Chapter 216

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

During these three days, Qin Shuo almost spent all his time patrolling the streets and searching for earth-escaping zombies, leaving no time to go to Wind Thunder Valley to meet Nie Jinfeng and trade for the Thunderbolt Divine Palm.

According to his thinking, although the Thunderbolt Divine Palm is strong, it is ultimately just a fragmentary technique; even if Cao Gang has achieved something with it, its grade will not exceed the realm of supreme absolute learning.

If he exchanges his Condensing Gang Arrow Technique for it, there is a certain chance he could obtain the opportunity to learn the original Thunderbolt Divine Palm.

Even if Elder Nie looks down on the Condensing Gang Arrow Technique, he still has the Sun-Shooting Arrow Technique, Shattering Clouds and Splitting the Moon.

As fellow practitioners of the Arrow Dao, he is fully confident that as long as he presents this arrow technique, Nie Lao Deng will surely be moved.

However, regarding the Sun-Shooting Arrow Technique, he has other plans.

Therefore, if he can exchange the Condensing Gang Arrow Technique for the Thunderbolt Divine Palm, that would be best.

But after three days passed, the earth-escaping zombies seemed to have vanished from the human world, never appearing again to commit crimes.

The Demon Suppression Office could only increase street patrols, and Qin Shuo was busy to the point of not touching the ground, leaving no time to go to Wind Thunder Valley to meet Nie Jinfeng.

Late at night, all was quiet, and a cold breeze blew gently.

Qin Shuo stood on his family's training ground, holding the Dragon Spine Sky-Splitting Bow, while the key points of the Condensing Gang Arrow Technique flowed through his mind.

This archery technique, rewarded by the Divine Weapon Secret Realm, is of a higher grade than Qin Shuo imagined; upon first grasping it, he discovered its unique merits.

Condensing Gang Arrow!

Once mastered, even a single person shooting arrows can unleash the might of a myriad arrows firing together.

Hum—

The bowstring twanged, and the arrow shot like a meteor.

The terror of the Condensing Gang Arrow Technique lies not in its supersonic extreme speed, nor in the extraordinary lethality of the arrow formed from gang qi, but in its dreadful sharpness that never misses its mark.

One arrow released, ten thousand arrows follow.

Such an arrow is no longer merely an arrow, but an arrow wall!

Pfft!

The large blue stone used as an arrow target, like fragile paper cloth, was easily pierced through, leaving dense holes across its massive body, resembling a honeycomb.

"One hundred and eight arrows!"

Qin Shuo gazed at the large blue stone, translucent front and back, and exhaled a turbid breath heavily.

Given his current soul strength and total true essence, one hundred and eight arrows is the present limit of how many Condensing Gang Arrows he can form.

"With this arrow technique at my side, I will no longer have to worry about being besieged in the future!"

Qin Shuo played with the Dragon Spine Sky-Splitting Bow in his hand, his heart filled with joy.

Having mastered the Condensing Gang Arrow Technique, Qin Shuo stored the Dragon Spine Sky-Splitting Bow in the Gluttony Cauldron, returned to his room, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to refine his viscera with Primordial Magnetic True Qi.

After the baptism of the abundant heaven-and-earth essence qi in the Divine Weapon Secret Realm, he was close to completing viscera refinement, lacking only the final step.

If it were not for his worry that entering the Divine Weapon Secret Realm would be unsafe without a Dharma protector, he would continue to use Whale Swallowing Four Seas to transport the secret realm's heaven-and-earth essence qi, in order to cleanse his five viscera and six bowels.

Whoosh—

Inhale—

Qin Shuo circulated Whale Swallowing Four Seas, continually drawing in the heaven-and-earth essence that floated free in the air.

As his soul grew stronger, the time he could each day devote to circulating Whale Swallowing Four Seas also lengthened,

from the original two hours to three hours, and the efficiency of drawing in heaven-and-earth essence greatly increased.

Bearing the stabbing pain and discomfort of viscera refinement, he repeatedly flushed his viscera with Primordial Magnetic True Qi.

Gradually, his mind cleared of stray thoughts, entering a state of flow where self and object vanished.

Half-asleep, half-awake.

Until the sound of a night-watch bell rang from outside the gate, did he slowly open his eyes.

"Whoosh!"

He exhaled a long breath, and Qin Shuo felt that his five viscera and six bowels were another step closer to completing the first stage of transformation.

He got up, washed up, quickly changed his clothes, and then went out to the government office.

Today is the day Deputy Commander Wang Liehu of the Demon Suppression Office's Dao City enters the city.

The three Yun Province Demon Suppression Generals had long ago received the news in advance, preparing to bring their own Cloud Dragon Colonels to the city gate to welcome him.

Of course, Qin Shuo is included as well.

Qin Shuo's current position in the Yun Province Demon Suppression Office is rather special.

He does not belong to any Demon Suppression General, but is personally commanded by Office Chief Fu Lingyuan, making him a Personal Guard Colonel.

