Beheading

In the reception hall of the Chongming Sect, Jiang Qing looked at the one-eyed giant in front of him and sensed that the man had a rotten, decaying aura about him. A hint of displeasure appeared in his eyes.

The one-eyed shopkeeper sitting opposite him sensed the young man's undisguised emotions, but he chose not to take them to heart.

It doesn't matter what the buyer's expression is, as long as they give enough Spirit Stone to buy the information.

"Where are the Spirit Stone?"

"No." Jiang Qing slightly raised her eyelids, her face expressionless.

"No, no Spirit Stone! What are you doing here, Mr. Kang?!" The one-eyed shopkeeper immediately flew into a rage, his burly body standing up as if it could break through the roof.

"My senior brother instructed me beforehand that you haven't finished paying back what you owe him, and this will be considered interest for now."

The young swordsman's tone remained emotionless, and he spoke in a flat, straightforward manner, seemingly unaware that the one-eyed shopkeeper's eye had been stained crimson with rage.

"Fine, you motherfucker!" The giant's eyes flashed with a chill when he saw Jiang Qing. The anger in his eyes gradually subsided, and even his cursing subsided.

"That Kang fellow is truly a scoundrel! He has no intention of giving you Spirit Stone, so he sent this cold-faced devil to scare you!" The giant was furious, but dared not curse aloud, so he could only mutter to himself.

"Even though he saved my life back then, he's gathered so much information from me over the years, how can I keep refusing to give him Spirit Stone? Besides, my life isn't worth much anyway."

The giant muttered a few more words, but still reached out and handed Jiang Qing a bamboo tube.

Jiang Qing lifted the lid of the bamboo tube and took out the spirit paper from inside.

"Linghe Market Commandant, Dai Yuanjiang."

"Senior brother's guess was right, it really was him."

"Ha," the giant opposite chuckled, "Even a fool could guess who did this, let alone your senior brother. They're rivals, of course he wanted to kill your family."

He then tossed out another bamboo tube, saying, "Here, this is the information you wanted."

Before Jiang Qing could even open it, the one-eyed shopkeeper spoke up, "The young men who did this are surnamed Bai. It seems they originally came from a small Lineage in some county of Jingnan Prefecture. A few years ago, their patriarch suffered some trouble outside, and the young men couldn't make a living locally, so they all left their hometown to make a living."

"Your family has been making too much noise lately, so they don't dare to come out anymore. They're currently hiding in a remote village, enjoying themselves."

"Just six people?" Jiang Qing picked up the spirit tablet, counted the names on it, raised an eyebrow, and asked.

"That's quite a lot. Your Chongming Sect only had three people a few years ago, which is laughable," the one-eyed shopkeeper retorted.

Jiang Qing wasn't one for witty banter, so he ignored the one-eyed shopkeeper's sarcasm, carefully put away the spirit scroll, and then served tea to the guest.

The one-eyed shopkeeper's face darkened further, thinking to himself, "These Kang brothers are all the same, they use you and then throw you away, not a single one of them is a good person."

"Fine, I'll leave then! I don't want to stay here anyway!"

"My senior brother also asked me to pass on a message to Shopkeeper Ye. He has reserved a shop for you in Chongming Market. If you'd like, you can move there from Linghe Market at any time." Jiang Qing finished speaking casually and left the reception hall without waiting for the one-eyed manager's reaction.

The one-eyed shopkeeper paused, his expression a mix of emotions. "Tch, acting like I'm some kind of shrew."

West River Manor

Bai Wu, feeling refreshed, rolled off the pale body. After his ravaging of her the night before, the young girl who was just about to come of age was now lifeless.

After a refreshing night, Bai Wu clearly felt that his spiritual power had increased, and a sense of joy rose in his heart.

"It's hard to say whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that the old man died out there. Although it forced us brothers to separate and move out to avoid trouble, our lives are much more relaxed now that he's no longer in charge."

"That 'yin-yang replenishment' technique is an evil method and should not be practiced. Bah! That ancestral sword manual is the evil method! He's practiced it bitterly for so many years, and it's still not as powerful as my Yin-Yang technique. That so-called Foundation Establishment method—he actually fooled him back then!"

Having been away from home for only two or three years, Bai Wu had already reached the Qi Refining Seventh Layer through practicing the Yin-Yang Mystic Method. Now, in terms of cultivation alone, Bai Wu could already rival Bai Bian in his prime.

