Chương 36: The Prince’s Manor Warriors Buried Beneath the River

At that moment, Su Zhe wore the Phantom Shark Mask. His eyes gleamed coldly through the blood-red waters of the Su River, like an Asura crawling out of hell itself. Tonight, he had come for only one thing— To take lives.

"Over here! He's here!" Huang Yuan shouted in terror. The moment the words left his mouth, Su Zhe vanished. The Blackwater Steel Trident flashed through the river like a dragon's breath. With a casual thrust, another life was claimed.

"Damn it! We can't catch him!"

"His swimming skills are monstrous!"

"He's even more terrifying than the Mad Shark!"

"Unless the Master himself comes, we're nothing but prey in this river!" Gripping his Fiend Tiger Saber, Huang Yuan felt as if an invisible hand were squeezing his heart. Even underwater, a chill crept down his spine. Screams echoed one after another. Men died without ever seeing their killer. The voices beside them faded. The auras around them disappeared. One by one. Until only silence remained.

"Run! Run!"

"He's not human!"

"He's a river demon!" A warrior burst through the surface in panic, gasping for air. Without even looking back, he desperately swam toward the shore. Then— Something seized his ankle. A terrifying force dragged him downward. The river churned. Bubbles erupted across the surface. Moments later, everything became still. Huang Yuan sensed the river growing quiet. The silence only made him more uneasy. The crimson water obscured his vision. Could it be…? Have all twelve Second-Rank warriors been killed?

What kind of monster is he? His mind went blank. The world seemed utterly silent. Only the pounding of his own heart remained. Suddenly— The water surged. Su Zhe appeared directly before him. Barely three feet separated them. Suspended in the blood-red river, Su Zhe looked like a demon god rising from a sea of blood, every movement backed by mountains of corpses. Their eyes met. Huang Yuan's heart trembled. With a roar, he swung his saber. The power of one tiger erupted from the blade.

The Fiend Tiger Saber vibrated as a phantom tiger's roar echoed through the water. Su Zhe did not dodge. Holding the Blackwater Steel Trident, he rose above Huang Yuan and brought the weapon crashing down. The strength of a flood dragon! Fifty thousand pounds of force! BOOM! The river exploded. Unable to withstand the impact, Huang Yuan was smashed toward the riverbed. The Fiend Tiger God-Slaying Art, when cultivated to mastery, granted the strength of one tiger—roughly five thousand four hundred pounds.

Powerful by mortal standards. But before Su Zhe's flood-dragon strength, it was the difference between a child and a giant. Driven several meters deeper into the river, Huang Yuan barely recovered before Su Zhe attacked again. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Su Zhe's attacks were not fast. Nor precise. Nor especially skillful. He possessed only one thing— Overwhelming force. BOOM! Huang Yuan blocked. He sank deeper. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Again and again.

Su Zhe's expression remained calm and cold. Every strike sent Huang Yuan flying. Because the water absorbed much of the impact, Huang Yuan looked miserable but suffered surprisingly little actual damage. Yet Su Zhe continued hammering him relentlessly. Has this bastard gone mad? What's the point of fighting like this? Huang Yuan couldn't understand. As a Third-Rank Internal Force martial artist, his protective qi shielded his body. Even if Su Zhe was stronger, brute force alone shouldn't be enough to kill him.

Then another blow came. BOOM! Huang Yuan was smashed directly into the muddy riverbed. The silt swallowed him up to his knees. Suddenly, realization struck. Wait… He isn't trying to kill me with force— He's trying to drown me! Huang Yuan's face turned pale. After remaining underwater for so long, his lungs were already beginning to burn. Though internal force protected his organs, a Third-Rank martial artist was still human. His breath-holding ability had limits.

Once panic set in, those limits would arrive quickly. Desperate, he struggled upward, trying to break free and reach the surface.

"Escape?" Su Zhe's voice echoed through the water.

"Do you really think you can?" Using the Flood Dragon Diving Art, Su Zhe moved through the river as though walking on land. In an instant, he intercepted Huang Yuan. Then came another strike. No technique. No finesse. Just smashing. BOOM! Huang Yuan had barely freed himself from the mud before he was driven back down, even deeper than before. Water rushed into his mouth and nose. He swallowed river water by the mouthful. Every attempt to breathe only forced more bitter, choking water into his lungs.

The agony was indescribable. Again and again, he struggled. Again and again, Su Zhe's trident dragged him back into the abyss. The cycle repeated endlessly. Huang Yuan's resistance grew increasingly frantic. A Third-Rank martial artist truly is tough, Su Zhe thought calmly. It's already been nearly half an hour. He never engaged Huang Yuan in a direct life-or-death duel. Nor did he rush to finish him. Anyone who had experienced drowning knew the truth: Once a person neared death, reason vanished.

