Taking Action

As the news spread, Laiyang City soon heard about the annihilation of the elite forces of Kaishan Martial Arts School. A little investigation easily confirmed it.

Kaishan Martial Arts School descended into chaos. Many disciples who stayed behind had already packed their bags and were planning to flee.

What else could they do? Almost all their experts were gone. Were they supposed to stay and wait for the enemy to come knocking?

No one was foolish, especially after practicing martial arts for so many years. No one wanted to risk their lives for a moment of hot-bloodedness.

"Senior Brother Qin, are you leaving too?"

"I have to, or I won't be able to later. Little Zhang, why is your bag so big?"

"Heh heh, Senior Brother Qin, you're too honest. Since we're leaving, we naturally have to take some local specialties home. Otherwise, how could we face our families!"

Little Zhang, with his honest face, grinned, but it gave Senior Brother Qin a moment of sudden enlightenment.

"That's right. After so many years in this martial arts school, if we're going home, we definitely need to bring back some 'local specialties'!"

Hurrying back, Senior Brother Qin suddenly discovered a new world.

Throughout Kaishan Martial Arts School, similar scenes were unfolding. Many disciples began looting the school's treasures, and some even fought over valuable items.

As for stopping them, that was even more impossible. At this point, even the few remaining higher-ups had fled with large amounts of wealth, let alone these ordinary disciples.

Overnight, the once prosperous Kaishan Martial Arts School collapsed. The next day, when people passed by, they found that even the sign of Kaishan Martial Arts School was gone!

Who knew which disciple was so diligent that they even took away the wooden plaque weighing dozens of pounds. Perhaps it was just because the characters on the plaque were gilded!

Meanwhile, the tragic defeat of Kaishan Martial Arts School quickly reached the ears of City Lord Huang Ling. He was so angry that he smashed his favorite vase.

"Trash, all of you are trash! You've wasted so much of my effort. Even a dog could have killed a Martial Artist!"

The enshrined experts outside the house trembled, lowering their heads, not daring to open the door to persuade the City Lord who was throwing a tantrum inside.

Finally, Steward Qian stepped forward.

"City Lord, please calm down. It's not worth getting angry over a good-for-nothing like Chang Yuchun. Will our plan continue?"

"Continue? With what? Without Kaishan Martial Arts School as our blade, how can I legitimately eliminate the other martial arts schools?"

"This... City Lord, that doesn't seem to be a problem! It just requires you to put aside your pride!"

Steward Qian said cautiously, afraid of angering the lion of Laiyang City.

"You..." Huang Ling frowned, seemingly considering the possibility.

Indeed, as long as he put aside his pride, the current major martial arts schools couldn't stop him. They had already been greatly weakened!

Moreover, after this incident, Huang Ling seemed to realize he had underestimated the power of a strong individual.

Didn't that Shen Fan, who suddenly appeared, deter hundreds of others just by killing a few Viscera Tempering Martial Artists?

If he made a move, it wouldn't be any worse, right?

Thinking this, Huang Ling's eyes narrowed.

He was clearly tempted.

As for failure, Huang Ling never considered it. He was a dignified Innate expert who had already generated true qi within his body. Viscera Tempering Martial Artists were no match for him, lasting only a few moves.

Even if that guy named Shen Fan was stronger, could he possibly fight across a major realm?

That would be a joke. Even the juniors of the super powers in the imperial city could hardly fight across realms, let alone a small place like Laiyang City?

There were geniuses, Huang Ling didn't deny that, but he absolutely didn't believe such a genius would appear in a remote corner like Laiyang City!

Having made up his mind, Huang Ling began to make arrangements:

"Pass down my order, gather all the experts from my City Lord's Mansion, and follow me to attack Pure Yang Martial Arts School, Benlei Martial Arts School, and Ox Demon Martial Arts School. This City Lord intends to purge the evildoers of Laiyang City and restore a clear and bright world to Great Xia!"

Upon hearing this, everyone understood the City Lord's intentions. They exchanged glances and bowed in agreement.

This time, Huang Ling didn't plan to resort to any schemes or tricks. He wanted to crush them with overwhelming force. He, Huang Ling, was the number one expert in Laiyang City, an Innate expert!

Following Huang Ling's orders, the City Lord's Mansion quickly mobilized, like a giant beast unleashing its terrifying power.

A large number of Viscera Tempering Martial Artists were assembled, totaling over thirty, with over a hundred Blood Condensation experts, and thousands of Bone Forging practitioners. Such strength was clearly incomparable to before.

This was only possible because cultivating Martial Artists with nearly half the city's resources was incredibly easy. In just half a year, the City Lord's Mansion's strength had at least doubled!

But Huang Ling was not satisfied. He wanted more than just half.

As the Martial Artists gathered, some disciples also began to discuss amongst themselves.

"Did you hear? The City Lord seems to be attacking the other major martial arts schools this time!"

"Yes, I heard too. But I heard Kaishan Martial Arts School was destroyed yesterday. I don't know if it's true!"

"I know, I know! It's true. My cousin's son studies martial arts at Kaishan Martial Arts School, and he admitted it himself!"

"What? Even Kaishan Martial Arts School is gone? Then we're in trouble this time? The City Lord is a dignified Innate expert, the only one in Laiyang City!"

"Why don't you ask how the flourishing Kaishan Martial Arts School was destroyed?"

"Huh? Wasn't it Ox Demon Martial Arts School that destroyed it? What's so strange about that?"

"What Ox Demon Martial Arts School, nonsense! I heard that a monster with three heads and six arms helped Ox Demon Martial Arts School. Otherwise, Kaishan Martial Arts School wouldn't have been defeated!"

"Hiss—a monster? Could it be a Demonic Beast from the depths of the Black Dragon Mountain Range? How is that possible?"

"This isn't a lie. Steward Qian said so himself. Go ask him if you don't believe me!"

As the discussion deepened, more and more disciples came to believe that monsters had assisted the Ox Demon Martial Arts School. This news, of course, was deliberately spread by Steward Qian.

The goal was to tarnish the Ox Demon Martial Arts School's image first. Associating with monsters would naturally draw the condemnation of the common people.

When their City Lord's Mansion made a move, it would be justified. As the saying goes, if you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext. That's all there is to it!

The other two Martial Arts Schools didn't need to be considered. After all, the Martial Arts Schools had formed an alliance. If one had a monster, who would dare say the others were innocent? Impossible. Therefore, destroying them all was the right thing to do!

Steward Qian was indeed an old hand who had followed Huang Ling for many years. He was absolutely cunning in his dealings.

There was even an explanation for afterward: as long as these few Martial Arts Schools were eliminated, they could simply toss out the corpses of a couple of High-level Beasts.

After all, those common people wouldn't know a monster if they saw one!

The entire plan was perfected. The future of Laiyang City was firmly in their grasp. Once today passed, there would only be one voice in Laiyang!

If you can't find the book by its title, you can try searching for the author. Perhaps the title was just changed!