“Perfect timing!”
Li Weiyi, filled with heroic vigor, roared aloud. He then set his feet in the Qingxu Gan-Chan Step and was the first to intercept the Seven Springs expert with the dense beard who had begun to show fear of him.
With one sword strike, he cleaved through the sea, his yellow sword light stretching nearly a zhang in length, forcing his opponent back. Without pursuing further, Li Weiyi spun around and charged at a middle-aged man marked by a long black mole on his brow.
He reached his target before the man could launch a punch to burst open the building’s main entrance, the tip of Li’s sword touching the man’s chest. Cornered and with no other choice, the man with the black mole had to duck and roll to the right, tumbling out. Li Weiyi had been waiting for this moment.
Once his opponent flinched in such a clumsy dodge, a blind spot would appear in his vision, and all his battle formations, mental focus, and courage would quickly crumble into chaos.
“Swish! Swish! Swish…”
Li Weiyi attacked like a raging storm. One sword strike came faster than the next, with sword shadows cascading down like a waterfall. By the time the Seven Springs expert with the dense beard rushed forward to come to his rescue, the man with the black mole had his two arms severed.
His shoulders were drenched in blood, and he resembled nothing more than a walking stick. He let out a miserable, hoarse cry, unable to accept such a gruesome fate. The Seven Springs expert, trembling with dread, was completely stripped of his fighting intent and turned to flee.
However, the man looking like a human stick, driven by his will to survive, already took a step toward the direction of the main gate.
“Cross that gate and you still think you can run?”
Li Weiyi pursued him.
If a martial artist from the Seven Springs Cult had a steadfast fighting will, the courage to fight to the death, a calm and rational mind, and a spirit that said “none other than me” in his very essence, then in a head-on confrontation Li Weiyi would find it difficult to completely finish off any one of them.
And if two of them joined forces, they could pose a life-and-death threat to Li Weiyi. But if their spirit faltered and they started to flee, finishing them off would be much easier for Li Weiyi. …
“What on earth is being done in that mansion? They’re fighting so fiercely—it sounds like many have died. It’s really frightening,” someone remarked from afar.
In the distance, from one of the brothels across the street, many young and elegantly dressed women stood at the railing. Some were curious, others shocked or excited, discussing among themselves with the wealthy patrons by their side.
“That thick dark mist… could it be Departing Spirit and Evil Spirit?” one woman asked.
“Don’t worry, we won’t be affected. It’s those people from the Changlin Gang who were trying to loot the newly moved-in residents, but it seems they’ve hit a brick wall!” replied a martial arts expert of the legal and martial kind, who seemed to know something behind the scenes.
“That new guy, who does he think he is to dare challenge the Changlin Gang? Don’t they know that our city district is ruled by the Changlin Gang?” another voice said.
“Look, the city defense troops have arrived.”
“Getting here so late – they must be in cahoots with the Changlin Gang.” …
“Boom!”
A section of the courtyard wall was smashed open by the dense-bearded Seven Springs expert, leaving a hole over a person’s height. A body was sent flying over a zhang away, landing prone on the street as though it had been blasted out by a single punch. Debris from the wall scattered in all directions along the street.
From the direction of the brothel came continuous screams.
“Crash!”
Almost in the blink of an eye, Li Weiyi leaped out of the courtyard wall. His knee flew forward, striking the man’s chest, and then a fist smashed his face beyond recognition. The stone slabs on the street cracked under the force.
“Stop it!”
“Unhand him! How dare you kill in the streets of Nine Li City,” shouted voices. …
A patrol of city defense troops on horseback—a group of more than twenty—raced in, each clad in armor and carrying spears. Even from afar, they bellowed commands.
“Rumble, rumble, rumble!”
The sound of iron hooves grew louder as the white-armored riders on robust horses, who had taken in the blood of foreign beasts and undergone changes that made them nearly twice as strong as ordinary horses, quickly closed in around Li Weiyi. Li Weiyi slowly stood up. His fists were stained with fresh blood.
His gaze swept over the formidable army of city defenders, who stood like impenetrable walls of metal, yet the fearsome aura they carried did not shake him. He bowed respectfully and said, “I am Xie Jin, a commoner of the Cang Li Tribe. I have come to pay respects to all you military lords.
These villains broke into a residence to commit their misdeeds, and I have subdued them.” The leader of this city defense unit was a man named Chen Chuan, an expert of the Seven Springs aberrant race. Chen Chuan was already in his sixties, possessed a tiger head, and stood three meters tall, exuding formidable strength.
“With their breaths and heartbeats already gone, you call that subduing them?”
