Soul-Locking Amethyst, Breakthrough

After a period of overcast and rainy weather, Jinling finally saw bright sunshine today.

The moisture and puddles left over from the rain gradually evaporated under the scorching sun.

Those guarding the defensive fortress felt as if they were stuffed into a steamer, their bodies sweating profusely and sticky, many feeling itchy and unable to resist scratching.

This sweltering experience quickly made them miss the coolness of the previous days.

Everyone standing outside the fortress was wondering when they would get their turn to go inside and hide.

Those standing on the rooftop of the fortress were the ones who endured the hardest labor.

Some people squatted down and touched the sun-baked concrete on the rooftop; it was so hot it felt burning hot to the touch.

"Alert!!"

Suddenly someone shouted, and the soldiers who had been slouching all straightened up and looked outside.

In the wilderness outside the defensive line, there are several broken roads.

At that moment, dozens of magnificent horses were galloping across the roads.

There are nearly fifty horses, but it seems there are fewer than twenty riders controlling them.

The riders were positioned around the horses, controlling the direction of the herd.

The horses that weren't carrying passengers were laden with all sorts of supplies, all in sturdy yellow and white canvas bags draped over their sides.

As the cavalry approached, those on the defensive line showed expressions of surprise.

Those horses were at least half a meter taller than the horses they usually saw.

Most of the horses in the caravan were pure black, with a few being reddish-brown. They were the size of hooves, almost like large bowls.

After the catastrophe, the most suitable vehicles for long journeys across the wilderness were no longer cars, but horses, camels, donkeys, and the like.

Ideally, it should be Borderland Species, highly adaptable, and able to roam freely in any environment.

Many of the soldiers on the defensive line had also seen the cavalry that relied on Food Is Heaven.

But I always felt that their overall momentum was not as strong as the group of people in front.

"Why aren't you slowing down? Are you trying to force your way through the defenses?"

Someone on the rooftop muttered something and then started shouting through a megaphone.

"Listen up, you on horseback! This is Jinling territory. If you wish to enter the city, please slow down immediately and state your identity!"

The cavalry's speed did not decrease at all; in fact, someone shouted out.

"Listen up, you people in those concrete buildings! Have you seen a strange man holding a large piece of amethyst?!"

The man who shouted the order held the reins in one hand, urging his horse to gallop, while carrying a long sword in the other. Several more sheathed long swords were also hanging on the sides of the horse's rump.

"If you see that man enter the city, let us in immediately, without delay!"

The soldiers on the defensive line had never seen any amethyst monster.

But seeing that the group of people were all carrying various weapons on their backs and were about to charge the fortifications without slowing down, they were already close to breaking through the defenses.

The soldiers looked tense, especially the ones who used the tranquilizer darts; they immediately pulled the triggers.

Suddenly, a light shone through the ranks of the cavalry.

Choke!!

Only when the sound of swords clashing reached them did everyone realize what was happening.

Among those riders, besides those who were already carrying longswords, at least ten others drew their swords simultaneously.

No one saw them draw their swords; they only saw a flash of light.

However, the tranquilizer darts fired had no effect; they were clearly blocked.

"Do not fire!"

The only middle-aged man in the horse team who was empty-handed, wearing a yellow overcoat, suddenly leaped into the air, much faster than the horses.

It was as if he had simply spread his arms and disappeared from the horse's back.

With his arms hanging down, he was already less than two meters outside the barbed wire fence, standing firmly on the ground.

When the middle-aged man's words spread, the soldiers on the nearby defense line all felt a wave of dizziness and their vision went black.

It wasn't that my head was particularly uncomfortable from the shock, but rather that it felt like my mind went blank for a moment.

He seemed unaware of his location, what he was holding, and had no intention of firing.

Fortunately, after the middle-aged man landed on the ground, all the dozens of horses stopped abruptly.

It wasn't just those with riders; even those without riders came to a sudden stop with an indescribable force.

My name is Zhao Qinglang!

The middle-aged man had a dignified appearance, thick, all-black hair, but the ends of his eyebrows were slightly white. He had a high, straight nose and a loud, clear voice, and spoke with his hands clasped in front of him.