Although his rank is only that of a Cloud Dragon Colonel, the three great Demon Suppression Generals treat him with extra courtesy, regarding him as a peer.

The four stood shoulder to shoulder in the front row, gazing ahead at the plain, where they saw a troop of men and horses charging forward like a crimson flame long dragon.

"Crimson Flame Dragon Horse..."

Qin Shuo and the four others' eyes all lit up at once.

They were all horse lovers, so they could instantly recognize this top-tier warhorse unique to the Celestial Phoenix Dao.

The Crimson Flame Dragon Horse differs from an ordinary thousand-li horse.

Its shoulder height is one zhang, its coat is like fire, it can travel a thousand li in a day, and can gallop nonstop for three days.

Ordinary horses are not only slow, they also lack endurance; running one or two hundred li in one go is already their limit, and going further could cause them to drop dead on the spot.

But the Crimson Flame Dragon Horse can not only travel a thousand li in a day, its endurance is also extremely tenacious; even at full gallop, it can run nonstop for three days.

Such extraordinary endurance and speed have already surpassed the limits of ordinary horses, worthy of being called a spiritual horse.

However, the Crimson Flame Dragon Horse is extremely low in yield, hard to obtain even for a thousand gold.

Those who can ride a dragon horse as a mount are either rich or noble.

Looking across the entire Yun Province, only the Province Chief Chen Mu Yun possesses a Crimson Flame Dragon Horse as his mount.

And now, the cavalry that came charging like a flaming long dragon turned out to be entirely crimson flame dragon horses, which inevitably made Qin Shuo and the three others feel alarmed.

"It's the Fire Dragon Cavalry of Profound Soldier Mountain!"

When those dozen or so crimson flame dragon horses drew near, General Chen Ao of the Mountain-Moving Corps exclaimed in alarm, his words full of dread.

As one of the Five Great Dao Sects of the Great Li, the Fire Dragon Cavalry of Profound Soldier Mountain enjoys formidable renown in the Celestial Phoenix Dao.

In terms of battle achievements and fame, they can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Mountain-Suppressing King's Celestial Phoenix Army.

It is said that the Fire Dragon Cavalry of Profound Soldier Mountain selects only eight thousand out of a hundred thousand disciples, and only those who have penetrated the meridians are eligible to serve—truly a gathering of strong warriors.

If such a powerful cavalry unit were to join forces in a charge, its combat power would be absolutely terrifying.

"What is the Fire Dragon Cavalry doing in Yunzhou City? Could it also be for the Xiao family?" Pang Tong frowned.

Given the current situation in Yunzhou, the only thing likely to have drawn the Profound Soldier Mountain Fire Dragon Cavalry is the Xiao family's house being ransacked.

After all, Xiao Yingqi, the eldest son of Xiao Changgong, is an inner sect disciple of Profound Soldier Mountain.

However, according to the records in the Demon Suppression Office's files on the Xiao family.

That Xiao Yingqi's master holds a low position in Profound Soldier Mountain and has little real authority; logically, he should not be able to directly mobilize the Fire Dragon Cavalry.

But now……

……

"Junior Brother Xiao, Yunzhou City lies ahead; I, Senior Brother, will go on ahead."

Within the Fire Dragon Cavalry, Wang Liehu bowed his fists to the leading Xiao Yingqi, then squeezed his horse's belly, left the cavalry, and charged toward the city gate like a mad dash.

This time he risked offending that crazy hag Fu Lingyuan, volunteered himself, and came to investigate the Xiao family's collusion with demons, all to ingratiate himself with this Junior Brother Xiao he spoke of.

Who knows whether the Xiao family's ancestral grave is smoking green, but it has produced such a complete oddball as Xiao Yingqi.

He possesses extraordinary talent, successfully refining his viscera before the age of twenty.

Now he has even lit the furnace fire, becoming a commander of a thousand in the Fire Dragon Cavalry, and is greatly favored by the Grand Elder of the Mountain Guard of Profound Soldier Mountain.

Had he not already become a disciple of my master, that Grand Elder of the Mountain Guard would likely have spoken up directly to take him.

Such a heaven‑gifted genius, yet his family has been branded with the crime of colluding with demons.

Not to mention my own master; even that Grand Elder of the Mountain Guard could not bear to watch his favored junior languish in prison because of his family's burden.

Colluding with demons is a crime tantamount to rebellion.

This is no idle talk.

Once the Xiao family's guilt of colluding with demons is established, Xiao Yingqi will inevitably suffer severe punishment from the Demon Suppression Office.

Therefore, the sect has sent him here specifically to investigate this matter.

Though called an investigation, it is actually to have him settle things and absolve the Xiao family of guilt.

"Qin Shuo……"

Watching his crimson flame dragon horse gallop ever closer to the city, a shadow rose in Wang Liehu's eyes.

Just a measly Cloud Dragon Colonel, and yet he has stirred up such a big trouble for me……

He really deserves to die!