Urban Martial Saint

In the deep night, within the estate of the Seven Rudders of the Hong Alliance, everyone had fallen into sleep. Outside the estate, a man dressed in black was slowly gliding by. This man was none other than the Executioner Scholar, who had left with the Wanyan Family previously.

Last time, the Executioner Scholar pretended to be unconscious and overheard the Wanyan Family’s conversation, which made him remain vigilant against them. So, on his way back, he secretly informed the Headmaster of the Southern Ridge Sect that Wen’er was also trapped in the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master. He originally intended for the Headmaster to disrupt the Wanyan Family’s plan. However, strangely, the Headmaster did not make any moves along the way, which surprised him greatly and made him think that the Headmaster was planning to abandon his daughter.

Then, less than a day later, news broke out in the tomb-robbing world, saying that a rare ancient tomb had emerged on Chatiang Peak, with more burial objects than any known ancient tomb. Upon hearing this news, the tomb-robbing community was naturally very excited, and many immediately wanted to go to Chatiang Peak to search for this ancient tomb.

Upon receiving this news, the Executioner Scholar first thought of the Headmaster. It seemed that the Headmaster did not intend to save his daughter, he just adopted another method. By releasing this news, attracting so many tomb-robbing experts to rescue people, it was indeed a brilliant move. After all, that was the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master, and only tomb-robbing experts could truly enter it. Using an ancient tomb to attract tomb-robbing teams, once they opened the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master, the people inside could come out, and his daughter would naturally be rescued.

The Wanyan Family, who knew about Chatiang Peak the best, had also assigned people to seal all entrances and exits to the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master. When the news of the ancient tomb at Chatiang Peak suddenly spread, it naturally shocked them greatly. Upon receiving this news, the first reaction of the Wanyan Family was to try to contain it. However, the news had already spread widely, and it was too late to seal it now, as many teams had already gone to Chatiang Peak to search for the ancient tomb.

In this situation, the Wanyan Family naturally thought of stopping these people to prevent them from finding the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master. They had intentionally trapped Ye Qing and others inside to deal with them first before contending for the treasures inside. If these tomb-robbing teams accidentally opened the exit or entrance at this time, wouldn’t their plan be ruined? Therefore, they secretly intervened and drove away quite a few of these teams.

However, things didn’t develop as they imagined. Although they drove away many teams, before long, what they feared the most happened: the Seven Rudders of the Hong Alliance received the news. Furthermore, the message they received was very clear: Ye Qing and others were trapped inside the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master at Chatiang Peak. As expected, not only did the Seven Rudders set off, but even people from the Shen Family Manor and Sha Men went there. And soon after, members of the Twelve Green Halls also got word and rushed over, along with many hidden peak masters revealing themselves, all at Chatiang Peak. Some were there to rescue Ye Qing and the others, while more wanted to see what was inside the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master at Chatiang Peak.

Although the Wanyan Family could drive away those tomb-robbing teams, they had no way to deal with superpowers like the Seven Rudders and the Twelve Green Halls now. The Wanyan Family’s forces accumulated over the years might be able to suppress these groups. But the crux of the problem was, if they fought head-on, even if they could suppress them, the Wanyan Family would inevitably suffer heavy losses. Given their careful planning over the years, the Wanyan Family would certainly not reveal all their cards at this time. Even though they possessed super weapons like the Corpse Ghost Dragon and The Immortal Lord, Shijia and Wuji hadn’t shown themselves, and under such circumstances, they didn’t dare to use the Corpse Ghost Dragon and The Immortal Lord recklessly. Therefore, when forces like the Seven Rudders and the Twelve Green Halls arrived at Chatiang Peak, the Wanyan Family completely abandoned the place and quietly withdrew.

The Wanyan Family was able to give up the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master, mainly because they had thoroughly destroyed all the entrances and exits. They knew very well that even if the Seven Rudders and the members of the Twelve Green Halls worked together to open the entrances and exits, it would take them at least half a month. In half a month, the people inside, with no food or water, would surely starve to death, and even if they opened the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master, they would only be able to retrieve their bodies.

Another reason was that the Wanyan Family understood the grudges between the Seven Rudders and the Twelve Green Halls. With so many peak masters watching from the sidelines, even if they opened the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master and obtained its treasures, these factions would first have to battle among themselves. And this aligns perfectly with the interests of the Wanyan Family. After these groups weaken each other through combat, it would be easier for the Wanyan Family to control them.

