Qingye City.
The fortress was distinctly different. The wall was fully manned by several elite troops. An enormous crossbow was locked and loaded, pointing towards the main gate. The large arrowhead which had an iron hook attached to it looked like it could fall any moment.
During this period of war, not only was the head of this city replaced, even the guards were all replaced with troops from the Spirit Returning Sect.
Here, the army officers were all from the Spirit Returning Sect. Even though they were not as ostentatious and well-manned as the Secluded Mountain Prefecture to have level 4 martial artists as their lowest ranking soldiers, their lowest rankings soldiers were still around level 3, strong enough to easily power commoners without a martial arts background.
Ta ta!
Against the red evening sun, a group of riders emerged from the horizon. They were shouting and riding aggressively at great speed.
"Halt...Any unknown armed personnel who steps within the 30 metres radius of the wall will be killed without hesitation!"
Soldiers from the Spirit Returning Sect instantly grew alert and nervous as they readily aimed the crossbow in the direction of the riders.
"This is an Elder from the Spirit Returning Sect! We have a pa.s.s!"
From the centre of the riders, a flag was raised. This was characteristic of the Spirit Returning Sect. One of the riders raised an iron pa.s.s plate and sprinted to the bottom of the wall, just outside the 30m radius and shouted.
"Sou!"
A disciple from the Spirit Returning Sect executed Lightness Skill and leapt off the wall. He took a look at the pa.s.s and returned.
In no time, the gates opened, and Elder Han personally came out to invite the guests saying, "h.e.l.lo Elder Bian! Sect Head informed me about this earlier, but I did not think that you would have arrived this soon!"
"The leaders of Maple City are spineless cowards! All we did was to exterminate a few families to scare them into submission...Hehe, I can be quite unpredictable sometimes!"
Elder Bian then chuckled flippantly, looking all the more intimidating to those around him.
At 30 years of age, with his hair at both sides greying, Elder Bian looked like an extremely experienced and seasoned martial artist. His martial arts skills were also highly advanced. They were comparable to those of Elder Han"s.
"Come, please come inside Brother Bian!"
As a mark of respect, Elder Han pushed his right clenched fist into his left palm and smiled as he said, "Qingye City is different from the other places, the situation here....is slightly unique!"
Bian Xie was a renowned solo martial artist in Qinghe County. The legends said that he was a tomb raider from young. When he was still young he chanced upon a large tomb and found several extremely rare martial arts manuals buried with the body. From then, he already had the cultivation of the earthly element realm and the ambitious desire to break through Wu Zong and establish his own sect.
Up till now n.o.body knew what s.h.i.+ Yutong promised him in exchange for his allegiance to the Spirit Returning Sect.
Elder Han guessed that s.h.i.+ Yutong intended to make Bian Xie the successor and replacement for Lady Yan who had been kidnapped for such a long time. As there was no news up till now, the chances of her returning were very low.
"Hehe...Of course I know, as for this well-known healer of the secluded valley..."
Bian Xie broke out in a care-free laughter and walked to the main residence of the city by the side of Elder Han.
Although the newly appointed head of the of the city had some credible qualities in management, he was not proficient in martial arts. Upon seeing the arrival of the influential and powerful elders from the sect, he threw a welcome banquet for them which he had prepared way in advance.
After the food was served, Elder Han started to discuss official business. He waved his hand, gesturing for the servants to leave Elder Bian and him alone.
"Elder Bian your arrival cannot be timelier!"
Elder Han took a mouthful of wine. As his face flushed slightly with redness, he reported, "Fang Yuan is a very powerful martial artist. He has probably reached the 4 Heavenly Realms. He also has a spiritual beast. In Qingye City, I am the only one confident of doing reconnaissance beyond the secluded valley without being detected...."
"It"s so challenging?"
Bian Xie frowned and was filled with an unspeakable sense of jealousy.
