Joint Capture Operation by the Five Great Families
On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of the fifth year of Chengping, Jiang Liu bid farewell to Luo Shiyuan early in the morning, then entrusted the Three-Eyed Flying Tiger to Ascension Tower for care, and then embarked on his journey to Jiang Liu alone.
Since the journey from Azure Dragon City to Qian City takes no more than a day, whether by carriage or by direct flight, Jiang Liu set off only one day in advance.
As darkness began to fall, Jiang Liu appeared on the city wall of Qiancheng. Without stopping, Jiang Liu flew directly into Qiancheng from the sky.
Qiancheng is much larger than Azure Dragon City. Looking at the numerous towering pavilions, Jiang Liu didn't know where to find the Ascension Tower. He could only stop on a secluded street and wander around for a while.
After wandering around for a short while, Jiang Liu spotted an inn. Jiang Liu quickly walked over, and as soon as he approached, a waiter came out to greet him, "Sir, are you here for a meal or to stay the night?"
"Arrange a quiet room for me," Jiang Liu said.
"Alright! Please follow me, sir." The waiter then turned and led the way.
Jiang Liu followed the waiter up to the second floor of the inn and stopped in front of the last room. The waiter opened the door and said, "Sir, please take a look at this room. Are you satisfied?"
Jiang Liu looked around the room and found it to be fairly tidy. He nodded and then casually tossed the waiter a ten-tael silver ingot, instructing, "Deduct the room fee, bring a table of food and wine and set it in the room. The rest is your tip."
The waiter took the money and bowed to Jiang Liu in gratitude. Then he went downstairs excitedly to make the arrangements for Jiang Liu.
The waiter served the food and drinks very quickly. Jiang Liu had just washed his face and sat down at the table when the waiter knocked on the door and came in.
After Jiang Liu finished his dinner and asked the waiter to clear the food away, he began his meditation practice for the evening. Of course, he dared not practice the Saintly Sky Art, but simply began his practice in the same way as before.
As night fell, Jiang Liu released his Divine Sense to cover a radius of one hundred meters around himself before continuing his cultivation. This covered the entire inn, ensuring he could be alerted to any disturbance.
Jiang Liu had just finished cultivating the Soul Technique when he suddenly sensed a strange movement coming from his Divine Sense sea.
Jiang Liu was taken aback. What a coincidence! He had just arrived at this place and someone was already causing trouble? Maybe they were looking for trouble with someone else. Jiang Liu then ignored it.
Jiang Liu continued his meditation, but the disturbances in his Divine Sense sea grew stronger. Jiang Liu opened his eyes. "This is coming at me?" he thought. "But I just arrived in Qian City, who's already coming to cause me trouble?" Jiang Liu was completely baffled.
Moreover, sending four ninth-rank martial artists at once is quite a generous gesture.
It should be noted that the news of Jiang Liu's Minor Grandmaster to the Lesser Grandmaster level was not revealed. Based on his previous strength, sending four Rank 9 assassins to kill him would have been a piece of cake.
Unfortunately, even with Jiang Liu's previous strength, these four Rank 9 Martial Practitioner would have been like throwing meat buns to a dog, or delivering vegetables to someone else.
Moreover, Jiang Liu is already at the Minor Grandmaster level.
Four Rank 9 Martial Practitioner cautiously approached Jiang Liu's door. The leader made a hand gesture, indicating that they should guard the window and prevent Jiang Liu from escaping.
The four of them had just finished dividing up their tasks and were about to enter Jiang Liu's room when they suddenly felt themselves plunged into complete darkness.
Jiang Liu's door then opened, and the four of them lined up and went in. Once inside, they explained in detail everything they knew, including who sent them and how they found Jiang Liu.
And that was it; only four naked corpses were found in the stinking ditch of Qiancheng.
Jiang Liu returned to his room, pondering the information the four people had given him. He hadn't expected that the Ji, Wang, Liu, Li, and Ye families had joined forces to capture Rank 9 Martial Practitioner surviving in the secret realm.
I wonder how many they've successfully captured. This is probably going to enrage the three sects.
It should be noted that the remaining forces are not easy to deal with, especially since there are several disciples from the three major sects among them.
However, these five families dared to court death like this, they must have considered the consequences, or they thought they could do it without anyone noticing? But with such an obvious flaw, how could the three sects not know?
Then Jiang Liu thought about the current chaotic situation. Could it be that these five families were planning to arrest a few more people to confuse the public and then shift the blame onto Corpse Valley?
Jiang Liu stroked his chin and thought for a moment. The only most likely excuse he could think of right now was this. Anyway, Corpse Valley had taken the blame for so many things, one more wouldn't make a difference.
Jiang Liu recalled the secret files he had seen at the Ascension Tower, which listed the things the Lotus Sect had done, and how Corpse Valley had always been the scapegoat. It was then that Jiang Liu realized that Corpse Valley was a natural scapegoat!
Jiang Liu never expected that he would be targeted by the people sent by those five families just by strolling around the street. It seems that these five families have quite a few people planted in Qiancheng!
It seems we should go to the Ascension Tower tomorrow; that would be safer. After all, the Luo Family's Grandmaster is at the Ascension Tower in Qiancheng, and no one would dare to mess with us.
Afterwards, Jiang Liu continued meditating until dawn. As soon as it was light, Jiang Liu checked out of the inn, asked the innkeeper for directions to the Ascension Tower, and headed towards the Ascension Tower after leaving the inn.
Not long after Jiang Liu left the inn, someone came to ask the innkeeper for news. Upon hearing that Jiang Liu had left alone and was heading towards the Ascension Tower, his face darkened, and he hurriedly left.
Jiang Liu used his movement technique to fly along the main street and soon arrived at the Ascension Tower. As soon as he approached the Ascension Tower, Jiang Liu immediately felt a Divine Sense enveloping him.
Jiang Liu did not respond with his Divine Sense, but simply followed his instructions and headed directly towards the backyard. Soon, Jiang Liu arrived in front of a huge courtyard.
As soon as Jiang Liu stepped into the courtyard, he saw an old man with white hair and beard sitting at a stone table drinking tea. "What are you looking at? Come in!" the old man said.
Jiang Liu apologized and bowed, saying, "Old Man Luo."
Old Man Luo then asked, "Stop with the formalities. You should have arrived last night. Why are you only coming to see me now?"
"When the boy came to Qiancheng last night, it was already late, so I didn't dare to disturb him and just found an inn to rest," Jiang Liu replied.
Old Man Luo asked doubtfully, "Qiancheng has been quite turbulent lately, haven't you encountered anything about it?"
"I ran into him last night, but I dealt with him." Jiang Liu said helplessly.
"You're ruthless, kid. You killed four ninth-rank officials in one go," Old Man Luo said with a smile as he looked at Jiang Liu.
Jiang Liu's expression froze. He hadn't expected that the old man already knew about what happened last night. It seemed that the old man was testing him.
Then, Jiang Liu said embarrassedly, "I won't show any mercy to anyone who wants me dead."
"I don't mean to blame you. I'm pleased that you did this. That's how you have to deal with the enemy; you can't be soft-hearted," Old Man Luo nodded in satisfaction.
Old Man Luo continued, "Why don't you stay here for the next few days? That way, there will be fewer troubles."
Jiang Liu nodded in agreement.
Afterwards, the two chatted over tea, mainly as Jiang Liu asked the old man about the Grandmaster Realm.