This King Is the Buliangren Heavenly Damage Star!

The Buliangren were a secret department within the Tang Dynasty's government, established by the Buliang Commander, Yuan Tiangang.

Any member of the Buliangren could answer to the emperor above, or use their Buliangren jade badge below to command the soldiers of the regional military governors. They wielded considerable authority.

But that was all a matter of the previous dynasty. To the present-day Great Liang, the Buliangren were nothing more than rebels.

Yet now, Zhu Youning was about to play the role of a "rebel"!

Quite a few people had seen the jade badges that symbolized a Buliangren's identity. For example, decades ago, Chi Li, the Buliangren's Heavenly Injury Star, had produced a Buliangren jade badge to command the soldiers of Langqiao Town, helping Xian Can evade punishment for stealing official horses.

Even the soldiers of a remote border town recognized the Buliangren jade badge, which showed that it was hardly some secret object.

Thus, after consulting ancient records from the previous dynasty, Zhu Youning easily made a fake Buliangren jade badge.

This badge was not some highly convincing counterfeit that could pass for the real thing. It was a shoddy fake whose flaws could be spotted with the slightest attention.

But Zhu Youning did not care. As long as he had something usable, that was enough.

With the fake jade badge in hand, Zhu Youning led fifty guards from Prince An's Mansion and swiftly headed for the Xuanming Cult's branch outside Bian Prefecture.

As the Great Liang Dynasty's official assassination organization, the Xuanming Cult often operated alongside the military, carrying out gray-area missions such as scouting enemy intelligence and assassinating high-ranking enemy commanders.

Zhu Youning, meanwhile, was one of the few high-ranking commanders of the Great Liang Dynasty. Coupled with his status as an imperial relative, he possessed absolute recognition and authority within the Xuanming Cult's Bian Prefecture branch.

Thus, the moment Zhu Youning arrived, the branch master of the Bian Prefecture branch came forward and knelt.

"May I ask what orders Your Highness has for coming to the Bian Prefecture branch?"

"I wish to kill someone, but this person is highly skilled in martial arts and cannot be killed by one man alone. Go summon everyone in the branch with decent martial arts skills to the secret chamber."

"Yes!"

The branch master clasped his fists and quickly went to gather the Xuanming Cult's experts.

Before long, ten people had assembled in the secret chamber.

"Your Highness, these men are the backbone of our Bian Prefecture branch. All of them have reached the Small Star Rank, and their mission success rates are extremely high. We await Your Highness's orders!"

"Very good."

Zhu Youning nodded in satisfaction, then his expression abruptly turned solemn.

"Vast is the Central Plains, yet none can rein in the eight oxen. Swimming waters cannot cleanse; there is blood but no head." Zhu Youning spouted a string of cryptic nonsense before producing the fake Buliangren jade badge.

His gaze was as sharp as a blade as he swept it over the crowd. "With Lu Youjie gone, I am the newly appointed Heavenly Damage Star among the Thirty-Six Tiangang Captains of the Buliangren. The Commander has issued orders: all of you are to obey my commands. Buliangren of the Great Tang, heed my command!"

The Xuanming Cult members looked at one another, none of them knowing what Zhu Youning was talking about. Perhaps they were pretending not to know, or perhaps they truly did not.

However, some reacted differently. After exchanging glances, they began continuously speculating about Zhu Youning's identity.

Though they were Buliangren spies planted within the Xuanming Cult, they were ultimately only low-level operatives. Their sole duty was to obey and carry out orders. Thus, they did not know much about the true appearances of the Buliangren's upper ranks—the Thirty-Six Tiangang Captains.

After all, most of the Thirty-Six Tiangang Captains had mysterious identities and were elusive as dragons. Perhaps only the Buliang Commander, Yuan Tiangang, knew the true faces of them all.

Therefore, they could only rely on speculation to judge whether Zhu Youning's claimed identity was real.

But they soon all concluded that Zhu Youning was indeed one of the Buliangren.

After all, aside from the Buliangren's upper ranks, no one knew that Lu Youjie was the Buliangren's Heavenly Damage Star, nor could anyone know that they were undercover within the Xuanming Cult. Unless there was a traitor among the Buliangren's higher-ups who had leaked news of their infiltration into the Xuanming Cult. But they firmly believed that to be impossible.

With the Buliang Commander Yuan Tiangang's meticulousness, how could he possibly allow the list of undercover agents to be leaked?

Of course, they could have asked Zhu Youning for his Buliangren jade badge to inspect it. That was the most effective way to verify his identity.

