In that instant, Shen Minghe was stunned,
How much time has even passed?
From the moment Gu Zhan drew his saber until now, it had only been a short while; they’d just had a single head-on clash, and yet his two strongest men had already been slain by Gu Zhan.
A surge of fear welled up in Shen Minghe’s heart,
He suddenly realized that what he thought would be an easy capture might not be so simple after all.
"Everyone attack! Encircle and slay this traitor!"
Shen Minghe roared immediately.
In that instant, hundreds of members of the Inspection Team charged in,
Hundreds of men, their battle cries thunderous and earth-shaking.
At that moment, inside the gates of the Hundred Households Office, the sound of footsteps suddenly emerged. Rong Yichu stepped out, accompanied by a large squad of Embroidered Uniform Guards armed with crossbows; some crouched at the entrance, others perched atop the walls.
"Pfft!"
Suddenly, a feathered arrow shot out from the Hundred Households Office,
and pierced through the body of an Inspection Team member.
Immediately after, countless arrows rained out in a barrage from within the Hundred Households Office, cutting through the air with a whooshing sound, the howl of wind instantly swallowed up, leaving only a terrifying silence.
"Kill!"
Shen Minghe’s face turned pale, but he knew there was no turning back now. Still, despite the crossbows’ power, the range was so short that they could fire at most two volleys.
Rong Yichu stood calm at the entrance and said loudly, "Sir, the brothers of our Hundred Households Office are willing to live and die with you, never retreat, kill!"
After two volleys of crossbow fire,
The Embroidered Uniform Guards in the Hundred Households Office all drew their blades and charged out. In an instant, chaos erupted in the plaza before the gates—shouts of battle and cries of agony rising and falling!
Amidst the chaos,
Shen Minghe’s face grew even paler. He hadn’t expected that Gu Zhan would hold such prestige among the Embroidered Uniform Guard, that even with his key confidants taken down, the guards of the Hundred Households Office would still fight alongside him without hesitation,
and charge the Inspection Team at that—
This was the Garrison Commandant’s Office they were offending! And all the while, Gu Zhan had already been branded a traitor, yet they still bravely risked extermination of their entire families!
In that very moment,
Shen Minghe knew the situation was getting out of hand, and he instantly snorted coldly, shouting to the other Innate Martial Artists, "Forget the rest—kill Gu Zhan! The rest are nothing but a rabble. Don’t get separated!"
"I’m afraid... you won’t get the chance!"
Within the crowd, Gu Zhan snorted coldly, a flying saber appearing in his hand,
The next moment, it left his hand,
In that instant, all the Innate Martial Artists inexplicably sensed the primordial qi of heaven and earth freeze for a split second,
And in the same instant,
A flying saber tore through the air, a surge of overwhelming power descending like doom, making it impossible to breathe.
The sensation was bizarre and bone-deep,
The Postnatal Martial Artists sensed nothing, but the Innate ones felt an unspeakable terror, welling up uncontrollably from within,
Especially Shen Minghe, whose cultivation had already reached the stage of Great Innate,
He was a Great Innate Martial Artist at the Innate Seventh Layer,
At this stage, Martial Artists could begin to sense the patterns of primordial qi flow in the world, so his perception was the sharpest,
and his fear the deepest,
To his shock, the moment Gu Zhan threw the flying saber,
The surrounding heaven and earth primordial qi shifted; its usual flow was disrupted, actively gathering toward the saber—even if it was just a small portion,
But this strike—
Should not have appeared here,
This was something only a Great Cultivator could accomplish,
But even then, Great Cultivators would not move just a sliver of primordial qi,
In his daze,
Shen Minghe snapped back, panic-stricken: "Earth Tier... martial arts..."
A low hum, a crisp snap.
A red dot appeared at Shen Minghe’s brow,
He mumbled, "This... how could this be..."
The light disappeared from his eyes,
And his body crashed to the ground.
[Experience Points +15,000]
Even in that moment, he still couldn’t believe it,
How could someone like this appear in a backwater such as this, just a small place—how could there possibly be someone who could master Earth Tier Martial Arts in the Innate Realm,
Even in Yunzhou, that would be a peerless rarity!
Shen Minghe was dead,
He crashed to the ground,
And at that instant, the entire Inspection Team was thrown into chaos,
They were still fighting, still held the absolute advantage,
But now,
Shen Minghe was dead!
In that moment, everyone panicked, shouting in upheaval,
But Shen Minghe would never react to them again.
"Retreat!"
At once, an Innate Martial Artist in the Inspection Team made a snap decision, roaring, "Retreat! Everyone, pull back!"
In a flash,
All members of the Inspection Team rapidly withdrew, flooding out onto the main street in chaotic retreat.
"You want to leave!"
Gu Zhan snorted coldly, stamped a foot, shattered a flagstone, and shot into the sky. His figure flickered from one rooftop to another like a ghost, appearing swiftly at the end of the street.
He descended from the sky!
"Boom!"
With a thunderous crash, flagstones on the main street erupted like raging waves, hurtling into the Inspection Team, knocking many of them over.
Amidst the swirling dust,
Countless shards of stone fell like torrential rain,
Gu Zhan emerged from the haze, saber in hand, blocking the path of two to three hundred Inspection Team members. He walked forward step by step as stone debris swirled around him,
The next instant, Gu Zhan, overflowing with murderous intent, charged headlong into the fray!
Saber rose and fell, saber rose and fell,
With each swing, several men were decapitated,
He wielded the Horizontal Saber like a farmer harvesting rice in autumn fields,
With each strike, a swath fell like cut straw, blood splattering everywhere, severed limbs flying, screams echoing, corpses hurled in all directions,
Gu Zhan was like a demon from hell itself, rampaging up and down the main street, carving a path of blood beneath his feet.
It was terrifying—one man, one saber, as if a devil risen from the abyss, shattering the minds of all who watched. In a chorus of screams, both the high and the lowly members of the Inspection Team fled madly, trampling each other underfoot.
Before long, the Embroidered Uniform Guards from the Hundred Households Office arrived as well,
Soon,
The main street was littered with corpses and severed limbs,
Blood pooled and flowed like a river.
The thirty or so surviving Inspection Team members were encircled tightly, huddling together only to be relentlessly driven into the street’s center,
The atmosphere was tense and oppressive, lifeless despair and terror shrouding their hearts.
Covered in blood, Gu Zhan seemed to tire of hacking, tossed the now-notched Horizontal Saber to the ground, and took out an oil-paper-wrapped bun, eating slowly,
A bit dry, it stuck in his throat,
Gu Zhan beckoned with a slight wave.
Soon, a personal guard came over with a cup of tea, quickly bringing Gu Zhan a chair as well.
Gu Zhan sat down, eating the bun at his leisure.
The Inspection Team members looked utterly panicked. One Innate Martial Artist, nearly hysterical, cried, "Gu Zhan, you... you killed so many of the Garrison Commandant’s Inspection Team—you can’t escape this! You’ll be hunted down for sure. Do you really think you can rule all beneath heaven single-handedly?"
Gu Zhan blew away the tea leaves, lifted his head slightly, and said, "Here in Linjiang City, I truly can rule all beneath heaven single-handedly."
The Innate Martial Artist growled, "The Garrison Commandant’s Office will never let you—"
"Enough nonsense," Gu Zhan said. "Where are my men you captured? Speak, where are they locked up?"
The Innate Martial Artist answered coldly, "If I tell you, will you let us go—"
In a split second,
A flying saber flashed from Gu Zhan’s hand, pinning the Innate Martial Artist’s mouth shut.
"Where did you get the courage to bargain with me?"

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