"We are from the Demon Hunting Corps. We didn't intentionally break through the defenses. We were chasing a villain for a long distance, covering thousands of miles. The brothers Zhongdu a little anxious."

"Please don't misunderstand, we have absolutely no ill intentions towards Jinling."

The steward, who was already on the rooftop holding the black umbrella in preparation for battle, was startled upon hearing this.

"The Demon Hunting Corps?!"

The Demon Hunting Corps are one of the most unique factions in the wasteland today.

Many people regard them as a top-tier force, but their numbers are actually very small.

The cavalry in front of them, including Zhao Qinglang, numbered only seventeen in total.

But it seems to be the total number of members in the Demon Hunting Corps.

It is said that all members of the Demon Hunting Corps are masters, all have suffered the loss of their families, and are all admirable people.

Their leader, Zhao Qinglang, had a broken Lineage and lost his loved ones.

But in the decade or so following the catastrophe, he had built up a powerful local force. With just a word from him, or even without speaking, just a gesture or an expression, people would naturally help him rebuild his family.

Even in this wasteland era, he was fully capable of living a long and comfortable life, enjoying an inexhaustible life until the end.

However, he did not indulge in pleasure.

After things stabilized in the city, Zhao Qinglang, with no more worries, decided to leave alone.

He gave up his position to his longtime best friend, then went out, for one thing only...

Upholding justice and chivalry!

Starting from his hometown, he wandered through various cities and settlements.

Some stay for one or two months, while others stay for only a week.

Legend has it that he would find out where the most threatening monsters in the area were and help eliminate them, and he would also find out who the most despicable people in the city were and righteously kill them.

In such an era, there are such strongmen.

Zhao Qinglang certainly attracted many followers, but the vast majority were persuaded to leave and remain in the local area.

Only those who are equally unattached, capable, have received his help, and are determined to do the same thing as him can make him reluctantly accept.

Thus, the famous Demon Hunting Corps came into being.

Their philosophy is that monsters are like demons, and there are also demons among humans.

As Demon Hunting Corps, we have to hunt both types of demons!!

We have never seen anyone holding an amethyst.

The manager already knew the situation was beyond his control, so he quietly pressed the red button in his pocket to call for help from the experts in the city, though his tone was very respectful.

Unless someone is psychologically twisted, most people who have heard of the Demon Hunting Corps ' exploits will have some respect for them.

I've heard that many people now hold the Demon Hunting Corps in higher esteem than just respect; they idolize them.

"Please have a seat here. Our superior will be here to greet you shortly."

"Fine!"

Zhao Qinglang replied, "It seems we weren't keeping a close enough watch. That person has most likely already sneaked into the city. We need to contact the city officials to make the search easier."

"Brothers, don't rush, let's wait here for a bit."

The people on horseback sheathed their swords and dismounted.

The manager of the black umbrella observed carefully and found it to be just as rumored.

Three hammers, one axe, twelve swords.

The twelve swordsmen used longswords of various shapes and sizes, including broadswords with a copper patina, alloy triangular swords, narrow silver swords, blunt swords, and swords with tiger-head hilts and gilded patterns.

Each person carries their preferred type of sword on their mount, so that if their weapon gets damaged during long battles, they can easily replace it.

Of the three wielding hammers, two had hammers with heads only the size of melons, which wasn't an exaggeration, while the third wielded a long-handled warhammer with a head as large as a pumpkin, gleaming with golden light.

The last remaining man was one-eyed, who appeared to be the oldest. He was slightly hunched over and was probably the one who used the axe, but no one knew where the axe was.

The atmosphere in Jinling City has been tense these past two days, and reinforcements have arrived quickly.

Pan Ting drove herself, bringing Yu Nanfeng here.

Brother Zhao!

Yu Nanfeng was somewhat surprised. Holding a carved sandalwood folding fan in his hand, he stepped out of the carriage and walked slowly forward.

"We've met a few times before. Brother Zhao, why didn't you say hello before you went to Jinling?"

The soldiers quickly moved the barricades aside.

Zhao Qinglang stepped in, cupped his hands in greeting, and said with a smile, "With the three of you governing Jinling together, it has always been peaceful."

"Our Demon Hunting Corps never intended to come here."

The members of the Demon Hunting Corps also led their horses and followed.

