Escape? Did he mean that even with the four of us Fourth-Tier cultivators joining forces, we stood no chance against this youngster? Zha’er Muha, the reckless and bloodthirsty giant, was the first to object. His eyes bulged as he locked his gaze on Xu Qi’an.
What did he see… Why is he telling us to flee… If this kid was so terrifying, why did he engage us in battle for so long? Tang Shanjun, naturally suspicious, watched Xu Qi’an warily.
Did the Aura-Seeing Technique reveal something it shouldn’t have? Tianlang dropped his contempt, now on high alert.
Something’s off about this guy… The gruesome state of the white-robed Cultivator flashed before Hong Ling’s eyes. In that split second, her mind recalled a conversation she once had with a Cultivator.
It was on the way to Great Feng to ambush the Princess Consort. She had heard that the Princess Consort of the Northern Frontier King had a magnificent aura, visible to Cultivators from tens of miles away.
Curious, she had asked, “What about Third-Tier, Second-Tier, or even First-Tier cultivators?”
The Cultivator replied, “For a Third-Tier, it would severely damage their primordial spirit. For a Second-Tier, they’d go blind on the spot and lose their mind. As for a First-Tier…”
The Cultivator didn’t continue, but Hong Ling could guess from their expression that the outcome would be death.
Second-Tier? Is this kid a Second-Tier? No, he possesses something related to or equivalent to a Second-Tier… Hong Ling couldn’t control her racing heart, her adrenaline surging.
Her skin prickled, every nerve firing signals of danger and the need to flee.
At that moment, Xu Qi’an raised his hand and gently pressed down.
In a wave of energy as gentle as a breeze, all the maids simultaneously lost consciousness.
Run, run quickly, or I’ll die… Immense fear exploded in her heart. Hong Ling suppressed the urge to flee and forced a smile, saying, “This kid is simply arrogant. Zha’er Muha, why aren’t you attacking? Don’t you want the Confucian scripture?”
Zha’er Muha, bloodthirsty and combative by nature, was already displeased. He hadn’t sensed any power within Xu Qi’an exceeding the Fourth Tier. Provoked by Hong Ling, he immediately grinned ferociously and lunged at Xu Qi’an.
The ten-foot-tall giant charged, making the ground tremble.
Tianlang and Tang Shanjun were about to make their move when they suddenly realized something was amiss. They whirled around to find that Hong Ling had fled alone, abandoning the group.
This… The two Fourth-Tier experts’ pupils constricted, a sense of foreboding rising within them.
Then they heard the screams—Zha’er Muha’s screams of agony.
They turned back in horror to see the ten-foot giant painfully dropping to his knees. His right wrist was gripped by a pitch-black arm covered in deep blue veins.
That arm was corded with muscle, completely disproportionate to its owner, appearing somewhat deformed.
It exuded a sinister and terrifying aura as if it had emerged from the abyss, from hell itself. Just one glance made Tianlang and Tang Shanjun feel dizzy.
They finally understood why Hong Ling had fled, why the white-robed Cultivator had screamed for them to escape.
Crack, crack… Amidst the sound of breaking bones, the “giant” Zha’er Muha’s body rapidly shriveled, his screams abruptly ceasing.
The two no longer hesitated. One leaped onto a feather spider, and the other closely followed Hong Ling, beginning their escape.
“With sudden enlightenment, one becomes free from worry and fear,” Xu Qi’an declared loudly.
A Buddhist precept!
This time, he hadn’t used the magic book, because it was Shen Shu controlling his body.
In an instant, Hong Ling in the distance, and Tianlang and Tang Shanjun nearby, felt their fear subside. The urge to flee was stripped away, and they involuntarily turned back, compelled to fight Xu Qi’an to the death.
The effect of the precept disappeared after two seconds, fear and the survival instinct once again dominating their minds, but it was too late.
In those two seconds, it was enough for Xu Qi’an, possessed by Shen Shu, to achieve a triple kill.
