The sect leader of Kunshan, a Grandmaster late stage expert,
was beheaded before he could even leave a dying word.
"You beast! How dare you!"
Wu Yisheng, the ancestor of Kunshan, roared with rage, his eyes split open. Wu Liang was his most favored son, a promising talent with the potential to become a Great Grandmaster.
"Hmph! You're the old beast! You deserve to die!"
Li Xuefeng's eyes were bloodshot, her anger a ravenous flame.
She was no stranger to action, embodying Yang Hong's principle of acting rather than talking.
With a flick of her soft sword, she transformed into a silver streak, charging towards Wu Yisheng.
"Bold! Do you know who I am? I am the Kunshan Ancestor, a Great Grandmaster late stage!"
Wu Yisheng's grip tightened on his long sword, pointing it directly at Li Xuefeng, his tone arrogant.
Indeed, a Great Grandmaster, especially one in the late stage, was a paramount figure in any of the Five Dynasties.
In the military, they were at least marshals;
In the court, they were at least ministers;
In noble families, they were at least patriarchs.
They were undeniably high-ranking, a superior tier of humanity.
"Great Grandmasters can also die."
Li Xuefeng's anger subsided slightly upon hearing Wu Yisheng's self-introduction, but she remained calm.
"Clang!"
A clash of metal echoed as Li Xuefeng and Wu Yisheng exchanged a sword strike, both retreating two steps.
"Little girl, be my furnace. I'll spare your life.
Otherwise..."
Like father, like son. Wu Yisheng, Wu Liang, and Wu Daode were all lecherous fiends.
He was willing to overlook the death of his son and bargain with Li Xuefeng.
"Hmph..."
Li Xuefeng merely let out a cold snort, her body flashing as she began to circle Wu Yisheng, delivering swift sword strikes.
Although she was a cultivator at Qi Gathering level 4, in this region of the Five Dynasties, there was no spiritual energy to replenish her. Thus, she dared not casually use her true qi.
She was fighting Wu Yisheng using her Great Grandmaster level internal energy.
While her techniques were inferior and her martial arts were common, her physique as a cultivator was undeniable.
Not only was she fast, but her strength was also comparable to Wu Yisheng's.
"Little girl, you're interesting. I'll give you one more chance.
Surrender, or I'll let my disciples and grandchildren have their way with you!"
Wu Yisheng felt the pressure from Li Xuefeng and began to provoke her verbally,
hoping to create an opening he could exploit.
"Little girl, your figure is truly beautiful. You must have served many people, haven't you?
Just follow me, and this old man will serve you."
"Little beauty, your move is so fiery. Oh, it's getting hotter and hotter!"
"Little beauty..."
Li Xuefeng, listening to Wu Yisheng's lewd taunts and failing to gain the upper hand, grew truly agitated and angry.
"Ahhh!"
At the same moment, a startled cry from behind made her flinch again.
It was Piaoxue.
She and Xuejing were fending off an assault from seven Innate Grandmaster experts.
Despite their steadfast defense, Piaoxue's left arm was inevitably grazed.
Crimson blood stained her silver-white robes.
"Little beauty, your sister is injured. If you don't surrender, they might die."
Wu Yisheng seized the opportunity to counterattack a few times, forcing Li Xuefeng back,
while not forgetting to pressure her to surrender.
"You're forcing my hand."
The crimson hue in Li Xuefeng's eyes gradually faded, her aura calming down.
"Heh heh. Little beauty, I'm doing this for your own good."
"If you insist, what's the harm in complying?"
"Hahaha, good, little beauty~
What the hell are you doing?"
Just as Wu Yisheng was reveling in his perceived victory, Li Xuefeng's aura suddenly surged.
"Gentle Breeze... Arriving..."
Though the same technique as Jia Yuanchun's, Li Xuefeng's rendition lacked the overpowering might but possessed a more ethereal, immortal quality.
"You are..."
Wu Yisheng's eyes widened, but he could no longer speak.
"Splash..."
Wu Yisheng's body instantly cleaved into seven pieces.
In a single breath, Li Xuefeng unleashed nine sword strikes. Wu Yisheng managed to block only three before his sword shattered.
Before he could react, Li Xuefeng had sliced him into seven segments.
"A pity, you are dead."
"Whoosh... whoosh..."
For a moment, the Kunshan disciples ceased their actions, staring at Li Xuefeng with disbelief.
Their ancestor, their Great Grandmaster ancestor,
an elder held in high regard even by royalty,
a Great Grandmaster who dared to confront the three top sects of the Great Sui Dynasty,
had, just like that,
died!
"Run! Run!"
Someone, somewhere, let out a cry, and every Kunshan disciple turned and fled.
They cared not if the path ahead was a mountain trail or a cliff; they just ran.
"Help!"
"Get out of the way, don't block my path."
"Run! That way is a cliff, jump down and you'll run faster."
The Kunshan disciples, scattering like startled birds, not only pushed past each other but some even injured their fellow disciples ahead to use them as shields.
"Hmph, let's see how many of you can run."
With a cold snort, Li Xuefeng unfurled her form and charged towards the Innate Grandmasters who were fleeing the fastest.
Meanwhile, Piaoxue and Xuejing, working in tandem, pursued the first-rate masters.
Once these masters were eliminated, the second and third-rate disciples of Kunshan would be insignificant.
Of course, to the three of them, everyone from Kunshan was mere fodder, never to be taken seriously.
Twelve Innate Grandmasters, eighty-five first-rate masters.
Added to the previous five Innate Grandmasters and twenty first-rate masters who had died,
and Wu Yisheng, the late-stage Great Grandmaster.
The experts of Kunshan were utterly annihilated.
As for how many second and third-rate fodder died, Li Xuefeng and the other two hadn't bothered to count.
It was likely around three hundred.
"Phew... phew... Niangniang, everyone has scattered, should we still pursue?"
Piaoxue flexed her trembling right hand, her face smeared with blood – the enemy's blood. Aside from a minor injury to her left arm, she was otherwise unharmed.
Xuejing, however, had fared worse; her legs had been the target of the Kunshan disciples. Both were injured, not to the point of disability or immobility, but running would be difficult.
"No more pursuit. Without Innate Grandmasters and first-rate masters, the Kunshan sect will cease to exist."
Li Xuefeng, though uninjured, was also utterly exhausted.
After all, she had been the main force in the killing.
Even now, she marveled at how, with her true qi fully engaged, she had become an efficient killing machine.
Calm and cold-blooded,
untiring, and devoid of emotion.
"Alright, let's search the mountain for my sisters. We must find them, alive or dead."
"Niangniang, rest assured, we will find them."
The three parted ways again and began searching the Kunshan sect's mountain gates.
However, they never found Li Xueqin or Li Xueqiong,
neither alive nor dead.
Until...
"Father! Oh, father! Grandfather! Grandfather, you can't die!"
A mournful cry echoed from the foot of the mountain.
Soon, a handsome and dashing young man rushed up the mountain, directly into the mansion where Wu Liang had resided.
"Hmm~ He calls Wu Liang father. Then this fellow must be Wu Daode."
Li Xuefeng's eyes lit up as she observed the newcomer's actions. If this was Wu Daode, then...
She channeled her remaining true qi and sped towards him.
She caught Wu Daode, who was still wailing and searching for his father.
"Speak! Where are Li Xueqin and Li Xueqiong?"
"Ah~ They're at the foot of the mountain."
Wu Daode, still emotionally distraught, answered instinctively.
Li Xuefeng tossed Wu Daode aside and rushed down the mountain.
Having witnessed the depravity of the Kunshan sect, she was deeply worried about her sisters' safety.