Chapter 106 : Chapter 106

Chapter 106: I Hid My Strength and Bided My Time, Tolerating You All. But Now... I No Longer Need To!

Prince Qing’s signature cultivation method?!

The breathing of the Jiannan Circuit’s Jianghu martial artists stopped instantly.

Every generation of the Great Qian Dynasty had no shortage of imperial kinsmen and princes, but only one person had ever borne the title Prince Qing!

That was the Prince Qing who had once charged into the imperial palace, rebelled, and attempted to assassinate the Emperor.

After that, the Prince Qing who had nearly succeeded in seizing the throne became a byword for rebellion. Naturally, no one was ever granted the title Prince Qing again.

And now, Tie Ke had actually used the cultivation method that made Prince Qing famous.

Did that not mean...

“I did not expect there truly to be rats skulking in the shadows, bold enough to sneak into my territory.”

Cheng Yu shook his slightly numb hand and stared at Tie Ke, whose Vital Blood was surging from his body.

“Sect Master Tie... or should I call you Sect Master Xiao?”

Xiao was the surname of the Great Qian imperial family.

The current Great Qian Emperor was surnamed Xiao, and Prince Qing back then had been surnamed Xiao as well.

“Prince Qing’s Remnants?!”

Hiding behind the Jinyiwei, Gao Song had been clutching his head and shivering.

The moment he heard that, he raised his head in disbelief and stared with wide eyes.

Had he not fabricated the trail of Prince Qing’s Remnants in the Jiannan Circuit himself?

How could there really be some?!

On the other hand, the Jianghu martial artists were so thoroughly shocked by the situation that cold sweat poured down their backs.

They had thought that Prince Qing’s Remnants were nothing more than something the Jinyiwei had conjured out of thin air, and that Cheng Yu was only using it as a pretext to target the Jianghu martial artists.

They had never expected him to actually uncover Prince Qing’s Remnants!

Even more terrifying was this: the Prince Qing’s Remnants he had uncovered was Sect Master Tie of Iron Halberd Mountain!

They had actually spent so many years dealing with Prince Qing’s Remnants without ever realizing it?!

Zuo Hong’s eyes widened, and he hurriedly stopped. What was there left to save now?!

At this point, even he himself could not believe it if anyone claimed this was not rebellion.

The Yueshan Escort Agency and Iron Halberd Mountain had been two of the greatest powers in the Jiannan Circuit, and the two sides had maintained fairly close dealings for decades.

At the thought of that, cold sweat instantly drenched his back.

His eyes reddened as he roared at Tie Ke, “Tie Ke! We treated you with courtesy, yet you deceived the entire Jianghu for so many years!”

“I was wondering why Iron Halberd Mountain had suddenly gone up in a monstrous blaze decades ago and suffered massive casualties, yet refused to let outsiders help put out the fire. So it was all part of your schemes!”

He should have realized long ago that something was wrong!

The supposedly dull and slow-witted Tie Ke had been strangely active and agitated today.

Especially for a martial artist to fight without bringing his weapon—that was truly incomprehensible.

Looking at it now, that Great Halberd had always been nothing more than a means for Tie Ke to conceal his true method of fighting.

“Courtesy? That is the greatest joke I have ever heard, hahaha!”

Tie Ke, his whole body blazing with Vital Blood, let out a shrill laugh.

“Normally, every one of you thought Iron Halberd Mountain was easy to bully. When you seized our territory and benefits, did any of you ever show courtesy then?”

“Today, you all merely gathered here, each harboring your own schemes, yet you still have the face to talk about courtesy?”

“As for the several thousand people of Iron Halberd Mountain, it was their honor that their blood could be exchanged for the great cause of my lineage!”

The martial artists’ expressions changed instantly.

Over the ten-odd years since Tie Ke had become the master of Iron Halberd Mountain, they had indeed taken advantage of what they believed was his stupidity and cheated Iron Halberd Mountain out of plenty of benefits, both openly and in secret.

Now, when they thought back on it, all of that had merely been Tie Ke’s method of hiding himself.

Now that they knew the truth, only fear remained.

Tie Ke’s stupidity had been an act!

Everything they had done had been seen by him!

“We descendants of Heavenly Fate hid our strength and bided our time. Because we did not wish to expose ourselves, we tolerated you all. But now... I no longer need to!”

Tie Ke’s Vital Blood became even more terrifying, and the Great Halberd phantom condensed behind him from Internal Energy dissipated.

It slowly transformed into a blurred crimson dragon shadow, erupting with terrifying might and suppressive force.

His aura was utterly beyond the level of an early Seventh Rank martial artist.

