For years, to keep outsiders from discovering his secrets,
several hidden chambers had quietly been dug beneath the Marquis Wu Yi's residence. Some were used by Wu Huannian to communicate with Demon People.
Others were used to set up formations. As one of Great Shang's thirty-six marquises, whether Wu Huannian left Chaotian Capital openly or in disguise,
he would be discovered immediately. So he and Steward Chu had agreed from the start to escape in an instant by using a formation and Shrink Ground into Inches.
Now that Han Wan'er had been successfully revived, Wu Huannian was willing to cast aside all the riches, power, and official titles in the world for her sake.
The time had come to leave.
Wu Huannian took out a handbell and immediately summoned several of his most trusted subordinates, ordering them to bring the several chests of money they had prepared earlier.
The group immediately headed for the hidden chamber where the Shrink Ground into Inches formation was located.
But what no one could have expected was that, the moment they stepped through the chamber's entrance, all they saw was a pitch-black scene.
Looking closer, they realized it was all black moths, densely packed and layered over one another.
The entire chamber and the whole formation were covered by tens of thousands of black moths, leaving not a single gap.
There was hardly even room to set foot.
Steward Chu's expression changed at once. Had the Demon Subduing Captain's reach already stretched all the way here?
"Drive the black moths away! Hurry and activate the formation!"
Above the marquis's residence, Qin Daorong suddenly put away the wooden box. Ning Xiu had not even had time to react
when the Azure Luan plunged headfirst toward a spot inside the Marquis Wu Yi's residence.
Boom!
A massive crater appeared in the ground, and the Azure Luan's form vanished, turning into ink and water that splashed across the earth.
Ning Xiu had just landed and steadied himself when he spotted the Marquis Wu Yi, Steward Chu, and the others not far away.
"Qin Daorong!" Wu Huannian looked shocked. He had never expected Qin Daorong to appear in this manner, descending from the heavens.
With this Silver Tiger Demon Subduing Captain of the Demon Subduing Bureau blocking their way, their chances of escaping Chaotian Capital with the formation today had become next to none.
"Marquis Wu Yi, as a member of the imperial clan, you should know the consequences of colluding with Demon People and falling into depravity halfway through your life, shouldn't you?" Qin Daorong pointed at the Demon Person beside Wu Huannian. "Everything has come to light. What else do you have to say?"
If they were caught, they would surely be imprisoned in the Demon Subduing Prison and tortured during interrogation. Once all the information had been forced out of them, an executioner would come to put them to death.
As a member of the imperial clan, Wu Huannian might still have a sliver of hope. But for the rest of his life, he would most likely be locked away deep inside the Demon Subduing Prison, cut off from all contact with others and left to grow old alone.
Wu Huannian did not care whether Steward Chu lived or died, but Han Wan'er would never escape the emperor's death sentence. It would be the only way to answer to the countless people who had suffered because of her.
After waiting so many years and even corrupting himself in the process, how could Wu Huannian endure watching the resurrected Han Wan'er meet such an end?
Even if he had to stake his life, he was determined to give Han Wan'er a chance to live.
"Kill them! Steward Chu, go activate the formation. Quickly!" Wu Huannian growled through bloodshot eyes.
His aura changed, and behind him appeared the phantom of a purple figure, a dragon coiled around its body.
At his command, several of Wu Huannian's trusted subordinates drew their blades and charged out, splitting into two groups to attack Qin Daorong and Ning Xiu.
Taking advantage of the moment, Steward Chu hoisted Han Wan'er onto her back and headed straight for the formation.
Of the three thousand great paths, the Official Path was an exceptionally special one.
All who followed this path were civil officials of the imperial court or members of the imperial clan.
The Official Path was dependent on a nation's National Fortune. When the National Fortune was strong, those on the Official Path grew strong; when it weakened, they regressed.
Thus, those who followed the Official Path were bound to the imperial court. They had to remain loyal to the country and serve as officials with all their heart.
There were only two ways to advance along the Official Path. The first was to enter the path through scholarly merit and rise in rank through one's administrative achievements. A Ninth Rank official was at the Ninth Rank Realm.
A first-rank minister was at the First Rank Realm. How far one could advance depended entirely on the emperor lending them the nation's fortune.
