Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

「An hour later.」

Three miles outside Lingxi Village, beside the official road.

A dense bamboo forest swayed in the night wind, its leaves rustling with a soft, whispering sound.

Three figures descended silently from above the forest. They were the three men from the Garrison Command who had just retreated from the Chen Family estate.

The moment they landed, Wu Shang asked in surprise, "They... they didn’t follow us?"

He looked at their leader, Sixth Brother, his voice laced with doubt. "Could it be that He Mingyun’s death has nothing to do with the Chen Family?"

Beside them, Wu Mou’s smile vanished, his brow furrowed. "Sixth Brother, why didn’t you test him back at the Chen residence? Even if that Chen Li is a bit strange, with the three of us combined, you think we couldn’t have taken him down?"

Sixth Brother remained silent for a moment before saying gravely, "I had no confidence I could win."

Though only a few words, they struck Wu Mou and Wu Shang like a clap of thunder on a clear day.

"What?!"

"How is that possible?!"

The two men gasped almost in unison, their faces a mask of shock and disbelief.

They knew the extent of Sixth Brother’s cultivation. He had passed the Divine Intent Pass many years ago and had one foot across the threshold to the rank of Grandmaster.

If the Chen Family truly had an expert on his level, they would have long been famous in Jiangzhou, perhaps even established as one of the Noble Families. Why would they be hiding out, completely unknown, in this remote backwater?

Sixth Brother looked up and said with conviction, "My intuition is rarely wrong. That man’s cultivation is no less than my own."

He paused, his tone turning scornful. "That idiot He Mingyun deserved to die. He rushed in without even gauging his opponent’s depth. If not him, who else would end up dead? If I’m not mistaken, the one who took his life was most likely this very Patriarch Chen."

Wu Shang asked, "If that’s the case, Sixth Brother, what’s our next move? Should we contact the Jiangzhou Government Office and request reinforcements?"

Wu Mou interjected, "If we let them get involved, we’ll never get to the bottom of this case. It’ll just fizzle out to nothing."

After a moment of thought, Sixth Brother made his decision. "We stop our investigation here. We’re returning to Kyoto. We’ll report the case exactly as it is. Whether the next step is to investigate or to arrest, we’ll let our superiors decide. If they want to make a move on the Chen Family, they’ll be sending more than just the three of us."

Wu Mou and Wu Shang exchanged a look and nodded in agreement.

"Let’s go."

Sixth Brother led the way deeper into the bamboo forest.

From behind a thick clump of bamboo roots, Wu Shang dragged out a man who was bound tightly with ox-tendon ropes and still unconscious.

It was Zhou Chengkai, the Hundred Households of the Liyang County Jingwu Bureau.

The three of them retrieved their horses, which they had hidden in the bamboo, and slung Zhou Chengkai sideways across the back of one.

After adjusting their saddles, they prepared to mount and leave this land of trouble under the cover of night.

However, just as Wu Mou placed his foot in the stirrup, his movement suddenly froze.

It wasn’t just him. Beside him, Sixth Brother and Wu Shang also stiffened at the exact same moment, whipping their heads around to stare intently down the official road.

Under the cold moonlight, a figure had appeared silently in the middle of the road, though none of them knew when.

The man stood with his hands behind his back, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

The moonlight outlined his silhouette. Who else could it be but Chen Li?

"Chen Li!"

Wu Mou, shocked and furious, snarled, "What do you want?"

Chen Li looked up, a faint, unreadable smile on his face. "Weren’t you three gentlemen just leaving? The night is dark and the road is treacherous. I... have come specially to see you off."

Wu Shang gripped the hilt of his saber, his voice cold as ice. "You’ve got some nerve. How dare you block the path of the Garrison Command? Are you trying to assassinate Court officials? Is this treason?"

Chen Li shook his head. "I’m a timid man, sir. Please don’t try to frighten me. Assassinate Court officials? That’s a monstrous crime I could never bear the weight of."

His tone shifted slightly, taking on a playful edge. "However, I must thank you three for being so honest just now. If you hadn’t explicitly stated that you didn’t notify the Government Office for this trip, didn’t report to your superiors, and that no other colleagues were aware of your movements...

...I truly wouldn’t have known that your official business was so secretive. Coming to see you off now... well, it saves me a lot of unnecessary trouble. Don’t you three agree?"

