Chapter 60: Swordplay Genius (Part 10)

As Su Chen predicted.
Under pressure from the Great Jing Dynasty,
the patriarch of the Cangming Dynasty emerged, challenging the patriarch of the Great Jing Dynasty to a duel.
The two Void Realm cultivators clashed.
No one noticed.
The Imperial Sword Manor remained inactive.
Thirteen of its sword guards were missing.
Su Chen had also vanished.
Su Chen, leading thirteen sword guards, launched a surprise attack on the Cangming Dynasty.
Even the Cang Emperor couldn't believe Su Chen's audacity.
With a single sword, Guichen, he slew eighteen kings.
All thirteen sword guards perished.
Su Chen, riding a tiger-mane mount, faced the renowned Cang Emperor.
The Cang Emperor was not a Void Realm cultivator; with the help of the dynasty's fortune, he barely possessed the cultivation of the ninth level of the Profound Realm.
"Shen Chen of Yujian Manor!"
The Cang Emperor's expression darkened. He had heard of Shen Chen's reputation; a sword genius, a rising star with a promising future.
No... the Cang Emperor had a feeling that if he underestimated the man before him, he might die!
"Manor Lord Shen, what has my Cangming Dynasty done to offend you?"
The Cang Emperor asked in a deep voice.
Su Chen thought for a moment, then said softly, "This is all thanks to Your Majesty's daughter. She wants the foundation of my Yujian Manor and my life."
"Unfortunately, I cannot give her the foundation, nor can I give her my life."
The Cang Emperor was stunned for a moment, then his expression turned extremely grim, clearly realizing something.
"This is a misunderstanding!"
Su Chen drew his sword directly.
Whether it was a misunderstanding or not was no longer important.
The Guichen Sword, connected to Su Chen's bloodline, unleashed its sword energy, further amplified by Hu Mao's assistance, causing Cang Huang immense suffering.
"First move, Ceasefire!"
Su Chen seized the opportunity, delivering a devastating blow to Cang Huang, cleaving him in two at the waist.
Cang Huang was incredibly difficult to kill.
With the palace under attack, a large number of Tongxuan experts were on their way to provide support.
Su Chen dared not delay, immediately seizing the still-not-quite-dead Cang Huang.
"Hu Mao, you hold him hostage and guard the main hall entrance!"
"He cannot leave even a step until I emerge!"
Hu Mao's heart pounded wildly. He had shown some courage, openly holding a human dynasty's ruler hostage.
Su Chen wasted no words. Seated in the throne of the world's ruler, the Cangming Dynasty's fortune manifested. He immediately activated the Huangji Jingshi Jing, devouring the Cangming Dynasty's fortune like a hungry wolf.
Calamities struck across the Cangming Dynasty.
Seas dried up, leaving vast stretches of barren land.
Under the scorching sun, snow fell and ice formed three feet deep.
Countless spiritual creatures suddenly lost their spiritual energy and vanished abruptly.
The Cangming Dynasty's patriarch, currently engaged in battle with the Great Jing Dynasty's patriarch, suddenly roared.
"Thief, how dare you steal the fate of my Cangming Dynasty?"
This fierce shout startled Su Chen awake. Without hesitation, he immediately fled the capital with Hu Mao.
Twenty or thirty Transcendent Realm experts surrounded Su Chen. Because Su Chen wielded the Canghuang Emperor, they could only watch helplessly as he escaped on Hu Mao.
Without a word, Su Chen fled, desperately returning to the Imperial Sword Manor.
He disregarded even the Sword Guards and the million-strong army.
"If I become emperor, you will have died a worthy death!"
Sensing that the nation's destiny had been stolen, the patriarch of the Cangming Dynasty, despite being severely injured, returned to the capital and found the half-dead Cang Emperor, and was filled with uncontrollable rage.
The nation's destiny is the foundation of the dynasty; if the nation's destiny falters, everything will go wrong.
Now, with less than a quarter of the nation's fortune remaining, it is already showing signs of its decline.
