Chapter 12: The Fatal Blow

The person who suddenly descended from the sky to save Ling Tian was Mu Xian.

Mu Xian had been hiding in the ancient tree in the courtyard for some time. He was ready to make a move several times, but the appearance of Tang Qiluo made him hesitate.

Mu Xian could not explain the reason for his sudden surge in strength. He was afraid his identity would be discovered, and even more afraid that his parents would not accept him.

However, when Ling Tian faced a life-and-death crisis, Mu Xian could no longer hold back. On the way home from the academy, Ling Tian had intercepted too many killing blows for Mu Xian. He had done too much for him. Mu Xian could feel Ling Tian’s genuine concern for him.

Mu Xian believed he could not just stand by and watch Ling Tian be killed because of his own selfish desires. So he acted decisively. And the moment he acted, it was a thunderous strike that fiercely intimidated everyone in the courtyard.

Mu Xian’s appearance plunged the courtyard into a deathly silence. The emotions of the people in the courtyard were unusually complex, yet strangely uniform. Their faces were a mixture of confusion, surprise, disbelief, and many other feelings.

Seeing Mu Xian so close, Tang Qiluo wanted to shout loudly, and also wanted to cry out in sorrow. But her mouth was tightly covered by her own hand, letting tears well up in her eyes and finally slide down her delicate face.

Ling Tian blinked his eyes, then blinked again, trying to confirm if he was hallucinating due to his severe injuries. He blinked for a long time and realized that the person standing before him was indeed Mu Xian, from whom he had parted only half a day ago.

“Wasn’t Xian’er only at the early stage of the Flesh Body Realm? How could he repel Mu Deyu, who is at the Great Perfection of the Condensed Essence Realm?” Suddenly seeing the power Mu Xian displayed, Ling Tian could not understand it at all.

Although Ling Tian had always hoped for Mu Xian to become stronger, when it suddenly happened at this moment, he was shocked.

“Big brother, is it really you, big brother? You’re amazing! You actually managed to defeat that old dog Mu Deyu. Now we are saved!” Ling Zhan, however, was famously thick-headed. Seeing Mu Deyu being repelled and his father narrowly escaping death, he shouted excitedly and rushed toward Mu Xian.

Ling Zhan’s loud voice finally snapped everyone out of their petrified state, and then the courtyard erupted into an uproar.

“Isn’t Mu Xian that waste with Inherently Blocked Veins? How could he repel the Grand Elder?”

“This person is definitely not that waste Mu Xian. Someone is impersonating him! With Inherently Blocked Veins, Mu Xian is lucky to be alive. It’s completely impossible for him to cultivate. How could he possess such powerful strength?”

“That waste Mu Xian’s body would fall over in a gentle breeze, and his courage is shockingly small. How would he dare to hold a sword?”

“…”

On the surface, Mu Xian was hugging Ling Zhan and greeting him. In reality, he was listening to the discussions of the crowd.

As each sharp comment reached Mu Xian’s ears, his heart gradually sank. His expression became extremely cold. If even outsiders thought he couldn’t possibly be Mu Xian, then his own parents probably would be even less likely to accept him.

Slowly, Mu Xian’s gaze fell upon Tang Qiluo’s face.

At that exact moment, Tang Qiluo’s teary eyes also looked toward Mu Xian.

The moment their eyes met in the air, both of their bodies trembled. A genuine tremor passed through both of their hearts, making their noses sting simultaneously.

“Mother, I’m back.” As if guided by a ghost, Mu Xian called out softly.

Once the words were spoken, Mu Xian felt relaxed all over. The worry in his heart vanished without a trace.

Although Tang Qiluo had said nothing, the moment their eyes met, Mu Xian’s Divine Soul surged. He knew then that this woman of stunning beauty before him was his mother, and he was her own flesh and blood. This feeling of shared blood and connected hearts could not be separated by anything.

Hearing Mu Xian address her, Tang Qiluo wanted to respond. But after opening her mouth, she found she could not make a sound. In the end, she just nodded heavily, her gaze toward Mu Xian full of pleasant surprise and affection.

“Uncle Ling, I’m back. Leave the upcoming fight to me.” With the weight lifted from his heart, Mu Xian turned his head toward Ling Tian and said earnestly.

“Leave the upcoming fight to you? And who do you think you are?” As soon as Mu Xian finished speaking, a grating voice inopportunely rang in his ears. It was Mu Deguang, who had regained his senses.

“You’re just a weak waste who can’t even tie up a chicken. Do you really think that just because you managed to repel my elder brother with a sneak attack, you’re invincible?” Mu Deguang sneered, as if he had seen through the truth, and mocked disdainfully.

Hearing Mu Deguang’s words, expressions of understanding appeared on everyone’s faces. Considering Mu Deyu’s overly cautious nature, they felt this was how it should have been.

Probably Mu Deyu wasn’t repelled by Mu Xian’s strength just now, but was frightened by Mu Xian’s sudden appearance. Weren’t we all shaken too, thinking Family Head Mu Yuanshan had returned?

