here, this is the token you all wanted to see. Have a look, but be careful. Do not break it."
At those words, the children immediately lit up and bounced with excitement, every pair of hands reaching out to touch the Tianjin Guards token.
But right at that moment, the token Shangguan Qingqing was holding out suddenly rose into the air on its own, flying away out of the courtyard at speed.
Shangguan Qingqing came to her senses in an instant, her expression changing sharply. She spun toward the courtyard gate with a shout of alert, "Who is there?"
At the same time, Linghu Yue, the Celestial River Blade Sword shadow hanging above his head, appeared outside the small courtyard in an instant, and caught the Tianjin Guards token he had seized from the air.
Shangguan Qingqing seemed to sense his hostility at once and immediately put herself between Linghu Yue and the group of children, then looked across the courtyard gate at him with a frown, "What do you think you are doing? Give the token back."
At those words, Linghu Yue glanced at the Tianjin Guards token in his hand, then raised his head to look at Shangguan Qingqing in the courtyard, and suddenly gave a cold laugh, "You want to know what I am doing? I would rather ask you. You ruined everything for me, and yet here you are basking in the entire sect's praise. Do you deserve that?"
Shangguan Qingqing furrowed her brow at once. She had left the back mountain rather early with Qin Hao and had not seen the moment when Linghu Yue comprehended the Celestial River Blade Intent.
And with the Alliance Under Heaven's siege of the sect still unfolding, she had not yet had time to hear anything about Linghu Yue.
So right now she genuinely could not make sense of what he was saying.
Even so, faced with Linghu Yue's question, Shangguan Qingqing composed herself and nodded, "You are right about one thing. The Alliance Under Heaven's siege of the sect began because of me. I truly do not deserve the sect's praise."
She then looked steadily at Linghu Yue and said sincerely, "I do not know what plans of yours I ruined. But you are the first person in the sect to have criticized me for it, and honestly, I am not angry. I am relieved. Because at last someone is not ignoring what I did wrong."
At those words, Linghu Yue's expression froze for a moment, then hatred surfaced on his face, "You have celebrated too soon."
"You cost me the Sect Leader's position. Today I will sever your meridians and destroy your cultivation, turn you into a helpless cripple, and make you taste the same suffering I once went through."
With that, Linghu Yue moved to act against Shangguan Qingqing. But right at that moment, the Celestial River Blade Sect leader arrived in the nick of time and called out urgently, "Stop!"
At those words, Linghu Yue glanced at the Sect Leader from the corner of his eye, his gaze going cold, "Now that I command the Celestial River Blade Intent, a former Sect Leader in your condition is not going to stop me."
The words had barely left his mouth before the blade shadow hovering above Linghu Yue shifted direction and sent a slash sweeping down toward the Sect Leader from a distance.
In an instant, a flash of blade light appeared, wavering between presence and absence, and arrived before the Sect Leader with the force to shatter mountains.
The Sect Leader's expression hardened as he saw it, not daring to take it lightly. He immediately raised his hand and sent out a blade strike of his own, drawing on his deep martial cultivation to meet the Celestial River Blade Intent that every member of the sect aspired to.
The two surges of blade intent crashed together. Where the edges met, the void groaned and twisted.
The entire space around the small courtyard boiled to life. Blade light slashed everywhere, air pressure surged outward, and for one instant all of heaven and earth fell utterly silent.
But in the next moment, the Celestial River Blade Sect leader suddenly coughed up a mouthful of congested blood. The blade intent before him shattered apart, and where the dissipating blade energy grazed him, he was sent flying backward.
The Sect Leader had sustained serious injuries twice over in his confrontations with Huo Linfei and the Golden Armor Gate leader, and could not withstand the Celestial River Blade Intent left behind by the founding ancestors of the sect. In a single exchange he had been defeated by Linghu Yue.
"Sect Leader!"
At that moment, the elders and hall masters who had just arrived saw the whole thing and all changed expressions sharply, their figures flashing forward to catch the Sect Leader as he was sent flying.
"Linghu Yue, do you have any idea what you are doing?"
One of the elders exploded in fury and immediately shouted at Linghu Yue, who stood with the Celestial River Blade shadow hanging above his head.
At those words, Linghu Yue looked at the Sect Leader he had just blasted away, then suddenly broke into loud laughter, "I know exactly what I am doing. Right now within the Celestial River Blade Sect, not even the Sect Leader can match me. If I do not take this Sect Leader's position, who in the entire sect is qualified?"
The faces of several of the elders and hall masters darkened visibly. They all looked at the blade shadow floating in the air, inwardly despairing.
Why had it fallen to a sect villain like this to comprehend the supreme Celestial River Blade Intent?
But clearly none of the elders and hall masters had the slightest intention of yielding to him just because he had comprehended the Celestial River Blade Stele.
