A Lesson in Fear

Far to the east of where Liu Ming and the others were, one of Han Zichen's Dao protectors was watching them.

Han Zichen always kept an eye on his beloved Chen Ruyi, as he hadn't given up on the idea of making her his wife.

He didn't care about forming a martial pact between the Han and Chen families; he simply wanted the beautiful Chen Ruyi all to himself.

Gong Fa...

Han Zichen's oldest, strongest, and most capable Dao protector, was the only one he trusted to watch over Chen Ruyi while he remained in cultivation for a few more days.

The young lord planned to face Liu Ming at the upcoming Disciple Market Auction, but he wanted to raise his cultivation level a bit more first.

Gong Fa had been watching Chen Ruyi like a hawk.

When Liu Ming finally met up with her and her brother, the Dao protector believed it to be a generous act of the heavens.

Now, he could keep an eye on both Liu Ming and Chen Ruyi with ease──it was like killing two birds with one stone!

'Young Lord Zichen is a man who deserves only the best. He is a cultivator of unmatched dedication. One who works tirelessly to be the rightful heir of the Han Clan. It would have been my greatest regret not to accept his offer to leave the mundane mortal realms and join him in the cultivation world.

'While I know Liu Ming has defeated a Foundation Spirit expert, I still wonder if that alone makes him superior to the young lord. I always pray that the heavens will humble arrogant trash like Liu Ming. Would he dare disgrace the young lord by humiliating his vassal clan?

'Tch! I swear, he will pay in blood.'

In reality, Gong Fa's belief in heavenly intervention and his unwavering loyalty to his young lord was pure foolishness.

He couldn't grasp the vastness of heaven and earth.

He couldn't even comprehend the true nature of Liu Ming.

It was only after young patriarch's cold gaze fell on him that Gong Fa began to understand.

'N-, no! That's impossible! How did he notice me?!'

He had used multiple layers of protective talismans to hide his presence, making himself seem like a dead body.

Despite this...

Liu Ming detected him effortlessly, as if it was second nature!

"WH-, WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!

"MY BODY──AHH! IT'S BREAKING!

"AARRGHHH──!!"

In a heartbeat, Gong Fa's arms began to twist painfully, contorting more and more until he screamed in mind-breaking agony.

crack────SNAP~!

His arms snapped like sun-dried twigs.

"URRRAAAGHHH──!!"

His eyes began to hurt badly, and they bled as if he were crying.

The utility artifact he'd used to spy on them shattered into pieces.

"NGHHHK!"

Gong Fa fell to the ground, convulsing and coughing up black blood.

"This pain... please... MAKE IT STOP!"

He wasn't dead, and yet...

"PLEASE ---KILL ME ALREADY!"

"Oh trust me... I will."

A voice, cold and emotionless, responded to him.

When Gong Fa looked up weakly, his blood-covered eyes saw Liu Ming standing before him.

The young patriarch, had his arms clasped behind his back and stared down at Gong Fa like he was just a dog. His expression was calm, with smugly squinted eyes and a faint smile on his face.

Gong Fa's arms were broken beyond healing, so he crawled on his belly like a worm.

"Please..."

When he got close enough, he bit Liu Ming's foot slightly.

"Please... make the pain stop."

Tears streamed down his pale, blood-stained cheeks as he stared up at Liu Ming with a desperate look in his eyes.

Closing his eyes and smiling softly, Liu Ming waved a hand dismissively.

"Maybe another time. For now, I'd like to have a chat with Han Zichen. After all, we're both young lords, aren't we?"

This wasn't Liu Ming's real body.

It was just a pocket-body he had sent out to take care of this minor task.

A pocket-body was a special tool for cultivators at the Foundation Spirit stage.

It was one created using the spiritual component of their heavenly grotto.

This body acted like an extra form that allowed the cultivator to use their will and spiritual power to interact with the physical world separately.

After Liu Ming witnessed Ling Zou use this special Foundation Spirit stage technique in their fight, he decided to learn it during his closed-door cultivation.

It was almost like he knew it would be extremely useful when he travelled to Immortal Cloud City.

Presently, the real Liu Ming was peacefully walking and talking with his siblings.

This pocket-body would complete his task.

"Now, our dear young lord."

A sly smile appeared on Liu Ming's face.

━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━

In the quieter, more upscale estates of Immortal Cloud City...

There was a luxurious guest room...

Han Zichen sat cross-legged on a small mat, cultivating.

Hrmm...

He sensed a shift in the room's atmosphere and immediately opened his eyes and shot a spirit sword forward.

────ZING!

