Chapter 185: A Single Blade Severs Delusion

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

On Anshan Main Street, four Dao Foundation realm powerhouses were locked in a chaotic battle; shops along the street collapsed with a roar, and one after another, large craters appeared in the stone-paved ground.

The surrounding crowd hid far away, not daring to approach this battlefield for fear of being caught in the crossfire.

Only the three official martial artists brought by Yan Yichen from the Stop-Conflict Academy stood on the perimeter, ready to strike at any moment.

Only official martial artists were barely qualified to intervene in a battlefield of Dao Foundation realm powerhouses, providing support from the sidelines.

With three Dao Foundation realm experts teaming up against Shangguan Xiao alone, and official martial artists guarding the perimeter, Yu Hu and the others had absolutely no intention of leaving Shangguan Xiao a way out!

Because the Peace Sect and the Green Origin Fist Stronghold were ostensibly allies, the Tiger Blade Gang members also intercepted the horse bandits brought by Zhao Yu.

However, both sides were "in sync," fighting with a tacit understanding; they would fire a few shots at each other from time to time, and while the gunfire sounded intense, not a single person died.

In the current situation, the people from the Green Origin Fist Stronghold brought by Shangguan Xiao would soon be unable to hold on, and Shangguan Xiao, besieged by three Dao Foundation realm experts, was likewise nearing her limit!

Her cultivation base was actually lower than Yan Yichen's, having integrated only two implants, but because both of her implants possessed mutated attributes, her combat power far exceeded her cultivation realm.

Yet, fighting three opponents at once truly exceeded the limits of her ability.

Likewise, the forces of the Green Origin Fist Stronghold were also far beyond their limits, having to face the combined siege of the Tiger Blade Gang and the elite of the Stop-Conflict Academy.

Just as the situation was about to collapse, suddenly, a troop of men charged over.

The Inspection Academy had arrived!

After successfully seizing power, Li Lei and Lu Sheng led over two hundred fully armed inspectors to rush to the Kaiping District, joining the battlefield just in time.

This troop had been pursuing Zhao Yu and his men, so they appeared behind Zhao Yu and the others.

"The evil cult traitors are right ahead, brothers, charge with me!"

Li Lei shouted loudly, preparing to lead the charge.

"Old Li, you stay in the back to command; I'll lead the charge!"

Lu Sheng grabbed Li Lei to stop him.

"But..."

"There are no 'buts,' I want to take my revenge personally!"

Lu Sheng said with bloodshot eyes.

"Alright, take care of yourself."

Li Lei looked into his eyes and nodded.

"First Battalion, follow me!"

Lu Sheng took a Tiger-model rifle and led the men of the First Battalion to charge out first.

At this moment, he seemed to have become that battalion commander he once was again.

Before Lu Sheng became battalion commander, the combat effectiveness of the three battalions of the Inspection Academy was actually about the same; it was only after Lu Sheng took over the First Battalion that its combat power gradually became the strongest in the Inspection Academy.

This strongest First Battalion could almost be said to have been trained by Lu Sheng single-handedly; now that he was personally leading the charge, his teammates were all brimming with momentum, coordinating perfectly under his command!

Soon, the defensive line formed by the horse bandits was broken through layer by layer.

Although they had won the battle against the City Guard Army earlier, Zhao Yu's side had also paid a heavy price.

The elite force that Yu Hu had sent to Zhao Yu was almost completely wiped out, and the demonic martial artist sent by Zhao Yu was also severely injured, with no combat power left.

Under these circumstances, all Zhao Yu had left at his side were a few sorcerers from the Peace Sect and one demonic martial artist.

The demonic martial artist needed to stay by Zhao Yu's side at all times to protect his safety, and Zhao Yu himself had to concentrate fully on controlling his Dao Foundation clone to fight Shangguan Xiao; because the pace of the fight was too fast, he could not afford to be distracted to cast spells as he had before.

Therefore, Zhao Yu could only send the few Peace Sect sorcerers out to assist the horse bandits in resisting the Inspection Academy's attack.

But the few Body-Breaking realm sorcerers could only affect one person each time they cast a spell; even with their assistance, the horse bandits still found it difficult to hold back the men from the Inspection Academy.

Whether it was equipment, morale, marksmanship, or coordination, these horse bandits were no match for the First Battalion led by Lu Sheng!

Seeing that the men from the Inspection Academy were about to reach him, Zhao Yu could not help but feel a bit irritable:

"Without Zhang Mingze, this Yu Hu really does everything with errors and omissions. He made such solemn promises beforehand that he would definitely trap the Inspection Academy, but the result is that the Inspection Academy broke out so quickly, and they are even fighting to kill!"

Since they were putting on a show, the people from the Tiger Blade Gang and the Stop-Conflict Academy could not openly help Zhao Yu's side, nor could they publicly engage the Inspection Academy, so Zhao Yu had to block the Inspection Academy on his own.

Just as Zhao Yu was tempted to pull back his Dao Foundation clone to slaughter the Inspection Academy's men first and directly behead their leader, Li Lei, a voice suddenly came from afar:

"Li Lei—"

"Your son is in my hands! Will you stop yet?!"

