Martial Cultivator

Feeling the strange aura, Chen Chao did not hesitate. Pressing on the hilt of his saber, he rolled towards a nearby spot.

At the same time, right where he originally was, a huge crater suddenly appeared.

Chen Chao glanced at it and then silently kicked off the wall of a nearby alley, using the momentum to leap onto the low courtyard wall. However, in the next moment, a strange power in mid-air prevented him from leaping up. Instead, he fell heavily.

As he fell, a ray of silver light appeared before his eyes.

Without hesitation, Chen Chao drew his saber and slashed. The broken saber passed through and a saber light flashed, colliding with that silver light.

It was actually a silver-white thread.

Incredibly sharp.

At the same time, it collided with the broken saber, sparks flew everywhere, like a bunch of blooming fireworks; particularly dazzling.

Chen Chao's expression changed slightly. His hand gripped the broken saber tightly and he suddenly exerted strength, and then pulled it back. Qi surged within his body and the vigorous qi kept flooding out like a mighty river.

He began running with large strides in the narrow alley under the cover of the night.

Until now, Chen Chao had not seen any enemies. After the sky darkened, all he could see was naturally just the night sky before his eyes. That silver thread was being dragged by him and it began sweeping through the alley, creating a rustling sound.

Chen Chao could not see anything.

He was just running.

Suddenly, the broken saber in his hand smashed into the nearby alley wall. That broken saber that was comparable in sharpness to a flying sword embedded deeply into the wall at this moment. Then, it began to glide forward relentlessly.

The small alley wall began collapsing with a loud bang.

But even at this moment, Chen Chao still remained silent and kept running forward.

Until a certain moment.

His figure suddenly stopped. Then, he struck with his blade.

The broken saber was forcefully smashed down by Chen Chao at an incomprehensible angle.

Not a slash, but a smash.

A moment later, a section of the courtyard wall collapsed with a loud bang.

The sound of thunder echoed all around.

The dark night faded.

Clear skies appeared between heaven and earth again.

A young cultivator with a pale face, blood streaming down his head, looked at Chen Chao with wide eyes.

He could not fathom the current situation.

"How did you find me?!"

He stared at Chen Chao with astonishment and disbelief, as if he witnessed something incredibly unimaginable.

Chen Chao glanced at him, the broken saber resting against his neck, and said expressionlessly, "Nice magic artifact, your skills are pretty good too. It's naturally perfect for dealing with martial artists. It's a shame, everything is on point, it's just that you're just too weak. You couldn't conceal your killing intent properly. I didn't need to see anything; I only needed to sense that killing intent and it was enough. Once I found it, I can naturally breakthrough."

Chen Chao smiled and asked, "Tell me, is it merely your individual action or is there... someone behind it?!"

As he asked the question, the broken saber's edge slowly brushed against the man's neck, making a faint bloodstain appear. The broken saber was exceptionally sharp and slicing his neck open was not a difficult task at all. Chen Chao's actions made it clear to the man that if he could not answer this question within a very short time, he would become a corpse

The young man's expression changed slightly and his brows revealed his internal struggle. Fear occupied his mind, but between his brows still hid a hint of persistence.

Chen Chao shook his head. "Stop struggling. Since you don't know whether you should speak or not, then remain silent."

With those words, he sliced open the man's neck with a single slash.

Pushing aside the lifeless body, Chen Chao looked ahead.

After the martial exam ended, he knew that someone would definitely come looking for trouble. But he did not know exactly when. However, he knew that after a period of calm, an assassination would surely take place in the shadows. Furthermore, it would definitely be targeted at him and not others.

He did not expect it to be today, right here.

Shaking his head, Chen Chao did not dwell on it. He just sensed that the surrounding aura had not changed and knew that he was definitely still unable to leave this alley at the moment.

Sure enough, at the end of the alley, another young figure appeared.

"I didn't expect you to be able to break through the darkness. It's truly surprising to us."

The young man opened his mouth and said, "I have to admit, you, martial artist, are really interesting."

Holding his saber, Chen Chao looked at the young man in front of him and said with a frown, "Given the circumstances, why don't you all just attack together and cut me down with a flurry of blades? Why do you insist on coming one by one?"

The young man shook his head seriously and said. "It's not that we want to kill you, we want you to know that you're not some formidable character. In the eyes of us foreign cultivators, you're just ordinary."

Chen Chao could not help but feel both amused and exasperated. "So you prepared all these to tell me that you all want to come one by one, then after defeating or killing me at some point, you'll tell me that this is all done open and aboveboard?!"

"This is the Divine Capital, we can only do it this way."

The young man said, "We have our pride too."

