Chapter Seventeen: Sword Qi Sweeping Everywhere

“How dare you!” Qiuye’s crisp voice rang out in rebuke.

Ke Yong lifted his chin slightly. “How dare I? This tiny Ironstone Tribe… I can knead it as I please, let alone dare. To tell you the truth, I’ve taken a liking to you. You’d better come with me obediently. Last time I fancied a girl, she was so stubborn she’d rather die than submit, so I killed her entire family and sold all her clansmen as slaves! Think carefully—for the sake of your little brother beside you and your tribe!”

The tribespeople were simple and honest, but also hot-blooded, most unafraid of death. Especially a girl as beautiful as this—a pearl of the tribe, often proud to the point of preferring death. Ke Yong didn’t want to see that happen.

“Honorable Lord Ke Yong,” the bald old man Tiesan Lian urged, “these three are not from our Ironstone Tribe, but from some great tribe!”

“A great tribe?” Ke Yong’s brows shot up. “No wonder. I was wondering how a place like your Ironstone Tribe could raise such a delicate girl. Tell me, girl, which tribe are you from?” He stepped forward to touch Qiushui’s cheek, but she lashed out with a lightning kick.

Boom!

The heavy kick, brimming with fury, struck Ke Yong square in the chest, shattering his ornaments and sending him tumbling backward.

“How dare you!”

“Clang!”

A group of armored guards from Blackmountain Tribe shouted in anger, some even drawing their blades.

Ke Yong scrambled up, wiped the blood from his mouth, and raised a hand to stop his men. As a core high-ranking member of a great tribe like Blackmountain, his ruthlessness was well known to his guards.

“It’s over.”

“That girl is done for.”

The guards knew that when Ke Yong was clearly furious yet held back, it only meant… he was seething with rage, plotting how to vent his anger!

Ke Yong stood up, squinting like a venomous snake as he scrutinized the three before him. “That kick was quite heavy. Would you mind telling me where you three are from? Some great tribe, or the great Ji clan?”

“Look carefully.” Mowu stepped forward coldly and flipped out a token.

On the token was the character ‘Ji’!

“Ji!”

Many of the armored guards changed color, looking to their leader Ke Yong, who turned pale and bowed in panic. “I never meant to offend you three. Please forgive me.”

Mowu’s eyes held a trace of pity, for he knew his young master’s hatred of evil.

Qiuye also cast a cold glance at Ke Yong. Ever since he bragged about destroying a small tribe and selling its people into slavery for a woman, she had felt deep loathing—she herself had once been sold after her tribe was annihilated.

Ji Ning stared at Ke Yong and silently sentenced him to death.

Destroying a tribe without cause—thinking of the children and women slaughtered or sold—stirred a nameless fury in Ji Ning. Though the land harbored much evil he couldn’t right, when he encountered it, he could not suppress his rage!

“Hahaha…” Ke Yong, who had been pale, suddenly grinned broadly. “It seems you three have murder in your hearts. I wonder if you’re foolish or arrogant!”

“Hmm?” Ji Ning frowned slightly.

Ke Yong continued, “So what if it’s the Ji clan? How many young disciples of the five prefectures die during their coming-of-age trials every year? The Ji clan can never trace whether their kin were killed by beasts or by other tribes!”

“Even if you have status, here you’re only three. If you want to kill me, keep it hidden. As the saying goes, ‘distant water can’t quench present thirst.’ No matter your rank, no one can save you in time.” Ke Yong sighed. “I remember three years ago, I enjoyed a Ji clan girl—such smooth skin. My servants all had their turn, and in the end, she was devoured by wild beasts!”

“Do you understand now?” Ke Yong squinted. “Status doesn’t always mean strength. At this moment, I hold your lives in my hands!”

“Men,”

Ke Yong lifted his chin and shouted, “Attack! Kill the two men, keep the woman! After I’ve had my fun, you’ll all get a share.”

“Ooh!”

“Kill!”

“Haha, go!”

Ke Yong’s guards and servants all drew their swords and charged with howls. In great tribes, leaders trusted their slave-servants most. Whether Ji Lie or Ji Yichuan, they all had loyal servants who obeyed absolutely.

At Ke Yong’s command, these servant-born guards dared to kill!

“How dare you!” Suddenly a thunderous roar exploded like spring thunder.