Chen Chuan snorted coldly. In his cultivation, even from several zhang away he could detect the faint internal conditions of the body lying on the ground. Li Weiyi replied, “Perhaps my blow was a bit heavy!
But I had no other choice—they were far too strong and vicious. It had to be desperate or nothing would work.” Chen Chuan recognized the middle-aged man lying on the ground and well understood his capabilities.
He knew full well that the young man before him possessed an unfathomable level of cultivation, and he was momentarily at a loss whether he should offend someone as formidable as him on behalf of the Changlin Gang. After all, the Changlin Gang paid him only a thousand silver coins a month.
“You claim to be a commoner of the Cang Li Tribe. Do you have your Commoner Certificate?”
Chen Chuan asked.
“Yes, I do.”
Reaching into his bosom, Li Weiyi produced the Commoner Certificate that Zhao Zhi Zhuo had helped him obtain in Yao Guan City. More than eighty percent of the people in Li Prefecture were born into the Nine Great Tribes and were collectively referred to as commoners.
The Commoner Certificate, which could be issued in every city in Li Prefecture, only required a formality if the Young Clan Leader of the Cang Li Tribe gave the order. With many of the usual assessments waived, it was mostly just for show. Of course, since issuing these certificates was so simple, forging them had become equally easy.
In recent years, due to the decline of the nine great tribes and the continuous warfare in other states, many outsiders had flooded into Li Prefecture, either to escape the fighting or to seize territory and profits. Many of these crooked practitioners held forged Commoner Certificates, and they were rampant throughout Li Prefecture.
Chen Chuan, hailing from the Chi Li Tribe, naturally saw that Li Weiyi’s certificate was not a simple fake—in fact, it had a village and a fief with an exact geographical location recorded on it. While nothing else could be confirmed, at least it was clear that this certificate could not have been easily forged.
Forged Commoner Certificates were too easy to expose, and once exposed, the consequences were severe. With a clatter, Chen Chuan leapt off his sturdy white-metal-plated horse. He tossed the Commoner Certificate back to Li Weiyi.
Then, stepping over shattered stones from the hole in the wall, he entered the residence. After a quick glance at the scene inside, Chen Chuan inhaled sharply. His eyes slowly shifted back to Li Weiyi, now filled with a trace of caution.
At the far end of the street, two Changlin Gang lookouts were hastily disappearing into the darkness. … The residence of the Changlin Gang leader covered nearly a hundred acres, with high walls and imposing courtyards. The gate was a full three zhang wide.
In front of the gate hung bone lamps, and on each side stood four aberrant martial arts experts, each armed with a weapon. Within the main building, Yang Qingxi, wearing a veil, sat in the position originally reserved for the gang leader “Xu Changlin,” reviewing the accounts from the past three months.
With her Pure Immortal Body, her hair and skin shone with a radiance beyond that of ordinary people. Even her five delicate snow-white, jade-like fingers were breathtakingly beautiful. The pair of exquisite eyes not veiled by the fabric were perceptive and focused.
Beside her were Xu Changlin, the gang leader; Vice Leader Tang Yan; and Flag Bearer Shi Chuanyu. These three were figures that made people in the area tremble, but at that moment they were carefully managing their gaze, not daring to act presumptuously.
Because they knew well that the young lady before them possessed not only the beauty of a Pure Immortal but also the cultivation of the Five Seas Realm and a cold-blooded resolve that could kill with a smile. After finishing her review, Yang Qingxi closed the account book.
With her slender fingers she plucked a bamboo-made brush from its tube, letting it dance as if imbued with flowing light, and coolly scanned the three men.
“You Changlin Gang members are getting better at making money. This season’s income alone is as much as what you earned in the first half of last year. Should I praise you or reward you?”
Vice Leader Tang Yan forced a flattering smile, “Earning money for you, my lady, is simply our duty… ah…”
“Swish—” Like the flash of a flowing beam of light, the brush left Yang Qingxi’s fingers, grazing Tang Yan’s cheek as it flew out and struck a rockery nearly six or seven zhang away.
The rockery, unable to bear the overwhelming force contained within the brush, collapsed with a tremendous boom. The resulting debris sent splashes of water cascading in the pond below. It was easy to imagine the fate of anyone hit by such a blow.
A crimson scar soon spread across Tang Yan’s cheek. He trembled so badly his legs felt like they were made of sifted chaff. In that split second he almost believed he was doomed—his head felt as if it might explode, and there was no chance to dodge.
Although both he and Yang Qingxi were of the Five Seas Realm, her Pure Immortal Body rendered her vastly more powerful than him. To kill him, all it took was a simple ordinary brush.
