[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-cluster-artillery-shattering-the-immortals":3,"chapter-cluster-artillery-shattering-the-immortals-cluster-artillery-shattering-the-immortals-chapter-49":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Cluster Artillery: Shattering the Immortals",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2342060,4578,"Chapter 49: Assassination","cluster-artillery-shattering-the-immortals-chapter-49",49,"\u003Cp>Yang Dongsheng’s brow furrowed deeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Speak. What’s your plan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Plan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Jingtian spoke slowly, word by word: “Stop scrimping and scraping for a few scraps. The three of us each bring dozens of elite warriors, arm them with strong bows and heavy crossbows, and storm in directly. No matter how skilled you are or how many hidden cards you hold, you won’t escape.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After we succeed, scatter with our families to different places—no background will save you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Dongsheng hesitated: “Is it worth it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all these years of struggle, are you really willing to abandon it all?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Worth it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black-robed elder sneered: “As long as one of your descendants breaks through to the peak of Inner Qi, won’t you recover all this wealth in ten or so years?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Besides, that Inner Qi Breakthrough Elixir is just something he put out—it might even aid in cultivating something primordial…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Dongsheng sneered inwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This man came from a great sect—he fears no retaliation. He’ll simply shift blame onto us, and perhaps nothing will happen to him, while we become the scapegoat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for aiding primordial cultivation—maybe, but he doesn’t believe anyone carries such a thing on their person at all times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, his son is still young, with plenty of time to grow. He himself still holds sway over all factions—there’s no need to go this mad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Jingtian and the black-robed elder exchanged a glance, sensing trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In raw power, they weren’t inferior to Yang Dongsheng—but when it came to roots in the city, neither of them came close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bringing a band of martial artists into the city, acquiring a batch of strong bows and heavy crossbows—none of it could be done without local power to cover for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Since Brother Yang won’t agree, then we have no choice,” Lu Jingtian said reluctantly. “A single Breakthrough Elixir isn’t enough for three of us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He bared his teeth: “If this Breakthrough Elixir isn’t mine, I’d rather burn every last butterfly to ashes—even all the gold and silver won’t change my mind!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For him, the worst outcome was seeing the Righteousness Gang thrive while he himself had no heir.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It doesn’t have to come to that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Dongsheng frowned: “I’ll hurry things up after I return—I’ll give you both a result you’ll be satisfied with.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, he swept his sleeve and left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These two weren’t worth plotting with.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Blue Glow Butterfly was in their hands, and recapturing it meant fighting through the Mighty Tiger Village, entrenched on Dongling Mountain—there was no way to avoid the confrontation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps… we could persuade the Marquis of Zhendong to act…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They stand behind the imperial court; even if that man’s background runs deep, they needn’t fear too much. But we must carefully consider how to ensure the Marquis’s house delivers a Breakthrough Elixir in the end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lost in thought, he walked unconsciously to the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shhh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A faint whistling sound, like a mosquito’s hum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Dongsheng gasped, snapping his head up—he saw a green-clad youth holding a sword, thrusting straight at him, silent and swift, with a lingering sword shadow behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jing!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Decades of honing—the famed “Snow-White Long Blade” at his waist flashed out in a lightning-fast upward slash, a reaction too swift to ignore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was too late!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This sword had been gathering momentum too long—Inner Qi surged through the Small Heavenly Cycle like a roaring torrent, all channeled into the blade’s tip, moving faster than the eye could track.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Save me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Dongsheng roared, his face flushed crimson—he activated the desperate Qi-boosting technique, and the blade’s speed surged another fraction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Yang Dongsheng’s startled eyes, the blade barely struck the sword’s edge, halting it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still not fast enough…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ding sighed. His sword technique was decent among his peers, but against a seasoned martial elder who’d honed his knife skills for decades, it still fell short—even with the element of surprise, he couldn’t land a killing blow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too bad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even a Small Heavenly Cycle had opened over a thousand two hundred meridians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The joy on Yang Dongsheng’s face froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was like crashing into a mountain flood—his Inner Qi collapsed instantly upon contact, and it took five parts of his strength to barely resist one part of the boy’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the boy’s Inner Qi was even thicker than his own!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chi!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sword tip pierced through layers of blade light, deflected the long knife, then drove straight into Yang Dongsheng’s throat. Countless threadlike strands of Inner Qi surged in, shredding every organ inside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The external defensive shield that should have blocked or deflected the strike was as fragile as paper—useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lingering sword shadow arrived belatedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Impossible…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood sprayed. Yang Dongsheng’s eyes dimmed, his final breath a whisper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A boy of sixteen or seventeen—his Inner Qi quality surpassing his was one thing, but why was his total quantity so much greater? This defied reason!