Chapter 17
Head of Punishment, Grandmaster
Daoist Master Qingxu retracted his gaze and turned around. “Tell him not to leave your courtyard.”
Jiang Changsheng revealed a smile and continued to move forward with the Devil Lord following closely behind.
The disciples of Longqi Temple had already fallen asleep and were not cultivating, so they could not hear the movements at the foot of the mountain. They were not as skilled as Daoist Master Qingxu, so they could not sense the fluctuations of true qi.
Jiang Changsheng brought the Devil Lord back to his courtyard and entered the house.
He sat on the bed and said, “I’ll ask you questions while you circulate your energy to heal your injuries.”
The Devil Lord did not dare to refute. After he closed the door, he sat by the wooden table and meditated. He was hit by the Divine Shadow Leg technique and his internal organs were now severely injured. This trip up the mountain could be said to have cost him half his life.
“Are you a Heaven Arrival realm expert?”
Jiang Changsheng asked the question he was most concerned about, as this would alter his actions in the future.
The Devil Lord forced a smile and said, “I… I am indeed a Heaven…”
“Compared to the Heaven Arrival realm expert in the palace, who is stronger?”
“Naturally, he’s stronger. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come all the way to the capital… Although we are both in the same realm, I have only just reach the Heaven Arrival realm, while he has been already in the Heaven Arrival realm. The reason why he’s in the Heaven Arrival realm is because most people in the martial arts world think that the Heaven Arrival realm is the strongest.”
The Devil Lord could not help but glance at Jiang Changsheng.
Jiang Changsheng asked, “What do you think my chances of winning are against him?”
The Devil Lord said without hesitation, “Naturally, you are stronger!”
“Don’t lie. Otherwise, if I die, you will die. I have inserted the Seal of Life and Death into your body. This seal can allow me to easily decide your life.”
“I don’t know… I challenged him twenty years ago. When I faced him back then, it was just like now. I reckon the entire martial arts world doesn’t know how powerful he will be twenty years later.”
The Devil Master lamented. In the eyes of ordinary martial arts practitioners, he was already an invincible expert. However, only he knew that there were many more experts above him. He merely took advantage of the title of the Lord of the Devil Sect.
Jiang Changsheng continued to ask. The Devil Lord would answer any question he asked. He would also honestly explain the situation if he did not know the answer. His attitude was rather sincere.
He did not bring the Devil Sect disciples here to avenge the Ghost-Eyed Evil King, but to be a knife for someone else.
“That person claimed to be the Head of Punishment. He wore a mask and was highly skilled in martial arts. He was definitely an expert at the Heaven Arrival realm. He is extremely powerful and claimed that as long as the Devil Sect took the opportunity to eradicate the aristocrats and Longqi Temple in the city, he would support the Devil Sect and clear their name…”
The Devil Lord said with a complicated tone. As he spoke, he could not help but cough. His injuries were too serious.
Jiang Changsheng was now aware of the situation of the Devil Sect, which was coincidentally quite similar to the Chen Family. The Devil Sect was once the number one sect in the Chu Dynasty. After the Great Jing overthrew the Chu Dynasty, the martial arts world also changed. The Devil Sect had once sent disciples to support the Chu Dynasty and broke the rules of the martial arts world, causing them to be rejected by the current martial arts world. The court also arrested them everywhere. They could be said to be street rats.
According to the rules of the martial arts world, sects were not allowed to participate in the strife of the royal court, let alone in the dynasty’s struggles. At least not on the surface. This was also a self-protection system in the martial arts world.
Jiang Changsheng asked, “How dare you trust the Head of Punishment? Aren’t you afraid that he will lie to you?”
The Devil Lord answered, “He has the True Dragon Decree, and seeing the True Dragon Decree is like seeing the Emperor. Therefore, I suspect that he is acting on behalf of the Emperor. I didn’t expect that there are three Heaven Arrival realm experts hidden in the small capital. No, there are four of them, if including you…”
He was filled with regret.
He should not have listened to the words of those people. If he had known earlier, he would have led the Devil Sect away from the Great Jing Dynasty. After all, the world was vast, so where could he not live?