The second way was to inherit an official title. One's rank was fixed for life and could not be raised. A title like Marquis Wu Yi's was a third-rank title; inherited from his father, it meant that he would remain at the Third Rank Realm forever.
Though those who inherited titles could never grow stronger over the course of their lives, their advantage was that their strength came far too easily, without the slightest difficulty.
Moreover, reaching the First Rank was already the ceiling of the Official Path. To rise any higher was all but impossible unless the nation was in a golden age, the likes of which came once in a millennium.
Thus, those on the Official Path became pawns of the imperial court, subject to the emperor's control. Unless they were truly so untalented that they could not cultivate, ordinary people would not choose this path.
Most officials instead followed the Confucian path, or chose one of the martial, immortal, or Buddhist paths.
The purple figure behind Wu Huannian was wrapped in a dragon with four claws.
The Son of Heaven had five claws, while a marquis had four. Its aura was truly magnificent.
This was his "Merit Body." Those on the Official Path in the Lower Three Ranks had green Merit Bodies, those in the Middle Three Ranks had red ones, and those in the Upper Three Ranks had purple ones.
Ordinarily, the Merit Bodies of those in the Upper Three Ranks did not have dragons coiled around them. That was entirely because Wu Huannian belonged to Great Shang's imperial clan and had imperial blood flowing through his veins, giving him this additional manifestation.
As Wu Huannian closed in, Qin Daorong moved his brush and painted. A silver-backed White Ape instantly leaped from the paper, roaring as it clashed with Wu Huannian.
The White Ape stood eight feet tall, its entire body covered in a layer of silver that gleamed like iron. Its defenses seemed quite impressive.
Its fists were as large as iron pots, its body covered in bulging muscles. A single punch must have carried at least a thousand jin of force.
Wu Huannian's eyes glowed purple. As he pointed with two fingers, dragon roars rang out, and he was able to control his Merit Body to fight the White Ape.
The White Ape's enormous fists were easily blocked by Wu Huannian's Merit Body. It was clear that the two were not in the same league.
Qin Daorong was in no hurry. His ink brush swept through the air as fast as the wind, and one White Ape after another appeared. Once their numbers grew, they managed to suppress Wu Huannian.
At the same time, they also held back all of Wu Huannian's trusted subordinates, keeping them from threatening Ning Xiu.
Ning Xiu could hardly stand by and watch like a spectator. He could not get involved in a battle between Upper Three Ranks experts like Qin Daorong and Wu Huannian.
But he could not let Steward Chu, who was trying to rush over and drive away the black moths to reveal the formation beneath them, activate the formation so easily.
He immediately grabbed his hammer and intercepted Steward Chu halfway.
"It's you!"
Steward Chu looked at the young man before her. She did not recognize his face, but she remembered its contours and his build very well.
Wasn't he the new Demon Subduing Captain she had sent three of her men to hunt down?
Thinking that it was because she had let this man escape that Spring Full Pavilion had later been exposed, and that events had gradually slipped out of her control,
Steward Chu was filled with anger. She unleashed a Fire Element Technique at Ning Xiu.
Scorching flames gathered in her palm and, in the blink of an eye, became a fireball that hurtled toward Ning Xiu.
At Spring Full Pavilion, she had used an earth wall. Now she was using a fireball. The Five Elements Sorcery of the immortal path was the most changeable of all.
Ning Xiu swung his hammer with all his strength. The enormous force instantly smashed the fireball into pieces.
But before he could close in, Steward Chu formed a hand seal. Earth walls rose out of thin air on all four sides around Ning Xiu.
Branches erupted wildly from within the earthen walls, twisting around them until they were completely enclosed.
Though Steward Chu had old and new grudges against Ning Xiu, she knew perfectly well what mattered most right now.
After restraining Ning Xiu, she immediately ran toward the formation covered by the black moths.
Within a few breaths, rumbling sounded inside the earthen walls. Even with branches wound around them layer upon layer, they could not withstand the force expanding from within.
With a boom, one of the earthen walls burst apart. A tall figure stepped out, snapping the branches as he emerged.
Whoosh!
