Operation Begins, Infiltration at Midnight

Spirit Hall's soul masters were also divided into several ranks. The most ordinary were White Robe Soul Masters, followed by White Robe Bishops, who were Hall Master-level figures of sixth-rank branch halls.

Above them were Purple Robe Bishops, Red Robe Bishops, Platinum Bishops, and the one and only Gold Bishop.

With this White Robe Bishop's strength as a Soul Elder, in a small place like Nuoding City, he actually already counted as quite a formidable figure.

"I already understand the personnel situation. Now I need to know Nuoding City's layout and terrain. Do you have a detailed map on hand?" Chu Ye said.

"Yes." Su Yuntao quickly took out a map.

Chu Ye took the map and studied it carefully together with Qian Renxue. After understanding these two matters, next they only needed to find Li Yuanba's location, and they could formulate a battle plan.

Chu Ye asked, "How many soul masters can you spare now to help us investigate?"

"We need to leave a few soul masters to handle necessary affairs inside the hall. Would twenty soul masters do?" the Hall Master said.

There were twenty-five people in total, and he had sent twenty to help. Chu Ye smiled and said, "You should have plenty of things to keep busy with too. No need for that many. Fifteen will be enough."

"All right. Then, Young Master Chu Ye, Young Master Qian Renxue, how should we assist you?"

"Xue'er, what are your thoughts?" Chu Ye looked at Qian Renxue. In truth, he already had a complete plan in mind.

But Chu Ye knew Qian Renxue was actually very good at devising strategies and had the talent to command operations, so he wanted to hear her thoughts.

Qian Renxue thought it over carefully, and soon a few traces of confidence rose at the corners of her mouth. "If it's these fifteen, then I want two White Robe Deacons above rank twenty-five. The strength of the other thirteen doesn't matter, but it would be best if they were soul masters with strong scouting abilities, as well as functional soul masters."

Chu Ye nodded inwardly. White Robe Deacons had higher status and could more effectively command the soul masters below them, while these people could not join the fight and were only finding someone, so scouting and functional soul masters were the most practical.

Qian Renxue continued, "Nuoding City has two entrances and exits in total, the north gate and the south gate. I need four soul masters to disguise themselves as ordinary people and keep watch at the two gate openings of the north gate."

"The remaining nine will search for Li Yuanba in the city with Chu Ye and me. At the same time, they cannot use their identities as soul masters and must disguise themselves as commoners."

"Once we find the target, we must not alert him. Continue scouting, confirm his movement patterns and daily routine, and after finding the best possible moment, disperse the crowd, then make our move."

"Chu Ye, what do you think?"

"Mm, I think there's no problem. However, I'll add one point here." Chu Ye gave his approval, then said, "A Spirit Emperor's insight and perception, and even his five senses, must far surpass all of ours."

"So everyone must pay attention to your words and actions. During the scouting process after discovering the target, you must also keep a sufficiently safe distance. You can choose a high place and monitor him remotely through a telescope, so as to avoid being detected by the other party."

"We understand."

Su Yuntao and the others looked at one another. They had not expected two children so young to be able to reach this level.

"Then let's begin the operation." Chu Ye and Qian Renxue exchanged a glance and said.

"Yes!"

Nuoding City was only so big. With more than a dozen soul masters searching, and some branch hall soldiers stationed around the clock on the high points of buildings with broad views, watching several locations separately, as long as Li Yuanba came out and moved around, it would not take long to discover the target.

On the continent, there were many soul master criminals wanted by the empires and Spirit Hall who had yet to be captured. Basically, after committing crimes, they would find a place and honestly hide for a few years, then gradually emerge once the storm had passed.

After all, whether it was the empires or Spirit Hall, neither would spend manpower and time for years on end searching for criminals who had already gone into hiding. The continent was so vast that if someone truly hid, it was very hard to find them.

As time passed, these criminals would be forgotten by people. Even if they casually walked down the street, probably no one would know they were wanted criminals.

But Li Yuanba never would have imagined that Spirit Hall's higher-ups had taken him and used him for Chu Ye and Qian Renxue to complete Qian Daoliu's second requirement.

So Li Yuanba never imagined at all that his whereabouts had already been learned by Spirit Hall.

Late at night, the streets of Nuoding City were extremely quiet, with almost not a single person in sight.

Li Yuanba held two women in his arms, one on each side, and swaggered down the street, not knowing that at this moment, he had already been completely exposed to Chu Ye and Qian Renxue's sight.

Not far away, atop a tall building, Qian Renxue looked down below and said, "Chu Ye, he's Li Yuanba, right?"

"He basically matches the portrait. It's him." A trace of killing intent flashed through Chu Ye's eyes.

The two silently watched Li Yuanba leave. They were in no hurry to act, and instead continued monitoring him.

Two days later, Chu Ye had already grasped Li Yuanba's movements with precision. Every day was basically a two-point routine: he slept in his short-term rental home, then went to the Romantic Club to enjoy himself, and basically returned only around the small hours.

Fortunately, Li Yuanba's residence had few people around it. He lived in a standalone villa building with three floors in total.

This way, when Chu Ye and Qian Renxue made their move, they could avoid affecting the surrounding commoners to the greatest extent.

Chu Ye named this operation Operation Tyrant Hunter.

After discussion, Operation Tyrant Hunter was set for three o'clock tonight, in the small hours.

Time passed swiftly. Day turned to night, and the stars shone brilliantly in the night sky. The time had reached past two in the morning.

The figures of Chu Ye and Qian Renxue appeared on the streets of Nuoding City, walking step by step toward Li Yuanba's residence.

This was their first true life-and-death battle, and their first time going to kill someone.

Most importantly, the success or failure of this mission would directly decide whether Qian Renxue could continue to remain in Spirit Hall.

It would be a lie to say he was not nervous inside. Chu Ye took Qian Renxue's hand and said, "Don't worry, Xue'er. We'll succeed."

"Mm~" Qian Renxue nodded.

At present, Chu Ye's Soul Power was rank twenty-seven, and Qian Renxue's Soul Power was rank thirty-nine. With Power Sharing activated on top of that, Chu Ye's Soul Power was at least equivalent to a high-ranked Soul Elder's, and Qian Renxue's Soul Power was at least at the level of a Soul Ancestor.

Although there was no hundred-percent certainty, in Chu Ye's view, they had at least a seventy-percent chance of killing Li Yuanba!

At two fifty-five in the morning, Chu Ye and Qian Renxue finally arrived below Li Yuanba's villa.

The two exchanged a glance and infiltrated the villa.

"Go! Xue'er!"

"Mm!"

The two climbed up along the wall, all the way to the third-floor balcony, then slipped silently through the balcony into the hall.

It was pitch-black inside, and also extremely quiet. Chu Ye could even hear his own breathing, and the atmosphere seemed to grow tense.

On the third floor, there were four rooms in total, all with their doors closed. However, Chu Ye knew clearly which room Li Yuanba lived in, and also knew the door faced the bed directly.

Chu Ye only needed to stand outside the door, charge up a soul skill, and strike, piercing through the door to heavily injure Li Yuanba while he lay asleep on the bed.