Chapter 190: 190. Chapter 187: I Overestimated You

190. Chapter 187: I Overestimated You

"We have no connection with the City Patrol…" The woman's voice trembled as she retreated into the shop.

"The shop is seized; everyone inside is dead." Pan Qi's voice carried a chill.

Ding Huan tossed twenty crystal stones onto the counter: "I'll take this brush. Here's the payment."

The white-bearded old man acted as if he hadn't heard Ding Huan—he had backing; his shop's patron was the Dongcheng Alliance.

But facing Pan Qi, not even one Dongcheng Alliance would dare show itself, let alone several.

Whether it was the Dongcheng Alliance or the Iron Strength Alliance, both existed only with Pan Qi's permission; without his approval, they had no right to operate in this region.

"Wait—bring over that guy with the backpack."

Pan Qi saw Ding Huan casually pull twenty crystal stones from his bag and toss them on the counter—clearly, there were more inside.

Ding Huan didn't even turn around—he simply slashed a mental blade of wind.

Someone like Pan Qi, who kills and ransacks without asking why, deserves to die ten thousand times.

Pan Qi suddenly felt a chilling aura pierce through him; years of combat experience made his spirit snap alert, and without hesitation, he threw himself backward.

The wind blade grazed his chest, making his skin shiver.

"Puff!" Since Ding Huan hadn't controlled the wind blade's force, and it had struck downward, after Pan Qi dodged, the blade didn't stop—it severed the neck of a shopkeeper supporting Pan Qi.

A mist of blood sprayed out; the crowd scrambled backward in panic.

Again.

Previously, the Iron Strength Alliance had been wiped out by these inexplicable wind blades; over a hundred shopkeepers and clerks had been killed silently by these unseen blades.

"Huh." Ding Huan stepped out.

This guy had rich combat experience—he'd dodged his wind blade purely by instinct.

"Who are you?" Pan Qi sat up again, his eyes filled with wariness.

Ding Huan extended his hand—the shop's only long spear shot upward into his grip.

In Ding Huan's Star Chamber, there was a halberd, but he felt this spear was more suited to his hand—and it appeared to be a low-grade magical artifact.

In an instant, Ding Huan's mental energy refined it.

He recalled how, back then, he'd spent days just wearing down the seals on his Star Chamber.

Now, he needed only a moment.

"Aren't you going to kill me?" Ding Huan stepped out of the shop, spear in hand.

Even though Ding Huan hadn't moved or exerted any pressure, Pan Qi felt his breath quicken.

It was psychological suggestion—this man was dangerous.

"Friend, we have no grudge. My earlier aggression was reckless." Pan Qi bowed.

He didn't want to fight Ding Huan—Ding Huan was far too dangerous to him.

Ding Huan had no intention of wasting time—he had four Qi Condensation ninth-layer cultivators; he'd test his Nine Spears.

"You're Pan Qi? The controller of Dongcheng and Nancheng?" Ding Huan asked.

"Indeed, I am Pan." Pan Qi bowed, still mounted on his unicorn, but his tone had grown considerably more courteous.

"Good." Ding Huan flicked his spear—waves of spear light erupted.

A furious killing intent locked onto Pan Qi; at that moment, Pan Qi felt like a paper boat in a raging storm.

The boundless, violent waves—each droplet could crush him to dust.

He wanted to resist, but under the crushing pressure of this spear intent, he had no capacity to fight back.

Ding Huan's spear assault had already accounted for Pan Qi's potential use of a magical artifact—whether or not Pan Qi summoned one, his Soul-Draining Spear would seal off every possible avenue of attack.

To Ding Huan's disbelief, his Nine Spears had barely begun forming, and the opponent was already paralyzed, unable to resist.

Not even summoning a magical artifact—he couldn't even raise his fist.

Using the Nine Spears technique against such a man was like firing a cannon at a mosquito.

Ding Huan sighed and dispersed the Nine Spears' light with a flick.

A single wind blade followed—Pan Qi's neck was torn open; as his head rolled off the unicorn, his eyes still held terror.

"I overestimated you." Ding Huan shook his head.

He now understood what had happened.

The Network Consciousness Scripture he cultivated was undoubtedly top-tier—he'd developed mental energy even in the Qi Condensation stage, and his mental energy was stronger than that of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

And yet, he'd still used the Nine Spears technique against a lowly Qi Condensation ninth-layer cultivator—calling it "cannon against a mosquito" still understated the gap between him and Pan Qi.

Ding Huan was speechless—he realized he'd been deceived by Pan Qi's earlier dodge of the wind blade.

He'd assumed someone who could evade his mental wind blade must be formidable; now he knew he'd never properly gauged his own strength.

Thinking of this, Ding Huan's mind stirred slightly.

