Chapter 448

Great Jin Divine Kingdom, Central Constant Kingdom, Nine Mountains Prefecture, Flat Lake Commandery, Flower Insect City.

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"Huo Xiong"'s hometown Flower Insect City remains as tranquil as ever.

Huo Xiong's hometown, Flower Insect City, remains as tranquil as ever.

Alternatively we could write: Huo Xiong's hometown Flower Insect City remains as tranquil as ever. But we lost the quotes. The quotes were just marking the name; we can drop them as they are not needed for meaning? The rule: we must not drop any clause; but the quotes are not a clause; they are punctuation indicating a name. Dropping them might be considered losing information? The name is still there. I think it's acceptable to drop the Chinese quotes as they are not meaningful content. We'll output without quotes.

Thus: Huo Xiong's hometown Flower Insect City remains as tranquil as ever.

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A few days ago, the commotion outside the city had already dissipated, and the big pit that had nurtured the Water-Fire Gourd was leveled by experts sent from Central Constant Kingdom using great divine powers, restoring the terrain to its original state.

We need to keep numbers? None.

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Only one wealthy household was lost in the city, replaced by a new city lord, with no impact whatsoever on the lives of the city's commoners.

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As dusk approached, in the military household city, above the Huo family residence, several trails of cooking smoke rose slowly, the air filled with the rich aroma of wine and meat, and a faint scent of medicinal pills drifted out over the courtyard walls with the wind.

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The Huo family's neighbors all know that Huo Xiong has made it big.

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Third-Rank General, chief commander of the Great Marsh Prefecture's provincial troops.

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All the neighbors marveled, saying the Huo family's ancestral grave was sprouting green smoke. A Third-Rank General—this is the highest military rank ever achieved by the military households of Flower Insect City; before this, the highest rank in the city's over a thousand years was only a Sixth-Rank Commandant from two hundred years ago, who moreover died on the Three Kingdoms battlefield over a hundred years ago.

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It's admirable that Huo Xiong hasn't forgotten his roots, being very generous to his relatives.

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As soon as the news of his promotion and appointment reached Flower Insect City, several messengers delivered a large quantity of cultivation pills to the Huo family. The youngsters still studying martial combat in the Martial Training Hall have thus enjoyed good fortune.

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These pills are extremely potent; in just a few months, the Huo family's youngsters have shot up like spring bamboo shoots, their cultivation realms and strength soaring—some not yet ten years old have already achieved Foundation Establishment, directly giving rise to magical power and entering the Perceiving Mystery Realm.

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Meanwhile, the Huo family's somewhat older youths have broken through the Chonglou Realm one after another, leaving their peers of the same age in the Flower Insect City military households far behind.

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What makes the Huo family's neighbors envy them to the point of bloodshot eyes is that these youngsters have all switched to a superior cultivation technique, completely discarding the standard "Three Revolutions Original Art" issued by the Great Jin military.

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This technique was also sent by those messengers, who explained that it will become the Huo family's hereditary cultivation method, to be passed down through generations of Huo clan members.

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It is said that the "Black Xu True Art" can cultivate a true black dragon body, its might far surpassing the Divine Martial Army's "Nine Revolutions Original Art", and is a genuine top-tier divine secret technique.

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The military households of Flower Insect City all say that the Huo family has now truly made it big.

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With top-grade spirit pills aiding cultivation, the foundations laid by the children are extremely solid, their cultivation progress astonishing. Coupled with cultivating the top-tier technique "Black Xu True Art", the magical power they generate, the physical bodies they forge, and even the divine abilities they comprehend far surpass those of ordinary military households.

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In just a few years, when this group of Huo family youths joins the Divine Martial Army, they will surely achieve great deeds, sprouting colonels and even commandants like bamboo shoots; give them a little more time, and two or three more Third-Rank Generals will emerge—hehe, the Huo family will then be unstoppable.

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By then, even in Nine Mountains Prefecture, the Huo family will be among the top noble houses, able to swagger about and dominate at will?

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"Ah, this is just good fortune!" several scarred veterans, retired from the army to spend their twilight years, squatted at their own doorsteps, gazing at the Huo family's grand gate across the street, vigorously sniffing the air to savor that wisp of medicinal fragrance, while loudly lamenting.

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"The ancestral grave is sprouting green smoke." One veteran kept nodding in praise: "Ah, when Xiong Ge'er returns home to visit relatives, we should ask him whether he wants to recruit personal troops? He now holds the rank of general, and personal guards—where could we find more reassuring local lads than those from our own hometown?"

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The veterans' eyes gleamed with excitement.

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This plan is reliable.

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It is an excellent path forward; if our own lads could follow Huo Xiong, serving as his personal guards, that would be far better than being ordinary foot soldiers in the Divine Martial Army.

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As the chief commander of a prefecture's troops, holding sway over hundreds of thousands of soldiers' supplies and life-and-death punishments, even a trickle leaking from between his fingers would be enough for our family to eat our fill and drink our heart's content, enough for our lads to make rapid progress.

