Departure

"W-We... can we leave now?"

Someone asked cautiously, his voice trembling.

"Get lost!"

Chen Xuan said coldly.

The dozen or so people felt as though they had been granted a pardon. They turned and ran.

They scrambled over one another, shoving and crowding, wishing their parents had given them two extra legs.

In the blink of an eye, apart from corpses strewn across the ground, Chen Xuan was the only one left standing in the blood-soaked alley.

Chen Xuan turned toward the Treasure Pavilion.

He could sense violent true qi fluctuations still coming from deep within the Treasure Pavilion. Zhuqi Realm experts were fighting inside.

"A pack of petty rats. With your meager strength, you dare take advantage of a fire to loot the house?"

Just then, an angry roar came from deep within the Treasure Pavilion.

Immediately afterward, a terrifying aura far surpassing that of an ordinary Zhuqi Realm cultivator erupted, carrying a heart-palpitating pressure.

Chen Xuan felt his mind being viciously gripped by an invisible force, and even the true qi within his body stalled.

It felt like an ant facing a giant dragon, an irresistible terror rising from the depths of his soul.

"This is... an expert above the Seventh Layer of the Zhuqi Realm."

Chen Xuan's pupils contracted sharply.

Without a second thought, he immediately turned and ran.

The Seventh Layer of Qi Casting, the Tuosu Realm, had undergone rebirth and remolding, transcending the ordinary. Not only was their true qi quality far beyond that of ordinary Zhuqi Realm cultivators, but they had also grasped the power of the mind, capable of directly influencing another person's spiritual world.

Such experts could shatter a person's mind with a single thought, subduing the enemy without a battle.

Against such experts, ordinary human-wave tactics no longer worked. They did not fear being besieged; even amid thousands upon thousands of troops, they could come and go as they pleased.

Chen Xuan was confident, but he was not foolish.

With his current strength, he was confident in dealing with experts at the second or third layer of the Zhuqi Realm. But against Tuosu Realm experts above the Seventh Layer of the Zhuqi Realm, he stood absolutely no chance.

Rumble—

As Chen Xuan left, a deafening boom came from deep within the Treasure Pavilion, like thunder exploding across the nine heavens.

Terrifying true qi shockwaves spread outward, sweeping in every direction like ripples. Wherever they passed, houses collapsed, walls cracked apart, and even the earth trembled.

The remnants of the auction hall completely caved in, turning into ruins.

Bricks and rubble were hurled into the air by the blast, shooting in all directions like hidden weapons. Every fragment of stone contained terrifying force, enough to pierce armor and kill Body Tempering Realm martial artists.

The martial artists still inside the auction hall, scavenging a dead man's fortune, were struck hard one after another.

Some were hit by massive stones and died on the spot, their brains splattering; some were flung through the air by the shockwave, their arms and legs broken as miserable screams rang from their mouths; some were struck in vital spots by flying rubble, clutching their wounds as they fell, blood gushing out.

Screams rose and fell without end.

At the same time, more than a dozen Zhuqi Realm figures shot out from deep within the Treasure Pavilion, fleeing in every direction.

They moved at incredible speed, like birds startled by the twang of a bowstring. Clearly, the terrifying aura had scared them out of their wits.

A quarter of an hour later, Chen Xuan arrived at the southern city gate.

Quite a few people had already gathered there: ordinary civilians dragging their families along, wandering martial artists carrying bundles, and low-level martial artists with panic written across their faces.

Some stood, some sat, but every face was filled with fear. From time to time, they looked back toward the city, afraid that the terrifying slaughter would spread here.

The City Lord's Mansion had also strengthened its defenses. Two rows of fully armed guards stood at the city gate, more than a hundred in all, every one of them a martial artist at the Sixth Stage of Body Tempering.

They wore iron armor and carried long spears, their eyes vigilantly sweeping the surroundings as they formed a tight defensive line.

At the front stood a bearded man in iron armor, a Zhuqi Realm expert. He held a Xuanhua Great Axe and scanned every person leaving the city with eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

Barricades had been set up on both sides of the city gate, leaving only a narrow passage.

