Chapter 23: Who Else Wants to Step Forward and Court Death?

Upon witnessing the death of the three great clan leaders, the crowd fell into a profound silence. The initial uproar had faded, as if everyone had grown accustomed to such scenes.

Su Yifan drew a deep breath and shifted his gaze to Liu Yan. Sensing his attention, Liu Zhenhong, the patriarch of the Liu family, quickly pulled his granddaughter behind him.

"Young Master Su, your vengeance has been exacted. What else do you intend?" he asked warily.

Though he was a martial artist at the mid-stage Master level, he sensed that he could not withstand even a single blow from the young man before him. The notion itself was simply unfathomable.

"Patriarch Liu, you've misunderstood," Su Yifan replied. "Miss Liu Yan is my friend. I have no intention of harming her."

As he spoke, he reached behind him and produced a jade vial.

"I'm sorry for ruining your birthday banquet today. These three pills can greatly enhance your strength—consider them my compensation."

With those words, he tossed the vial to Liu Zhenhong, who caught it in a daze, momentarily at a loss for words.

Having avenged his great grievance and resolved the matter, Su Yifan turned to leave.

But at that very moment, a rhythmic, measured marching sounded from the hotel entrance. Soon, a detachment of soldiers clad in black armor and bearing stern expressions entered in step. There were at least a hundred of them, advancing in two columns. Everyone in their path hastily made way.

With a unified shout, the two rows of black-armored soldiers split and stood at attention, opening a broad path. From the corridor strode a middle-aged general clad in dark crimson armor.

This man was Mu Zhan, one of the four renowned generals under the Prince of the Southeast.

The arrival of the army, exuding a chilling aura, stirred whispers among the onlookers.

"Aren't these the Black Armored Troops of the Prince of the Southeast? What brings them here?"

"I recognize that general—his name is Mu Zhan, one of the prince's four great commanders."

"Those soldiers must be the prince's personal guard!"

The prince commanded a force of a hundred thousand, but his personal guard numbered only five thousand, each one a formidable martial artist.

"Silence!" Mu Zhan barked.

Instantly, the murmurs ceased.

Liu Zhenhong, recognizing the gravity of the visitor, hurried forward with the other wealthy notables of Cloud City following close behind.

"General Mu, to what do we owe your esteemed presence?" Liu Zhenhong inquired, his tone obsequious. Though the Liu family was one of Cloud City's elite clans, before the Southeast Army, they were utterly insignificant.

Mu Zhan cast him a cold glance and replied, "I am here under orders from the Prince of the Southeast to take someone into custody. Which one of you is Su Yifan?"

At the mention of Su Yifan's name, Liu Zhenhong glanced nervously in his direction. He had heard of the Wang family's connection to the Prince of the Southeast, and with the Wang family now destroyed, he wondered if this was the cause.

The crowd, too, turned their eyes upon Su Yifan. They had heard rumors of the Wang family's ties to the prince, and Su Yifan was responsible for their annihilation. Was the prince here to bring him to account?

"Patriarch Liu, if you know this individual, you would do well to tell me. If I must discover him myself, your family will not withstand the prince's wrath," Mu Zhan warned coldly.

Liu Zhenhong hesitated, torn. The Liu family could not afford to offend the Prince of the Southeast, yet Su Yifan had no enmity with them. True, he had disrupted the birthday banquet, but had already offered compensation. To betray him now would weigh heavily on his conscience.

"Looking for someone? He's right here," a voice rang out.

Su Yifan, who had been silent, stepped forward.

"You are Su Yifan?" Mu Zhan narrowed his eyes.

"That's right," Su Yifan replied calmly.

His words drew silent gasps and secret admiration from the crowd. The young man was truly fearless, even in the face of the prince's elite troops.

"Very well. No wonder you wiped out the Green Gang and the Wang family. You are indeed arrogant!" Mu Zhan stepped forward, unleashing the formidable presence of a late-stage martial master.

Feeling this pressure, Su Yifan laughed. "With such meager strength, you think you can take me? You must be dreaming."

"Dream or not, you'll soon find out!" Mu Zhan growled, suppressing his anger. He turned to his soldiers. "Seize him!"

"Yes, General!"

In an instant, thirty black-armored soldiers surrounded Su Yifan.

"Boy, surrender quietly or—"

Before the soldier could finish, Su Yifan struck him with a single palm, reducing him to a cloud of blood.

"Who else wishes to die?" Su Yifan's voice was icy.

At that, the confidence of the remaining twenty-nine soldiers wavered. They had thought General Mu was overreacting by sending so many to capture a mere youth. Now, witnessing Su Yifan's terrifying strength, panic seized them.

Mu Zhan himself was stunned by Su Yifan's power. Recovering quickly, he shouted, "All of you, attack at once! Don't give him a chance to strike!"

The soldiers drew their blades and charged as one, giving Su Yifan no opportunity to react.

Seeing this, Liu Yan's face filled with worry. Liu Zhenhong noticed his granddaughter's anxiety but said nothing. Just yesterday, she had told him she wanted to introduce an extraordinary individual.

He hadn't expected that person to be Su Yifan.

As the soldiers surged toward him, Su Yifan chuckled softly and vanished from sight.

A moment later, a blur flashed before the black-armored soldiers.

Three seconds passed.

With a series of dull thuds, all twenty-nine soldiers collapsed to the ground, not one left alive. There were no wounds on their bodies, as if they had simply died of natural causes.

"What? How is this possible?!" Mu Zhan stared in horror at the fallen soldiers, shock and terror filling his eyes. Who was this young man? How could he be so powerful?

Even as the question flitted through his mind, Su Yifan appeared before him in a flash, seized him by the throat, and hoisted him into the air.

"You could have lived, but you were too foolish."

With a twist, Su Yifan snapped his neck. Mu Zhan's eyes bulged in disbelief, unable to accept his own death.

With a dull thud, Su Yifan tossed his corpse to the ground.

The hall fell into a silence so deep one could hear a pin drop.

After several stunned seconds, the remaining black-armored soldiers came to their senses, their hands instinctively going to the hilts of their swords, ready for battle.