There were two Heaven Arrival realm experts!
Jiang Changsheng secretly rejoiced. Fortunately, he did not mess around. But logically, it was not abnormal. After all, no one would display their full strength, not even the Emperor.
The Devil Lord’s contact was the Head of Punishment. Other than the Head of the Punishment, he had never seen any other aristocrats, so Jiang Changsheng could not get anything out of him.
Jiang Changsheng suspected that the Head of Punishment was the Emperor, but the Emperor had already sailed down to Jiangnan.
Then, he asked the Devil Lord about the situation of the Devil Sect.
The Devil Sect had hundreds of thousands of disciples, more than a thousand first-rate experts, and more than fifty top experts. Other than him, there was also a vice-sect master who had also reached the Heaven Arrival realm. However, the vice sect master did not follow them here and just guarded the evil sect.
If the Devil Lord did not return, the vice sect master would automatically inherit the position after a year.
The Devil Sect was quite powerful!
Jiang Changsheng was a cultivator and was stronger than a martial arts practitioner, but his spiritual force was not endless. Facing this kind of situation, it seemed like he also needed to nurture his own forces.
The Devil Lord was a good start!
Jiang Changsheng smiled and said, “Do you think I’m a mortal?”
The Devil Lord was stunned. He did not understand what he meant, but when he thought of the Taihang Sword, he felt an inexplicable chill on his back.
Could it be…
“With my appearance, guess how old I am?”
“Seventeen to eighteen years old… What is your actual age?”
The Devil Lord asked carefully. Jiang Changsheng had become extremely mysterious in his heart.
With a thought from Jiang Changsheng, the Taihang Sword on the table automatically unsheathed and hovered around the room. The Devil Lord was so frightened that he trembled.
He did not see how Jiang Changsheng attacked.
Previously, he thought that it was a smokescreen, just like his Black Crow Flying Skies technique, which was just to fool people. But now, it seemed like that was not the case!
Jiang Changsheng said, “I need someone to work for me. If you are obedient, I can let bygones be bygones and give you unimaginable benefits. For example…”
Jiang Changsheng stared at the Devil Lord and teased, “You’re already sixty years old, right? You look quite young. However with your body that is filled with hidden illnesses, how long do you think you can live? 10 years? 20 years? I think this is the limit. Do you want to live longer? Do you want to pursue stronger strength?”
The Devil Lord’s heartbeat sped up.
When one was old, the thing they feared the most was physical weakness, especially for martial artists. Even the Emperor was searching for immortals all over the world, let alone the Devil Lord.
That night, the Devil Lord’s heart was in a mess.
…
In a dark palace, Eunuch Li stood in the hall with a gloomy expression.
In front of him, there was a figure with his back facing him. That person was wearing purple clothes and a bronze mask. His long hair was tied up under a crown, making him look mysterious and noble.
“The Devil Lord has disappeared, and we’ve lost more than half of our people?”
The purple-robed figure asked. His voice was indifferent, and there were no fluctuations in his emotions.
Eunuch Li gritted his teeth and said, “The Devil Lord has disappeared. He’s either dead or captured. Fortunately, he doesn’t know much, but the other party has the ability to easily kill the Devil Lord. We have to reconsider.”
“Head Xing, what does His Majesty mean? Do he want to get rid of this son or keep him alive? Why did he place him in the capital?”
The purple-robed figure was the Head of Punishment that the Devil Lord had mentioned!
The Head of Punishment turned around, revealing only his right eye under the bronze mask. His eyes were as cold as a snake, shocking Eunuch Li so much that he did not dare to meet his gaze and knelt down in fear.
“This servant deserves to die. I shouldn’t have questioned the Holy Decree!”
Eunuch Li lowered his head and spoke in a trembling voice. His tone was filled with fear and trepidation.
The Head of Punishment stared at him and said, “What His Majesty is thinking has nothing to do with us. What His Majesty wants is the destruction of Longqi Temple, the Yang Family, and the Hong Family. However, these three plans have all been ruined.”