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As the old folks say, one who attains the Dao brings his chickens and dogs to heaven.

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Huo Xiong has attained the Dao, so these local military household youths naturally become chickens and dogs ascending to heaven—what a wonderful thing!

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"We need to go talk to a few old-timers of the Huo family about this." One veteran stood up, speaking loudly: "We're all old brothers; this favor still exists. I don't even know where Great Marsh Prefecture is—why wait for Xiong Ge'er to come home to visit?"

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With a wave of his hand, the veteran limped toward the Huo family gate: "Alright, let's pick out the finest youths from our clan, gather a thousand or eight hundred, and send them to Xiong Ge'er."

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"What grand general doesn't have a few hometown confidants by his side? Our youths are naturally his best personal guards, best protectors. Xiong Ge'er, this is the fortune of Flower Insect City."

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The veterans rose excitedly, eager to head to the Huo family old residence.

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Dusk was already dim, and suddenly the light in Flower Insect City's military household district dropped even further, from dim to almost pitch black where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

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The veterans abruptly lifted their heads and glanced at the sky.

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The sky was gray and murky, as if shrouded by a layer of mist.

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These veterans are seasoned fighters who have survived the bloody Three Kingdoms battlefield; having lived to tell the tale, their combat experience is undoubtedly extremely rich.

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They all shouted at once: "Every household, be careful—there's an enemy..."

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A pallid soul-summoning banner appeared out of thin air above the military household city, and a pallid hand stretched from the gray mist, grasping the banner and gently shaking it.

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The veterans' heads spun, and with a few "Thud—" sounds they collapsed to the ground.

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In the military household city, among hundreds of households, men, women, old and young, cats, dogs, chickens, and ducks—all rolled their eyes and fell to the ground.

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Afterwards, the soul-summoning banner plummeted from the air, transforming into a banner over ten zhang tall, which slammed heavily onto the gate of the Huo family grand residence. With a tremendous boom, the Huo family gate was smashed to pieces, and even the two iron lions newly erected at the entrance were crushed into iron discs.

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Dozens of figures clad in white, their faces covered with white masks bearing no features, merely painted with a bloody handprint in red pigment, drifted down from the gray mist, heading straight for various parts of the Huo family grand residence.

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"Should we kill these military households?"

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A wavering voice whispered softly.

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"Slaughtering the entire Huo family would be…… killing these military households wouldn't earn an extra copper coin either; if you're willing to waste effort, go ahead and strike!"

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Another voice said lightly: "In short, leave no one alive in the Huo family—men, women, old and young, cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, rats—all must be slaughtered clean. As for these military households, do as you please!"

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Dozens of white-clad figures giggled, drifting effortlessly into the Huo family grand residence.

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Upon arrival they had already ascertained that the Huo family was merely an ordinary military household clan, its total population just over a hundred, with the highest cultivation being at the high stage of Chonglou Realm. Each of them, however, is at the peak of the Life Pool Realm, and the unit leaders, both captain and vice-captain, are great masters of the Womb Storage Realm.

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Wiping out the Huo family completely, and the more gruesome the better, is nothing more than an extremely easy trivial task.

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Compared to the missions they have carried out before, this operation is no different from a leisurely outing.

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Dozens of white-clad figures drifted into the Huo family grand residence, only to discover with astonishment that there was not a single person inside—not even in the few kitchens still emitting thin cooking smoke, nor in the training field behind the courtyard.

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"Oh no!" The white-clad figure who had just spoken lightly suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, his scalp tingling as he shouted in a hoarse voice: "Something's wrong—this Huo family…… has a ghost……"

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With a "Boom—", vast lightning turned into a thick net the size of an arm, enveloping the entire Huo family residence.

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Inside the Huo family grand residence, tiny hidden formations burst forth with blinding light, and ranks upon ranks of fully armored elite soldiers—clad in heavy armor, fully armed, wearing black face armor with only a pair of eyes faintly visible—emerged from these small hidden formations.

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These soldiers formed teams of three, each wielding a spear, a heavy sword, or a strong crossbow, and, coordinating perfectly, they charged at the white-clad figures to cut them down.

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The white-clad figures cried out in alarm, preparing to retaliate, when a supremely powerful sealing force surged from the void, firmly suppressing their souls, rendering them unable to mobilize even a trace of magical power.

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"Ten Absolute Sealing Formation!" the white-clad figures screamed in fury: "Which royal manor do you belong to?"

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The Ten Absolute Sealing Formation is an exclusive formation of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom's royal clan, capable of isolating and sealing all heavenly and earthly primordial energy; unless one's cultivation is overwhelmingly strong enough to destroy the formation in a single strike, otherwise one will be completely suppressed by the formation, unable to mobilize even a trace of magical power.

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This is the exclusive formation used by the Great Jin Divine Kingdom's royal family to suppress and intimidate all feudal lords; its might is enormous and its characteristics are extremely distinct.

