Chapter 50: Annihilation of the Clan, the Qi-Viewing Technique (Additional Chapter, Please Continue Reading)

Salt Gang Qinghe Branch.

Flickering candlelight illuminated a lavish, spacious room where a woman in white lay prostrate over a desk, her hands gripping its edges tightly as the entire table shook violently with her trembling body.

She lifted her neck high, her face contorted in agony, biting her crimson lips to stifle any sound.

The faint candlelight reflected in her misty eyes, casting an even more sorrowful and desolate aura.

Behind her stood Bai Guinong, his face twisted into a grimace, bare-chested, his gaze savage and brutal. It had been many days.

He had tried every method he could conceive.

Yet the culprit left no trace.

He had completely given up.

But returning empty-handed this time would mean utter disgrace within the gang, a humiliation beyond measure.

His anger boiled, depriving him of sleep.

“Damn it!”

“I’ll kill you!”

Bai Guinong roared, whether cursing the murderer of Bai Ruyun, or reprimanding Qiao Beiming who had sent him to investigate, or perhaps both, was unclear.

“Hmph!”

The woman let out a muffled groan; her bitten lips bled profusely, the fresh crimson staining her already swollen lips with a striking allure.

“Salt Gang Enforcement Elder Bai Guinong...”

Guided by Ji Fengxia and Liu Ruyi, Zhou Chen had already infiltrated the room, but Bai Guinong, consumed by tormenting the woman to vent his fury, remained oblivious.

“Ninth Level Body Refinement, Spirit Tempering—warriors’ perception sharpens, especially in life-threatening moments. If I draw my bow now, he’ll sense it immediately...”

This sensitivity heightened with cultivation. Though Zhou Chen, concealed by Ji Fengxia’s powerful soul energy, remained undetected by Bai Guinong, that was only because he had not acted.

Once he made a move, Bai Guinong would surely react.

Moreover, at Zhou Chen’s seventh level body refinement, he would likely fail to kill Bai Guinong with a single arrow. Attempting to merge with Ji Fengxia and Liu Ruyi to enhance his power outside Qinghe City risked alerting Bai Guinong as well.

“Perhaps this way...”

Originally, Zhou Chen planned to lure Bai Guinong and Wang Kangan out of Qinghe City, merge the powers of Ji Fengxia and Liu Ruyi beyond the city limits, and launch a sudden attack to eliminate them.

After all, Qinghe was full of warriors; he didn’t want everyone witnessing his use of the Yi Archery Technique to kill.

Killing outside the city and destroying the bodies would leave no evidence, even if suspicions arose.

Having apprenticed under the Qingyun Sect, the Salt Gang could not touch him.

After hiding out in Qingyun Sect for a while, he could even overthrow them.

But seeing Bai Guinong preoccupied tormenting the woman and thus less vigilant, Zhou Chen was struck by a new idea.

“Fengxia, cover me as I approach Bai Guinong. Don’t let him notice.”

Zhou Chen had already suppressed his aura to the utmost; Ji Fengxia’s potent soul power shielded him as he slowly advanced.

He showed no hint of killing intent, even abandoning thoughts of killing Bai Guinong altogether, focusing instead on the woman.

Sure enough.

Bai Guinong remained unaware.

Suddenly,

Zhou Chen saw Bai Guinong shudder violently, grabbing the woman’s head and slamming it onto the desk.

Zhou Chen’s eyes brightened; he immediately understood.

“Perfect opportunity!”

He surged forward in a swift stride, seizing Bai Guinong’s arm instantly.

“Who—!”

Bai Guinong shivered all over, his spirit shaken to the core. As he tried to resist, a sudden shock like thunder struck him, numbing his entire body.

His normally formidable strength was utterly useless.

“The Thunder-Light Ruyi Hand is truly formidable!” Zhou Chen rejoiced inwardly, moving swiftly, clutching Bai Guinong’s neck and twisting fiercely.

Crack!

The neck contorted; Bai Guinong’s head spun a full 360 degrees, their eyes locking.

“It’s you!”

Recognizing the masked, sallow face, Bai Guinong, still conscious, immediately identified Zhou Chen’s alternate identity as Han Feiyu.

“It’s me!”

Golden flames surged in Zhou Chen’s palm; Bai Guinong was incinerated to ash in an instant, scattered to the wind.

As for the woman, Bai Guinong had long since rendered her unconscious.

“With divine power in hand, the world is mine.”

Watching Bai Guinong vanish like smoke, Zhou Chen sighed with satisfaction.

He had prepared for a tough fight, yet harnessing Ji Fengxia’s terrifying soul power and the mighty Thunder-Light Ruyi Hand, he had slain Bai Guinong outright.

“From here on, it’s easy!”

Following Ji Fengxia and Liu Ruyi’s guidance, Zhou Chen repeated the trick, silently strangling the sleeping Wang Kangan before slaughtering all other Salt Gang disciples.

“Cut the grass and you must remove the roots, or the spring breeze will bring new growth.”

