Heaven Ranking Jade Liquid Grandmaster! Young Master! Suppresses the Three Rivers!

"What happened, Young Hero Situ?" Zhang Chu looked at the young man who had once been so high-spirited.

Now, Situ Junwen's face was caked with grime, his body covered in blade wounds, and a group of Jianghu experts was chasing him.

Situ Junwen's face was deathly pale, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes as he swiftly recounted the calamity that had befallen Linjiang over the past few days.

"Daoist Priest Zhang, the Three Rivers Alliance has gone mad! Using the Southern Border invasion as an excuse, they forcibly conscripted disciples from every sect across the entire Three Rivers region. They claim they are sending us to fight in the Southern Border, but in truth, they are making us die as scapegoats while they rake in riches!"

"They are not doing this for the Righteous Path at all. They are only doing it for their own trade routes, to amass wealth on a massive scale!"

"Every sect in the county towns that refused to obey was exterminated. They are even crueler than evil demons and crooked paths!"

Zhang Chu's brows furrowed tightly at those words.

Naturally, he knew of the Three Rivers Alliance. It was the largest Jianghu sect in the region where the three rivers converged.

Its Alliance Leader was a Jade Liquid Grandmaster on the Heaven Ranking!

Rumor had it that, unlike other sects that merely lived as country landlords and made money by leasing land out, the Three Rivers Alliance was different.

Situated at the convergence of the Seven Counties, it relied on its formidable strength to rake in no less than a hundred thousand a year, according to rumor!

Its influence was said to reach the heavens. It had spies scattered throughout the imperial court, and even the Prefecture City had to show it three parts deference.

Moreover, it had always styled itself as part of the Righteous Path. Though it amassed wealth, its reputation in the Jianghu had been fairly good.

Who would have thought it would do something like this!

"Right, why is the old Sect Master not here?" Zhang Chu swept his gaze around, yet saw no sign of Situ Ying.

At the mention of his father, Situ Junwen could no longer hold back. His body shook violently as grief tore through him.

"Those beasts from the Three Rivers Alliance! Under the pretense of a Southern Border invasion, they forcibly conscripted disciples from every sect to serve as vanguards!"

"My father refused to send his disciples to their deaths, so before the disciples' very eyes, they cut off my father's head!"

Bone-deep hatred burst from Situ Junwen's eyes!

Zhang Chu said nothing. In his mind appeared the old man who, not long ago, had spoken up for him out of righteousness.

That Tiger Blade Sect Master, so full of righteous spirit, had died just like that! Died at the hands of the Three Rivers Alliance!

"Does Young Hero Situ know where my two fellow disciples from True Martial Temple are now?" Zhang Chu asked.

Since the Three Rivers Alliance was hunting for scapegoats, it certainly would not spare any sect. True Martial Temple was in danger as well.

Sure enough, Situ Junwen said, "Daoist Priest Li Minghuai and the others were captured too. I do not know where they were taken!"

Just then, the pursuers arrived.

"Not good! Daoist Priest, we need to leave!"

Seeing them, Situ Junwen tried to pull Zhang Chu away, but Zhang Chu stopped him with one hand.

At this moment, a group of experts, all in the First-rate Realm, arrived together before the city gate and surrounded them.

The leader looked at Zhang Chu and said, "Where did this wild Daoist come from? Get lost. Do not court trouble!"

Zhang Chu's gaze turned cold. Just as he was about to speak, a crisp clatter of hooves suddenly came from behind them on the street.

Upon a tall, fine horse sat a youth dressed in splendid robes. His features were arrogant, his gaze disdainful, as though he were looking down upon ants while his eyes swept over Zhang Chu and the other man.

At the sight of him, dozens of Three Rivers Alliance experts dropped to one knee in unison. "Greetings, Young Master!"

Seeing this, Situ Junwen's face turned even paler as he desperately tugged at Zhang Chu's sleeve.

"Daoist Priest Zhang, leave quickly! You cannot provoke this man!"