One elder shouted furiously at Linghu Yue, "Over this old man's dead body will you ever sit in the Sect Leader's chair."
Everyone else nodded with the same severity, "Not only that. Today we will strip you of your sect membership and expel you from the Celestial River Blade Sect. From this day forward you will never set foot in the Celestial River Blade Sect again."
At those words, Linghu Yue's expression flickered.
He swept a look over the elders and hall masters, and his eyes turned utterly cold. He gave a slow nod, "Very well. So you stubborn old ones dare to expel me from the sect. Then do not blame me for having no regard for sect bonds. I will disable every last one of you and throw you out of the Celestial River Blade Sect myself."
"The Celestial River Blade Sect I lead in the future has no need for withered relics like you."
With that, Linghu Yue's expression hardened and he moved to direct the Celestial River Blade Intent against the assembled elders and hall masters.
But right at that moment, Shangguan Qingqing, who had watched everything from inside the courtyard and had pieced together a rough understanding of what had happened, suddenly looked at Linghu Yue and spoke, "If you want the Sect Leader's position so badly, why did you not act when the Alliance Under Heaven was besieging the sect?"
At those words, Linghu Yue furrowed his brow and turned to look at Shangguan Qingqing, about to reply.
But Shangguan Qingqing gave him no opening at all, and went on shaking her head, "I am guessing you did not act because you were afraid. You were afraid to die. So you could not bring yourself to strike against the Alliance Under Heaven."
"Nonsense!"
Linghu Yue immediately erupted in outrage, but Shangguan Qingqing's face had taken on a mocking look, "Even the weakest disciples in the sect dared to raise their blades against the Alliance Under Heaven. But you, with all your power, could not even bring yourself to step outside the sect gate. What kind of worthless coward has the right to be Sect Leader of the Celestial River Blade Sect?"
"If disciples like us were to follow a spineless wretch like you as our Sect Leader, would we not be laughed out of the entire martial world?"
At those words, Linghu Yue shook with barely suppressed fury, clearly driven to the edge by Shangguan Qingqing's sharp tongue.
"You are looking to die!"
Linghu Yue ground the words out through clenched teeth, and the Celestial River Blade shadow hovering above him turned its tip directly toward Shangguan Qingqing.
If that blade shadow fell, Shangguan Qingqing would be reduced to nothing by the overwhelming blade intent.
Shangguan Qingqing naturally sensed the killing intent Linghu Yue was not bothering to conceal, and the terrifying aura emanating from that blade shadow.
Even so, she simply stood where she was and looked at Linghu Yue, saying, "I may be a woman, but I am not the kind of gutless coward you are. You want to kill me, and I am no match for you. But..."
At those words, her tone shifted, and she narrowed her eyes, "I want you to give the token back. Being a coward who is afraid of death is shameful enough on its own. Did your parents not teach you that taking things that belong to others is wrong? Or do you also want to be the kind of petty thief and bandit that even children would look down on?"
At those words, Linghu Yue had finally reached the absolute limit of what he could take. His eyes blazed with killing intent as he stared at Shangguan Qingqing, and then he gave a cold laugh, "You said all of that just to get me to give you this token back?"
"Fine. Then I will return this piece of court-dog rubbish to you."
As he spoke, Linghu Yue gripped the Tianjin Guards token in one hand, raising it slowly.
Then, right in front of Shangguan Qingqing's eyes, he began squeezing it tighter and tighter.
Clearly Linghu Yue wanted Shangguan Qingqing to watch him destroy the Tianjin Guards token with his own hands.
At that, seeing Linghu Yue's actions, Shangguan Qingqing's eyes went ice-cold.
She said nothing more. In an instant she struck like thunder, drawing her blade and lunging toward Linghu Yue.
Shangguan Qingqing knew she was no match for him. But she was no coward like he was.
When it was time to draw a blade, she had more courage than anyone.
"Too late."
The corner of Linghu Yue's mouth curled in a mocking smile. His hand bore down hard, and in the next moment he was about to crush the Tianjin Guards token to dust.
But right at that instant, something changed without warning.
The token that should have crumbled to powder suddenly split open on its own, revealing within it a wisp of formless aura.
That wisp of aura was almost imperceptible. Yet the moment it appeared in the air above the courtyard, every single person throughout the Celestial River Blade Sect, at every level of the mountain, felt something in them lurch to a sudden halt.
Whether they had been in cultivation, discussing blade techniques, or going about any number of daily tasks, every person seemed to freeze as though pinned in place.
Then, instinctively, everyone turned their heads toward the direction of the Tianjin Guards token.
In that moment, every person could clearly feel it. A martial will as boundless and deep as an ocean abyss had descended over the entire Celestial River Blade Sect.
That will was fathomless and inescapable, and its force could not be resisted. The firmest martial hearts in that presence were like small boats tossed in a raging storm.
Tiny, and trembling from the very depths of their souls.