But they did not dare do so.

They feared offending their superior's dignity, for they had no idea what temperament this newly appointed Heavenly Damage Star possessed.

As for Zhu Youning's public identity as Prince An of Liang State, they did not doubt it too much.

They were Buliangren, and their reverence for the Buliang Commander had reached an utterly blind degree. They believed the Buliang Commander was capable of anything.

With the Buliang Commander's abilities, would it be difficult to turn Zhu Wen's nephew into a Buliangren?

Thus, after thinking it over again and again, these undercover agents swiftly acted. Rather than ask Zhu Youning for his identity badge, they immediately drew their blades and slashed at the only genuine Xuanming Cult member nearby.

Before this bona fide Xuanming Cult member could react, he was cut down with a single slash, blood flowing without end.

Then everyone present immediately dropped to one knee before Zhu Youning and declared in unison, "We, the Buliangren, pay our respects to you, sir!"

There had originally been ten Xuanming Cult assassins in this secret chamber. Including the branch master and Zhu Youning, there were twelve people in total.

Yet now, no fewer than nine of them were kneeling on one knee!

And among those kneeling was even the branch master of the Bian Prefecture branch!

Seeing this, Zhu Youning could not help but sigh.

He had thought there would not be many Buliangren spies in such a small branch. But now it seemed he had underestimated the Buliangren's infiltration efforts.

This Xuanming Cult Bian Prefecture branch had truly been thoroughly infiltrated—eight or nine out of every ten, at least!

At that moment, the branch master of the Bian Prefecture branch looked at Zhu Youning with an especially fawning expression. "Sir, what orders does the Commander have?"

Zhu Youning sighed and said regretfully, "It is time for the Bian Prefecture branch to purge dissidents. So long as they are not one of us, kill them all."

"Understood!"

The branch master of the Bian Prefecture branch clasped his fists, only to suddenly notice that the Xuanming Cult member who had been cut down was not yet dead. He immediately drew his blade, but just as he was about to bring it down, he heard a clang.

The Bian Prefecture branch leader felt a jolt in his hand as a pebble struck the blade of his curved saber. The impact knocked the saber from his grasp.

The sudden turn of events made the branch leader's face change drastically, and he looked toward Zhu Youning.

That pebble had actually been launched by Zhu Youning.

"My lord, what do you mean by this?"

"This king already said it. Since they are not our people, they must all die!"

As an expert who had already entered the Great Star Realm, Zhu Youning found it as easy as turning his hand to deal with these Small Star Rank and Mid-Star Rank lackeys.

In less than a minute, all of the Buliangren spies had perished, and all their inner energy had become Zhu Youning's.

After absorbing their inner energy, Zhu Youning was surprised to find that his own inner energy had grown much more abundant, and he had faintly reached the peak of the Great Star Realm.

Just one more step, and he could enter the Small-Heaven Realm!

The Northern Dark Divine Art was terrifying indeed!

After finishing this, Zhu Youning was surprised to discover that although the Xuanming Cult member had fallen to the ground, his life force remained tenacious, and he had yet to die.

He walked over, first sealing his acupoints to stop the bleeding, then gathered his inner energy and used the cultivation method of the Nine Yin: Healing Chapter to treat his injuries.

After a long while, the Xuanming Cult member's face was finally no longer so deathly pale.

He dropped to his knees, his attitude reverent.

"This subordinate thanks Your Highness for saving my life! From this day onward, this subordinate's life belongs to Your Highness. I will brave boiling water and raging fire, and will not refuse even death ten thousand times over!"

Zhu Youning nodded slightly before saying, "The enemy is within the Xuanming Cult. These people were all Buliangren spies, intending to seize control of the Xuanming Cult in the future and overthrow the Great Liang dynasty. That is why this king lured them with a pretense and killed them to silence them, leaving no future trouble behind."

The Xuanming Cult member continued listening, but inwardly, he was overcome with lingering fear.

Though they were all assassins, they did share a tiny bit of affection for one another. After all, they were colleagues who spent every day together.

Yet one could know a person's face but not their heart. He had never imagined that they were all Buliangren spies. Had he remained unaware of their identities, he might have been stabbed in the back someday and lost his life.

"Now that they are all dead, the Bian Prefecture branch is effectively empty. You will temporarily assume the position of branch leader. Tell the outside world that these people were carrying out an assassination mission on this king's orders. From now on, any developments within the Bian Prefecture branch must be reported to this king."

"Yes, sir!"