“That Fua died?” Wu-Ming said in shock. Although there was a rivalry between the two, Wu-Ming knew that Fua was still quite formidable. Besides the Four Rising Stars that reached the Emperor Domain in less than a thousand years, Fua was the next youngest. That meant he did have some real capabilities as well.

“Could it be that youth Zenos?” Ryu said to himself. That young man had an obscure power that only he noticed.

In the end the crime scene was sealed off by the Miyamoto clan guards so the duo continued back to the Gold Lion clan. There were around a million experts swarming around this area waiting for this particular entrance of the Thousand Swords Graveyard to open up. Depending on the strength belonging to a faction, a certain amount of land was allocated to that faction. The area occupied by the Golden Lion clan was not the largest but certainly above average, comparable to a first rate sect. There was a rough but still beautifully well-designed wall erected around its borders.

Wu-Ming was greeted by the guards courteously but one of them warned him that trouble awaited him. It seems like the clansmen that plotted against him had the audacity to come back and accuse him of wrong doings. To make matters worse, the patriarch of the clan was currently out. Politically within the clan he’s Wu-Ming’s biggest backer, there’s still a lot of elders that didn’t approve of Wu-Ming. Even with Wu-Ming’s boundless confidence and heroic charisma, he still let out a small frown.

[Wu-Ming was ambushed by over a hundred cultivators and helped by Ryu in Chapter 72.]

“Sigh, Elder Wong is the brother of the patriarch… let’s just say he’s not my number one fan. His followers might trouble you, it’s best to be on guard.” Wu-Ming warned Ryu.

As if on cue, a group of cultivators led by a man in dazzling golden clothes came in a brilliant streak of light and landed in front of them. Each one of them were in the King Domain at least while the man leading them, Elder Wong, was in mid Emperor Domain. The domineering aura gave off from the group naturally attracted lots of bystanders in the clan who were waiting patiently with eagerness to enter the Thousand Swords Graveyard.

“Wu-Ming, there are some serious accusation brought against you. These fellow clansmen claim that you assaulted them with a help of an outsider!” Elder Wong said coldly and went straight to the point. Around him were a few more elders along with a handful of injured experts.

The elder in the middle looked solemnly at him, his eyes made no attempt to hide the disdain he has for Wu-Ming. The traitors of the clan that plotted against Wu-Ming looked pitiful with the severe burn wounds. It was obvious they had fed some fictitious version of their story in which Wu-Ming assailed them.

The elder that spoke was the head of all elders and brother to the current patriarch. It was obvious that he does not approve of this young genius. In fact it was widely known in the clan that the members with old ancestral ties to the clan did not want to see an outsider succeed it. Wu-Ming was just an adopted son of a servant!

“Those of you who know me surely know that I do not need to use underhanded tricks to bully them. I swear on the names of my mentor and parents that I was merely defending myself from a group of ambushers.” Wu-Ming said in a loud righteous voice. The Mind Tome behind Ryu opened up and revealed a few words to Ryu.

“Correct, I have evidence to support that claim.” Ryu threw a piece of crystal towards the elder who subsequently caught it and inspected it with his Qi. His sight became unsightly as the whole assassination attempt incident was recorded from beginning to end.

Another Image Crystal was produced by Ryu and he threw it into the air, channeling his Qi for all to see. The scenes where the clansmen admitted in luring Wu-Ming out and aligned themselves with other experts to kill Wu-Ming was displayed for all to see. Elder Wong secretly cursed the youth with all his heart. At first most people didn’t know what was going on but they caught on really fast, it was clear who was at fault here now. The traitors that were pretending to be pitiful victims now lost all the blood from their face and an incredible dread filled their hearts.

“In fact, I captured one of the ambushers that ran away during the fight and he managed to tell me who was behind all this.” Ryu continued. The onlookers waited for Ryu’s answer with anticipation.

“Really?” Wu-Ming said with a surprised voice. He had a lot of experience roaming the lands and knew that during these incidents, the henchmen carrying out the task usually knows nothing so he didn’t bother interrogating for information.

“It was coordinated by someone anonymously within the clan, his nickname was the Blue Oni. He wears a golden amulet.” Ryu said, a gasp was heard from the crowd. To coordinate such a large scale effort could only be from someone with high position within the clan. As for the golden amulet, all senior elders have one.

The clansmen started looking at the guilty traitors with murderous intent and shouted for their incarceration immediately. Elder Wong didn’t know how to react to this sudden reversal of situation, he did not anticipate that his attempt to bring down Wu-Ming would backfire.

