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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 2: [Jiuli Insect Valley]
Chapter 22 (49): [The Five Seas Realm?]
(22nd of Volume 2)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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"Good timing!"
Li Weiyi roared with boundless confidence, then unleashed the Clear Void Cicada Step Technique, intercepting the Seven Springs Expert with the thick, dense beard, who was already intimidated by him.
With a Sword Opens the Sea strike, a ten-foot-long golden blade forced the man to retreat.
Instead of pursuing, Li Weiyi turned and charged toward the middle-aged man with the long black mole on his brow. He reached the man's back just before the man could punch open the building's main gate.
Forced into a corner, the brow-mole man had no choice but to duck and roll to the right.
This was precisely the opportunity Li Weiyi had been waiting for. Once the man was forced to evade in such a clumsy manner, his vision would be momentarily obscured. All his combat techniques, mental fortitude, and courage would collapse like a dam bursting under pressure.
"Swish! Swish! Swish..."
Li Weiyi unleashed a torrential storm of attacks, each strike faster than the last, his sword's shadow cascading like a waterfall.
By the time the Seven Springs Expert with the thick beard rushed forward to rescue him, the man with the black mole on his brow had already lost both arms. His shoulders were bloody, leaving him looking like a human pillar.
He screamed in agony, unable to accept his horrific state.
The Seven Springs Expert with the thick beard was terrified, all his fighting spirit gone.
He turned and fled.
But the human pillar that was the man with the black mole on his brow had an even stronger will to survive. He had already started running towards the gate.
"You have crossed that gate and thought you could escape?"
Li Weiyi pursued them.
If a Seven Springs Martial-Magic Cultivator possessed unwavering fighting spirit, the courage to fight to the death, a calm and rational mind, and an indomitable spirit, Li Weiyi wouldn't find it easy to defeat even one of them in a head-on clash.
If they joined forces, they could even pose a life-or-death threat to Li Weiyi.
But once their spirit crumbled and they started to flee, Li Weiyi found them much easier to deal with.
"What's going on in that mansion? Why are they fighting so fiercely? It sounds like people are dying in there. It's terrifying!"
In the distance, across the street at the brothel, many young women dressed in flamboyant attire stood at the railings, their expressions ranging from curiosity to shock to excitement as they chatted with the wealthy patrons beside them.
"Such thick black fog... Could it be Dead Spirits and Malevolent Demons?"
"Don't worry, we're safe here. It's probably the Changlin Gang trying to rob the newcomers, but they seem to have bitten off more than they can chew!" a Martial-Mystic expert who knew some inside information chuckled.
"Who are these newcomers, daring to challenge the Changlin Gang? Don't they know the Changlin Gang rules this part of the city?"
"Look, the City Defense Corps is here."
"They're so late! They must be in cahoots with the Changlin Gang."
...
"Boom!"
The courtyard wall was smashed open by the dense, beard-like whiskers of a Seven Springs Expert, creating a man-high gap. His body flew over ten feet, landing on his back in the street as if punched out of the wall.
Debris from the wall littered the long street.
Screams erupted from the direction of the brothel.
"Whoosh!"
Almost simultaneously, Li Weiyi leaped over the wall, his flying knee striking the man's chest. He followed up with a punch that obliterated the man's face, cracking the stone pavement beneath.
"Stop!"
"Rebellion! Daring to kill in the streets of Jiu Li City!"
.....
A patrol of over twenty armored City Defense Corps soldiers on horseback, each armed with a spear, halted Li Weiyi from afar with loud shouts.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The thunder of iron hooves grew closer, quickly encircling him.
They wore white armor and rode powerful steeds that had ingested the blood of exotic beasts, undergoing mutations that made them nearly twice as strong as ordinary horses.
Li Weiyi slowly rose to his feet, his fists soaked in blood. He surveyed the wall of steel and bronze that was the City Defense Corps, unfazed by their murderous aura.
He clasped his hands in a respectful bow. "Xie Jin, a commoner of the Cangli Tribe greets you, Military Lords. These villains trespassed into a civilian's home with malicious intent. I have subdued them."
The captain of the patrol, Chen Chuan, was a sixty-year-old Seven Springs Aberrant Humanoid with a tiger's head and a three-meter-tall, powerfully built frame.
"They're no longer breathing or have a heartbeat. Is that what you call 'subdued'?" Chen Chuan snorted coldly.