For these reasons, the Wanyan Family withdrew completely. However, they were cautious enough to leave some people in Shenchuan City to keep a close eye on the movements of the Seven Rudders. Among those left behind was the Executioner Scholar, who was in Shenchuan City helping the Wanyan Family gather intelligence.

The reason the Wanyan Family left the Executioner Scholar there was primarily because no one knew about his collaboration with them. This way, even if the Executioner Scholar was gathering information in Shenchuan City, the Seven Rudders wouldn’t notice him, making it even easier to collect intelligence.

For these reasons, the Executioner Scholar finally stayed in Shenchuan City as a collaborator of the Wanyan Family to gather intelligence for them. Yet, the Executioner Scholar knew very well that he and the Wanyan Family were not truly collaborators. Regardless of how much the Wanyan Family promised, it was all empty talk. The Wanyan Family only wanted to use him to acquire the secrets of the Sword Saint Sect.

Even though he knew these things, the Executioner Scholar didn’t dare to reveal them because he had witnessed the Wanyan Family’s methods against Nalan Jingwei. Thus, he could only swallow his resentment, plotting in his mind how to deal with the Wanyan Family.

Originally, in Shenchuan City, there were not many people from the Seven Rudders left. Most of the key members had already gone to Chatiang Peak to confront the people from the Twelve Green Halls and to rescue Ye Qing and others trapped in the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master. During these two days, he had been idling in Shenchuan City because there hadn’t been any news he needed to investigate.

That evening, as usual, he went for a casual stroll around the estate of the Seven Rudders and then planned to go back to rest. However, as he arrived at the estate of the Seven Rudders, he felt something was off because the estate was slightly more lively than usual. After investigating carefully, he stumbled upon a shocking piece of news: Ye Qing, Fu Qingping, and others had returned!

This news stunned the Executioner Scholar; he hadn’t expected these people to return at all. Moreover, even if they could return, it would at least take until the Seven Rudders opened the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master to make it happen. According to the Wanyan Family’s estimation, this would take at least half a month, so how did Ye Qing and the others manage to return so quickly? Furthermore, there had been no reports from Chatiang Peak, could it be that the people over there didn’t know Ye Qing and the others had returned?

Filled with shock and astonishment, the Executioner Scholar wanted to enter the estate to investigate further and to see what was inside the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master. However, he remembered that Fu Qingping had returned, and he dared not enter the estate. He knew very well about Fu Qingping’s skills; with his abilities, he couldn’t even walk next to the estate without Fu Qingping noticing. Therefore, he decided not to enter the estate to investigate but instead went back to relay this information to the Wanyan Family.

Although the Executioner Scholar harbored animosity towards the Wanyan Family, he knew that he couldn’t contend against them on his own and would end up tightly under their control. So, he planned to use other forces to deal with the Wanyan Family. By informing the Wanyan Family, he intended for them to fight over the treasures in the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master, thereby gradually weakening their strength.

The Wanyan Family didn’t know what the Executioner Scholar was thinking because they were unaware of how he had pretended to faint and eavesdropped on their conversation. The news relayed by the Executioner Scholar shocked everyone in the Wanyan Family to the extreme. Particularly Wanyan Hongsheng and Wanyan Second Master, who had been directly involved in the matter, their faces couldn’t hide their shock any longer.

”Third Brother, didn’t you say that Ye Qing and the others were trapped in the Tomb of the Ghost Valley Master, and even if they could be rescued, they would have starved to death already?” An elder in the Wanyan Family turned to look at the two of them, perplexedly saying, ”How did they get out so quickly?”

This elder was ranked as Fifth Brother within the Wanyan Family, but compared to Old Seventh Wan Yan, a Seventh Elder in Iga-ryu, Fifth Brother’s treatment was far better. After all, he was from the direct line of the Wanyan Family, unlike Old Seventh Wan Yan, who was from a branch family.

Wanyan Hongsheng was puzzled himself. They had blown up and sealed both the entrance and the exit, and all other potential exits. Logically speaking, even if the Seven Rudders and the Twelve Green Halls pooled vast manpower to excavate, it would take at least half a month to dig them out. But now, after only two or three days, Ye Qing and the others had come out; how did the people from the Seven Rudders manage it?

Thinking of the Seven Rudders, Wanyan Hongsheng suddenly came up with an idea, quickly turning to Wanyan Second Master beside him and speaking in a low voice: ”By the way, Second Brother, did the Executioner Scholar mention the situation at Chatiang Peak when he relayed this news?”