40 A Single Strike That Shocks the Heavens and Earth!

"Swoosh…"

Five Specters of The Pale Dragon were emanating an extremely menacing aura, and suddenly it shot into the four elders in back as they stood shocked, frozen, and completely wide-eyed.

After that, the Specter of The Pale Dragon faded away.

"Boom."

Five series of explosions could be heard as it was followed by harrowing ear-piercing shrieks. It was silenced as soon as it began and sounded like someone's neck had been snapped while they shrieked.

Blood splattered all around the area as a rain of blood began to fall from the heavens above.

The four elders who were in the first rank in the realm of the Blade's Menace were instantly murdered by a young man whose powers were merely in the second rank in the realm of the Blade's Essence!

This scene had only taken a single attack—one single move.

Even Gu Xi, who was extremely close to Zhou Yan, was utterly shocked after witnessing Zhou Yan unleash his attack for the very first time. Both her eyes were wide open.

The Ninth Sister, the youngest pupil, and all four pegasus riders were also completely stunned by what they had just witnessed.

With a single wave of Zhou Yan's hand, Silver Frost let out a buzz before materializing in the void and falling into Zhou Yan's hands. With a gentle wave, that sword instantly fell back into the sheath that was on Zhou Yan's back.

Then, Zhou Yan proceeded to make a grabbing gesture midair and all of the Infinite Spatial Rings from the bodies instantly flew into Zhou Yan's hands.

He proceeded to sense the items that were stored within the ring. It was nothing too valuable that Zhou Yan wanted.

"Everyone who has witnessed this scene will get a gift from me!"

When Zhou Yan spoke he added another Infinite Spatial Ring onto his palm, then with a single flick of his wrist, all six rings fell into the hands of the six maidens except for Gu Xi.

At that moment, the Ninth Sister, Youngest Sister, and the four Pegasus riders snapped out of their shocked state as they trembled uncontrollably.

The sheer ferocity of Zhou Yan's powers and his prideful temperament gravely surprised and stunned them!

As these women received the Infinite Spatial Rings from Zhou Yan, it felt like a dream to them.

"Ninth Sister, Youngest Sister, please accept the gifts Brother Zhou Yan had given you guys alright," Gu Xi said in a gentle and compassionate tone.

"Sure… I, Ru Xue, humbly give you my thanks, Sir Zhou."

"Then, I, Liu Xu humbly thank Thirteenth Sister's lover!"

"I, the inner guardian,Qianqian, humbly thank Sir Zhou for your generous gift."

…

As these women took turns expressing their gratitude toward Zhou Yan, he replied each one with a gentle and passionate smile. This was a drastic difference to the temperament Zhou Yan displayed when he slaughtered those extremely powerful foes in an instant.

This young man was the literal definition of a peculiar man. His appearance was also the literal peak of beauty. In addition to his outstanding combat prowess, he also emanated elegance and pride. Furthermore, he seemed to possess a unique personal charm to his appearance… All of these attributes caused every single girl who had received an Infinite Spatial ring from him to be inhumanly charmed by him.

After replying to their gratitude with courtesy, he proceeded to approach Gu Xi. At that moment, Gu Xi was completely star-struck as she stared with intense admiration and love at him. 

Since her lover made such an impression in the presence of the sisters in her sect, it made her extremely proud and blessed at the same time.

"Little Xi, this was specially made for you. Hold on to it alright."

Zhou Yan took out an intricately designed Infinite Spatial Ring which contained an exorbitant amount of resources within it.

There were fifty top-tier Spirit Crystals, five hundred mid-tier Spirit Crystals, and five thousand low-tier Spirit Crystals! 

This amount was half of the total resources he had received from the rare incident! However, Zhou Yan was not even bothered by it since he had an enormous pool of spiritual energy from the enormous sword of the soul. After infusing the essence of the spiritual energy, his body, realm, and soul had been heightened and improved. A single source of energy was capable of improving three different attributes, hence this was a better resource compared to his dependency on the Spirit Crystals alone!

