Chapter 197 - 226: Sitting High, Heroes Gather, Bloody Chaos Erupts, Foe Crushed with a Flick
Cangzhou’s number one Boxing Saint of the Dragon Mansion Realm!
Su Bai raised an eyebrow.
’That’s quite a title.’
The Cangzhou Territory was vast, home to countless factions, big and small.
To be called the number one Boxing Saint in the Dragon Mansion Realm across such a sprawling land meant his strength was certainly not low.
Beside him, Mu Yu seemed to recall something upon hearing this title, and his eyes widened!
His body trembled slightly as he spoke in a quavering voice.
"Temple Master, could you be talking about... the legendary Undying Boxing Saint, Xiao Wuming?"
"The very same."
Upon hearing the confirmation, towering waves of shock crashed through Mu Yu’s heart!
The man’s reputation was simply too immense; he was practically a household name within the Cangzhou Territory.
But soon, he grew confused.
"But... I heard he’s the Young City Lord of Celestial Fire City, isn’t he? How could he be from Ling County?"
"That’s because you don’t know a certain secret."
The youth in the Daoist Robe smiled. "Because he was an illegitimate son, he was driven out of Celestial Fire City as a child. He drifted from place to place, eventually ending up in Ling County."
"It was only after he embarked on the Martial Dao, cutting a path through all obstacles and making a name for himself, that the people of Celestial Fire City shamelessly declared that Xiao Wuming was their Young City Lord."
"But in reality, Xiao Wuming himself has never once gone back since his rise to power."
"Such a thing happened!?"
Mu Yu was utterly shocked to hear this.
After this, the three of them chatted for a while longer.
Then, after wandering around the Daoist Temple for half an hour,
Su Bai left with Mu Yu.
"Master!"
In the small pavilion, the senior disciple of the youth in the Daoist Robe couldn’t help but ask as he watched Su Bai’s receding figure.
"This senior, who exactly is he?"
Su Bai was too mysterious!
He came in a hurry and left in a hurry.
His strength was unfathomable, his purpose unknown.
He was shrouded in a veil of mystery!
"I don’t know."
The youth in the Daoist Robe slowly retracted his gaze from Su Bai.
Then, a smile touched his face. "However, I find myself looking forward to tomorrow’s grand festival more and more!"
With that, he turned and left with a carefree air.
He left behind only a single sentence.
"Remember, prepare a jar of Drunken Immortal Brew for me tonight!"
"Tomorrow, I will personally deliver it to our senior!"
"Huh!?"
Hearing this,
the Daoist Temple’s senior disciple was stunned speechless!
This Drunken Immortal Brew was extremely difficult to make, requiring countless rare Spiritual Medicines and a very long brewing time.
’Master actually wants me to have it ready by tonight?’
’He might as well just kill me!’
In the next moment, mournful howls echoed from the small pavilion.
Full of despair!
...
Night fell. Stars dotted the deep night sky, and a high, round moon was half-hidden by dark clouds.
A scattering of silvery light fell upon the mouth of an alley where few people walked and a faint stench lingered.
This was the most remote southeastern corner of Ling County, also a gathering place for many outsiders.
At this moment, several disheveled old men with missing limbs were kneeling on the ground, holding small, broken bowls and begging humbly from the pedestrians passing by the alley’s entrance.
They were as common as sand, as insignificant as dust.
A moment later, in the hazy moonlight, illuminated by the candlelight from both sides of the street,
a middle-aged woman, tightly holding a child’s small hand, walked over with weary steps.
She was drenched, and the deep exhaustion in her eyes was impossible to hide.
The child beside her, however, was sucking on a stick of candied haws, bouncing along full of energy.
These two were the very woman and child Su Bai had encountered on the small boat.
’I finally found a servant’s job at Landlord Lin’s house today. It’s three hundred coins a month. It’s not much, but if I save up slowly, it’ll give Ping’Er more options in the future.’
The old woman touched the coins in her pouch, a smile gracing her lips as she thought to herself.
Having lost her husband early in life, she was a woman who had known hardship and naturally didn’t want her child to suffer the same fate.
If her child wanted to attend a private school, she would do everything in her power to support his studies.
If her child wanted to practice martial arts, she would sell everything she owned, even work herself to the bone like an animal, just to give him a glimmer of hope of stepping onto the Martial Dao.
As she thought, the figures of the woman and child passed the alley entrance and saw the old men begging humbly.
Although the old woman had only moved in recently, she knew that these old men were pitiful souls who had fled the ravages of war and sought refuge in Ling County.
Their missing limbs were mostly a result of being caught in the conflict.
After a moment’s thought,
she took out over a hundred coins, placed them in her child’s palm, and said with a gentle smile, "Ping’Er, give this money to these grandpas!"
"Okay!" Though the child was young, he was compassionate thanks to his mother’s teachings. He clutched the coins and nodded firmly.
"Thank you... Thank you!"
The old men kowtowed repeatedly, tears streaming down their aged faces.
The old woman, however, hurried to help them up before leading her child into the alley.
In the dim night,
their two figures were gradually swallowed by the darkness.
Inside a pavilion, Mu Yu watched this scene, his expression stirring.
He felt a flicker of understanding in his heart, but it vanished as quickly as it came.
Su Bai, sitting beside the Jade Table, flicked his finger. A silver glint, almost invisible, shot into the alley’s entrance.
Then, he asked, "Are you sure tomorrow’s grand festival is being held here?"
"Yes, Senior!"
Mu Yu, leaning against the window, snapped back to his senses and quickly nodded in reply.
"Then we’ll rest here for the night."
The dim candlelight in the room illuminated Su Bai’s face as he spoke softly.