With his cultivation, he could hear the minute details of the bodies lying on the ground from several dozen meters away.
Li Weiyi said, "Perhaps I went a bit too hard! But I had no choice. The villain was too powerful and vicious. I had to fight with everything I had."
Chen Chuan recognized the middle-aged man lying on the ground and knew his strength. He realized this young man's cultivation was unfathomable. He hesitated, unsure whether to offend such a formidable figure for the sake of the Changlin Gang.
After all, the gang only paid him a thousand silver coins each month.
"You said you're a Commoner of the Cangli Tribe. Do you have a Commoner Registry?" Chen Chuan asked.
"Yes!"
Li Weiyi pulled out the Commoner Registry Zhao Zhizhuo had helped him obtain in Yaoguan City.
Over eighty percent of the population in Li Prefecture were born into the Nine Tribes, collectively known as the Commoners.
Commoner Registries could be obtained in every city in Li Prefecture. With the Young Clan Leader Cang Li's word, many of the usual requirements were waived, making it mostly a formality.
Of course, anything easy to obtain was also easy to forge.
In recent years, as the major tribes of the Jiu Li declined and the surrounding prefectures were ravaged by years of war, numerous external forces flooded into Li Prefecture, either seeking refuge from the conflict or vying for resources and territory.
Many heretical sects, armed with forged Commoner Registries, ran rampant across Li Prefecture.
Born into the Chi Li Tribe, Chen Chuan immediately recognized that Li Weiyi's Commoner Registry was no ordinary forgery.
It even included a village fiefdom with precise geographical coordinates.
While this didn't prove anything definitive, it at least confirmed that the young man's registry wasn't a fake. Forging such a document was easily exposed, and the consequences of being caught were severe.
With a clatter, Chen Chuan dismounted his sturdy warhorse, its flanks clad in white metal plates. He tossed the Commoner Registry back to Li Weiyi and then, stepping over shattered stones, entered the mansion through a large hole in the courtyard wall.
Taking in the scene inside, Chen Chuan gasped, his gaze returning to Li Weiyi with a newfound wariness.
At the end of the street, two Changlin Gang members, stationed as lookouts, fled in panic, disappearing into the darkness.
...
The Changlin Gang's headquarters occupied nearly a hundred acres, enclosed by high walls and grand courtyards. The main gate was three meters wide.
Bone lanterns hung high above the entrance, flanked by four Martial-Mystic experts of the Aberrant Humanoid race, each armed with a weapon.
Yang Qingxi, veiled, sat in the main hall in the seat usually occupied by Gang Leader Xu Changlin, reviewing the past three months' accounts.
As a Pure Immortal Physique, her hair and skin possessed an otherworldly radiance, and even her five snow-white fingers held a breathtaking beauty that could make one's heart skip a beat.
Her exquisite eyes, unhidden by the veil, were intelligent and focused.
Standing beside her, Xu Changlin, Vice Gang Leader Tang Yan, and Banner Leader Shi Chuan Yu - all notorious figures in this city - struggled to control their gazes, daring not to overstep their bounds.
They knew that the young lady before them possessed not only the beauty of a Pure Immortal Physique but also the cultivation of the Five Seas Realm and a ruthlessly efficient method of killing with a smile.
After finishing her review, Yang Qingxi closed the accounts.
Her slender fingers picked up a bamboo brush from the brush pot, idly twirling it as her serene eyes swept over the three men.
"The Changlin Gang has become increasingly adept at making money. This quarter's income equals half of last year's total. Should I praise you, or reward you?"
Vice Gang Leader Tang Yan fawned, "Making money for the young miss is our duty... Ah..."
"Swish-"
A bamboo brush shot from Yang Qingxi's fingers like a streak of light, grazing Tang Yan's cheek and striking a rockery seven or eight meters away.
Unable to withstand the immense Spiritual Power contained within the brush, the rockery crumbled with a thunderous crash.
The shattered stones splashed into the pond, sending ripples across the surface.
One could only imagine what fate awaited anyone struck by such a blow.
A bloody gash appeared on Tang Yan's cheek, and his legs trembled like a sieve.
In that instant, he had been certain he was about to die, his head about to explode.
There had been no way to dodge.
Though both were in the Five Seas Realm, Yang Qingxi's Pure Immortal Physique far surpassed his own. She could kill him with nothing more than an ordinary bamboo brush.
Yang Qingxi coldly surveyed Tang Yan, now kneeling on the ground in terror.