Hence all of the herbal pills and Spirit Crystals were exactly like a form of currency and nothing else to him as of then.

Moreover, all of the women Zhou Yan cared about, both Ning'er and Ping'er, were under the care and protection of the Lady of the Snow-Jaded Palace, hence, there was nothing he had to worry about. Gu Xi, on the other hand, spent most of her days within the confines of the Temple of the Frost Blade. The young girl... A pupil of the Temple of the Frosted Blade who could not even afford a mere Armor of Absolute Invincibility…

Hence, it was only natural for Zhou Yan to be concerned about her wellbeing and to be worried about her struggling efforts to get her hands on any training resources which would put her at risk of danger.

Thus, Zhou Yan spoke in a gentle tone and Gu Xi delightfully accepted Zhou Yan's gift and felt extremely blessed while being stared at with absolute admiration and envy by the sisters from her sect.

Reflected in both her stunning eyes were hints of happiness that shone from the very depths of her soul. She proceeded to sense the contents within the ring. After doing so, she was completely stunned.

Time and time again he had moved her heart, given her the joy of surprise, excitement, and a deeply rooted feeling of being completely surprised…

However, time and again, they were all sincere and genuine feelings from his heart.

It was exactly like the resources that were placed within the ring. It was so shocking, it had nearly caused her to pass out.

"This… this…. too expensive, too…"

Gu Xi was stuttering as she attempted to speak.

"Those are merely currency. As long as you're doing well, nothing else matters."

Zhou Yan spoke in a gentle and compassionate tone.

His words had also touched the hearts of all of the six maidens in white.

How many men were willing to do so much for the sake of caring for their women in this world? Even if that girl was an extremely powerful scholar, her status and position of power were not exactly glorious anyway…

As these women witnessed their exchange, tears had seemingly filled their eyes as they felt slightly envious and desperate.

…

"But, brother Zhou Yan needs this even more than I do…"

Gu Xi refused such an exorbitant amount of resources.

"I've only given you half, and I have another half to myself. Besides, I can no longer use these resources for my training. I'm walking a new Sword's Way of my creation, hence, I'll have no regrets and no need for these Spirit Crystals."

Zhou Yan stared at Gu Xi with a serious gaze while he explained to her seriously.

As Gu Xi focused on Zhou Yan's gaze, she pondered for a moment and said, "Brother Zhou Yan, I, Little Xi, will always be yours, forever and beyond. This lifetime and every single lifetime after this!" 

"Alright."

While hugging Gu Xi tightly, Zhou Yan proceeded to give her soft luscious lips a tight and heavy kiss in the presence of every single person there. At that very moment, Gu Xi never attempted to shy away as she compassionately embraced his kiss. 

…

"Wow, that kiss... seems magical. How I wish I could kiss Brother Zhou Yan too. You're so lucky!" Liu Xu, the Youngest Sister whispered while she was slightly blushing.

The Ninth Sister who stood next to her was also blushing heavily on her cheeks. The only thing she could do was cover the Youngest Sister's mouth with her hands, stopping her from speaking.

However, her words had escaped faster than the Ninth Sister could stop her, and the other four maidens had also heard everything that she had said.

Upon overhearing what she had spoken, these women stared at Zhou Yan with a look filled to the brim with pure admiration and envy.

…

…

Zhou Yan had always hated the feeling of parting ways with people he cared about.

However, it seemed things that he hated the most would often happen to him in his entire lifespan. Not a single soul would be able to refuse destiny's plans.

Even so, after he sent Gu Xi, who was just mere moments ago embraced in his arms, on her way. He was in a daze as he felt the emptiness in his arms.

The attack he had unleashed earlier was not part of his immense power. It was in fact due to the nature of Silver Frost which had an ability to manifest projections!

