Chapter 95: Echoes of Victory
The arena was still.
Su Jian stood frozen, clutching his bleeding neck with trembling fingers, eyes wide with disbelief. Silence reigned—not from peace, but from the sheer gravity of what had just occurred. A single strike. A flawless end.
Then, like thunder rolling in after lightning, the crowd erupted.
Cheers, gasps, shouts—chaos filled the air in waves, yet Su Tianhao remained utterly unmoved, standing quietly on the platform as if the duel had meant nothing to him at all.
"What the hell was that sword move?!"
"Did anyone actually see it? The blade vanished and reappeared!"
"I blinked—and it was over! Absolutely terrifying!"
"Su Tianhao didn't just win—he crushed him. Total domination from start to finish."
On the highest viewing platform, Su Yuntian stared at Su Tianhao with genuine shock replacing her usual composure.
'So he was a swordsman all along,' she thought, interest stirring within her cold heart for the first time in years. 'And his attainments in the sword path are not simple at all.'
The other elders—including Su Yuan, who had maintained unwavering faith throughout—were equally stunned. Su Liang's face had twisted into something between disbelief and horror, as if watching his worst nightmare unfold in vivid detail.
'Impossible. Impossible!' he cried inwardly, color draining from his face.
Su Minghe, however, discovered something else entirely.
He stared at Su Tianhao with his mouth slightly agape. "That's... the Indomitable Sword Foundation?"
Just like Su Lei, he had mistaken the Realm of Perfect Edge for the legendary realm he'd spent decades chasing—but even with that misunderstanding, the revelation shook him to his core.
"His master must be a Sword Lord," Su Minghe murmured. "If I could get even a few pointers from him..."
However, he was destined for eventual disappointment. Su Tianhao had no master—the phantom figure was a fabrication built for protection. Everything he'd achieved with the sword came from his mother's inheritance and his own unwavering will.
Su Tianhao turned toward Master Huan with a raised eyebrow, his expression carrying obvious expectation.
"Right!" Master Huan snapped out of his daze, stepping forward with purpose.
"The winner is Su Tianhao!"
His voice boomed like thunder rolling through a deep canyon—commanding, resonant, and carrying absolute finality.
It crashed over the arena in waves, silencing the scattered murmurs.
But instead of the thunderous applause one might expect, there was only silence.
Complete, suffocating silence.
"I see..." Su Jian mumbled with a bitter smile, blood still dripping slowly from the shallow cut at his neck. "Psychological dominance. That's what you were after."
Master Huan coughed deliberately—the sound cut through the arena like a blade, dragging people back from their private worlds of racing thoughts.
"Per the wager established before this match," he announced, voice amplified by spiritual energy until it echoed through every corner of the arena, "Young Master Jian must now apologize publicly and pay a sum of one thousand gold coins as compensation."
At this moment, Su Jian's expression was completely ugly. His fists clenched until his knuckles turned bone-white.
He didn't want to do it.
He loathed every aspect of this situation.
"What are you waiting for, Young Master Jian? I don't have all day."
Su Tianhao's voice cut through Su Jian's chaotic thoughts like a cold blade in the dark—quiet, unhurried, and utterly inescapable.
"W-What do you want?" Su Jian stuttered, fear bleeding through his voice despite his attempts at defiance.
"Apologize to me and admit your inferiority. Then pay the agreed sum."
"What?!" Su Jian's wounded pride flared instantly. "Don't you think you're going too far?!"
"Too far?" Su Tianhao's eyes narrowed. His spiritual aura remained carefully restricted—yet his presence felt somehow more oppressive than before.
"If you had won, I suspect you would have been more than happy to humiliate me publicly and banish me from the family." He took a single measured step forward. "Wouldn't you?"
His voice echoed across the silent arena like a judge's gavel—sudden, commanding, sealing fate beyond dispute.
Su Jian instinctively took one step back and gulped.
A cowardly retreat witnessed by thousands.
Su Liang could no longer watch quietly. He rose sharply from his elevated seat. "Enough! No matter what, Little Jian is your brother! How could you be so cruel?!"
"Brother? Cruel?" Su Tianhao chuckled coldly, turning to face Su Liang directly. "Second Elder, you really have an impressively thick face. Would you be saying the same things to Su Jian if I had lost?"
"You—!" Su Liang's trembling finger pointed directly at Su Tianhao, his face flushing crimson.