He was not sure whether he was jealous of Fang Yuan being so gifted in being able to reach the 4 Heavenly Realms at such a young age, or was he jealous of Fang Yuan"s great fortune at being able to have a spiritual beast as a companion, or maybe he was jealous of both aspects.
Elder Han raised his wine bowl and had an awkward smile on his face and remarked, "I am not that afraid of what he might do, but I am indebted to him..."
"Elder Han do not worry, let me handle this!"
Bian Xie had heard about the news of Fang Yuan treating Elder Han. He was also aware of the unclear relations.h.i.+p between Fang Yuan and the pet disciple of the sect head.
Silently blaming Elder Han for being unwilling to take action and making him the aggressor, and also his bad luck for only joining the sect recently, he had no choice but to accomplish this mission regardless how nasty and unpleasant it was.
"Both sect heads are almost done with signing the alliance pact and will return very shortly. When she does, it"s best for her to make the decision!"
Bian Xie was very troubled but he looked relaxed on the outside, enthusiastically drinking with his parter.
"Keke..."
Out of nowhere, a high pitch noise pierced through the air, causing Bian Xie and Elder Han to jump to alertness.
"Who is that who dares to make such a ruckus, are you looking for trouble?"
Elder Han turned towards the source of the noise and froze in shock.
A young man pushed opened the door and strode in carefreely. This was Fang Yuan.
"Oh? Looks like you are having a banquet? I hope you do not mind that I turned up without invitation?"
Fang Yuan entered without paying much attention to Bian Xie and spoke directly to Elder Han.
"Haha...Why would we?"
Elder Han laughed dryly. For some reason, his palms started perspiring.
Qingye City was under the maximum security of the Spirit Returning Sect. Furthermore, this place was the core of the city and it was supposed to be the most highly guarded and secure place! How could Fang Yuan have evaded all those patrols and sentries and entered?
Of course, Fang Yuan"s intention of visiting was more important now. He looked like he was not here on peaceful terms.
"This is..."
Bian Xie had never met Fang Yuan before. Judging from the way Fang Yuan behaved, he thought Fang Yuan was an important official in the city and Bian Xie looked towards Elder Han.
"Elder Han, let me introduce to you, the divine healer of the secluded valley, Fang Yuan..."
Elder Han laughed dryly as the muscles on his face twitched uncontrollably.
"So, it"s you!?"
Bian Xie widened his eyes. After all, he was just discussing about how to take down Fang Yuan with Elder Han. Now that the person they were discussing about had appeared in front of him, the situation was extremely tense and awkward.
Most importantly, how much of their conversation did Fang Yuan hear?
"I remembered the dateline we gave you was in 5 days" time. Are you here because you have made a decision?"
Elder Han calmed himself down. Looking at Bian Xie by his side, he regained some of his confidence and spoke.
"Yes, I have decided!"
The smile on Fang Yuan"s face widened as he said gleefully, "Furthermore, I am quite lucky today. I was originally planning to catch a guinea pig, I was not expecting Heaven to be so generous to also send me a..."
"How dare you!"
Despite not knowing what Fang Yuan meant by referring to them as an experimental object, judging by his behaviour, it was obvious he was not there in peace and was ready to start fighting.
Elder Han instantly made the pre-emptive strike. With a thunderous roar he smashed the wine bowl in his hand in a thousand shards.
"Smas.h.!.+"
As the bowl splintered into a thousand pieces as it hit the ground, the sharp noise reverberated and pierced through the silence.
However, there was no response from the surroundings. There was only dead silence.
Upon seeing this, the aggressive Elder Han exchanged a furtive glance with Bian Xie and realised their disadvantageous situation. Both began to break out in cold sweat.
"How? Very disappointed perhaps?"
Fang Yuan laughed, "Were you thinking of using the smas.h.i.+ng of the bowl as a signal for 300 troops to appear and take me down? It"s useless...I have already sealed off this area. If any noise from within this area can travel out by more than 30 metres, I would be impressed!"
