Gained Three More Fans?

The night descended like spilled ink over Black Wind City.

This border town had now transformed into a demon's lair.

On the streets, disciples of the Wind Fiend Sect, their eyes blood-red and corrupted by malevolent energy, roamed alongside low-level demonic beasts they kept, their faces ferocious.

They were Black Wind City's first, and most outer, line of defense.

Inside the temporary command post twenty miles outside the city, the atmosphere remained heavy.

Meng Kuo, Wu Yong, and Liu Qing were poring over a sand table, conducting their final tactical simulations.

"According to our observations during the day, the outer patrol teams of Black Wind City change shifts every incense stick's worth of time. Their patrol routes are fixed, with twelve small teams in total, ten people per team, led by a disciple from the Meridian Opening Realm," Wu Yong said, his finger tracing a path on the sand table with focused intensity.

"My plan is this: at the third watch of the night, when the moon is hidden and the wind is high, Liu Qing will lead the assassination squad. With lightning speed, we will eliminate these twelve fixed sentry points simultaneously. Then, Meng Kuo will lead the main force to tear open a breach through the weakest point of the west city gate and charge into the city, heading straight for the Wind Fiend Sect's main altar!"

"An excellent plan!" Meng Kuo agreed, nodding. "But the key lies in Liu Qing's assassination squad executing flawlessly, without alerting anyone within the city!"

"Rest assured," Liu Qing's cool voice was filled with confidence. "My subordinates are all masters of stealth and infiltration. Dealing with these minor figures will be no problem."

The plan was, by all accounts, perfect. Professional and rigorous.

Just as they were about to issue the orders for the squads to prepare for action...

"Report--!"

A scout, tasked with surveillance, scrambled in, his face a mask of sheer terror.

"L-L-Lords! It's... it's bad!"

"What's all the panic about?!" Meng Kuo frowned, displeased. "Is there some movement from the patrol teams?"

"N-No movement..." the scout stammered, his voice trembling. "It's... they're gone!"

"Gone? What's gone?" Wu Yong also sensed something was amiss.

"The outer... those twelve patrol teams... they're all... all gone!" the scout said, his voice cracking.

"What?!" The three Bronze Medal Envoys simultaneously shot to their feet, disbelief etched on their faces.

"All... gone? What do you mean? Who took them out?!" Meng Kuo grabbed the scout's collar, roaring.

"I... I don't know!" The scout was close to tears, his words jumbled. "Just now, our brothers monitoring them saw the patrol teams, as they were walking... they suddenly collapsed! One after another, like wheat being cut by a scythe! We didn't see a single shadow from beginning to end! They... they just vanished into thin air!"

"Vanished into thin air?" Wu Yong and Liu Qing exchanged glances, seeing deep confusion and shock in each other's eyes.

How was this possible? Twelve patrol teams, over a hundred and twenty Wind Fiend Sect disciples, including many skilled cultivators at the late stage of Body Tempering. And they were wiped out silently, right under their noses?

Could it be that the Old Demon of Black Wind had discovered them and set up a feigned emptiness? Or perhaps... a third party had intervened?

"Let's go! We need to see!" Meng Kuo made a swift decision, no longer able to sit still.

The three figures flickered, transforming into streaks of light as they personally sped towards Black Wind City.

As they cautiously infiltrated the streets previously marked as "patrol zones," the scene before them made them collectively gasp.

On the street, the corpses of Wind Fiend Sect disciples lay scattered in pools of blood. Each body had a single, clean cut to the throat, the wound as smooth as a mirror, with no sign of struggle whatsoever. Clearly, they hadn't reacted at all the moment they were killed.

"Such fast blades... such ruthless methods..." Liu Qing, skilled in assassination, saw these corpses, and for the first time, a solemn expression appeared on her usually cool face.

"The one who can do this is at least a peak True Qi Realm expert proficient in assassination! And… they know the routes of these patrols like the back of their hand!"

"Could it be… one of the senior experts in our department made a move ahead of time?" Wu Yong guessed.

"Something's not right!"

Meng Kuo sniffed the air and said in a deep voice, "Look at these corpses, they haven't been dead for more than the time it takes an incense stick to burn. This means the killer attacked twelve locations consecutively in an extremely short period, killing over a hundred people! This efficiency… is terrifying!"

The more the three of them looked, the more alarmed they became, and the idea of "having an expert's help" grew stronger in their hearts.

"Let's go! Follow them and see! I want to know who this divine being is that's helping us 'clean up the battlefield'!"

Meng Kuo gave a low shout, and the three of them followed the direction the bodies had fallen, tracking them.

Soon, they reached the inner city of Black Wind City.

The defenses here were clearly several times more stringent than the outer areas.

Squads of elite disciples composed of Meridian Opening Realm cultivators were patrolling everywhere, and the air was filled with a tense, solemn and murderous atmosphere.

Clearly, the loss of contact with the outer patrol teams had already alerted them.

"It seems our mysterious helper is about to run into trouble," Liu Qing said softly.

However, no sooner had she spoken.

"Swish!"

A black shadow, so fast it was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, like a bolt of midnight lightning, suddenly darted out from a shadow at the street corner.

In the shadow's hand, it seemed to hold a crescent moon, which traced a brilliant and deadly arc through the air.

"Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!"

A series of light sounds of blades entering flesh rang out almost simultaneously.

The patrol team, composed of ten elite Meridian Opening Realm disciples, didn't even get a clear look at the enemy before they all clutched their necks and fell, disbelief etched on their faces.

Blood gushed out like a fountain.

Wiped out in one strike!

After finishing, the black shadow didn't stop at all. It turned into an afterimage once more and disappeared at the end of another alley. The entire process was smooth and flowing, outrageously fast.

"..."

Meng Kuo, Wu Yong, and Liu Qing stood on the rooftop, dumbfounded, like three petrified statues, their mouths agape wide enough to fit a goose egg.

What had they just seen?

An elite squad of ten Meridian Opening Realm cultivators, just… gone?

All killed in one strike?

What a joke!

Even Meng Kuo, the strongest among the three, wouldn't claim to be able to do it so cleanly!

"This… this is a damn… lawnmower, isn't it?!" Meng Kuo finally squeezed out after a long pause, through gritted teeth.

Wu Yong's feather fan dropped to the ground with a "clack." His lifetime of studying military strategy and tactics seemed so pale and powerless in the face of this simple, brutal, and extreme "one-strike style."

Liu Qing, on the other hand, stared intently in the direction the black shadow had disappeared. Her clear, cold eyes were filled with shock and fervor.

As an assassin, this was the first time she had ever seen someone perform the art of "assassination" with such bloody, efficient, and violently beautiful execution!

"Chase! We must see who this divine being is!"

The three could no longer hide their intentions. They pushed their movement techniques to the extreme, like three hounds that had caught the scent of blood, desperately following the black shadow.

[Crit Multiplier increased to 90x! Gained 3500 Crit Points!]

[Crit Multiplier increased to 92x! Gained 6300 Crit Points!]

[Crit Multiplier increased to 95x! Gained 8600 Crit Points!]

Ahead, Lin Feng was leisurely reaping "Crit Points" while listening to the pleasant notification sounds from the System in his mind.

He didn't notice at all that three "fans" had already appeared behind him.