The Cunning City Lord

"You..."

Lord Qin pointed at Lin Chen, unable to speak.

Killing Lin Chen in front of so many people would lead to the destruction of the Qin Family.

He truly did not dare defy the rules of the Green Mountain Sect.

But if Lin Chen did not die, he would not get the quota, and he would have no way to answer to his family.

Most importantly, his Treasure Vault had been emptied last night.

Even now, they had not found that thief.

Those were the savings of his entire life, and a large portion had been meant to grease the palms of the Green Mountain Sect.

Now it had all vanished. His head felt ready to explode.

The fact that he could serve as City Lord meant he was certainly no fool.

He began piecing together the route Lin Chen had taken yesterday.

The brat had left the City Lord's Mansion.

Right afterward, he had sold the Lin Family Old Residence.

That night, the assassins Lord Qin had hired had fought with the people from the Pawnshop.

After that came the great fire at the Lin Family, the flames raging fiercely until they spread to his home.

He had been forced to lead people to put it out.

Then his Treasure Vault had been emptied.

According to the investigation, the Lin Family fire had been started with Tung Oil, making it extremely difficult to extinguish.

The delay had given the thief time.

Based on the patrol's descriptions, that thief had been extremely powerful, with a cultivation level likely above Body Tempering Ninth Layer.

In Clearwind City, there were only a handful of such experts.

With him, the City Lord, present, those people would never dare make a move.

The only person he suspected was Lin Chen.

But how could a sixteen-year-old child at Body Tempering Layer 1 possibly carry away so many things?

And even injure an entire squad of his guards?

No!

Lord Qin's pupils suddenly contracted.

He remembered that Lin Chen had broken free of his restraint at the City Lord's Mansion in an instant.

He was at the peak of Body Tempering. Even someone at the Body Tempering Seventh Layer could forget about breaking free from his grasp.

Could Lin Chen have concealed his cultivation?

And planned and carried out all of this from the shadows?

Lord Qin was startled by his own deduction and could not help drawing a sharp breath.

If that were true, then this Lin Chen was far too terrifying.

Thinking of what he had done to the Lin Family, he felt a wave of lingering fear.

He had to be eliminated!

Today, even if he had to slaughter everyone in this Post Station, he would kill Lin Chen.

Having made up his mind, his gaze turned grim.

The rage covering his face became icy killing intent.

"Lin Chen, you committed arson and murder, and robbed the City Lord's Mansion. Do you know your crime?"

Upon hearing his question, Lin Chen understood that the old bastard must have discovered something.

His plan had been meticulous. The only flaw was when he had just awakened the system and broken free of Lord Qin's restraint.

Forget it... there was no use thinking about it.

With his current strength, he no longer feared Lord Qin.

He was only at Qi Condensation First Layer, but that was a realm most people could never reach in their entire lives.

What was more, he had comprehended the Extreme Path Method.

This cultivation method would raise his strength to an even greater height beyond his original foundation.

Invincible within the same realm, he could even challenge those above him.

In his eyes, these people before him had become nothing but clay chickens and porcelain dogs.

He smiled teasingly. "Lord Qin, slandering someone without evidence—then can I say that over the past three years, you have plundered countless assets from the Lin Family? Do you know your crime?"

"You..." Lord Qin trembled with rage, his face turning green. With a broad sweep of his hand, he roared, "Kill them! Leave none alive!"

The men accompanying him dismounted in unison, drew their blades and swords, and charged straight in.

Seeing this, Lin Chen no longer hesitated. He also wanted to see just how powerful his Extreme Path Method truly was.

As one man swung a saber at his waist, Lin Chen extended his index and middle fingers and lightly pinched it.

The blade stopped in midair.

No matter how the man strained, he could not move it another inch.

A gleam flashed through Lin Chen's eyes. With a gentle pull, the saber landed in his hand.

He kicked the man flying, then examined the saber in his hand.

He even drew the blade across his own hand.

It did not leave even a white mark, and he felt no pain whatsoever.

The next moment, he raised the saber and chopped it down at his arm.

Clang!

The saber snapped into two.

His arm was completely unscathed.

Holy shit!

Even Lin Chen had not expected ordinary blades and swords to be unable to harm his body anymore.

