Chapter Seventy-Two: Wrath of the Thunder

Crack!

That swirling vortex was not merely a defensive gust; it carried a lethal, grinding force. In an instant, it shredded Yu Xingkun’s sleeve and showed no signs of stopping, immediately whirling toward his arm as if a flurry of blades had scraped across it. Blood welled up at once.

Yu Xingkun’s sword hand trembled violently. With a strangled cry, he forced out a burst of energy and retreated through the air. When he finally halted and glanced down, he saw his arm was in tatters, blood dyeing it red, perilously close to exposing the bone.

The warriors watching from afar gasped in shock at the sight of his arm. None had expected a battle to unfold like this.

“What? Was that truly just a gust of energy from Su Ye? How can it be so powerful?”

“Even Yu Xingkun’s defenses were broken. If that had struck his head, wouldn’t his eyes be ruined?”

“This Su Ye must be eliminated! He has such methods time and again—no wonder he was so arrogant just now! But what does it matter? He’s only enraged the Yu family patriarch!”

And indeed—

Yu Xingkun hurled his thunder sword, switching it to his other hand. Fury surged across his face as he roared, “Su Ye, I hadn’t intended to kill you today, but you’ve forced my hand!”

Buzz!

Thunder flared from the blade as Yu Xingkun advanced with a bizarre footwork, charging forward in rage.

Su Ye swept his arm out, watching him approach, and replied in a low, thunderous voice, “You and I are opposites—I want to kill you every single day! Especially today!”

Roar!

From within Su Ye’s body, surging heavenly thunder erupted, coursing through him along the same path as the breakthrough he’d made beneath the water that day.

“Rising Winds and Gathering Clouds!”

Su Ye spun his hands, and a colossal whirlwind formed around him with a roar. In an instant, it expanded to a diameter of seven or eight meters, sweeping up sand, stones, and leaves in a wild spiral.

“Lightning and Thunder!”

Another furious shout, and from the heart of the vortex, a muffled thunderclap resounded. For where thunder descends, wind and rain are never far behind.

The mighty thunder, with all its wrath, is ever present between heaven and earth, hidden even in the wind and rain! For Su Ye, who had mastered the mysterious Yanhuang Arts, drawing in a vortex and summoning heavenly thunder through his gathered energy was no impossible feat.

Boom—

In just over ten seconds, a massive vortex swirling with sand and stone had formed around Su Ye, shrouding him so thoroughly that the onlookers could barely make out his silhouette.

They stared in terror, unable to comprehend how Su Ye had conjured such a “tornado” out of nowhere!

Yu Xingkun, in the midst of his charge, suddenly saw the vortex ahead and halted. He squinted, his clothing snapping in the wind, while pebbles at his feet were sucked in like spinning wheels.

“Just a showy trick! I’ll cut through it with one stroke!”

Enraged, Yu Xingkun slashed his thunder sword at the vortex.

Crash!

Sensing the attack, Su Ye slammed his palm onto the raging vortex.

Under the stunned gaze of all present, the massive whirlwind surged toward Yu Xingkun, engulfing him like a gigantic beast in an instant.

Swish!

Ensnared within the vortex, Yu Xingkun roared and brought his thunder sword down in a savage arc, slicing an opening in the swirling wall.

By then, Su Ye had already slipped away from the vortex. Clenching his fist, thunderous light crackled around it as he smashed a punch toward the sword that had cleaved the vortex.

Bang! With one punch, he forced the thunder sword back!

“It’s only a gust of energy—did you think you could trap me?” Yu Xingkun bellowed from within.

“Oh? Then die for me!” Su Ye’s thunder-lit fist slammed into the vortex once more, setting off peals of thunder inside.

“Thunder—move!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Within the vortex, lightning flashed and thunder roared!

Everyone stared, dumbfounded. Not only was this tornado over ten meters high, but it possessed such fearsome power—was Yu Xingkun truly being struck by heavenly thunder inside?