The spirit sword halted mid-air when it neared Liu Ming, who was approaching with his hands behind his back.

"Ah, ah~ that won't work."

Shaking his head in disappointment, Liu Ming used a mere thought to shatter the spirit sword into a million pieces, which then dissolved into the air. To him, such attacks were mere parlor tricks.

Suddenly, Han Zichen leapt to his feet.

"Wh-, who are you?!"

He formed another spirit sword and pointed it at the stranger dressed in white.

Though he had never seen this sophisticated man before, the immense spiritual pressure emanating from him made Han Zichen's legs tremble like a feather in the wind.

"You ask that like you don't know who I am. I'm the person you've been obsessing over, besides my dear sister, Ruyi. I'm the one who slapped your clan in the face, and I'll be the one to do it again."

Liu Ming looked at Han Zichen with a cold, murderous glare.

"Do you have your answer now?"

His voice carried only a sense of superiority──like he could destroy Han Zichen's body with a single thought, and wipe out his very existence with another!

"Th-, there's no way you're Liu... Liu Ming!"

Han Zichen was terrified by Liu Ming's presence, feeling like a helpless animal under the scorching sun. It was as if a terrifying force was trying to swallow him whole.

The closer Liu Ming got, the more he stepped back.

Finally, he fell to the floor.

'I-, I can't move... why can't I move?!"

His legs paralyzed with fear.

Liu Ming bent over him with a menacing expression, his hair blending with the golden aura around them. With fingers spread wide, he roughly grabbed Han Zichen's head as if he were picking up trash.

Lying on the floor like a log, Han Zichen stared up in fear and desperation. He was sweating profusely, struggling to breathe as if his lungs were being crushed!

"Remember this fear you're feeling whenever you think about getting any closer to Chen Ruyi. She is not your wife and will never belong to someone as arrogant and petty as you. The Chen family will never be linked with the Han family or the Sword God School. Are we clear?"

Liu Ming looked at Han Zichen with an indifferent expression and tightened his grip on his head.

Tears streamed down Han Zichen's face, and he could feel a hot liquid running down his thighs and soaking his pants.

It was the first time he had ever felt this kind of fear!

Just as he was about to say something, Liu Ming's pocket-body suddenly vanished, and everything returned to normal.

Han Zichen lay there in silence, unable to feel or think about anything.

He felt completely empty.

━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━

[Chen Family Estate]

Liu Ming walked alongside his female disciples and siblings, enjoying the sweet laughter of Chen Ruyi. She was excitedly sharing stories about Chen Xiaosheng and especially about Chen Yuxuan.

The young patriarch closed his eyes and smiled tenderly.

'That young lord is lucky I haven't fully perfected my pocket-body technique, or I would have crippled his cultivation right then and there. That way, he wouldn't be a threat to me, my disciples, or Sister Ruyi. Also, using Divine Chain Sensing drained a large portion of my spiritual energy.'

As of now, Both Gong Fa and Han Zichen were thinking the same thing...

How did Liu Ming manage to find them?

The answer was simple.

Divine Chain Sensing!

It was a special technique only usable by cultivators at the Core Spirit stage.

At its core, it worked on the idea that every being left a unique trace of their spiritual energy on everything they touched. These traces, which were often too faint for those with lower cultivation to notice, created a spiritual link between individuals.

By accessing these links, a cultivator could trace the spiritual signature back to its source!

After hearing from Chen Ruyi that Han Zichen's Dao protectors always visited her with gifts and love letters from the young lord, he knew he could reach them.

First, he searched for traces of sword Qi on Chen Ruyi and linked that to Gong Fa, who was miles away.

If he wanted, he could effortlessly have destroyed Gong Fa's consciousness through that mental link alone.

Instead, he sent his pocket-body across the thin spiritual leyline and from there, he mapped out a spiritual energy path between Gong Fa and Han Zichen.

According to Chen Fan, the Han Clan's young master was at the Foundation Spirit stage, so he used that to find Han Zichen.

Now, he not only knew Han Zichen's location, but also knew all his other Dao protectors, Hallmaster Han Wu, and the other hallmasters of the Sword God School.

With enough power, he could kill them all with a thought!

'Excellent...'

Liu Ming kept walking with hands clasped behind his back.

Xiu Meixiang took a step closer and pressed her slender shoulder against Liu Ming's arm. She looked up at him with her big, beautiful green eyes.

"Brother Ming, is everything alright?" she asked softly.

Liu Ming placed a gentle hand on her head and stroked her soft, pink hair.

"It's fine. Everything's fine."