He drew the black gold long saber from his waist, swung it out sharply, and then without looking back, appeared like a ghost before Tianlang. Gripping Tianlang’s neck, he suddenly expelled his energy.
With a crack, the head was torn off.
Immediately after, Xu Qi’an leaped high, descending from above to stomp Tang Shanjun into the ground, his palm striking the top of Tang Shanjun’s head.
Bang!
Tang Shanjun’s eyes instantly rolled back, his vertical pupils slowly dimming.
At that moment, a “thud” sounded in the distance as the black gold saber pierced Hong Ling’s chest, pinning her to the ground.
The physical body of a Fourth-Tier warrior was like paper before the weapon was hurled by Monk Shen Shu’s full strength.
“No, don’t kill me, don’t kill me…” Hong Ling begged pitifully, blood foaming at her mouth.
Intense regret welled up in her heart. If she hadn’t participated in this ambush, if she hadn’t come to Great Feng, she would never have encountered… encountered this monster.
The most terrifying one in the delegation wasn’t Yang Yan, but this Silver Badge, this demon hiding among the crowd.
She understood now, but it was too late.
“This poor monk hasn’t killed you, this poor monk is sending you into the cycle of reincarnation,” Monk Shen Shu said gently, palms pressed together as he looked at the fake Princess Consort whose essence was being drained. “Just like her.”
Hong Ling’s face was filled with despair. She screamed, “Who are you, who are you?”
“Great Feng’s Silver Badge, Xu Qi’an,” Shen Shu replied.
Xu Qi’an… Hong Ling muttered.
These were her last words. The next moment, her head was also severed.
After killing them all, Monk Shen Shu extracted the essence blood from the three Fourth-Tier experts one by one, reducing them to desiccated corpses.
“In the future, if you face such opponents again, remember to call upon me…” With that, Monk Shen Shu returned control of the body to Xu Qi’an.
Master Shen Shu has become so boastful now… What an uninteresting battle. I didn’t even get to experience the mystical abilities of Fourth-Tier warriors. They fell before I even exerted myself… Xu Qi’an thought.
He wasn’t surprised by this outcome; in fact, he felt it was exactly as it should be.
Back then, Shen Shu’s severed arm had been sealed for five hundred years, and depleted for five hundred years. Yet upon emerging, it could repel four Golden Badges and Yang Qian Huan.
Now, after being nurtured within his body for over half a year and nourished by the fortune from the ancient tomb, if dealing with a few Fourth-Tier cultivators still required a great effort and an intense battle, it would be an insult to Shen Shu’s status.
I wonder if he can withstand the Northern Frontier King head-on… Hmm, the Northern Frontier King is Third-Tier, and the gap between Third and Fourth-Tier is as vast as that between clouds and mud. Shen Shu can kill the Fourth-Tier, but not necessarily the Third-Tier… Xu Qi’an thought, holding his saber as he surveyed his surroundings. Apart from the maids, there were two survivors.
Chu Xianglong and the white-robed Cultivator.
“You’re about to die. Any last words?” Xu Qi’an asked, standing before Chu Xianglong.
“Who are you?” Chu Xianglong, with his last breath, looked at Xu Qi’an with clouded eyes.
An arrow had pierced his heart; death was inevitable. He was only still alive due to the powerful physique of a warrior.
“Didn’t I say? Great Feng’s Silver Badge, Xu Qi’an.”
“That wasn’t your voice.”
Xu Qi’an didn’t respond.
Chu Xianglong stared at him for a few seconds, then asked in a hoarse voice, “I’ve always had a question… The stone Buddha you gave me…”
“It was fake, cobbled together, and incomplete,” Xu Qi’an sneered.
“…” Chu Xianglong cursed, “May you die a terrible death.”
Swish!
Xu Qi’an swung the black gold long saber, severing his head.
Then, he turned to look at the delirious Cultivator. The man was beyond communication, blood streaming from his eyes, muttering repeatedly, “Flee quickly, flee quickly…”
With a swing of his blade, Xu Qi’an beheaded the Cultivator as well.
