Lin Hanzhi

Elder Fire strode forward and swung his blade down hard. Endless waves of flame formed a Fire Dragon, lighting up the entire forest.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Just then, four Sword Cries rang out.

Ye Kang formed sword fingers with both hands, draining his qi.

He formed the Hundred Flowers Sword Finger, and four bolts of Sword Qi stabbed toward Elder Fire simultaneously from above, below, left, and right.

"Not good!"

Elder Fire immediately swung his blade to deflect one bolt of Sword Qi, but another had already pierced through his defenses in an instant and struck him straight in the heart.

The remaining two bolts pierced him from above and below, forcibly slicing him in half.

Ye Kang smiled helplessly.

"You just had to be a special-effects warrior. Now you don't even have a decent defense."

Indeed, their earlier clash of blades had drained Elder Fire's qi, leaving him unable to gather any more to form an effective defense.

The Hundred Flowers Sword Finger had struck at just the right moment. One hit was enough to kill.

[Ding]

[Complete mission: Kill Elder Fire]

[Reward: 2000 Comprehension]

"Elder Fire is dead! What do we do now?!"

A loud shout shattered the silence.

All the Golden Saber Sect disciples were dumbfounded.

Even Elder Fire, an Innate Master, had been killed. Were they, a bunch of worthless fish and shrimp, supposed to keep fighting?

But Ye Kang wasn't going to give them time to think. A bolt of Hundred Flowers Sword Qi shot out, piercing one heart after another in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of Golden Saber Sect disciples had fallen.

Only then did Ye Kang slump to the ground, unable to stop himself from coughing.

"Damn, Innate Masters really are something else. Fighting one is exhausting. Good thing I have the Hundred Flowers Sword Finger. This martial art is absurdly powerful."

Ye Kang sighed. Even he felt the Hundred Flowers Sword Finger was overpowered. It definitely wasn't an ordinary Innate Martial Art.

He wondered how the person who had created this martial art had come up with it. They truly were a genius.

Ye Kang had exhausted his qi, so he could only sit cross-legged where he was and use the Wood Heart Sutra to recover quickly.

At the same time, he opened the panel to check his stats.

"The Hundred Flowers Sword Finger is already this ridiculous at the entry level. I wonder what it'll be like at Great Perfection."

[Ding]

[Great Perfection of the Hundred Flowers Sword Finger requires 20000 Comprehension]

"How much?!"

Ye Kang was dumbfounded.

It took over twenty thousand Comprehension? That was way too expensive!

There was no point even thinking about it now. Even after killing a whole crowd and getting some rewards from the system, his Comprehension had only just passed three thousand.

Even reaching the entry level of the Imperial Heaven-Reaching Skill required 5000 Comprehension.

As expected, the only downside to good stuff was the price. It wasn't the good stuff's fault it was expensive. It was my problem.

A moment later, Ye Kang had finally recovered. He got up and walked into Elder Fire's tent.

He was an Innate Master of the Golden Saber Sect, after all. It couldn't hurt to have some valuables in his tent, right?

Ye Kang had barely reached the entrance when he heard a muffled groan from inside.

He lifted the flap and saw a young woman lying on the ground. Her hands were bound, and a strip of cloth had been stuffed in her mouth. She stared at Ye Kang in utter terror.

Just as he thought.

The Golden Saber Sect elders were all cut from the same cloth.

Ye Kang ignored her and opened a bundle to search through it.

A few Silver Notes and several gold bars. Ye Kang naturally took them all with a smile.

At the bottom of the bundle, he found an ancient-looking manual.

"Blazing Blade. So this is the sword art that guy was just using. It's pretty powerful, and it even has an innate fire attribute. Worth learning."

After Ye Kang read through it, the System Sound rang out.

[Ding]

[Recorded Innate saber technique: Blazing Blade]

[Learning Blazing Blade requires 2000 Comprehension. Learn?]

