This Kid... This Kid Was Terrifying Indeed

Water vapor blurred their vision.

Xu Jin strode through the curtain of water, his gaze locked on He Chong, his killing intent not diminished in the slightest.

Just then, a gray-clad figure stepped out atop the waves.

The old man was stooped, his hair mottled white, dressed in coarse cloth and short sleeves. He was none other than He Cang, the Canal Gang's longtime-retired elder consecrator.

He had originally been hiding in the shadows to hold the formation in place, intending to act only when it came time to break open the stone gate. He had not expected He Chong to be on the verge of death, forcing him to reveal himself early and intervene.

He Cang stepped sideways, blocking He Chong.

Seeing the elder consecrator step forward, Xie Kun and He Hu finally let out their pent-up breaths. Only then did they dare hurry over, helping the barely breathing He Chong behind them and shielding him.

Seeing this, Xu Jin withdrew his sword qi and stood with his hands behind his back. "Obstructing the Demon Suppression Bureau's investigation of a demon-evil murder case is punishable as the same crime under the Great Yin Law on Demon-Evil Disposal. You... intend to protect him?"

His expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he could not help complaining.

What were you doing earlier?

You didn't come out when your junior attacked, nor when he went for the kill. Now that he's lost and about to die, you come running out to plead for mercy? Where in the world is there such a cheap deal?

"Ancestor, kill him! He crippled me! I'm crippled now! I want him buried with me!" He Chong screamed hysterically.

He Cang turned and glanced at He Chong. His entire right arm hung limp, its joints twisted out of shape. His chest had caved in, and blood still streamed continuously from the corners of his mouth.

He trembled with rage. He Chong was not only a junior of the He Clan, but also his personal disciple and heir to his teachings—a water-element genius the He family saw only once in a century.

He had deliberately brought him here to earn merit, hoping that He Chong could use the credit from obtaining the alchemy cauldron inheritance to take over the Canal Gang.

Yet only a few days after arriving at Green-Mud Ferry, he had nearly been cut down atop the floating platform.

"You yellow-mouthed brat! You strike with such vicious cruelty!" He Cang roared. "A mere probationary patrol officer dares injure my clan's successor? Do you truly think this old man can no longer lift a blade?"

"He Chong hid Sha Qi within his Yin Claw, intending to cripple an imperial official. He obstructed demon-cleansing duties first, then threatened retaliation afterward." Xu Jin refused to yield an inch, pointing out He Cang's faults from the lofty ground of the law.

"This official had every justification to cut him down. If you forcibly shelter him today, then you are making an enemy of the Demon Suppression Bureau—and an enemy of Great Yin's laws."

One side denounced vicious cruelty from the standpoint of a clan's private vendetta; the other defined the crime from the perspective of national law.

In only a few exchanges, their positions had become utterly opposed, with not the slightest room left for compromise.

He Cang laughed in extreme anger and slammed both palms fiercely against the water's surface.

With a muffled boom, the surrounding river water surged upward. Countless water cords as thick as arms shot from beneath the surface, encircling the entire floating platform and half the river channel in an instant.

In He Cang's eyes, he held three victories in this battle, while Xu Jin suffered three defeats.

First, he had already entered the Grandmaster realm. Beneath Grandmasters, all were ants—this was a universally acknowledged truth in the cultivation world.

Second, this was his home ground. He was a water-element Grandmaster; on his own turf, he dared contend even with veteran Grandmasters, much less the ant before him.

Third, everyone in the cultivation world knew that those below the Grandmaster realm could not fly through the air. This ant in the Intent Comprehension realm could only be trapped upon the floating platform and passively take a beating. There was absolutely no chance of breaking the formation.

"Junior, today this old man will teach you a lesson—an overpowering dragon cannot crush a local snake." He Cang's voice was icy. "Upon these waters, this old man calls the shots."

Seeing Xu Jin standing motionless, He Cang assumed the youngster had been frightened senseless. Just as he was about to activate the water cords and shred him, the sight before him ruthlessly crushed several decades of his cultivation knowledge.

Xu Jin opened his mouth and spat out a lead pellet. A flash of white light appeared, and it rolled into his palm, transforming into a three-inch sword.

