Chapter 572 - 374: Grandmaster!

Chapter 572: Chapter 374: Grandmaster!

"What a hard-headed one!"

Cao Jin’s eyes shone with a wicked light, suddenly sneering as he raised his foot and kicked fiercely.

Feng Jingming flew out like a rag doll, crashing into the wooden chair in front, spitting a mouthful of fresh blood onto the floor.

In an instant, Cao Jin, like a demon, swept to the front of the Feng family’s matriarch.

His claw-like skinny fingers grabbed the woman’s coiled hair, forcing her to lift her still-graceful face.

The white silk dress became disheveled in the struggle, revealing a section of her snow-white arm.

"Mmm... how fragrant~" Cao Jin inhaled deeply, burying his face in the matriarch’s neck, his voice gradually becoming twisted with excitement.

"Madam Feng, tell me... is it your husband’s bones that are hard, or is it your body?"

As he spoke, Cao Jin’s other hand was already caressing the jade belt at the woman’s waist.

Under the hall, Feng Jiangming, who was being held down, roared as his eyes bulged: "Beast! Let her go!"

However, his roar only earned a harder stomp from the Dongchang guards, his cheek brutally pressed against the green brick floor.

Cao Jin sinisterly whispered near the Feng matriarch’s ear: "I’ll ask one last time... Where are your Feng family’s herbs hidden?"

As he spoke, he lightly traced a line with his fingertip across the woman’s trembling neck, "If you won’t say... I’ll have my men serve the madam well, right in front of your husband..."

"You bunch of corrupt officials, lawless! I will report this to the capital’s Prefecture!" Feng Jingming’s hoarse anger echoed in the hall.

"The law?"

Cao Jin suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, the sound filled with madness.

He turned his head towards Cao Haosheng behind him: "Old Thirteen, did you hear that? This old codger actually wants to talk law with our Dongchang?"

The moment the words fell, Cao Jin abruptly restrained his laughter, his eyes flashing with a cold light: "On the lands of Great Yu Country, the words of our Dongchang — that is the law!"

With that, Gang Qi suddenly surged from Cao Jin’s palm, a fierce Qi Force piercing through the air.

With a sound like tearing silk, the brocade on the Feng matriarch instantly turned into a flurry of fragments, her snowy skin faintly visible amidst the shredded fabric.

"No!" Feng Jingming let out a heart-wrenching wail.

Cao Jin grinned viciously, reaching for that patch of whiteness...

"Mr. Cao, isn’t this act... a bit too much?"

Finally unable to bear it, the deputy of the Jinyi Guards stepped forward with a heavy heart.

His right hand instinctively pressed on the saber hilt, his fingers gripping it tightly.

"Looking for death, get lost!"

Before Cao Jin could speak, Cao Haosheng grinned wickedly and launched an attack.

With an instant convergence of sinister Gang Qi in his right palm, he struck Zhao Huai’an solidly on the chest.

Bam!

The deputy of the Jinyi Guards flew back like a kite with a broken string, stopping only after crashing into an Eight Immortals table in the hall.

He spat out a mouthful of vivid blood, and the Jinyi Guards, seeing this, drew their blades in unison, their cold gleams instantly filling the hall.

"Everyone, stop!"

Enduring severe pain, the deputy of the Jinyi Guards shouted, wiping the blood from his mouth corner with a trembling hand, "What are you trying to do... are you looking to have your whole family buried?"

This statement was like a basin of cold water poured down.

The hands of the Jinyi Guards holding the blades trembled—none knew better than they did.

If they dared to confront Dongchang today, there would be dozens of headless corpses in the imperial prison tomorrow, even their elderly at home and the children wouldn’t escape death.

The deputy bore humiliation for a reason—he had witnessed the tragic fate of Black Tortoise Governor Yuan Qian.

That day, along with Vermilion Bird, Cyan Dragon, and White Tiger, he personally went to Jinfu City.

That man known as "Indestructible," Mr. Yuan, had turned into a highly decayed corpse.

Even more terrifying to him was Jinyi Guard Commander Envoy Shen Wanbao’s silence on the matter.

Who in the court did not know that although the Jinyi Guard was called factory guards alongside Dongchang, they had long become Dongchang’s claws?

Yuan Qian’s hiding of the one Dongchang wanted was a capital crime against the Emperor’s will.

Victory writes history, defeat buries the truth...

Zhao Huai’an smiled bitterly in his heart.

He clearly remembered when Mr. Shen heard of Yuan Qian’s death, how his calloused hands clenched tightly and then slowly let go.