After killing all the survivors, Xu Qi’an took out the Confucian scripture, tore off the part recording the Taoist “Yin Gathering Formation,” and ignited it with his energy.
In the dense forest, a chilling wind arose, and the sun seemed to lose its warmth.
Seven insubstantial, ethereal shadows materialized, hovering in mid-air. Their expressions were blank and somewhat dull.
Before heading north, Li Miaochen had told Xu Qi’an that after death, the celestial and earthly souls leave the body, while the human soul remains in the shell for seven days before dissipating. When the three souls are not united, the spirit appears dull and lifeless.
No matter what you ask, they will answer truthfully, unable to lie.
“How did you learn about the Princess Consort’s journey north, allowing you to set up this ambush?” Xu Qi’an calmly asked, his gaze sweeping over the souls of the four northern experts.
“Xu Shengzu told us,” the “giant” Zha’er Muha answered, his expression vacant.
“Who is Xu Shengzu?” Xu Qi’an asked gravely.
“A Cultivator…” Zha’er Muha answered honestly, responding to every question.
A Cultivator? Xu Qi’an’s gaze immediately turned to the soul of the white-robed Cultivator, pondering. He continued, “Why ambush the Princess Consort?”
After death, spirits become dull and sluggish, so questions must be asked one at a time, or they won’t be able to answer.
“To prevent the Northern Frontier King from reaching the Second,” Zha’er Muha replied.
Prevent the Northern Frontier King from reaching the Second Tier, so they needed to intercept the Princess Consort?! Is there… is there some inevitable connection? Without the Princess Consort, the Northern Frontier King can’t advance to the Second.
This answer was completely unexpected for Xu Qi’an, causing him to pause and think for a long time.
Originally, Xu Qi’an had speculated that the Princess Consort’s northern journey had some hidden purpose, perhaps related to some scheme of Emperor Yuan Jing or the Northern Frontier King.
Well, that was indeed the case, but he never imagined that a mere woman would be connected to the Northern Frontier King’s advancement to the Second.
After pondering for a while, Xu Qi’an asked Hong Ling, Tang Shanjun, and Tianlang the same question, receiving consistent answers.
Their purpose in intercepting the Princess Consort was indeed to prevent the Northern Frontier King from reaching the Second Tier… He then asked, “What’s special about the Princess Consort?”
Zha’er Muha muttered, “Legend has it that the Princess Consort’s body contains a rare spiritual essence. Absorbing her spiritual essence can easily lead one to the Third.”
This… Xu Qi’an’s pupils contracted slightly, feeling that this was nonsense.
If Fourth-Tier warriors could still be considered human, then Third-Tier transcended the mortal realm and couldn’t be measured by mortal standards. It was a difference in the level of existence.
Therefore, the number of warriors advancing from Fourth-Tier to Third-Tier dropped precipitously. Xu Qi’an hadn’t counted how many Fourth-Tier warriors Great Feng had, but it was certainly not a small number.
Yet there was only one-third tier: the Northern Frontier King. The difficulty of this advancement was imaginable.
Could a mere Princess Consort enable a fourth tier to advance to the third tier?
Thinking of this, Xu Qi’an couldn’t help but turn to look at the “Old Auntie.”
No wonder she had become a bit emotionally unstable after learning about the official ship’s ambush, remaining anxious and insecure all the way, completely different from her previous haughty demeanor… She must know about her special nature and what fate would await her if she fell into the barbarians’ hands.
Then, he thought of another inconsistency.
“Wait, if the Princess Consort is this valuable, how has she remained safe all these years? The temptation of advancing from Fourth to Third-Tier, forget about the northern barbarians, even the Fourth-Tier experts in Great Feng’s capital would probably be unable to resist such temptation, like Yang Yan.”
