47: Chapter 47 The First Nail

The border town was named Qingshi Town, named after the bluestone produced there. The town wasn't large, with only a few hundred households. A main street ran through from north to south, lined with grocery stores, blacksmith shops, tea houses, and inns. To the north of the town lay a manor covering several acres, with blue bricks and black tiles, high walls, and deep courtyards. A plaque reading "Tiandao Sect Qingshi Annex" hung at the entrance; this was Chen Yuanji's first target.

It was evening when he reached Qingshi Town, and the setting sun dyed the town a golden hue. He didn't rush to act but instead sat down at the tea house at the town's entrance, ordered a pot of tea, and drank slowly. The Wuzhui Horse was tied up at the entrance, attracting many gazes; a mount of this caliber was a rare sight in such a small town.

"Is the guest passing through or staying long-term?" The tea house owner was a woman in her thirties, nimble and wearing a pleasant smile.

"Passing through." Chen Yuanji set down his tea bowl. "That manor to the north, what's its story?"

The woman's smile stiffened for a moment, and she lowered her voice. "Guest, don't ask about that place. Everyone in town knows it's Tiandao Sect territory. The people inside are not to be provoked."

"Not to be provoked?"

"Not to be provoked," the woman repeated. "Last year, a Martial Artist from out of town got drunk and caused trouble at the manor's gate. He was gone by the next day—no person seen alive, no body seen dead."

Chen Yuanji nodded and asked no more. After finishing his tea, he found an inn in town to stay at. The inn was not far from the manor; standing by the second-floor window, he could see the entire layout of the manor.

As night fell, the town grew quiet. Chen Yuanji changed into black night-traveling clothes, tucked his short blade into his waist, and kept the martial gods heart and ancient jade close to his body. He pushed open the window, flipped out, and landed silently on the roof. The moonlight was obscured by clouds, and the sky was very dark.

He moved along the rooftops toward the manor, his footsteps light as a civet cat's, making no sound. His perception at the Peak of Gang Energy extended outward, bringing everything within a hundred-zhang radius under his control. The positions of the patrolling guards, the hiding spots of the sentries, and the internal layout of the manor were as clear as a map. The manor's walls were about two zhang high, topped with iron spikes. Chen Yuanji didn't climb the wall but instead circled to the back of the manor, where an old locust tree's branches reached inside. He climbed the trunk and jumped from a branch into the courtyard, landing soundlessly.

The courtyard was very quiet, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind. Chen Yuanji pressed against the wall and moved deeper into the manor. His perception told him there were seventeen people in total: two in the Early Stage of the Shentong Realm and fifteen in the Guiyuan Realm. The two in the Shentong Realm were in the main hall in the center of the manor, seemingly discussing something. The fifteen in the Guiyuan Realm were scattered throughout the manor—some patrolling, some sleeping.

"Deal with the Guiyuan Realm guards on the perimeter first, then handle the Shentong Realm ones," Chen Yuanji calculated in his heart.

He crept up behind the first patrolling guard. It was a burly man in the Middle Stage of the Guiyuan Realm, a long saber at his waist, currently yawning. Chen Yuanji's right hand reached out, his fingers locking around the man's throat as hidden force erupted.

"Crack." With a slight sound of bone fracturing, the burly man's body went limp before he could even scream. Chen Yuanji gently laid the body on the ground and continued toward his next target.

Second, third, fourth... in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, all fifteen Guiyuan Realm guards were dead, without alerting anyone. Chen Yuanji stood outside the main hall, listening to the conversation of the two Shentong Realm experts inside.

"...Word came from the Jiang Clan that the human youth named Chen Yuanji has left the Eastern Desolate Region and might have come to the Zhongyuan Region. The Grand Elder wants us to heighten our vigilance."

"What's there to fear? A Half-Step Divine Realm—can he really turn the world upside down? Zhou Xuanji only lost because he underestimated the enemy; we won't make that mistake."

"It's better to be cautious. The Grand Elder said: if alive, we must see the person; if dead, we must see the corpse."

Chen Yuanji pushed open the door and walked in. A few oil lamps were lit in the main hall, and two middle-aged men sat at a table with a map spread out before them. Seeing Chen Yuanji enter, both were stunned.

