Volume One: The Hidden Dragon in the Abyss Chapter 137: Annihilation

"Get lost! You lot are not worthy of the Martial Arts Academy's protection!" the man in blue roared in a fit of rage.

To him, the grand task of subduing demons and devils was theirs alone to complete.

"Murder! The demon is killing people!" someone screamed, and the crowd began to scatter in panic.

The man in blue, further incensed, drew his long sword. The blade swept through the air, crackling with arcs of electricity. Where the light struck, several people were instantly reduced to charred, lifeless husks.

"Stop!"

"You villain, how dare you!"

The experts present, shocked that he would kill without hesitation, moved like phantoms. With the roar of sonic booms and thunder, they launched a coordinated assault from a hundred paces away.

"You dare attack me? How pathetic! How dare you show such disrespect to the Martial Arts Academy!" the man in blue sneered.

His sword danced, unleashing a torrent of lightning as if the heavens themselves were descending to purge the world of demons. A large swath of the weaker martial artists in the plaza was incinerated into nothingness. The scene was a living hell.

Seeing their friends slaughtered, the other warriors were filled with righteous fury and launched a counterattack.

"You call yourself the Martial Arts Academy? You are more detestable than any demon!"

Dozens of attacks rained down, and the man in blue was struck several times. Although the wounds were minor, he felt deeply humiliated. How could these ants dare to provoke him, let alone wound him?

"What, was that lesson not enough? You don't know who you can and cannot provoke! I might as well finish you all off. Isn't there someone called Wang Chuan, the 'Number One Under Heaven'? I want to see what is so great about him. With my Divine Academy here, everyone in the Mortal Realm is nothing but trash! Where is that fellow hiding? Is he too scared to show his face?"

The man in blue sneered, his sword transforming into a shimmering silver dragon that spiraled above him, looking down upon the masses.

At that moment, Ying Qian was slowly leaving the city when he suddenly looked up at the clouds. Something seemed to be hidden within the thick, layered expanse.

"Playing tricks!" the man in blue scoffed, his face full of disdain.

Gradually, the other warriors followed his gaze, their eyes burning with anticipation.

"That is..."

It was as if a window had been opened in the sky; sunlight spilled through. The commoners, having not seen such a sight in ages, were moved to tears, their spirits stirred.

From within that opening, a powerful presence emerged, sweeping toward them with incredible speed.

A sage had appeared, revealing the sky—but were there any sages left in this mortal world?

The man in blue had always believed this was just someone playing games, creating a distraction. It was clearly a demonic ruse. If he were back at the Academy, he would have had countless ways to restore the sky, but here, the demons had spent years plotting. He feared that whoever had truly brought back the light might be connected to them.

*Hmph.*

He wondered which bored soul was playing these games this time.

"What lowly scum dares to commit murder in my Jin Kingdom!"

A voice like a thunderclap boomed from the heavens, heavy as a falling mountain. That long roar, echoing from the horizon, made the very earth tremble and the mountains shake.

"It's the Fourth Prince!"

The people of Yang City were familiar with that voice. To them, ever since Wang Chuan went north, it was this prince who had taken up the banner, bearing the weight of the nation and performing the feat of destroying a kingdom single-handedly.

Two talents from one house! A great blessing for the Jin Kingdom!

Rumors had long been circulating in the streets that the Fourth Prince had also attained true power, his strength and prestige rivaling those of Wang Chuan. His brilliance was unmatched.

And now, he had returned.

Witnessing this, the man in blue couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy. Their Martial Arts Academy were outsiders after all, no match for these young, rising talents. Things were not as perfect as he had imagined. He finally understood why his companions had been reluctant when he first sought to command the martial artists of the world.

The Mortal Realm was no longer the realm it once was.

In truth, perhaps the elders were right—it would have been better to let them fend for themselves.

What a pathetic, miserable lot they were.

The newcomer stood in white, hands behind his back, looking at the so-called members of the Martial Arts Academy with a gaze filled with disappointment.

"So this is the Martial Arts Academy that Master Tianxing rejected... yet, it is also the Academy that Wang Chuan's mother joined."

What he saw today was a bit of a surprise. His eyes glowed with divine light, making him appear like a god.

The Fourth Prince had arrived.

"Finally, someone worth..." The man in blue didn't finish his sentence before the opponent struck.

The Fourth Prince showed no interest in idle talk, his eyes cold. As the silver dragon lunged, the Prince simply raised a hand and struck out with his palm.

The very heavens seemed to resonate with that single blow. The man in blue was suddenly immobilized, as if trapped in a cage.

"The Great Harmony of Heaven and Earth? How can you wield such laws and truths, which even those in the Divine Realm struggle to master? You are not Wang Chuan—but how do you compare to him?"

Before the blow even landed, the man in blue felt a tremor of fear. He could not imagine that such a master existed in the Mortal Realm. At this age and at this level of cultivation, he would be considered a prodigy even in the Martial Arts Academy.

"Hmph! A mortal cultivator with an incomplete technique—what is there to fear!"

The man in blue sneered. Perhaps he had merely fallen into the demonic path; the demonic arts could make one advance by leaps and bounds, but their drawbacks were severe, and they were most despised. To encounter such a person, he had to be purged!

