The seventh year of Daqian’s Mingjing era, the sixteenth day of the tenth month, night.
The north wind swept across the empty drill ground, bringing with it a bleak, murderous chill. It was just when the soldiers of the Northern City Military Camp were changing shifts, and the vast encampment seemed especially deserted. Only a few scattered patrols of soldiers carrying lanterns moved in the distance, their silhouettes sparse and faint.
Inside the yamen office, candlelight flickered.
Chen Sheng stood with a steady posture, assuming the stance of the “Mystic Shroud Stake.” His qi and blood flowed slowly through his body, and his muscles and bones emitted a faint, subtle hum. Eight days had passed since he wiped out the Seven Stars Gang and obtained that drop of Earthcore Spirit Milk, and by now he had completely refined this natural spiritual treasure.
The gains could be called tremendous.
Although the progress of his other techniques had proceeded step by step, his core cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds. He was already approaching the peak of the Bone Forging realm, and had even faintly touched the threshold of the next realm—Marrow Transformation.
[Basic Saber Technique Perfected (246/2000)]
[Golden Bell Body Tempering Art Great Accomplishment (930/1000)]
[Toad-Fishing Force Secret Art Minor Accomplishment (45/500)]
[Demon-Subduing Three Ultimate Sabers Minor Accomplishment (337/500)]
His gaze swept over the clear panel in his consciousness, and Chen Sheng felt rather satisfied.
Marrow Transformation realm!
If he could successfully break through, his cultivation would stand on equal footing with Wu Kuang’s. Looking across the entire Changshan County, he would be more than qualified to rank among the top experts.
At that time, as long as he did not encounter a Xiantian expert, then against any opponent in the Foundation Establishment realm, he would at least have the confidence to maneuver and protect himself. These days of forgetting sleep and meals, of bitter, diligent cultivation, had finally not been in vain.
Yet at this moment, Chen Sheng slowly withdrew from his stance and left his cultivation state.
On one hand, the Earthcore Spirit Milk had already been exhausted. Although he still had the high-grade Tiger Bone Pills provided by Wu Kuang to support him, his cultivation speed was ultimately far inferior to before. On the other hand, it was because the “guest” he had been waiting for should be arriving soon.
……
The night wind was desolate, rattling the window lattice of the yamen office.
In the shadows at the edge of the camp, a figure clad in pitch-black night-traveling clothes appeared as silently as a ghost.
His gaze was sinister and venomous, like a viper that had locked onto its prey, fixed firmly on the brightly lit yamen office not far away.
“Bone-Melting Hand” Li Huaisheng’s cracked lips curled into a cruel arc.
Torturing and killing so-called “young talents” with bright futures and boundless prospects was one of the few pleasures in his barren life.
He especially enjoyed the look in their eyes before death, when astonishment turned into despair, when they were filled with unwillingness and resentment. To him, it was an exquisite balm for the spirit.
His figure swayed, merging into the night like a wisp of green smoke, his aura restrained to near perfection.
In just a few rises and falls, he had already crept outside the yamen office window.
Through the silhouette cast on the paper window, he could clearly see a young man in loose training clothes moving about inside.
Target confirmed—the commander of the Northern City Military Camp, Chen Sheng!
Beneath the black robe, a withered palm like a ghost’s claw slowly stretched out. Between its fingers were three poison needles as fine as ox hair, glimmering with a幽 green, cold light.
Now!
A savage smile flashed across Li Huaisheng’s face. No longer hesitating, he erupted into action!
There was only a thunderous boom as the heavy wooden door of the yamen office was blasted to pieces by his palm, which was infused with inner breath!
Amid the flying wood splinters, the three poison needles shot toward the vital points of the person inside in a triangular formation, like venomous snakes flicking out their tongues!
At the same time, he hurled himself into the room like an arrow loosed from the bowstring. His five fingers formed a claw, his black, sharp nails carrying a rancid wind as they went straight for Chen Sheng’s throat.
This combination of ambush, hidden weapons, and direct assault was swift, vicious, and seamlessly linked.
In Li Huaisheng’s calculations, faced with such an abrupt, continuous series of killing moves, even if Chen Sheng’s talent were higher, he would find it nearly impossible to withstand them in such haste.
As long as his poisonous claw so much as grazed a bit of skin, the deadly toxin would instantly invade his meridians. Even if the other party did not die, he would have to shed a layer of skin; killing him would be effortless.
However—
At the very instant the poison needles tore through the air, Chen Sheng, who had originally seemed immersed in cultivation, suddenly moved as if he had foreseen it.
Without even looking, he casually grabbed a thick piece of black cloth from the nearby table. With a flick and roll of his wrist, he actually wrapped all three poison needles precisely inside it. His movements were as smooth as flowing clouds and running water—where was there the slightest sign of haste?
Facing Li Huaisheng’s ferocious claw strike that followed, Chen Sheng showed no fear. There was even a trace of coldness at the corner of his mouth.
His footwork shifted, and his figure drifted backward like willow catkins, easily avoiding that certain-kill claw.
