The Eternal Emperor: Reborn to Slaughter The Gods

Who Dares Touch My Property?

"Let go of that box, you thieving scum!" Xiao Lan's voice echoed across the courtyard, cracking with helpless rage as she chased after a burly man in gray iron armor.

The man laughed, casually tossing a heavily carved wooden chest into the dirt. The wood splintered on impact, spilling faded silk robes, old scrolls, and broken jade ornaments across the mud. "Move aside, old woman. This property belongs to the Wang Clan now. Your useless master has ten minutes to clear out before we burn this shack to the ground."

"This chest belonged to the late mistress!" Xiao Lan wept, falling to her knees to gather the scattered silks. "You have no right to touch these things! They are all the young master has left!"

"The young master is a dead man walking," the guard sneered, kicking a jade hair ornament away from her reaching fingers. "He won't need silk robes where he is going. Now get out of the way before I step on your hands."

Lu Tian walked out of the shadow of the hallway, his footsteps silent against the stone path. He paused at the edge of the courtyard, his eyes tracking a delicate silver hairpin, one of the few remaining keepsakes of his new body's mother as it was crushed beneath a guard's muddy boot. The metal twisted into the dirt, its polished surface instantly ruined by grime.

"Who gave you permission to touch those items?" Lu Tian asked, his voice low, steady, and carrying an unnatural weight that cut through the noise of the clearing.

The leading enforcer, a scarred man named Captain Chen, stopped barking orders to his men and turned around. He looked at Lu Tian’s soiled, blood-stained clothes and let out a booming laugh that made his armor rattle. He spat a thick glob of saliva onto the grass, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, look what crawled out of the trash heap," Chen sneered, resting his heavy hand on the pommel of his broadsword. "The crippled young master himself. I thought your cousin broke your legs yesterday. The servants were saying you were hiding under your bed, waiting to die."

"I asked you a question," Lu Tian repeated, stepping into the center of the courtyard, completely ignoring the five armored men now encircling him. "Who told you that you could dump my family’s history into the mud?"

"The First Elder of your own clan sold this land to Lord Wang last night for ten thousand spirit stones," Chen said, pulling his broadsword from its sheath with a sharp, ringing hiss. "The papers are signed. The contract is sealed. You are a squatter, kid. Now, get on your knees and crawl out of the main gates before I use your back for blade practice."

"The First Elder does not own this courtyard," Lu Tian said, his eyes locking onto Chen's blade. "My father built it with his own hands. My mother blessed it with her arrays. A thief cannot sell what he does not own."

"He owns it because he has the strength to take it," Chen mocked, pointing the tip of his sword at Lu Tian’s chest. "That is how the world works, little trash. The strong inherit the earth, and the weak get kicked out of their houses. Your parents are dead, and you are a nobody."

"Is that the logic the Wang Clan operates on?" Lu Tian asked, a cold smile forming on his lips. "That strength dictates ownership?"

"Exactly," Chen barked. "And right now, we have the armor, the swords, and the cultivation. You have nothing but a big mouth and a dirty coat."

"Then by your own logic," Lu Tian said, taking another calm step forward, "if I am stronger than you, this armor and these swords belong to me."

"Listen to this lunatic!" Chen laughed, looking over his shoulder at his subordinates. "He thinks he is a cultivator now! Hey, look at his face. He actually believes he can do something."

The other guards laughed along, relaxed and careless. They had known Lu Tian as the family joke for a decade. To them, he was less dangerous than a stray alley cat.

"Young master, please run!" Xiao Lan cried out from the dirt, clutching the ruined chest to her chest. "They will kill you! They have no mercy!"

"Do not worry, Xiao Lan," Lu Tian said without breaking eye contact with Chen. "They are not going to kill anyone today. They are just going to clean up the mess they made."

"I don't argue with cripples," Chen shouted, his amusement suddenly vanishing into annoyance. "Break his arms and throw him into the street! Let the town square see what happens to the trash of the Lu Clan."

Two enforcers lunged forward, their iron-shod boots kicking up dirt. They raised their heavy wooden clubs, swinging them down toward Lu Tian’s shoulders with enough force to shatter bone. But to Lu Tian, their movements were entirely telegraphed, clumsy, and painfully slow. The seconds stretched as his ancient battle instincts took over his newly refined body.

Lu Tian moved like a ghost.

Before the first guard could even complete his swing, Lu Tian slipped past the descending club, entering the guard’s blind spot. He slammed his open palm directly into the man's chest. The impact sounded like a heavy hammer hitting a drum, a dull, echoing thud that resonated through the courtyard. The guard’s iron breastplate caved inward instantly, and he flew backward five yards, crashing into a stone pillar and passing out as his weapon clattered away.

"What the..." Chen gasped, his smile vanishing as his jaw dropped.

The second guard swung his club wildly in a panic, but Lu Tian simply tilted his head, letting the heavy wood whisper past his ear. He reached out, his hand moving like a striking viper, and grabbed the guard’s throat with an iron grip. With a single fluid motion, he slammed the man face-first into the stone steps, shattering his jaw and leaving him groaning in the dirt.

"Who else wants to help me clean the courtyard?" Lu Tian asked, looking at the remaining guards.

The remaining two enforcers looked at each other, their faces turning pale. They took a step back, lowering their weapons. They had never seen a mortal move with such speed, let alone a boy who was supposed to be bedridden.

"You are no cripple!" Chen roared, his face darkening with panic as he realized his men were down in seconds. He realized he had severely underestimated the boy. He gripped his broadsword with both hands, channeling his inner energy into the metal until it glowed with a faint, aggressive blue light. "Die, you brat!"

Chen executed a heavy downward cleave, aiming to split Lu Tian in half. The wind pressure from the strike tore the grass from the soil, creating a visible wave of dust that rushed ahead of the blade.

Lu Tian didn't dodge. He stood his ground and raised his bare right hand, catching the glowing edge of the broadsword between his palms.

The blue spiritual energy around the blade shattered instantly under the pressure of Lu Tian's dark, refined strength, dispersing into the air like worthless smoke. With a brutal twist of his wrists, Lu Tian snapped the reinforced iron blade into four jagged pieces. The fragments rained down into the dirt, clinking softly against the stones.

"Impossible!" Chen screamed, staring at the useless hilt left in his hands. He looked at his own palms, which were vibrating from the feedback of the shatter. "You have no cultivation! You are a mortal! How can a mortal break spiritual iron with his bare hands?"

"Your technique is garbage," Lu Tian whispered, stepping inside Chen’s guard before the captain could even think of retreating.

He drove his fist directly into Chen's stomach, lifting the massive, armored man completely off his feet. Chen’s breath exploded from his mouth in a spray of red saliva. Lu Tian then grabbed the captain by his collar and slammed him onto his knees in the dirt. The force of the impact shattered Chen's kneecaps against the hard stone walkway.

The defeated enforcer screamed in agony, clutching his shattered legs as he stared up at the skinny teenager with absolute terror. His previous arrogance was entirely gone, replaced by the primitive fear of a beast facing its predator.

"Who gave you permission to be here?" Lu Tian asked again, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.

"The First Elder!" Chen screamed, tears of pain mixing with the dirt on his face. "The First Elder gave us permission! He told us you were a waste! He said we could kill you if you resisted! He signed the papers himself!"

The defeated enforcer screams that the First Elder gave them permission, right as a massive pressure descends on the courtyard, signaling the arrival of the First Elder himself.