Imperial Inspector

Half an hour later, the blazing sun hung high in the sky.

Lin Feng reined in his horse. The warhorse reared up and let out a neigh.

He sat steadily on the saddle, his gaze turning toward Black Rock City in the distance.

Below the city gate, two groups stood in sharply divided ranks.

The group on the left numbered around a hundred. They were all dressed in the standard black uniforms and light armor of the Northern Garrison Command, with long sabers at their waists. They stood in solemn silence.

When the squad captain at the front saw Lin Feng, he immediately strode forward, clasped his fists, and saluted. His voice was loud and crisp. "The Third Banner under the Northern Garrison Command, acting on Lord Shen's orders, respectfully welcomes Lord Lin!"

Lin Feng gave a slight nod in response.

His gaze shifted to the group on the right.

The people on the right appeared loose and disorderly. Nearly two hundred of them wore a motley assortment of clothes and carried all kinds of weapons.

Most of them wore arrogant expressions. Three middle-aged men in brocade robes and exuding considerable presence stood at their head.

These three clearly came from the local Three Great Families. The representative of the Wang Family in the middle was especially contemptuous, his disdain almost completely undisguised.

When Lin Feng's gaze swept over them, a burst of unabashed laughter and discussion immediately rose from the crowd, their voices grating.

"Tsk, so this is Lin Feng, the guy who struck it lucky and snatched a bargain in the arena?"

"An Eighth Rank cultivator? Wang Teng could crush this trash to death with one finger, and he thinks he's fit to be our commander? He wants to lead us to suppress bandits? Don't drag the brothers down a dead-end road!"

"Exactly! The Wang Family Head said that us following his orders is merely giving the Northern Garrison Command face. And he really thinks he's some big shot?"

"Look at that skinny-monkey build. I bet he can't even lift a saber! Hahahaha!"

"..."

The waves of jeers grew louder and louder. The Wang Family's men were especially boisterous, their faces filled with defiance and contempt, as though Lin Feng were the biggest joke in the world.

The soldiers of the Northern Garrison Command flushed with anger. They glared sharply at the people opposite them, their hands gripping their saber hilts tightly.

But military discipline was strict. Without an order, they could only force down their rage.

Lin Feng's cold gaze swept over the jeering private soldiers of the aristocratic families. His voice was not loud, but it carried a chill that pierced through the uproar.

"Silence!"

He paused, his tone as firm as a nail driven into iron.

"Now that you've joined my army, you must obey military regulations. Anyone who makes a disturbance without cause or provokes a superior again will be executed according to the law."

"Executed?" A man with a ferocious scar across his face sneered from among the Wang Family's ranks. He was one of the private soldiers' leaders and possessed strength above the Eighth Rank. "Lord Lin, what an imposing official you are!

"What's wrong with us brothers speaking the truth? The law doesn't punish a crowd. Surely you can't cut us all down, can you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the jeers and whistles behind him rose and fell in waves, and the scene nearly spiraled out of control.

Just as the uproar reached its peak, that cold notification suddenly rang out in Lin Feng's mind:

Slaughter all the jeering soldiers to obtain 250 Slaughter Points!

Killing intent instantly flooded Lin Feng's chest like icy water. He did not hesitate in the slightest.

He slowly raised his hand and grasped the saber at his waist.

The unique, sinister aura of the Netherworld Ghost Blade began to spread silently. The surrounding temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

"Stop!"

A sharp shout came from the side.

A middle-aged official dressed as an Imperial Inspector hurried over. His face was pale and beardless, and his expression was as gloomy as stagnant water.

He went straight between Lin Feng and the group of jeering private soldiers, then pointed at Lin Feng and barked harshly.

"Lord Lin! What do you think you're doing!"

He rebuked Lin Feng with righteous indignation.

"On the march and in battle, it's perfectly normal for soldiers to have a few opinions and grumble a little!

"As a commander, you should be broad-minded and guide them properly. How can you draw your saber at the slightest verbal dispute and attempt to execute your own soldiers?

"This is not the way of a commander. It's nothing more than acting on impulse! Put your saber away at once!"

Seeing the Imperial Inspector step forward to back them, the Wang Family's private soldiers became even more emboldened. Their laughter grew increasingly chaotic, mixed with sycophantic remarks directed at the Imperial Inspector.

Lin Feng looked at the Imperial Inspector standing before him, his eyes cold as ten-thousand-year ice. "The Imperial Inspector certainly knows how to stand there and talk without feeling the pain."

His wrist suddenly moved!

"Clang!"

The long saber sprang from its sheath. Its icy blade reflected a blinding cold gleam beneath the sunlight, pointing directly at the Imperial Inspector and the soldiers behind him who were still shouting.

"By Lord Shen's personal order, I, Lin Feng, am the Qianhu in charge of suppressing bandits on this operation. I possess the authority to decide life and death!

"Military orders are mountains. How can they be treated as child's play!"

His voice rose sharply, carrying a blood-and-iron air of slaughter.

"They want to see whether the law truly doesn't punish a crowd? Then today, I'll punish them and let them see!"