Coldly, Yang Qingxi fixed her gaze on Tang Yan, who was now kneeling on the ground in terror, and said, “These recent dealings of the Changlin Gang, the exact figures of money earned—did you honestly think you could fool the Yang Clan?” Xu Changlin hurriedly explained, “My lady, it was Vice Leader Tang who brought in a formidable Insect Tamer.
That Insect Tamer kept a brood of Armored Spiders, and they needed the flesh of martial artists of the human kind for food. Every time, he would take it upon himself to kill and feed his spider minions, leaving us only to clean up afterwards. In time, the accidental profits turned out to be rather substantial.”
Yang Qingxi did not believe that the Changlin Gang had actually recruited any formidable Insect Tamer and showed no interest in it. With a severe look in her eyes she said, “For a gang to survive, being ruthless is acceptable.
But whether it is three months or half a year, Li Prefecture is bound to fall into chaos sooner or later. I just fear that you are so focused on little profit that you will cause great trouble.”
“Just these past few days, several important Yang Clan friends will be arriving in Nine Li City from another land. Their identities are special, and they should not enter the city; you will handle receiving them. During this period, everyone is to behave and not expose their movements.”
An elderly man hastily arrived outside the main building, his expression urgent. Xu Changlin flashed a glance at Shi Chuanyu, who then bowed to Yang Qingxi before quickly heading out to inquire of the old man what had happened. After a brief, hushed conversation, the color drained from Shi Chuanyu’s face.
“Are you sure it is from the Five Seas Realm?” he asked in a hushed tone.
The old man nodded, “Extremely powerful! The lookouts said that with just one move, that person killed over a dozen of our experts, including two Seven Springs Guest Ministers—and even Master Qi, the Insect Tamer, was captured. Moreover, the enemy wielded a magical artifact and had even placed a spirit seat in the courtyard.
Their confidence was overwhelming. If this is not the Five Seas Realm, then what is it?”
“What’s even more terrifying is that the owner of that residence—the giant aberrant, standing six meters tall—did not make an appearance at all from beginning to end. Clearly, his cultivation is unfathomable.”
Shi Chuanyu’s heart pounded furiously as he recalled that earlier in the day, while trusting another’s hands, he had not sensed any magical power. It was very likely that the enemy’s cultivation was far too high for him to detect. The old man continued, “There’s also one more thing.”
Shi Chuanyu struggled to steady his shaking heart and fixed his gaze on Yang Qingxi in the main building. After a moment, he said, “Speak!”
“The city defense officer, Chen Chuan, has already rushed over. The enemy claims to be a commoner of the Cang Li Tribe.”
Immediately thereafter, the old man beckoned someone from afar. Two robust gang members carried the gravely injured Zhao Zhi Zhuo over. Zhao Zhi Zhuo lay on the ground, his entire body covered in blood.
His face was nearly unrecognizable, his arms dislocated and swollen from bruises. With great difficulty he managed to force open his eyes a crack and weakly said, “They truly are guests of the Young Clan Leader of the Cang Li Tribe. You Changlin Gang… you’d better not think of any evil schemes.
The Young Clan Leader will not let you off…” After being captured, Zhao Zhi Zhuo had no other option but to invoke the name of the Young Clan Leader, hoping to scare off the Changlin Gang. Instead, he was met with ridicule from the gang members and even rougher beatings.
Some mocked him for not invoking the name of the Cang Li Tribe’s clan chief, while others suggested that naming Xu Fodu would be even more effective. Shi Chuanyu glared at the old man with a questioning look.
The old man looked troubled as well, “Who could have predicted that a guest from the Cang Li Tribe would choose to rent a residence in the outskirts? Moreover, he’s just an old servant of the Seven Springs with a two-spring cultivation. What credibility does he have?
If everyone starts naming someone, then anyone can fool us. But if the person inside truly belongs to the Five Seas Realm… then things are not so simple!” Seated inside, Yang Qingxi naturally absorbed every word exchanged outside.
Casting a disdainful glance at Xu Changlin, she murmured with a cold laugh, “So this is what you call a formidable Insect Tamer? Whoever started this trouble must be dealt with by their own hand.”
“Rest assured that I will handle everything,” Vice Leader Tang Yan quickly said, rising to leave, desperate to escape that suffocating room.
After a moment’s thought, Yang Qingxi called him back and, after careful deliberation, said, “Cang Li is known for his generosity. When he spends money liberally, if it were truly one of his notorious acquaintances, he would not be stationed in the outskirts. That must mean there is another purpose…
Investigate.
You must find out exactly who these people really are.”
(The chapter ends.)