Eunuch Li lowered his head and did not even dare to breathe.
The Head of Punishment continued, “From now on, the operation is suspended. Select more experts from Sky Prison and wait for my orders and His Majesty’s.”
“Yes!”
Eunuch Li hastily answered.
The Head of Punishment walked toward him and suddenly disappeared. Soon after, he appeared at the entrance of the palace. He looked up at the bright moon and said, “Investigate which expert has disappeared in the past ten years. For an eighteen-year-old child to reach the Heavenly Arrival realm, there must be a grandmaster. The choice of Changsheng might be related to the remnants of the previous dynasty. We have to investigate those who acted back then.”
Eunuch Li turned around and said, “This servant understands!”
The Head of Punishment disappeared in front of the door, appearing and disappearing unpredictably.
…
The moon set and the setting sun rose.
At noon, in the courtyard.
Jiang Changsheng was using his spiritual force to treat the Devil Lord’s injuries. The Devil Master had changed into Longqi Temple’s Daoist robe and looked like a weak old Daoist priest. He did not have the Devil Lord’s evil or domineering aura.
Feeling the mysterious true qi in his body, the Devil Lord was shocked.
“What terrifying strength… What kind of martial arts is this? His true qi is more than ten times stronger than mine…”
The Demon Lord was overwhelmed with emotions when he thought of what Jiang Changsheng said last night.
Perhaps this was an opportunity!
In any case, he could not understand how someone could possess strength that far exceeded a Heaven Arrival realm expert at the age of eighteen. Even the young sect master of the Guiyuan Divine Sect was far inferior to him. This master must be an immortal who had descended to the mortal world and was definitely not an ordinary man.
Jiang Changsheng stopped and said, “Go in and recuperate. The medicine on the table was personally concocted by me. You can take it.”
The Devil Lord stood up, bowed, and entered the house.
White Dragon left Jiang Changsheng’s shoulder and climbed towards the house.
Jiang Changsheng stood up and gently brushed the dust off his Daoist robe. Then, he stood with his hands behind his back and looked at the sky, enjoying the sunlight.
Not long after, two figures entered the courtyard.
It was Chen Li.
Behind him was a thin constable with his head lowered.
Chen Li quickly walked to Jiang Changsheng and said in a low voice, “Changsheng, I have something to say. Let’s go in.”
“There’s no need to enter the house. There are only the three of us within a radius of three hundred feet. Oh, there’s also a snake.”
Jiang Changsheng smiled. He had already seen through the identity of the constable. He was the white-robed woman from last night, as her aura was exactly the same as last night.
Immortal Cultivators were extremely sensitive to auras.
Chen Li was stunned for a moment before he said, “The person behind me is from the White Guard and is a good friend of mine. I invited her to kill the Devil Sect disciples, but I pulled her into a conspiracy. Right now, she has nowhere to go and I can’t stay in the Chen family. The entire city is heavily guarded, so I can only leave her with you. Can you agree? I’m begging you.”
Jiang Changsheng smiled and said, “Of course. Brother, don’t worry.”
Chen Li let out a long breath and swept away the gloominess on his face. He patted Jiang Changsheng’s shoulder and thanked him.
He did not stay any longer and left in a hurry, leaving only Jiang Changsheng and the constable in disguise in the courtyard.
After sensing Chen Li’s aura leaving, Jiang Changsheng asked, “What are your plans for the future?”
The constable took a step forward and half-knelt. She gritted her teeth and said, “Senior, please teach me martial arts. I am willing to give up everything!”
Last night not only overturned the understanding of the Devil Lord, but also shattered her beliefs. She suddenly felt that everything she had worked hard for in the first half of her life was a joke.
Jiang Changsheng asked, “Is it really everything? What if I asked you to kill Chen Li?”
It would be a waste not to accept a top expert!
The bailiff said in a deep voice, “Kill. Even though he has a benevolent heart, he does not have any strength or means. If he lives, he will only drag more innocent people to the netherworld.”
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Jianxin… My surname is Hua.”