This chief of the Jinyi Guards, who had dominated the court for decades, ultimately had to swallow the hatred for his murdered disciple.

Commander Envoy Shen Wanbao felt nothing but deep regret; blame it on his momentary softness, driven by personal emotions for the Crown Prince, which led him to secretly spare Lin Qinghan.

Now that the matter has been exposed, not only has he lost his beloved disciple, but the entire Jinyi Guard cannot hold their heads high.

The vice commander stared at Cao Jin’s arrogant back, his nails deeply embedded in his palm.

In this imperial court, what justice is there to speak of? It’s merely that old eunuch dog from Dongchang who covers the sky with one hand....

"Stop! I’ll talk!" A hoarse voice suddenly resounded.

The crowd turned towards the sound, only to see Feng Jingming, who was just recently unyielding unto death, now overwhelmed with tears.

"At least you know what’s best for you!"

Cao Jin snorted coldly, smiled wickedly, and pinched the snow-white in his hand powerfully...

Meanwhile, similar tragedies were unfolding throughout the capital.

Neither the mansions of the six ministers nor the mansions of the aristocratic families were spared from this catastrophe.

This, perhaps, could be considered equal treatment for all.

There were commoners hiding in the shadows, bitterly smiling.

But this "equality" is entirely built under the tyranny of Dongchang’s lackeys.

However, near the capital, there are still places where even these eagle dogs of Dongchang dare not easily trespass.

The blue stone steps before Lingdao Temple, several Dongchang lackeys just attempting to intrude were sent flying several meters by an invisible wall of Qi.

At the mountain gate of Qingfeng Sect, the Brocade Spring Saber of the Jinyi Guard hadn’t yet been drawn before the ribbon binding the saber was severed by a wind-blown leaf.

Some even personally witnessed the old master of Broken Sword Manor merely snorting coldly, causing the Dongchang’s Cao Jiu, who came to search, to bleed and retreat....

These martial clans, passed down for hundreds of years, possess foundations deep enough to startle.

The copper bell of Mingfo Temple rings out daily as usual, seemingly ridiculing Dongchang’s absurd actions.

No matter how formidable your power, before a true master of martial arts, you are nothing but mere chickens and dogs.

Three days later, the main hall of Dongchang.

Daylight pours through the carved window lattice, casting dappled shadows on the green stone floor.

Lu Xuan, dressed in a dark-colored python robe, sits with eyes closed on the gilded main seat.

His pale, slender fingers lightly tap the armrest, producing a rhythmic "tap tap" sound in the silent hall.

Below the hall, Dongchang’s Thirteen Protectors stand arrayed on both sides.

Cao Yi stands at the head, with the remaining twelve standing in order of age.

These adopted sons are uniformly dressed in dark fish-scale attire, with standard Dongchang sabers hanging at their waists, even controlling their breathing lightly, lest they disturb the person seated above.

A faint scent of blood lingers in the air—traces left from the days of ransacking the capital.

All thirteen carry varying degrees of murderous aura, but before Lu Xuan, they are as obedient as family dogs.

Blue smoke curls up from the gilded incense burner, enveloping Lu Xuan’s face in a haze.

No one knows what this Dongchang Supervisor, who terrifies the court and public alike, is contemplating at this moment.

Host: Red Dust Immortal Lu Xuan (Fourth Life)

Realm: Grandmaster (Initial Entry)

Cultivation Technique: Extreme Cold Palm 8/9

Points: 100

Lu Xuan slowly opened his eyes, a barely detectable trace of disappointment flashing in his gaze.

For the past three days, the treasure hoard Dongchang amassed from raiding are piled like mountains.

Millennium Ginseng, Snow Mountain Lingzhi, South Sea Pearl.... Treasures perceived as rare in the eyes of mortals, yet in his view, they are merely barely usable mundane objects.

After refining for a full three days, Lu Xuan only acquired 3000 system points.

This number elicited a cold smile at the corner of Lu Xuan’s mouth.

Such immense expenditure of manpower and resources, only to obtain such paltry gains.

Those so-called "great nourishing items" are ultimately just worldly objects, how could they compare to true treasures that absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi?

And those 3000 system points, just one deduction of "Extreme Cold Palm" consumed a full 2900 system points.

"Mundane objects are ultimately mundane...." Lu Xuan murmured in a cold voice, causing the Thirteen Protectors below to involuntarily shiver.

If he relies on these earthly nourishing items, Lu Xuan might never break through to surpass the world’s limits before old age and death.