If he hadn't fled the Lost Marsh back then, could his Nine Spears have killed Officer Qiong?

The thought flashed and vanished—he knew his decision to flee had been correct. Officer Qiong wasn't an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator—he was at the peak of Foundation Establishment, seeking the True Golden Core path.

He still wasn't a match for him.

Besides, even if he could kill Officer Qiong, he couldn't act.

Ding Huan's mental energy swept over Pan Qi's body, then he walked over and yanked off a small pouch from him.

The pouch bore seals—it was almost certainly the rumored Storage Pouch.

With just one strike, Pan Qi was dead; seven or eight shopkeepers who had been cheering him on scrambled backward in panic.

But what awaited them were seven or eight wind blades.

Seven or eight corpses lay sprawled on the street; distant onlookers dared not even peek.

Ding Huan knew well—in Xifeng City, being soft-handed only invites trouble for yourself.

Only by making these people afraid of death can he have peace.

The other three who had come with Pan Qi quickly dismounted from their unicorns and bowed deeply to Ding Huan:

"Greetings, Elder."

At this moment, in their eyes, Ding Huan was unquestionably a Foundation Establishment powerhouse.

"Who is Gu Zhanjian?" Ding Huan suddenly spoke, looking at the three before him.

Gu Zhanjian, tall and thin, stepped forward, his expression terrified, face pale:

"Gu Zhanjian greets the Elder."

"Good." Ding Huan spoke only two words, and a rain of wind blades surged toward Gu Zhanjian.

Having understood Pan Qi's strength, Ding Huan had no intention of using a cannon to swat a fly—he believed the Wind Blade Technique alone could kill him.

The moment Ding Huan's wind blades appeared, Gu Zhanjian sensed them.

Unfortunately, Ding Huan was a Qi Condensation cultivator with divine sense, and his wind blades, empowered by divine sense, were as solid as physical objects.

Gu Zhanjian had no divine sense; as for everything else—combat experience and the depth of his true energy—he was far inferior to Ding Huan.

These divine-sense blade shards were so dense he could not even track the position of each one.

When a wind blade slashed through his forehead, he could only stare at Ding Huan in helpless rage:

"Why…?"

Ding Huan spoke calmly:

"I am the Captain of the City Patrol. How many of my patrol members did you kill? Tell me why."

"Thud!" Gu Zhanjian collapsed, powerless even in his resentment.

"Captain Elder, although we were with Pan Qi and Gu Zhanjian, we never killed anyone…" the other two spoke with trembling fear.

Again, before they could finish speaking, Ding Huan's blade shards surrounded the man and woman.

To cut the grass but leave the roots—would that not invite trouble?

Ding Huan did not know what relationship these two had with Pan Qi and Gu Zhanjian.

But one thing he knew: since they had come along with Pan Qi and Gu Zhanjian, they had come to lend support.

Letting such people go would only bring him trouble.

Four Qi Condensation Layer Nine cultivators had no resistance at all before Ding Huan.

Although he could have used his divine sense to snatch their storage bags, Ding Huan still walked over and took them by hand.

With the City Patrol Captain so terrifying, slaughtering without the slightest hesitation, no one dared remain on the street.

In a short time, the streets of Shengdao Street were left with nothing but corpses.

Counting it up, this was the fourth time today that Shengdao Street had been littered with corpses.

Ding Huan stood on the blood-slicked street and spoke loudly:

"From today on, everyone in Xifeng City must obey the City Patrol's rules. Violators will be executed without mercy."

In this place, no other punishment was needed—killing was the simplest and most effective.

"Greetings, Elder," the white-bearded old man hurriedly bowed in thanks as Ding Huan returned to the shop.

He still felt as if in a dream—could this young man really be the new City Patrol Captain?

"Bring me a thousand array flags, and also this spear and that talisman brush—calculate how many crystals."

Ding Huan weighed the spear in his hand—it felt quite comfortable to use.

"I dare not take payment, my lord—please take them as you wish," the old man said respectfully.

Ding Huan waved his hand:

"The City Patrol operates by rules—we do not force purchases. The price is the price. If you won't sell, I'll go elsewhere."

"Sell, sell… Elder, just fifty crystals will do," the old man hurriedly said.

Ding Huan estimated fifty crystals would not buy even half of these items.

He pulled out another hundred crystals and tossed them onto the counter:

"Call it a hundred and twenty crystals. Package these for me. Also, take the four unicorns outside and deliver them to the City Patrol."

"Yes, thank you, Elder," the old man said, trembling with reverence.

After several minutes, Ding Huan stepped out of the only general store.

What pleased Ding Huan this time was not the acquisition of the talisman brush and array flags, but the effortless killing of Pan Qi and Gu Zhanjian.

He was certain that with these two eliminated, Xifeng City would be far more stable from now on.