Imperial Cultivation

The target Chu Zhiyuan intended to attack was located in the center of Mingluan Avenue in the outer city, at the end of a narrow alley heading south. Upon exiting the south gate of the inner city, one would arrive at Mingluan Avenue in the outer city.

Mingluan Avenue was even more bustling than Phoenix Avenue in the inner city.

It was slightly more chaotic, not as clean and tidy as the inner city. The ground was not paved with white stones, but with bluestone slabs. Various shops and stalls lined the streets, and pedestrians bustled about.

Chu Zhiyuan and his group weaved through the crowd like swimming fish, unhindered and without slowing down. They reached the center of Mingluan Avenue, turned left, and entered a small alley.

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Suddenly, a red dot appeared on the forehead of an old woman selling snacks across the alley. Then, with a "pop," a bloody hole appeared, followed by blood flowing from all seven orifices, and she slowly collapsed to the ground. "Ah—!"

An old woman and two children who were surrounding the old woman to buy snacks immediately screamed. Meanwhile, Chu Zhiyuan and his group of nine had already rushed into the alley.

Chu Zhiyuan floated lightly on his feet, Zou Fang followed closely like a shadow, and Guo Chi and the other four surrounded him, constantly operating the Four Spirits Formation. Huang Shirong and the three women floated like white clouds, seemingly slow at first glance, but their speed was not slow at all.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Hall Master Huang, your lightness skill is becoming more and more refined."

Huang Shirong said, "It's still far behind the prince's. Is that old woman a hidden sentry?"

"Yes, a hidden sentry hidden so close, and only one, it seems there's a secret passage there," Chu Zhiyuan said. "We need to launch a swift attack to prevent them from escaping."

"Okay," Huang Shirong said solemnly.

"You attack head-on, I'll take the back route."

"Okay."

As they spoke, they had already flown to the end of the alley.

At the end of the alley was a secluded courtyard, with no neighbors on either side. The nearest houses were about thirty meters away. They directly leaped over the wall and shot into the courtyard.

As they disappeared into the alley, Lu Feihong of the Liufeng Sect and Zheng Xicai of the Nulang Sect barely managed to catch up to the alley entrance.

Meanwhile, two nimble young girls also appeared in the distance, each holding a small notebook in their hands, quickly writing a string of words in the notebooks.

They appeared in front of the old woman and saw that she was already bleeding from all seven orifices, dead. Fresh blood was gurgling from the center of her eyebrows, mixed with white matter. The two children and a middle-aged woman were still screaming, their faces pale with fright.

They shook their heads and did not try to comfort them, but floated after Lu Feihong and Zheng Xicai into the alley.

Soon, experts from the Town Guard Office came to maintain order, preventing people from approaching and protecting the corpse for investigation.

The courtyard had three sections. In the front hall of the first section, two people were discussing something. As soon as they heard the sound of clothing, their expressions showed vigilance, but two white lights had already shot at them. They wanted to avoid it, but it was too late. Two knives had already struck their hearts.

"Bang! Bang!"

Their chests felt as if they had been struck by a heavy object. They flew out and crashed heavily against the wall, then blood arrows spurted from their mouths and noses, and they slid limply to the base of the wall. Their eyes widened, and a look of astonishment appeared on their faces, the light in their eyes quickly dimming, eventually extinguished.

And such a small courtyard was only one of twenty-one, which showed the strength of the Jade Cauldron Sect. It also showed how powerful the evil methods of the Jade Cauldron Sect were.

Improving cultivation by means of exterminating humanity, the progress was naturally surprisingly fast, far exceeding normal imagination. Therefore, evil sects were repeatedly banned but never completely eradicated. They would grow and expand if one was not careful.

Before they could even discover Chu Zhiyuan and his group, streaks of white light had already shot in front of them. Chu Zhiyuan said, "Be careful, the young ones are stronger, four Grandmasters!"

