STNS: Chapter 543 (Patreon)

All of the qi he had been pumping into Pale Moon was compressed into a fine point. The blade had a very faint, ethereal silver glow as though it had been coated in moonlight. The sword hummed as power suffused it. The vibration was strong enough that Wu Jian felt his hands shake as the blade itself grew heavier with the denseness of his qi.

“Cleaving the Heavens in a Single Strike.”

Wu Jian swung Pale Moon down just as Xie Longshan’s heavenly lightning reached him. There was a moment of silence. A second of absolute stillness as though the world itself had stopped.

Then a flash of light split the earth and heavens. It looked like a single beam running from the ground to the sky. Storm clouds parted and all the heavenly lightning that Xie Longshan had been generating vanished in a flash.

“What…?”

Xie Longshan looked confused. He gazed up at the sky, and then all around him, seemingly unable to comprehend what had happened. Then he looked at his technique, at the projection of Qinlong.

A single line was running down it from the top of its head all the way to its tail. He blinked, and then his eyes bulged as the projection was split in half, the two halves separating and disappearing into particles of light.

“H-how…? My technique…? The Azure Dragon Clan’s greatest technique… was defeated?!”

“Haaaaah… haaaaah… hoooo…”

Wu Jian took several deep, heavy breaths. His transformation wore off, muscles shrinking, his hair going from silver back to black, eyes changing color, and his nails retracting. Pale Moon slammed into the ground as he found himself unable to hold it up any longer. Sweat beaded his brow, but he did his best to remain upright.

Xie Longshan had stared at his destroyed technique for a good, long several seconds, then turned his snarl on Wu Jian.

“You! You dare to break my technique?! The Azure Dragon Clan’s strongest technique?!”

Wu Jian closed his eyes and sighed. “I don’t dare to do anything.” He opened them again and locked gazes with the angry Xie Longshan. “You can’t expect me to stand still and take your technique like a moron. Are you stupid?”

***

“You… you…”

Xie Longshan had never been so angry in his entire life. Who did this brat think he was talking to? He was Xie Longshan! Leader of the Azure Dragon Clan! The strongest among all the dragon clans, the one closest to Qinlong! He had been this clan’s leader for over a century, ever since wresting the position from his useless father, and never once had he suffered such an insult!

“This daddy is going to teach you what it means to mess with the wrong person! I will kill you! I will tear your flesh from your bones and grind you into dust! I will destroy your very soul so that you can never enter the cycle of reincarnation ever again!!”

Xie Longshan was seeing red. His entire vision was stained in the color. He was going to destroy this man, this foolish human who dared to challenge and humiliate him!

He took a single step forward.

“Urk!”

Only to halt as agony laced his body when something pierced through his back and erupted from his chest. He looked down to find a gleaming silver blade. The sword was one that he recognized. The Azure Dragon Clan had many treasures locked away, and he had given a few of them to his favorite concubines. This particular sword was called Serpent’s End, and it had been forged long ago by a master blacksmith whose name had been lost to history. According to legend, he had forged this sword using the tooth of a great serpent that contained a poison so potent it could kill gods. Xie Longshan had gifted this sword to Ying Lanhua of the Shadow Dragon Clan. What was it doing in his chest?

He turned his head to find a woman standing behind him. She had long, dark hair that contrasted beautifully with her pale skin. Her figure was hidden behind a thick robe, but he knew the body underneath was the kind that could only be found among the most beautiful jade flowers. He had explored and abused every inch of her body for the last several decades.

“Ying Lanhua… what are you…?”

“Don’t even bother to ask me what I’m doing or why when you know very well why I’m doing this,” Ying Lanhua snarled. “I hate you. I’ve always hated you. You took me from my family, stole me from the love of my life. I will never forget the day you darkened my clan, how you so arrogantly said I was going to be your woman and then killed my fiance right in front of me. Did you think I’d forget? That memory has been seared into my heart and fueled my hatred for you… and I’m not the only one.”

One by one, several women wandered out from the destroyed wreckage of the Azure Dragon Clan’s home. Each one was as beautiful as the last. They were like a brilliant flower garden. Women with every hair color imaginable. The only thing marring this otherwise perfect group, aside from the desolation surrounding them, was the sadistic gleam in each one’s eyes.

“Han Feixue… Yan Huoli… Lei Meilin… Jin Yueyao…. Tu Yincxing… Loong Yulan…” Xie Longshan named each one in turn, his expression darkening as blood ran down his mouth. “So… all of you would dare to defy me? After everything I’ve done for you?”

“After everything you’ve done for us?” Loong Yulan was the one who spoke. She was a member of the Flood Dragon Clan and had been taken by Xie Longshan after discarding Mei Loong. The expression on her face was one of barely constrained rage. “What have you done for us besides causing our suffering? What have you given us aside from pain? You’ve done nothing but hurt us and the people we love for generations. And now? We’re going to have our just desserts.”

Xie Longshan realized that he was in a difficult situation. Had this been any other time, he would have just beaten them to a pulp and raped them into obedience. He would have used their fear of him and the retribution he’d inflict on their clan should they disobey him, but he couldn’t do that now.