As soon as he said this, the pupils of Sixth Brother, Wu Mou, and Wu Shang constricted. Their expressions instantly turned foul.

Only now, as he brought it up, did they realize.

Just now, by the mulberry fields, Chen Li’s rambling was actually a ploy to fish for information!

He had intended to silence them all along!

Sixth Brother narrowed his eyes, staring deadly at Chen Li, the veins on his saber-gripping hand bulging. "It’s one against three. You might not win. And as for escaping, I and my men are quite skilled at that."

Chen Li didn’t answer, nor did he need to.

He slowly raised his right hand and clenched it in the empty air.

HUMMM...!

A dark light materialized from his palm, forming a long, black staff.

The moment the staff appeared, a terrifying aura, as heavy as a mountain, erupted from it.

"Bring it on!"

Sixth Brother roared as his long saber flew from its sheath. The blade flashed like snow, transforming into a brilliant streak of cold light as the phantom images of wind and thunder appeared upon its surface.

He poured his life’s cultivation into the blade, merging his Divine Intent with the weapon. He unleashed a dazzling Sword Gang, dozens of yards long, so condensed it could slice through the void itself, and swung it fiercely toward the descending black staff.

However, in the instant before his unstoppable Sword Gang could touch the Qiankun Ruyi Staff—before the staff even made physical contact with the blade...

KRA-KRA-CRACK!

A shattering sound exploded through the air.

The precious, master-forged saber in Sixth Brother’s hand, so sharp it could sever a falling hair, began to shatter inch by inch from the tip, as if crushed by an invisible, immense force.

’Grandmaster?!’

The fierce resolve on Sixth Brother’s face froze, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

His eyes bulged as he stared at the black staff, which continued its slow descent. A single thought exploded in his mind like a thunderclap.

’You... you’ve already reached the Guiyuan realm?!’

Only now did he truly understand how terribly wrong he had been.

He had assumed his opponent was at the Divine Intent Pass at most, similar to himself.

But he never imagined that the man wasn’t his peer at the Divine Intent level at all. He was a Grandmaster, a being capable of founding his own sect and dominating an entire region.

An indescribable wave of regret and fury washed over him.

’He Mingyun, you bastard! You dared to provoke a Grandmaster. You wanted to die, and you’re trying to drag me down with you!’

He hated He Mingyun for his stupidity, but he hated himself even more for his own carelessness!

If he had known, he would have rather followed the example of those crafty old foxes at the Jiangzhou Government Office and simply blended in, hiding his own brilliance. He never would have waded into these muddy waters.

But he also knew that at this moment, all regret was useless.

He was facing a Grandmaster whose killing intent had been stirred. There was no room for negotiation!

"You two! Split up! Go, now! I’ll cover your retreat! If one of you can make it, that’s enough! Get back to Kyoto and report this!"

Sixth Brother let out a beast-like roar.

Instead of advancing, he shot backward like a cannonball, using the recoil from his shattered saber to retreat.

At the same time, he thrust out both palms, unleashing all his Inner Qi without reservation. It formed a solid Palm Seal that blasted toward Chen Li with ferocious energy, a desperate offensive meant to buy his companions time.

Wu Shang and Wu Mou, acting in perfect sync, simultaneously dug their heels into their horses’ flanks and brought their whips down hard on the animals’ rumps.

The two steeds cried out in pain and shot forward like arrows loosed from a bow, one bolting left and the other right into the darkness on either side of the road.

Wu Shang charged toward the bamboo forest on the left, while Wu Mou galloped into the wilderness on the right.

They pushed their speed to the absolute limit, using the darkness and the terrain to aid their scattered escape!

"Trying to run? Too late!"

The momentum of the Qiankun Ruyi Staff in Chen Li’s hand did not diminish in the slightest as it continued to press down on the retreating Sixth Brother.

The vast power of the staff was like the sky itself collapsing!

At the same time, from within his Divine Hall Acupoint, a Primordial Spirit stepped forth. It was about twenty inches tall, shimmering with a radiant light, and looked identical to Chen Li, as if it were a physical being.

The moment the Primordial Spirit emerged, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi trembled.

Its gaze instantly locked onto Wu Mou, who was galloping wildly to the right.

The Primordial Spirit’s small hand rose, its fingers forming a sword, and pointed from a distance at Wu Mou’s back.