Ning Xiu grunted. Two streams of hot air shot from his nostrils. If he had taken off his Mysterious Silver Lock Armor,
others would have seen the Great Sun Golden Mark that had appeared on his back.
He stood six feet tall, his right arm crimson, the Great Sun Golden Mark on his back, and Weng Jin Hammer in hand.
At that moment, Ning Xiu's appearance was truly like that of a fiendish demon who had run amok in the world, an evil king descended upon the earth.
Steward Chu had already managed to escape once with the help of the formation. Having learned from that failure, Ning Xiu would not make the same mistake a second time.
If he could not stop her from activating the formation, he would destroy it outright and rob it of all ability to function.
With that thought, Ning Xiu leaped high, raised the Startling Thunder Hammer, and brought it down with all his might toward the formation.
Steward Chu had just used fire to burn a large swath of black moths. When she turned and saw this, her expression changed dramatically.
The many talismans on the ground were part of the formation. If they were smashed, the formation would fail on the spot.
If that happened, forget escaping Chaotian Capital—she would not even be able to escape the Marquis Wu Yi's residence.
As the Startling Thunder Hammer drew closer and closer to the ground, Steward Chu hurriedly raised one earthen pillar after another, trying to block Ning Xiu's attack.
But she had underestimated just how terrifying the force Ning Xiu could unleash was with the Heavenly King State of the Heavenly King Vajra Art, further amplified by Internal Energy.
Boom!
The earthen pillars that had just risen instantly shattered, utterly failing to block him.
The Startling Thunder Hammer crashed into the ground, smashing the blue stone slabs carved with talismans into countless fragments of all sizes.
Lightning-fast cracks spread out from the center of the impact in every direction, shattering the ground talismans nearby as well.
"No!" Steward Chu's eyes widened, her glare splitting with rage.
With that single strike, Ning Xiu had cut off her only path to survival.
"You're not getting away." Ning Xiu straightened his back and glared viciously at Steward Chu.
With everything over, Steward Chu's heart turned to ashes. She tossed Han Wan'er aside, then slapped both hands against the ground and unleashed all her strength.
The entire underground chamber thundered deafeningly. Branches burst through the earth one after another, soon filling the whole chamber.
"Then you can die with me!" Steward Chu's face had already been hideous because of her disfigurement.
Now, as she unleashed all her strength, every scar on her face began to split open. Budding branches sprouted from them, rapidly wrapping around her face and body.
Large amounts of clear water flowed from the wounds, causing the branches to grow wildly and begin to run out of control.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Dozens of branches grew from the ground like spears and plunged into Steward Chu's body. Her figure immediately began to swell.
Ning Xiu did not know what kind of Wood Element Technique she was using, but the aura it gave off already made him feel threatened.
Remembering that he had killed several Demon People beneath Spring Full Pavilion and earned some Universal Proficiency,
Ning Xiu did not dare delay. He immediately summoned the Proficiency Panel and poured all of his remaining 4,800-plus points of Universal Proficiency into the Great Sun Profound Scripture.
It was just enough to raise the Great Sun Profound Scripture by one layer on the spot, bringing it to the tenth layer.
As soon as the Great Sun Profound Scripture reached the tenth layer, the mist-like Internal Energy in Ning Xiu's body began to boil. Large amounts of it condensed into liquid, gathering in his dantian.
The transformation of Internal Energy into liquid was proof of the Martial Dao Seventh Rank!
Ning Xiu felt an intense heat within his body, as if a fire were burning inside him.
"Cough! Cough!"
The scorching feeling in his throat made Ning Xiu cough involuntarily.
But white smoke drifted from his mouth, and what he coughed up were crimson sparks!
The sparks fell to the ground and instantly scorched the branches there. Ning Xiu stared at the sight in astonishment.
What was going on? Could he breathe fire?
But there was no time to think. Steward Chu, wrapped in branches, was already controlling countless sharp boughs to shoot toward him.
There were hundreds of them, each as sharp as a spear, with the aura of metal clinging to every branch.
With an attack combining Metal Element Technique and Wood Element Technique, the sensible thing would have been to evade its sharp edge.
But Steward Chu's Wood Element Technique covered such a vast area that she had left Ning Xiu nowhere to dodge. His only option was to endure it with his body.
