The sounds of even, rhythmic footsteps rang out as no one dared to breathe too loudly.
'This sharpness…' Juon Kang's pupils shrank, '...it's him, but… he has gotten stronger.'
Juon Kang whispered to those on his side of the arena and his people cupped their fists.
"We welcome Young Master Shou." Juon Kang did not bend his back, nor did the young lords, but they showed their respect.
Those on the other side of the arena glanced at them and did not.
After all, why should they? Shou Xin held the same cultivation as many of them, after all and was only a 'Young Master', in name.
(Author's Note: The reason different people refer to him differently ex: Young Master, Little Master, Lord, Master is this. A Young Master is what one calls a literal young person who has the potential to be a Master. Little Master is a derivative of that that's more serious. As for Lord/Master that's what those beneath call those above, it's interchangeable.)
"Young Master Shou has arrived at the perfect time, I've been unable to get any sleep these days due to something surrounding you, therefore I would like to ask for a duel, so as to settle everything before we leave today!" Guo Lian said from beneath his cloak.
Shou Xin calmly turned his now calmed, empty gaze to him almost as though seeing through him.
"One move." His words carried on the breeze, reaching everyone.
Guo Lian smiled momentarily, "Are you saying that you'll defeat me in a single move, 'Young Master'?"
Guo Lian's eyes turned to crescents as he sneered.
His body began to release a slow, heavy aura.
"Wild Earth Field."
Guo Lian raised a single finger, pointed Shou Xin.
"Kill."
Guo Lian's whole boy exploded with power!
Beasts began to swarm up and out of the field, charging forward viciously tearing at anything it found! The people scattered and screamed!
A Third Chain Expert!
Precisely at the same time, several others aura's rose violently all over the residence!
"Kill!"
Shou Xin glanced at the beasts.
The fog in his gaze began to swirl, until his gaze was no longer white, but a pitch black starry sky, as though the curtains pulled back!
"Fukkatsu,"
Shou Xin's single word vibrated over the violent winds and to the entire residence, horrifying storms of killing intent converging on his single position.
Fukkatsu shot out from his hip and danced in the palm of his hand!
Guo Lian smirked as he felt the small amount of power hidden within the sword and pushed forward!
Shou Xin painted the open air as though the whole world were his canvas, countless small almost insignificant brush strokes each carrying intense killing intent and Sword Aura!
"Kiru."
Time seemed to slow in Guo Lian's eyes.
The small brush strokes flew out at breakneck speeds cutting down all of his beasts and battering his Wild Earth Field, leaving a crack on it!
Yet, his gaze was locked on the single, thick brush stroke, Shou Xin had just painted unto the world and was coming seemingly slowly!
Guo Lian poured his strength into his own sword!
"Wild Land Slaughter!" His voice rang out with the force of a hundred beasts, his eyes turning a vibrant green as he charged towards the slash, his field coalescing in front of him as a shield.
He stared at Shou Xin beyond his field who was standing behind the sword wave.
He looked calm, almost unbothered.
Guo Lian grit his teeth and his eye went bloodshot.
"Die you foolish scum!"
Bloodcurdling killing intent matched his decisive shout!
He took the sword wave head on!
"Once your trump card is destroyed, you will be too!"
Guo Lian flicked his wrist!
The sword in his hand cried out as it struck the sword wave, the defensive strength of his Field all put into one place giving a strong base!
Yet.
His sword shattered, instantly!
Shou Xins freezing Sword Aura had made it crumble upon impact, causing severe backlash to fall onto Guo Lian who immediately tried to escape the sword wave!
His field had to be sacrificed however, causing even greater backlash!
Guo Lian threw himself to the side, a long scar leaving itself in the earth behind him, and killing those disciples which had stood near him previously.
"Bastard!"
As he looked to Shou Xin, his vision went skyward, and for a moment, he could see his own body before everything went dark.
His face was stiff and confused, never getting an answer even to the moment he died.
"The true cut is hidden within the greater brush stroke, he blocked the sheath but not the blade." Elder Yu said from the top of a bamboo tree where he and Guo Long watched.
"To defeat a Third Chain despite being a second chain is quite the achievement. Though, it is true that he had an artifact." Guo Long commented as he took a sip of his tea.
"Mm. Still. If that boy wasn't so arrogant, and took him on seriously from the start, he wouldn't have lost, as a matter of fact, Young Master Shou only won because of this. He does not truly have the strength to defeat third chains regularly." Elder Yu nodded as he then thought, "With his Cursed Physique, the sword Fukkatsu, Sword Aura and his killing intent as well as those incredibly dense cuts aiming at the small cuts created just before it was coalesced together… it is no wonder the field shattered. His instincts are those of a battle maniac."
Down below, Shou Xin quietly looked around the Shou Residence, the other Third Chain Experts were hesitating, one could feel it in their killing intent.
Shou Xin calmly smiled, causing fear to course through their veins.
Only he knew his true condition.
His Sanguine Slash, whilst using it almost unending during what felt like an eternity fighting bloodthirsty demons, was phased out and his comprehension increased and phased it out.
Fukkatsu Kiru.
The next level. A brush stroke hidden within another.
It was, however, extremely burdensome to his current physique.
The Primeval Body Art despite being at the first stage could not keep up well with his sudden increase in power making it harder for him to move his body as his Inner Sea pushed out against his body.
Elder Yu watched as Shou Xin stood calmly in the midst of the chaos, his eyes turned upwards to the sky.
Elder Yu felt a pinch in his heart as he saw Shou Xin's conflicted face.
"To wish to see the sky, yet unable to." Elder Yu felt a slight heartache, "It is not right for a Senior to get involved in the battles of Juniors. But, I am an ally."
"Indeed, we are." Guo Long slid down the bamboo tree and using it as a sling, he shot away towards one of the Third Chain Experts.
Elder Yu looked through the residence, and his gaze slowly fell on a single man who was trying to reach the Heart Mind Pagoda.
A Fourth Chain Expert.
The instant that Elder Yu's gaze fell on him, he died without a sound.
His Sword Heart alone had crushed his soul to dust leaving a husk of meat which was rapidly dying.
"Who sent you?"
The undead-esque woman turned to him, her lips parting slowly as her tongue was beginning to bulge.
"Ya...n…"
Her tongue, which was bulging exploded in her head, causing her brains to splatter everywhere, however Elder Yu's barrier caught it alongside her body and directly crushed it into a tiny meat ball, which then became a blood mist in his palm.
"So they've begun to move."
---
"Lord! The scum of Shokin are moving up through the underground in droves!" Liu Gang, who had awoken after just an hour or so of sleep, rushed over accompanied by a large force of two hundred disciples, which bore the emblem of the Shou, "Your orders!"
Shou Xin calmly tore his gaze away from the sky, his steps made no noise as though he were sliding over the ground, a trail of killing intent from which hands would occasionally try and reach out, following in his wake.
Liu Gang gave his orders.
"Follow the Lord!"
In response to Liu Gang's shout, the three hundred total clan members of the Shou Clan advanced forward, many of them had never battled before, as a matter of fact, almost all of them had never raised a hand in violence.
Yet they understood.
The pledge they carried on their back was a solemn one.
"The fortunate rejoice, the misfortune weep, yet all die." Shou Xin quietly murmured as he arrived at an open space just inside of the Shou Clan gates where the bosses had swarmed with their disciples.
Shou Xin quietly held his hands behind his back, as his empty gaze seemed to carry over the breeze entering the hearts of those opposite him, making them feel as though a blade were pressed to their throats.