Wen Nan Tian turned and strode away.
Gu Jian Men looked at his back with a complex expression, saying nothing. His sharp and cold eyes flashed with countless emotions.
There was shock, relief, helplessness, all eventually transforming into deep admiration.
When Wen Nan Tian had subdued him and Su Mu Yu of the Dark River with a single sword, Gu Jian Men had indeed been dismissive.
But now…
He no longer felt that way.
With one man and one sword, he had extinguished the Yan Family along with many of their external allies. In the instant Wen Nan Tian landed, the prominent families and sect leaders of the Southwest, bowing and scraping, surrounded him like eunuchs attending an emperor.
From that moment, Wen Nan Tian had unquestionably ascended to the position of the Southwest's strongest.
“What deal did you strike with him?” A cold voice rang out beside Gu Jian Men. He knew without turning that it was Yan Liu Li speaking.
“A deal concerning Yan Bie Tian.”
Gu Jian Men didn't hide anything. He spoke as he got up and walked towards the Gu Family estate.
“What deal?”
Yan Liu Li quickly followed.
Behind them, Hui Xi Jun, Bai Wu Xia, and the heads of other families and sects in the Southwest, as well as the merchants and wealthy individuals who had come for the banquet, all followed suit after a moment of thought.
Though the battle was over, the true situation within the Gu Family estate was still unknown.
They were all intensely curious.
“The play’s over, I'm off.”
“If you want to watch, come back later.”
Wen Hu Jiu, not curious, patted his nephew Bai Li Dong Jun on the shoulder, gave him a word of advice, and hurried after Wen Nan Tian, his wine flask in hand.
“Got it!”
After a while, Bai Li Dong Jun, as if waking from a dream, shouted back.
…
Inside the Gu Family estate.
The brightly decorated courtyard was now dilapidated, covered with sword marks, blade cuts, and other battle scars, along with countless fallen bodies. The fine food and drink lay scattered on the ground.
But at that moment, no one cared.
Their eyes were fixed on the towering figure ahead, as solid as a mountain.
“Hiss, is that Bai Wu Shang with the copper head and iron body?”
“His Iron Body cultivation had reached the point where he could treat swords, spears, and arrows as mere wood. He once faced a siege by three Earthly Realm masters and emerged unscathed. He also once clashed directly with a Heavenly Realm expert for one hundred and seventy-six moves without defeat.”
“Such a man, and yet he couldn't escape death here!”
“Facing a Sword Immortal, what is so-called Iron Body but a joke?”
“Sixteen fatal penetrations, the heart and throat have been pierced by swords. All in one go, how terrifying! Even someone as strong as Bai Wu Shang couldn't withstand the Sword Immortal's sword. We would be even more helpless.”
As the group gathered before Bai Wu Shang, each one was shocked by the swords embedded in his body and his horrific wounds. Bai Wu Shang might not have been the strongest in the Southwest, but for centuries, he had certainly been the pinnacle of Iron Body cultivation.
A man like that, meeting his end in such a manner, with such gruesome injuries, how could they not feel a pang of sympathy for the fallen?
“Yan Bie Tian…”
Someone cried out, drawing everyone’s attention.
Gu Jian Men strode forward, reaching Yan Bie Tian, who lay there with his eyes wide open in death. He let out a booming laugh: “Hahaha, Yan Bie Tian, this is your day.”
Though he couldn’t take revenge himself.
But to see the man who had killed his brother lying dead before him with his eyes wide open, a feeling of pure joy swelled in Gu Jian Men's chest.
“Brother…”
Yan Liu Li murmured, a hint of grief in her eyes.
Did she hate Yan Bie Tian?
Of course, she did.
But to say she had no feelings for him would be a lie. They were siblings after all. Even if Yan Bie Tian had done so much wrong, he was still Yan Liu Li’s brother.
Raising her eyes to look at the laughing Gu Jian Men, Yan Liu Li saw a flicker of thought in his eyes: “The deal Gu Jian Men and Wen Nan Tian struck, could it be... to allow Wen Nan Tian to leave my brother’s body intact?”
She wasn't sure if her guess was right.
But she was curious, what was the price Gu Jian Men and Wen Nan Tian had paid for this deal?
“With Yan Bie Tian dead, and the Yan Family losing so many of their masters, they can no longer hope to remain the dominant force in the Southwest.”
Hui Xi Jun looked at Yan Bie Tian's unclosed eyes, then at the bodies scattered all around, and sighed: “Perhaps... even the Yan Family won't be able to withstand the wolves at their doorstep!”
“Yes!”
Hearing this, Bai Wu Xia was moved by the sight: “Who would have thought, in such a short time, first the Gu Family with its Golden Spinning Wheel, then the Yan Family with its Jade Wood Trade. The Southwest is sure to be reshuffled!”
They certainly didn’t want to see the Yan Family hold all the power. It would harm their own interests.
But neither Hui Xi Jun nor Bai Wu Xia, nor any of the other figures in the Southwest, could have imagined that Wen Nan Tian, this dragon of a man, would burst in with his fierce ways and shatter the already turbulent situation in the Southwest.
The plan they had been so worried about, the one they had been making behind the scenes, to unite the families and sects of the Southwest against the Yan Family, had all gone up in smoke. Even the Yan Family itself had been almost shattered in this battle.
Without Yan Bie Tian, the Yan Family had lost over eighty percent of its masters in a single blow.
Their downfall was a certainty!
The situation of the Gu Family was not much better. Gu Luo Li had been tricked by Yan Bie Tian and Tian Wai Tian and had died in battle, taking with him at least seventy percent of the Gu Family’s masters.
Gu Jian Men was a genius, but he couldn’t do everything alone.
The decline of the Gu Family was also readily apparent. The Golden Spinning Wheel Gu Family still wanted to claim the position of Southwest leader, but they would have to see if the other families and sects would allow it.
As the saying goes, what the speaker doesn't mean, the listener understands.
Whether Hui Xi Jun and Bai Wu Xia were merely expressing their feelings or had something else in mind.
These words had indeed reached the ears of many who were paying attention.
“The downfall of the Yan and Gu Families is a certainty. The Southwest will experience the greatest upheaval in a hundred years.”
“When the Qin lost its deer, the whole world chased after it.”
“It’s just that after the Southwest experiences this bloody storm, who or what force will stand atop the Southwest, replacing the Yan and Gu Families?”
“Flying Sword Manor, they might be able to take a place among the leaders.”
“Sigh, the times are turbulent. The position of the Southwest’s head will likely have to be settled with life and death struggles, causing bloody winds and rain once again.”
Some were delighted, while others were filled with dread.
The decline of the two dominant families of the Southwest, the Yan and the Gu, meant that some would seize great advantages, and many would emerge from the chaos. But naturally, there were also some who didn’t want to see turmoil unfold and simply wished to go with the flow.
For the first time, Yan Liu Li found these voices jarring. As she looked at her brother, Yan Bie Tian, whose eyes remained open in death, and at the familiar faces lying dead on the ground, she felt a sense of helplessness for the first time!
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