"Even if my Cangming Dynasty perishes, I will still kill you traitors!"
The Cangming Dynasty's patriarch was filled with hatred.
An elderly Void Realm expert unleashed a massacre.
A million-strong army was reduced to ashes, and hundreds of sword guards perished.
The severely injured and depleted Cangming Dynasty patriarch was seized upon by the Great Jing Dynasty and surrounded and killed in the Cangming River Basin.
A dynasty thus fell.
The Jing Emperor looked at a beautiful woman.
"Well done, Shen Chen of the Imperial Sword Manor, well done, my virtuous brother!"
The Jing Emperor laughed in fury.
He hadn't expected Su Chen to be so patient.
His goal was actually the Cangming Dynasty's national fortune.
He had been completely outmaneuvered, made a laborer, and only received a quarter of the nation's fortune.
Emperor Jing decapitated the woman with a single sword stroke, ordering his servants to place the head in a brocade box and send it to the Imperial Sword Manor.
...
Inside the Imperial Sword Manor
Su Chen fled back to the manor and immediately began seclusion.
He was taking a risk.
He needed to process the vast amount of national fortune as quickly as possible.
Shen Ping'an was still waiting for his beloved.
He didn't receive his beloved; instead, he received a brocade box containing her head.
Shen Ping'an was heartbroken.
"Little Ping'an, are you really going to betray your elder brother for a woman?"
Hu Mao blocked Shen Ping'an's path.
He felt that human emotions were truly incomprehensible.
Shen Ping'an was tired.
He wanted to leave the Imperial Sword Manor.
He felt that his elder brother was no longer his elder brother; he seemed to have become a different person.
For power, for cultivation.
Even he had begun to scheme against him.
The hundred sword guards were nothing more than dispensable pawns, easily discarded.
So cold-blooded.
Tiger Fur let Shen Ping'an leave.
This was his master's younger brother; he couldn't just eat him.
Su Chen was still in seclusion, cultivating.
Fifty years later, he finally emerged.
His every move was enough to eclipse the world.
An aura of supreme authority swept across the land like a tidal wave, like the rising sun.
Everyone believed that the declining Imperial Sword Manor had produced a Void Realm expert.
When Su Chen emerged, he found only Tiger Fur guarding the place.
Imperial Sword Manor was only a handful of people.
The strongest among them was only at the Spirit Soul Realm.
"Master, you've finally emerged!"
Tiger Fur's eyes welled with tears. Fifty years!
Su Chen had been in seclusion for fifty years!
Su Chen asked calmly, "What has happened within the Imperial Sword Manor these past years?"
The Imperial Sword Manor has declined to this state; even developing on a whim, it couldn't have become like this.
Hu Mao recounted the events of the past few years in detail.
Upon learning that since his seclusion, the Great Jing Dynasty had severed the head of the Cangming Dynasty's princess and sent it to the Imperial Sword Manor, directly causing Shen Ping'an to abandon everything and leave.
With the First Master in seclusion and the Second Master gone, the Imperial Sword Manor was leaderless.
Seeing that the Imperial Sword Manor's foundation was gone and the two Masters were missing, the three vassal dynasties—the Qingwu Dynasty, the Changle Dynasty, and the Yunyuan Dynasty—directly killed the Imperial Sword Manor's envoys and defected to other powers.
In just fifty years, the Imperial Sword Manor had fallen into ruin, losing both its territory and resources.
Tiger Fur was so angry he gritted his teeth: "If I weren't worried about someone disturbing your seclusion, Master, I would have devoured all these traitors long ago."
Having understood what had happened over the years, Su Chen wasn't overly angry.
He gathered the remaining loyal members of the Imperial Sword Manor, carefully selecting eighteen sword guards and bestowing upon them the Blood Burning Secret Technique.
Su Chen then went to see his mother in this life.
The once beautiful and gentle woman, now with white hair, smiled upon seeing Su Chen.
"Chen'er...you've come..."
Su Chen remained silent.
Xue Rou had crippled her cultivation, becoming a mortal.