Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 210: Chapter 207: Withering Away

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The target Chu Zhiyuan was attacking was located in the center of the Mingluan Avenue in the Outer City, at the end of a narrow alley heading south.

Once exiting the South Gate of the Inner City, one would reach the Mingluan Avenue in the Outer City.

The hustle and bustle of Mingluan Avenue surpassed that of Phoenix Avenue in the Inner City.

It was slightly more chaotic, not as clean and tidy as the Inner City; the ground was paved with bluestone slabs instead of white stone.

The street was densely lined with various shops and stalls, with pedestrians weaving in and out like shuttles.

Chu Zhiyuan and his companions moved through the crowd like swimming fish, without any obstruction, maintaining their speed, and turned left in the middle of Mingluan Avenue into an alley.

Across the alley, a red dot suddenly appeared on the forehead of an old woman selling pastries, and with a ”pop” sound, a bloody hole appeared, followed by blood flowing from all seven orifices, and she slowly collapsed to the ground.

”Ah—!”

The elderly woman and two children who were buying pastries from the old woman screamed in terror.

Meanwhile, Chu Zhiyuan and his group of nine had already rushed into the alley.

Chu Zhiyuan moved with a floating grace, followed closely like a shadow by Zou Fang, while Guo Chi and four others surrounded him, continuously operating the Four Spirit Array.

Huang Shiron and two other women floated like white clouds, appearing slow at a glance, but their speed was not diminished in the least.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, ”Master Huang, your Qinggong is becoming more refined.”

Huang Shiron replied, ”Still far from the Princely Heir, ... Was that old woman a dark sentry?”

”Hm, a dark sentry hidden so closely and in only one location indicates there must be a secret passage there,” Chu Zhiyuan said. ”We need to attack quickly, giving them no chance to escape.”

”Alright.” Huang Shiron replied solemnly.

”You launch a frontal assault, I’ll take the back route.”

”Okay.”

The conversation barely finished as they already flew to the end of the alley.

The end of the alley was a secluded courtyard, with no neighbors on either side; the nearest family was about thirty meters away.

They leapt over the wall and shot into the courtyard.

As they disappeared into the alley, Lu Feihong from the Flowing Wind Sect and Zheng Xicai from the Angry Wave Sect barely reached the mouth of the alley.

Two agile young girls appeared in the distance, each holding a small notebook, quickly jotting down a string of words.

They appeared in front of the old woman and saw that she was already bleeding from all seven orifices, dead, with blood gushing from the spot between her eyebrows, red mixed with white.

The two children and a middle-aged woman were still screaming, their faces pale with fear.

The girls shook their heads without trying to console them, then floated away, following Lu Feihong and Zheng Xicai into the alley.

Soon, experts from the Military Suppression Department arrived to maintain order, preventing people from approaching and securing the corpse for investigation.

————

The courtyard had three sections; in the front hall, two people were discussing something. As soon as they heard the rustle of clothing, a look of caution had just appeared on their faces when two white lights shot over.

They were unable to dodge, and two knives pierced their chests.

”Bang! Bang!”

Their chests felt like they had been pounded by a heavy object, and they flew out and crashed heavily against the wall, then blood spurted from their mouths and noses as they slid limply to the foot of the wall.

Their eyes were wide open with astonishment frozen on their faces, the light in their eyes quickly dimming until it extinguished.

A look of shock remained fixed on their faces.

The second section had a Martial Arts Training Ground where eight youths and ten middle-aged men were practicing martial arts.

Their movements were swift, each move aggressive and fierce.

With insight, Chu Zhiyuan saw that these were Yuding Sect’s experts, and among the eight youths, four were Grandmasters, while the remaining fourteen were all at the Innate Realm.

No wonder they were so bold and reckless, having such formidable strength: a small courtyard with four Grandmasters.

Back then, the Flying Flower Sword Sect only had four Grandmasters.

And this courtyard was only one of the twenty-one locations, showing the immense power of Yuding Sect.

It also showed the sinister prowess of Yuding Sect’s evil techniques.

Using inhumane methods to enhance cultivation made progress naturally rapid, far surpassing normal expectations.