In other words, the Silver Frost is a spiritual blade which within itself was sealed with a spirit, so even in the hands of common-folk it would still possess the ability to murder a strong opponent in the third rank within the realm of the Blade's Essence with a single toss!

Zhou Yan had ascended to the very peaks of the second rank in the realm of the Blade's Essence, and based on his ability and the scale of his absolute power alone, if he was to use Sorrow's Breaker, he would be capable of going head to head with any strong opponents of the second rank within the realm of the Blade's Enforcer without breaking a sweat.

However, in the face of anyone within the realm of the Blade's Menace, he would stand no chance facing up against them!

The only difference was since it was during an ambush by extremely powerful people, he was forced to show off his immense power, in order to cease Gu Xi's worries and to show her that he was incredibly powerful! At the same time, he wanted to show Gu Xi's sisters from her sect that she was taken, and this master of hers was unlike any common-folk and should not be trifled with!

All of this was carefully planned by him.

Not to mention he had intended to murder Xie Feng for quite some time now. Since he was given such an opportunity, and since he would be traveling to a distant land soon, he had qualms killing this man.

Since the Xiao family had allied with the Xie family, the death of Xie Feng would have no correlation to the Xiao family. Hence, there was nothing Zhou Yan had to worry about.

Hence, if he had to hold back from killing anyone, he would do no harm. However, if he was to unleash an attack, he would leave no living behind and would completely unroot any possible future threats!

By borrowing the Silver Frost's ability to manifest projections of attacks and his vast knowledge in sword arts, Zhou Yan's first attempt in unleashing the Sword Art of The Dragon was immeasurably powerful, hence even a single attack would shock the very heavens and earth!

A single attack caused the death of five people! Amongst these five people, four of which were powerful scholars who had ascended to the very peaks of the first rank in the realm of the Blade's Menace were all instantly slaughtered by a single attack! What kind of power was this?

As Zhou Yan reflected on the event, he trembled slightly.

Thus, unknowingly for him, someone as insignificant as an ant could have progressed to such an extent!

Facing the setting sun, Zhou Yan reflected upon his lack of power and combat experience multiple times, and after doing so he returned to the Gu family household.

…

On that very night, both Zhou Yan and Gu Yan arrived at the Xiao family home.

This time, he had not seen both girls, Xiao Chaner and Xiao Liner. It seemed like both of them were intentionally avoiding him—seemingly judging his uselessness and completely avoiding him.

After having a brief conversation with Xiao Zhan within the walls of the hidden chambers, Zhou Yan proceeded to heal him from his injuries with the use of some Spirit Crystals.

However, Xiao Zhan seemed to be aware of certain things which were tied to the Xiao family and had intended to be left for dead. However, since he had fully recovered from his injuries, he was no longer acting rashly.

He lived as if he had not recovered and since he had exiled himself to live alone in this secluded spot, he fully intended to live the life in complete anguish.

However, it seemed Zhou Yan had read his feelings.

Just like his father, Xiao Zhan seemingly knew that there was nothing he could do to change anything without power.

Hence, he secretly knelt in guilt without Zhou Yan realizing…

He was saving up his strength in hopes of one day providing Zhou Yan the greatest support with his power alone.

Hence, Zhou Yan lamented and had also seemingly understood why both of his daughters, Little Lin'er and Little Yan'er, were so desperate in their search for power before he had an opportunity to display his strength and power.

As much as he understood the motive being their actions, he was unable to accept the feelings of being betrayed by their actions. However, he was still incredibly grateful and respectful toward Xiao Zhan.

He would begin his journey tomorrow toward the Zhou family in order to regain what was rightfully his!

Tomorrow, he would no longer have to bear the label of 'B*stard Child'! He would be able to regain the title of his father's trueborn child fair and square in the presence of everyone!

Tomorrow, he would no longer live in the shadows. He would be able to finally suppress anyone who had schemed against him and deliberately brought him harm with his natural gifts!

He had been waiting for the arrival of this day for a long while now!