He was all out of Qi.

Was this that brat’s plan all along?!

It was only now that he realized Wu Jian had never intended to simply beat him. He was getting Xie Longshan to use up all of his qi. Without qi, he couldn’t perform any techniques. In fact, he had exhausted so much of his qi that he could barely even stand. His legs were shaking from exhaustion. Xie Longshan was currently at his weakest and most vulnerable.

And now he was surrounded by all the women he had wronged.

***

“Let’s talk this out,” Xie Longshan said. “There’s… no need for violence…”

“No, there most definitely is,” Loong Yulan said with a snarl.

The other woman voiced their own dissent.

“We’re not letting you get away after everything you’ve done!”

“You’re going to die here!”

“Death to Xie Longshan and everyone of the Azure Dragon bloodline!”

Hearing the anger and hatred in their voices caused Xie Longshan to panic.

“W-wait! Hear me out! Listen to me! There’s no need to do--aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

A long, shrill scream echoed all around the destroyed clearing as Loong Yulan impaled Xie Longshan through the foot with one of several gleaming silver knives. It easily sank into his flesh. Blood pooled underneath his foot, thick and viscous.

That was only the start of his suffering. One of the other women, Wu Jian didn’t know her name, leaned in and bit him so hard that her teeth sank into his flesh. As blood welled up, she reared her head back, tearing the flesh from his neck and revealing glistening blood and muscle. Xie Longshan’s screaming grew even louder.

And that’s when all the other women descended on him.

“Hatred and fear can only create obedience for so long,” Wu Jian said. “If you had been smart, you would have known and created genuine connections to build loyalty and trust. You only have yourself to blame for what’s happening to you.”

Wu Jian didn’t pay attention to what happened after that. He turned around and began limping down the destroyed street, Xie Longshan’s pained cries echoing behind him.

“Yo! Jian!” Schuchang called out to him as he appeared from behind a destroyed wall.

“Schuchang… thanks for your help!”

“What are you saying? Are we not sworn brothers who have stood side by side against death many times now? You don’t need to thank me for helping you. I know you’d do the same for me.”

“Since when we were sworn brothers?”

“Why are you being so mean?!”

“Although… that’s not a bad idea.”

Schuchang had been with Wu Jian for a long time now. They met before he had even become a cultivator, and Schuchang had helped him many times. He had kept the man at arm’s length for so long because he was afraid, afraid of growing close to someone else only to lose them like he had lost his family, but those feelings had changed after revealing his survival to Hou Jingshu. The only reason he had never placed a name on his friendship with Schuchang was because needling him had become a habit.

“We should become sworn brothers,” Wu Jian finally said.

“I thought we already were?!”

“Not officially.” Wu Jian paused, then nodded. “From now on, you are my sworn brother… Schuchang Gē.”

“Heh heh heh.” Schuchang rubbed his nose. “You know, when you call me that, it’s actually kind of embarrassing.”

“Fine. I’ll never call you that again.”

“Aaaah?! No! Keep calling me Gē please!!!”

“No no no. I don’t want you to feel embarrassed.”

“Oh, come on!!!!”

Wu Jian and Schuchang bickered back and forth as they made their way to the first-aid station setup outside of the city. It felt like every person who had been in the city was there. The place was crowded. Wu Jian worried this would make it hard to find his companions, but he need not have worried.

“Master!!!”

A little girl with dark hair darted from between people’s legs and crashed into him. She had panther ears and a tail. He rubbed her head as she nuzzled his leg.

“Youmei, you did a good job.”

“Eh heh heh. Youmei likes it when master praises her.”

“Did I also do a good job?” someone asked.

Walking out from the ground was Wu Meiying. Her clothing was torn, but he couldn’t see a single blemish on her skin. He knew she must have gotten injured, given who she had been fighting. She had probably healed up before he arrived.

“You did,” Wu Jian raised his other hand and placed it against her cheek. “Thank you for doing your best to keep civilian casualties to a minimum.”

Wu Meiying’s body shuddered as though she was experiencing bliss. Her cheeks turned red and her breathing grew a tad heavy as she stared at him with hunger in her eyes.

“I can think of a few ways for you to thank me later,” she murmured.

“Tell me about them when we’re alone,” Wu Jian said.

“Hey hey hey! Don’t do this in public! Get a room if you’re going to flirt like that,” Schuchang snapped.

“Pipe down, Schuchang Gē. You’re always flirting with women in broad daylight.”

“Yeah, but my flirting never goes anywhere, so it’s okay.”

“You know you just admitted that you have no game, right?”

“…I really hate you right now.”

Having reunited with Wu Meiying and Youmei, Wu Jian and Schuchang went in search of Hou Jingshu and Zhou Lihua. He found Zhou Lihua in a private tent. She was refining pills, concentrating hard on the cauldron in front of her, so they decided not to bother the young woman yet. Pill refinement required concentration and he didn’t want to distract her. Hou Jingshu was a bit hard to find, but he soon discovered the woman talking with Loong Mei.