The man in blue practiced the sword and was adept at lightning arts; he was a leader among the younger generation. The silver dragon writhed, and the sky seemed to turn into a mass of black clouds. The dragon’s color shifted, condensing to the point of turning ink-black, every inch crackling with terrifying power.

The surrounding warriors retreated far away, all of them horrified.

"Is this the power of the Martial Arts Academy? Even a young warrior is this strong."

"The Fourth Prince isn't bad either; he's growing rapidly, chasing Wang Chuan! His target must be Prince Wang Chuan himself!"

The battle was enough to shake the foundations of the world.

That palm descended like a crushing mountain, its momentum overwhelming. It felt as if it had seized the man in blue like a chick, leaving him unable to struggle.

"Break!"

The man in blue, hair wild with rage, crackled with lightning, and even his eyes surged with electric arcs. In response to his call, a bolt of heavenly lightning descended, as if intending to wipe the Fourth Prince from existence.

Before the might of the heavenly lightning, the Fourth Prince, standing alone with his single palm, looked like an infant. The lightning crashed down, a storm of destruction ravaging a blade of grass, fragile and weak.

Seeing the Fourth Prince so frail beneath the strike, the warriors sighed. If even he could not prevail, they would have to wait for Wang Chuan’s return. Wang Chuan was their final hope—the man who was invincible and had never known defeat.

They had once believed no one could best Wang Chuan. But the arrival of the Martial Arts Academy filled them with dread. Before Wang Chuan appeared, everyone knew what the Academy represented. In that era, they were figures to be feared and worshipped.

Just as the crowd began to mourn for the Fourth Prince, they looked up at the sky and were stunned. The figure was still standing there.

Though his hair was disheveled and his white robes were tattered and torn, he remained steady.

"Die!"

The Fourth Prince’s face was expressionless, devoid of any fluctuation. His large hand pressed down once more!

The mountain crashed down!

With unstoppable force, the blow landed in an instant. In that moment, every ounce of the man in blue's vital energy shattered into pieces.

He was crushed into the ground, unable to move a muscle.

With the landing of that palm, a deafening explosion echoed through the heavens. Doors and windows within a hundred miles rattled violently. When the dust settled, the man in blue was gone.

A deathly silence fell over the plaza, followed by a massive uproar among the warriors.

"This... this..."

"Dead?"

"He... he killed someone from the Martial Arts Academy!"

Even though they had hated the man and wished for his death, when it actually happened, who dared to strike? That was the Martial Arts Academy!

They looked at the Fourth Prince with newfound, intense awe, as if he were a plague god. They were not only astonished by his lawless audacity, but also by his peerless ability, which truly rivaled Wang Chuan's.

To the common folk, those from the Martial Arts Academy were like gods. And yet, he had killed one as easily as swatting a fly.

A sliver of the man's soul escaped using a secret technique, but the Fourth Prince didn't bother chasing it. It wasn't that he couldn't finish the job, but it would require too much effort and cost. Such a person no longer posed a threat to him.

Ying Qian, who had witnessed the scene, also let it go. Important matters took precedence. He had never held such people in high regard anyway.

"Yang City is a vital place; no demons are allowed!" the Fourth Prince declared, looking toward the direction of Ying Qian.

Ying Qian smiled, finding it amusing. Relying on his own strength, he was willing to endure for Wang Chuan's sake, but he certainly wasn't going to let this upstart, who had only recently turned to the demonic path, belittle him.

How lawless. Had killing a member of the Martial Arts Academy made him so arrogant? Perhaps he had never tasted defeat. No matter; he would have his chance.

Ying Qian had important business and chose not to bicker, leaving the city.

As for Wang Chuan, the commotion had been too loud. Yang Hao had no choice but to consult the first carriage. He was told simply not to be noisy.

The caravan continued its slow, steady journey toward Yang City. There was nothing worth making a fuss about.

"Hiss... how could he kill someone from the Martial Arts Academy?" Xu Qing had taken a look and gasped. This had reached an extraordinary level. But killed was killed; there were two others left anyway. It didn't matter.

The weather had turned hot again. With the little girl sleeping in her arms, Xu Qing gently fanned her.

"Father!"

The Fourth Prince entered the great hall, still in his disheveled state. Looking at the man on the dragon throne, he still felt the man's profound loneliness and was deeply moved.

"You've returned. Good." The Emperor of Jin nodded, his expression unchanged.

"I have returned without permission; please punish me, Father!" the Fourth Prince said earnestly.

"You don't need to be like that before me. Be as you once were; I want to see the real you," the Emperor sighed.

"I may have done something wrong; please, Father, punish me," the Prince repeated.

"Do you regret it?" the Emperor asked.

"I do not," the Fourth Prince shook his head without hesitation. "I only fear that you might be angry, Father."

"It was too impulsive, but what is done is done. I am not angry." The Emperor stood up and walked slowly toward him. "No matter who they are or what they do, no one should ever offend my son."

The Emperor stepped closer, gently smoothing the prince's clothes and hair, his face filled with love.