The Youngest Prince of the Zhou Family - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Youngest Master of the Zhu Family (23)

Qinghai Province

Qinghai .

Located at the western edge of the Central Plains, it’s a place sometimes classified as beyond the frontier.

Our party ran for over ten days and finally managed to reach the eastern gate of Qinghai Province.

Since time was pressing, we frequently borrowed carriages and crossed mountain paths without sleep.

We had to return before the Zhu Family’s grand festival, the Zhu Family World Festival , so we had already used a third of our time.

“Phew, we’re finally in Qinghai.”

Yu Ran let out a sigh of relief, looking disheveled.

We first found a nearby inn.

Having entered Qinghai Province, we needed to restore our bodies to peak condition.

It was a dangerous place where Demon Cultists could appear anywhere, anytime.

Since we had only traveled by carriage and the shortest route, nothing particular had happened.

“Indeed, the atmosphere is immediately different from the Central Plains.”

Mu Ying spoke with a stern expression, sensing the atmosphere inside the inn.

The people of Qinghai Province were different from those of the Central Plains.

Perhaps life on the barren land was quite harsh, as people’s expressions were always dark and rigidly tense.

“….”

Even when we entered the inn, the innkeeper didn’t offer any greeting.

As soon as we sat down, he simply brought out a cup of hot, cheap tea.

We first ordered some simple food.

Our current state was so disheveled that anyone would believe we were beggars from the Beggar’s Sect rather than a young master of the Zhu Family.

“Now we’re in Qinghai. How about you tell us our real destination, Young Master?”

I nodded at Yu Ran’s question.

The place I intended to go was now a vanished place.

A place remembered only for its past glory, vaguely spoken of only in people’s mouths.

“We’re going to Kunlun.”

The place that was once the final shield and greatest spear of the Orthodox Martial World.

Great Kunlun.

Kunlun, which once wielded power rivaling the Nine Great Sects and led the fight against the Demonic Path, had already lost and abandoned its influence hundreds of years ago.

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Its former glory could only be found in books now.

Present-day Kunlun had only its foundation remaining and had completely fallen to ruin.

“Eh? Kunlun? That’s unexpected.”

Yu Ran tilted her head at my words, trying hard to understand my intention.

Could there have been any connection between the Zhu Family and Kunlun?

Why go to Kunlun where nothing remained?

Countless thoughts showed on her expression.

“I heard from the Family Head that you were going on a martial journey?”

“I will. When there’s time.”

I shrugged my shoulders and brushed it off casually.

The martial journey was merely an excuse.

Around that time, the food we ordered arrived, and we silently devoured it quickly.

Like people who had starved for days.

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* * *

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Night had fallen.

We each got rooms and decided to rest well for a day, but strangely, sleep wouldn’t come.

‘I was definitely tired….’

For ten days of forced marching, I hadn’t been able to rest properly.

I thought I’d just collapse as soon as I lay down, but instead my mind became clearer.

‘Could I be nervous?’

It seemed my body was reacting.

From the moment I arrived in Qinghai, my body naturally tensed because I retained all my memories from my previous life.

“Sigh.”

Eventually, I got up from my spot.

It seemed I needed to release some of my body’s tension.

I headed to the inn’s small back garden.

There were already guests who had come out to the back garden.

Yu Ran and Mu Ying.

“Oh? Young Master?”

“Young Master.”

Mu Ying ran to me as soon as he saw me, while Yu Ran waved from a distance.

“What are you all doing here?”

Yu Ran shrugged her shoulders and answered my question.

“Just having a chat. About why we really came here… that sort of thing?”

“Curious?”

“Are you kidding me?”

Yu Ran glared at me with sharp eyes.

Mu Ying, on the other hand, looked quite peaceful unlike her.

It seemed he trusted me after the Blood Hand Poison Emperor incident.

‘Red Dragon Squad Leader.’

I looked directly into her eyes full of curiosity and fell into thought for a moment.

‘Very aggressive nature, loving fights more than anyone, but strangely never crosses the line.’

The day the noble family was annihilated.

She too had cut down Demon Cultists relentlessly at the front lines.

Her appearance, never losing her crazed smile until death, was clearly etched in my mind.

