Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Lu Yan was Lu Hanyan’s most trusted Personal Guard.

She was also a Death Warrior from Lu Dingtian’s Grand Marshal’s Mansion. As a Death Warrior who could never possibly betray Lu Dingtian, she had been there at the scene.

She had witnessed with her own eyes as Lu Chao was ground into dust and his ashes scattered.

While others could not know that Lu Dingtian and the other two had fused with Lu Chao’s Heavenly Destiny Saint Bone, only she and the other Death Warriors were privy to this secret.

Seeing Lu Chao, she looked as if she had seen a ghost.

Just as Lu Yan was reeling in disbelief...

Lu Chao had already walked past her and over to Cheng Yunsu’s side. He sat down and replied, ”Nothing is impossible. My father, the Grand Marshal, set up a ploy that no one knew about except for him and me.”

A violent tremor ran through her body. Lu Yan turned around, but she remained kneeling, facing Lu Chao.

”That’s right. Not even my Little Sister Hanyan knew.”

”So how could you possibly know?”

Lu Chao’s voice grew progressively colder, and a frosty light glinted in his eyes. His fighting intent surged toward Lu Yan as he spoke, ”As a Death Warrior, you should know what you must do next. You... kill yourself!”

Her whole body trembled again. Lu Yan lowered her head, her gaze falling on the Sword that had just dropped to the floor.

But she didn’t move.

Only her mind was racing, trembling violently...

She frantically replayed everything in her mind, desperately trying to determine if Lu Chao was telling the truth. The image of Lu Chao being ground to dust over a month ago was still vivid, yet the man before her was undeniably real.

’Back from the dead?’

’How could such a thing be possible in this world?’

’A secret mission? What kind of secret mission would require having three pieces of his Heavenly Destiny Saint Bone ripped out?’

Finally, Lu Yan finished her thoughts and slowly raised her head. ”Young Master Lu Chao, please forgive your subordinate for being unable to kill myself just yet. I must report this matter to the Grand Marshal first. If the Grand Marshal himself orders my death, I will not so much as blink.”

After speaking, she gripped her Sword, rose to her feet, and turned around, looking as if she was about to leave.

The moment she turned, the turmoil in her eyes vanished, replaced by a dead stillness. It was the terrifying killing intent unique to a Death Warrior.

Lu Chao, still seated before Cheng Yunsu, did not stop her. He simply picked up a teacup and began to pour tea.

A soft trickling sound came from the teapot.

Lu Yan took one step, then two, then three...

Her grip on the Sword in her hand gradually tightened. Suddenly... CLANG!

The ringing sound of metal exploded through the room. Lu Yan suddenly spun around and thrust her Sword straight at Lu Chao, her speed so great that Cheng Yunsu couldn’t see a thing.

Her True Qi had reached the Transformation Realm, and the entire room erupted as objects were sent flying by the force.

In half the blink of an eye, Lu Yan’s Sword reached the spot between Lu Chao’s eyebrows, only to stop in an instant. The True Qi radiating from the tip of her Sword formed a cage, completely enveloping him.

At the same time, Cheng Yunsu was knocked back by the blast.

Lu Yan spoke, her voice chilling...

”Lu Chao, you’re lying to me. The Grand Marshal never had any such ploy.”

”No matter how you survived, you are no longer the person you once were. You are the rebellious son the Grand Marshal is determined to kill.”

Having been knocked back, Cheng Yunsu’s face turned pale as she heard this. She stared at Lu Chao, her expression fraught with anxiety.

Lu Chao’s lie had been seen through.

However, Lu Chao, still enveloped by Lu Yan’s True Qi, remained calm and simply asked in return, ”Oh? Are you sure?”

Staring intently at Lu Chao...

A corner of Lu Yan’s mouth lifted into a slight smirk, her voice seeping through her gritted teeth. ”Lu Chao, don’t forget that I was the one who trained you. Do you think I don’t know your temperament? You would never so easily utter those two words—’kill yourself’—to one of your own.”

Cheng Yunsu understood. This Female Personal Guard was far too familiar with Lu Chao; she knew his character and how he handled things.