Zuo Hong’s eyes went wide. “You are also at the Late Seventh Rank?!”

“How could descendants of Heavenly Fate be something that mortals like you can fathom! I will kill this little thief of the false dynasty first, then wipe out the lot of you!”

Tie Ke let out a cold snort and turned toward Cheng Yu, settling into a stance.

A vicious smile spread across his face. “I truly have to thank you for gathering all these people together. Otherwise, where would my Heavenly Fate lineage ever have found such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?”

Prince Qing’s line had hidden its strength and bided its time for more than twenty years, and its power had already fully matured.

All it lacked was a suitable opportunity.

Now, the Jiannan Circuit Yamen had gathered the Jianghu people and Great Qian officials of the entire circuit in one place.

It was nothing less than a heaven-sent opportunity!

He had already broken his disguise and revealed the Blood Dragon Phantom inherited from his ancestors. The other experts of the Heavenly Fate lineage hidden in various places would soon come rushing over!

The entire scene was overcome with horror, and chaos erupted everywhere.

Tie Ke was a Late Seventh Rank martial artist, and Prince Qing’s Remnants were going to kill them?

Panic spread at astonishing speed. If the well-trained Jinyiwei had not been maintaining order, everything would have descended into total chaos on the spot.

In the face of all this, Cheng Yu’s expression remained just as cold on the surface.

But inside, his heart was pounding wildly.

Not because he was afraid—quite the opposite.

He was excited.

He had pinned the charge of rebellion on so many people before, and now he had finally run into the real thing!

Prince Qing’s Remnants, seasoned rebels, and numerous experts!

If he slaughtered them all and confiscated everything, how many rewards would that be?

The moment that thought arose, the system’s voice rang out at exactly the perfect time.

【The host, without wasting any effort, has forced the rebel faction into the open and demonstrated the efficiency of the Jinyiwei. Reward: thirty years of arduous cultivation in Hard-Body Training!】

【Body-Hardening Progress has exceeded fifty years! The High-Grade Human Rank Hard-Body Technique “Thirteen Guardians Hard Body Art” has, through insight, broken through into the Low-Grade Heaven-Rank Hard-Body Technique “Shaolin Indestructible Vajra Body”!】

Cheng Yu only felt a burst of scorching heat surge through his entire body, followed by a constant flood of power.

His physical body had reached an astonishing level of strength, one that even he found hard to believe.

When he raised his hand and looked at it, a faint layer of golden light appeared.

He had not even fought yet, and the reward was already this great?

Even a man with his usual composure could not help trembling with excitement at this moment.

When Tie Ke saw that, he thought Cheng Yu was trembling from fear.

He burst into laughter. “So, boy, you finally know fear! Compared to those hypocrites, I actually appreciate you more.”

“But today, you still have to die!”

To him, anyone who served as the false dynasty’s loyal hound had only one ending before him—death.

“Haha, then you can try!”

Cheng Yu sneered and suddenly shouted, “All Jinyiwei, execute the first plan and lock down the Jiannan Circuit!”

“Yes, sir!”

At that single order, the elite Jinyiwei who had been holding Jianghu martial artists at saberpoint withdrew their Xiuchun Sabers, and the Jinyiwei archers on the walls also left one after another.

They split up and acted in strict accordance with the contingency plan prepared in advance.

“Stubborn resistance is useless!”

Tie Ke sneered disdainfully, shattered the floor beneath his feet, and burst forward with shocking force, his Vital Blood surging like a dragon as he lunged at Cheng Yu.

“Careful!”

Sensing that things were going badly, Ma Minnong moved to go help Cheng Yu.

But to his surprise, Zuo Hong stepped in front of him with a dark expression.

“Divine Physician Ma, when the Imperial Hounds and Prince Qing’s Remnants are tearing into each other like dogs, there is no need for you to interfere!”

Backed by one of the Great Qian’s Nine Great Sects, he had hidden cards of his own. He was by no means someone others could bully at will.

The best choice now was to let Cheng Yu and Tie Ke wound each other badly.

He wanted to claim the greatest benefit for himself!

“Zuo Hong! You—”

Ma Minnong specialized in medicine and had neglected martial arts. He could only watch helplessly as Tie Ke charged at Cheng Yu.

A Late Seventh Rank martial artist!

In the Upper Three Ranks of the Martial Realm, the gap of even a single minor realm was like an insurmountable chasm.

How many people spent their entire lives unable to advance even one step further?

Cheng Yu might have been able to defeat Tie Ke when he had concealed his true strength at the early Seventh Rank,

but the Late Seventh Rank was an entirely different matter!