Just before being captured and killed by Demon Cultists, she chose suicide by pressing her own Death Blood Point.

“Fine.”

I finished organizing my thoughts.

I trust Yu Ran.

No, I trust her character.

“Remember when we caught those Demon Cultists at Jade Flower Mountain?”

“Yes, of course.”

Yu Ran’s eyes lit up as she listened to my words.

“A bastard connected to one of the Demon Cultists I killed then will be chasing the squad leader.”

“Me? Hmm, what does that have to do with this?”

“It’s related. I’m going to catch and kill that bastard.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Yu Ran flinched and trembled.

It seemed I had unconsciously released killing intent.

Yu Ran grinned and nodded.

“That bastard lives here?”

“No. I don’t know where he is either. However, the preparations needed to catch him are here.”

“Heh, if that’s the case, we should report to the Family Head….”

“No.”

I firmly cut off Yu Ran’s words.

“If those bastards hide, it’s over. We won’t even be able to stop them. The moment Father knows, he’ll try to launch a massive subjugation of Demon Cultists.”

“Those Demon Cultists. They’re not ordinary Demon Cultists.”

Yu Ran seemed to have intuited something.

She cautiously asked while gauging my reaction.

“Perhaps….”

“The Squad Leader’s thoughts are correct. The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. They are rising.”

“…!”

As soon as those words ended, Mu Ying and Yu Ran’s expressions hardened stiffly.

Even Yu Ran, who only smiled every day, seemed unable to smile this time.

“Young Master?”

Mu Ying wondered if he had heard wrong and asked again.

I had no choice but to confirm it for him.

“The Demonic Cult has risen again. And… I must stop them no matter what.”

“No, no. Are you certain? The Demonic Cult… where on earth did you hear such information….”

“I can’t explain in detail either. You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”

At my words, Yu Ran bit her lips tightly.

The truth didn’t matter.

For her, the important fact was that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was rising and had boldly revealed their ambitions for the Martial World.

‘Finally.’

Killing intent filled her eyes.

“I don’t care about such things. Whether Young Master learned it somewhere, whether it’s real or fake….”

“….”

“However, if those Demon Cultists on Jade Flower Mountain are truly from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”

Yu Ran smiled with a crazed expression.

It was an eerie smile that would make one’s bones chill just by looking at it.

“I’ll tear them apart and kill them.”

“….”

I looked at her with a pitying expression and shook my head.

“Sorry for ruining the mood, but… with the Squad Leader’s current skills, it’s impossible.”

“Hehe, it seems Young Master doesn’t know me well enough? Even though I look like this….”

“I know. Your realm is Peak. With just a slight enlightenment, you could even reach the beginning of Transcendent.”

“…!”

At those words, Yu Ran’s expression hardened again.

Warriors don’t go around boasting about their realm in the first place.

Yet for her realm to be so easily discovered meant only one thing.

It was only possible when the opponent had stepped into a higher realm than oneself.

‘Of course, I know because of my past life’s memories.’

Since I deliberately omitted complex explanations, Yu Ran’s misunderstanding grew even larger.

“Young Master?”

“The one currently chasing the Squad Leader is at minimum a Transcendent expert. Not just the Squad Leader, but even if five Squad Leaders came, they absolutely couldn’t win.”

The gap between Peak experts and Transcendent experts is even more severe than that.

Moreover, Killing Lord and Do Gon had stayed in the Transcendent realm longer than Yu Ran had stayed in the Peak realm.

Since they were originally from the Demonic Cult, their combat experience was beyond words.

“Then did we walk into a death trap?”

Why was she getting subtly excited while saying that?

“I came here to survive. There’s something I absolutely need here.”

I stood up from my seat with those words.

Yu Ran still seemed unconvinced by my words.

Above all, it was a natural reaction since I had said something that could be insulting to a warrior.

But what could I do?

It was an obvious fact.

I couldn’t pretend she was amazing when lives were at stake.

Eventually, Yu Ran also stood up following me.

“Want to have a light spar?”

I needed to humble Yu Ran’s high pride a bit.

The Demon Cultists we had to face weren’t ordinary Demon Cultists, but the disasters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult that had brought down the world.

