Chapter 6: Tenji Sword Sect, I'll Be There

Words : 2590 Updated : Mar 19th, 2026

"Clang!" The blade showed no mercy, its edge cold as frost. At Santee Manor, beneath the crescent saber in Benson Santee's hand, a spray of red mist burst into the air like rain. Luca Santee, the young master of the Santee family, stared with eyes stretched wide. After a brief, stunned numbness, agony flooded through him. He watched, helpless, as half his shoulder flew away. "Ah... my arm...!" His features twisted. Terror swallowed his face whole. Everyone froze at the sight. Calvin Santee, Rosalyn Santee, and the rest of the Santee family surged with shock and fury. Even the heads of the Four Great Families couldn't help but rise from their seats. A severed limb. A brutal gash carved across the dueling platform. Luca stumbled backward like a crippled dog, while Benson stood before him like a demon god, cold and unyielding. The Santee family panicked. Calvin, the head of the Santee family, erupted. "You little bastard... I'll have your life-!" Boom! With a flick of his sleeve, the tea table beside him shattered into splinters. Then Calvin struck out with his palm. A vast, crushing pressure rolled toward the platform like a tidal wave, and a golden palm-force lunged straight for Benson's face. Benson's gaze cut sideways. Instinct took over. He raised the crescent saber in front of him. Bang! The golden palm-force hit the blade like an invisible giant hand. The saber Benson had snatched from Luca snapped into several pieces on the spot. Calvin was the family head, and his cultivation had reached the Communion Realm. His palm strength could be projected through the air, fierce and domineering. Benson was only in the Body Refinement Realm. Between him and Calvin lay the Foundation Establishment Realm and the Energy Controlling Realm, two entire major stages. In an instant, the palm-force seeped into his body. The broken blade fell from his hand, and a thin line of blood slipped from the corner of his mouth. At the same time, Rosalyn swept onto the platform. Her long, pale fingers curled in the air as if grasping something unseen. "Clang!" The Spiritual Weapon Verdant Sword, which had fallen on the far side of the stage, shot back into her hand. In her grip, the Verdant Sword felt completely different from when Luca held it. Cold light crawled across the blade, and its fierce edge reflected on the faces of everyone watching. "You dared to hurt my brother..." Rosalyn's voice was ice. "Benson Santee, you've earned a death sentence!" She moved like a falling star, carving a brilliant streak through the air. In the blink of an eye, she pressed right up to Benson. The crowd's nerves tightened. "It's the Froststar Body. That sharp, chilling aura belongs only to the Froststar Body." "Rosalyn Santee is something else..." "..." Nearly every pair of eyes filled with astonishment. Rosalyn had entered Tenji Sword Sect only a year ago, yet she had already tempered a Froststar Body. They marveled at her talent, and even more at the terrifying strength of Tenji Sword Sect itself. After all, without Tenji Sword Sect's resources, how could she have condensed such a powerful Sword Body? No one had time to say more. Rosalyn stepped in and swung. A green arc of light flashed, and the sword edge shot straight for Benson's throat. "Die!" Her eyes were frigid. Her strike showed no hesitation. Just as everyone believed Benson would be beheaded on the spot, a surge of blood energy blasted through his robes again. "Clang!" Benson reached behind his back and drew a dark, cold black demon blade. He gripped the weapon in reverse and met her head-on. Boom! Sword and saber collided. Force exploded outward. Brilliant sword qi and a heavy, murky blade-light burst between them, and the two figures snapped apart. Swish! Whoosh! They each retreated several steps. Shock flickered across Rosalyn's face. "That is...?" The Santee family and the Four Great Families alike stared in disbelief. He blocked it. Benson had actually taken Rosalyn's frontal assault. "How is that possible?" someone said grimly. "Rosalyn is at the ninth level of the Body Refinement Realm. With the Froststar Body and the Verdant Sword boosting her, she can even contend with someone at the first level of the Foundation Establishment Realm." "Something's wrong," another voice muttered. "That Benson... his cultivation might have recovered." "But three years ago, he was only at the seventh level of the Body Refinement Realm!" "Exactly. Even at his peak back then, he couldn't have stopped Rosalyn's attack." "..." Tension thickened. The air itself seemed to churn. All eyes locked onto Benson. Rosalyn, however, stared at the black demon blade in his hand. When the Verdant Sword had struck it, she had felt a vicious, icy aura surge back at her. "So you picked up a little fortuitous encounter these past few days," she said, lifting her slender brows. Then her tone hardened. "But it's useless. You still won't walk out of the Santee family's gates today." As she spoke, she drove her spiritual power again. Several strands of sword qi coiled around the Verdant Sword, and a heavy pressure spread outward. "Kill him... Second Sister, kill him!" Luca roared from the edge of the stage, hatred shredding his voice. "Make him die horribly!" His eyes were bloodshot, as if he wanted to grind Benson into dust. "That's how badly you want me dead?" Benson stared at the woman before him, his voice colder than steel. Three years ago, she hadn't been this ruthless. Back then, Rosalyn's relationship with him had even been decent, until