Assassination

Only after He Sheng had become familiar with the use of divine sense and gained complete control over the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm did he develop a passive warning function resembling filtered detection.

Simply put, after divine sense enhanced by the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm extended more than ten li outward, there was far too much information to detect. If he investigated every detail, his mind would quickly grow exhausted.

Thus, He Sheng used it as a specialized radar.

For instance, at this moment, his spread-out divine sense fed back only information on Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, ignoring everything else.

Only then could he focus on other matters while still receiving timely feedback from his divine sense.

"Elder Xu has returned."

As the other party rapidly approached, He Sheng had already matched him to the figure in the memories he had obtained by soul-searching Wu Feng.

After making a few slight adjustments, he summoned Kou Xiang'er.

"Tell me exactly how you saw through my disguise before. Do not conceal a single thing!"

The moment Kou Xiang'er arrived, He Sheng raised the pressure again. Naturally, she did not dare hide anything and hurriedly said, "It was his body odor. Consecrated Cultivator Wu was an ascetic cultivator. Every day, he was either cultivating, processing spirit materials, or controlling fire to refine artifacts. He carried an inescapable smell of smoke and rust. But Senior's body carries a cold, spring-clear aura, so clean it seems untouched by dust. The two are completely different."

He Sheng could not help but stare slightly when he heard that.

He had never imagined that this was where he had exposed a flaw.

He had imitated Wu Feng's tone and mannerisms, even deliberately lowered his voice and disguised his spiritual energy fluctuations, yet he alone had overlooked the most fundamental "scent" of this body.

But body odor truly was not easy to disguise, unless he went to the artifact-refining room and smoked himself for a while.

After thinking for a moment, He Sheng finally said, "Elder Xu will be back any moment. Do as I say..."

He Sheng lowered his voice and rapidly gave her a series of instructions.

When he was done, he stared into Kou Xiang'er's eyes and said flatly, "I hope you're a clever person. Otherwise..."

Before his words had even fallen, the aura he had kept restrained within his body abruptly changed.

Boom!

A terrifyingly immense pressure erupted in an instant, swallowing the small Evening Zhi Residence like a tsunami.

In that instant, Kou Xiang'er felt as if the sky had collapsed.

Foundation Establishment Late Stage!

Although that aura vanished in a flash and swiftly fell back to the level of the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, as though everything just now had merely been an illusion.

Kou Xiang'er was already drenched in sweat, her legs going limp as she nearly collapsed to the floor.

Only then did she realize that this impostor "Wu Feng" before her was actually a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator. No wonder he was so brazenly audacious!

"S-Senior..."

Kou Xiang'er opened her mouth to declare her loyalty, but her voice trembled so badly that she could not form a proper tune.

He Sheng waved a hand, cutting her off. His expression returned to its former indifference and calm.

"There's no need to say more. Start making arrangements as I instructed."

Kou Xiang'er took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the terror in her heart. She nodded hard, then turned and walked toward the door. Her back appeared slender, yet it now held an added measure of resolve.

Xu Qiancheng rode his bronze-headed qilin beast across the river and landed directly at the entrance to the market.

He flipped down from its back, his movements somewhat impatient. After casually storing the bronze-headed qilin beast in his beast-taming ring, he strode into the market.

All along the way, Xu Qiancheng's face was so gloomy it seemed capable of dripping water.

The moment he stepped into the imposing bluestone pavilion of the Celestial Sea Commerce Association's Lower River Branch, the clerk guarding the front hall came up to greet him, reporting with a broad smile, "Reporting to Elder Xu, Consecrated Cultivator Wu returned several hours ago. After this one informed him that Evening Zhi Residence had summoned him, he went directly to the rear courtyard."

"Understood."

Xu Qiancheng squeezed out a cold sound through his nostrils. Without slowing, he passed straight through the front hall and hurried toward the inner courtyard.

The reason he had left that morning was simply because he had received a message from the leader of the Black Mountain Group.

