Way of the Devil

“Blood!?” Suddenly, one of the men felt something wet under his eye. He reached out to touch it and realized that both his eyes were bleeding.

“No!!”

The sound of people dropping followed.

Before the ten could realize what happened, they all fell to the floor and died. Blood flowed out from their orifices. They had been shocked to death by the Sword Qi.

Red threads squirmed out under the bodies and flew back to Lu Sheng on the planks, vanishing.

On the surface, Lu Sheng had only used the Chasing Sun Sword Moves and True Qi to increase its power, but honestly, at his current True Qi level, there was no way he could kill so many people in the Realm of the Snake at once. What really killed them was the Inner Qi net he’d secretly let out.

Inner Qi was really similar to True Qi, so even if someone noticed, there wouldn’t be too much of a stir. At most, they would think he cultivated some strong assisting art.

The rest of the Fierce Tiger Tribe saw the situation going down and turned to flee.

Lu Sheng was too lazy to bother with those little people. Killing Yuan Yingxiao and the ten at the Realm of Snake was enough.

“Lu Sheng…” Elder Zhang Shilong finally came to his senses. He wasn’t slow, but Lu Sheng was too fast and too powerful. Not only did he get rid of the entire Fierce Tiger Tribe, he even stunned him. That was an Earth level sword slash, but an ordinary Earth level would not be able to execute such a powerful move.

To be fair, every level after the Earth level wasn’t an increase in the amount of force, but in its quality. Still, Lu Sheng’s attack was as if multiple Earth level practitioners attacked at once. His area of damage was way higher than anyone could expect. His quality didn’t change, but his damage and power was much stronger than anyone at the lower three grades Earth level.

Looking at the mess on deck, Zhang Shilong laughed bitterly.

“This is gonna stir up some trouble…”

“Just a normal chief. If he’s dead, he’s dead. What is Elder Zhang worrying about?” Lu Sheng didn’t care. He sheathed his sword. After than one strike, there were already marks on the sword. He’d probably need to get a new one soon.

“Of course, just the Fierce Tiger Tribe itself isn’t much. But behind him is a third level royal official, one that has control over the entire army. Yuan Yingxiao’s brother is also the main branch elder of the Spirit Bind Sect in the Moling Prefecture. The Fierce Tiger Tribe must have been on a very important mission to invoke the names of both the Spirit Bind Sect and the royal family. You can’t even begin to fathom the backgrounds involved behind it.”

“Why do you say so much? They’re already dead. If there’s a problem, tell them to come find me,” Lu Sheng said casually.

“You… you, ugh, you!” Zhang Shilong literally didn’t know what to say. “Your master would not bother with these matters, as they are only earthly to her. If you die, she’ll just find another disciple. You can only rely on yourself.”

“So?” Lu Sheng didn’t see a problem. “My cultivation has come to a bottleneck, so more opponents means more pressure and maybe it’ll help me break through.”

“The problem is too much pressure might kill you!”

“If I die, it means I’m too weak. I can’t blame anyone else.”

Zhang Shilong didn’t know how to respond to that. Pointing at Lu Sheng, he was speechless. Lu Sheng was right. They were already dead, so what more was there to do?

Since it’d already happened, they should just think of ways to remedy it.

Zhang Shilong grabbed Lu Sheng’s arm and said seriously, “After we get onto shore, follow me and go meet someone. My master, Cave Master Mu Shan, has many connections in the Moling Prefecture. Maybe he can help you!”

“Elder Zhang, stop worrying. The three sects are not allowed to kill each other. As long as they follow the rules, they won’t be able to do anything to me.” Lu Sheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“But they might find loopholes!” Zhang Shilong shook his head.

***

The Moling Prefecture, the headquarters of the Fierce Tiger Tribe.

Boom boom boom, boom boom boom, boom boom, boom boom, boom boom boom.

Zhao Qianzhong, the Fierce Tiger on Water, was beating on a milky white drum rhythmically. Shirtless, his firm and bronze physique was displayed perfectly.

With a smile on his face, he spun around once in a while to give an even louder strike.

The drum was on a high platform overlooking the entire Open Sky Water.

Multiple yellow dragon boats were chasing each other in the water around the platform, forming a circle.

The beating of the drum caused even the water below to slightly tremble and ripple.

“Red Ghost! Red Ghost! Red Ghost! Red Ghost!”

“Black Shark! Black Shark!”

“White Whale! White Whale!”

All sorts of yells and shouts came from below. Crowd had filled the buildings around the water.

Today was the Dragon Boat Race that was held once per year. Zhao Qianzhong, the tribe’s chief, didn’t have any hobbies other than beating large drums—especially layered ones made from the hide of two-headed cattle.

An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to make a sound on this drum. Only after reaching a certain level could one start beating it.

Zhao Qianzhong loved drums, and he loved it even more when people were watching him.

The more people there were, the more excited he was.

Under the rumbling of the drum, the vice-chief sat nearby and welcomed all the guests who came. Among them were managers and elders from the Youyin Sect.

As the dragon boats raced faster and faster, the competition got even more heated. Everyone watching started getting excited and screaming.

They had bet on different boats and were waiting for the final result.

“Boom!”