“Traitors! Wu-Ming is the pride of our clan, he has saved your sorry asses many times. I say we torture them for all they know and then kill them.”

“Wu-Ming is the most valiant person within our whole clan, without him we would still be some second rate clan. How could you?”

“The so called Blue Oni must be flushed out! Which corrupt elder colluded with outside powers to harm our clan?”

It looks like Elder Wong wasn’t going to help the guilty ones who supported him and started to walk away but suddenly the make shift stone wall around the camp collapsed and a blazing figure charged in screaming for Wu-Ming.

The guards of the clan obviously tried to stop this new intruder but one after another they got blown away like frail straws in the face of a raging storm. At the center of the maelstrom was an overbearing being that looked like a madman.

“Wu-Ming!” The madman hollowed. The profound energy carried out by the shout nearly killed all the weaker clansmen around. If they didn’t hunch over in agony then they were already unconscious. Wu-Ming didn’t waste any time and flew towards where the disturbance was.

“You… why did you kill my son?” The intruder screamed wildly. The aura given off was suffocating and an invisible pressure was pressed against everyone present. This intruder was none other than Joung, the patriarch of the Slaughtering Hyenas clan and father of Fua that was just murdered. News of his son’s death reached his ears fast since everyone was cramped outside the Thousand Swords Graveyard. Fua was last seen having an small altercation with Wu-Ming in the market place just an hour ago. The pain from losing his son had made him lose all rationality. Disregarding the risk that there will be punishments from the Miyamoto clan for starting a fight, he attacked the base of the Golden Lion clan alone. Joung was planning to go all out and kill as many enemies as he could.

Just when it seems like the madman was going to snap the weaker cultivators present like a twig, a spiraling aura shot towards the sky and created a vortex. An apparition of the officious and overbearing lion’s head appeared and gave off a precarious roar directed at Patriarch Joung. The sound reverberated throughout the area and attracted the attention of many profound experts outside of the base.

Wu-Ming was now in the air, a few meters away from Joung. His eyes had become pure gold, his hair became bright blond and his cultivation raised from early Emperor Domain straight to peak Emperor Domain. Somehow everyone within a few kilometers felt a pair of eyes staring into the very depth of their souls. Wu-Ming had seemingly transformed to a completely different person all together. Most clansmen knew of Wu-Ming’s might but few had witness his true prowess.

Joung’s rage and sorrow instantly dissipated as the fear for his life settled in uncomfortably. His own aura was now blown away like a candle in the face of a raging storm by Wu-Ming’s own overwhelming aura. Wu-Ming’s eyes locked with his and it felt like if he willed it, his own cultivation would be destroyed in a second. He was completely at his mercy!

“Patriarch Joung, I’m sorry for your loss but I assure you that I had nothing to do with your son’s death. Despite what has transpired between our two clans, I wouldn’t go as far as killing off a fellow rival.” Wu-Ming said with a candid voice filled with absolute sincerity. No one present doubted his claim after hearing it.

“Patriarch!”

“Boss.”

A few figures from the Slaughtering Hyenas clan caught up to their leader and quickly grabbed him by his arms, dragging him back at full speed. If a patriarch of a clan along with the heir perish in the same day, the clan would undoubtedly disappear from the world. It was obvious for everyone present to see that Wu-Ming was significantly stronger.

“Wu-Ming your chivalry and reputation precedes you, our patriarch was temporary overcame with grief when his son was killed in a gruesome manner. No one believes someone as heroic as you would do such a deed.” One of the members from the Slaughtering Hyenas bowed to Wu-Ming and begged for his forgiveness. There was no way they could offend Wu-Ming when their own patriarch is no match for him.

“That’s a trait belonging to a special body… the Eyes of Destruction!” People around started gossiping at once about the event that just unfolded. The numerous experts around that only heard of Wu-Ming’s exploits and achievements finally witnessed and felt his might firsthand. There was little doubt of Wu-Ming’s true power now.

“It’s said that people with those eyes can raise their cultivation to the maximum of their current domain temporary!”

“Man… Wu-Ming sure is lucky, special bodies are born by luck unlike special bloodlines which can be inherited.”

Ryu was equally mesmerized by Wu-Ming’s display of strength, this was his first time seeing an expert utilize a special body’s power so perfectly. The Infinity Tomes behind him opened up instantly and Ryu mentally sought out the Destiny Defiance skill from the Anti-Heaven Tribe. This skill contained a section about special bodies and bloodlines, the creators of this skill even went as far as experimenting on countless creatures to discover ways to artificially mimic special bodies and bloodlines!