Silent Extinction Finger.

An invisible, intangible Finger Force, imbued with the Destruction Law, crossed the space in an instant and sank into Wu Mou’s Divine Hall.

As he frantically spurred his horse onward, his body suddenly went rigid.

The expression on his face froze, and the light in his eyes was extinguished like a candle in the wind, leaving them vacant and lifeless.

The next moment, with a THUD, he tumbled from the galloping horse and rolled onto the ground, all signs of life gone.

On the other side, Wu Shang’s horse had just entered the bamboo forest when a fierce and powerful fist energy came whistling toward it.

It was Chen Shouheng making his move.

"Get out of my way!"

Wu Shang was both shocked and enraged.

His saber left its sheath with a fierce slash, unleashing a blade qi over ten yards long that swept toward the source of the fist energy, attempting to force back his attacker and clear a path to escape.

Chen Shouheng didn’t dare to take the blow head-on, dodging swiftly to avoid its edge.

But the fist energy accurately struck the horse’s front leg joints.

The steed let out a pained whinny as its front legs broke, and it collapsed to the ground.

Wu Shang flew from the saddle and was about to use a Body Technique to flee when he felt a chilling killing intent that made his Divine Soul tremble lock onto him completely.

He whipped his head around in horror, only to see the shimmering Primordial Spirit, which had appeared in the air behind him at some unknown point.

The tiny Primordial Spirit raised its hand again and pointed a finger gently.

One finger to extinguish the Divine Soul!

Before Wu Shang could even cry out, his Divine Sense was plunged into endless darkness and instantly annihilated.

His body, still in a forward-lunging posture, had lost all life and fell straight down from mid-air.

And at almost the same time the Primordial Spirit acted...

...the Qiankun Ruyi Staff in Chen Li’s physical body’s hands had already smashed squarely into the Palm Seal Sixth Brother had hastily thrown up.

The Palm Seal, containing the Power of his entire life’s work, was like paper before the Qiankun Ruyi Staff. It instantly crumbled, disintegrated, and vanished!

The staff’s momentum was unspent, pressing down as if it carried the weight of the heavens and earth.

"Die!"

A crazed light flashed in Sixth Brother’s eyes as he desperately channeled his remaining Inner Strength, crossing his palms to attempt a direct block.

BANG!

Another muffled explosion rang out.

The shadow of the staff swept past, and Sixth Brother’s arms instantly twisted and shattered.

The staff’s power slammed into his chest unimpeded.

"PUH...!"

Like a kite with its string cut, his entire body was sent flying backward, crashing heavily at the edge of the dense bamboo forest beside the road.

CRACK! CRACK!

The aftershock of the blow swept through the area. Within a radius of dozens of yards, the green bamboo forest was sheared through as if by an invisible giant blade, snapping, toppling, and collapsing in unison.

Bamboo leaves filled the sky, letting out a piercing whistle.

A ravaged clearing was left in its place.

On the official road, the dust settled.

The moonlight remained cold and clear.

Chen Li’s figure appeared beside Sixth Brother’s corpse, confirming he was dead.

The Qiankun Ruyi Staff had vanished without a trace, and his aura returned to normal.

Chen Shouheng hurried to his father’s side.

"This time, we have to be thorough. No clues can be left behind. Weapons, clothes, personal belongings—destroy them all. As for the bodies... crush them before you bury them."

Here in Lingxi, disposing of the bodies would naturally be much easier.

Chen Shouheng agreed, his gaze then falling on Zhou Chengkai, who had been carelessly tossed aside by Wu Shang and was still unconscious nearby. "Father, what about this man...?"

Zhou Chengkai knew too much. Worse, he was the one who had led the Garrison Command here. Keeping him alive was a definite liability.

Chen Li glanced indifferently at Zhou Chengkai.

Back in Jiangkou, he had wanted to kill the man, but he’d spared him so he could return to Liyang, report what happened, and muddy the waters.

Later, the man hid in Jiangkou. Because the Celestial Sword Sect was conducting a massive search at the time, and Chen Li’s own cultivation had not yet broken through to the Guiyuan realm, he hadn’t wanted to create unnecessary complications, so he let him be.

He never expected that single moment of misjudgment would nearly lead to disaster.

"Kill him."

Chen Li uttered two simple words.