Hearing this voice, Lu Sheng, who was leading the charge, immediately made a gesture, and the First Battalion's offensive paused.

Li Lei, who was commanding from the rear, also hurriedly looked up upon hearing this.

He saw a person wearing a black robe and a green evil ghost mask on the roof of a building in the distance, holding a blood-stained person in one hand.

It was too far away to see what the person being held looked like, only that they were wearing the uniform of a Lecture Hall student.

"Green-Faced Ghost?"

The newcomer's attire allowed everyone on the scene to recognize him immediately.

The name "Green-Faced Ghost" was now like thunder in Xingcheng!

"Green-Faced Ghost, I never thought you would actually collude with the evil cult!"

Li Lei's roar rang out.

The Green-Faced Ghost immediately shouted: "I was acting under the Sect Master's orders to eradicate the traitors within the city and restore purity to Xingcheng!"

Not far away, Zhao Yu sneered in his heart as he listened to this dialogue.

He, of course, knew that this "Green-Faced Ghost" was someone Yu Hu had hired to impersonate him, specifically to sow discord between the Green-Faced Ghost and the Green Origin Fist Stronghold, and also to make the whole affair look more reasonable.

By framing the Green-Faced Ghost as a member of the Peace Sect, it better explained why the Tiger Blade Gang would take the initiative to stand up against the Peace Sect.

Because the Green-Faced Ghost had previously killed the Tiger Blade Gang's private secretary, Zhang Mingze, the Tiger Blade Gang's intervention was both for the sake of righteousness and for revenge.

And more importantly, the Green-Faced Ghost had been a member of the Green Origin Fist Stronghold from the start, and later, when killing Zhang Mingze, the Great Leader had even helped the Green-Faced Ghost, with the two of them coordinating together.

This was ironclad evidence that many could verify.

In this way, it further confirmed the collusion between the Green Origin Fist Stronghold and the Peace Sect!

Everything now appeared logical.

Although there had been many errors in today's plan, Zhao Yu had to admit that Yu Hu's move to have someone impersonate the Green-Faced Ghost was brilliant.

Even if the real Green-Faced Ghost jumped out at this time, it wouldn't matter; at worst, they would just kill him.

Only the one who lived to the end was the real one, and only they could stand up and tell the world the so-called "truth."

"Li Lei, if you don't want your son to die, tell your men to stop immediately!"

The Green-Faced Ghost shouted loudly in the direction of Li Lei.

For a moment, the offensive from the Inspection Academy really stopped.

Then, the Green-Faced Ghost jumped off the roof and ran quickly toward Zhao Yu's side.

The horse bandits along the way saw that it was one of their own and did not stop him; Zhao Yu's side also chose not to relocate, letting the Green-Faced Ghost approach just like that.

At this time, Zhao Yu had a dozen horse bandits with guns and one demonic martial artist as guards by his side.

"Sect Master, it's one of our own!"

The Green-Faced Ghost shouted as he approached.

"Why are you coming over here?"

Seeing the Inspection Academy cease fire, Zhao Yu had shifted most of his attention back to Shangguan Xiao and did not pay attention to the Green-Faced Ghost; it was the demonic martial artist by his side who stepped forward and asked.

"I'm handing the hostage over to you so you can use him to threaten the Inspection Academy; I need to rush over there to help deal with the Great Leader!"

The Green-Faced Ghost said in a deep voice.

By now, he had walked up to the horse bandits guarding the perimeter, less than twenty meters away from Zhao Yu, who was surrounded by guards.

The demonic martial artist acting as a guard saw no issue with this, so he ordered the outer horse bandits to go and take the hostage from the Green-Faced Ghost's hand.

Two horse bandits stepped forward to take the hostage the Green-Faced Ghost was holding.

The Green-Faced Ghost handed the hostage to the two men.

The next second.

*Shua*—

Almost at the same time the sound of a blade being drawn rang out, a dark golden blade light flashed by.

The Green-Faced Ghost drew his blade and charged toward Zhao Yu's position!

The few horse bandits blocking the Green-Faced Ghost's path didn't react at all; they and the rifles in their hands were sliced into two pieces!

Severed bodies, arms, and firearms flew into the air; blood sprayed, and internal organs spilled out.

In the blink of an eye, the figure wearing the evil ghost mask brought hell to the mortal world!

The demonic martial artist acting as a guard was also startled, but he still took the initiative to step forward, fully erupting the internal energy within his body.

A layer of cyan energy enveloped his entire body.

This was the Cyan Gang Energy condensed from Wood-Attribute Qi, possessing both offensive and defensive capabilities.

But what attacked him first was not the blade light, but an invisible shockwave.

The next second, the demonic martial artist's mind was violently shaken; he felt the world before him suddenly darken, and a monstrous sea of blood swept toward him from all directions!

Soon, he was completely submerged by the boundless sea of blood, and an intense feeling of suffocation and fear filled his heart.

Before he could struggle free from the illusion, a streak of dark golden blade light sliced through his protective Cyan Gang Energy like a hot knife through butter, finally cutting across his neck.

The next second, the demonic martial artist's head flew into the air!

