Chapter 175

Xingdao, Outer City Government Office.

Inside a spacious courtyard, a middle-aged man wearing official robes patterned with crows stood by a pond, hands clasped behind his back, admiring the colorful fish swimming within.

The man sported a small soul patch on his chin and a handlebar mustache above his lips, lending him a treacherous air. However, his burly physique gave this treacherousness a strangely oppressive weight.

"As Your Excellency predicted, the Benevolent Heart Sect has indeed mobilized experts from other districts to act again." A member of the Pacification Corps, nearly three meters tall, stood behind him, bowing in salute.

"Do you think the manpower arranged can stop them?" The man smiled.

"Impossible. Since they learned of Your Excellency's strength during the last assassination attempt, they absolutely wouldn't send weaklings to die again. Therefore, the ones coming this time must be High Divine Officers," the Pacification Corps soldier said in a low voice.

"Correct. Then do you know why I sent those five Circulation realm martial artists to their deaths?"

"They were just five death row prisoners with their final potential stimulated. Though called Circulation, they are effectively consumables," the soldier said gravely.

"Do you think five Circulation cultivators can make a dent in a High Divine Officer?" the man asked again.

"Naturally impossible. If they were geniuses of the realm, perhaps, but temporarily boosted ones like that cannot cause any real impact." The soldier shook his head.

"Exactly. Their purpose was not to drain the enemy, but to..."

The middle-aged man raised his gaze over the perimeter wall, as if he could already see the three agents from the Benevolent Heart Sect flipping over and jumping down.

…

Boom!

In the distant Outer City wilderness.

Yellow Ox and Fox had just leaped from the Moth Carriage to meet the five charging Circulation martial artists. Before they even made contact, they sensed something wrong with their auras.

As the martial artists' bodies rapidly swelled, a deafening explosion rang out from all five simultaneously.

The men were like balloons filled with pitch-black powder. The explosion instantly coated both Fox and Yellow Ox in the substance.

"It's a tracking agent!" Yellow Ox recognized it immediately. His expression turned ugly.

"What now?" Fox looked at him.

"Since we're marked, we charge! We end this quickly," Yellow Ox said sternly.

He turned and transmitted his voice to Lin Hui. "We're going to move fast. Follow closely, don't get separated!"

"Okay!" Lin Hui nodded. He had just disembarked from the Moth Carriage and hadn't been stained by the powder.

Shua!

Yellow Ox struck out with his palms in succession. Internal Force formed giant palm prints, blasting the remaining opposition away.

Then, he and Fox crouched, the Internal Force on their bodies rapidly condensing and glowing.

Boom!

A massive array of Internal Force light motes exploded behind them. Borrowing this immense propulsion, the pair charged toward the Xingdao urban area faster than before.

"Where to?"

"The Outer City Government Office. The target is right there! He's waiting for us!" Yellow Ox said in a deep voice.

They sped across the wasteland, crossing the large Demarcation Zone of the Outer City.

The broken houses here were packed with countless watching eyes. In terms of numbers, there were likely more people here than in the surrounding towns combined.

But at this moment, the three had no time to think. They charged full speed toward Zhu Chengqiu at the Government Office.

Street after street flashed by. Patrolling experts swarmed out to block them, but all were pierced by Yellow Ox and Fox’s blade-like momentum, suffering heavy casualties.

Any martial artist blocking their path was smashed into chunks of meat in a single encounter.

Bang.

Soon, the vermilion lacquered main gate of the Government Office shattered under Yellow Ox’s palm. Fragments flew inward, crushing several bailiffs and Pacification Corps soldiers standing too close.

Inside, Zhu Chengqiu stood quietly in the high hall behind the magistrate's bench, watching Yellow Ox and Fox rush in.

"You've finally arrived. I've been waiting."

As his voice fell, the entire ground of the government office lit up with silver light. A giant silver array resembling a spiderweb enveloped the office, trapping Yellow Ox and Fox within.

"Four Faces, wait outside. We'll come out once we handle the target. Don't worry, it won't take long." Yellow Ox’s expression remained unchanged. He halted, transmitting his voice while producing a black cube from his chest pocket. Mysterious symbols flashed with white light upon it.

Crack.

The cube shattered.

The silver array froze, ceasing its flashing operation and losing its imposing momentum.

Seizing the opportunity, Fox shot out like an arrow. The space between her eyebrows turned ferocious as a wisp of black floral pattern emerged.

Zhu Chengqiu stood stunned, frozen with his raised hand suspended in mid-air.

Boom!

Fox erupted with blinding white firelight, Void Force circling her. Spinning rapidly in mid-air, her right hand formed a sword finger—index and middle fingers pressed together—and stabbed viciously toward Zhu Chengqiu's chest.

Pu!

The sword finger missed strangely.

Her grasp of distance failed, and the finger struck the air more than ten centimeters in front of Zhu Chengqiu.

The massive impact, accompanied by white Internal Force flames, blasted Zhu Chengqiu backward.

