The assailant was none other than Yan Liqiang. However, he had changed his face into a cruel-looking man in his forties, dressed in black.

Yan Liqiang had prepared two things for the Zhu Clan⁠— an ultimatum delivered by the Zhong Clan as a gift and a surprise visit from him in disguise because he wanted to see the Zhu Clan’s reaction upon receiving his letter. He was even more interested to know about the Divine Sword Sect’s involvement in this. After some consideration, he decided to change his appearance and personally visit the Zhu Clan to get to the bottom of it.

Luo Tianyu was one of the seven heroes in the Divine Sword Sect; hence, he could be considered a well-known figure there. By right he shouldn’t be so weak that he couldn’t even withstand an attack from Yan Liqiang. However, he was caught off-guard earlier after hearing Yan Liqiang’s voice and didn’t expect the latter to be able to move with a speed that exceeded his own reaction speed. The slap that Yan Liqiang delivered to his face stunned him for a good while.

The three men in the room were sent flying in just the blink of an eye. Luo Tianyu was seeing stars on the ground and couldn’t feel anything but the numbness on half of his face. He was dizzy and his ears buzzed. When he saw the Zhu brothers who were sent flying, he leaped up with an angry yell and drew the longsword on his waist.

However, there was no way Yan Liqiang would allow him the chance to do that!

Before Luo Tianyu could even reach Yan Liqiang, he realized that Yan Liqiang had dashed in front of him and was staring at him with his cold eyes.

Luo Tianyu had barely gotten into his stance when his wrist was grabbed. He took a step forward and tried to knee his opponent, but his opponent was quicker. As soon as he lifted his foot, Yan Liqiang stomped his foot back on the ground. When he tried to move his body, Yan Liqiang knocked against him with his shoulder so hard that Luo Tianyu thought his bones were going to fracture.

Luo Tianyu struggled three times, but to no avail. He was no match for Yan Liqiang.

Just when he tried to move his other hand…

SNAP…! Yan Liqiang immediately broke the wrist which was in his grip.

“ARGH…!!” Luo Tianyu wailed miserably as his handsome face contorted in pain. The next thing he knew, he was heavily smashed into the ground by Yan Liqiang and the longsword he was holding fell to the ground.

The Zhu brothers were just about to get up from the ground when they saw Yan Liqiang kick Luo Tianyu’s sword up from the ground into his hand. He lifted his other foot and stomped on Luo Tianyu’s back. Luo Tianyu cried out in pain on the floor and couldn’t budge an inch.

“You don’t want him to live?” Yan Liqiang looked at Zhu Changyun and Zhu Changhong coldly. He brought the sword in his hand against Luo Tianyu’s neck, drawing a trail of blood.

The Zhu brothers’ expression instantly changed as they stopped moving together at once out of fear. Both of them were injured from being sent flying by the impact earlier. They could still feel their internal organs vibrating, but they suppressed the blood that was about to spew out of their mouths.

The Zhu brothers weren’t weak. Even so, they were all powerless in the face of this cold man in black, including Luo Tianyu, one of the Divine Sword Sect’s seven heroes. They’d be lying if they said they weren’t terrified, because the strength of their opponent was beyond their expectations. The number of experts like him in the entire Yin Province could probably be counted on one hand.

“Who are you? Why have you barged your way into the Zhu Clan…?” Zhu Changyun asked loudly while racking his brains to identify Yan Liqiang.

“Heheh… You are not qualified to ask for my identity. All you need to know is that I am the Left Protector of Gan Province’s archery academy!” Yan Liqiang chuckled mysteriously as he stared at the Zhu brothers coldly and made up some stories.

“How daring of the Zhu Clan to lay a finger on someone from the archery academy. The Protectorate General showed respect by writing a letter to you. Little did we expect you brothers to be so ignorant to try and plot against him. You leave me no choice but to do this…”

Yan Liqiang’s archery academy had such a powerful Left Protector?! Why did he not know of this? The Zhu brothers exchanged glances and noticed the surprise in each other’s eyes. Neither of them was aware of this man’s existence in the archery academy. Had they known about this, they would’ve reconsidered Xue Cao’s kidnapping. Since the man claimed to be the Left Protector, then surely there was a Right Protector too. The right side had always been held as superior, so did that mean there was a more powerful Right Protector in the archery academy…?

“Release Lord Luo first!” Zhu Changhong demanded loudly. If something were to happen to Luo Tianyu in their residence, the Zhu Clan would have to shoulder heavy responsibilities.

Yan Liqiang merely threw a cold glance at Zhu Changhong. “I shall give both of you only seven minutes to bring Xue Cao to me. When time’s up, I will chop off this guy’s head, then wash your house with his blood before I look for Xue Cao myself…”

“Lord Luo is the Divine Sword Sect’s…”

Yan Liqiang applied pressure underneath his feet without saying anything, and the Zhu brothers immediately heard the sounds of Luo Tianyu’s ribs breaking. Blood instantly spewed out of Luo Tianyu’s mouth, dyeing the floor beneath Yan Liqiang crimson…

“If someone from the Divine Sword Sect wishes to seek revenge, ask them to find me on Mount Azure Dragon…!” Yan Liqiang said coldly.

The Zhu brothers knew they had no time to waste in bringing Xue Cao over, so both of them left the study at the same time.

After the brothers left the study, Yan Liqiang pulled Luo Tianyu up from the floor with his foot, then grabbed him by the back of his neck as though he was a little chick. Luo Tianyu was pulled out of the study room and into the courtyard outside.

In just a few minutes, the courtyard was filled with noises. Countless torches flickered in the dark. Many guards from the Zhu Clan started climbing in from the walls on both sides of the courtyard. All of them aimed their crossbows at Yan Liqiang, but Yan Liqiang had an indifferent smile on his face. To him, the more people gathered here, the better. It would be too boring for him if there were only two people from the Zhu Clan here…

After a few more minutes, the Zhu brothers rushed into the courtyard with another ten younger men with swords in their hands. Two of them were holding up Xue Cao who had a bloody face and disheveled hair…