Guo Chi and the other four had been wandering around Chu Zhiyuan, regardless of the Jade Cauldron Sect or not. Their only goal was Chu Zhiyuan. As long as they surrounded Chu Zhiyuan in the formation and protected him within the Four Spirits Formation, other things were none of their business.

Chu Zhiyuan waved his hands together.

Strike first to gain the upper hand, strike later to be controlled by the opponent.

The best way to eliminate danger was to nip it in the bud, killing the opponent before they could strike. This was the safest and most reliable method. Only then did he understand why the Grand Elder had allowed him to participate in this encirclement and suppression, and why Chu Qingfeng had appointed him to lead a team.

There were four Grandmasters here, but their realms were all below the Third Heaven, one in the First Heaven and two in the Second Heaven. They posed no threat to him.

Flying knives turned into streaks of light and shot out.

Eight knives were shot out in one breath, already the limit of what his sleeves could hold.

These flying knives were not day knives, night knives, or hidden knives, but only ordinary flying knives. He was reluctant to use them to kill targets at close range that were not strong. "Kill—!"

The eighteen Jade Cauldron Sect experts, upon seeing this, rushed towards Chu Zhiyuan and his group of nine without hesitation.

Regardless of who they were, anyone who dared to break into this place would face a "death" sentence. Huang Shirong and the others rushed forward.

Chu Zhiyuan retreated backward.

"Chih chih chih chih..."

Eight of the eighteen Jade Cauldron Sect experts who were rushing over suddenly flew up. They hadn't paid much attention to the flying knives that had shot towards them.

These flying knives looked fast, but upon closer inspection, it was clear they lacked power, purely intended to disrupt movements and buy time. Unexpectedly, the flying knives suddenly surged with power, accelerating rapidly, and instantly pierced their hearts with a flash of light.

The change was too swift for them to react.

With knives in their hearts, they were lifted off the ground, sliding twenty meters through the air before crashing into a weapon rack. The swords and sabers on the rack scattered in all directions.

The remaining ten men’s expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, and they immediately charged towards Chu Zhiyuan and the others, prioritizing eliminating Chu Zhiyuan.

Chu Zhiyuan retreated, while Guo Chi and the other three stepped forward to meet them. The Four Spirits Formation remained active, protecting Chu Zhiyuan and Zou Fang within. Huang Shirong and the three women brandished their swords, blocking six of the attackers.

Each of them used their sword light to entangle two opponents, preventing them from attacking Chu Zhiyuan, leaving only four young men to charge towards Chu Zhiyuan.

Guo Chi and the other three wielded their swords, their forms shifting. The four men's sword light coalesced into a silver ring, deflecting any blades that touched it, rendering them unable to break through. Chu Zhiyuan, within the ring, reached out and said, "Zou Fang, knives!"

Zou Fang retrieved flying knives from his sleeve and handed them over. The knives were gleaming and reflective.

Chu Zhiyuan caught them and immediately threw them. Streaks of white light flashed through the air, heading towards the four young men besieging Guo Chi and the others. All four young men were Grandmasters, and at such close range, they sneered.

With their bodies protected by罡qi, these flying knives couldn't possibly harm them. They swung their sabers, fiercely slashing at the silver ring. Their sabers danced in the sky, drawing silver arcs that crashed heavily against the silver ring.

Subsequently, they bounced high into the air, then slipped from their grasp, tumbling several times before falling.

At this moment, the four young men were clutching their hearts, having flown thirty meters away to land heavily on the bluestone ground, glaring fiercely at Chu Zhiyuan. They hadn't expected these flying knives to be 破罡 divine weapons!

Who would turn 破罡 divine weapons into flying knives? That's just insane!

Chu Zhiyuan had reforged the two 破罡 divine weapons into sixteen flying knives, giving eight to Zou Fang, and keeping eight for himself.

He kept the Day Knife and Night Knife for self-defense, as trump cards, not to be used lightly.