“They really performed too many experiments… this section talks about various extraordinary abilities that those blessed with special bodies or bloodlines have.” Ryu said to himself. The section of text he’s parsing over now from Destiny Defiance speaks of the anatomy of the strongest abilities that was studied by whoever the creators of this skill experimented on.

It even states how to acquire these abilities by providing a biological method to mutate and evolve your body. It is extremely risky though, the easiest way is to definitely meet a person with a special bloodline or body and steal it from them. Ryu isn’t contemplating on using either methods at all but he is curious as to what types of abilities are there after seeing Wu-Ming’s eyes.

“Demon eyes… the ability to cast hypnotism. This allows the user to completely control the target’s body and force them to anything.” Ryu could cast illusions and hallucinations but controlling a body was not possible with the Eternal Phoenix. These pair of eyes have potential to cause great harm but Ryu doesn’t need them.

“All-Seeing Eyes… the ability to see extremely far objects with great accuracy and detail, by passing through solid objects.” Ryu was surprised, this skill would come in handy. Ryu’s eyes already has the ability to see a world outlined in Qi but that’s not the same as seeing through solid objects.

“Laser Eyes, Magic Third-Eye, Paralyzing Eyes…” Ryu read through the list but found none that interests him. He was surprised that his special vision wasn’t listed. Although he suspects his vision is not from a special body since he had it as long as he could remember and he had a frail body back then.

The information was passing through his brain almost instantaneously but even before he could finish reading it, a cold piece of metal penetrated his back. The Infinity Tomes were usually on the lookout for Ryu but their abilities are bound by Ryu’s own cultivation. Someone with much more power struck all out against Ryu from behind.

This person was none other than Elder Wong! It seems like he was unnerved by what Ryu’s said about the Blue Oni and thought that his identity had been compromised. In reality that was not the case, Ryu read one of the victim’s mind that an elder wearing a Blue Oni masked arranged the assassination attempt but he didn’t know who that person was. Had Ryu known that the Blue Oni was Elder Wong, he would not have blabbed it out in public. Elder Wong on the other hand took no risks and saw a perfect opportunity for him to finish Ryu off while everyone was distracted by Wu-Ming. All of Ryu’s Qi reservoirs thundered out in union as his life was hanging by a thread.

In an unknown chaotic space that rained meteors in the background, a male figure was starting at multiple rectangular screens filled with images and recordings. The countless screens were on a grand crystalized wall and the man was observing a screen that recorded a particular scene previously. This man had an imperial air about him and sat in a manner befitting of a true ruler with the lives of many in his control.

A young man stalked a group of experts out of a castle and at a precise moment in the middle of a busy street, the seemingly weak young man stabbed five times quickly and ripped out the hearts of his targets with his bare hands. Then what happened afterwards was beyond comprehension, the blood of the poor victims seeped out of the wounds and directly infused with the youth who just walked by them. This all happened in a second, the five experts that were fine suddenly fell down. Their corpses were all grey and withered since all the blood had been lost. The young man was Zenos whom Ryu and Wu-Ming indirectly helped.

[Zenos is from the Blood Clan of the Dark Continents, arrived with his sister and butler.]

“Another troublemaker appeared… this time a brat from the Dark Continent… this is the third group from the Dark Continent, I guess they didn’t learn their lesson from the last Great War. Along with the tribe of irritating beasts from the Desolate Continent, the pesky monks and priests from Shaolin and Wudang, the Ice Princess of the Frozen Continent, the group of savages from the Dessert Continent, and that emissary from Britannica… It was right to give out such awards, perhaps the dream can be fulfilled this time around.” The arrogant figure staring at the screen said with amusement, it’s as if everything was dancing to the palm of his hand. He turned his head around and a bewildering enormous space was revealed. Multiple cities could be filled with space to spare. The shocking thing is that the gigantic space was all filled with chains of varying sizes that contained unfathomable Qi that seemed to coil around towards the center.

[During the last great war, a great general from the Dark Continent was slayed by the legendary swordsman Musashi Miyamoto. Mentioned previously.]

As the majestic figure looked away, something stopped him in his tracks. Even his heart stopped beating. Something that has never occurred in eons finally happened, the unknown object contained within the sea of inestimable number of chains reacted. It was so miniscule that unless one’s a supreme expert, it could not have been sensed but this particular expert did. A single pulse was felt and the omniscient-like being sitting in front of a wall of crystals monitoring everything around the Thousand Swords Graveyard was shocked to his very core for the first time in his nearly infinite life. This single pulse signifies something heaven-defying of an unprecedented scale that is bound to occur.