Baili Ce needed only an instant.
He had already gauged the newcomer's martial realm.
Then he couldn't help laughing in fury. Though an Internal Strengthening expert with terrifying killing intent still stood behind him, the mere Three Refinements martial artist before him actually dared to launch a frontal assault. The man truly didn't take him seriously.
But his expression soon changed.
The man's saber art had only reached the threshold of mastery, nowhere near perfection. Yet when the blade's gleam came crashing down, it struck with crushing force, like a thousand-jin war hammer slamming into him.
In that instant,
his bones and muscles went numb.
And the inner force transmitted through the blade was incredibly frigid, nearly freezing the thick inner force within him and making it circulate with extreme sluggishness.
"This is... Mystic Power?!"
"You're a Three Refinements martial artist who hasn't even entered Internal Strengthening. Without a sect's teachings, how could you have produced such Mystic Power?"
Baili Ce seemed to realize something.
His expression turned aghast.
Then he stirred up the inner force throughout his body, trying to escape the blade's reach.
"A mere Three Refinements martial artist can not only withstand this old man head-on, but your inner force also carries such extremely frigid Mystic Power. You can't be from Songshan County... The Mystic Firmament Sect? Are you here on behalf of the Mystic Firmament Sect?"
He thought of a possibility.
Then he hurriedly said, "Fellow martial artists, I am an enforcer of the Divine Fist Sect. I've only just arrived in Songshan County to select disciples for my sect. If I've offended your sect in any way, I hope you'll—"
"Vmmm."
Just then,
the powerful gusts of force unleashed by their clash suddenly tore the black cloth from Qin Jiu's face.
Baili Ce froze.
"You... you..."
"An Internal Strengthening expert is this powerful? You've taken several of my attacks head-on without injury."
Qin Jiu exhaled a breath of stale air.
Then he stopped holding back his vital energy and strength.
Blades flashed and crossed.
In moments, the room was filled with overlapping afterimages of saber light.
Across from him, Baili Ce had initially been shocked to see the face of the man he was fighting, so much so that he had even stammered. But when he heard what Qin Jiu said next, his face instantly turned livid.
What did he mean, an Internal Strengthening expert was this powerful?
What did he mean, he'd taken several of his attacks head-on without injury?
Baili Ce felt as if he'd swallowed a dead child. The words stuck in his throat. He was no ordinary Internal Strengthening expert. His inheritance came from a major sect in Ning'an Prefecture, and few at the same level could match him—let alone anyone in some remote county.
As for the Internal Strengthening experts here,
he was confident he could kill them without effort.
Yet now he was hearing such words from a Three Refinements martial artist. It was an unbearable insult.
But Baili Ce had to admit it.
This young man's strength was terrifying—half a step above even the Divine Fist Sect's direct disciples.
Just those streaks of saber light, each carrying monstrous, unnatural force,
were enough to keep him scrambling to defend himself.
Not to mention that sinister inner force, flowing like strands of silk.
"A remote little county like this can actually produce such a hidden dragon. Ruan Chen has misled me."
Baili Ce sighed inwardly.
Then he raised his voice again. "Young Master Qin, this may all be a misunderstanding. A martial arts prodigy like you is rare even in my Divine Fist Sect. Why don't we put away our weapons and come with this old man to the Divine Fist Sect?"
"I guarantee that once you join the sect..."
"You'll be at least an inner-sect true disciple."
"Do you really think this is the time to joke?"
A chillingly indifferent look filled Qin Jiu's eyes.
The long saber in his hand did not slow.
Instead, his assault grew even more ferocious.
With Withered Wood Meets Spring sustaining him, his ceaseless inner force was pushed almost beyond its limits. The cold gleam raised by the saber's shadows was nearly solid.
"Rumble!"
Suddenly,
the four wooden walls could no longer withstand the fierce gusts of force.
The roof exploded along with them.
Splinters shot everywhere, and dust billowed.
In a flash,
the blade's light swept up a spray of blood.
A fine head soared into the sky.
"Thud."
As the headless corpse fell,
Qin Jiu lowered his saber and stood still, his eyes closing slightly as he activated his Ghost Illumination talent.
"There are still a few pairs of eyes watching this place."
"You two don't need to keep watch anymore."
"Go deal with them first."
His words fell softly.
The two men who had earlier blocked Baili Ce's escape route shot outside at once. Just a few breaths later, cries of agony rang out.
Qin Jiu's gaze was dark, his face expressionless.
No one could learn that the Qin Family was responsible for what happened tonight.
He couldn't afford the consequences.
Since these people had chosen to stay and watch, even if they hadn't seen his face, he still had to be thorough, just in case.
After all, all kinds of accidents could happen in this world.
And Qin Jiu
didn't like accidents.
After making sure nothing had been overlooked,
he went to search Baili Ce's corpse.
"Ruan Chen said earlier that they were able to avoid the demons because of medicine distributed by the Divine Fist Sect. It's a pity I didn't find any special medicine on those two. I hope I'll find something on Baili Ce."
Qin Jiu searched thoughtfully.
If he could find that medicine,
the Qin Family could leave Songshan County sooner. As for retreating through the pass, they could first make their way to Ning'an Prefecture and figure things out from there.
A short while later,
he removed the belongings from Baili Ce's body.
Then he hurriedly left the inn.
After all, nearly fifteen minutes had passed from the start of the fight to its end. If he wasted any more time, something unexpected might happen.
East Wing, Qin Mansion.
Not long after Qin Jiu returned,
Wang Yue and Qin Xuanzhou returned as well.
"Family Head, I've secretly sent people to retrieve all the gold and silver from the Han Family's secret vault. Would you like to go count it yourself?"
"You go count it."
Qin Jiu waved a hand, then asked, "Have the corpses been dealt with?"
"They have."
Qin Xuanzhou nodded.
Then, with reverence on his face, he bowed and left the East Wing.
After he had gone,
Wang Yue finally spoke, his voice unsteady. "Young Master, your strength really has reached the point where you can stand on your own."
"Not yet."
Qin Jiu shook his head slightly.
He didn't want to talk about it.
In truth,
during most of his fight with Baili Ce, he had been pushing Withered Wood Meets Spring to its limits. Otherwise, his meridians would have ruptured long ago.
So his strength
didn't truly put him at the Internal Strengthening level.
"By the way,"
"do you know anything about the Mystic Firmament Sect that Baili Ce mentioned earlier? And what was that so-called Mystic Power of inner force?"
"The Mystic Firmament Sect..."
Wang Yue mused. "This old servant doesn't know much about it."
"I only know that the Mystic Firmament Sect is one of the two great sects in Ning'an Prefecture. Its strength should be on par with the Divine Fist Sect. In the past, the old master once considered going to Ning'an Prefecture to join one of those two great sects, but for one reason or another, it never came to pass."
"As for the Mystic Power of inner force you mentioned..."
"That requires explaining the Internal Strengthening realm. Internal Strengthening means using inner force to nourish the five viscera and six bowels, thereby strengthening the body from within."
"And in this realm, with the aid of a secret method, one can cultivate the five elemental Mystic Powers within the five viscera. These Mystic Powers are fundamental to the later transformation of 'inner force into qi.' Without them, martial artists can only advance as far as the Internal Strengthening realm. As for the secret method, this old servant can't explain it clearly. After all, in this county, the County Magistrate is the only person above the Internal Strengthening realm."
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