Su Changqing, dressed in black as dark as ink, silently gazed at the ruins.
"What a waste of my three hundred taels of silver..." Su Changqing sighed.
His total assets amounted to no more than thirteen taels.
He had spent two taels at Youyun Workshop's pleasure house listening to music and found nothing.
He suddenly remembered something.
He searched Iron Claw Flying Eagle's body and found only three hundred-tael banknotes.
The banknotes had gold-threaded edges and gold-painted writing, bringing a flicker of joy to Su Changqing's heart.
He suddenly turned and left, reaching into a deep bank of snow and beginning to dig.
Scarlet Blood Scholar lay buried beneath countless layers of ice and snow.
His body had long since frozen stiff. Hidden within his red robe were only two hundred-tael banknotes.
There was also a single gold leaf.
One gold leaf was worth a thousand taels.
A full twelve hundred taels—nearly four times as much as Iron Claw Flying Eagle had possessed!
The Imperial Guard never lacked money. It was a lucrative post to begin with, especially for a Centurion like Iron Claw Flying Eagle.
Su Changqing's eyes shifted slightly. Scarlet Blood Scholar was likely no ordinary man.
First there was the Purple Blood Soft Sword of unknown material, then these twelve hundred taels. Even the entire fortune of an average well-off family might amount to no more than this.
But now, it was all his.
Su Changqing's gaze remained calm as he turned and departed.
The rising sun cast countless rays of dawn, illuminating the snow-covered landscape.
The youth wore black as dark as ink, golden flying fish embroidered upon his robe, a bewitching Purple Blood Belt at his waist, and frost and snow hanging at his side.
Leaving no tracks upon the snow, he pressed through the wind and snowfall straight toward Chang'an City.
The Imperial Guard was divided into Twelve Divisions, and the Suppression Bureau handled administrative matters.
Several hundred Imperial Guards were gathered here. Ye Ronghuo was among them, gripping a long saber as his cold eyes fixed on the hall entrance.
Today was the final day of the four-day mission deadline. If Su Changqing failed to complete the mission, it would count as a failure.
Then he could take the mission to kill Scarlet Blood Scholar.
Su Changqing strode over, carrying himself with extraordinary poise and holding a black bundle.
"Submitting a mission."
Su Changqing placed a head upon the counter, opened the bundle, and spoke calmly.
A head nearly frozen into an ice sculpture, its eyes wide with terror, shocked every Imperial Guard present.
"Did he really kill Scarlet Blood Scholar?" someone cried in astonishment.
"Scarlet Blood Scholar once killed one of those eunuch dogs at the True Qi Realm First Layer. Who would have thought he would end up like this, his head cut off?"
Ye Ronghuo rose to his feet and looked at Su Changqing, his expression incomparably grim.
One hundred and eighty merit points were in hand. Once he accumulated a thousand points, he could be promoted to a true Centurion of the Imperial Guard.
"Another mission: confiscate the household of Minister of Personnel Chen Yuanfeng."
"Centurion Su truly is a dragon among men!" someone praised with cupped hands.
Not everyone feared Ye Ronghuo. Most merely feared his younger brother, Ye Tian.
Since Su Changqing could kill Scarlet Blood Scholar, he had clearly broken through into the True Qi Realm. His strength was truly formidable.
In the distance, a figure approached surrounded by dozens of people.
A Spring Embroidered Saber hung at his waist. His eyes were cold and proud, and he was young, around twenty years old. His face was sharply cut and strikingly handsome.
Everyone turned to look, their eyes filled with shock.
Ye Tian—the renowned True Qi Seventh Layer expert, one of the Suppression Bureau's strongest prodigies, a peerless genius!
He was Ye Ronghuo's younger brother.
Even Su Changqing could not help taking a few extra looks. Then his gaze suddenly sharpened.
Name: Ye Tian Realm: True Qi Ninth Layer Destiny: Seven Orifices Body (Purple) Fate: Martial Arts Prodigy of the World (Purple), Photographic Memory (Blue) Life Script: Great villain of "Supreme Martial Saint" Recent Opportunity: Half a month later, he would single-handedly wipe out the bandits on Mount Zhenwu outside Chang'an City. Inside the volcanic crater, he would obtain the hidden treasure left behind when Great Emperor Zhenwu ascended. Profound Heaven True Qi, refined into his body, would form the Black Tortoise Phenomenon. His True Qi would become endlessly self-renewing and inexhaustible, his defensive power reaching its peak. From then on, he would carve through all opposition, nearly killing the Destined Protagonist Feng Taixu several times.