"He is Chu Bai, the final disciple of the Three Rivers Alliance's Great Elder. His cultivation has already reached the peak of Hidden Force!"

"He is ranked twenty-ninth on the Jianghu Human Ranking, and it is said he can break through into the True Gang Realm at any time!"

"And that is not all. His master, the Great Elder of the Three Rivers Alliance, was already ranked sixtieth on the Heaven Ranking decades ago. He treats Chu Bai as his own son. Within the Three Rivers Alliance, Chu Bai is a major figure, no different from the Young Master!"

After hearing Situ Junwen's introduction, Zhang Chu did not move. He merely studied the man on horseback with cold eyes.

At that moment, Chu Bai reined in his horse and looked down at Zhang Chu, a smile hanging from the corner of his lips.

"I have heard of you, Little True Martial. You recently even earned the title Yellow Court Dao Master. You have some skill!"

Then he flipped down from his horse. The surrounding Three Rivers Alliance disciples all bowed and moved aside, scarcely daring to breathe.

With his hands behind his back, Chu Bai stepped forward.

"But I advise you not to meddle in other people's business. The Three Rivers Alliance is not the Southern Border Three Absolutes—it is a Jade Liquid Sect!"

"True Martial Temple is only having two people drafted this time. This is already the greatest favor the Three Rivers Alliance can grant you!"

Zhang Chu paid no heed to his words and merely asked calmly, "Where are my fellow disciples?"

True Martial Temple had always been thinly staffed. There were only him and his two fellow disciples. Nothing could happen to them.

The smile on Chu Bai's face slowly faded. His eyes sharpened, and his tone grew colder.

"Zhang Chu, they are only two pieces of trash. Are you truly going to make an enemy of the Three Rivers Alliance for their sake?"

"I will remind you one more time. This is an order personally issued by the Alliance Leader! No one within the Seven Counties may defy it!"

Chu Bai stared directly at Zhang Chu without the slightest fear.

In his view, Zhang Chu might indeed have entered the True Gang Realm before him, but this was not a contest between the two of them. This was the Alliance Leader's command. Whoever dared defy it had only a dead end awaiting them!

Seeing this, the surrounding Three Rivers Alliance disciples also began to sneer, their eyes full of mockery.

In the land where the three rivers converged,

No one had ever dared challenge the Three Rivers Alliance.

Forget two fellow disciples—even if one's own father had been captured, one still had to swallow it obediently. Who would dare utter another word?

They could even picture Zhang Chu lowering his head in apology and kneeling to beg for mercy.

Yet in the next instant—

Boom!!

A deafening explosion suddenly erupted!

A figure was blasted apart by violent force, torn into four pieces as blood and chunks of flesh sprayed everywhere!

Naturally, it was not Zhang Chu who had been blasted into a blood mist.

The sneers on every Three Rivers Alliance disciple's face instantly froze. One after another, they looked as though they had seen a ghost.

Because the one who had been blown into a rain of blood was Chu Bai!

Time seemed to freeze.

Everyone raised a hand to wipe their faces. Looking at the sticky red-and-white muck on their palms, their entire bodies began to tremble.

"Dead... dead?"

"The Young Master... is dead?!"

Chu Bai, whom the Great Elder had treasured like a jewel, whom the entire Three Rivers Alliance regarded as its next successor, whom the Jianghu called the "Young Master," had exploded into a rain of blood just like that!

"Ah!!!" At last, some Three Rivers Alliance disciples came to their senses and let out shrill screams on the spot.

"He's mad! He's gone mad!"

Someone pointed at Zhang Chu, his finger trembling like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind. "You killed the Young Master! The Great Elder will not let you off, and the Three Rivers Alliance will not let you off! You..."

He simply could not understand how Zhang Chu had dared!

In broad daylight, before more than a hundred Three Rivers Alliance disciples, he had actually killed the disciple of a Jade Liquid Grandmaster!