Upon hearing this, Yu Nanfeng couldn't help but recall the past and shook his head, "Jinling no longer has three companies; the New Energy Association is practically defunct."

Zhao Qinglang looked surprised. "Has something happened to Chairman Song?"

"This matter..."

Yu Nanfeng hesitated for a moment, then said, "You'll hear about it once you enter the city."

She still said a few words briefly.

To everyone's surprise, Zhao Qinglang's expression turned solemn after hearing this.

"I, Zhao, would like to ask: is the inhuman and heinous organization behind Chairman Song called ' Southern Heaven '?"

Yu Nanfeng paused, his wrist stiffening. "How did you know, Brother Zhao?"

What a coincidence!

Zhao Qinglang's voice was filled with anger, "Our Demon Hunting Corps has been roaming around and had long discovered clues about this illegal organization, but we never expected them to be so large."

"Until recently, we destroyed a base and learned that an important person was escorting a treasure out of the area, so we immediately went to ambush and kill them."

"After a fierce battle, the escorts still managed to escape with the treasure, and we chased after them all the way here."

Zhao Qinglang stared intently at Yu Nanfeng, his tone extremely solemn.

"Based on the clues we have, that treasure is called the Soul-Locking Amethyst."

"It is said that this organization has a way to extract a faint wisp of soul from the Forerunner of Ghosts and Gods, and nurture it in amethyst without the spirits' knowledge."

"Once the trace amount of soul energy grows stronger, it will be easy to control the movements of the Forerunner of Ghosts and Gods."

"It is common knowledge that the Forerunner of Ghosts and Gods can be killed but not captured, because their nature is unyielding. This method, which takes an unconventional approach, has fallen into the hands of evildoers, which is truly worrying."

Yu Nanfeng muttered to himself, "The Soul-Locking Amethyst, could it be intended for Song Changle?"

"Very likely!"

Zhao Qinglang said, "It is said that this treasure is already being nourished by the souls of several Forerunner of Ghosts and Gods."

"If the escort knows that his accomplices in Jinling have been completely eradicated, I fear that, after suffering repeated setbacks, he might, in order to retaliate and establish his authority, hasten the growth of those souls and lure various Ghost God Dharma Aspect to Jinling!"

Yu Nanfeng and Pan Ting both changed their expressions.

The black-umbrella butler, who had overheard the conversation from afar, looked even more horrified.

Yu Nanfeng resolutely said, "We must immediately mobilize all our manpower and spare no expense to find this person's whereabouts as soon as possible."

"The escort was quite strong. Although I could defeat him, I couldn't stop him. Boss Yu also seems to be seriously injured and hasn't fully recovered yet?"

Zhao Qinglang, looking worried, patted his chest and asked, "Is Brother Zhang Tao in the city?"

Pan Ting quickly said, "We can consider calling him back."

Yu Nanfeng, however, did not express his opinion.

The threat posed by that Wolf Head swordsman should not be underestimated.

Yu Nanfeng said, "We have another top expert who we can ask for help."

Zhao Qinglang immediately asked, "Who is it, and where is it?"

Chu Tianshu is still inside the tent.

Yannian and Yu Wanzhuo stood by the river, looking at the tent with a worried expression in their eyes.

Chu Tianshu had been in the tent for two days without eating or drinking.

Breaking the Taboo is incredibly difficult.

Although they had all met, Chu Tianshu was able to defeat Song Changle, who had become Taboo, by a small margin.

But this doesn't mean that it's not dangerous for him to break through to this level on his own.

In the past two days, strange sensations have been emanating from inside the tent, like a huge shadow suddenly opening up and then closing in again.

The speed of contraction and release increases, but it always stops on its own just before reaching a certain peak.

Sometimes, the sound of Tide waves could even be heard coming from inside the tent.

Yu Wanzhuo couldn't hold on any longer last night. When he fell asleep, his right ear was pressed against the ground. Suddenly, he was awakened by a clap of thunder. After waking up, he found that he couldn't hear anything.

When he pressed his ear to the ground again, he could hear rumbling thunder again, and finally realized that the sound was coming from inside the tent.

Was it the rumbling of thunder, or the sound of crashing waves?

The more he listened, the more confused he became, and he still hasn't figured it out.