Chen Chao shook his head and said "You're not making any sense. Even Song Changxi was defeated. How could you guys be my match?"

"We don't believe it."

The young man said, "We must prove that you're inferior to us."

Chen Chao fell silent for a moment and asked, "How many of you are there?"

"Twelve. There are only eleven remaining now."

The young man spoke with enthusiasm, "Even if you kill all twelve of us, no one will come find trouble with you either. We're all ready for this."

Holding the broken saber, Chen Chao looked at the young man before him and said, "So you're saying that if I kill another eleven of you guys, I can leave?"

"Yes."

Hearing this, Chen Chao said, "I don't really see the meaning in it, but since you guys want this outcome, I'll satisfy you."

"To me, killing people is no different from killing demons."

Chen Chao walked forward, blood dripping from the broken saber, which fell with a splat.

"If you guys were thrown into the mountains, you'd undoubtedly be torn apart by those demons, not a single one spared."

……

……

On top of a tall building far away from the alley, two figures, one tall and one short, stood on the loft, observing the gathering dark clouds in the distance.

The tall man said, "It's about to rain. This rain came suddenly, catching people off guard, but it doesn't seem surprising. After all, it's midsummer, and heavy rain is to be expected."

"I don't really like this place, the Divine Capital. The buildings obstruct the view, making it difficult to see clearly at a glance."

The shorter man said softly, "Speaking of which, that woman has some skills. She didn't dare to come to the Divine Capital to find trouble with him, yet she actually managed to incite those young people to do these things with just her words alone."

"Guo Xi died at the hands of that young man, so it was destined that they would have a vendetta. It's obvious no matter the reason. One day, these matters would come to a conclusion. She has held a grudge all this while, which is only natural. But what surprises me is why someone who has always been foolish suddenly became clever and even knew how to borrow a knife to kill a man."

The tall man looked at the shorter man and said with a smile. "No matter how you look at that woman, she's unlikely to have such a personality."

"Is there an expert giving pointers behind her?"

"How strong is that expert?"

"I don't know, but it's obvious that no matter how strong that expert is, they wouldn't want to get involved in anything right now. So, they are also borrowing a knife to murder people?"

The tall man looked at the shorter man in front of him and continued, "This is a huge scheme and I find it quite interesting. But upon careful consideration, it doesn't really mean much."

The shorter man fell silent for a moment and said, "Foreign cultivators plotting against a young martial artist, it really doesn't sound meaningful at all."

The tall man glanced at the shorter man but did not say anything.

Because at that moment, a small yellow bird flew over, and the shorter man extended his palm to catch the paper ball dropped by the bird. He opened it and then smiled wryly, "It has already begun. Three people have died."

Curiosity flashed between the tall man's brows as he asked, "So fast?"

His curiosity was not about how quickly this happened, but rather, how fast Chen Chao was able to kill people. Three people died in an instant.

"After all, he's someone who hunts demons in the southern mountains. He's not an ordinary cultivator. These foreign cultivators may be decent in cultivation, but when it comes to killing people, it's really not that impressive."

The tall man said, "Let's make a bet."

The shorter man asked, "What are we betting on?"

The tall man smiled and said, "Nothing special, just a bet on whether the Great Liang Dynasty will send him out to sea this time."

Hearing the term 'send him out to sea,' the shorter man frowned and fell silent for a long time. Then, he shook his head and said, "His cultivation realm is still too low. Even if he won the martial exam, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll have an advantage in the upcoming event."

The tall man asked, "So, you mean it will be in the north?"

……

……

Shortly afterward, the second yellow bird arrived.

The shorter man took out the paper ball, looked at it, and said, "Half of them are already gone."

The tall man smiled but did not say anything.

……

……

In a small pavilion in the middle of the lake, Wei Xu and the Dean were playing chess.

Wei Xu placed a chess piece down and was silent for a moment before opening his mouth to ask, "Aren't you going to intervene, Teacher?"

The Dean replied impatiently, "That kid isn't my disciple and I'm not an official of the Great Liang Dynasty either. Why should I intervene?"

Wei Xu smiled and still advised, "But no matter how you look at it, it's not fair to him. I feel guilty for what I did during the martial exam. How about I go and ruin the scheme?"

The Dean glared at Wei Xu and said unreasonably. "Wei Xu, do you even realize that you're actually a Nepenthe cultivator now? What's the point of meddling in such trivial matters?"

Wei Xu thought for a moment, shook his head, and said with a bitter smile, "But I still feel like I've let him down."

The Dean snorted coldly and said, "There's no shortage of things to feel guilty about. Besides, I don't think there's a problem!"