Inner Sect Disciple Assessment

A quarter of an hour later.

Chen Xuan carried a bulging parcel, filled to the brim with silver notes and gold leaves, totaling several hundred thousand taels.

He walked out of the Blood Wolf Gang treasury with a swagger.

By this time, the gang members within the Blood Wolf Gang headquarters already knew that Qin Sihai was dead.

The news spread through the headquarters like a plague; some were terrified, some were bewildered, and others took advantage of the chaos to sneak away.

The only thing no one did was seek revenge for Qin Sihai.

That thought was something the gang members at the headquarters didn't even dare to entertain.

When they saw Chen Xuan walking out of the treasury with the parcel, everyone stopped in their tracks.

No one dared to move.

No one dared to stand in his way.

Chen Xuan passed through the crowd with a steady, unhurried pace, as if he were taking a stroll in his own backyard. Only after his figure had completely vanished from their sight did the Blood Wolf Gang headquarters erupt into noisy discussions and panicked footsteps.

The gang leader was dead.

No matter how many of them there were, facing Chen Xuan was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

"Huanri Technique, truly useful."

Once outside the city, Chen Xuan nodded with satisfaction.

The performance of this supreme art in terms of infiltration, assassination, and disguise could be called a divine skill.

With it, walking the pugilistic world in the future would be far more convenient; he wouldn't need to look over his shoulder, worry about exposing his identity, or rack his brains trying to cultivate too many techniques and martial arts.

No matter the supreme art, as long as he came into contact with it once, the Huanri Technique could directly simulate and transform.

Just like this time, he had only exchanged a single move with Liu Feng, and after the Huanri True Qi intercepted a trace of the Blood Origin Technique's true qi, he was able to simulate it vividly in actual combat.

If it were another supreme art, it could be simulated and transformed just the same.

For instance, what he currently lacked most were offensive supreme arts.

Once Wan Guiyun broke through to the Zhuqi Realm, as long as he fought him once and made the opponent display the full essence of the Yiyuan Sword Art, once he cultivated the Huanri Technique to the completion of the Zhuqi chapter, he would be able to simulate and transform not just techniques, but martial arts as well.

By then, his strength would see a qualitative leap.

However, Chen Xuan also understood that the Huanri Technique was not omnipotent.

When using the Huanri Technique to simulate a martial art of the same supreme art level, it could only exert about ninety percent of its power.

This was a minor, yet undeniable, drawback.

Between ninety and one hundred percent, it might seem like only a ten percent difference, but in a duel between top experts, this gap was often the distance between life and death. Still, it was more than enough to deal with ordinary martial artists.

If it could exert one hundred percent power regardless of the supreme art, then the Huanri Technique wouldn't just be a supreme art—it would be a divine technique.

The Huanri Technique could indeed exert one hundred percent of the power of superior martial arts, but for other supreme arts, it could only reach ninety percent.

The higher-level Wuxiang Divine Technique was the same; using Wuxiang True Qi to execute other supreme arts could exert one hundred percent of their power, but if it were used to execute other divine techniques, it could only exert about ninety percent.

This was the uniqueness and irreplaceability of every technique.

For example, the characteristic of the Vajra Technique that Chen Xuan cultivated was hardness, being indestructible, while the characteristic of the supreme art Huanri Technique was to pass off the fake as genuine, allowing it to simulate the true qi of other techniques, and the characteristic of the Wuxiang Divine Technique was its infinite variety.

If there truly were a technique that could exert one hundred percent of the power of all martial arts in the world, then all other divine techniques would become a joke.

A martial artist would only need to focus wholeheartedly on cultivating that one technique; why bother wasting effort studying others?

However, with the Huanri Technique, Chen Xuan didn't need to spend time cultivating other supreme arts. After becoming an inner sect disciple, he would exchange for one divine technique and focus solely on cultivating that from then on.

May 4th.

Early in the morning, Lianshan City was in an uproar.

The Blood Wolf Gang leader, Qin Sihai, was dead, and he had died right inside the Blood Wolf Gang headquarters, his throat slit by a sword, his state of death miserable.

The news spread rapidly.

In less than half an hour, the entire Lianshan City knew about it.

On every street corner, in every teahouse and tavern, people were discussing it.

"Have you heard? Qin Sihai is dead!"

"Who did it?"

"I don't know. According to Qin Sihai's confidants who witnessed the battle, the killer was a man in his thirties who used the Blood Origin Technique and the Nine Shadow Killing Sword."