Therefore, the Evil Sect was repeatedly banned but never eliminated, growing as soon as one let their guard down.

Before they could notice Chu Zhiyuan and the others, white light had already shot to their faces.

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”Watch out, the younger ones are stronger, four Grandmasters!”

The cultivation of these eight youths surpassed that of the ten middle-aged men, eerily so.

Guo Chi and the other four remained circling around Chu Zhiyuan.

They didn’t care about Yuding Sect or not, their only target was Chu Zhiyuan; as long as they kept Chu Zhiyuan within the array, safeguarded inside the Four Spirit Array.

Other matters were none of their concern.

Chu Zhiyuan waved both hands.

Initiate first to gain control, act later to be controlled by others.

The best way to neutralize danger is to eradicate it at inception, to accomplish the kill before the adversary does, that is most safe and secure.

He now understood why the Great Sect had him participate in this siege, why Chu Qingfeng had him lead a team.

There were four Grandmasters here, but their realm was all below the Third Layer Heaven, with one at First Layer Heaven, and two at Second Layer Heaven.

They posed no threat to him.

——

One by one, flying knives transformed into streaks of light, shooting out.

Eight knives shot out in one breath, reaching the limit of his sleeve’s capacity.

These flying knives were neither Day Blade nor Night Blade nor Hidden Blade, merely ordinary flying knives, suitable for shooting and killing targets that weren’t strong at close range; he was unwilling to use them.

”Kill——!”

The eighteen Yuding Sect experts charged at Chu Zhiyuan’s nine people without hesitation upon seeing this.

No matter who it was, entering this place meant the word ”death” awaited.

Huang Shiron and others charged forward.

Chu Zhiyuan, meanwhile, retreated.

”Psst, psst, psst, psst...”

The eighteen Yuding Sect experts rushing over suddenly had eight of them flying up.

They hadn’t paid much attention to the incoming knives at first.

The flight of the knives looked fast, but a focused glance showed they lacked any force, purely meant to disrupt movements to buy time.

Unexpectedly, the knives suddenly exerted force, accelerated rapidly, and in a burst of light, stabbed into their chests.

It happened so quickly they had no time to react.

With knives in their chests, they were lifted off the ground, sliding twenty-odd meters through the air before crashing into the weapons rack beside them.

Weapons on the rack scattered in all directions.

The remaining ten people saw this and had a slight change in expression, then charged toward Chu Zhiyuan and the others, intending to prioritize dealing with Chu Zhiyuan.

Chu Zhiyuan retreated, Guo Chi and four others advanced, keeping the Four Spirit Array in continuous operation, protecting Chu Zhiyuan and Zou Fang inside.

Huang Shiron and the three women parried with their swords, instantly blocking six.

Each of them entrapped two with their sword light, preventing them from attacking Chu Zhiyuan, leaving only four young men to charge at Chu Zhiyuan.

Guo Chi and the four men swung their swords, their forms changing, and the sword lights of the four merged into a silver ring, repelling any sword or knife touching the ring without fail, incapable of breaking it.

Within the ring, Chu Zhiyuan extended a hand, ”Zou Fang, the knife!”

Zou Fang pulled out flying knives from his sleeve and handed them over.

The flying knives were gleaming white, their light reflecting a clear image.

Chu Zhiyuan took them and shot them out, streaks of white light piercing through the air, targeting the four young men encircling Guo Chi and the others.

The four young men were all Grandmasters; at close range, they sneered coldly.

With Gang Qi protecting their bodies, these flying knives could not harm them, so they swung their long knives viciously towards the silver ring.

They swung their long knives, the silver streamers drawing an arc in the sky, slamming into the silver ring.

Then, the rings were forcefully ejected, and the long knives left their hands, tumbling through the air before beginning to fall.

By then, the four young men were clutching their chests, having landed thirty meters away on the bluestone ground, glaring fiercely at Chu Zhiyuan.

They hadn’t expected these flying knives to be Breaking Gang Divine Weapons!

Who would turn Breaking Gang Divine Weapons into flying knives?

This was simply madness!

