Starting With The Martial Arts Holy Fire Order

Chapter 29: Have You Overestimated Yourself?

Cheng Kun was both shocked and delighted upon hearing the news. “Really?”

“Yes!” Lady Yang replied softly, shyly nodding her head.

This revelation left Dai Qisi and Xie Xun astonished, while Yang Dingtian was heartbroken, feeling as though a knife had been twisted into his heart.

Ling Yihan, who had foreseen this, could only feel silent sympathy for Yang Dingtian, not knowing what else to say.

Upon hearing the joyous news, Cheng Kun burst out laughing excitedly in the secret passage, “I’m going to be a father! I have a descendant!”

Lady Yang quickly stopped him, smiling as she urged, “Brother Kun, be careful! If the Ming Sect people hear this and word reaches Yang Dingtian, we’ll both be doomed!”

Cheng Kun embraced her passionately. “Junior Sister, let’s leave Bright Summit together!”

Lady Yang shook her head, sighing, “We can’t. With the tens of thousands of Ming Sect disciples, they’d find us with ease.”

Cheng Kun, unwilling to accept this, muttered, “To the ends of the earth… Is there truly no place for us?”

Lady Yang consoled him, “For our sake and for our child’s, we can’t act recklessly.”

Cheng Kun’s face turned grim, his eyes dimming. “If I can’t fly free with my beloved, and I refuse to let my child recognise an enemy as his father… Why is heaven so unfair to me?”

Seeing his expression, Lady Yang felt a pang of fear. “Brother Kun, your gaze is frightening!”

Cheng Kun sneered coldly, his eyes glinting with a murderous intent. “I know I can’t defeat Yang Dingtian, but as they say, a concealed arrow is the hardest to guard against…”

Lady Yang shook her head. “No! Yang Dingtian has never wronged me, I—”

“Shh! Don’t speak. There’s movement inside the stone wall!” Cheng Kun suddenly heard a sound and quickly covered Lady Yang’s mouth with his hand.

A loud “click” echoed as the stone door shifted. A young man in green robes emerged, standing before them.

It was none other than the new Ming Sect leader, Ling Yihan.

“Ling… Yihan…”

Lady Yang gasped in shock at the sight of him, rendered speechless. Cheng Kun, too, was startled. “You… so it was you who stole the sword from the palace last time…”

Ling Yihan ignored Cheng Kun, his gaze icy as he looked at Lady Yang. “Do you have the face to call my name? Do you think you’re worthy of my master?”

“I…” Lady Yang was at a loss for words, her face flushed with shame.

Ling Yihan turned to Cheng Kun, sneering, “Defeated opponent, will you take your own life, or do you want me to do it?”

“Hmph! Don’t get cocky, boy. I may not be able to beat you, but I can take you down with me!” Cheng Kun thought about trying to escape with his junior sister.

“Take me down with you?” Ling Yihan chuckled coldly. “You overestimate yourself. Do you think you can?”

Before the words had even faded, Ling Yihan’s figure blurred. Before Cheng Kun and Lady Yang could blink, he had moved behind Cheng Kun and struck the acupoint in the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel.

Then, channeling his powerful Nine Yang True Qi into his right palm, Ling Yihan’s arm and fingers glowed red-hot as he gripped Cheng Kun’s head.

Feeling the searing heat on his scalp, Cheng Kun broke into a cold sweat, realising, “This kid’s martial arts have improved so much in just two months that I couldn’t even withstand a single move!”

“Stop! Yihan, I beg you on behalf of your master, spare my senior brother!” Lady Yang, who had previously witnessed the power of the Nine Yang Fiery Claw, knelt down, pleading with Ling Yihan.

“What? He’s Yang Dingtian’s disciple?” Cheng Kun was stunned.

Ling Yihan sneered, “You don’t deserve to be my master’s wife. If not for his sake, I would have killed you with one strike to preserve his honour!”

“Yihan… please stop…”

At that moment, Yang Dingtian, supported by Xie Xun and Dai Qisi, emerged from the stone chamber.

Cheng Kun and Lady Yang’s faces changed dramatically when they saw the three of them.

“Yang Dingtian… so you…” Lady Yang forced a bitter smile upon seeing him.

Ling Yihan sneered, “You thought none of us were at Bright Summit, didn’t you? So you felt free to rendezvous here in secret, dragging the Ming Sect’s name through the mud.”

Lady Yang, overwhelmed with shame, dared not say a word.

Yang Dingtian slowly walked up to her, helping her to her feet as he sighed, “You two… you’ve done well… truly done well by me…”

“Yang Dingtian, it’s all my fault. It has nothing to do with my senior brother. Let him leave Bright Summit. I’ll accept any punishment you see fit,” Lady Yang pleaded, tears in her eyes.

“Junior Sister, I…” Cheng Kun felt a wave of sorrow.

Yang Dingtian’s voice choked as he said, “Even now, you still plead for him… I may have your body, but… I’ve never had your heart…”

With that, his face turned pale, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood that splattered across the ground.

“Master Yang…”

“Yang Dingtian…”

“Master…”

Seeing this unexpected turn, Ling Yihan, Dai Qisi, Xie Xun, and Lady Yang all cried out in alarm.

Xie Xun looked at Cheng Kun with a complicated expression. “Master, you’ve always treated me like a son… but you… you…”

He was unable to continue, his heart filled with pain.

Cheng Kun, still feeling a bond with his disciple, looked at him with both surprise and shame. “Xun’er, why are you here?”

“Master, I haven’t had a chance to tell you… I’m now one of the Ming Sect’s Protectors, the Golden Lion King,” Xie Xun sighed.

Ling Yihan glanced at Lady Yang in surprise. Understanding his unspoken question, Lady Yang explained, “Whenever I met with my senior brother, we rarely spoke about the inner workings of the Ming Sect. So my senior brother isn’t aware of certain members’ identities…”

“What? You joined the Ming Sect? And became a Protector? You… you…” Cheng Kun was speechless, unable to comprehend that his beloved disciple had allied with his rival, Yang Dingtian.