Chapter 396: Chu Yun, You Don't Want Her Identity Exposed, Do You?
An Zhiyue's anxious heart immediately calmed down when she saw this scene; her sharp phoenix eyes softened, and she felt a mix of relief and pride, as if she was watching a fledgling eagle that no longer needed her protection, and could even shield her from the wind and rain.
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Chu Yun is utterly horrified, plundering +9999 destiny value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Chu Yun is in disbelief, plundering +9999 destiny value!]
…
"You… what trick did you use?" Chu Yun's voice was a ragged gasp, his face a mask of disbelief. The raw, bone-jarring impact that should have shattered Shen Anyu's bones had been stopped cold, not by a palm, not by a fist, but by the tip of a single, slender pinky finger. It defied all logic, all principles of martial arts he had ever known.
He refused to believe it. How could anyone, no matter how powerful, negate his full-force Asura War God Art with such contemptuous ease? It had to be a trick, some kind of illusion or hidden mechanism.
Shen Anyu, however, paid no mind to the desperate question. A lazy, almost playful smile graced his lips. He slowly brought his pinky finger to his mouth, pressing it against his lips in a universal gesture for silence. His voice was a low, melodic whisper that somehow carried through the cavernous hall, a sound both intimate and menacing.
"Shhh," he murmured, his peach blossom eyes crinkling with amusement. "Don't disturb Xu Ruoxue. She's sleeping so soundly in my arms."
As he spoke, his free arm tightened around Xu Ruoxue's slender waist, a possessive and gentle gesture all at once. He adjusted her position, letting her head loll onto his left shoulder, nestling her more comfortably into the crook of his neck. The fine fabric of his bespoke suit brushed against her cheek, a stark contrast of luxurious wool and soft, pale skin. Her scent, a delicate mix of faint perfume and her own unique sweetness, filled his senses.
Under the potent infusion of Shen Anyu's True Primordial Qi and the subtle workings of his Divine Medical Skill, Xu Ruoxue's brutal internal injuries were knitting themselves back together at a miraculous rate. The chaotic energy that had ravaged her meridians was being soothed and guided, her life force replenished. She wasn't merely unconscious; her spirit, freed from the prison of pain, had drifted into a profound state of enlightenment, her subconscious mind absorbing the pure, potent energy flowing into her.
With a tenderness that seemed utterly alien to the man who had just displayed such terrifying power, Shen Anyu reached up and gently brushed a few stray strands of silky black hair from her beautiful, serene face. His fingers lingered for a moment, tucking the lock behind her ear with a lover's care.
This intimate tableau, displayed for all of Modu's high society to witness, sent a shockwave of complex emotions through the room. The men saw a predator claiming his prize, a blatant display of ownership that was both terrifying and infuriating. The women, however, saw something else entirely. Their hearts fluttered, and a deep, primal envy bloomed in their chests. To be held so possessively, to be protected so fiercely by a man of such devastating power and otherworldly good looks… it was the ultimate fantasy. Several young ladies and wealthy madams bit their lips, their cheeks flushing as they imagined themselves in Xu Ruoxue's place.
"You deserve to die!" The sight shattered the last remnants of Chu Yun's composure. A volcanic rage erupted from his core, turning his eyes a terrifying, bloodshot red. The veins on his forehead bulged, throbbing with unrestrained fury. His woman—the woman he had risked everything for—was limp and helpless in another man's embrace, treated like a trophy. No man could tolerate such a humiliation, let alone him, the Asura Demon King, a man whose very name was built on slaughter and dominance.
*Bam! Bam! Bam!*
In an instant, the air itself seemed to tear apart. Chu Yun exploded into motion, a whirlwind of incandescent fury. His fists became blurs, unleashing a storm of punches that carried the weight of his entire cultivation. Each strike was a thunderclap, a concentrated blast of killing intent meant to pulverize flesh and bone. Countless phantom fists, shimmering afterimages of his rage, filled the space between them, creating a seemingly inescapable cage of destruction aimed directly at Shen Anyu.
Yet, the impossible happened again. And again. And again.
Shen Anyu didn't even shift his stance. He remained perfectly still, a serene statue cradling a sleeping beauty. Only his right hand moved, his pinky finger dancing through the air with an almost bored elegance. Each time a fist, real or phantom, was about to connect, that single digit would intercept it. There was no explosive counterforce, no resounding impact. The kinetic energy, the murderous intent, the very essence of Chu Yun's attack simply… vanished. It was like watching a hurricane attempt to shatter a single blade of grass, only for the storm to dissipate into nothingness upon contact.