A slash of the blade felt like someone poking him with a finger.

There was not the slightest sensation of pain.

"What kind of monster is that?"

His actions terrified the guards closing in around him.

But with orders to follow, they did not dare retreat.

"Kill him! Monster or not, he must die today!"

The group of twenty or thirty men immediately surrounded Lin Chen.

Blade light and sword shadows flashed, and screams rang out now and then.

Hearing the commotion, everyone in the Post Station ran out to watch.

They immediately witnessed a shocking scene.

Twenty or thirty people surrounded a single person, wildly hacking at him with their weapons.

The clanging impacts merged into one continuous chorus.

Then, with a tremendous boom—

All the City Lord's guards lost their weapons and flew backward.

From afar, they looked like fan blades suddenly spreading open.

Every one of their chests had caved in. They crashed onto the ground, already without breath.

At the center stood a young man, his gaze looking down upon all beneath heaven, standing proudly and arrogantly.

The spectators nearly collapsed onto the ground.

Some of the more timid had already wet themselves.

Even Lord Qin's body trembled, and he nearly fell from his horse.

"So it was you!"

He understood everything.

Lin Chen had laid out his plans through three years of patient endurance, and now he was unleashing his revenge.

He intended to take away the foundation Lord Qin had built with his own hands.

"Lin Chen, I should never have spared your dog life back then..."

Before Lord Qin could finish, Lin Chen immediately interrupted, "What a joke. You wanted to obtain the ancestral treasure of the Lin Family from me, didn't you?"

At those words, Lord Qin's heart jolted, and his eyes flickered.

Lin Chen saw it clearly.

He had merely been testing him, but it seemed to be true after all.

"Lord Qin, since you were involved, then leave your life behind!"

Lin Chen no longer hesitated. He stomped hard, dust billowing up from the ground as he pounced forward like a fierce tiger.

With a casual draw, Lord Qin had a longsword in hand.

He stomped fiercely on the stirrups. The horse let out a mournful cry and dropped straight to its knees.

Borrowing that force, Lord Qin leaped high into the air, raised his sword over his head, and slashed downward.

"Die!"

Lin Chen raised his fist to meet it.

Fist and sword collided, actually producing the ringing sound of metal striking metal.

Lin Chen felt a powerful force surge through his fist, accompanied by a sharp sting.

He did not need to look to know that his fist had been injured.

But Lord Qin was no better off. His longsword was nearly knocked from his hand.

After landing, he staggered back more than ten steps before steadying himself.

Crash!

Immediately afterward, the longsword in his hand shattered inch by inch, scattering across the ground.

"How is this possible?"

He was shocked. He was afraid.

Yet before he could recover from that shock, Lin Chen charged at him again.

A fist slammed viciously into his chest.

Crack!

The armor over his chest exploded on the spot.

Lord Qin's massive body flew into the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.

The moment he struggled up, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

At that moment, the terror in his eyes deepened.

Lin Chen's strength had already surpassed his understanding.

Now, he felt that Lin Chen was a demon.

"Lin Chen, I was wrong. I did not participate in the extermination of your Lin Family."

Lord Qin fell to his knees and begged for mercy. "Everything I embezzled from your Lin Family over the years has already been taken by you. How about you spare me?"

"Heh heh!"

Lin Chen stepped forward with a cold smile. "We have come this far, and you're still saying such nonsense?"

"No! Believe me. As long as you spare me, I will never seek revenge."

"You still want revenge? Save it for your next life!" Lin Chen quickened his pace, reached Lord Qin in a few strides, and raised his foot to kick him.

Just then, a black gleam flashed in Lord Qin's hand, and a rope of unknown material suddenly shot out.

Like a spirit serpent, it wrapped directly around Lin Chen and instantly tightened.

Lin Chen's hands and feet were bound together, and he fell to the ground like a wooden stake.

Lord Qin rose to his feet and burst into wild laughter.

"Hahahaha... Lin Chen, this is the Spirit Binding Lock my nephew gave me. Anyone without spiritual power to resist it will be strangled to death within half an hour."

He walked forward smugly. "You didn't know, did you? My nephew is in the Green Mountain Sect."

As he spoke, he actually pulled out that transfer contract from his robes and bent down. "This time, let's see how you resist?"