This man was truly extraordinary. At only twenty-two, he had already reached the True Qi Ninth Layer!
Not the so-called True Qi Seventh Layer!
This Profound Heaven True Qi was an innate variant True Qi capable of condensing a phenomenon and enveloping the user's entire body.
It granted an invincible position from birth, an ultimate defensive art.
There was no way the True Qi Realm could possess such a thing.
The only True Qi Su Changqing had ever seen that could fully defend its user was Director Cao of the Eastern Depot's Heavenly Gang Virginity Art.
Heavenly Gang Origin Qi, Myriad Rivers Returning to the Sea, endlessly self-renewing.
However, Li Yuanying had clearly not mastered it.
Su Changqing's eyes narrowed, and he swiftly made his decision.
Rob him!
Ye Ronghuo clearly had no time to deal with Su Changqing anymore. He walked over to Ye Tian.
Though he was the elder brother, he looked more like a lackey now, following beside Ye Tian.
Su Changqing brushed past the crowd.
At this moment, he clearly did not register in Ye Tian's eyes at all.
"Was that kid just now the one who took the mission you wanted to kill Scarlet Blood Scholar?" Ye Tian pondered for a moment before suddenly turning to Ye Ronghuo.
"Yes. That man is extremely arrogant," Ye Ronghuo replied, startled.
"That man is at the True Qi Third Layer, and his killing intent is exceptionally heavy. He must have recently gone through a life-and-death battle. Do not provoke him for now. When the time is right, I will have someone deal with him."
Ye Tian sat in a chair and spoke softly.
True Qi Third Layer? Ye Ronghuo stood frozen. He had not expected Su Changqing, a lone old guard, to catch Ye Tian's attention.
"He has neither subordinates nor manpower. Even if his cultivation is somewhat higher, how could he possibly contend with me?" Ye Ronghuo frowned.
"You still do not believe me? Eunuch Li sent someone to find me earlier. This man slaughtered four opponents of the same realm, and his methods were ruthless..." Ye Tian whispered into Ye Ronghuo's ear.
Ye Ronghuo was thirty years old, already sporting a full beard, his temples frosted with gray. He looked weathered and travel-worn.
Yet Ye Tian was still in the prime of youth, his face as handsome as polished jade.
The two brothers had been together since childhood.
However, Ye Tian's fortunes ran too deep.
As a child, he fell into a deep well. The well was somehow dry, and he starved inside for seven days and seven nights before swallowing nine Seven Orifices Exquisite Snake eggs. They cleansed his body and marrow, giving him the Seven Orifices Exquisite Body. At six, he received the true inheritance of an Imperial Guard Thousand Household. At eight, he reached the Seventh Layer of Body Tempering. At twelve, he entered the True Qi Realm.
From then on, Ye Ronghuo had been deeply afraid of his younger brother.
He did not know that Ye Tian had always regarded him as the older brother who used to hold and comfort him as a child. Not for a single day had that changed.
"You need not concern yourself with anything else. I will kill him for you," Ye Tian said calmly.
The next day, on the streets of Chang'an, outside the residence of Minister of Personnel Chen Yuanfeng.
The Eastern Depot and the Imperial Guard Enforcement Agency had assembled a total of three hundred and sixty-five men here.
Imperial Guards in Flying Fish Robes and eunuchs in red robes had nearly surrounded Minister of Personnel Chen Yuanfeng's residence so tightly that not even water could pass through.
Their cold, murderous gazes terrified countless people on the street.
Su Changqing stood among them, his gaze calm as he looked at the enormous plaque over the Chen residence.
Life Script: Five days later, he would join the Eastern Depot in confiscating the household of Minister of Personnel Chen Yuanfeng. Above the main hall's roof beam, he would discover Invincible Brat's Indestructible Vajra Divine Art...
Martial arts manuals were divided from Third Rate to First Rate, then Earthly Fiend, Heavenly Gang, and finally the highest True Inheritance Grade manuals.
The Indestructible Vajra Divine Art was a supreme body-tempering technique, a Daoist True Inheritance Grade art.
It even surpassed the Heaven Grade Tyrant Saber.
Before you continue