"Who are you?" one of them barked, his hand already on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"The person you were just talking about," Chen Yuanji said calmly. "Chen Yuanji."

The expressions of the two Shentong Realm experts changed simultaneously. They attacked at once, one from the left and one from the right, two sharp sword lights heading straight for Chen Yuanji's throat and chest. The full-force strike of two Early Stage Shentong Realm experts, coordinated perfectly, blocked all paths of retreat.

Chen Yuanji did not retreat. He reached out his right hand, fingers splayed, and caught the left man's blade. Protective Aura condensed in his palm, and the blade was crushed into flying shards. Simultaneously, his left hand threw a punch, the Crushing Fist wrapped in white Protective Aura, striking the man on the right in the chest.

"Bang! Bang!" Two dull thuds rang out almost simultaneously. The man on the left had his tiger's mouth split as he stumbled back, while the man on the right was sent flying, crashing through the wall and landing in the courtyard, coughing up blood.

Chen Yuanji gave the man on the left no chance to breathe, stepping in front of him and striking his palm down on the man's crown.

"Crack." The skull shattered, and the body collapsed. He walked out of the main hall into the courtyard. The man on the right was still alive, but several ribs in his chest were broken, and he lay on the ground unable to move.

"What is the relationship between the Jiang Clan and the Tiandao Sect?" Chen Yuanji crouched down and looked into his eyes.

"You... don't even think about getting anything out of me..." The man gritted his teeth.

Chen Yuanji didn't ask further and crushed his skull with a palm strike. He stood up and searched the main hall, finding some letters and ledgers. Most of the letters were about the Tiandao Sect's deployments in the Zhongyuan Region, and the ledgers recorded wealth extorted by the Tiandao Sect from various places. Several letters mentioned the Jiang Clan, stating that the Jiang Clan was sending resources to the Tiandao Sect in exchange for the sect's protection.

"The Ancestor of the Jiang Clan's lifespan is nearing its end and urgently needs a Bloodline successor. Chen Yuanji is of the direct Jiang Clan bloodline and must be captured," one letter read. Chen Yuanji tucked the letters and ledgers into his robes and walked out of the manor. Behind him, the manor fell into a deathly silence.

He returned to the inn, changed out of his night-traveling clothes, and spread the letters and ledgers on the table, reading them one by one. Most of the information he already knew from Empress Yan Wuji, but one letter caught his attention. It was a letter from the Jiang Clan Chief to the Tiandao Sect's Grand Elder, Sikong Sheng. The content was brief—"The Seal inside Chen Yuanji was personally set by my Jiang Clan Ancestor and can only be undone by one of the direct Jiang Clan bloodline. If an outsider tries to force it open, it will only cause his body to explode. Please rest assured, Grand Elder, he cannot escape." Chen Yuanji folded this letter and tucked it separately into his robes.

"A Seal personally set by the Jiang Clan Ancestor," he murmured. "Only a direct Jiang Clan bloodline can undo it."

His mother was a direct daughter of the Jiang Clan, and Jiang blood flowed in his veins. In other words, only he could undo the Seal? Or did it require another direct Bloodline member? He didn't know! But at least he knew one thing: the Tiandao Sect wouldn't dare force the Seal open because they feared his body would explode, which made him temporarily safe.

The next morning, Chen Yuanji left Qingshi Town on his Wuzhui Horse. By the time the townspeople discovered the bodies in the manor, he had already traveled over a hundred miles. The first stronghold was uprooted; next were the second, third, and fourth. The route map Empress Yan Wuji gave him marked thirty-seven strongholds. Qingshi Town was the first and weakest; the strongholds that followed would grow increasingly stronger, some even guarded by those in the Faxiang Realm.

"Faxiang Realm," Chen Yuanji calculated. "At the Peak of Gang Energy, fighting someone in the Early Stage of the Faxiang Realm shouldn't be hard. The Middle Stage would be a bit of a struggle, and against the Late Stage, I can only run."

He touched the martial gods heart in his robes. "Once I break through to the God Realm, the Faxiang Realm won't be enough to stop me."

The Wuzhui Horse galloped along the official road, kicking up a trail of dust. Ahead lay the next target.