The heat in his throat and nostrils grew more and more intense. Smoke poured from Ning Xiu's seven orifices, and the sudden strange changes in his body left him flustered and irritated.
Faced with the branches shooting toward him, Ning Xiu grew annoyed just looking at them. He simply gripped the Startling Thunder Hammer and charged forward, sweeping it sideways in a single blow.
He wanted to see whether his Startling Thunder Hammer was harder or her Wood Element Technique was sharper.
One thick, sturdy branch after another was instantly knocked flying by the Startling Thunder Hammer, but countless others still shot toward Ning Xiu's body.
Just then, five pillars of flame suddenly burst from Ning Xiu's ears, nostrils, and mouth, while white mist billowed wildly around him.
In an instant, the flames spread like a wildfire across the wilderness, surging into a raging blaze.
The branches Steward Chu had grown became the perfect fuel.
Standing at the very center of the blaze, Ning Xiu was wreathed in smoke and fire. He looked just like a fire god descended upon the world.
The moment the branches came near him, they burst into flames, turning black and curling up.
By the time they struck Ning Xiu's body, they could not even break through his Golden Bell Shield. One after another, they fell to the ground.
"Cough... cough!"
When Ning Xiu coughed, a flood of sparks flew from his mouth. Even the breath he huffed out was scorching hot.
Steward Chu could no longer do anything to Ning Xiu with her Wood Element Technique.
"To think the Great Sun Profound Scripture would have this kind of power at the tenth layer. It practically counts as a divine ability." Ning Xiu covered his mouth, deeply astonished.
All these strange manifestations had only appeared after he raised the Great Sun Profound Scripture to the tenth layer. Clearly, they were inseparably connected to the Great Sun Profound Scripture.
But this was not the time to study them. Ning Xiu glanced at Steward Chu nearby and immediately headed toward her.
Those who mastered the Five Elements Sorcery could cultivate Five Elements spiritual roots within their bodies. This was the key to entering the Middle Three Ranks of the immortal path.
So far, Steward Chu had used Earth Element Technique, Fire Element Technique, Wood Element Technique, and Metal Element Technique. Only Water Element Technique had yet to appear.
Ning Xiu immediately grew wary. The immortal path's strength lay in its ability to combine the Five Elements Sorcery in all kinds of ways, unleashing power far greater than any single element's technique.
Seeing Ning Xiu effortlessly block all the branches, Steward Chu swiftly retreated, determined not to let him get close.
Those on the martial path excelled at close-quarters combat. Once they got within striking distance, even a thousand techniques would be useless.
But Ning Xiu would not give her the chance to put distance between them. He immediately pursued her.
He was sure the other Demon Subduing Captains would arrive soon. If he wanted to get Universal Proficiency from Steward Chu, he had to end this quickly.
Faced with Ning Xiu closing in, Steward Chu kept hurling Five Elements Sorcery at him, trying to slow him down.
But it had no effect at all. As Ning Xiu endured the attacks with his body, the fireballs, Geng Metal energy, vines, and earthen pillars could do nothing.
With Ning Xiu only three or four steps away, a trace of satisfaction suddenly appeared on Steward Chu's face.
The large amount of clear water that had earlier flowed from the scars on her face now flew toward Ning Xiu in clumps.
In the blink of an eye, it gathered into a massive ball of water that completely encased Ning Xiu.
"Wood Path Metal Spear!" Steward Chu shouted. Countless wooden spikes infused with Geng Metal energy stabbed into the water ball, piercing toward Ning Xiu.
Inside the water ball, his flames could not burn, so they could no longer scorch her Wood Element Technique. The Geng Metal energy would let the wooden spikes pierce straight through Ning Xiu.
This was the combined killing move Steward Chu had set up for Ning Xiu.
Yet just then, Weng Jin Hammer flew out of the water ball, heading straight for Steward Chu's head.
Steward Chu hurriedly dodged, but then a figure appeared behind her and wrapped strong arms around her neck.
"Looks like your techniques can't break through my body-tempering cultivation."
Crack!
Before the figure had finished speaking, the immense force had already snapped Steward Chu's neck.
Killed a Demon Person. Gained 1,500 Universal Proficiency.
Before you continue