Chapter 365

In the mountain's belly, within the grand hall, Sima You, the Hall Master of the Demon-Sealing Hall's Central Constant branch in the Great Jin Divine Kingdom, furrowed his brows, gritted his teeth, and looked at the urgent report in his hand.

On the blood-colored jade tablet, a high-frequency flash of piercing blood-red light made hearts race and caused unconscious tension.

This is an extremely high-level alarm of the Demon-Sealing Hall; such a blood-colored jade tablet would not appear unless something extremely serious had happened, nor would there be such a high-frequency blood-red flash.

The prefect of Nine Mountains Prefecture in the Central Constant Kingdom of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom, Sima Da, a close relative of the imperial family listed on the Jade Register, was assassinated and severely wounded!

The ruler of the Central Constant Kingdom, Sima Sheng, bearing the title 'Zhongheng King', usually resides in the capital of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom; he is a close aide of the Great Jin Divine Emperor, responsible for managing the imperial treasury of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom, and is one of the emperor's most trusted heavyweights.

The vast Central Constant Kingdom governs only eight prefectures under its jurisdiction.

Nine Mountains Prefecture is mountainous and hilly, considered relatively barren among the eight prefectures of the Central Constant Kingdom, yet its area is vast—its land equals that of four or five other prefectures combined.

Precisely because of the numerous mountains, the mountain folk are sturdy and brave; Nine Mountains Prefecture is an important recruitment ground for the Divine Martial Army, and even the private forces of the Central Constant Kingdom's ruler contain many troops from Nine Mountains Prefecture.

Thus, Nine Mountains Prefecture holds a high status in the Central Constant Kingdom, and its prefect, Sima Da, is likewise a trusted confidant of Sima Sheng.

According to the intelligence, under the protection of his trusted close guards, Sima Da secretly left the prefect's mansion to rendezvous at one of his outer residences with a lady he had just acquired there.

Nearly a hundred assassins burst out suddenly, attacking Sima Da like madmen; among them, three Fetal Storage Realm experts detonated their souls and burned their essence blood, self-detonating at close range beside Sima Da—though his severe injuries go unmentioned, they also completely destroyed his outer residence, razing the four surrounding blocks to the ground.

Sima Da lay unconscious from severe injuries; Nine Mountains Prefecture was shaken, and all its prefectural troops had been mobilized to seal the prefectural borders.

Just consider the vast territory of Nine Mountains Prefecture; even with all its prefectural troops deployed, it is utterly insufficient to blockade the borders and capture the assassins.

'Someone… keep an eye on this place… I must personally go to the prefectural capital.' Sima You felt his teeth aching badly.

He vaguely sensed that this was a 'lure the tiger away from the mountain' scheme; those frenzied assassins were bait thrown out by the people he had captured this time, specifically to draw the attention of the Demon-Sealing Hall.

But the prefect had been assassinated; no matter what, he, as the Hall Master of the Central Constant branch of the Demon-Sealing Hall, had to rush there to take charge of the situation.

Otherwise…

He does not fear Sima Da; he fears Sima Sheng.

That fellow is a close aide of the Divine Emperor; a single slanderous word from him could cause Sima You to vanish silently and completely.

Having served long in the Demon-Sealing Hall, Sima You deeply knows how terrifying the Great Jin Divine Kingdom is; to its true ruler, someone like him, who appears high-ranking and powerful, is utterly insignificant.

'Above all, do not let anything happen while I am away.' Sima You's mind was in turmoil; he cursed softly under his breath, then, from the temporary base in the mountain's belly, he took all his most capable subordinates with him.

Nine Mountains Prefecture had already sent official documents to the capital of the Central Constant Kingdom and to the Demon-Sealing Hall's branch; if Sima You does not quickly capture those assassins and the people behind them, he will surely suffer misfortune—this matter must be settled properly no matter what.

Compared to the assassinated Sima Da…

Flower Insect City, along with the movements of these surrounding cities, could only be temporarily set aside.

Even if a small town like Flower Insect City were slaughtered, it would not be as important as losing a single hair of Sima Da.

Sima You, fuming with anger, led his capable subordinates away; in the forests outside Flower Insect City, many experts of the Flower family silently sealed off the mountains within a radius of thousands of li.

The Flower family's large team that had been out surveying mineral veins is still earnestly surveying those veins.

Meanwhile, the outpost controlled by the Ren family has been completely surrounded, leaving no gap.

Besides the Flower family's elder Ancestor Hua Yun with a purple‑faced Pang, several other Flower family elders of profound cultivation—Ancestors Huafeng, Huayu, and Huaxue—appeared. Among them, the Flower family elder Ancestor Huaxue is a woman of unknown age whose looks resemble a lovely sixteen‑year‑old beauty.

Although her appearance is so youthful and beautiful, Huaxue holds a dragon‑headed cane in her hand, and her eyes are full of the weariness of ages.