But it also jolted her awake.

"A top-tier Divine Method that interferes with time sense! Good, good, good!" Zhu Chengqiu was a mix of shock and rage. He folded his body in mid-air like a swallow, circled, and pounced back at Fox.

"The Nine Flowers Divine Method of distance? To cultivate it to a stage where you could make me err this badly..." Fox's expression turned grave, her eyes focused as she engaged the opponent.

The moment they clashed, the battle turned white-hot. Both fully utilized their Divine Methods, invisible Void Force colliding violently. Driven by the explosive combustion of Internal Force, the Void Force surged in speed and power.

Watching their strength, Lin Hui felt an itch in his heart. He compared them to the Black and White Sabers from back then; those two were clearly a tier below.

Although all were High Divine Officers, judging by their Divine Methods, speed, and power, the combined Black and White Sabers might not match even one of these two.

Yellow Ox, having dealt with the rabble, charged into the fray.

The space between his eyebrows turned ferocious. His hands gathered a large mass of mixed Internal Force and Void Force.

He pushed it violently forward.

While still ten meters away, the mass twisted and tumbled before exploding.

Boom!

Light motes formed from the mixture bombarded Fox and Zhu Chengqiu indiscriminately.

Strangely, the light motes on Fox's side curved around her—understandable enough. Yet on Zhu Chengqiu's side, it was bizarre: he actively dodged toward whichever side had more light motes.

"A Surface-Controlling Divine Method... interesting. To think I, Zhu Chengqiu, am worthy of..." Zhu Chengqiu hadn't finished speaking when he was struck by a barrage of light motes.

Each mote was like a sharp blade, cutting countless bloody wounds across his body.

By this point, the magistrate's hall had been blasted through by the impact, creating a tunnel. The three rushed out from the rear, fighting as they went, collapsing walls and houses in their wake.

Lin Hui followed at a distance.

His side seemed to hold the advantage. The ambush array was countered, and Yellow Ox and Fox had not retreated but pressed the attack. Such audacity showed utter disregard for the Inner City government office and the Rain Palace.

Seeing the situation was favorable, Lin Hui simply watched the surroundings and waited for the result.

Not long after, a mournful, angry scream rang out.

A two-story black stone building nearby was smashed apart at the waist, collapsing in a shower of rubble.

Zhu Chengqiu's corpse was the projectile.

His eyes were wide with rage and unwillingness. Only his upper body remained; from the waist down, he had been pulverized by Yellow Ox's palms, mixed indistinguishably with the stone dust.

From a distance, Lin Hui saw Fox and Yellow Ox slap palms, preparing to withdraw.

Two tall figures draped in white robes blocked their path.

"Zhu Chengqiu colluded with foreign enemies and embezzled government property. He deserved to die, but that gives you no right to assassinate him."

Both wore golden masks and loose white robes, beneath which golden armor was faintly visible.

As they appeared, Void Force and Internal Force interwove beneath their feet, spreading out into snake-like white ropes that slithered across the ground.

Lin Hui sensed something off. The Inner City of Xingdao seemed to have deliberately let Zhu Chengqiu die before coming out to clean up the mess.

Zhu Chengqiu had already exhausted much of Fox and Yellow Ox's mind-spirit. Making a move now would be far easier.

Before he could observe further, fighting erupted again.

It was two against two. Collisions like muffled thunder exploded continuously. Surging Void Force and Internal Force punched large holes through people and objects indiscriminately.

It seemed evenly matched.

Lin Hui narrowed his eyes. His speed was extreme, so his dynamic vision allowed him to easily follow the exchange.

The opponents wanted to pick off weary prey, but they hadn't expected Yellow Ox and Fox to have so much strength left. Even after engaging, they gained no advantage.

Moreover, Yellow Ox fought more fiercely as time passed, seemingly cultivating a technique of "sustaining war with war."

Looks like there's no problem, Lin Hui nodded inwardly.

The Benevolent Heart Sect's foundation ran deep. To send these two out meant they had made ample arrangements.

He mentally compared their strength with his Big Brother Liu Wujun... inconclusive. He hadn't seen his Big Brother go all out.

But they should be experts of the same tier.

Seeing that they were about to repel the Rain Palace arrivals, Lin Hui leaped lightly, landing atop the ruins of a house.

Suddenly, he caught a trace of strangeness from afar.

The battlefield covered a hundred-meter radius; the fighting had smashed the entire block to ruins. Yet at this very moment, two people walked calmly toward the center of the battlefield, expressions unchanged.

They were dressed as a young master and a pageboy. The young master wore a moon-white gown, hair draped over his shoulders. It wasn't the common black, brown, or gray, but white—a strange, almost transparent white.

His face was flawlessly beautiful, and his eyes revealed a faint verdant green.

A Python Clan member? Lin Hui recognized the race.

He noticed that all flying Void Force and Internal Force strangely deflected and scattered upon nearing them, unable to come within a meter.

At this moment, the white-haired young master paused and looked up toward him.