“What… is going on?!”
An Beixue had closed her eyes, waiting for death, when suddenly a series of miserable screams rang out!
By the time she opened her eyes again, the Tianluo Kingdom remnants who had just charged at her had all become scattered corpses! Faint traces of black shadows could still be seen dissipating beneath the bodies.
“Hm? Who saved me? Uncle Fu? No, it’s not him! Could it be some royal Martial Saint hiding in the shadows? No, that can’t be either—the royal court already withdrew all Martial Saints assigned to protect our family!”
Her thoughts churned restlessly, and her heart could not calm down for a long time. But An Beixue knew this wasn’t the time to dwell on it. She quickly drew her longsword and rushed toward Ning Chen’s courtyard.
“I don’t know how Brother-in-law is doing. I have to check on him now!”
Swish!
At the same time, the Shadow Ghost had already returned to Ning Chen’s side. “Master, aside from the Martial Saint leader, the rest of the intruders have been eliminated!”
“Excellent.” Ning Chen nodded in satisfaction, his gaze already fixed on the sky above the An Residence.
Up in the air, two Martial Saints were locked in a fierce battle.
One was the silver-haired, black-robed Lord Tiansha, while the other was a gray-haired, gray-robed elder—An Fu, the old steward of the An Residence, and its only remaining Martial Saint.
But An Fu was only at the 3rd stage Martial Saint Realm, while Lord Tiansha had already reached the 6th stage, firmly suppressing him!
Though both were Martial Saints, and their realms weren’t too far apart, killing An Fu wasn’t easy. Moreover, the chaos had already shaken half of the imperial capital—any moment now, other Martial Saints from within the Great Chu capital could arrive!
Lord Tiansha knew he didn’t have time to kill An Fu. He could only keep suppressing him while shouting down toward the An Residence, “Hurry up and finish the mission! We don’t have much time!”
However…
Silence!
The once-noisy An Residence had fallen completely silent. No one responded.
“What?” Lord Tiansha frowned and quickly turned his gaze downward.
And the moment he looked down, he was instantly shocked!
All his men—who just moments ago were lively and full of murderous intent—were now corpses lying throughout the estate!
From the Martial King Realm to the Martial Monarch Realm—not a single one was left alive!
“Ah!!”
“What happened?! Who the hell did this? How is this even possible?!”
His first thought was that the An Residence had some hidden top-tier expert he hadn’t accounted for.
But the people he brought were the last elite remnants of the Tianluo Kingdom. Even a high-stage Martial Saint wouldn’t be able to silently kill them all so quickly!
“Unless it’s a Martial God like An Nanjing… but she’s not even here. Who else could do this?!”
Even An Fu, his opponent, was stunned. No one knew better than he did that ever since An Nanjing’s wedding, the royal court had withdrawn all their Martial Saint protectors from the An Residence.
There was no one left besides himself!
And yet, someone had stepped in during his absence and saved the entire family from the brink of disaster. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure out who it was!
“Damn it!!”
Seeing this, Lord Tiansha was shaken. The thought of retreating arose instantly.
Fighting An Fu was manageable, but if another Martial Saint showed up, even he might not escape unscathed.
He forced An Fu back and turned to flee.
“Shadow Ghost, kill him,” Ning Chen stood in the courtyard and coldly gave the order.
Swish!
The Shadow Ghost received the command and instantly soared into the sky, rushing toward Lord Tiansha.
“Ah! It’s really coming for me!”
Though the Shadow Ghost had no physical form, Lord Tiansha’s Martial Saint perception still allowed him to detect it immediately!
“Tianluo Slash!!”
Without hesitation, Lord Tiansha swung his blade with full force. A blazing blade light erupted into the dark night sky like a brilliant crescent moon, its powerful force shaking the entire An Residence!
This was Lord Tiansha’s full-strength strike—more powerful than usual due to panic. Even high-stage Martial Saints wouldn’t come out unscathed!
Buzz!
But the moment that blade light flew just 15 meters, it was abruptly swallowed by a tide of blackness. A dark wave surged across the sky, devouring the radiant slash bit by bit!
In the blink of an eye, the blade light—enough to shake a high-stage Martial Saint—was gone.
This scene sent a chill down Lord Tiansha’s spine and stunned An Fu even more!
Swish!
“Ah…!”
Lord Tiansha screamed, unleashing all of his Martial Saint aura in a desperate struggle.
But just like his blade light, he was swallowed by the same abyss of darkness. No matter how hard he fought or how much power he poured out, he couldn’t escape. His entire existence was rapidly being erased!
Finally, when the black shadow consumed the last trace of panic and despair in his eyes, everything fell silent.
Three seconds later, a lifeless corpse plummeted from the sky, crashing hard into the courtyard of the An Residence.
“My heavens… a dignified mid-stage Martial Saint was killed in an instant?!”
An Fu, still floating in the sky, was shaken. He immediately clasped his hands toward the shadowy figure below whose age or identity couldn’t be discerned.
“Thank you, Senior, for saving the An Residence! May I ask your name? Our Eldest Miss will surely offer a great reward once I report this!”
Swish!
But the Shadow Ghost had no intention of answering.
With a soft sound, it vanished on the spot, not even leaving behind a trace of aura.
No matter how hard An Fu tried afterward, he couldn’t detect the slightest presence!
“Just who was that?” An Fu was baffled.
Left with no answers, he descended from the sky and quickly found An Beixue, who was hurrying through the An Residence with her sword.
“Second Miss, are you alright?”
An Beixue shook her head and asked gravely, “Uncle Fu, what exactly happened? Who wiped out those Tianluo Kingdom remnants that tried to harm our family?”
An Fu shook his head. “Second Miss, I do not know either. The one who intervened is shrouded in mystery. All I saw was a shadow.”
“Oh?” An Beixue frowned, more confused than ever. An Fu added, “Though we don’t know this mysterious expert’s identity, the fact that they saved us from the Tianluo remnants shows they are a friend, not a foe. Perhaps… the Eldest Miss arranged this protector before she left.”
“That’s possible,” An Beixue nodded. Aside from someone sent by her sister, she couldn’t think of anyone else.
“Right! I need to go check on Brother-in-law!!”
Realizing this, An Beixue dashed forward once more, sword in hand, racing toward Ning Chen’s courtyard.
Her face was full of worry.
In her eyes, Ning Chen was a gentle and frail scholar—someone who couldn’t possibly defend himself against tonight’s intruders.
“Brother-in-law! You must be safe… If anything happens to you, how will I ever explain it to my sister?!”