The one who struck was naturally Li Fei; from his sudden eruption to the moment he beheaded this demonic martial artist of the mid-stage Qi Transformation realm, the entire process took less than three seconds.

This was due in part to the surprise attack, and in part to the newly unlocked Blood Soul Skill, 【Blood Might】.

The upper limit of this Blood Soul Technique is to consume 10% of one's maximum total Blood Souls. Currently, Li Fei's maximum total is 161, so the upper limit is 16. Blood Souls, and Li Fei just consumed 10 Blood Souls in one go to unleash 【Blood Might】.

This Demonic Path martial artist had advanced directly from the late stage of Body Breaking to the mid-stage of Qi Transformation by plundering the Demonic Path methods of others' implants to complete the breakthrough. While fast, the drawback is an unstable foundation and mental strength far inferior to a martial artist who breaks through normally, which is why he could not withstand Li Fei's 【Blood Might】 at all.

After killing the guard beside Zhao Yu in one strike, Li Fei continued to stride toward Zhao Yu.

Now, there were no more obstacles in front of him!

Although Zhao Yu was remotely controlling his Dao Foundation clone to besiege Shangguan Xiao, he still kept a portion of his mind on his main body just in case. When Li Fei beheaded that Demonic Path martial artist, Zhao Yu reacted in time, pointed at Li Fei, and shouted angrily:

"Suppress!"

A mage in the Spirit Transformation realm can cast spells directly without the aid of materials or rituals, and a Great Mage in the Possession realm can cast them even faster.

Theoretically, a spell cast by a Possession realm Great Mage could even affect a powerhouse in the Dao Foundation realm, let alone a mere Qi Transformation realm martial artist.

However, this spell had absolutely no effect on Li Fei. He did not change his movements, rushed to Zhao Yu, and slashed out with his blade.

Swish—

Zhao Yu's head flew into the air; a Possession realm Great Mage comparable to a Dao Foundation realm powerhouse had died just like that!

This slash severed all of Zhao Yu's delusions about the future!

Li Fei caught Zhao Yu's falling head, turned around, and looked at the remaining group of horse bandits.

Only now did these horse bandits react, seeing the ground already covered in blood.

"A ghost—"

Someone screamed and turned to run.

Hearing this, the others were also frightened and scattered in flight.

Li Fei exerted force through his feet and easily leaped onto the roof of a nearby shop.

He held Zhao Yu's head high and used his internal energy to project his voice:

"Zhao Yu has been slain by me!!!"

This voice carried far, allowing everyone on this battlefield to hear it.

In the distance, Li Lei saw this scene and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He immediately gave the order:

"Continue the attack!"

Upon seeing Zhao Yu's head, the few sorcerers of the Anshen Sect immediately suffered a mental collapse.

Someone screamed crazily and rushed out of cover toward Li Fei's direction, only to be shot dead by nearby inspectors.

Someone knelt on the ground, kowtowing desperately toward where Li Fei was, tears streaming down their face.

The reaction of these sorcerers also sapped the morale of the remaining horse bandits. Seeing the people from the Inspectorate charging up again, the horse bandits no longer had any will to resist and began to flee in defeat!

On the other side, on the battlefield of the four Dao Foundation realm powerhouses.

The moment Zhao Yu was slain, the Dao Foundation clone that had been attacking fiercely suddenly shuddered and stopped dead.

Shangguan Xiao naturally would not miss this opportunity; she clapped her palms together and struck the clone's chest with the force of wind and thunder, causing the chest to cave inward as it flew backward.

Seeing this, Yu Hu and Yan Yichen hurriedly stepped forward to force Shangguan Xiao back, preventing her from pressing the attack.

Just as Yu Hu was wondering what trick Zhao Yu was playing, the voice of the Green-Faced Ghost arrived.

"How is this possible?!"

Yu Hu turned his head abruptly to look at the Green-Faced Ghost holding Zhao Yu's head high on the distant roof, his eyes splitting with rage!

He had arranged for people to kidnap Li Fei, a matter kept very secret; how could the Green-Faced Ghost have known in advance?

Moreover, his men had sent back intelligence using the agreed-upon code after succeeding and had moved to a safe location; how did the Green-Faced Ghost find them?

He had considered that the Green-Faced Ghost might jump out to disrupt his plans, but he never expected the opponent to flip the entire chessboard over once again!

What Li Fei's blade severed was more than just Zhao Yu's delusions.

"Hahahaha!"

Seeing this, Shangguan Xiao laughed out loud, "Yu Hu, I said that without Zhang Mingze, these schemes of yours are only laughable. How about it?"

Seeing this, Yan Yichen also began to hesitate.

At this moment, the people from the Inspectorate were killing their way over; if the people from the Zhige Academy clashed directly with the Inspectorate, it would be very difficult to explain afterward.

Furthermore, with Zhao Yu dead, losing one Dao Foundation realm combatant meant there would be many more variables in trying to kill Shangguan Xiao.

"It's not over yet!"

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out.

These words were not spoken by Yu Hu, but by the Dao Foundation clone that had just stopped moving.

This Dao Foundation clone regained its mobility and charged at Shangguan Xiao!

(End of chapter)