“…Ha.”

At my words, Yu Ran swept up her disheveled bangs and smiled wickedly.

“Will you be alright? Something might get broken.”

“Well. I don’t think that will happen.”

At those words, fighting spirit leaked densely from Yu Ran’s entire body.

Seeing this, Mu Ying quietly stepped back to make room.

Yu Ran and I faced each other as if by agreement, standing at a certain distance apart.

“I’ll yield the first move.”

“Thanks.”

As soon as Yu Ran finished speaking, I immediately charged toward her.

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* * *

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Peak extreme.

Yu Ran’s realm was certainly impressive.

As I rushed toward her front, Yu Ran immediately raised her scabbard and neutralized my posture by just lightly touching my extended wrist.

The offense and defense switched in just one move.

Yu Ran took one more step deeper and disappeared from my sight like magic.

Simultaneously, rough and hot yang energy burst from the back of my head.

‘Flame Dragon Crushing Strike Step.’

Like a dragon wrapped in blazing flames roughly striking the ground, it was a footwork technique that destroyed formations themselves.

An attack-focused stance that broke the opponent’s formation and struck down the raw essence of techniques.

In an instant, Yu Ran’s sword hilt came striking toward my chin.

‘A simple but most advantageous response.’

I calmly observed Yu Ran’s actions.

‘Black King Assault Body.’

I forcibly blocked the scabbard with my shoulder and took one more step toward Yu Ran.

With just one step, the distance between us rapidly closed.

The sword’s length, the limited space.

Also, the very slight inconvenience that Yu Ran’s Flame Dragon Crushing Strike Step brought in such a confined place.

‘Use the situation and secure the most advantageous position for myself.’

My eyes turned cold.

I just needed to aim for Yu Ran’s exposed neckline.

But….

‘A trap.’

This was a feint.

Yu Ran was already reading my movements.

She deliberately showed a feint to draw me in deeper.

‘Indeed, the Red Dragon Squad Leader.’

In the battle of techniques unfolding in an instant, Yu Ran was certainly skilled.

As if proving that the position of Red Dragon Squad Leader wasn’t obtained by chance.

‘Sorry, but I have more combat experience.’

In the end, the martial arts Yu Ran displayed could only be the Zhu Family’s martial arts.

I had all of the Zhu Family’s martial arts in my head.

I also had countermeasures prepared for the Zhu Family’s martial arts, and based on that, I had fought Demon Cultists for decades.

Swoosh!

I slowly extended my hand, and Yu Ran smiled confidently.

She must have seen me as some naive kid who recklessly stepped into the Void Space.

I quickly change my stance.

Bending my back foot, I lightly retreat one step, then use that foot as an axis to rotate my body deeply.

‘Second Form.’

Yu Ran’s smiling expression contorts.

‘Bone-Breaking Black Chain.’

The Life-Death Seasonal Technique of Yalyu, the Battle King whose entire body was a weapon itself.

The essence of the Black King Assault Body burst forth.

The deeply rotating body covers a greater distance while concentrating the striking point.

Among all parts of the human body, the hardest part that serves as a weapon in itself without needing long training.

I folded my elbow and struck her left ribs.

Thwack!

A dull impact sound.

Yu Ran staggers and flies backward.

“….”

Silence fills the area.

“What a shame.”

I lightly dusted off my hands.

In that instant, Yu Ran had twisted her scabbard and caught my elbow with an extremely subtle difference, defending the exact striking point.

“Well I’ll be….”

Yu Ran swept up her bangs with a crazed smile.

Her fighting spirit had changed from before.

“I wondered why someone who isn’t even a martial artist was throwing punches around, but you possess such an absurd martial art?”

“…It’s similar, but that’s not the only reason.”

Somehow my spine feels chilled.

Yu Ran nods and slowly throws her scabbard up into the air.

“Huh? Wait….”

This is dangerous.

Those eyes… aren’t those the same eyes she has when hunting Demon People?

Yu Ran seems to be boiling with rage just from the fact that she took a hit from me.

“Kyahahaha!”

Maniacal laughter.

That was the last voice I heard before losing consciousness.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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