“Not good!”
Li Huaisheng’s heart sank violently, and an intense sense of crisis seized him in an instant.
As if to prove his premonition, in the next moment—
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The screens on both sides of the yamen hall were suddenly knocked down. More than ten figures appeared at once, each holding a military-issue heavy crossbow that had already been loaded. The cold bolts flashed with a frigid gleam as they shot out, completely sealing off every route of evasion.
“I fell into a trap! It’s an ambush!”
Li Huaisheng’s expression changed drastically. Without thinking, he immediately pushed off with his feet, twisting his body to dart toward the door. His movement technique was strange and his speed extremely fast. As long as he rushed out of the yamen office and merged into the night, there would still be hope of escape.
Unfortunately, Chen Sheng had spared no effort in laying this trap. How could he leave him a path to life?
Li Huaisheng had only just moved and had not yet crossed the threshold when a dull sound of something tearing through the air followed him like a shadow, carrying the force of a thousand jun, straight for the vital point in the center of his back.
“Damn it!”
Li Huaisheng was scared out of his wits. In that hurried moment, he had no time to think. He could only cross both arms, infused with inner breath, in front of him to block.
His arms had not only been tempered until they were harder than refined iron; hidden in his sleeves were also two poison-coated short blades. He was confident they were enough to withstand most attacks.
However, in the end, he had underestimated the terrifying power of this strike.
“Bang!”
There was only a muffled boom like a beating drum. Li Huaisheng felt an irresistible, tremendous force smash violently into both his arms.
His entire body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily onto the bluestone floor inside the yamen office and sending dust billowing up.
“Pfft—” His throat turned sweet, and a mouthful of逆 blood nearly spurted out.
He hurriedly lowered his head to look, only to see that the two refined-iron poison blades strapped to his arms had actually been smashed until they were twisted and deformed. As for his arms and even his chest, piercing pain drilled into his bones. The bones of his arms creaked, as if they might break at any moment!
He looked up in horror and saw that the “murderous weapon” that had blasted him away was, astonishingly, a bright silver melon hammer the size of an infant’s head!
At the same time, outside the yamen office, footsteps thundered like drums, and the clatter of armor rang without end.
Squads of soldiers armed with powerful bows and heavy crossbows had already surrounded the place so tightly that not even water could pass through. The arrowheads of every crossbow were pointed coldly at him.
The man at their head wore a black-and-red official robe. He had a square face and a broad mouth, and his physique was tall and mighty like a mountain. In his hand, he was holding another silver melon hammer of the same style. His gaze was like lightning, and without anger, he inspired awe.
It was precisely the county commandant of Changshan—Wu Kuang.
To ensure nothing went wrong, Chen Sheng had not only mobilized all his trusted subordinates to lie in ambush here, but had also personally invited this great deity, Wu Kuang, to hold the line. He was determined to completely keep the enemy who dared come here, to catch the turtle in the jar.
Li Huaisheng’s face was ashen. He knew that today, calamity was inevitable. He abruptly turned his head and looked at the young man sitting safely on the redwood armchair.
At this moment, Chen Sheng leisurely straightened his robes, a faint smile that was there and not there on his face. Looking down at him from above, he slowly spoke, his voice carrying clearly throughout the entire yamen office:
“This official has been waiting for you for quite some time.”
These words were not merely to display his cleverness. They were also meant for all the surrounding soldiers to hear.
He wanted to borrow these people’s mouths to deliver the news to the Gao family and the Huang family, word for word: that the authorities had long been prepared, had set an ambush, and had killed the attackers in return.
Under normal circumstances, an assassin captured like this would most likely commit suicide in order to protect the mastermind behind the scenes, or to preserve their so-called “integrity.” Chen Sheng had thought that this Li Huaisheng would be the same.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the black-robed man actually dropped to his knees with a thud, facing him squarely. He kowtowed like pounding garlic, wailing for mercy without the slightest bearing of an expert:
“This lowly one is Li Huaisheng. Blind and ignorant, I have offended your mighty authority. I beg my lord to spare my life. This lowly one is willing to surrender.”
Chen Sheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, a trace of surprise flashing through them. Then he waved his hand.
The soldiers to either side immediately stepped forward, binding Li Huaisheng tightly with oil-soaked ox tendon rope. They also carefully searched his body, removing every poison and sharp weapon he might have hidden.
Once the soldiers withdrew to stand guard outside the door, Chen Sheng invited Wu Kuang to sit in the seat of honor, while he himself paced over to Li Huaisheng. With great interest, he looked down at him.
“Willing to surrender?”
When Li Huaisheng heard this, it was as though he had seized the last straw that could save his life. He hastily declared his loyalty, speaking extremely quickly:
“My lord, please see clearly! Huaisheng has drifted through half his life, possessing a body of skills in vain, yet only regretting that I never met an enlightened master. Today, upon witnessing my lord’s divine might, I have finally seen the light of heaven. I beg my lord to grant this lowly one a chance to abandon darkness and turn toward the light!”