Moreover, Bai Wu has no bottlenecks in cultivating this method, and in a few years he will naturally advance to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining. This is completely unlike Bai Bian's predicament, who has been stuck at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer for decades without making any progress.

"It seems the White Sand Bai Household will have to rely on my generation to bring glory to our family! Once I've reached the Foundation Establishment, I'll lead my brothers back to Bai Household Stockade, and those who have bullied my family will suffer the consequences!"

Bai Wu mentally rallied himself again before pushing himself out of the room, when a massive fist, glowing with black light, came crashing down on his head.

The sudden punch startled Bai Wu so much that he almost vomited his heart.

Fortunately, he was a genuine late-stage cultivator. His earlier panic only lasted for a moment before he exhaled two streams of red smoke from his nose, which condensed into a shield above his head.

With a loud "bang," Bai Wu's red smoke shield was shattered by the iron fist, turning into countless fragrant powders.

An atmosphere of debauchery instantly filled the air, causing the enemy to retreat several feet. Bai Wu, however, was completely at ease, even raising the corners of his mouth in a slight smile.

However, his smile quickly froze.

"Second Senior Brother, be careful! Eldest Senior Brother said to capture them alive! You've already killed two!" Bai Wu heard a young voice, extremely shrill!

"What did you say!" Bai Wu let out a sharp scream, and large wisps of murky red smoke billowed from his seven orifices.

The smoke emanating from the eye orifices transformed into swords, spears, and halberds; the smoke emanating from the ear orifices became flying stones and locusts; the smoke emanating from the nose orifices evolved into armor and shields; and the red smoke emanating from the mouth orifice was the most special, landing as a delicate and graceful enchanting ghost.

"Haha, don't worry, Little Sanzi. I haven't been out in a while, so I'm a bit rusty! But I know this bastard; that punch just now wasn't enough to kill him!"

"How dare you!" Bai Wu saw that his opponent was just a short, stocky man at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, and thought that his cultivation was much higher, so he was not afraid at all.

A thought crossed his mind, "I must capture this bastard quickly so I can get my surviving brothers back from his comrades."

Bai Wu held his armor and shield close to his body for protection, and unleashed a flurry of attacks, including swords, spears, halberds, flying stones, and locusts.

The alluring ghost uttered seductive verses, and after drawing the enemy's attention, she spread her legs and smiled provocatively at the short, stocky man.

"Good!" Seeing that the Bewitching Demon Technique had worked, Bai Wu was overjoyed and added three more points of spiritual power to his hand, trying to take down the man in one fell swoop.

"Ha," a cold laugh reached his ears, and Bai Wu's eyes suddenly cleared when he saw the short, stocky man.

"Oh no!" Bai Wu hurriedly sensed a trap, but before he could act, he heard a loud "roar," followed by a huge tiger's roar.

Bai Wu saw an endless Sha Qi gushing out from the black iron staff in the short, stocky man's hand.

In an instant, the swords and stones that were thrown were dispersed by this Sha Qi, and the armor and shields in front of him could only suppress this Sha Qi for a moment.

The alluring ghost could no longer maintain her enchanting appearance; the Sha Qi struck like a steel blade scraping her bones, instantly turning her into dust.

"Ugh!" Bai Wu's signature move was completely thwarted by the newcomer. Unable to suppress the surging and boiling Qi and Blood in his abdomen, he vomited a pool of turbid blood.

The short, stocky man just laughed at the sight. What a wicked scoundrel! He couldn't even pick a decent one to practice his sorcery.

The red smoke made it look quite lively, and I thought it would be quite difficult to clean up, but it turned out to be just a showy facade.

How could his foundation be so weak? That's right, even if his cultivation level, obtained through inferior methods of absorbing external energy, reaches the Qi Refinement Ninth Layer, so what? He's still someone who can be killed with two punches.

This bastard has harmed so many people, and this is all the skill he's acquired?

The short, stocky man grew angrier the more he thought about it, and with a raging fire in his heart, he raised the iron staff in his hand and smashed it down hard on Bai Wu's head, who was already powerless to resist.

"Second Senior Brother!" A flying sword rushed over, and after the sound of metal clashing, it knocked the short, stocky man's iron staff back.

"Jiang Qing!" The short, stocky man's face was grim. He parried the flying sword and raised his iron staff, ready to smash it down on Bai Wu Liu Yang's head.

