Assassination Plan

Assassination, assassination, and more assassination.

No matter how absurd it was.

No matter how laughable, far-fetched, and utterly delusional the plan was, no matter how hard it made Liu Baiyuan lose his composure, more than a dozen crudely fabricated assassination plans came charging into action from the other side, as though to bolster their courage and vent their frustration.

Not to mention Liu Baiyuan.

Even Guo Decheng, the exceptionally farsighted leader of assassins, had laughed until he could barely close his mouth while handling the first round of translation and polishing. Even without their several groups secretly eavesdropping, these frogs in a well would probably never get past even the outermost Qi Cultivation Practitioner sentries if they tried to assassinate Immortal Master Lan Yi.

These ordinary people who knew nothing about martial arts had no idea.

Even Qi Cultivation Practitioners.

Their reaction speed, powers of observation, and perception, as well as their ability to detect the slightest changes in an ordinary person's expressions and bodily instincts, were all on the level of high-precision cameras.

With only a little training.

Even separated by a wall or a hundred meters, the sentries formed by Qi Cultivation Practitioners seemed riddled with openings, yet were actually seamless. Against the security measures formed by these superhumans, in this age of backward attack methods and limited assassination tools, any attacker who came would meet only one fate: death!

"All right, that's all they have... these plans." Liu Baiyuan ended the eavesdropping.

"Let that foreign woman in." Guo Decheng finished translating and polishing the text at the same time. He had studied abroad and knew some foreign languages, but had never learned them systematically, so it was still safer to have a foreigner look it over.

"Shouldn't we do something to it before showing it to her directly?"

Liu Baiyuan frowned. Although it was said that the foreign beauty and the Immortal Master were merely lovers who had shared a brief encounter, was it really appropriate to show her these plans to assassinate Immortal Master Lan Yi?

Guo Decheng let out a mocking laugh.

"Heh, people from martial arts circles really are narrow-minded."

"You..."

"We've both been working under the Immortal Master. Let me ask you: did the Immortal Master really have some passionate affair with them?"

"Of course not." Liu Baiyuan immediately shook his head.

Anyone who had personally met Lan Yi would never believe that the man who resembled a god or demon, who controlled immense power and remained calm and rational, was some sort of stallion. Immortal Master Lan Yi's nature was actually crystal clear: he sought to become stronger. He was purer in this pursuit than any martial artist, unmoved by external things, yet doing his utmost to turn those external things into aids on his path to greater strength!

"If not, then why has the Immortal Master never said a word about it?"

"...I await your instruction, Brother Wang." Liu Baiyuan pondered for a moment before cupping his hands.

"Women—especially arrogant foreign beauties—the less you treat them like people, and the more you make them kneel and look up to you, the more devoted they become. Those women... they worship the strong."

Guo Decheng sneered.

This assassin chief had never believed in love. Even though he himself kept a charming, graceful, and seductive female disciple, he had seen too many dead people. Compared with death, love was nothing.

Although Liu Baiyuan was a martial artist who roamed the jianghu, his values still fell within the bounds of ordinary people's beliefs. Hearing such a shocking opinion for this era—demeaning emotion to the dirt while praising domination through strength—was still difficult for him to accept.

Yet when he thought of everything he had seen.

What Guo Decheng said seemed not to be wrong.

But if that was the case, did it not make people no different from beasts?

Liu Baiyuan fell silent. Guo Decheng had already risen, opened the door, and gone downstairs. Before long, he led up a foreign beauty in a high-necked dress. She had striking, icy features and a voluptuous figure; it was impossible to tell whether she had put on smoky eye makeup or simply had particularly dark circles beneath her eyes. After entering, the woman did not waste any words. Just as before, she took the plans and began proofreading them.

Although her figure was fiery and her bearing coldly alluring, Liu Baiyuan and Guo Decheng's eyes remained remarkably honest.

The reason was simple.

Madam Philia had been the first reporter to interview Immortal Master Lan Yi.

Anyone who had witnessed Lan Yi's inconceivable divine power would never test whether he had some particular obsession with cleanliness. There were plenty of women in this world; there was no need to lose one's head over a foreign beauty suspected of having shared an intimate relationship with the Immortal Master.

Moreover, Philia was highly capable.

At least, she was far more capable than her useless, incompetent husband. In this era, when women's talents were not taken seriously, she had easily organized a group of people in the foreign concession to serve the one most beloved in her heart. Among them was her shrewd daughter, who had likewise fallen helplessly into the throes of love.

Like the two martial artists, Philia was laughing in exasperation after reading the hilariously absurd assassination plan.

"They can't possibly succeed."

"This is nothing but garbage."

"They have no idea how strong Lan truly is. His strength is as unfathomable as his soul and as ferocious as his body."

Though she said this, Philia still finished proofreading it.

Deep disdain and annoyance filled her emerald-green eyes. On this assassination plan covered in stupidity and idiocy, she had seen the scheme devised by her incompetent husband. That genius had actually wanted her to smother Lan Yi with a pillow before killing him with a dagger. To accomplish this, he would once again endure humiliation and take the initiative to send his wife over.

A dagger?

Was that supposed to be a prop for arousal?

Lan Yi's muscles were harder and hotter than any dagger.

What was more, Lan Yi had displayed before her and her daughter wondrous magic with power far beyond that of guns and cannons.

"All right, that's enough for today, Madam. We'll escort you home." Guo Decheng's gaze remained courteous as he prepared to end the day's work.

"Wait. I have a secret letter. Please deliver it to Lan." Philia took a letter from her sleeve.

"But we can't request an audience with the Immortal Master at will." Liu Baiyuan failed to grasp her meaning for a moment.

"He'll see you."

The coldly beautiful woman revealed a thawing smile, but a trace of anxiety and uncertainty immediately flickered through it. Her mature face held the same wild imaginings as a young girl sending out a love letter, wondering whether the other person would care, whether he held her in his heart. After all, he was a rising Divine Emperor.

That very night, the secret letter was successfully delivered to Lan Yi's desk.

Lan Yi showed little reaction. He merely gave the two men some verbal praise for the results of their work, saying that his personal Enlightenment and Qi Opening had not been wasted on them.

The same thought flashed through Liu Baiyuan and Guo Decheng's minds in unison.

Immortal Master Lan Yi truly did care about Philia.

By the time Lan Yi opened the secret letter, dawn was already approaching.

The letter contained none of the passionate emotions of a mature beauty they had expected, none of the uncontrollable lust, and even less of the bold, uninhibited invitation characteristic of Western women.

Its contents were very simple. Since Lan Yi planned to head north the day after tomorrow, the fleet arriving the following day must already have a way to deal with him. She hoped to obtain the opportunity to record Lan Yi's next great achievements. She believed that people both within and beyond Xinghan would take an extraordinary interest in an interview documenting such events.

Of course, if Lan Yi needed it, she could also gather every piece of information about the incoming Punishment Fleet.

The letter was signed, Madam Philia and her daughter.

"If every secret letter they send contains words like these, then I'll have a much easier time." Lan Yi sincerely expressed his admiration for their shrewdness and seriousness.