Chu Zhiyuan had two Breaking Gang Divine Weapons reforged into sixteen flying knives, keeping eight of them with Zou Fang, and also took eight himself.

The Day Blade and Night Blade were reserved for personal protection, as trump cards, not to be used lightly.

Zou Fang flashed outside the Four Spirit Array’s range.

He first retrieved the flying knives from the chests of the four youths, ignoring their frozen expressions of anger and resentment.

Then he retrieved the knives from others, floating back to Chu Zhiyuan’s side and took out a white handkerchief to vigorously wipe them down.

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”Next time, we should use alcohol to clean them.”

”Yes,” Zou Fang responded.

Chu Zhiyuan flung out six streaks of white light.

”Psst, psst, psst, psst...”

These six streaks of white light were even louder than before, whistling as they shot at the six Yuding Sect experts fighting with Huang Shiron and the three women.

They had been on guard for a while, and as soon as they saw the white light approaching, they quickly brandished their knives or swords to counter.

”Clang, clang, clang, clang...”

The flying knives clashed with the weapons, each flying off in opposite directions.

The force contained in the flying knives was so strong that it directly shook their weapons loose, simultaneously numbing their bodies.

With that momentary pause, the knives or swords pierced their chests or between their eyebrows, ending their lives.

The three women retreated, pulling out white handkerchiefs to carefully wipe their swords before sheathing them.

Chu Zhiyuan surveyed the surroundings briefly.

The combination of the Heart Inquiry Saber Skill and the Sword Control Technique was indeed astonishingly powerful.

Taking out those four young Grandmasters first was crucial, eliminating their leaders.

After all, these guys were all selfish; without a leader’s compulsion, without seeing an absolute dead-end, they wouldn’t easily use ”Jade and Stone Burning.”

Huang Shiron smiled and said, ”The Princely Heir’s flying knives are indeed formidable.”

Without these terrifying flying knives, they wouldn’t have been able to defeat the enemy so easily, like breaking dry weeds and smashing rotten wood.

”There’s still room for improvement,” Chu Zhiyuan replied.

Firstly, there weren’t enough flying knives.

The flying knives proved more effective than expected against opponents.

The person hasn’t arrived, but the knife has; the effect was exceptional.

This is the might of the Sword Control Technique.

After reaching Grandmaster, the Sword Control Technique truly displayed its power.

He speculated that the Sword Control Technique truly unleashes its power for Great Grandmasters, once they can control spiritual power for attacks; that’s when the technique shines.

Secondly, these people’s levels weren’t high enough.

Even those four Grandmasters had only just entered the rank, with one at Second Layer Heaven, one at Third Layer Heaven, and the others at First Layer Heaven.

Besides, they were too careless and underestimate the enemy, which led to their easy demise.

A moment later, two nimble maidens floated into the courtyard, looked around the front yard, then to the middle yard, and witnessed the scene.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded slightly at them, then said to Huang Shiron, ”Master Huang, see if there are any clues, we might discover something.”

Huang Shiron nodded solemnly.

She waved her hand.

Wen Qianqian and Xu Mengyu wielded their swords, unhesitatingly cutting open their garments, viewing the exposed white and black flesh as casually as examining beef and pork, without any concern.

Chu Zhiyuan and Huang Shiron proceeded to the backyard.

The backyard was a small vegetable garden. At this time, it was midwinter; the ground was frozen, unusable for planting, giving a cold, deserted feeling.

Chu Zhiyuan walked around the vegetable garden and suddenly stopped, stamping his foot.

”Thud thud.”

Huang Shiron’s eyes lit up.

She floated over and also stamped her foot.

”Thud thud thud thud...”

”Is this a secret passage or a hidden room?”

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

Huang Shiron crouched down and knocked, finally stomping hard with her foot.

”Boom!”

Dirt blew into the air, revealing a bluestone slab.

Huang Shiron didn’t hurry to go down, using her longsword to make a cut.

The sword tip passed through without obstruction, splitting the bluestone slab like tofu into several pieces, ultimately dropping with a ”bang bang” below.

Chu Zhiyuan’s insight revealed that there were no traps in this secret path, but he didn’t stop Huang Shiron from proceeding.

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