With the lightest tap of his toes upon the floating platform's boards, his entire body drifted upward atop the sword, suspended several zhang in the air.

The entire scene fell deathly silent.

The vicious expression on He Cang's face instantly froze, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Flying through the air on a sword?! How is that possible?! How can an Intent Comprehension realm cultivator fly with an artifact?!"

This completely overturned everything he knew.

The watery battlefield he had relied upon, the Nine-Bend Baleful Water Formation, instantly became mere decoration before an opponent capable of fighting in the air.

Every tactical arrangement, every advantage of terrain, had vanished.

Xu Jin hovered in midair, looking down at the frozen old man below. His heart was utterly unruffled; he even found it a little funny.

Dumbfounded, huh? Intent Comprehension realm cultivators can't fly? That only applies to ordinary players without cheat codes. Mine is an exclusive closed-beta benefit, treatment on the level of exploiting a bug. Your common sense doesn't apply to me.

The commotion was too great and had long since alerted Green-Mud Ferry's local forces.

Behind the reed beds on the eastern bank, two figures held their breath as they hid in the shadows and watched the battle. They were Daoist Yun Feng, abbot of River Spirit Temple, and Consecrator Zhao of the River Merchants Guild.

The two had heard that something unusual was happening along the river and had independently come to investigate. They had not expected to run straight into this confrontation.

Daoist Yun Feng stroked his goatee, his expression grave.

"If that old ghost He wins, the Canal Gang, an outside force, will surely dominate Green-Mud Ferry alone. From then on, life will be difficult for our three local factions."

"But if Patrol Officer Xu truly manages to slay a Grandmaster, the Demon Suppression Bureau will be firmly established in Green-Mud Ferry. From then on, the rules of this territory will have to be set according to official standards."

Consecrator Zhao nodded repeatedly. "The Daoist is right. Let us watch and maintain strict neutrality. We must not interfere. Once the winner is decided, we can simply align ourselves with the victor."

The two had made up their minds. They would neither help the outsider Canal Gang and invite disaster upon themselves, nor rashly curry favor with the Demon Suppression Bureau and give others something to criticize. Watching tigers fight from atop the mountain was their way of survival.

In the deeper reed marshes not far away, the minor thug sent by Reed-Blossom Stronghold to keep watch was so terrified that his calves cramped and his face turned pale.

The stronghold chief had originally instructed him to find a chance to trip up the Demon Suppression Bureau's people beneath the water and vent their anger.

But now, having personally seen Patrol Officer Xu ride a sword through the air and force even the Canal Gang's old Grandmaster to emerge, how could he dare entertain the slightest crooked thought?

He scrambled and fled toward the stronghold—at this level, if Xu Jin truly chose to settle accounts, it was hard to say whether the entire Reed-Blossom Stronghold would even be enough for a single sword stroke.

Xu Jin sensed that panicked, fleeing aura and secretly shook his head. That broke his nerve already? Reed-Blossom Stronghold's mental fortitude is lacking. Typical keyboard warriors who bully the weak and fear the strong—one offline encounter, and they shatter.

Looking at the pale golden figure standing upon his sword in the air, Daoist Yun Feng could not help letting out a long sigh. His voice was full of emotion. "To ride a sword through the air at such a young age—this kid... this kid is terrifying indeed."

Upon the water, He Cang gritted his teeth so hard that his face shifted from green to white.

The water formation had completely failed, and sword flight was utterly beyond the bounds of cultivation common sense. He knew that if he did not bring out his ultimate trump card today, not only would he fail to save He Chong, but his decades of prestige would also be buried here at Green-Mud Ferry.

"Junior, being able to force this old man to such a point, you may take pride in it even in death!"

He bit down fiercely on the tip of his tongue and sprayed out a mouthful of essence blood. His hands rapidly formed seals as he muttered an incantation.

The river water throughout the entire channel instantly began to churn in frenzy. Even the yin-Sha Qi from deep within the Sunk Tomb was drawn forth in full. Turbid black water intertwined with pitch-black Sha Qi, slowly gathering above his head and forming a massive hand of yin water more than a zhang wide.

This was the life-bound ultimate art He Cang had cultivated for a hundred years—the Profound Yin Grand Hand Seal.

Once unleashed, it consumed his very foundation. He was adopting the posture of perishing together.