Before his voice had even faded, Lin Feng's figure moved like a ghost!

He tapped the ground with one foot and swept past the Imperial Inspector like a gust of wind, completely ignoring his obstruction as he charged straight into the group of jeering private soldiers!

A flash of saber light erupted!

Like ghostly hellfire, it was silent and soundless, yet carried a fatal chill.

The Netherworld Ghost Blade's perfect mastery was revealed in full at that moment.

"Pfft!"

The muffled sound of steel slicing through flesh rang out.

"Ah—!"

Shrill screams instantly replaced the earlier laughter and clamor.

The scar-faced man at the head was the first to bear the brunt. Shock and disbelief still froze on his face when his perfectly good head shot into the sky, blood gushing like a spring.

Immediately afterward, those who had shouted the loudest and leaped about the most were like wild grass flattened by a fierce wind. Before they could even scream a second time, they fell dead one after another.

Lin Feng's saber momentum did not stop. His movements were as fast as lightning as he darted and shifted through the crowd.

The saber intent of the Netherworld Ghost Blade locked onto every target that had been wantonly making a disturbance moments before.

Every time the saber flashed, it precisely raised a splash of hot blood and coldly reaped a life.

With his perfect Eighth Rank cultivation, dealing with these private soldiers—most of whom were no higher than the Eighth or Ninth Rank, and who lacked fighting spirit and had been caught off guard—was like a tiger plunging into a flock of sheep, unstoppable in every direction.

The soldiers of the Northern Garrison Command stared in stunned silence. Though they were fierce and valiant, they had never witnessed such a brutal and efficient slaughter.

Then intense fervor and awe burst from their eyes as they fixed their gazes on that figure resembling a god of slaughter.

The private soldiers of the aristocratic families, meanwhile, were utterly frightened out of their wits.

Some tried to resist, only to discover that their opponent's saber was so fast they could not see its path. Others tried to flee, only to feel a sinister, icy killing intent lock onto them, their legs growing as heavy as though filled with lead.

A massacre!

This was a one-sided massacre!

In the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred private soldiers who had just been jeering and making a disturbance were slaughtered by Lin Feng alone, one saber stroke after another, like chopping vegetables!

Broken limbs and severed arms covered the ground. A thick, nauseating stench of blood instantly spread beyond the entire city gate, and even the sunlight seemed to dim several shades.

Slaughter all the jeering soldiers. Obtained 250 Slaughter Points!

The cold notification rang in Lin Feng's mind like heavenly music.

Lin Feng stood with his saber in hand, his figure straight as a pine.

Blood drenched the blade, gathering into rivulets that slid along its gleaming edge and dripped to the ground with a steady "drip, drip."

A tiny stream of blood pooled beneath his feet. Killing Intent curled around his body, and his eyes were cold enough to pierce bone, making him look like a god of slaughter who had returned from hell.

The Imperial Inspector was so terrified by the extreme, blood-soaked horror before him that he staggered back several steps. His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the ground.

His face was as pale as paper, entirely drained of color. Even the finger pointing at Lin Feng trembled violently beyond his control.

"You... you... Lin Feng! How dare you... how dare you slaughter soldiers like this! You... you're rebelling! This is the wanton killing of innocents!"

His voice became shrill and twisted from sheer terror and rage.

He abruptly drew the Imperial Inspector's Sword at his waist, as though grasping the last straw that could save his life. Like a cornered beast, he shouted hoarsely at all the soldiers who had not yet been caught up in the slaughter:

"The Imperial Inspector's Sword is here! All soldiers, heed my order!

"Lin Feng is brutal and heartless, slaughtering innocents and disobeying military orders! Seize this brute for me! Execute him on the spot as a warning to all!"

As soon as the order was issued, the atmosphere instantly tightened to the breaking point!

The hundred soldiers of the Northern Garrison Command moved without hesitation. A chorus of metallic sounds rang out as they drew their sabers.

Their movements were swift. They rapidly assembled in front of Lin Feng, forming a tight battle formation and firmly shielding him behind them.

Their blades pointed outward in unison as they faced the Imperial Inspector and the aristocratic-family remnants, who had been frightened senseless.

Their gazes were resolute. Clearly, they recognized only Lin Feng, their Qianhu.

Some soldiers originally belonging to the other two Great Families, along with a portion of soldiers intimidated by the Imperial Inspector's identity, slowly shifted their feet under his repeated, hoarse urging.

They closed in from the flanks, their gleaming blades faintly pointing toward Lin Feng, who was protected within the formation.

For a moment, beneath the gates of Black Rock City, the two sides faced one another with weapons drawn. A murderous air spread through the scene, and the situation was on the verge of erupting!

Just then, that cold notification rang out once more in Lin Feng's mind, devoid of any emotion:

Slaughter the Imperial Inspector to obtain 350 Slaughter Points!

Lin Feng looked at the Imperial Inspector in the distance, who was furious and still shouting for his men to seize Lin Feng's head. The corners of his mouth slowly curved into a cruel, icy smile.