That's all because Chu Tianshu was familiarizing himself with his breakthrough method.

The breakthrough steps in "The Sky-Spanning Divine Art" are complex and profound. He has to use half of his power to experiment several times before he can be confident in connecting with the crude breakthrough method he has thought of.

What those outside didn't know was that Chu Tianshu had actually stopped trying this morning and was simply sitting there quietly.

He sat there, oblivious to his surroundings, his mind blank, as if countless images of visualization were surging within him.

These were all techniques he had practiced, and each one turned into ashes, fluttering down and settling into his dantian.

He achieved a kind of rest that was deeper than deep sleep.

He slowly opened his eyes when he felt a slight itch between his brows.

The feeling just now was hard to describe. Chu Tianshu seemed to sense some kind of threat, lingering in all directions, yet so faint that he couldn't pinpoint its exact location.

It seemed like a premonition, yet it also seemed like a fantasy.

But whether it was a premonition or a fantasy, now that I'm awake, then...

Let's break through now.

Chu Tianshu slowly raised his hands.

It took him ten seconds to raise his hand to shoulder level, his palm seemingly not accelerating at all.

But then a phantom hand and a phantom arm slowly and gently grew out.

Each afterimage of a hand moved so slowly, like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, or like petals curling back.

The last afterimages of the arms transformed into hand gestures, striking every part of his body, leaving no vital acupoint on his back untouched.

Wherever a streak of shadow landed on his finger, a glimmer of blue light appeared.

The True Qi surging out of the dantian encountered extremely complex conditions as soon as it left the dantian, constantly splitting, splitting, and splitting again.

The more it is divided, the faster it flows.

There was no clear sound of the Submerged Current or the Tide, only a faint, drawn-out song.

The Kunpeng Transformation is inherently subtle and can be accomplished in an instant.

As more and more tiny streams of light converged at Chu Tianshu's brow, bringing increasingly complex and ever-increasing tactile sensations...

He suddenly and directly pointed a finger at his brow.

Buzz!!

A barely perceptible humming sound accompanied by a dense blue light spreading outwards, then in an instant, it transformed into colorless waves.

All the drawings pasted inside the tent began to tremble slightly.

The two people on the riverbank were astonished to see that, from inside the tent, came out figures that looked like ink paintings.

Those figures were generally only the size of a palm.

But every figure was dim and ethereal, moving freely through the air as if wielding a sword or sweeping a sleeve.

Yu Wanzhuo suddenly realized. "That's a painting!"

At this moment, Chu Tianshu's internal energy was so pure that it allowed these portraits to briefly manifest externally.

Hundreds of figures swirled and moved freely around the tent.

Fifteen seconds later, the numerous images suddenly and rapidly converged like a vortex, returning to the tent!

The tent flap fluttered gently.

Those outside could not feel any wind, yet the curtain fluttered higher and higher, like a large flag waving, almost parallel to the ground.

"Only with the grandeur of a Kunpeng can one soar across mountains and seas; only with the dew of the sky can a single drop illuminate the Spring and Autumn Annals."

Chu Tianshu smiled broadly as he emerged from the tent, his feet dangling half a foot in the air. He suddenly rode the wind out, his left hand behind his waist.

Drop!

As he looked up slightly, a drop of blue water fell from somewhere high in the sky, hovering just above his right index finger, still maintaining its teardrop shape.

This drop of water is the manifestation of the essence of heaven and earth.

Chu Tianshu took a gentle breath, and the azure light entered his mouth and was immediately digested.

There will never be another like the Nanhua Origin Canon, which were so unusable yet couldn't be integrated!

His smile widened, and he lowered himself, his toes touching the tips of the grass blades, enjoying the breeze by the water.

Yu Wanzhuo looked on with delight. Suddenly, his phone rang twice. He quickly took it out to check the messages and replied, "Master has successfully broken through."

Before long, a herd of horses began to approach from the other side of the river.

Zhao Qinglang's gaze sharpened, meeting Chu Tianshu's eyes. He slowly wrapped the reins around his hand again, his fingers tightening.

The movements were small, but the sense of power was so great that it seemed as if this calloused, sallow hand alone was enough to strangle a dragon!

(End of this chapter)