Body-Shattering Formless Sword Qi

"Prefect, gathering his courage, said, 'With no evidence, even if you are a Dragon Guard, you cannot arrest people at will, can you?'"

"Arrest people? Who told you I came here to arrest people?" Qin Shuang sneered, then his killing intent surged. "I came here to kill people!"

Qin Shuang pointed toward Shen Hu Chan and the other Dragon Guards. "Kill! Leave no survivors within the Yellow River Gang. Anyone who resists, shelters them, or covers for them will be treated as an accomplice!"

"You... you..." The Prefect pointed at Qin Shuang in panic, but he could not get the words out.

Shen Hu Chan and the other Dragon Guards had long been seething with anger. At the order, they all drew their weapons and charged toward the Yellow River Gang's headquarters like wolves and tigers. Without the Prefect's command, not one of the yamen runners dared to move.

"Where are Xiao Ding and the others?" Qin Shuang asked Gao Jian Fei.

"They went downstream along the inner river to look for you."

"Tell them to come back. Before dusk, I want there to be not a single living member of the Yellow River Gang left in Chaoge City!" Qin Shuang spoke with a bone-chilling tone and overflowing killing intent. "Send orders to every region as well. The Yellow River Gang has shown contempt for the imperial authority of Great Shang and organized an assassination attempt against the Dragon Guards. They are now wanted throughout the nation. Once captured, they need not be tried—execute them on the spot! From this day forward, the Yellow River Gang is erased from the martial world of Great Shang!"

"Yes!"

After Gao Jian Fei left, Qin Shuang strode into the Yellow River Gang's headquarters. Countless corpses already littered the hall.

"Damnable Dragon Guards! This old man will fight you to the death!" A strange howl rang out, and a figure lunged straight at Qin Shuang.

The newcomer was bald and red-eyed. He was none other than the Yellow River Gang's leader, the "Ghost Gate Dragon King," Sha Tongtian.

He wielded an iron oar, driving the inner force of an early Innate Realm expert to its peak. With one move, Vicious Flood Dragon Emerges from the Sea, he thrust straight at Qin Shuang's face.

The moment Qin Shuang saw Sha Tongtian, he recognized him as one of the people who had nearly succeeded in ambushing and killing him in the inner river.

As the saying went, enemies meeting face-to-face grew especially hostile. Qin Shuang's intense battle intent had nowhere to vent. When Sha Tongtian delivered himself to his door, Qin Shuang's eyes turned cold. With a thought, a black sword qi burst through the empty space behind him.

Body-Shattering Formless Sword Qi!

The black sword qi was as fast as lightning and as nimble as the wind. It contained a berserk killing force capable of withering anything and piercing everything. Sha Tongtian had nowhere to evade. He was skewered by the sword, and its terrifying sword force caused his body to explode on the spot, leaving not even bones behind.

The black sword qi carved a long trench through the bluestone path. Wherever it passed, the Yellow River Gang members died without exception.

"Innate Body-Shattering Formless Sword Qi" was a supreme art created by the legendary Yan Kuangtu. It was based on the Innate Formless Finger Sword. No arduous cultivation was required. Once the user entered the Innate Realm, they only needed to break through the obsession in their heart, comprehend the true meaning of the sword dao behind the Body-Shattering Formless Sword Qi, and then draw upon powerful dead-spirit energy—in simpler terms, corpse qi, the resentment of the dead—to unleash this terrifying sword qi.

Before each activation, sufficient dead-spirit energy had to be accumulated nearby. Moreover, the "body-shattering" in its name did not refer to the physical body, but to the "celestial body"—space itself! It was born from a thought and burst through the void!

"Innate Body-Shattering Formless Sword Qi" was divided into three stages.

The first stage was the Sword of the Dead Spirit, called Body-Shattering Formless Sword Qi. The sword qi was black, representing death, and contained the resentment of the dead. It relied on killing to grow stronger; the more people one killed, the greater the accumulated power.

The second stage was the Sword of Nature, called Formless Sword Qi. Death transformed into life. The essence of vitality from flowers, plants, and forests could also be used to drive the sword qi, and its might was even stronger and more astonishing.