He drew a deep breath, forcing composure. His eyes turned cold. "Su Tianhao. If you know what's good for you, take the compensation and forget this matter entirely."
Su Huiqing's lips parted slightly—then closed.
As the saying went: blood is thicker than water. No matter what, Su Jian was his only biological offspring. Even with Su Tianhao formally adopted, watching his own flesh and blood publicly humiliated gave him pause.
"Are you threatening me?" Su Tianhao said, his voice carrying frostbite intensity.
"So what if I am?" Su Liang sneered. The mask had finally slipped—hatred and contempt he'd buried for years surfacing openly.
"Second Elder."
A single voice. Calm, yet impossibly heavy.
Su Qingfeng rose from his seat, his long white beard and silver hair caught the morning light. At this moment, he didn't resemble the enthusiastic elder from before.
He resembled judgment.
Su Liang's arrogance vanished like mist under direct sunlight.
"I—" he started.
"There's nothing to explain," Su Qingfeng said flatly. "Honor above all—that has always been our family's way. Do you truly wish to go against family rules because of your nephew's wounded pride?"
"I would never," Su Liang said through clenched teeth, his eyes cutting to Su Tianhao one final time—cold, quick, and unmistakable in their promise—before he lowered himself heavily back into his seat.
Su Tianhao shrugged casually, unbothered.
Su Qingfeng turned to face the arena, his presence inspiring unconscious reverence in even the most hardened cultivators below.
"It is settled," he declared. "Young Master Jian must apologize to Su Tianhao, admit his inferiority, and provide the agreed compensation."
His gaze fell upon Su Jian like a mountain of weight—heavy, inescapable, crushing.
"You brought this upon yourself. Now see it through to the end."
The once thunderous arena had quieted again—but this time, all eyes were locked on a single figure.
Su Jian.
He stood there, stiff as stone, drenched in sweat, covered in dirt and dust, his chest heaving with shallow breaths. But it wasn't the wound at his neck or even the devastating loss that weighed most heavily on him—it was the crushing silence of ten thousand stares, the unspoken demand that echoed louder than any word ever could.
"He's not really going to back out... right?"
"A deal's a deal. He has to apologize."
"Look at him now. Can't even lift his head."
Whispers rippled through the crowd—anticipation, judgment, mockery, and a strange sort of pity. For the first time in his life, Su Jian wasn't the center of attention because of his strength or talent. He was the center of attention because of the unbearable weight of his wounded pride.
And everyone was waiting breathlessly to see if he would swallow it.
'Damnit!' Su Jian cursed inwardly, head lowered, fists clenched tightly until his knuckles turned bone-white.
"What are you waiting for?" Su Tianhao's voice cut across the platform—quiet, unhurried, carrying that eerie calmness that sent involuntary chills racing down Su Jian's spine.
Panic surged. 'If I don't do something now, I really will have to apologize in front of everyone!'
He turned his face toward Su Huiqing, brown eyes carrying an unmistakable plea—a desperate, silent call for salvation.
Su Huiqing's heart tightened seeing his son's expression.
Then he turned away.
His intentions were clear. Su Jian would have to bear this alone.
Even as Patriarch, his hands were tied. Su Qingfeng had intervened directly—going against that now would mean going against established family rules and offending the First Elder's authority. There was nothing left to do.
Seeing his own father turn away, Su Jian knew it was over. The truth burned like molten iron pressed against bare flesh—searing, inescapable, unforgiving.
Hidden among the common folk in the viewing gallery, Ye Wenjie smiled pleasantly. His earlier shock had vanished entirely. He was clearly taking immense pleasure in Su Jian's misfortune.
Su Jian gritted his teeth—the sound low and audible, like a cornered beast with nowhere left to run.
He raised his head to face Su Tianhao directly.
What he saw infuriated him further. Su Tianhao stood calm and collected, hand resting lightly on Shadowfang's hilt, his expression carrying only faint impatience—as though he'd chosen to spare time for this purely to let Su Jian taste his own medicine, and found the entire process mildly tedious.
The realization didn't merely infuriate him. It reminded him brutally of his own crushing inferiority.
Su Jian smiled bitterly. "I'm sorry. I admit I am inferior to you in every way," he mumbled, voice barely above a whisper.
"I didn't hear you. Speak loudly," Su Tianhao said flatly, eyes carrying no particular interest.
Su Jian's nails bit into his palms. Blood dripped from his clenched fists.