"Do you think the Yang Clan is blind to the Changlin Gang's activities and the exact amount of money you've earned in recent months?"
Xu Changlin quickly explained, "Young miss, it was Vice Gang Leader Tang who recruited a powerful Insect Tamer for the Changlin Gang. This Insect Tamer keeps a nest of Giant Spiders, which must be fed with the flesh of human Martial-Magic Cultivators. He handles the killings himself, feeding the spiders, while we simply clean up the aftermath. Over time, this has yielded a considerable amount of unexpected wealth."
Yang Qingxi didn't believe the Changlin Gang could recruit any truly formidable Insect Tamers. Uninterested, her gaze turned serious.
"For a gang to establish itself, a ruthless approach is sometimes necessary. But within three to six months, Li Prefecture will inevitably descend into chaos. I fear you'll sacrifice the greater good for short-term gains."
"In the coming days, several important friends of the Yang Clan will be arriving in Jiu Li City from afar. Their identities are sensitive, making it unwise for them to enter the city directly. You will be responsible for hosting them temporarily. During this period, I expect all of you to behave yourselves. Do not, under any circumstances, allow their presence to be compromised."
An Elder hurried into the main hall, his expression urgent.
Xu Changlin glanced at Shi Chuan Yu, who bowed to Yang Qingxi before quickly exiting to inquire about the matter.
After a whispered exchange, Shi Chuan Yu's face paled: "Are you certain it's a Five Seas Realm cultivator?"
The Elder nodded: "Absolutely! The lookout reported that a single person took down over a dozen of our top fighters, including two Seven Springs guest elders. Even Master Qi, our Insect Tamer, was captured. Moreover, the attacker wielded a Law spiritual artifact and set up spirit tablets in the courtyard, exuding absolute confidence. What else could it be but a Five Seas Realm cultivator?"
"What's even more terrifying is that the master of the mansion, that six-meter-tall Aberrant Humanoid, never showed himself from beginning to end, making him seem even more unfathomable."
Shi Chuan Yu's heart pounded. He realized that the reason he hadn't sensed any Spiritual Power when he'd touched the other person's palm earlier that day was likely because their cultivation level was far too high.
The Elder continued, "There's one more thing."
Shi Chuan Yu struggled to calm his shock, his gaze drifting toward Yang Qingxi in the building, which finally steadied his nerves.
"Speak!" he said.
"Chen Chuan of the City Defense Corps has already arrived. The other party claims to be a Commoner of the Cangli Tribe."
With that, the Elder beckoned to the distance.
Two burly gang members carried over Zhao Zhizhuo, beaten to the brink of death.
Zhao Zhizhuo lay on the ground, covered in blood and unrecognizable. His arms were dislocated, and his eyes, swollen with bruises, struggled to open a crack. Weakly, he gasped, "They really are guests of the Cangli Tribe's Young Clan Leader... You Changlin Gang... you'd better not have any ill intentions. The Young Clan Leader won't let you get away with this..."
With no other options after being captured, Zhao Zhizhuo could only invoke the Young Clan Leader's name, hoping to scare off the Changlin Gang.
But instead, he was met with ridicule and even more brutal beatings from the gang members.
Some asked why he hadn't invoked the Cangli Tribe's clan leader's name, while others suggested Xu Fodu's name would be more effective.
Shi Chuan Yu turned to the Elder, his gaze questioning.
The Elder looked equally distressed: "Who could have predicted that Cang Li's guest would be renting a residence in the outskirts? Besides, what credibility could a Second Spring Opening old servant possibly have? If everyone just gave a name and I had to verify it, anyone could bluff us. But if the person inside truly is a Five Seas Realm cultivator... that's a different matter altogether!"
Yang Qingxi, sitting inside the house, had overheard every word. She glanced at Xu Changlin and sneered: "This is the 'formidable Insect Tamer' you were talking about? Whoever caused this mess, you deal with it."
"This subordinate will handle it properly," Tang Yan replied, quickly rising and hurrying out, desperate to escape the suffocating atmosphere of the room.
As he reached the door, Yang Qingxi called him back.
After careful consideration, she said, "Cang Li has always been generous and extravagant. If this is truly a powerful figure he's befriended, it's unlikely he'd be housed in the outskirts. Unless there's another motive... Investigate this thoroughly. Find out exactly who these people are and what their true intentions are."
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END OF CHAPTER
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