"What, the Blood Origin Technique and the Nine Shadow Killing Sword? Aren't those techniques of the Blood Fiend Devil Sect? Could it be that the Blood Fiend Devil Sect is having an internal conflict?"

"Who knows? Qin Sihai served as a manager in Lianshan City for so many years and lined his own pockets quite a bit; maybe he annoyed some elder in the sect and was cleared out by someone sent to settle the score."

"..."

Discussions rose and fell, with all sorts of speculations flying about.

No one suspected Chen Xuan.

Although the news that Chen Xuan had killed Liu Feng, an inner disciple of the Blood Fiend Devil Sect, with a single sword strike had reached Lianshan City and caused quite a stir, Chen Xuan practiced the Vajra Technique, which produced golden true qi, while the murderer of Qin Sihai had used blood-colored true qi.

These were two completely different cultivation techniques.

While martial artists could practice multiple techniques, they usually chose ones that complemented each other. Furthermore, Chen Xuan was a disciple of the Guiyuan Sect, and the top-tier Vajra Technique he practiced had been obtained after saving a disciple of the Vajra Sect; it was impossible for him to also practice the Blood Origin Technique of the Blood Fiend Devil Sect, let alone use it to kill Qin Sihai.

Therefore, no matter how people on the outside speculated or what they imagined, as long as they didn't have an omniscient perspective, it was impossible for them to pin it on Chen Xuan.

Only Ma Wen knew that Chen Xuan had obtained the ultimate art, the Huanri Technique, and Ma Wen had already reported to the underworld to meet the King of Hell. Zhao Yuanshan had only been waiting outside the study and was unaware of the existence of the Huanri Technique.

Red Sun Gang headquarters.

"Qin Sihai is dead?"

Sun Tianxing sat in his study, holding a cup of tea. His expression was calm, but a hint of doubt was hidden in the depths of his eyes.

Being the leader of the Blood Wolf Gang was only one of Qin Sihai's identities; his other identity was that of a steward for the Blood Fiend Devil Sect. Who could be so bold as to kill Qin Sihai?

"He is dead!" Having finished settling the affairs of the Baishui Town branch for Chen Xuan, Zhao Yuanshan had returned to Lianshan City. He nodded and said in a deep voice, "The news has been confirmed. He died in the main hall of his headquarters, his throat slit by a single sword strike. The killer used the Blood Origin Technique and the Nine Shadow Killing Sword."

"Blood Origin Technique... Nine Shadow Killing Sword..." Sun Tianxing repeated, his brows furrowing slightly. "Why would someone from the Blood Fiend Devil Sect kill Qin Sihai?"

"It is unclear." Zhao Yuanshan shook his head. "It could be internal strife, or it could be someone in disguise. After all, the Blood Origin Technique and the Nine Shadow Killing Sword are not secret techniques that cannot be passed on; it is possible for outsiders to obtain and practice them."

"Internal strife?" Sun Tianxing sneered. "Qin Sihai has operated in Lianshan City for so many years and handed over a significant amount of silver to the Blood Fiend Devil Sect every year. Even if there were internal strife, they wouldn't kill him at a time like this."

Zhao Yuanshan did not respond.

"Who killed Qin Sihai is no longer important." Sun Tianxing said, "The Blood Wolf Gang is now leaderless. It is time to take over the territory in Beicheng. Pass down the order: gather our men and immediately head to Beicheng to seize the assets of the Blood Wolf Gang. The Iron Sword Sect will not let this opportunity pass, so take as much as you can."

"Yes!"

Zhao Yuanshan cupped his hands in acknowledgment and turned to leave the study.

"Right, was there a Blood Fiend Devil Sect disciple who went to Baishui Town last night but was killed by Chen Xuan with a single sword strike?"

Sun Tianxing called out to Zhao Yuanshan, who was about to leave.

"That is indeed the case." Zhao Yuanshan turned around and said, "It is said that the inner disciple of the Blood Fiend Devil Sect was named Liu Feng and possessed the cultivation of the third level of the Zhuqi Realm, yet he was not a match for Junior Brother Chen in a single exchange. Should we summon Junior Brother Chen back from Baishui Town? With him, no one in the Iron Sword Sect, aside from their sect leader Wan Zhenshan, would be his match."

"Not for now." Sun Tianxing shook his head, then picked up a secret letter from the table. "The great merit I applied for on his behalf and his inner disciple assessment have arrived. The specific mission is contained within this secret letter, and no one else knows its contents. Send someone to Baishui Town to deliver this letter to Chen Xuan."

"Understood!"

Zhao Yuanshan took the secret letter and turned to leave.