"Yes!"
...
「The next morning.」
Outside the pavilion,
a chorus of loud shouts, chants, and cheers, mixed with the laughter of children,
continuously drifted inside.
The sounds rose and fell, echoing endlessly.
Throughout Ling County, the sounds of zithers and flutes mingled with the clamor of gongs and drums.
A fervent, festive atmosphere filled everyone’s hearts like a rising tide.
The County Foundation Festival had arrived!
Su Bai sat at the highest point of the pavilion, his gaze fixed on the city gates.
At this moment, at the gates of Ling County City,
a burly man in a green robe with a full head of blood-red hair, a Black Saber slung over his shoulder, strode in from the distance.
There was also a young Swordsman in white robes that were purer than snow, with brown brows and black hair, who walked in laughing and talking with a couple of friends.
Even more striking was a graceful and noble woman in a palace gown, her face veiled with light gauze, who sat in a luxurious carriage, leading a troop of servants with impressive Cultivation into the city at a gallop.
As time passed...
One after another, powerful Martial Artists with smiles on their faces, some riding Dragon Horses, others arriving through the air,
poured into Ling County.
All to participate in the County Foundation Festival!
In the northwestern part of Ling County, a short, ordinary, brown pavilion stood.
At this moment, on the 3rd Layer of the pavilion, which was protected by an isolation Array,
several young Martial Artists in Blood Robes sat around a table.
"How are the arrangements?"
a black-haired youth who seemed to be the leader asked in a low voice, his gaze sweeping over the others.
"Everything is ready!"
"The Blood Demon Gu have also been placed."
one of them immediately replied.
"Good!"
The black-haired youth nodded, then ordered, "Send men to keep a close watch on the city gates and monitor Xiao Wuming’s movements."
"The True Master will descend upon Ling County soon."
"When that time comes, as soon as that Xiao Wuming appears, we will immediately activate the Blood Demon Gu!"
"We’ll give him a grand gift!"
"Yes!"
Everyone present nodded in agreement.
At the same time,
High in the clouds, far from Ling County,
Master Taiyu, a gaunt old man in a Black Robe, and a middle-aged man in a silver robe stood in the sky, their gazes directed downward.
All three were focused on Ling County.
"Black Mountain Ancestor, whether we succeed this time will depend on your Blood Demon Gu."
"Please rest assured, True Master. This batch of Demon Gu are all Gu Kings that I have personally selected and cultivated for many years."
A smug look spread across the Black-Robed old man’s face. "As long as they are infected by my Demon Gu, even a Dragon Mansion Realm expert will have to obey my commands without the slightest defiance!"
"Xiao Wuming is here!"
the middle-aged man in the silver robe, who stood with his hands behind his back, suddenly said.
In their line of sight...
a burly, bare-chested man with a scar on his face was walking toward Ling County.
"He’s here!"
When the news of Xiao Wuming’s entry into the city reached the ears of the Martial Artists in Blood Robes,
they instantly activated the hidden Blood Demon Gu!
In a flash, countless blood-red Gu Insects shrieked from all corners of the city.
They danced wildly!
Like a surging tide, they swarmed in all directions!
And the primary targets of these Gu Insects were the Martial Artists with powerful Cultivation!
"Damn it! It’s the Blood Demon Gu!"
"Run!"
"AHH!!"
A Martial Artist’s face filled with terror. He screamed and tried to flee, but a swarm of Gu Insects instantly targeted him, and his entire body was engulfed.
In the blink of an eye, his consciousness vanished, and he became a puppet controlled by the Gu Insects.
"Blood Demon Gu!"
"These are Black Mountain Ancestor’s Gu Insects!"
Xiao Wuming, who had just entered the city, wore a grim expression.
He threw a punch, and the terrifying force of the blow annihilated a swarm of Demon Gu!
But he was inside the city, surrounded by a panicking crowd, unable to fully unleash his power.
Moreover, there were too many Gu Insects, a dense, endless swarm that was impossible to kill completely!
HUMMM!!
Just then, an unimaginably terrifying Power of Divine Thought erupted like a surging waterfall!
In an instant, it swept across the entire area!
All the Blood Demon Gu in the city were frozen in mid-air by this sweeping Power of Divine Thought.
The next moment, they all fell to the ground!
Their legs had only enough time to twitch a few times.
Then they all died!
"What?"
"My Demon Gu... they’re all dead!?"
High in the clouds,
Black Mountain Ancestor’s face was as dark as water!
These were the Demon Gu he had spent years painstakingly cultivating!
And someone had killed them all in a single thought!
"It’s him!"
At this moment, the middle-aged man in the silver robe looked toward Su Bai’s location.
’A little interesting...’
SWISH!
The next moment, a smile touched his lips as boundless Demon Qi surged from his body!
His figure flashed, vanishing from his spot.
He was heading for Su Bai!
’Very well. Let the Chaotic Sea Great Saint probe this person’s true strength.’
Master Taiyu also stared at Su Bai, his eyes shifting slightly as he thought this.
But before he could even process the thought,
he saw the Chaotic Sea Great Saint, who just a moment ago had been spirited and smiling,
now retreating like a beaten dog!
He was spitting blood as his body shot backward!
His face was contorted in a ferocious snarl, and he roared continuously.
He sprayed a long trail of blood across the sky before plunging into the depths of the Cloud Sea,
his whereabouts unknown!
Master Taiyu, thoroughly shaken, whipped his head toward Su Bai!
He saw the man, still sitting high in the pavilion.
He glanced at Master Taiyu with a hint of a smile in his eyes.
An enemy, crushed with a flick of a finger.