"By the City Lord's order, Seven Kill Sect traitors are causing unrest. The entire city is under martial law. Anyone leaving the city must submit to inspection. Those who defy the order will be executed."

The bearded man's voice was thunderous, echoing through the night sky.

With a Zhuqi Realm expert stationed here, those leaving the city obediently formed a long line and slowly moved forward. No one dared cause trouble.

The guards inspected them one by one, asking their names, origins, and destinations. Every detail had to be checked to prevent Seven Kill Sect traitors from slipping through.

Chen Xuan stood in the line with a calm expression. He was an Outer Disciple of the Guiyuan Sect; that identity could withstand scrutiny, so he was not afraid of the guards' questioning.

The line slowly moved forward.

Soon, it was Chen Xuan's turn.

"Name?"

The guard asked without even raising his head.

"Chen Xuan."

"Where are you from?"

"An Outer Disciple of the Guiyuan Sect, dispatched to Lianshan City. I am currently the branch leader of the Red Sun Gang's Qingshi Town branch. Here are my identity tokens."

Chen Xuan took out two tokens and handed them to the guard.

One was the Guiyuan Sect Outer Disciple token, while the other was the Red Sun Gang branch leader token.

"A disciple of the Guiyuan Sect?"

The guard accepted the tokens and carefully inspected them. After confirming there was no issue, he returned them to Chen Xuan.

"No problem. You may leave."

The guard's attitude became noticeably more respectful.

As one of the Three Great Sects ruling Tiannan Prefecture, the Guiyuan Sect was not something City Lord's Mansion guards like them could afford to provoke.

The guard let him through directly.

They only needed to verify whether the tokens were genuine. As for whether he truly was a Guiyuan Sect disciple, that was not their concern. Even if someone was impersonating one, the Guiyuan Sect would naturally pursue the matter themselves. It had nothing to do with them.

Chen Xuan put away his tokens and quickly passed through the city gate.

The feud between the Seven Kill Sect and the various great powers had nothing to do with him.

He only wanted to cultivate in peace and continuously increase his strength. In this world where the strong preyed upon the weak, strength was everything.

Meanwhile, inside the prefectural city.

The Seven Kill Sect's deathsworn were nearly all wiped out as well.

On the streets of the East Urban District, corpses lay scattered in every direction. Blood gathered into streams and flowed through the cracks between Bluestone slabs.

Some belonged to Seven Kill Sect deathsworn, some to City Lord's Mansion guards, and even more to innocent civilians.

This sudden disaster had plunged the entire city into bloodshed and chaos.

"Heaven gives birth to all things to nourish mankind, yet mankind has not a single good deed to repay Heaven."

"Seven Kill... shall endure forever..."

Before dying, a Seven Kill Sect martial artist softly recited a slogan, then fell straight backward.

Similar scenes unfolded simultaneously in every corner of the East Urban District.

Not a single Seven Kill Sect deathsworn surrendered, and not one fled. Every one of them died fighting in the streets.

But their sacrifice bought time for the deputy sect master. Carrying the Seven Kill Sword, he had already escaped from the city.

Atop a tall building.

Shen Qianqiu and Liu Rufeng still stood where they were, watching the chaos within the city. Yet their expressions remained calm as still water, as though the slaughter below were merely a fine show.

"Quite a few people died." Liu Rufeng said blandly. "But they were all insignificant. Next, we only need to wait for the Seven Kill Sword to drink its fill of one hundred thousand people's blood."

"One hundred thousand people's blood—neither too much nor too little." Shen Qianqiu turned and walked downstairs. "At the Seven Kill Sect's pace, it will be done in as little as three months, or as long as half a year."

Liu Rufeng followed behind him, a faint smile on his lips. "By then, Sword Venerable Shasheng's inheritance will belong to our Three Great Sects.

Sword Venerable Shasheng was an expert who surpassed even a Grandmaster. For this inheritance, sacrificing one hundred thousand people is worth it."

"Let's hope so." Shen Qianqiu's voice drifted up from below. "Still, we must guard against the Blood Fiend Devil Sect. Although our Three Great Sects are cooperating this time, Sword Venerable Shasheng's inheritance must not fall into the hands of the demonic path."