As Yu Xingkun’s angry roars turned to cries of agony, the faces of all the warriors changed.

“Thunder—destroy!”

Su Ye drove his fist deep into the vortex, seeming to seize all the sources of thunder within—including Yu Xingkun’s own thunder veins and even those within the thunder sword.

He sprang backward, body shifting nearly ten meters away, and drew his hand back.

Boom—

The entire vortex collapsed, everything inside sucked toward him in an instant.

It was as though countless objects rushed to his hand, but much of the sand and foliage lost their charge and fell to the ground, forming a long, strange path.

Yu Xingkun, however, was not spared—he was drawn straight into Su Ye’s grasp.

In the instant the vortex shattered, the distance vanished. In mere seconds, Yu Xingkun was seized by Su Ye.

Crack!

With one hand, Su Ye gripped Yu Xingkun’s throat and hurled him mercilessly to the ground.

Bang—

Yu Xingkun was already a mangled mass of flesh and blood, smashed hard upon the earth, utterly unable to move.

His eyes, nose, and fingers had all been shredded. The sight was so gruesome that it chilled all who saw it.

None could believe that this was the once-mighty Yu family patriarch, reduced to such a pitiful state. Smoke still curled from his battered form, scorched black—perhaps by the very thunder that had struck him.

“Ah—”

“Heavens! Is that really the Yu family patriarch?” Many cried out in terror as they scattered, glancing at Su Ye with horror.

This shocking reversal was too much to process.

Had Su Ye truly reached such a terrifying level of power?

They could scarcely believe it, but they had seen it with their own eyes and could not deny it.

“Yu Xingkun! This is your own doing—such evil cannot be tolerated!”

Su Ye reached down and seized the thunder sword that was embedded in the earth. Without the slightest hesitation—knowing the chance to kill Yu Xingkun was fleeting—he acted at once.

Master Ou, Patriarch Zhou, Zhou Jinghao, Yu Wenhuan, and the others all watched in shock. As Su Ye took up the thunder sword, they instantly understood his intent.

“Su Ye, stop!”

“How dare you—murder before us! The Martial Alliance is watching!”

“If you dare kill our patriarch, we’ll all charge and kill you!” Though shaken, several still shouted in protest.

But Su Ye paid them no heed. Gripping the thunder sword, he plunged it straight into Yu Xingkun’s heart!

Thud—

The sword pierced through flesh and deep into the earth.

Where moments before the crowd had been in an uproar, now a heavy silence fell.

All eyes turned to the thunder sword—the very weapon that had belonged to Yu Xingkun, now driven through his own heart.

Dead.

Yu Xingkun was truly dead.

His heart was run through, blood pouring out, leaving him not even a chance to struggle.

Gradually, the gathered warriors became aware of their own pounding hearts, their ears ringing as if the earth itself trembled.

The Yu family patriarch was dead—slain by Su Ye!

What purpose was left for the families who had come here today? Was Su Ye too fearsome to be stopped?

Yu Wenhuan’s legs gave way and he sank to the ground. All their reliance had been on their patriarch; now nothing remained.

The once-brilliant Yu Zhisha was barely clinging to life, and their notorious patriarch had been slaughtered outright.

The Yu family now faced certain doom, soon to be devoured by the other families.

Master Ou, Patriarch Zhou, Zhou Jinghao, and the others—those who once sat with authority—were now gripped by panic. Glancing at each other, they saw in each other’s eyes a terror that could not be hidden.

But they knew, too, that Su Ye must be killed.

“What should we do? We can’t just let this go!”

“No matter the cost, he must die! If he lives, our families are doomed!”

Shing—

The sound of weapons being drawn echoed.

Su Ye stood with the thunder sword in hand, blood dripping from its tip, each drop a vivid crimson.

His gaze darkened, as if countless furies were about to erupt. In a thunderous voice, he demanded,

“Who’s next? Who wishes to die?!”