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Chu Yun's mentality has exploded, plundering +9999 destiny value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Chu Yun's mentality has exploded, plundering +9999 destiny value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Chu Yun's mentality has exploded, plundering +9999 destiny value!]
…
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Chu Yun's defenses are broken, plundering +66666 destiny value!]
The atmosphere in the grand hall underwent a dramatic transformation. The initial shock and horror gave way to a strange, almost surreal sense of pity. The guests looked at Chu Yun—the leader of the notorious Blood Skull Mercenary Group, the Asura Demon King feared across the international dark world—not with terror, but with a sympathy one might reserve for a cornered animal.
He was no longer a monster to be feared, but a fool to be pitied. Daring to assassinate Young Master Shen? He wasn't just courting death; he was begging for an agonizing and humiliating end.
"Brother Shen… with just one finger…" Lu Xiuhan, the domineering CEO of the Lu family and a prominent figure in Modu, stood amongst the crowd, his voice trembling with a mixture of awe and reverence. He had also been invited to the Ji family's banquet tonight. "He's rendered a monster like the Asura Demon King completely powerless. How… how is such strength even possible?"
His gaze was fixed on Shen Anyu, his usual sharp, business-like eyes now wide with an admiration that bordered on worship. Though Lu Xiuhan was a titan of commerce, he had a secret past. In his youth, he had been obsessed with martial arts, dreaming of becoming a hero who could roam the world. Unfortunately, his talent for cultivation was laughably poor, a stark contrast to his genius-level business acumen. He had reluctantly abandoned his dream, pouring his ambition into building a corporate empire instead.
Now, watching Shen Anyu effortlessly neutralize a globally wanted criminal, a figure whose bounty posters were plastered in intelligence agencies worldwide, Lu Xiuhan felt that old, buried passion ignite. This wasn't just strength; it was an art form. It was the absolute pinnacle of power he had once dreamed of but could never achieve. Shen Anyu was living his fantasy, but on a scale he could never have even imagined.
[Ding! Detected that the Child of Destiny Lu Xiuhan's favorability has increased by +10, plundering +30000 destiny value!]
[Ding! Detected that the Child of Destiny Lu Xiuhan's total favorability is 82, additionally plundering +30000 destiny value!]
Shen Anyu's eyebrow arched slightly. An unexpected but welcome bonus. He glanced at Chu Yun, who was now panting heavily, his barrage of attacks having accomplished nothing but draining his own stamina. His face was pale, his eyes wide with a crazed, broken look. The system notifications confirmed it; the man's spirit was shattered. The Destiny Points he was providing were dwindling. It was time to end this farce.
He stopped playing. He pointed a finger.
*Pfft!*
The air itself seemed to scream. A sliver of blindingly sharp energy, condensed from his True Primordial Qi, materialized at his fingertip. It blazed with an inner light, creating a rainbow-hued trail several feet long as it shot forward, faster than a bullet, more precise than a surgeon's scalpel. It moved not like an energy blast, but like a miniature flying sword from ancient legends.
Even from her position seven or eight meters away, An Zhiyue's phoenix brows shot up in alarm. Her warrior's instincts screamed at her. She could feel the terrifying, destructive power contained within that tiny sliver of light—a power that could likely pierce her own protective Qi with ease.
*'Is this An'yu's current strength?'* she thought, her heart pounding.
An Zhiyue hadn't been present when Shen Anyu had single-handedly faced Tian Yunzi and the three Grandmasters from the Martial God Hall. She had only heard the reports. Now, witnessing even a glimpse of his true power firsthand, she was utterly staggered. Her brilliant, powerful nephew had grown into a being whose limits she could no longer even perceive.
For Chu Yun, who was the direct target, the world slowed to a crawl. Terror seized his heart. His every instinct screamed at him to dodge, to retreat, to flee. But before the thought could even translate into muscle movement, the single beam of light fractured mid-air. It split into dozens of ethereal, razor-sharp strands of energy.
There was no escape. The energy web swept over him. He felt a series of sharp, searing pains as the strands effortlessly pierced his flesh, severing the tendons in his wrists and ankles. They then burrowed deeper, systematically puncturing the critical meridian nodes throughout his body, shutting down the flow of his internal energy like flipping a switch. The final, and most devastating, strand shot directly into his lower abdomen, shattering his Dantian, the very core of his cultivation. The sea of Qi he had spent a lifetime building was annihilated in a single, violent instant.