“Though I don’t know where you learned this trick of playing the ghost, since you’re here, you’ve saved us the trouble of looking for you. As the saying goes, if you don’t uproot the grass when you mow, it will grow again with the spring wind. We don’t want to leave a huge disaster for ourselves.” While speaking, Mu Deguang moved toward Mu Xian with a ferocious expression, the killing intent around him gradually intensifying.

Earlier, Mu Deguang had been scared out of his wits by Ling Zhan. He stood there frozen, and finally was kicked aside by Mu Deyu, causing him to lose face in public. Eager to regain his dignity, seeing Mu Xian appear now, he immediately felt his chance had come.

Mu Deguang’s thinking was simple: I can’t do anything about that ugly, freakishly strong monster Ling Zhan, but can’t I handle you, a waste who can’t even cultivate?

Seeing Mu Deguang step toward Mu Xian, Mu Deyu did not stop him. Instead, he released a towering aura, pressing down fiercely on Ling Zhan to prevent him from suddenly lashing out and harming people.

Mu Deyu had been somewhat suspicious and uncertain about Mu Xian’s power. He also wanted to use Mu Deguang to test Mu Xian, to see if Mu Xian had just been playing tricks earlier or had truly experienced a sudden surge in strength.

Not only Mu Deyu had this thought; everyone in the courtyard held the same idea. So they all held their breath, wanting to see how Mu Xian would perform next.

“Finished babbling?” Only after Mu Deguang had ranted for a long time did Mu Xian softly inquire. His expression was completely calm, as if he was not facing a mortal enemy who wanted to kill him, but an unrelated passerby.

“What did you say?” Mu Deguang clearly had not expected this kind of reaction from Mu Xian. He reflexively asked in return.

When Mu Deguang realized Mu Xian was calling him a babbler, he flew into a rage. Then, with a swing of the long sword in his hand, he wanted to teach this disrespectful whelp Mu Xian a harsh lesson.

“What I mean is, since you’re finished babbling, you can now be on your way.” Mu Xian lightly uttered these words, and then a long, clear ring of a sword sounded from Mu Xian’s hand.

In the next moment, the long sword in Mu Xian’s hand was already pointed at Mu Deguang’s throat.

Feeling the chill at his throat, Mu Deguang’s body stiffened abruptly. The ferocious smile on his face froze. The sword he had just begun to swing hung awkwardly in mid-air – he couldn’t decide whether to raise it or lower it.

Gulp

Mu Deguang instinctively swallowed. His breathing became rapid. His face turned deathly pale. His legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

Mu Deguang had never imagined that in trying to pick a soft target, he would instead run into a calamity.

“Kid, if your sword dares to move one centimeter forward, then you’ve got guts.” Mu Deyu glared coldly at Mu Xian, an unprecedented seriousness flashing across his face.

At the moment Mu Xian’s black sword let out its clear ring, Mu Deyu sensed something was wrong. But by the time he wanted to act, he found it was already too late. Seeing his younger brother fall into Mu Xian’s grasp right under his nose, Mu Deyu felt as if he had been slapped hard across the face. His face burned with pain.

The people in the courtyard clearly had not expected events to take such a comedic turn. Mu Deguang had strode over to Mu Xian menacingly, and before his sword was even fully drawn, Mu Xian pointed the tip of his sword at Mu Deguang’s throat. It looked as if Mu Deguang had intentionally presented his own throat to Mu Xian’s sword.

“Waste, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll move your sword away now. Otherwise, what awaits you and your mother will be a horrendous fate.” Hearing his elder brother backing him up, Mu Deguang suddenly became full of confidence and harshly rebuked Mu Xian.

Just as everyone thought Mu Xian would take Mu Deguang hostage to threaten Mu Deyu and wouldn’t dare harm Mu Deguang in the slightest, Mu Xian curled his lip. The long sword in his hand twitched slightly, and then a brilliant sword-flower blossomed at Mu Deguang’s throat.

Along with the blossoming of the sword-flower, a black hole appeared at Mu Deguang’s throat. Immediately after, a stream of bright red blood gushed out from it.

Mu Deguang desperately covered his throat with his hands, but he couldn’t stop the blood spurting out. He stared fixedly at Mu Xian, his eyes full of confusion and unwillingness.

Only when Mu Deguang’s body collapsed with a heavy thud did the people in the courtyard realize what had happened. The looks they gave Mu Xian became especially complex.

“Good, very good. You’ve got guts. I never thought that after three years at Yunyang Academy, you, a waste, would grow such immense courage. I have to admit, you have successfully angered me.” Seeing Mu Xian ignore his threat and kill his own younger brother without hesitation, Mu Deyu, in his extreme fury, began to laugh.

“Originally, I planned to spare you and your mother after seizing the position of Family Head. Now it seems there’s no need for that at all.”

As Mu Deyu spoke, his expression was extremely ferocious, as if he was pouring all the anger in his heart into the greatsword in his hand.

Huge sword shadows tore through the air, rasping sharply, with immense force. Crisscrossing sword energy and sword shadows intertwined, clearly aiming to tear Mu Xian to pieces.