Chapter Thirty-Two: The Killing of Zhao Yousan

In the next instant, five or six out of the group of more than ten suddenly turned traitor, attacking their companions beside them. Taken off guard, the assaulted men fell to the ground one after another.

“What—what are you trying to do?” someone cried out.

Ignoring their questions, the turncoats continued to strike at those they had knocked down. Yet the victims were quick to respond; though felled by the sudden ambush, they soon rallied and fought back fiercely against their attackers.

This was Dragon Feather’s beast mastery technique at work, controlling several men with her own mental force.

Zhao You-san was still reeling from the shock of his soldiers’ betrayal when, in the next moment, a surge of powerful psychic energy rushed toward him. His mind was seized by searing pain; his brain became a battlefield, caught between his own mental strength and the force Dragon Feather was using to subdue him.

But after only a few seconds, Dragon Feather’s mental energy faltered. This time, she failed to control Zhao You-san.

The failure was partly due to the tremendous drain on her powers from repeatedly using her beast mastery to control others, and partly because Zhao You-san himself was formidable. His physical strength was already above average, and though his psychic abilities could not rival those of a true mental power wielder like Dragon Feather, they were far stronger than those of ordinary men. As an ability user, he possessed a heightened mental force as well.

Beast mastery was indeed formidable, but its true strength lay in gradually changing a target, slowly making them completely submit. Direct, brute-force attempts at control were difficult when facing a strong-willed creature.

Clutching his aching head, Zhao You-san eyed Dragon Feather warily, then glanced at the tangled melee before him. For the moment, he dared not make a move, afraid Dragon Feather might strike him again—he never wanted to endure that agony a second time.

Dragon Feather herself was a bit stunned at her failure to subdue Zhao You-san. Her beast mastery, so often invincible, was not without limits. After a brief disappointment, she quickly regained her composure.

Beneath her calm surface, Dragon Feather’s mind raced. Aside from beast mastery, she had no other skills suitable for attack. Would she have to act personally? For a moment, she hesitated; after all, Zhao You-san was surrounded by soldiers, their eyes fixed hungrily upon her.

Moreover, those before her were not the only ones she needed to guard against—there were unknown enemies in the military she had yet to face.

The entire scene fell into a strange hush, broken only by the sounds of the brawl among the dozen or so men.

Fight or flee? Dragon Feather weighed her options silently.

Meanwhile, Zhao You-san quietly summoned a soldier, whispered a few words in his ear, and the man departed—likely to fetch reinforcements.

“No, I have to fight!” After a brief internal struggle, Dragon Feather refused to back down.

Her confidence in her own power and her unwillingness to let all her efforts go to waste drove her. She had stirred up such chaos, not quietly disposed of everyone, for a reason: “To awe all with overwhelming strength, to instill fear and reverence, so that my parents and sister could live safely here.”

If she left now, everything would be for naught, and she could not bear that thought. Besides, she trusted her abilities—if defeat was inevitable, she could still escape.

With these convictions, another portal quietly appeared behind Zhao You-san.

At that moment, Zhao You-san was watching Dragon Feather with keen vigilance, utterly unaware of the subtle disturbance behind him. The soldiers at his side likewise noticed nothing amiss.

The next second, before anyone could react, Dragon Feather’s figure shifted forward—and vanished from sight.

Before they could process the disappearance, Dragon Feather’s voice rang out from behind Zhao You-san.

“I’m right here!”

Zhao You-san had no time to respond. Dragon Feather’s most powerful skill, the Mountain-Splitting Palm, struck at him.

The force of the attack was so great that the air itself cracked with explosive sounds, and a tremendous pressure engulfed Zhao You-san.

He barely managed to shift his body before the blow landed, and the sheer disparity in physical strength, combined with the devastating power of Dragon Feather’s technique, sent him flying several meters.

As her palm struck Zhao You-san, Dragon Feather felt as though she had hit a cold iron wall—a chill seeped into her hand.

Looking again, Zhao You-san was already scrambling to his feet several meters away, his body encased in armor made entirely of ice. Clearly, his summoned armor had absorbed most of the attack, sparing him from serious harm.

Yet despite this, the impact had rattled him so badly that blood welled up in his throat and he coughed it out several times. The once-pristine ice armor was now battered and broken, a testament to the power behind Dragon Feather’s blow.

Struggling upright, Zhao You-san activated his ability once more. The battered ice armor began to slowly regenerate.

Zhao You-san was deeply shaken. His Frost Armor was a grade B skill, proof against even shells—yet Dragon Feather had shattered it with a single palm.

Quickly channeling his internal energy to restore the armor, Zhao You-san’s hands were busy as well.

Beside him, figures began to coalesce—ice giants, each two or three meters tall, making Dragon Feather seem almost “frail” by comparison.

In the blink of an eye, six ice giants appeared. Yet the enormous drain on Zhao You-san’s energy was evident; he could no longer stand, and sat on the ground, protected by his armor.

The soldiers clustered around him, forming a tight shield.

The ice giants lunged at Dragon Feather.

While battling these ice giants, Dragon Feather also had to dodge bullets from military-modified sniper rifles; though most rounds barely affected her, those few enhanced rifles posed a real threat.

The soldiers dared not approach, but they showed no hesitation in firing their ammunition.

Ordinary bullets were of little consequence to Dragon Feather, but she remained wary of those special rifles.

Through her uncanny footwork, she evaded the ice giants’ attacks, swiftly shattering them one after another. Soon, only one remained.

Zhao You-san, his will to fight gone, tried to escape with the help of his subordinates.

But Dragon Feather would not let him slip away. Ignoring the last remaining ice giant, she stepped through her portal right to Zhao You-san’s side and seized him.

Now, she had no intention of sparing him. Surrounded by soldiers, Dragon Feather struck twice more; the Frost Armor shattered with a thunderous crash. Then she drove her fist hard into Zhao You-san’s abdomen, punching a bloody hole through him.

Terror flooded Zhao You-san’s eyes—fear, regret, and defiance mingled in his expression, but he could no longer utter a word. He was dead.

Those soldiers who still dared resist were dispatched by Dragon Feather; the rest fled for their lives.