A fine mist of blood erupted from dozens of points on his body.
"AAAAARRRGH!" A wretched, inhuman wail tore from Chu Yun's throat as he collapsed to the marble floor in a heap. He tried to push himself up, his muscles twitching spasmodically, but his limbs refused to obey. He was a puppet with its strings cut.
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Chu Yun is severely injured, his cultivation crippled, plundering +300000 destiny value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Chu Yun's destiny value is below 30%, his luck has fallen into a trough, and the probability of killing him has greatly increased!]
One move. With a single, casual gesture, he had crippled the leader of the Blood Skull Mercenary Group, the Asura Demon King—a man whose combined international bounty exceeded one billion U.S. dollars.
*Hiss…*
A collective gasp sucked the air out of the room. The silence that followed was absolute, broken only by Chu Yun's pathetic, gurgling moans. The Blood Skull Mercenary Group was a name that carried immense weight in the international dark world. While not on the level of transcendent organizations like the Martial God Hall, they were a first-rate power, easily comparable to the War God Alliance. They were known to have at least one Grandmaster powerhouse and numerous Master-level experts in their ranks.
And their leader, the Asura Demon King, was a legend in his own right. His rise had been meteoric and bloody. In just five short years, he had orchestrated countless incidents that shook the globe, earning him a place on the most-wanted lists of dozens of nations. Many analysts believed that, given his terrifying growth rate, he had a genuine chance of breaking through to the legendary Heavenly Human realm.
And now, that same terrifying powerhouse was lying on the floor like a butchered animal, twitching in a pool of his own blood, defeated by a single finger from Young Master Shen. The shock was so profound it bordered on existential dread. It wasn't that the Asura Demon King was weak; it was that Young Master Shen was strong on a level that defied comprehension.
The Yanxia Shen Family… with such a hidden dragon in their midst, their future is truly immeasurable.
The thought echoed in the minds of every powerful figure present. The heads of Modu's most influential families, the tycoons of industry, the celebrities who curried favor—they all looked at Shen Anyu with a new, complex expression. Some saw an opportunity for allegiance, a chance to latch onto a rising hegemon. Most, however, felt a bone-deep, primal fear.
Shen Anyu didn't even deign to glance at the broken man on the floor. His handsome face was still graced with that faint, charming smile, and his peach blossom eyes swept over the silent crowd.
"Everyone," he said, his voice calm and pleasant, "Please keep the tragic incident that occurred tonight a secret. Especially concerning my… involvement."
"Absolutely, absolutely! Of course, Young Master Shen!"
A chorus of hurried agreements erupted from the crowd. No one was stupid enough to disobey. To offend this man was to invite a fate far worse than death.
Shen Anyu wasn't worried about leaks. He had contingencies for everything. Every single high-society guest in this hall was already tagged with nanometer-scale monitoring robots, their every word recorded. Furthermore, their blood had been covertly sampled during the banquet. Long before any of them could even form a coherent sentence to betray him, his powerful God-level Blood Curse Technique could snuff out their lives from a thousand miles away.
He turned his gaze to his aunt. "Aunt, the Asura Demon King is yours to handle. I'm sure you'll be credited with another great achievement."
An Zhiyue rolled her beautiful phoenix eyes at him, a flicker of exasperation in her expression, but it quickly melted into a fond sigh. "And here I go again, picking up another huge credit I did nothing to earn."
First, the Alliance Master Yan Lingxiao, and now the leader of the Blood Skull, Chu Yun. Both were terrifying figures that the authorities had struggled with for years, unable to apprehend or kill them. Yet, thanks to her nephew, she was accumulating merits at an unbelievable rate.
She felt no shame, however. Their relationship transcended such trivialities. Ever since he was a child, she had doted on him, always giving her favorite nephew the best of everything she had. This was simply him returning the favor, albeit on a much grander scale.
At that moment, Chu Yun, with a final, desperate surge of strength, managed to lift his head. His bloody, tear-filled gaze was fixed on Xu Ruoxue, still sleeping peacefully in Shen Anyu's arms. His mouth opened, a choked, gurgling sound escaping as he tried to speak.
Shen Anyu's lips barely moved, but his voice, cold and sharp as glacial ice, transmitted directly into Chu Yun's mind.
*'Chu Yun, you wouldn't want Xu Ruoxue's identity to be exposed, would you?'*
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