A figure stood atop a huge flying beast high in the air, swinging his longsword downward. Sword qi swept everywhere… streaks of sword qi rained down, each piercing a guard, easily shredding their bodies, blood splattering the ground.

“Ah!” “No!” “Ah!”…

All kinds of shrill cries rang out, but in an instant they fell silent.

The hundred or so attendants and guards who had been howling madly now lay sprawled on the ground, some with gaping holes in their chests, others with their bodies torn apart. Blood stained the earth—every one of them had died horribly. Yet the stunned tribespeople of Ironstone Tribe, huddled together, had not been touched at all.

Ke Yong, who had been in complete control just moments before, turned pale. He stood there dumbfounded, staring at the dead attendants on the ground, then looked up at the man on the back of the flying beast high above. Stammering, he said, "Fi... Fiendgod..."

The people of Ironstone Tribe all looked up, some dumbstruck, others filled with reverence. A few simple tribal girls stared without blinking.

Ji Ning, Qiuye, and Mowu also looked up.

Swoosh!

The man on the flying beast leaped down and landed on the ground.

"Young master." The man bowed slightly to Ji Ning, showing his respect.

This scene shocked the Ironstone tribespeople and Ke Yong alike. The sword energy that had left his body marked him as a Fiendgod. And a Fiendgod was the pinnacle of existence in any large tribe, even a core figure in the Ji clan!

When young masters of the Ji clan ventured out, they usually bowed first to a Fiendgod. Yet here was a Fiendgod bowing to this youth?

"Spare me!" Ke Yong rushed forward and knelt before Ji Ning, begging, "Great young master, everything I said before was just boasting, none of it true. But once, when I was collecting furs from a small tribe, I obtained a special treasure—definitely a magic treasure! I don't know what kind, but if you spare me, I'll give it to—"

Before he could finish,

Whoosh.

Ke Yong lunged at Ji Ning, his right hand like a claw aimed directly at Ji Ning's throat. At such close range, even a Houtian expert would find it hard to dodge.

"Hmph." Ji Ning casually waved his hand, striking Ke Yong's head before the claw could reach him. Ke Yong's body shuddered, blood oozing from his nose, mouth, and ears, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

"Cunning," Ji Ning murmured.

Ke Yong had been quite crafty, ruthless and daring. Even facing a Fiendgod with slim chances of survival, he had immediately decided to lure Ji Ning with talk of a treasure, then try to capture him as a hostage to secure his escape.

But unfortunately...

Ji Ning could easily hunt even great demons.

"So he was in league with those guards," the Fiendgod man said with a smile. "Those guards wore half-armor, but this one was in animal skins. I hadn't noticed him before."

"Thank you for your help, Senior Brother," Ji Ning said with a smile.

The man before him was Wan Fang, one of the nine disciples his father Ji Yichuan had taken on, a Fiendgod at the early stage. He held a relatively high position in the Ji clan's Western Prefecture, though not yet strong enough to lead the Black Armor Guard. Ji Ning, however, was the designated next prefect, so his status was naturally far higher.

"The young master could have handled him easily," Wan Fang said, sheathing his longsword with a smile. "But I've come on urgent business."

"Urgent?" Ji Ning's expression changed. He only contacted the Western Prefecture city once a month, and now his senior brother, a Fiendgod, had come personally to deliver news. The matter must be grave.

"Let's talk inside," Ji Ning said quickly.

He glanced at the still-shocked Ironstone tribespeople. "Dispose of these bodies. As for Blackmountain Tribe... I'll have my senior brother pay them a visit later, so you need not worry."

"Thank you, young master!"

The bald elder and the others all knelt down. Now they finally understood how exalted Ji Ning's status was—a Fiendgod bowing to him! Even the chieftain of Blackmountain Tribe would have to kneel before Ji Ning.

Ji Ning and Wan Fang quickly entered the stone house and closed the door.

"Hurry!"

"Clean up quickly."

The Ironstone tribespeople were stirred with emotion, both anxious and excited as they looked at the corpses on the ground. The fearsome men of Blackmountain Tribe, whom they usually had to look up to, now lay dead before them.

"You got what you deserved," the cold, one-armed man muttered, kicking Ke Yong's corpse with eyes full of resentment.

...

Inside the house.

Only Ji Ning and Wan Fang were present.

"Senior Brother, what is it?" Ji Ning asked. "That you came to deliver the news yourself."

"It's the great demon, the Winged Serpent!" Wan Fang said solemnly.

...