Those bandit cultivators from east of the river had actually thrown down their tools and refused to work, demanding that he immediately pay the compensation previously promised for attacking the mountain. Otherwise, they would withdraw.

The reason was simple enough.

First, when the Black Mountain Group had jointly attacked Long Sun Mountain yesterday, they had intended to catch the He Family off guard. Instead, they suffered a crushing loss, with nearly half their manpower lost.

Second, the Black Mountain Group had learned a shocking secret—the He Family's secret treasury within Long Sun Mountain had been emptied out by an insider!

The current He Family was nothing more than a hollow shell with a glossy exterior.

Xu Qiancheng had initially thought this was merely an excuse from those bandit cultivators to play to the wind and haggle for better terms, but after taking a trip outside, he found that the matter had already spread like wildfire. Even the identity of the one who had stolen the secret treasury was being described in vivid detail.

It was said to be He Yiyang, who had previously overseen the He Family's marketplace business, while his wife's younger brother, Ji Yunlai, had been his accomplice!

"Ji Yunlai bears the Soul-Devouring Gu bestowed by Sixth Miss, and Wu Feng has used it to completely control him.

"But why hadn't there been even the slightest whisper beforehand? Could Wu Feng have been plotting something behind our backs?"

Xu Qiancheng knew perfectly well that Lin Wanrou had arranged for Wu Feng to approach Ji Yunlai precisely so that they could use this chess piece to secretly control He Yiyang.

If He Yiyang and Ji Yunlai had truly swept away the valuables from the He Family's secret treasury, Wu Feng would most likely be the one to profit in the end. That was also why he had hurried back.

"He Sheng bled Silver Sand River dry for nearly twenty years. The resources accumulated in the He Family's secret treasury are by no means a small sum.

"If that wealth truly falls into Wu Feng's hands, he may not be willing to remain under Sixth Miss's control. He might very well scoop up the valuables and run!"

Xu Qiancheng's eyes turned sinister, murder already rising in his heart.

He knew full well that since Wu Feng had returned, he most likely had yet to succeed. This was precisely the last window of opportunity.

As his thoughts raced, he had already stepped into Evening Zhi Residence.

Kou Xiang'er was sweeping the main hall. Upon seeing Elder Xu return, she hurriedly set down her work, stepped forward, and bowed.

"Consecrated Wu has been waiting in the side room for quite some time."

Xu Qiancheng glanced at her and imperiously ordered, "Go invite Consecrated Wu over. Prepare some fine spirit tea and spirit fruits as well. This old man has important matters to discuss with Consecrated Wu."

As Sixth Miss's personal guard and a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, his status naturally far surpassed Kou Xiang'er's.

"Yes."

Kou Xiang'er lowered her head meekly, looking utterly resigned to whatever came her way. After accepting the order, she hurried toward the side room.

Xu Qiancheng, meanwhile, naturally took a seat in the hall and waited.

"No matter what, today, even if I must exhaust every means at my disposal, I have to make Wu Feng hand over control of Ji Yunlai and the means of contacting him!"

As Xu Qiancheng plotted how to coerce and entice Wu Feng later, "Wu Feng's" voice suddenly rang out.

"Greetings, Elder Xu."

Elder Xu had just come back to his senses and was about to speak when a dazzling streak of blood-red light suddenly flashed before his eyes.

Aah!

Accompanied by a shrill wail like that of a resentful ghost, the blood-red light pierced straight into the sea of consciousness between his brows.

Xu Qiancheng felt a tearing pain between his brows, and his entire mind went blank in an instant.

At the same time, a stream of watery blue light shot forth from behind the hall. It was an azure gauze parasol.

After the artifact opened above Elder Xu's head, surging waves poured down from it, instantly enveloping him completely.

"Not good!"

A warning blared in Xu Qiancheng's heart as the shadow of death washed over him.

He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, after all. At the brink of life and death, he immediately bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood.

The instant the essence blood sprayed forth, his divine sense surged dramatically, forcibly wrenching him free from his dazed state.

But before he could make sense of the situation, a thunderclap seemed to explode beside his ears:

"Break!"