Yang Yan, that martial arts fanatic, would go crazy for this… But when I asked Yang Yan on the official ship, he didn’t know about the Princess Consort’s special nature… Hmm, if I were the Northern Frontier King or Emperor Yuan Jing, I definitely wouldn’t reveal the Princess Consort’s secret. But how did the northern barbarians find out?
Xu Qi’an voiced this doubt.
Zha’er Muha answered truthfully, “Xu Shengzu said so.”
Again, the Cultivator… He asked the same question to Tang Shanjun and Tianlang, getting the same result as Zha’er Muha. They were certain that the Princess Consort had this so-called spiritual essence that could help them break through to the Third Tier.
However, when it came to Hong Ling, Xu Qi’an’s question had an addition.
The alluring woman, with a blank stare, said softly, “My lord covets the Princess Consort. He ordered me to intercept her. I was jealous and asked him what was so special about her. He said the Princess Consort has spiritual essence, and he told me a poem.”
…My lord? Chu Xianglong said she was the favored concubine of the Qingyan tribe’s leader. Is that lord the leader of the Qingyan tribe? Xu Qi’an didn’t care about this, the thought flashing by. He asked, “Which poem?”
The alluring woman instinctively showed a jealous expression and recited, “Emerging to shock souls, surpassing all beauties, Graceful and poised, basking in the morning sun. Universally admired as the nation’s beauty, Her soul tied to the mortal realm, captivating the emperor.”
Isn’t this the poem Fu Xiang told me about? It’s said that when Princess Consort was still a child, an abbot of some temple was astonished by her beauty and composed this poem for her…
“This poem must be significant because it’s widely circulated. Or perhaps there’s a deeper meaning behind it that most people don’t know about. When I return to the capital, I’ll ask Chancellor Zhao.”
Now, most of the mystery had been unraveled.
The Northern Frontier King needs to advance to the Second, so he needs the Princess Consort’s spiritual essence to break through the final barrier. What Emperor Yuan Jing and Chu Xianglong were guarding against were the “enemies” within the Great Feng court, those who didn’t want the Northern Frontier King to reach the Second.
But because of Xu Shengzu and the mysterious Cultivator behind him, the barbarians learned of this, and thus set up an ambush in advance, intending to snatch the Princess Consort.
This resulted in the current situation where the ambushing forces far outmatched the escort.
So, does that mean the enemies in the court haven’t made their move yet?
No, they’ve already acted… Xu Qi’an’s eyes suddenly lit up as he recalled some details.
Former Vice Minister of Revenue Zhou Xianping was behind the tax silver case, and there was a mysterious Cultivator involved in that case. This case told Xu Qi’an that the mysterious Cultivator secretly controlled some people in the court.
Zhou Xianping was the evidence.
How did the barbarians know about the Princess Consort’s special nature? It was this Xu Shengzu, the white-robed Cultivator, who told them.
The traitors in the court must have connections with the northern barbarians because they have a common link: the mysterious Cultivator.
“Damn it, all Cultivators are sly foxes. The Inspector is scheming in the shadows, and that mysterious Cultivator is also plotting in secret, each more cunning than the other. Wait, the Inspector must know about this Cultivator’s existence…”
Xu Qi’an’s expression became slightly dazed as he opened his mouth, a sudden thought flashing in his mind: Is the Inspector playing a game of chess with this mysterious Cultivator?!
Everyone is just a piece on their chessboard, including me, and even Shen Shu…
Xu Qi’an exhaled slowly, deciding to set aside the matter of the Inspector and the mysterious Cultivator for now. That was something to deal with in the future, not something he could influence at present.
Being a chess piece had its advantages; one could grow through the chess players’ bestowments. When he had enough strength in the future, he would overturn this chessboard.
But before that, he needed to bide his time and gather strength from other sources. After all, relying solely on the chess players’ bestowments would never allow him to grow strong enough to overturn the board.
He turned to ask about the main purpose of this operation: “The ‘Blood Massacre of Three Thousand Li’, was that done by your barbarian tribe?”