Ren Shanwen and Ren Duxing were urging their guards to hold the outpost, when the large gate made of encircling round timber inside the outpost shattered silently, sending wood chips flying everywhere; the Ren family guards struck by the wood fragments did not even grunt before collapsing limp to the ground.

Huayun, Huafeng, Huayu, and Huaxue entered side by side; Huaxue lightly tapped the ground with her dragon‑headed staff, producing a clear 'ding‑ding' sound.

Each impact sounded like a great hammer striking the hearts of Ren Shanwen, Ren Duxing, and the others; after just three steps by Huaxue, the hundreds of Ren family guards inside the outpost all vomited blood, their five viscera and six bowels completely shattered, their eyes bulging as they collapsed to the ground.

After Huaxue walked another three steps into the outpost, all Ren family experts except Ren Shanwen and Ren Duxing were slain; only those two were singled out by Huaxue, receiving a lesser impact—they merely spat blood and knelt, unable to move.

At various points in the outpost, dozens of men in black clothing turned into wispy black smoke, surging up from the ground and then sending twisted black‑smoke phantoms rushing toward Huayun and the others.

Huayun furrowed his brows: 'This evasion technique is extremely strange… I cannot find a similar evasion art even in Pinghu Commandery… no, not even in Nine Mountains Prefecture… Who are you?'

In the void, shreds of twisted black shadow flickered with a dim cold light, as a large crowd of Flower family guards went to meet the figures in the black smoke.

Soundlessly, both sides displayed evasion techniques in the void, rapidly crisscrossing; great spouts of blood continually sprayed from the air, and severed limbs and arms were frequently flung about.

The faces of Huayun and his three companions turned extremely grim.

The men in the black smoke possess extraordinarily high cultivation and strike with incredible ruthlessness; the Flower family's inner guards, who are considered outstanding experts in Nine Mountains Prefecture, were outnumbered nearly ten to one yet were beaten back repeatedly by the enemy.

'The kingdom's palace guards?' Huafeng exclaimed in shock.

'Even the kingdom's palace guards are not this fearsome…… they, they……' Huayun's purple‑faced visage trembled violently as he saw several Half‑step Fetal Storage Realm inner guards of his family surround a single Life Pond Realm senior opponent; in just one crossing, three of his family's inner guards were beheaded.

Under all‑sided suppression, the Flower family's inner guards were beaten to a state of extreme desperation.

The cultivation technique practiced by the figures in the black smoke is evidently far superior to the Flower family's secret art.

Moreover, their training is far more brutal, their dispositions far more merciless; the Flower family's inner guards are merely skilled killers, whereas those figures in the black smoke are outright killing machines.

In the short span of a tea‑time, six hundred Flower family inner guards were slain, three hundred seventy of them; the remaining guards were so terrified that, had it not been for the presence of the family's four elders, they would have already broken and fled.

'Truly……' Huafeng shouted angrily, he suddenly opened his mouth, and a vast spray of cold light burst forth; countless crescent‑shaped blades, expanding from the size of a mung bean to a zhang in length, surged heavenward and earthward to envelop the dozens of figures in the black smoke.

Those figures simultaneously exploded, turning into countless wisps of fine black smoke that dissipated in all directions.

As the blade light swept past the black smoke, great clouds of blood mist sprayed out; yet after the blade sliced through, the black smoke abruptly condensed inward and then re‑formed into large masses of figures that charged toward Huafeng.

'Slash!' a cold, stern shout came from the black smoke; two figures instantly accelerated more than tenfold, slicing past Huafeng's left and right sides.

Huafeng's radiant, light‑scattering robe suddenly flared, emitting dozens of 'hiss‑hiss' sounds; in an extremely brief instant, Huafeng suffered hundreds of concentrated strikes, causing large ripples on his robe, while its surface luster faded at a visible speed.

The attacking power of these two individuals is terrifying; the lethal force they exert far exceeds their actual cultivation level.

Huafeng shouted in mixed shock and anger, swinging both hands backward; a vast expanse of white light interlaced crosswise, and thumb‑thick metal chains studded with barbs shot from his sleeves with a 'clang‑clang', instantly sealing the void behind him for a radius of about half a li.

With a 'puff' sound, the two figures suddenly solidified.

Chain after chain passed through their bodies, suspending them several zhang above the ground.

'Who, exactly, are you?' a somewhat disheveled Huafeng roared in extreme fury.

The surviving Flower family inner guards emerged from the air, each covered in blood and utterly desperate, retreating behind Huayun and the others, panting as they swallowed healing medicinal pills.

About fifty figures emerged from the black smoke, scattering to stand before Huayun and the others; the leading middle‑aged man, expressionless, looked at the four Flower ancestors and said: 'You, the four Flower ancestors, why have you come here? Huaxinxin should have sent you plenty of good news… Moreover, every time he sends word to the clan, he tells you this place is "safe and sound"—so why have you come?'