"Second Senior Brother! The Sect Leader instructed us to bring back survivors, as two have already died!" Jiang Qing, whose cultivation had now reached the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, forcibly grabbed Yuan Jin's arm and mentioned the words "Sect Leader" again, which made the latter's expression improve.

"Yes, you're right." It took Yuan Jin a while to suppress the killing intent in his heart. He removed the Tiger Sha Staff and put it back into his Storage Bag. He then opened Bai Wu's Storage Bag and examined it for a long time before picking out an anciently bound sword manual and handing it to Jiang Qing. "Little Sanzi, you might find this useful."

Seeing Yuan Jin's expression, Jiang Qing breathed a sigh of relief. "Second Senior Brother's mastery of the Desolate Rank, Supreme Grade 'White Ape Scripture' has become increasingly profound. Even Zhao Gu's Tiger Sha Staff has gained three more points of power in his hands. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

At this moment, Jiang Qing had no interest in checking the quality of the sword manual. He grabbed Yuan Jin and led the six Bai Household Evil Cultivator —four crippled and two dead—to the entrance of Linghe Market.

In contrast to the almost Chongming Market, Linghe Market, as a long-established market, appears rather bustling.

When Jiang Qing Yuan Jin arrived at the door carrying six troublemakers from the Bai Household, the market became even more lively.

"If you want to live, you should call your master to come and protect you!" Yuan Jin used his cold fists to slap the faces of the four Evil Cultivators who were still breathing.

"Acting City Commandant, help me! Acting City Commandant, help me!"

"Dai Yuanjiang, come out quickly! I don't want the Spirit Stone anymore, come out and save me!"

"Hey you surnamed Dai, come out here! You sent your grandfathers to ruin someone's business at Chongming Market, and now you've been caught! Don't think you can get away with this!"

"Fifth Brother, isn't this that Evil Cultivator who harmed your brother-in-law last time? He's been arrested!"

"It's him! It's him! Thank goodness, thank goodness!"

"What, this Evil Cultivator is saying that Dai Yuanjiang ordered them to do the Chongming Market incident?"

"Who knows?! They're all no good!"

"Who's making a racket outside!" Dai Yuanjiang, the city commander of Linghe Market, was not tall, even slightly shorter than Yuan Jin. But he had a pair of sword-like eyebrows, which, combined with his Qi Refinement Ninth Layer cultivation, made him look quite dignified.

"Hehe, this junior greets Senior Dai." Yuan Jin stepped forward and bowed.

"What, you two brothers have come to me to question me based solely on this Evil Cultivator's accusations?" Dai Yuanjiang asked coldly, looking at the group of market guards behind him.

"You, surnamed Dai!—" Before Bai Wu could finish speaking, Dai Yuanjiang's men forcibly sealed his mouth with Law Technique. Bai Wu still refused to give up and tried to speak, tearing his mouth apart until it was bloody and mangled, shouting incoherently, "It's all... it's all because of you... your orders."

Dai Yuanjiang simply watched the scene coldly, unmoved.

"Senior, you misunderstand. My sect leader originally intended to make some purchases at Linghe Market, but on the way, he encountered these scoundrels who were injured. Upon receiving the news, we captured them. Unexpectedly, they claimed to be related to you, Senior. We were afraid it might be true, and dealing with them would damage the harmony between our two families, so we brought them here to inquire," Yuan Jin said respectfully as he stepped forward.

"Hmph, I've never seen such a bandit cultivator who harms his fellow practitioners. If I had, I would have simply killed him without hesitation!"

"Senior, you are truly righteous. In that case, these villains are harming people outside Linghe Market. In your opinion, should they be killed?" Yuan Jin asked with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Dai Yuanjiang gave Yuan Jin a deep look, then glanced sideways at the group of Evil Cultivator who were still shouting incessantly, and said coldly, "Of course they should be killed!"

"We obey your command, senior!" Upon hearing this, Yuan Jin and Jiang Qing raised their swords and chopped off six heads simultaneously, drawing cheers from the surrounding ordinary cultivators.

"In that case, in my humble opinion, these villains should be hung at the market gate and their heads displayed to deter others. What do you think, senior?" Yuan Jin, holding a pile of heads, approached Dai Yuanjiang and asked with a smile.

Dai Yuanjiang's expression finally changed, and his lips twitched. "Fine!"

Kang Dabao saw this scene in the crowd and smiled, "Old man, let's see which Evil Cultivator will dare to work for your family in the future."

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