Unfolding

"Killed a level 9 creature. Experience +841!"

Life Level: 10 (614/1000)

From the moment Fang Lieyun had clamped down on his trail and pursued him relentlessly, displaying a physique nearly as strong as his own, he had known he couldn't defeat Fang Lieyun.

This was a top-tier martial master, even stronger than Han Shan, the curator of Sword Tasting Hall.

With his strength, even after his Life Level had been strengthened to level 9, he was at best evenly matched with Han Shan.

Their martial arts techniques and combat experience were on completely different levels.

With those advantages, Han Shan could easily close the gap created by a one-level difference in physical strength.

If even the older Han Shan was that formidable, then Fang Lieyun—the Garrison Department's number-one expert, in the prime of his life—was another matter entirely.

Against this martial master, the only tactic that could turn the tables was one where both sides risked their lives.

And it had to be a precisely calculated exchange, one that made the most of his advantage in reaction speed.

So, drawing on his enhanced memory, he reconstructed the scene from when he had raced down that street moments ago and quickly devised a strategy.

A strategy that Fang Lieyun could win, but whose ultimate victor could only be him.

In the end, he survived.

Fang Lieyun died.

Li ChunJun got to his feet.

He glanced toward the Jin Family.

Next, all he had to do was wait for Jin Zhiya, the Jin Family's greatest Sea Stabilizing Pillar, to return.

If she refused to come back?

No matter.

He would keep killing.

Jin Guangming was dead, but he hadn't simply popped out of a rock.

Though this branch of the Jin Family wasn't large, it still had dozens of people.

If he went from household to household, killing them off, Jin Zhiya would eventually be unable to sit still.

If she really hid inside the Red Sun Sword Sect and refused to come out...

Once he was strong enough, he could go to the Red Sun Sword Sect himself!

Shouts and commotion rose in the distance.

Unsure whether those people were carrying guns, he didn't confront them.

Instead, he took Fang Lieyun's gun, grabbed a few magazines, and left the scene.

Less than half a minute after he had gone, six people hurried over.

Every one of the six was an elite with well-developed Internal Strengthening.

In a local Garrison Department, each would have been considered a trump card.

Yet they were willing to serve as ordinary members of Fang Lieyun's execution squad.

What's more...

Unlike civilian Martial Artists, every one of them was skilled with firearms. In terms of lethality, even an ordinary Harmony Realm martial master might not measure up to them.

Unfortunately, when they finally arrived, all they found was Fang Lieyun's corpse.

An hour later.

A car, shielded by four sedans—two in front and two behind—pulled into the Jin Family Courtyard.

As the car door opened, a white-haired man in his sixties, usually seen only on television, appeared in the courtyard.

Chang Hong, Speaker of the Guangzhou City Council.

A man who truly stood at the peak of Guangzhou.

A figure with far-reaching influence.

In all of Guangzhou, let alone Mo Lei, the Garrison Department's director, even the mayor of Guangzhou was appointed by the Guangzhou Council under his leadership.

By then, many people were already waiting in the courtyard.

Every one of them was a top-ranking figure in Guangzhou.

Someone like President Song of Star Gathering Media, for instance, hadn't even been qualified to enter this courtyard.

Even Huang Shang, deputy director of the Garrison Department, was little more than a lackey running errands before these truly influential figures.

"Speaker."

He hurried over to greet the old man. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you... This was a grave failure on the part of our Garrison Department..."

Chang Hong didn't even look at him. He simply walked over to a corpse.

It wasn't Fang Lieyun's, nor Mo Lei's.

It was the owner of the courtyard: Jin Guangming.

Behind him, a man assigned to protect him went over to Fang Lieyun's body and began examining it.

"So... what exactly is Li ChunJun's background?"

Chang Hong said, "Don't tell me he's just an ordinary person. Could an ordinary person have that kind of strength? I want to know who's backing him, and what forces stand behind him! Find out everything."

"Yes. We've already sent people to investigate."

The Public Security Department director answered hastily.

"What about the Jin Family?"

Chang Hong asked.

"They're in hiding. Besides Jin Guangming, there's Jin Guanghua, his younger brother. I'll have him brought here right away."

The Public Security Department director said.

At that moment, the guard finished examining Fang Lieyun's body and came over to him. "He wasn't ambushed with firearms like Han Shan was. He was killed head-on."

"Killed head-on?"

Chang Hong looked at him. "I remember you saying Fang Lieyun was the only worthy expert outside the sects, and that his strength was no less than yours. And you... you're already preparing to break into the Innate Realm, aren't you? A martial master like him was killed head-on?"

"Yes."

"Innate Realm? A Body Refining Cultivator?"

Chang Hong's expression grew slightly grave.

"He hadn't reached the Innate Realm, and he wasn't a Body Refining Cultivator either."

The guard hesitated for a moment. "Based on the survivors' accounts, he must have been exceptionally gifted. But his strength had certainly reached Harmony Realm."

"Exceptionally gifted..."

Chang Hong mused, saying nothing.

"If someone this powerful is sent after by the Public Security Department or the Garrison Department, they'll only be sent to their deaths. In truth, ordinary people have no chance against a powerful martial master. Otherwise, the Jin Family wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses today."

The guard said.

He had watched the videos and looked at the pictures.

There was no denying it: the Jin Family and the guests who'd attended the funeral had been far too reckless.

Knowing a top-tier martial master had come knocking, they hadn't scattered at once. Instead, they'd thought they could capture him?

What did they take a Harmony Realm martial master for?

Someone they could overwhelm with sheer numbers?

They could overwhelm him, sure.

But how could a disorganized rabble possibly have that kind of fighting spirit or discipline?

They'd been asking for death.

As he spoke, the guard looked at Chang Hong. "Speaker, I recommend handing this over to the Military Department."

"The Military Department!"

In the Da Shang Kingdom, under the jurisdiction of the Red Sun Sword Sect, the military and government were separate.

The army had always been under the Red Sun Sword Sect's control.

The real authority over Guangzhou City's Military Department didn't belong to the city guard commander, but to an executive of the Red Sun Sword Sect.

As for Chang Hong...

He wasn't a cultivator himself.

But his eldest son, Chang Sheng, was a disciple of the Red Sun Sword Sect.

And he was an official disciple who had entered the Red Sun Sword Sect after passing two rounds of examinations.

It was precisely because he had such a son that Chang Hong had been able to hold onto the seat of Guangzhou City Council Speaker for ten years.

Over those ten years, Guangzhou City had been governed in good order, without any major incidents.

Every assessment had rated his performance as excellent.

But if he contacted the Military Department over the Jin Family's troubles and brought in the army...

People would inevitably question his ability to govern.

After a moment's thought, he said bluntly, "At the root of it, the Jin Family caused this mess. Let them handle it themselves. If they truly can't, then we'll consider other options."

"The Jin Family?"

The guard caught on at once. "You mean... Jin Zhiya?"

"Have the Jin Family notify her."

Chang Hong said.

"Her... If I remember correctly, she should be preparing for her second examination."

"The Jin Family caused this trouble. If she doesn't clean it up herself, who will?"

Chang Hong waved a hand.

He'd heard his son say that Jin Zhiya was very ambitious.

Any Spirit Root talent who came out of Guangzhou had to serve under his son. If they refused to obey, there were plenty of ways to teach them how the world worked.

"That's all."

The Speaker then made his way to a makeshift reception hall, where he met with one wealthy and influential figure after another, solemnly assuring them that Guangzhou City remained safe and orderly.

He also promised that the criminal would, without fail, be brought to justice, and so on.