Zou Fang flashed out of the Four Spirits Formation's range.

He first retrieved the flying knives from the hearts of the four young men, ignoring the frozen anger and unwillingness on their faces.

Then, he retrieved the flying knives from the others, floating back to Chu Zhiyuan's side, and vigorously wiped them with a snow-white handkerchief. Chu Zhiyuan said, "Next time, we'll have to use wine to clean them."

"Yes," Zou Fang replied. Chu Zhiyuan flicked out six white lights. "Swish, swish, swish, swish..."

These six white lights were even more powerful than before, whistling as they shot towards the six Jade Cauldron Sect experts who were fighting Huang Shirong and the three women. The six of them were already on guard, and upon seeing the white lights, they hurriedly swung their sabers or swords to meet them.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang..."

The flying knives collided with the sabers and swords, flying away in different directions.

The power contained in the flying knives was too strong, directly knocking away their weapons, and numbing their bodies. With their movements stalled, they were pierced through the heart or between the eyebrows by the swords and died.

The three women retreated, carefully wiping their sword blades with snow-white handkerchiefs, then returning the swords to their sheaths. Chu Zhiyuan glanced around.

The Harmonious Heart Saber Art combined with the Sword Control Art is indeed incredibly powerful.

Eliminating those four young Grandmasters first was key, taking out their leaders.

After all, these guys are selfish and self-interested. Without the leaders' coercion, and without seeing a desperate situation, they wouldn't easily resort to mutually assured destruction. Huang Shirong smiled and said, "The young master's flying knives are indeed formidable."

Without these terrifying flying knives, they wouldn't have been able to eliminate the enemies so easily, wiping them out in the blink of an eye. "There's still room for improvement," Chu Zhiyuan said.

First of all, there aren't enough flying knives.

Flying knives are more effective than imagined in dealing with opponents. The knife arrives before the person, with excellent results.

This is the power of the Sword Control Art.

After becoming a Grandmaster, the Sword Control Art truly begins to unleash its power.

He speculated that the Sword Control Art would be most effective for Great Grandmasters, when they can control mental energy to attack, that's when the Sword Control Art truly shines. Secondly, these people aren't strong enough.

Even those four Grandmasters were only newly entered Grandmasters, one at the second level, one at the third level, and the rest only at the first level. Moreover, they were careless and underestimated their opponents, which is why they were so easily eliminated.

A moment later, two lithe young women floated into the courtyard, looked at the front yard, then came to the middle yard, and saw the scene.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded to them, and said to Huang Shirong, "Hall Master Huang, see if there are any clues, perhaps there will be discoveries." Huang Shirong nodded solemnly.

She waved her hand.

Wen Qianqian and Xu Mengyu wielded their swords, and unhesitatingly slashed open their clothes. They regarded the exposed white and dark flesh as if it were beef and pork, treating it as ordinary, and not caring at all. Chu Zhiyuan and Huang Shirong went to the back yard.

The backyard was a small vegetable garden. It was now the dead of winter, the ground was frozen, so vegetables couldn't be grown. It was desolate and bleak.

Chu Zhiyuan walked around the small vegetable garden, and suddenly stopped at a spot, and stamped his foot.

"Thump thump." Huang Shirong's eyes lit up.

She floated over, and followed by stamping her feet. "Thump thump thump thump..."

"Is this a secret passage or a secret room?"

"It should be a secret passage," Chu Zhiyuan said.

Huang Shirong squatted down and tapped, and finally stomped her foot. "Rumble!"

Mud exploded, revealing a bluestone slab. Huang Shirong didn't rush down, and swiped with her long sword.

Wherever the sword tip passed, there was no resistance. The bluestone slab was cut into several pieces like a piece of tofu, and finally "bang bang" fell below. Chu Zhiyuan saw that this secret passage had no traps, but didn't stop Huang Shirong from acting.