"I am sorry, and I admit I am inferior to you in every way!"
The words rang across the entire arena, louder this time.
Then Su Jian lowered his head—and said nothing more. His entire body trembled visibly with shame.
The crowd remained utterly silent. No one had imagined that the outstanding Young Master of the Su family would be reduced to this by a boy they had all once dismissed as worthless trash.
A collective sigh moved through the gathering—quiet, mournful, heavy with pity and uncomfortable recognition.
Su Liang's expression had gone dark as storm clouds. He had now marked Su Tianhao as a mortal enemy deep within his heart.
Su Huiqing's face was equally unsightly, twisted with complex emotions. No matter what had happened, Su Jian remained his son. To see him humiliated in such a manner before his very presence—
The other elders remained impassive, expressions carrying quiet satisfaction at seeing family rules properly upheld.
"I'll be leaving first," Su Tianhao said, his voice cutting cleanly through the heavy silence. He turned to Su Jian one final time. "Have my one thousand gold coins ready before noon."
With those words hanging, he turned toward Master Huan, cupped his fists respectfully, gave a subtle bow, and walked calmly off the stage.
Master Huan nodded in acknowledgment, blue eyes carrying unmistakable awe and growing interest.
The moment Su Tianhao stepped from the platform, dozens of spectators poured from their seats in a disorganized rush—surrounding him from all sides like moths fluttering irresistibly toward a flame.
"Friend, can you spare time? Let's discuss things over tea..."
"I'll go straight to the point—join our Merchant Trade Union! Substantial benefits guaranteed!"
"Don't listen to him! I can recommend you to the City Lord's Mansion of Jade Valley City—they'd be more than happy to accept someone of your caliber!"
People of considerable status, humbling themselves, fighting over him like wolves over a prized trophy.
Su Tianhao smiled bitterly. 'Just one month ago, these same people wouldn't have spared me a glance,' he thought. 'Talent and strength truly are everything in this world.'
As the crowd grew denser and the offers bolder, his expression darkened.
"Little friend, take a look at my daughter—would you consider a betrothal?" A middle-aged man stepped forward eagerly, gripping the wrist of a simply-dressed young woman who offered a bashful smile.
"My niece is even more beautiful!" another shouted, introducing a stunning young woman whose blush and lingering gaze said more than her guardian's words.
Then a fat man with an oily face and a perverted smile wedged his way to the front. "Young Master, don't listen to them! It's only one woman each! I can give you dozens, as long as you're willing to hear my proposal—"
'What the hell? What do they take me for?'
Just as the situation spiraled completely out of control, a voice cut through the chaos—followed by a pressure that silenced the crowd immediately.
"Allow the boy some space."
Everyone turned.
Standing there was a handsome man with striking features—disheveled hair, dull and ordinary robes—yet emitting a presence far too heavy to ignore.
"Isn't that Master Lu?"
"Lu Qingran! The Ghost Eye Appraiser of the Thousand Beast Pavilion!"
"What's he doing here? He must also be recruiting Su Tianhao—I heard the Thousand Beast Pavilion has a headquarters in the capital!"
At Lu Qingran's appearance, most of the crowd immediately gave ground. A stubborn few lingered, clinging to the faint hope that Su Tianhao might still answer one of their offers.
"Master Lu," Su Tianhao greeted calmly, respectful and composed.
"Neither arrogant nor humble—I admire your character," Lu Qingran said with a genuine smile. He got straight to the point. "I hope to recruit you to our headquarters in the capital."
Su Tianhao's frown deepened. "Master Lu, I—"
"Don't be too quick to decline," Lu Qingran interrupted smoothly. "Swear loyalty to the Thousand Beast Pavilion, and we foster your development without holding anything back. You would even stand a genuine chance of becoming the future Pavilion Master."
He finished and fell silent, watching Su Tianhao steadily. Waiting.
The surrounding crowd was stunned. Many of those who had tried to recruit Su Tianhao felt ashamed of their own comparative pettiness. The Pavilion Master of the Thousand Beast Pavilion stood only half a step from the Martial Lord threshold—not someone any of the three great clans of Oakwood City could compare to. To be fostered by that organization without restriction, positioned as the Pavilion Master's heir?
The younger generation looked at Su Tianhao with open envy and burning jealousy.
However, his reply left them even more speechless.
"I appreciate your generous offer, Master Lu. But I'm not interested."