Chapter 128 - 126: Hong Family Castle
Inside the Spiritual Jade, besides the initial call for revenge, Pang Xizhen had also left behind some arrangements for the Celestial Fire Hall.
Unfortunately, too much time had passed. The Celestial Fire Hall had likely long since been reduced to dust.
From these words, however, Chen Yuan gained a general understanding of the internal strength of what was once the world's number one sect.
After this information, the remainder was the Cultivation Technique Pang Xizhen had left behind: the Celestial Fire Secret Manual.
This Cultivation Technique was a supreme technique of the Celestial Level Upper Grade. It was not just an Inner Power method but also a supreme Martial Arts Secret Technique.
When cultivated to its peak, one could even touch the Fire Origin.
The Power of Origin was not a force that could be cultivated after birth; it existed only within the world itself.
But by cultivating this technique to the pinnacle of Great Success, one could qualify to perceive this Power of Origin and borrow its strength.
Chen Yuan's Seven Kills Stele was a supreme Divine Soldier that inherently contained the Killing Intent Origin. Although the Celestial Fire Secret Manual only allowed one to barely touch the Power of Origin in its later stages of cultivation, it was still exceptionally rare, which was why it was ranked as Celestial Level Upper Grade.
Moreover, the Celestial Fire True Essence cultivated from the Celestial Fire Secret Manual was scorchingly hot and intense—a force of the Supreme Yang, capable of incinerating most forms of Exotic True Qi with astonishing explosive power.
When its Secret Technique, Celestial Fire Prairie Fire, was unleashed, it was powerful enough to burn the heavens and boil the seas, its might immeasurable.
However, the starting requirements for this Cultivation Technique were also exceptionally high. For now, Chen Yuan could only just barely manage to practice it.
To use the Celestial Fire Prairie Fire, he would probably need to have the Blood Fiend Entering the Body and burn his own Qi and Blood to the absolute limit just to barely activate it.
Of course, there was a shortcut to cultivating it quickly: the Fire Phoenix Broken Sword that Pang Xizhen had left for the Qiu Family's ancestor.
The sliver of the Power of Fire Origin on it couldn't be used to directly trigger the Blood Fiend to boost his strength like the Killing Intent Origin could.
It was merely a faint trace of the Fire Origin. Although it couldn't be actively used, one could perceive this Power of Origin in advance. Cultivating the Celestial Fire Secret Manual afterward would then yield twice the results with half the effort.
It was like knowing some of the answers before taking a test; naturally, learning would be faster, allowing one to avoid many pitfalls.
'But that old bastard Qiu Tianzheng gave the Broken Sword away. I'll have to find a way to get it back.'
With the Qiu Family annihilated, Chen Yuan did not linger on Shanyang Ridge.
By the next morning, news that the Qiu Family had been wiped out during their patriarch's birthday banquet had already spread throughout the small town.
Rumors flew thick and fast, with everyone offering a different theory. It was as if the Qiu Family had suddenly acquired countless powerful enemies overnight.
But what was done was done. No one would interfere, and no one would help the Qiu Family get revenge.
As far as the local Court was concerned, these Jianghu forces could fight amongst themselves all they wanted. As long as they didn't provoke the Court or disrupt its operations, the officials couldn't be bothered to intervene.
And since the Qiu Family had always kept a low profile and had resided on Shanyang Ridge for generations, their ties with outside forces were not particularly close.
So with the Qiu Family destroyed, it was only natural that no one would stand up for them.
The direct grandson of the Qiu Family had married a daughter of the Hong Family Castle's Fortress Lord, but the Fortress Lord had several daughters, and he didn't particularly value this marriage alliance.
Upon learning of the Qiu Family's demise, Hong Family Castle merely sent someone to investigate and didn't even bother to help collect the bodies.
Since people from Hong Family Castle had just arrived and many in town were discussing them, Chen Yuan took the opportunity to gather some information about the castle.
Hong Family Castle was far stronger than the Qiu Family. In his youth, its Fortress Lord, Hong Yuanqing, had served under Grand General Yuwen Tai of the Vigorous Martial Army as a Deputy General.
He later resigned from his post as Deputy General to return to Hong Family Castle and assume the position of Patriarch for the sake of his family's development.
Hong Yuanqing was an expert from the military, tempered by the slaughter of the battlefield. He was a great expert at the Condensing Truth Realm Late Stage.
Some even said that if he had remained in the army, he might have had a chance to step into the Primordial Pill Realm and become a Grandmaster.
A powerful expert at the Condensing Truth Realm Late Stage, still in his prime, was in a completely different league than aged Condensing Truth Realm Martial Artists like Wu Youqing and Qiu Tianzheng.
Furthermore, the Vigorous Martial Army was one of the Court's elite armies. Anyone who could reach the position of Deputy General within it was bound to possess immense combat prowess.
In the original plot, the way Zuo Feiyu obtained the Fire Phoenix Broken Sword was only mentioned in passing. It didn't even specify that he got it from Hong Family Castle.
However, based on Chen Yuan's understanding of Zuo Feiyu's personality, he definitely wouldn't have used brute force.
He most likely befriended some local Jianghu figures, relied on his smooth networking skills to build connections, and might have even managed to trade for the Fire Phoenix Broken Sword without spending a dime.
Although they were enemies, Chen Yuan had to admit that Zuo Feiyu was a capable individual.
The future Nine Swords Alliance was able to recruit numerous experts and build such a vast network of connections, and Zuo Feiyu was responsible for at least half of that success.
Chen Yuan didn't possess Zuo Feiyu's methods. He preferred to use brute force.
Leaving the small town at the foot of Shanyang Ridge, Chen Yuan headed straight for Hong Family Town, located just outside Hong Family Castle.