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Moreover, because this formation's power is overly strong and its lethality excessively cruel, even within the Great Jin Divine Kingdom's royal clan, only those mansions that hold real power and enjoy high status are qualified to practice it.

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For example, the Wei Prince's Manor that Sima Lang hails from has an Imperial Guard that specially drills the Ten Absolutes Forbidden Formation.

Though Sima You came from the Prince Yan manor, the Prince Yan, being a carefree prince, held little sway in court and ranked only upper-middle among the imperial clan, so his manor lacked the standing to peer into the mysteries of the Ten Absolutes Forbidden Formation.

The Ten Absolutes Forbidden Formation showing up here proves that at least a high‑ranking prince, exalted in the Great Jin Divine State and holding real power, has taken action!

"We belong to the Secretariat! We are personnel of the Military Department!" the captain of the white‑clad men shouted hoarsely.

They are the secret assassins controlled by the Secretariat, versed in all kinds of assassination techniques and also skilled in various sorceries and poison arts, adept at killing unseen.

But within the Ten Absolutes Forbidden Formation, facing these specially trained guards who were drilled specifically to cooperate with the formation's slaughter, they stood no chance.

The elite armored soldiers remained silent, not uttering a sound; they merely formed three‑person teams, coordinating finely as they rushed at those white‑clad persons. The three‑to‑five‑man squads teamed up: first a barrage of heavy crossbows, then spear thrusts and sweeps, immediately followed by heavy swords cutting down at close range.

There was not the slightest fluctuation of magical power—just pure physical strength in close‑quarters slaughter. For those white‑clad men whose magical power had been sealed and who could not unleash any divine abilities, this was the most terrifying blow.

Even the white‑clad men whose defensive power was not weak were shattered by crossbow bolts, split by spears, and then pulverized by heavy swords.

Along with their bodies, even their souls and the divine fetuses of their captain and vice‑captain were crushed; within the Ten Absolutes Forbidden Formation they could not even have their souls and divine fetuses break through the void to flee.

Ten Absolutes, Ten Absolutes—this is an utterly hopeless dead end, with not the slightest chance of escape.

In the short span of a tea‑time, dozens of the Secretariat's top assassins, whose cultivation was formidable, were left dead or wounded to near extinction.

A burly man clad in heavy armor turned around and, in a low voice, said to the several elders of the Huò family who had just emerged from a small concealment formation: "Sirs, have you made your decision? Follow us and leave; we will guarantee the safety of the Huò family's young and old."

The burly man continued: "Besides, General Huò Xiong's future is bright; if you go live on his territory, everyone will be at ease."

Huo Xiong's father, Huo Hu, muttered a curse and gave a firm nod, then in a low voice to the several Huò elders said: "Father, uncles, it seems that this lad Huo Xiong has truly offended a great personage. We might as well default on the debt!"

All were from military households, all veteran soldiers who had seen battle; the several Huò elders stamped their feet firmly, then waved a hand and shouted: "Gather the clansmen, let's go!"

An hour later.

The capital of the Great Jin Divine State, Anyang City.

In the northwestern corner of the imperial city, where many military high officials and senior ministers resided, a carriage crept along.

No one was driving it; the carriage was merely being pulled along by an ordinary black horse, moving slowly down the wide, tree‑lined avenue.

The black horse's eyes were cloudy and stiff; obviously its soul had been bound by a talisman, and all its movements were not of its own will.

The carriage, making a 'clip‑clop' sound, arrived before a vermilion‑gated mansion, and then the black horse halted there.

With a 'bang', the black horse exploded outright, drenching the mansion's gate tower in great sheets of blood.

From the guardhouses on either side, a throng of helmeted and armored guards poured out, while the side door opened and several robed cultivators drifted out, faint light shimmering about them.

"Be careful, do not touch these bloodstains… they contain an extremely vicious curse!"

A cultivator versed in spells and poison arts shouted a stern rebuke, halting the guards' impulse.

Above dozens of mansions near and far, cultivators stood on drifting clouds, whispering to one another as they watched the commotion here.

The carriage's canopy was swept away by a gust, revealing dozens of heads neatly stacked inside, piled into a pyramid.

A small soul‑summoning banner pole stood before the pyramid of heads, its pallid fabric limp and feebly swaying.

From the mansions nearby and afar came a gasp, followed by a roar of fury.

Especially those military bigwigs belonging to the Secretariat were so angry they jumped about like thunder.

Among those heads were several individuals whom they recognized—members of a top‑tier assassination squad under the Military Department's Secretariat.

Their heads had been chopped off and, by secret arts, delivered to the doorstep of the private residence of Zhao Xiu, the vice‑master of the Secretariat.

This is a provocation—a provocation against Zhao Xiu, and against the entire Secretariat.

Of course, besides the provocation, there is also an intent to intimidate and warn.

But whether those bigwigs of the Military Department's Secretariat will be cowed, or whether they will heed this warning… who knows?

After the span of a tea, Zhao Xiu, face cold, issued an order from his study: "Then let him die, let him die!"

Within Anyang City, turmoil roiled beneath the surface.