The third stage was the Formless Sword, called Sword Qi. Drawing upon the colorless, tasteless, invisible, and intangible energy of heaven and earth, the sword qi came tearing through the void. It slew gods when it met gods and Buddhas when it met Buddhas. One sword could shatter ten thousand techniques; heaven, earth, and the universe could all be broken. By breaking through the extreme, one sought the Dao!

With a single sword, Qin Shuang shook the entire scene and destroyed the Yellow River Gang members' last shred of fighting spirit. The Dragon Guards' momentum soared, and they slaughtered the remaining gang members as easily as chopping vegetables.

Blood flowed like a river within the Yellow River Gang. The Prefect outside the main gate could not endure the overwhelming stench of blood and had long since led the yamen runners away.

By the time Ding Ning's group arrived, Shen Hu Chan and the others were already cleaning up and handling the aftermath.

Miao Changfeng, Song Tengxiao, Dan Qiusheng, and the others were all sword experts of the Innate Realm. Seeing the unparalleled might of Qin Shuang's sword qi, they could not help but click their tongues in secret. They instinctively compared it with their own sword dao, yet all felt somewhat inferior.

Miao Changfeng, Leng Tieqiao, Xiao Zhiyuan, and Yang Mu exchanged a glance. None of them still felt as relaxed and carefree as when they had first arrived.

According to their superiors' instructions, the primary purpose of joining this unit was to protect this exceptionally gifted Garrison General, ensuring that he would not die young because of an enemy's schemes or assassination.

Yet judging from the sharpness of his sword qi and the vigor of his sword intent, he truly did not seem like a warrior of the early Innate Realm. Even an ordinary mid-Innate Realm expert might not be his equal!

If a crisis or killing trap capable of endangering his life appeared, could they block it? Could they resolve it?

Just one move of Body-Shattering Formless Sword Qi had already left Miao Changfeng and the others deeply amazed and filled with thoughts. If they knew that Qin Shuang had not even been in the Innate Realm for half an hour, who knew what they would think?

"Brother Shuang!"

"It's wonderful that you're all right!"

"Brother Shuang, you scared us to death!"

"Brother Shuang, are you injured?"

Seeing that Qin Shuang was unharmed, everyone came forward and exclaimed in relief.

"I'm fine. There's no need for everyone to worry. I was lucky this time and survived a disaster!" Recalling the battle in the water, Qin Shuang still felt a lingering fear.

"Then great fortune must follow!" Jiang Xiaoyu said with a laugh.

"The great fortune has already arrived." Qin Shuang smiled. "I used this opportunity to step into the Innate Realm!"

"What!" Their relief turned into astonishment.

"No way!" Heng Feijing's face turned livid. He was the most desperate among them to improve his Martial Way cultivation.

"What kind of magical place is this inner river? Kou Zhong and Ziling also broke through into the Innate Realm there. No, I'm going to soak in it later too!" Jiang Xiaoyu joked.

"Count me in. We'll go together!" Gao Jian Fei played along.

"I'm going too!" Though he knew the two of them were probably joking, Heng Feijing was unwilling to miss even the slightest possibility of advancing into the Innate Realm.

"All right, enough fooling around. Let's discuss business. Ling Su will still oversee the confiscation. As usual, seventy percent will be turned over to the public coffers, and thirty percent will be kept. Two-tenths of that will be distributed among our brothers, while one-tenth will be taken back and handed to Commander Yang, the Military Sima." Qin Shuang assigned the work with practiced ease. "Kou Zhong, have Haonan take over the Yellow River Gang's businesses in Chaoge City. If other gangs try to interfere, give him some appropriate help. They're still too weak—don't let them fail to get even a mouthful of soup."

"Got it." Kou Zhong readily agreed.

Cheng Lingsu also nodded in acceptance. She was nearly becoming the team's financial manager, which seemed increasingly far removed from the goal Qin Shuang had described when he first persuaded her.

He actually dared to paint her such a rosy picture. How had she believed him back then? Hmph!