Chapter 479 - 431: As Fate Dictates

Chapter 479: Chapter 431: As Fate Dictates

A city in Lingzhou.

In an ordinary inn.

Bai Yuan looked at the list in Li Huan’s hands and nodded with satisfaction.

Every name on it belonged to a well-known expert in Lingzhou. He slowly raised his brush and drew an X over the name Zeng Shun.

Indeed, this was, to be precise, an assassination list.

The people on the list were his assassination targets.

Battles between armies of Martial Artists defy conventional logic. Sometimes, a single powerhouse is enough to decide the outcome of a fight.

Of course, Bai Yuan’s current strength wasn’t enough to decide the entire war, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do *something*.

Assassinating Celestial Profound Sect powerhouses behind enemy lines was undoubtedly the best course of action.

The Celestial Profound Sect’s main army was currently engaged in a massive battle with the Northern Garrison Army. If the experts back at their Lingzhou base started dying one after another, it would be difficult to keep the front lines stable.

The importance of operations behind enemy lines immediately became apparent.

Li Huan looked at the list and blinked. "Are you really going to kill them one by one?"

A smile touched the corners of Bai Yuan’s mouth. "Of course."

Chaotic times had their advantages. Before, he would never have dared to act so unscrupulously. This was the perfect opportunity.

’Time to kill to my heart’s content!’

Seeing the twisted look on Bai Yuan’s face, Li Huan couldn’t help but shudder.

He suspected that the boy’s talk of bringing troops to Lingzhou was a pretense. The real reason was that his hands were itching for a kill. Knowing Bai Yuan, that was most likely the truth.

As expected, Li Huan’s guess was confirmed.

In just seven days, all seven Prefects from Lingzhou’s Thirteen Prefectures who had sided with the Celestial Profound Sect were assassinated, their heads hung from the city walls. Beyond that, more than a dozen of the Celestial Profound Sect’s Sensing Powerhouses were also slain.

Every Sensing Martial Artist was a pillar of their sect. Even a clan as large and established as the Celestial Profound Sect couldn’t withstand Bai Yuan’s slaughter.

The Ancestor of the Celestial Profound Sect was enraged.

He vowed to personally execute Bai Yuan.

Bai Yuan’s response was simple: he used the heads of Celestial Profound Sect experts to spell the word "IDIOT" on the city wall.

This act, as expected, provoked widespread fury. Many Celestial Profound Sect masters fighting on the front lines wanted nothing more than to rush back to Lingzhou and hunt down the rampaging Xuanyang Jiedu Envoy.

...

A city in Xiangzhou.

This was several miles behind the battlefield where the Celestial Profound Sect and the Northern Garrison Army clashed, and it was where the Northern Garrison Army was currently stationed.

Jiedu Envoy He Xinping shot Dong Wanjun, who was studying a sand table, a peculiar look.

"Old Dong, your disciple is really something else."

Word of Bai Yuan’s deeds in Lingzhou had already reached the Northern Garrison Army. Many young soldiers now saw him as an inspiration. His reputation in the army was now easily on par with his own—a Jiedu Envoy—and that of the Grand General of the North standing beside him.

Dong Wanjun said flatly, "Take some men and scout the right flank yourself. I need a clear count of the number of masters at or above the Sensing realm within the city."

He Xinping pursed his lips.

"As you command, Grand General."

He found the apprentice, Bai Yuan, to be far more interesting than Dong Wanjun.

He also understood Dong Wanjun’s intention for the scouting mission.

With Bai Yuan causing such a stir in Lingzhou, the Celestial Profound Sect would most likely have to pull experts from the front lines to send back as reinforcements. This would reduce the number of enemy powerhouses on the battlefield. If the numbers dropped to a level Dong Wanjun anticipated, another major battle between the two sides was inevitable.

He Xinping had no objection whatsoever to Dong Wanjun’s order.

All things considered, he was probably the most stifled of the four Jiedu Envoys. After all, he was constantly being overshadowed by Xu Dingchun and Dong Wanjun.

A dignified Jiedu Envoy, reduced to a supporting role.

But looking at it now, this choice had been a wise one.

With the karmic destiny shattered and the situation in Xuan Yang in upheaval, he, compared to the other three Jiedu Envoys, was under the least pressure. After all, Dong Wanjun was there to shoulder the burden.

It was a good thing he had stayed with the Northern Garrison Army.

Otherwise, that Ancestor from the Celestial Profound Sect might have killed him, who was supposed to be in Binzhou, right along with the Jiedu Envoy of Lingzhou.

So, He Xinping was very satisfied with his current situation.

After He Xinping left, Dong Wanjun continued to stare intently at the sand table, but his thoughts had already drifted far beyond it.

...

「Lingzhou. Celestial Distant Mansion.」

"Useless! You’re all useless!"

A middle-aged Daoist was cursing loudly at the subordinates kneeling on the ground before him.

"If you can’t find him, then you can all go die!"

The middle-aged Daoist roared hysterically. He was a master from the Daoist Sect, a branch of the Celestial Profound Sect. His original post was to guard Celestial Distant Mansion, so he didn’t have to go to the front lines—a comfortable assignment he was happy to have.

But he never expected Bai Yuan to appear out of nowhere.

Bai Yuan had killed so many of Lingzhou’s experts that they were nearly all gone. The Daoist did the math over and over, and no matter how he looked at it, he felt he would be next. That was why he’d sent his subordinates to find Bai Yuan’s whereabouts.

But the strongest among them were mere novices. How could they possibly track down a Mingxin Grandmaster?

In the end, it was just powerless rage.

’No, I have to hide.’

The middle-aged Daoist muttered to himself. He hadn’t always been with the Celestial Profound Sect. He was originally a rogue practitioner who had only joined after his own sect was destroyed. As such, he felt no real loyalty to the Celestial Profound Sect; self-preservation was all that mattered.

The only reason he hadn’t fled before was the certainty that he would face a reckoning from the Celestial Profound Sect.

But now, with disaster imminent, he couldn’t afford not to run.

The middle-aged Daoist made his decision in an instant. Without packing a single thing, he pushed open the door, ready to flee. But the moment he stepped outside, he sensed something was wrong.

The Prefecture Magistrate’s Office was far too quiet.

The next second, a man in brocade robes slowly walked out.

When the man in brocade robes appeared, the middle-aged Daoist’s expression turned grim. He slowly spat out two words: "Bai Yuan?"

Bai Yuan smiled faintly. "Since you recognize me, let’s get straight to it."

But then, the middle-aged Daoist dropped to his knees with a THUD and kowtowed three times, his forehead hitting the ground with a loud BANG, BANG, BANG. "Great Lord Bai! This humble Daoist only joined the Celestial Profound Sect partway through! I’ve never killed a single soldier from the Northern Garrison Army! If Your Lordship, in your great magnanimity, spares me, I will follow Lord Bai’s every command from this day forward!"