"Lock down?"
Elder Han rose up slowly. He knew a fight with Fang Yuan was inevitable. He removed his outer robe and revealed his Golden Soft Armour and clenched his fists into a weird stance as he said, "Please enlighten me, divine healer!"
"Do not waste my time, I do not want to play this type of little games with you!"
Fang Yuan shook his head and replied, "If you surrender, I will still give you a painless death!"
"Such arrogance!"
Bian Xie shouted out and stepped into a weird footwork and arrived in front of Fang Yuan in a blink of an eye. He threw out a punch and with the thunderous roar of a ferocious tiger, it flew towards Fang Yuan"s face.
The manual that Bian Xie took from the tomb had a total of three parts. One part had a total of 12 beastly feast techniques which were incredibly ferocious, another part was on the iron bone technique which solidified one"s internal structures and the last part was on Lightness Skill, the Steps of No Return technique. With these techniques combined, they were no less inferior than the Spirit Returning Heart Manual and the Xuan Yin Heart Technique and were incredibly famous in Qinghe County.
Bian Xie attacked Fang Yuan with all his might, creating a remarkable sight.
"The b.e.s.t.i.a.l Fist? I have heard of your reputation..."
Fang Yuan casually sent a right claw flying towards Bian Xie. Fang Yuan"s execution looked casual, but was in fact immensely powerful and flawless.
"Slas.h.!.+"
As Fang Yuan"s claw contacted Bian Xie"s fist, Bian Xie let out a gruesome scream and retreated extremely quickly. His right hand was locked in a weird angle behind his back.
Elder Han"s eyelid jumped rapidly.
From his point of view, he could see blood flowing profusely on Bian Xie"s entire arm. Bian Xie lost the fight in just one move!
"The Heavenly Gate!"
Fang Yuan stuttered.
"To be able to force Bian Xie to such a condition, not only was Fang Yuan a level 12 martial artist, he was definitely the top martial artist of that level. He was probably not far from the Wu Zong!"
Recounting his opponent"s technique, Bian Xie"s heart froze over.
The claw technique looked so simple, but it was so magically devastating and lethal. The executioner must have had practised it diligently for at least 30 years! Bian Xie refused to believe his opponent was so young.
However, the scar and excruciating pain from his battle wound confirmed this harsh reality, causing Bian Xie to convince himself he was in a dream.
"You were counting on this man?"
Elder Han rolled his eyes and replied, "So it seems you are very powerful, but what use does it have? Young man, I advise you to think about the consequences of your actions and not act so rashly."
"It seems I have to kill you to make you concede defeat!"
Fang Yuan laughed, "Just now I was rash as I was overly excited to finish him off, unless...you really thought that was everything I had?"
"What?"
Panic struck Elder Han. He was beginning to realise the perilous situation he was in.
"Leave quickly!"
Without further hesitation, he grabbed Bian Xie and sprinted in the opposite direction.
They went at an incredible speed and in a blink of an eye they were by the side of the wall. Elder Han was fully confident that n.o.body was that powerful to neutralise the guards outside without making a noise. He just had to rally all the soldiers and he would be able to survive.
However, his eyes widened instantaneously.
"Whoo whoo!"
Within the hall, there was some sort of force in the atmosphere that coalesced on Fang Yuan.
A layer of thick fog appeared out of nowhere and blanketed the whole area. It even seemed to be alive as Elder Han felt as though there were numerous hands grabbing onto him.
"Sleep! Sleep!"
Elder Han suddenly felt an irresistible urge to fall asleep hit him, causing him to slow down.
It did not matter how many alarms bells rang off in Elder Han, his felt as though weights were attached to his eyelids.
"Bang!"
Just as he was intensively battling the sleep demon, he heard a dull thud next to him. It sounded as though a human body had hit the ground. At the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his neck and his vision blacked out as he fell into a coma.