Huaxinxin, under the protection of dozens of inner guards, cautiously entered the gate of the outpost.

He smiled from afar at the middle‑aged man: 'Hey, when I was sending messages in front of those Ren family young ladies, of course I told the clan that everything here was fine… but after those young ladies were knocked out cold by my vigorous, dragon‑spirited self, I naturally reported the full details of this situation back to the clan…'

He gave a grin, Huaxin Xin said softly: "Sorry, this young master, although I'm a spoiled brat, I'm not a fool…… You killed Ninth Steward's avatar in front of this young master, do you really think this young master will obediently obey your orders? To shelter you from wind and rain, to help you conceal everything?"

Huayun waved his hand: "No nonsense, we will act personally—swift battle, swift decision."

Huayun, Huafeng, Huayu, and Huaxue shouted in unison; instantly the winds and clouds changed color within the vast camp, and over fifty black-clad men were simultaneously submerged by countless slender streams of light.

Underground, in a vast space.

Two black-clad elders sat cross-legged in midair, restraining their aura, daring not to release any magical fluctuations.

Lu Huang had already landed on the ground, staring blankly at the red leaf before him.

The red leaf was entirely crimson, with mist and clouds swirling around it as if carved from crystal, exquisitely beautiful, and it also emanated a refreshing Dao resonance.

Lu Huang is a master smith; his cultivation follows the 'Power of the Fire Element' path. The Dao resonance of the innate fire Grand Dao contained in this leaf is greatly beneficial to him. He merely sat cross-legged before the leaf, dazed for over an hour, and faintly felt his Dao cultivation increase by a notch.

The might of the innate Spirit Treasure lies here.

It is on this enormous thousand-li-high vine; these red leaves—if Lu Huang can comprehend every single one without omission, he will thus fully master the Grand Dao law of innate Bing fire.

And such a cultivation method capable of perfecting a Grand Dao to flawless state is extremely rare and scarce even in the Divine Kingdom of Great Jin.

Just like the five Misters Mu under Xi Qi, who each cultivate the Five Elements, they have already pushed the Five Elements Grand Dao to the utmost they can achieve… but their Dao is not perfect, always retaining a slight flaw, a slight blemish.

That slight flaw and blemish cause them to be stuck at a certain bottleneck, forever lacking the opportunity to break through.

Lu Huang gazed at the leaf before him, entranced; he knew his opportunity had arrived. His entire aura became extremely agile, feeling as if layer after layer of mist in his heart kept breaking apart, his understanding of innate Bing fire continually deepening.

"Lu Huang, control your aura… the supreme treasure is at the final stage of its gestation; you must absolutely not disturb it." A black-clad elder said in a deep voice: "Wait until the treasure matures, wait for us to harvest it; then this vine and all its leaves are entirely at your disposal for comprehension."

Wu Tie's incarnate dust hid among Lu Huang's hair strands; he suddenly 'raised his head' and glanced at a large entrance on the crystal stone wall.

'Swish swish swish swish,' four figures rushed down swiftly.

The two black-clad elders were startled, they abruptly rose to their feet, staring in shock at the intruding Huayun and his three companions.

Huayun and his three companions laughed simultaneously; Huafeng exuded a strong smell of blood all over, and he shouted in a deep voice: 'Good, good, we've finally found the main culprit—it's you, scheming against my Huafamily? Do you intend to use my Huafamily to achieve your goals?'

Huafeng fixed his gaze firmly on the two black-clad elders.

Huayun's three companions meanwhile widened their eyes in disbelief, looking at the thousand-li-high vine and at the small gourd at its center emitting a faint light, currently devouring water-fire annihilating power from the four hundred and eight apertures.

'Innate…' Huayun's Adam's apple jerked violently up and down.

'Spirit Treasure…' Huayu's eyes quickly filled with crimson bloodshot.

'The innate water-fire annihilating power, and with water and fire clashing, it has given birth to innate annihilating Yin Thunder… such a supreme treasure, its power can be imagined. If my Huafamily were to obtain it…' Huaxue, who looks like a maiden, said hurriedly: 'The mere Pingle County, the mere Nine Mountains Prefecture, the mere Zhongheng Kingdom—none can contain my Huafamily anymore; becoming a top-tier clan of Great Jin is imminent.'

The faces of the two black-clad elders twitched; they drew a deep breath, and one said coldly: 'Let us wait until it matures, then each rely on our own means—if we act now and disturb it, even a slight misstep in timing would be an immeasurable regret.'

Huayun and his three companions stared intently at the gourd for a long while, simultaneously sensing its aura; its complete maturation is still about twenty days away…

'Fine, wait until it matures, then each rely on our own means.' Huayun hammered the point home, bringing his three younger brothers and sisters carefully to the vine's side, where they sat cross-legged, hovering in midair.

The two black-clad elders also sat cross-legged in midair.

Everyone restrained their aura, fearful of disturbing this tiny water-fire gourd.