After killing, Zhou Chen always burned the bodies, leaving no trace.

Half an hour later,

Apart from a few maids and women captured for amusement, the entire Qinghe branch of the Salt Gang had been wiped out, no remains left.

Zhou Chen collected two storage pouches, belonging to Bai Guinong and Wang Kangan.

Countless gold, silver, and precious jewels.

Several martial arts manuals.

“A killer who burns and pillages truly deserves his golden belt.”

Zhou Chen left the Salt Gang’s Qinghe branch richly laden.

Watching from afar, Li Changfeng and his apprentice Li Changhen were dumbfounded.

They had considered countless possibilities.

Li Changfeng even imagined Zhou Chen would use his Sunset Bow to kill Bai Guinong with a single arrow.

But they never expected Zhou Chen wouldn’t even draw his bow, silently eradicating Bai Guinong, Wang Kangan, and the entire Qinghe branch.

Because Zhou Chen knew Li Changfeng might be secretly protecting him, he did not expose Ji Fengxia and Liu Ruyi.

Li Changfeng and Li Changhen remained unaware of their existence, only attributing Zhou Chen’s success to his masterful aura concealment.

“A born assassin indeed!”

Li Changfeng mused.

He certainly noticed Bai Guinong’s carelessness in his indulgence with women and how Zhou Chen executed a swift, decisive move.

Even so, Bai Guinong was a formidable ninth-level body refinement, spirit tempering warrior.

That Zhou Chen managed to ambush him testified to his own strength.

The method mattered little.

The result was what counted.

“Although my little junior brother cleaned the scene thoroughly and destroyed all evidence, once word spreads that our master accepted him as disciple, the Salt Gang will surely suspect him of killing Bai Ruyun, even suspect us of helping him silence Bai Guinong and Wang Kangan!”

Li Changhen spoke calmly.

“So what if they suspect?”

Li Changfeng scoffed, deriding:

“Does that old bastard Qiao Beiming really dare come looking for me?”

“If he knows his place, fine; if not, I’ll slap him dead!”

Though the Salt Gang boasted themselves as second only to Qingyun Sect, the gap was vast. Li Changfeng alone could destroy the Salt Gang.

“Let’s go!”

Li Changfeng vanished into the night.

Li Changhen remained on the rooftop, the wind stirring her skirt and hair, dancing with the breeze.

She reflected on Zhou Chen’s move to seize Bai Guinong’s arm.

“His speed is indeed very fast!”

Imagining herself as Bai Guinong, she realized she might not have dodged if Zhou Chen struck suddenly.

“How did he train his speed to be so fast?”

If only she had such speed, her strength would increase greatly.

“I must ask him sometime.”

Li Changhen suspected it was a martial art she could exchange for other techniques.

Unaware of Li Changhen’s interest in his Thunder-Light Ruyi Hand, Zhou Chen sat counting the spoils of the night.

The gold and silver were immense, at least ten thousand taels.

Numerous rare medicinal herbs.

But Zhou Chen prized the martial arts manuals most.

“Bai Guinong’s ultimate skill, the General-Slaying Blade—an upper-tier martial art...”

He perused the manuals.

Only one upper-tier martial art.

Not surprising.

Upper-tier techniques were rare treasures, not common as cabbage.

Yet even within upper-tier, there were vast differences; if divided into four grades, the General-Slaying Blade was lower-tier upper-class, while Yi Archery Technique was supreme upper-class.

Compared to the General-Slaying Blade, his Yi Archery Technique was incomplete, missing many elements.

Not only did it lack arrow technique secrets, it missed the critical spirit tempering method required in upper-tier martial arts.

Lower-tier arts could not advance to seventh-level body refinement due to lack of qi condensation.

Mid-tier arts could not reach ninth-level body refinement for lack of spirit tempering.

Once back at Qingyun Sect’s Divine Archery Peak, Zhou Chen would certainly obtain the complete Yi Archery Technique.

“Qi Observation Technique?”

Setting aside the General-Slaying Blade manual, Zhou Chen noticed a very old manual and opened it curiously.

“All things in the world possess qi; strong things have strong qi, evil things have evil qi. Observing the qi of all things reveals their strength and nature...”

Zhou Chen’s eyes brightened, engrossed before he realized dawn had broken.

“Didn’t expect Bai Guinong to have some valuable knowledge!”

He treasured it, though cultivation would be difficult.

Bai Guinong likely never mastered it.

Zhou Chen checked the spell section.

[Qi Observation Technique Level 1 (0/10,000)]

“Damn!”

“I’m still a poor man!”

Putting away Qi Observation Technique, Zhou Chen’s soul entered the Wind-Moon Mirror.

Since he was so poor,

he had no choice but to make Liu Ruyi and the others suffer a little.

Just as Zhou Chen prepared to reward them handsomely for their efforts last night, news broke of the disappearance of all strong disciples of the Salt Gang Qinghe branch.

In an instant, Qinghe City erupted in chaos!

A new era was dawning!