”You are decisive and merciless toward your enemies, striking fear into their hearts. But toward your own people, you are excessively kind.”

”Even if I had stumbled upon some secret mission, you would have done everything in your power to help me survive, not demanded my death.”

”Telling me to kill myself proves... that you, Lu Chao, already see me as an enemy.”

Lu Yan’s words struck Lu Chao one by one, her tone growing more and more triumphant as she spoke.

But Cheng Yunsu listened with indignation, unable to stop herself from retorting, ”Lu Chao treated you all so well, yet you repay his kindness with enmity?”

She found it hard to understand how Lu Yan could say such things so calmly.

”Ha, hahaha...”

Lu Yan let out a wild laugh and replied, ”If the Grand Marshal wants him dead, then he must die. Besides, as Miss Hanyan said, Lu Chao himself is nothing but a little beggar, a lowborn cur. His kindness to his own people was nothing more than the pathetic fawning of the truly debased.”

It was only because of his lowly birth that he was so desperate to be good to his own people.

This was how Lu Hanyan and the others had viewed the old Lu Chao.

”You deserved your fate. A lowborn cur should know his place. Did you really think the Grand Marshal would see you as his own son?” Lu Yan added harshly, as if stating the obvious.

Cheng Yunsu was speechless. Lu Chao had clearly treated people with sincerity, yet it was being twisted into pathetic fawning.

In response, Lu Chao seemed to have seen through the very nature of humanity...

He spoke without a trace of emotion. ”Since you understand that I strike fear into the hearts of my enemies, why haven’t you run?”

The him of today no longer cared what the world thought.

The old Lu Chao was indeed naive, but the Lu Chao of today was a man who had already died once.

Lu Yan was stunned for a moment, then she scoffed, ”Did you think I couldn’t tell? Your cultivation has fallen to the Postnatal Sixth Layer.”

With her realm, she had long since seen through Lu Chao’s current Martial Arts Realm.

Lu Chao’s eyes were calm as he said coolly, ”Even if I have fallen to the Postnatal Sixth Layer, I can still kill you. Look at your chest.”

Hmm?

Lu Yan subconsciously glanced down at her chest and saw a patch of tea staining her clothes. A quick search of her memory revealed it was from the instant she had spun around to strike—Lu Chao had splashed it on her.

A jolt of fear shot through her...

’How could Lu Chao, a mere Postnatal Sixth Layer, have managed to splash tea on me without me noticing?’

Of course, she didn’t know that Lu Chao possessed the Bright Eyes and Clear Wind Guide, which allowed him to perceive the weakness and the slight opening Lu Yan exposed the moment she turned.

Immediately, Lu Yan stopped overthinking it and laughed. ”What good is a splash of tea?”

Lu Chao raised his eyes and suddenly shouted, ”Burn!”

BUZZ...

As Lu Chao spoke, wisps of his True Qi flashed within the tea stain, and it instantly burst into flame. A tiny Fire Sparrow materialized within the blaze and lunged toward Lu Yan’s skin.

”Ah!”

Lu Yan’s expression froze. She let out a sudden, bloodcurdling scream as her Transformation Realm True Qi fell into disarray.

The burning Fire Sparrow was tiny, and Lu Chao’s True Qi was almost imperceptibly weak, but Lu Yan could smell the scent of fear. It was the feeling of her life being threatened...

Her True Qi wasn’t just in disarray; it was gradually dissipating.

At that moment, Lu Chao slowly extended two fingers and pinched Lu Yan’s trembling Sword.

”Lu Yan, you seem to have forgotten something.”

”You are also one of the ’lowborn curs’ you speak of. Did you think Lu Dingtian would ever truly trust his Death Warriors one hundred percent? Of course not. He planted a seed of power in your Heavenly Destiny Bones—a seed that can kill you in an instant.”

”Coincidentally, one was planted in me as well, but I managed to break it.”

”Therefore, to kill you, all I need to do is ignite the seed of power Lu Dingtian left behind. That is all it takes.”

As his words fell, Lu Chao twisted his fingers, wrenching the Sword from Lu Yan’s grasp, and thrust it back at her.