Hong Family Castle was a Dock Fortress built halfway up a mountain. With Hong Yuanqing's background in the Great Xia Military, the entire castle's defenses were meticulously constructed, with sentry posts lining the mountain path, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Hong Family Town, on the other hand, was a small town managed by some of the Hong Family's Side Branch disciples. All of the Hong Family's daily purchases and trade were conducted within Hong Family Town, as outsiders were forbidden from setting foot in Hong Family Castle. One could say they were extremely cautious.
It wouldn't be wise to make a move during the day. After arriving in Hong Family Town, Chen Yuan found a three-story tavern, ordered some food and wine, and sat on the top floor to observe Hong Family Castle on the mountainside.
The entire mountain path leading to Hong Family Castle was heavily guarded with dense sentry posts. It was incomparable to the lax and casual security of the Qiu Family.
As Chen Yuan was studying Hong Family Castle, a few tables away, another person was also observing the castle, their actions nearly identical to his own.
They both noticed each other's movements at the same time and subconsciously looked at one another.
The man was in his twenties, dressed in a simple green robe. His hair was half-down, held up loosely by a single chopstick that had been crookedly twisted into it twice.
A wine gourd hung from his waist, and a Long Sword rested by his hand.
Although he was handsome, it wasn't the sharp, chiseled handsomeness of sword-like brows and star-bright eyes. Instead, his features were softer, giving him a carefree and dashing air.
Noticing Chen Yuan's gaze, the young man grinned, raised his wine gourd in a toast to Chen Yuan, and then tilted his head back to take a large gulp.
Chen Yuan raised his own cup in return, his gaze profound.
'This young man has restrained his aura and hasn't revealed his Cultivation, but he is definitely a master of the Sword Dao.'
'Even though he has concealed his aura to the extreme, with my sharp perception, I can still sense the ultimate, bone-chilling sharpness and profound Sword Intent emanating from him.'
Since entering the Jianghu, none of the sword experts Chen Yuan had met could compare to the young man before him.
Zuo Feiyu couldn't compare, nor could Uncle Wu, who had already reached the Condensing Truth Realm.
Only the deep Sword Intent that Gongyang Li radiated when he activated his Blood Sword Primordial Pill could rival the Sword Intent of this young man.
After exchanging glances, neither made another move. The other man finished his meal without any fuss and left.
Chen Yuan watched him leave, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
'He feels a bit familiar. He shouldn't be a nobody, but I can't seem to recall anyone from the original plot who matches him.'
After nightfall, Chen Yuan donned General Yun's Ghost Mask and prepared to infiltrate the area around Hong Family Castle to get a closer look at its defenses.
Given Hong Yuanqing's military background, Chen Yuan was worried he might have deployed weapons specifically designed to kill Jianghu experts, such as Siege Crossbows.
A single Crossbow Arrow from one of those was thicker than a Long Spear. If they were custom-made arrows with tips forged from Profound Soldier Material, and a hundred Siege Crossbows fired at once, no one below the level of a Primordial Pill Grandmaster could withstand the barrage.
However, just as Chen Yuan reached the first sentry post at the foot of the Hong Family Castle mountain, he discovered that the Hong Family Guards stationed there were already dead.
Chen Yuan inspected the bodies.
Their throats had been slit by a single sword strike. The guards hadn't even had a chance to react.
Chen Yuan continued up the mountain and found the guards at two more sentry posts had also been killed, all with a single strike to the throat.
Looking at the corpses, a thoughtful expression appeared in Chen Yuan's eyes.
The power of the Fish Dragon Transformation erupted, and Chen Yuan shot up the mountainside at extreme speed.
Just then, the faint ring of a sword came from a sentry post ahead, followed by the sound of splattering blood. A figure in green walked out.
Seeing Chen Yuan in General Yun's Ghost Mask, the green figure faltered for a second. The next moment, a flash of sword light, as swift as a startled swan, lunged toward him.
'What a fast sword!'
Chen Yuan's Autumn Water Shocking Saber was also a fast blade, but the sword strike before him was a notch faster.
The Celestial Blade left its sheath, its sharpness flaring to life. Though his Shocking Swan Blade Technique was launched second, it successfully parried the opponent's sword.
Sensing the power in Chen Yuan's strike and the ultimate sharpness of the Horizontal Blade Celestial Edge, the opponent exclaimed in surprise, "A fine saber! And such powerful blade work!"
His first exclamation was for Chen Yuan's Celestial Blade, the second for the power behind his strike.
"Stop! I'm not with the Hong Family," Chen Yuan said in a low voice. "If you keep killing like this, you'll alert them before you even reach the Hong Family Dock Fortress."
In the darkness of the night, the man before him was none other than the young swordsman from the tavern who had also been watching the Hong Family.
"Huh? You're the one from the tavern who was also looking at Hong Family Castle?"
Chen Yuan was taken aback. 'I'm wearing General Yun's Ghost Mask. How did he recognize me?'
As if sensing the confusion in Chen Yuan's eyes, the young man shrugged. "I'm naturally perceptive, especially when it comes to killing intent. Yours is so strong it's practically overflowing. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were a malevolent ghost that had just crawled out of a Chaotic Scene.
"I've never sensed killing intent of this level on another person. Forget the mask—I could sense your presence with my eyes closed."
Chen Yuan removed his mask. "Let's talk somewhere else," he said in a low voice.
The man nodded, and the two of them slipped into the dense woods nearby.
The young swordsman cupped his hands in a salute. "I am Gu Lichuan. Are you also here to make a move against the Hong Family, my friend?"
A flash of astonishment crossed Chen Yuan's eyes when he heard the name.
'Gu Lichuan? The "Sword Venerable," hailed as the one most likely to reach the pinnacle of the Sword Dao after the "Sword God" Xie Kunwu?'