Tenji Sword Sect and the Santee family completed that deal... "This is all your own doing," Rosalyn said. Benson's gaze sharpened. "Wasn't it because the young sect master of Tenji Sword Sect couldn't tolerate me?" "Heh." Rosalyn laughed, low and scornful. Pity flickered in her eyes, thin as a blade. "Three years ago, you had Heavenly Phoenix Blood. Your talent wasn't bad. But compared to the young sect master, you were nothing but mud beneath the clouds. I'm not trying to humiliate you, Benson. In front of Tenji Sword Sect, you are... an ant." An ant. Every word dripped with contempt. A chill gathered at the corner of Benson's eyes. He tightened his grip on Star Soul, and bone-deep cold seeped into his palm. "Remember what you said today," he said, voice low. Rosalyn's eyes narrowed. "Oh?" Below the platform, Calvin swept a hand through the air and barked, "Rosalyn, stop wasting words. Just... cut him down!" A wave of killing intent surged. The entire courtyard felt on edge. Rosalyn lunged, sword raised. But Benson spoke first. "Your Santee family plans to kill a Tenji Sword Sect disciple in public?" Rosalyn halted mid-step. The Santee family stiffened as well. Benson held Star Soul in one hand, the other tucked behind his back. His expression stayed calm. "I've already secured the sect slot. That makes me an official disciple of Tenji Sword Sect. Senior Sister Rosalyn, killing a fellow disciple is a serious crime." A tremor ran through the air. Rosalyn's mind jolted. She knew Tenji Sword Sect's rules. Disciples were forbidden to slaughter one another. If Benson insisted on his status as a sect disciple, then she truly couldn't strike him down. But Benson had carved away half of Luca's shoulder and humiliated the Santee family in front of everyone. How could they just stop? Seeing Rosalyn hesitate, Benson knew he had found her restraint. Then his gaze shifted to Calvin. "Family Head Calvin, I'm a Tenji Sword Sect disciple. If you kill me, you damage the sect's authority. Today, all five great families of Moon City are here. In a few days, word will spread that the Santee family murdered an official disciple of Tenji Sword Sect. Tell me, what is that if not trampling on the sect's dignity?" His voice carried like a blade across stone, cold and cutting. Calvin's face darkened to a sickly iron-blue. In that instant, he understood he had stepped into Benson's trap. He could kill Benson, but he couldn't kill a Tenji Sword Sect disciple. He could swallow his pride, but he couldn't make Tenji Sword Sect lose face. For three years, the relationship the Santee family had built with Tenji Sword Sect could not be allowed to rot under rumors and public scorn. The Four Great Families watched like spectators at a play. Calvin's so-called "loyalty" to Tenji Sword Sect was almost laughable. Just because Benson carried the label of "sect disciple," Calvin suddenly had restraints. Between the insult to his own household and the face of the sect, what would he choose? Silence. Calvin clenched his fists, forcing his rage down by sheer will. "Let him go." The Santee family jolted. "Father?" Rosalyn called out sharply. Luca panicked, his voice cracking. "Dad, you can't let him go! He did this to me! Kill him! You have to kill him-!" Calvin's eyes were vicious, like a beast ready to tear flesh. He stared Benson down. "Hmph. The Santee family honors the wager. Get out." Benson almost laughed. Honor the wager? If the Four Great Families weren't here, if Calvin weren't afraid of harming his ties with Tenji Sword Sect, the entire Santee family would have rushed him and chewed him down to the bone. That was exactly why Benson had dared step into this place. He knew Calvin's "loyalty" to Tenji Sword Sect ran deeper than anything else. If there was even the slightest chance of damaging that relationship, Calvin would crush it before it happened. Benson walked off the platform and stopped before a servant holding a tray. "These are mine." Rosalyn's eyes turned sharp as sword points. "Benson Santee, don't push your luck." Those items were the rewards Tenji Sword Sect had granted Luca: a sword robe, a sect token, a Foundation Establishment Pill, a bottle of Marrow Cleansing Elixir, and a high-grade martial technique, *Flying Shadow Sword Art*. "You said yourself those were for the first-place official disciple of the Santee family this year," Benson replied. "I took first. What's the problem?" Before Rosalyn could argue, he reached out and took all five items. Rosalyn ground her teeth. "Don't forget. You're not part of the Santee family anymore. You were expelled long ago!" "But I'm part of the sect now," Benson shot back. Rosalyn sneered. "Hmph. Do you even have the guts to set foot in Tenji Sword Sect?" As long as Benson dared go, he would die. Benson ignored her. He walked toward the gates. When he reached the entrance, he paused and turned slightly, his cold eyes sweeping back over them. "Thanks for today's gifts." He stopped, then continued, each word absolute. "Also... Tenji Sword Sect, I'll be there." I'll be there. Every syllable cut like a knife. Benson Santee would go, but not yet. One day, he would step into Tenji Sword Sect and return every humiliation of the past three years, in full. The crowd's hearts tightened. The moment they met his gaze, they felt the provocation as plainly as a slap. "You...!" Calvin's eyes nearly spat fire. And Luca, stripped of everything, coughed up a mouthful of blood before his head lolled back and he passed out.

Chapter 6: Tenji Sword Sect, I'll Be There

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