Zhao Qianzhong gave one last beat as the finale for the competition. He threw the drumsticks to a subordinate and left the platform, walking toward the winning team.

Suddenly, a few subordinates walked over hurriedly and blocked him, then spoke to him in hushed voices.

Originally, Zhao Qianzhong had been content and happy. But after hearing what they said, his face quickly turned red, then dark. There was no longer any trace of the excitement from before.

“Is this true?” he asked coldly.

“We already found the body of the vice-chief,” a subordinate whispered.

“Take me there.” Zhao Qianzhong quickly calmed down, even having a slight smile so that others wouldn’t be able to figure out his current feelings.

A few higher-ranked subordinates took him to a cargo ship in the harbor. Inside a small hall, Zhao Qianzhong saw Yuan Yingxiao, who had died with his eyes open.

There was also another person in the room. The figure was wearing a red robe with a creepy face sewn on the back. The face had gold eyes and black hair.

The figure stood with hands behind his back, standing silently beside Yuan Yingxiao’s body.

“Everyone out.” Zhao Qianzhong waved his hand. Immediately, everyone left the room, leaving only him and the red-robed figure inside.

“Yuan Chengdao, I’m also very taken aback with what happened. Yingxiao was only following a small escapee from the Ice Breaker Tribe. He seemed to have found something and stopped a merchant ship to inspect it, but…” Zhao Qianzhong said sincerely. His subordinate had filled him in quickly on what had happened.

“It’s not your fault.” The red-robed figure stood with his back to him, looking intently at Yuan Yingxiao’s body. He reached out and closed the body’s eyes.

“The killer was a prodigy disciple from the Thousand Sun Sect in Autumn Moon City,” Yuan Chengdao—the red-robed figure—said quietly. “Although Yingxiao started the issue by searching them, they’re safe, while my brother is dead.”

Zhao Qianzhong acknowledged it quietly. He didn’t know how to comfort him, so he stood silently.

“The Thousand Sun Sect had been sitting at the side, watching us fight. It’s been long enough. Maybe they thought that we are weaker now since we’re fighting with the Youyin Sect. That’s why they stepped out of line,” Yuan Chengdao continued.

“What do you want to do?” Zhao Qianzhong frowned.

“The person who killed my brother, I want him dead!” Yuan Chengdao turned around, showing his ugly and disfigured face. Most of face had been badly burned, leaving horrendous scars and cuts.

“That’s fine. Just a prodigy from a branch, that’s nothing,” Zhao Qianzhong nodded. “That elder, Zhang Shilong, and everyone who was on the boat with him can be taken care of. They’re only ordinary people.”

“The owner of the merchant ship was from the White Flag Commerce Chamber. The lord of the chamber, Bai Houren, hides escapees, and thus broke the law. He should also be punished.” Yuan Chengdao stared at Zhao Qianzhong calmly.

“Bai Houren… he has connections over from Li Shan… it’s a bit…” Zhao Qianhzhong frowned.

“You don’t have to do anything. I’ll do it.”

“…Okay. I’ll ask someone from the Nine Stars to assist you.” Zhao Qianzhong sighed.

Yuan Chendao nodded. He squatted down and gently lay on his younger brother’s, Yuan Yingxiao’s, body. He touched the body’s hand with his forehead, muttering something as if he was praying.

***

Only after Zhang Shilong flashed the token of the three main sects did they no longer face the Yangming Army’s questioning.

The rest of the people still had to go through the procedure. After all, such a disgusting incident occurring so close to the perfuncture was a rarity.

The only good thing was that the Thousand Sun Sect was still well respected. Zhang Shilong dragged Lu Sheng off the boat and into the city, heading straight toward the headquarters of the Thousand Sun Sect in the prefecture without wasting any time.

The headquarters of the Thousand Sun Sect was located in a city within the city, called Thousand Suns City. This city was huge, almost the size of a small town, and was filled with yellow-roofed houses. It could hold thousands of people. From the edge, one couldn’t see the end of the white walls and yellow roofs.

After checking their identities, they finally made it into the smaller city. Zhang Shilong let out a long breath.

“Let’s go! I’ll take you to see my master. Then we can go register.” He dragged Lu Sheng into a street on their left.

After passing through a few streets, Lu Sheng surprisingly found out that inside this tiny headquarters, whether it be the casually strolling disciples, the old men and women chattering besides the fountain, or the tails of the talismans flying through the air.

Everywhere, everyone seemed lazy and peaceful.

This seemed like a friendly little town for old people rather than the headquarters of a powerful sect.

Zhang Shilong dragged Lu Sheng through the almost empty city for a long time before turning into an alley. They stopped in front of a store with a white sign outside it.

“This store is my master’s property. Usually, he sits here and practices with talismans. He also hired a few disciples from the sect to look over things. He’s doing pretty well,” Zhang Shilong said, pushing open the spinning door.

To Lu Sheng’s surprise, this door was very similar to the hotel entrances back on earth. When a person stepped in, the door would start spinning and bring the person into the building.

Behind the revolving door was a long U-shaped desk. A single pillar held up the ceiling. The walls were filled with cupboards, and an employee was expertly wiping the desk with a cloth.