Chapter 64: 0066—Showing Off Such Paltry Tricks?

“Senior, thank you for standing up for the Ye family.” At this moment, seeing that the heads of all four families and their experts were about to strike, Ye Zhenhuan realized that this mysterious elder of the Chu family could not possibly withstand them. Thus, he wanted to urge him to escape. As long as this elder remained alive, the surviving members of the Chu and Ye families would still have a chance at life. If he could flee today, there would still be hope.

“Escape?” The head of the Cao family’s eyes were bloodshot. “You’ve killed nearly all the experts of my Cao family. If you escape today, everyone will live in fear. Today, you must die!”

“Escape?” Chu Yun sneered, “In my entire life, I have never once fled from anything!”

As he spoke, he cast his gaze over the Cui, Duanmu, and Jin families. “Are you certain you want to stand up for the Cao family?”

The head of the Cui family smiled faintly. “My grandson was humiliated by you, Chu Yun. That’s a clear sign of disrespect to the Cui family. I wonder if that’s reason enough?”

The head of the Jin family added, “My granddaughter was dishonored by that little bastard Ye Wuwei of the Ye family. What wrong is there in me seeking his life? Now you’ve killed my son-in-law as well. If I don’t stand up today, what kind of in-law would I be?”

The head of the Duanmu family laughed. “I have even less reason to hold back. The child I painstakingly raised was humiliated by your Chu Yun in front of everyone, bringing disgrace to the Duanmu family name. I gave the city lord enough respect—I said as long as he didn’t show up today, I wouldn’t touch him. But the Ye family must be destroyed. If anyone stands in our way, they’ll be taking on all four of our families!”

Cao family: “That’s right. Today’s execution is meant as a warning to everyone in the city—never try to challenge the bottom line of the great families. No matter who you are, your end will be the same as the Ye family’s. No one can change this—it’s the privilege of the powerful. If anyone tries to overturn it, well, they’ll be setting themselves against our entire class. Unless you have greater strength and deeper foundations than ours, this rule stands unchallenged!”

“What a fine boast about strength and heritage,” Chu Yun mocked beneath his mask. “Each of you is as weak as an ant, yet you call yourselves noble houses? You think yourselves fit to judge the life and death of others? Very well. Today I shall shatter this absurd rule of yours!”

“With you?” At this, Mata took a step forward. In truth, he had already begun chanting a spell, and now, with his preparation complete, he hurled two balls of fire at Chu Yun.

Chu Yun hadn’t expected that a mage would get involved. Seeing the flames rushing at him, he did not retreat. Relying on his own far deeper mastery of the arcane, he extinguished the fireballs midair.

The flames roared toward him, but as they neared, Chu Yun simply waved his hand, and the raging fire vanished instantly!

“What!” Mata’s face changed dramatically, disbelief etched across his features.

Kort too was aghast.

“You dare display such elementary magic before me?” Chu Yun snorted coldly. “If I wished it, the president of the Magic Guild wouldn’t even be worthy of carrying my shoes!”

“How arrogant!” Cao Zheng, eager to see the masked man make enemies, seized upon the Magic Guild as his weapon. “You dare utter such words? Aren’t you afraid the Guild will destroy you?”

“Destroy me? The so-called magic of the entire Guild is mere sleight of hand in the face of true sorcery. It’s not worthy of the name!” Without even chanting an incantation, Chu Yun conjured a ball of flame in his hand, fiercer than Mata’s, a violet blaze that shot toward Mata.

“Instant casting!” Kort and Mata were both stunned to see Chu Yun unleash magic without so much as a whisper of an incantation.

“Violet fire!”

By the time Mata realized, the violet flames had already engulfed him. In panic, he began chanting every fire-dispelling spell he knew.

But it was useless. None of his knowledge could touch this higher arcane principle. The violet fire remained, untouchable and unassailable.

Screaming in agony, Mata rolled across the platform, his cries echoing, but no matter what he did, the flames would not die.

“Save him!” The city lord, Guo, was frantic. He turned to Kort. “Quick, dispel the fire on him!”

Kort shook his head sorrowfully. “It’s useless. He’s stronger than I am, and even he can’t fathom the principle behind this fire. I can do nothing.”

As he spoke, Kort looked at Chu Yun in utter terror. This man had stunned him again and again, shattering all his understanding.

This kind of flame could only be cast by the president of the Guild, but this mysterious man’s grasp of magic clearly surpassed even that. Even the Guild president needed a staff and an incantation to cast spells—never could he do so wordlessly.

Mata was entirely consumed by the raging fire, his screams fading to ash and drifting away on the wind.

“Showing off with a broadsword before Guan Yu—how laughable!” Chu Yun glanced at Mata’s charred remains, lifted his gaze to the crowd before him, and saw that the momentum of the four families had clearly waned.

“If this man leaves here alive, our families will live in constant fear,” the Cao family head said to the other patriarchs. “No more waiting. Attack!”

“Agreed!” The other three knew that if they backed down now, the so-called noble class would collapse, and their power would be shamefully crushed by a single man.

Numbers were all they had. Today, this man who dared to defy them must die!

As the four families closed in, Chu Yun suddenly lifted his head and spread his arms wide, as if he did not care about their threat in the slightest, daring them to come at him.

“Attack!” The four family heads stepped forward, covering more than ten meters in a stride, striking at Chu Yun with a palm each.

Behind them, all their family experts—over thirty in total—followed closely.

Just as Chu Yun felt their attacks about to reach him, his eyes snapped open and he shouted a single word: “Freeze!”

In the next instant, everyone within his range of attack was rooted to the spot, their feet bound to the ground by an immense force. No matter how they struggled, they could not move an inch.

The four patriarchs were shocked, unable to comprehend what was happening.

At this moment, Kort’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. In a daze, he burst out, “Restraint spell! That’s an arcane binding spell that only those who have mastered the laws of space can cast!”

Those around the city lord Guo were in an uproar. For the first time, he heard of such a spell.

“What is a restraint spell?”

Kort trembled all over. “It’s a lost spell from history, powerful enough to bind nuclear explosions and render all thermal weapons obsolete! Back in the Third Civilization, it was an archmage who used this very spell to seal every nuclear blast and then invade our planet!”

Everyone’s eyes widened, drawing sharp breaths.

City Lord Guo: “An archmage? Are you saying he’s attained the rank beyond grand mage—an archmage?!”

Kort nodded, then looked at Chu Yun with burning admiration. He dropped to one knee, placed a hand over his chest in the salute of the Magic Guild, and bowed deeply to Chu Yun.