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the blink of an eye, one thrust, one parry—the famed leader of the Righteousness Gang, Yang Dongsheng, was dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who dares invade my Mighty Tiger Village!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Flying Tiger of Dongshan” Lu Jingtian roared, his voice shaking hundreds of meters, eyes filled with stunned horror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Dongsheng’s strength wasn’t much weaker than his own!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black-robed elder leapt to his feet—a nine-jointed whip, writhing like a venomous snake, appeared in his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young Master Jiang, what happened before was a misunderstanding—some villain stirred trouble. Let us drink together and forget it all…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when he saw the green-clad youth’s face at the door, Lu Jingtian’s heart erupted in a storm of shock—yet his face broke into a broad, warm smile, like an affectionate elder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ding said nothing. He shook the blood from his blade and stepped forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside, faint roars of “Mountain-Splitting Tiger” and “Golden-Touched Tiger” echoed, accompanied by the synchronized stomps of village guards, and farther away, the urgent clanging of summoning gongs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bold indeed!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the green-clad youth not flee after killing, but advancing closer, Lu Jingtian’s fury rose: “Then leave your life here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Jingtian slashed, releasing five stern, terrifying knife-qi waves. Faint roars of tigers echoed, chilling the soul and freezing the blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Five Tiger Soul-Shattering Knife!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d gained it as a youth through a rare encounter. Since his debut, it had never failed him—its blade light split enemies’ heads, hands, and feet into five pieces, earning it the name Five Hell Knife in the martial world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ding made no move—only one slash. A brilliant, rule-defined arc flashed once and vanished, followed by its lingering sword shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword-Opening Form!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment the rule-defined arc met the Five Hell Knife-qi, it sliced through effortlessly. The remaining knife-qi splattered to either side, carving deep, bottomless pits into the ground and nearby wooden walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ding felt a sudden insight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more he cultivated, the more he realized the “Chick Soaring Sword Art” was vast and profound—pushed to its utmost in both training and combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d once studied other martial sword techniques, but now he had no interest in them at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Impossible!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Jingtian’s expression twisted violently, roaring in fury like the dying Yang Dongsheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His Inner Qi was as weak as tofu before the boy’s—shattered on contact. How could this be!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One slash fell, then another point came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like starlight descending from heaven, the light grew stronger, brighter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Five Hell Kill!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Jingtian unleashed his Inner Qi without regard for consequences, forming five interwoven, violent knife-qi waves that devoured everything ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was his ultimate technique, forged over fifty years of knife training—everyone who’d seen it was dead!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Puff!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like piercing through giant drums, the starlight sword-momentum pierced straight through—the violent knife-qi shattered one by one, with no evasion, no detour, straight toward the throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Jingtian was terrified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He realized—he could never meet the boy’s sword head-on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shhh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A faint whistling came from beside his ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the black-robed elder’s sinister gaze, the black nine-jointed whip suddenly stretched into a twisted thread, its tip sharp as a needle, striking his occiput at the critical moment when his old force had faded and new force hadn’t yet formed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tip was sharp and pitch-black, carrying a faint sweet scent—deadly poison. Touch it, and death was certain!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ding’s expression didn’t change. The sword tip, about to pierce Lu Jingtian’s throat, reversed course, tracing a brilliant rule-defined half-circle, striking the needle-tip and sending it flying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, the sword tip spun back faster, trailing its shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Get out of my way!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Jingtian roared, unleashing a massive knife-qi slash that barely forced the blade back—his Inner Qi and blood surged violently, bones and tendons numb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He dared not meet another strike. He stumbled blindly toward the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he reached the outside, blended into the military formation—even a Primordial could not kill him!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chi!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Jingtian’s body stiffened. He stared blankly at the bloodied sword tip protruding from his chest, then collapsed softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where did this demon spawn come from?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black-robed elder drew in a sharp breath, retracted his half-swung black nine-section whip, and fled wildly into the distance without looking back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ding glanced at the swarm of bandits crashing into the room, surged internal force through his toes, and shot straight upward several meters, smashing through the roof and vanishing.\u003C\u002Fp>",1549,"2026-06-20T23:34:14.007Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","2fd5c081d7f3fbbaff39442aa00d82ae4ee5f7a998929296c5e491e5ca0b7596","cluster-artillery-shattering-the-immortals-chapter-50","cluster-artillery-shattering-the-immortals-chapter-48",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fcluster-artillery-shattering-the-immortals-cover.jpg"]