’I must be getting soft,’ Yan Lintong thought. In the past, he would have had these guys riddled with bullets on his order long ago.
After dealing with the handful of Lifeless Lotus Sect believers, Yan Lintong strode toward the door and barked his orders. "Have the First, Third, Fourth, and Sixth Guard Squads assemble! Target—the home of Tong Jianxiong in the city’s north district."
"That Tong Jianxiong... a leopard can’t change its spots. To think he’d harbor so many dangerous people. This time, he’s going to be in for a world of hurt."
The Tong Family estate in the northern district of Yun Port City. Once a grand residence built on a fortune from casinos and brothels, it was now wreathed in incense smoke, white banners fluttering in the wind.
The Tong Family, who had once lived a life of luxury on their vast fortune, had now, from the oldest to the youngest, joined the Lifeless Lotus Sect. Everyone in the neighborhood knew.
It was just that no one thought much of it. The Yun Port City of today was different from the past. As long as you didn’t break the rules established by Lord Lu, you could do whatever you pleased. It wouldn’t even matter if you became the Sect Leader of the Lifeless Lotus Sect.
Unfortunately, none of them knew that the Tong Family Patriarch, Tong Jianxiong, and the rest of his family had already fallen victim to an unseen calamity, becoming nothing more than unlucky pawns.
A few days prior, a withered, white-haired old man had appeared at their door. Using some unknown, sinister technique, he had enthralled Tong Jianxiong’s entire family, from the youngest to the oldest.
Now, they all knelt in pious worship, their eyes vacant. They were like puppets on a string, completely at another’s command.
The Tong Family’s main hall had been converted into an Incense Hall for the Lifeless Lotus Sect. A statue of the Lifeless Mother—depicted with a benevolent expression and holding a lotus flower—was enshrined in the center. Thin wisps of smoke drifted up from an incense burner, and the air was thick with the scent of sandalwood.
Dressed in a long robe embroidered with white lotuses, Elder Fakong sat cross-legged on a cushion before the statue, meditating with his eyes closed. He was as gaunt as a corpse, his face a deathly pallor, looking as though he had just crawled out of a coffin.
Suddenly, Elder Fakong’s eyes snapped open, his gaze fixed on the area outside the hall. Several believers ran in, gasping for breath, and dropped to their knees with a THUD. "Elder Fakong! There... there are many guards headed this way!"
’Oh? We’ve been discovered?’ Elder Fakong sneered, then glanced at Tong Jianxiong and his family.
"Go outside and guard the entrance. Do not allow those guards inside."
"Yes, Elder Fakong." And just like that, Tong Jianxiong—a man who had once been a Late-stage Anjin master—was manipulated, mechanically leading his family out of the hall.
Elder Fakong then turned to the remaining few hundred believers and spoke with indifference. "It seems we’ve been discovered. There is no time to waste. Go directly to the Lu Family estate and denounce that old fiend, Lu Yun."
"Yes, Elder Fakong!" the believer in the lead replied with feverish zeal, then turned and led the procession of followers out of the estate.
After watching the last of the believers depart, Elder Fakong rose to his feet as well. He had been dispatched here by the Sect Leader for one purpose: to test the capabilities of the man hailed as the Daxia New Country’s first Grandmaster of Divine Intent.
It couldn’t be helped. With the rise of the Yellow Heaven Empire and the Dongxi Federation in the south, the Lifeless Lotus Sect had become a public enemy, hunted wherever they went.
Their Holy Sect no longer had a foothold, which was why they had come to Yun Port City, hoping to find a suitable location to establish a new headquarters.
And if one wanted to establish the Holy Sect’s headquarters in the Yun Port City region, one naturally had to go through its uncrowned king, Lu Yun.
The sole purpose of the believers was to draw the Lu Family’s full attention, allowing him to slip into the estate unnoticed and find Lu Yun’s weakness.
Elder Fakong muttered to himself, "’A Grandmaster of Divine Intent? What a terrifying level for a Martial Artist to reach.’
’Luckily, the Sect Leader gave me a batch of Holy Flesh a while back, which has raised my Lotus Shadow Divine Attendant to an unprecedented level. I just don’t know if it will be enough to withstand the power of a Grandmaster of Divine Intent.’
A kilometer from the Lu Family estate, a procession of several hundred people dressed in white robes marched forward. The robes were blindingly white under the sun, their fronts embroidered with dense, overlapping patterns of white lotuses.
A few people at the front held a long white banner with several lines of black text written on it:
By the Lifeless Mother’s sacred decree,
Cleanse this world of foreign tyranny.
Our final home lies past this mortal shore,
Ascend to paradise and know peace evermore.
These several hundred members of the Lifeless Lotus Sect all wore deathly-still expressions. They advanced at a steady, unhurried pace, chanting their slogans in perfect unison, creating an imposing and somber spectacle.
Unfortunately for them, they were getting ahead of themselves. Before they even caught sight of the Lu Family’s main gate, their path was blocked by a group of people.
Their leader was a tall, powerfully built man. His shirt was open, revealing a densely hairy chest. With his arms crossed, he stood with one foot planted on a paving stone in the middle of the road, blocking the way.
Behind him stood a dozen more equally sturdy men. Each was broad-shouldered and powerfully built; together, they formed a veritable human wall.
Of course, there were also a few strikingly valiant women standing beside the men, their faces etched with pride and aloofness.
The burly man in the lead frowned, his voice booming. "You charlatans can go spread your nonsense wherever you like, but not here! This is Lord Lu’s home! Even if the Emperor himself showed up, he wouldn’t be allowed to disturb him!"
A vibrant, beautiful young woman beside him quickly added her own sharp rebuke. "Get lost! Or don’t blame me, Li Qin, for getting rough!"
Another man with bulging muscles and a fierce expression added, "That’s right! If you disturb Lord Lu, I’ll show you charlatans what a real iron fist feels like!"
The hundreds of Lifeless Lotus Sect believers across from them remained unmoved. Their leader lifted his head, his chin held high, and spoke with boundless fanaticism. "You are all minions of the fiend Lu Yun! We act on the decree of the Lifeless Mother to bring judgment upon the Lu Family! Stand aside at once!"

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