Chapter Fifty-Two: Reborn Through Facing Death!

“Brother Yang Yan, don’t listen to him! Even if you truly cripple your cultivation, they won’t let us go!”
Ziling’s eyes brimmed with tears as she gazed at Yang Yan in anguish, pleading desperately while shaking her head again and again.
Yang Yan understood all too well. Now that Moonshadow Frost was lost, he had forfeited a vital advantage, as if severing his own arm. If he were to lose his spiritual power as well, he wouldn’t even have the right to fight desperately anymore!
“Filthy woman, how annoyingly loud you are!”
A crisp slap echoed through the forest. On Ziling’s delicate face, a vivid red handprint appeared, blood trickling from the corner of her lips.
“Xu Shaoguang!”
Yang Yan’s mind roared, as though a thousand thunderbolts exploded at once. An unprecedented, bone-chilling murderous intent welled up within him. The veins on his neck bulged, his eyes blazed red, and his clenched fists trembled, itching to tear the man before him to shreds and grind him to dust.
“Heh, what’s this? You want to kill me? But I wonder, are your hands faster, or is my sword swifter?”
Xu Shaoguang sneered provocatively, casting Yang Yan a challenging glance. The cold blade of Moonshadow Frost flashed in his hand, pointing straight at Ziling’s throat.
“Fine! I’ll do as you say.”
Yang Yan drew a deep breath, his tone unexpectedly calm.
“Hurry up. My patience is wearing thin.”
Xu Shaoguang’s lips curled into an almost imperceptible smile as he spoke coldly.
“Xu Shaoguang, one day you’ll learn that death—for you—will become a luxury you can’t afford!”
Yang Yan’s fists tightened so fiercely that his knuckles turned white; he didn’t even feel his nails digging deep into his palms.
Finally, as Xu Shaoguang watched expectantly, Yang Yan closed his eyes, slowly raised his right hand, letting a faint, translucent water-element spiritual power flow over it. Then, with a sudden motion, he struck his own lower abdomen at the spiritual hub!
“Brother Yang Yan, don’t!”
Ziling’s anguished, desperate pleas echoed through the woods...
A muffled thud resounded as Yang Yan’s palm met his abdomen. A surge of powerful spiritual energy burst forth, sweeping through the area like a tidal wave. Dead branches and leaves whirled everywhere; Yang Yan staggered back, spat a mouthful of blood, and collapsed to his knees.
“Hahahahaha...”

The forest reverberated with Xu Shaoguang’s triumphant, wild laughter, mingled with Ziling’s sorrowful, choked sobs...
“No wonder you were the champion of the Martial Gathering. To save your beloved, you cripple your own cultivation—what spirit!”
Xu Shaoguang clapped and laughed, strolling over to Yang Yan’s side. He pressed a finger to Yang Yan’s spiritual hub, confirming the absence of any spiritual power within. A mocking smile played on his lips.
“Now you can let her go, can’t you?”
Yang Yan raised his head, glaring coldly at Xu Shaoguang.
“Yang Yan, Yang Yan... I don’t know if you’re foolish or just naive. Before, with your cultivation, you might have been qualified to bargain with me. But now, you’re nothing but a cripple. Tsk, tsk...”
“So, the Xu family is nothing but a pack of faithless rats!”
Yang Yan’s gaze was icy as he gritted his teeth in fury at Xu Shaoguang.
“Why bother with honor when dealing with someone at death’s door? Hahaha!”
Xu Shaoguang feigned innocence, spreading his hands and laughing boisterously.
The two black-clad men holding Ziling echoed his laughter, their eyes sizing up Yang Yan as if he were a fool.
Yang Yan sat silently on the ground, his gaze fixed coldly on Xu Shaoguang, motionless.
Under the hawk-like chill of that stare, Xu Shaoguang was seized by an inexplicable fear. He recalled the moment during the Martial Gathering when Yang Yan nearly killed him, and he couldn’t help but shudder.
A cold, biting wind swept through. Xu Shaoguang snapped out of his unease. 'He’s a cripple now, and yet he still makes me wary!' The thought stoked a sudden, nameless fury in him. He lunged, grabbing Yang Yan’s hair and yanking his head forward.
“Yang Yan, do you know? It’s that look—the arrogant, condescending gaze, the disregard for all others—that infuriates me most!”
Xu Shaoguang’s face twisted, his voice growing louder until he was nearly shouting. With a violent pull, he lifted Yang Yan and pummeled his chest, abdomen, and face with his huge fists.
“Stop! Please, stop!”
Not far away, Ziling screamed hoarsely, trying to break free and reach Yang Yan, but the two black-clad men held her fast.
After a while, apparently exhausted, Xu Shaoguang kicked Yang Yan aside, breathing heavily, his eyes smoldering with resentment.
“Cough... Haha... Hahaha...”
Yang Yan’s clothes were in tatters; his face was swollen. After a couple of coughs and spitting blood, he looked at Xu Shaoguang and laughed coldly.

The laughter was eerie and mournful, like the wailing of ghosts in the night forest—sharp and chilling, making all who heard it shudder.
Even through the slit of his swollen eyes, Xu Shaoguang could feel that frigid, bone-piercing murderous intent!
“You want to kill me? But now, you’re a true cripple. You can’t even save your own woman—how do you think you’ll kill me?”
Xu Shaoguang roared ferociously, dragged Yang Yan by the hair, and threw him onto the clearing before Ziling, sneering.
“You adore this girl, right? You’d die for her? Well, tonight I’ll let you feast your eyes—watch how I take your woman! Hahaha!”
With that, Xu Shaoguang strode toward Ziling, reaching for her collar.
Ziling squeezed her eyes shut, her lashes trembling, tears glittering under the moonlight with a haunting, sorrowful beauty.
“Brother Yang Yan, until we meet again in the next life...”
Her resolve was firm—if that man dared touch her, she would bite through her tongue and die, rather than suffer disgrace.
A sudden swish!
“Watch out!”
At that moment, the two black-clad men’s faces twisted in terror as they shouted.
Xu Shaoguang’s heart tightened; a chilling, deadly aura surged from behind him, making every hair stand on end. He tried to turn and defend, but it was already too late!
A metallic ring!
A cold sensation struck Xu Shaoguang’s back, then a sharp pain exploded across his spine!
Horrified, he staggered several meters forward, spun around—and was aghast.
“Yang Yan?! Impossible!”
No wonder Xu Shaoguang was so flustered! Yang Yan’s self-crippling had seemed utterly genuine. Just to be sure, Xu Shaoguang had checked Yang Yan’s spiritual hub himself—there had been not a trace of spiritual energy.
Yet now, Yang Yan stood holding Moonshadow Frost, spiritual power surging around him. With a single move, he wounded Xu Shaoguang, whose spirit weapon shielded him. This was no cripple—this was a warrior in his prime!