Survival instinct consumed everything. They would grab onto anything nearby, no matter the cost. That was why rescuing a drowning person required approaching from behind. Otherwise, the victim might drag the rescuer down with them. The same principle applied here. A dying Third-Rank martial artist was far more dangerous than a healthy one. If Su Zhe got careless and closed the distance, Huang Yuan's final desperate explosion of power could easily kill him. So he waited. Patiently. Methodically.

Crushing every escape attempt. Half an hour passed. Then one hour. Then an hour and a half. Finally, Huang Yuan's movements slowed. His arms hung limply at his sides. His skin had become deathly pale. Foamy fluid drifted from his mouth and nose. His eyes stared wide open, bloodshot and lifeless. Huang Yuan— Was dead. A Third-Rank Internal Force martial artist had been drowned alive.

"I can't believe a Third-Rank warrior can stay underwater for an hour and a half without breathing…" Su Zhe shook his head in amazement.

"If someone reached an even higher realm—or possessed more mystical abilities—they might truly be able to live beneath the water indefinitely." Thinking of himself, he found the idea less absurd than it sounded. After mastering the Flood Dragon Diving Art, his natural affinity for water had already become extraordinary. Combined with his various water-aspect treasures, he was practically a creature of the river. Especially the Phantom Shark Mask.

He could clearly sense it extracting oxygen directly from the water and supplying it to him. Swimming to Huang Yuan's corpse, Su Zhe raised his trident. Stab. Stab. Stab. Several bloody holes appeared in the body. No response.

"Good. He's really dead." Only then did Su Zhe relax. Grabbing Huang Yuan by the hair, he hauled the corpse onto shore. During the hour and a half he had spent drowning Huang Yuan, the river's turbulence had gradually subsided. The bodies of the twelve manor warriors had settled on the riverbed. Fortunately, they had not drifted far. After recovering some of his strength, Su Zhe retrieved every corpse. Then he carefully inspected each wound.

A Second-Rank martial artist fighting twelve Second-Rank opponents and one Third-Rank expert was already a near-impossible battle. In a true life-and-death struggle, holding back was impossible. Although he had tried to kill primarily with the Blackwater Steel Trident, there had been moments when he was forced to use his Barbaric Ox Hammer and Fiend Tiger Saber techniques. Those traces had to disappear. He worked meticulously.

Any corpse bearing injuries from the Barbaric Ox Hammer was further mangled until the original wounds became impossible to identify. As for injuries caused by the Fiend Tiger Saber—recognizable because of their distinctive pale, fiend-infused cuts—he simply carved away large sections of flesh using the trident. By the time he finished cleaning the battlefield, another half hour had passed beneath the pouring rain. At last, everything was handled. Su Zhe looked at the ruined corpses and nodded with satisfaction.

"No wonder my teachers always made me class sanitation monitor back when I was in school."

"I seem to have a real talent for cleanup work." With that, he dove back into the river. A single splash. Then another. Soon, his figure disappeared into the endless waters of the Su River. That night, Su Zhe returned home. After greeting his father, Su Yuan, and his mother, Lin Xia, he retired to his room. Only then did he begin counting the spoils of war. Thirteen Fiend Sabers. Twelve were Second-Rank mortal weapons. The one used by Huang Yuan was a Third-Rank mortal weapon known as the Tiger Roar Fiend Saber.

He had also acquired: Fifteen taels of gold Three hundred and fifty taels of silver His total wealth now stood at: 93 taels of gold 1, 150 taels of silver 8 taels of refined gold 10 taels of refined silver Yet when he recalled the resources listed by the Creation Immortal Cauldron for opening the Fifth Immortal Aperture, a headache immediately followed. Even at black-market guild prices, the materials would cost at least five or six thousand taels. He was still far from that goal.

Worse, purchasing such quantities of cultivation resources would inevitably attract attention. Inside the Creation Immortal Cauldron, ten drops of precious blood continued refining. Though not yet complete, the terrifying power contained within them was already evident. Exhaling deeply, Su Zhe stored all his gains inside the cauldron. Then he collapsed onto his bed. Within seconds, he was asleep. He was exhausted. For the moment, he wanted nothing more than rest.

The following day, Su Zhe's leave of absence ended, and he returned to the Artisan Hall. The moment he entered, he heard disciples discussing the previous night's events.

"Many disciples from the Breaking Army Hall have been sent out."

"I heard Hall Master Wang is furious. The County Commandant personally came this morning."

"Of course he's furious. The Prince's Manor's Thirteen Guardians were slaughtered!"

"I heard the authorities think the culprit was the Mad Shark Gang's leader, Mad Shark."

"Apparently the bodies were covered in trident wounds. Some were even smashed beyond recognition."

"Hall Master Wang ordered the County Commandant to solve the case immediately. They've even brought in the best coroners available." Su Zhe listened quietly. Then lowered his head to hide the faint smile forming at the corner of his mouth.