Ye Kang thought it over and decided to leave it for now.

Saving his Comprehension to upgrade his Internal Energy was more important.

Only after finishing all that did Ye Kang look at the woman on the ground. She was very beautiful, with an oval face, fair skin, and a striking figure.

Ye Kang crouched down and pulled the cloth from her mouth.

"Miss, who are you? Why are you here?"

The woman's face was pale, her eyes filled with terror. "I'm Lin Hanzhi. Who are you?!"

"You don't need to know who I am. Everyone here is dead. You can leave on your own."

Ye Kang wasn't interested in her and turned to leave.

But Lin Hanzhi's eyes darted around, and she immediately shouted, "Hero, please wait! My father is the Prefect. I have urgent information. Please escort me home!"

"The Prefect's daughter? How did the Golden Saber Sect capture you?"

Lin Hanzhi bit her lip, her expression pained. "Because I'm the Prefect's daughter, I'm the only one they left alive..."

"You have my sympathy, but I'm not interested in your affairs."

Ye Kang shook his head and walked out.

He heard Lin Hanzhi cry out in despair, "Liuhe Mountain is going to attack Mengzhou City! The entire city's population will be slaughtered!"

Ye Kang stopped in his tracks.

Liuhe Mountain—the bandits Jin Baobei had mentioned. They actually dared to attack the prefectural city, openly defying the imperial court. Were they really that bold?

Or could this also have something to do with the Ninth Princess...

Ye Kang immediately went back and untied the woman's ropes and released her pressure points.

"Hold on to me. I'll take you back."

Since the Ninth Princess was involved, Ye Kang couldn't ignore this.

Lin Hanzhi didn't hesitate at all. She wrapped her arms around Ye Kang's waist and clung to him.

Ye Kang used Flying Swallow Ascending Cloud, speeding away at a rapid pace. In less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, they had returned to Mengzhou City.

It wasn't dawn yet. Ye Kang flew straight up to the city wall and set Lin Hanzhi down.

"We're here."

Lin Hanzhi clasped her hands gratefully. "Please come back to the residence with me, Senior. This is a grave matter. Since you serve the imperial court, please lend us your aid!"

"You know I serve the imperial court?"

"Please don't take offense, Senior. When I held on to your waist just now, I accidentally felt your Waist Token."

"You're sharp. This is serious, but it's outside the scope of my mission. Still, I can go back with you. In exchange, bring the Ninth Princess to meet me."

Lin Hanzhi let out a sigh of relief.

She had been taking a gamble. Innate Masters all had strange tempers, and she wasn't sure she could persuade him.

But since Ye Kang had said that, there was still room to negotiate.

She nodded at once, and the two of them headed to the prefectural residence.

When the servants at the gate saw Lin Hanzhi, they opened it immediately and led the two of them to the Governor of Mengzhou, Lin Baichuan.

Lin Hanzhi dropped to her knees, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Father! Cuiping Mountain is gone. The Golden Saber Sect and Sword Worship Sect slaughtered everyone. My Master, my martial uncles, and my Senior Sisters all took their own lives rather than be defiled!"

Lin Baichuan was aghast. "What happened? And how did you escape?"

"It was the Golden Saber Sect and Sword Worship Sect. They colluded with the Rebel Faction and plotted a rebellion. After my Ancestor discovered them, they slaughtered all of Cuiping Mountain to silence everyone. I also heard that the Golden Saber Sect has joined forces with Liuhe Mountain. They're attacking Mengzhou City tomorrow!"

"What?!"

Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Lin Baichuan's forehead. He nearly lost his balance and dropped into a chair.

"Father, Elder Fire of the Golden Saber Sect kidnapped me to use me against you. This Senior rescued me. He's with the Imperial City Department."

Lin Baichuan looked at Ye Kang, wariness in his eyes.

"Thank you for rescuing my daughter, sir. Which officer of the Imperial City Department are you?"