Chapter 24: Aftermath

In front of the Lianshan City government office.

Shi Tianxing covered his nose, his expression extremely unsightly.

Although it wasn’t midsummer, this pile of mangled meat was so pulverized that it had already begun to rot and stink, swarming with flies and maggots.

As a Disciple of the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance, although Shi Tianxing was young, he had killed quite a few people.

However, this disgusting scene before him was still somewhat hard to stomach.

Murong Li, meanwhile, was squatting in front of the pile of mangled meat and Yuan Dongtian’s corpse, examining them carefully.

“Aside from Yuan Dongtian, there are at least four people in that pile of meat, five at most.

They died at the hands of the high-tier hidden weapon Guanyins Tears from the Divine Mechanism Sect.

The Bodhisattva lowers her eyes, and Guanyin sheds tears.

Only upon reaching the Ningzhen Realm, where one can transform True Qi into True Essence and release it as protective body energy, can one effectively resist such an attack.

Using Guanyins Tears to kill the likes of Yuan Dongtian is a bit of a waste.”

Shi Tianxing frowned and said, “The one who struck… was someone from the Divine Mechanism Sect?”

Murong Li looked at Shi Tianxing as if he were an idiot.

How could the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance send such a wet-behind-the-ears youth?

“If the Divine Mechanism Sect had acted, they wouldn’t have used Guanyins Tears. The person used Guanyins Tears because it was the only means they had at the time to completely exterminate Yuan Dongtian and the others.”

Murong Li stood up and said, “Let’s go, let’s head down and take a look.”

The two entered the underground via the passage and likewise saw those murals.

The more they looked, the more solemn their expressions became.

By the time they reached the bottom and saw the altar, their expressions had completely changed.

There was text on the murals, but it was the script of an ancient minor clan that they couldn’t understand.

However, just from the murals, they could tell that this minor clan was performing a Blood Sacrifice to something shaped like a stone stele.

“The seven killing stele!”

Murong Li spat out those four words in a complex tone.

Martial Artists from top-tier Jianghu forces must learn certain pieces of knowledge.

That is, the appearance and characteristics of various Divine Magical Weapons recorded in historical documents and even in legends.

Something that looks like a stone stele and requires a Blood Sacrifice has a ninety percent chance of being the seven killing stele.

The corpses of Jiang Kaitai and Murong Qing were still there.

Murong Li examined the corpses and had already analyzed the scene with near-perfect accuracy.

“Jiang Kaitai had wolfish ambitions; he began a Blood Sacrifice in Lianshan City, attempting to seize the Divine Artifact, the seven killing stele, but was discovered and stopped by Murong Qing.

He has wounds on his body left by my Murong Clan’s Dragon City Sword Art.

However, there was a third person down here who reaped the spoils like a fisherman, first killing Jiang Kaitai and then heavily wounding Murong Qing.

Murong Qing’s body has traces left by a Grappling Technique. Though it’s a petty trick that doesn’t belong on the grand stage, it’s quite sophisticated, and its origin is unrecognizable.

He didn’t kill Murong Qing directly because he needed to use Murong Qing’s Bloodline Power to activate the Shifting Stars Divine Artifact Incarnation to transfer the Blood Fiend Force from the seven killing stele.

Then, after he went out, he ran head-on into Yuan Dongtian and the others. At that time, his strength should have been exhausted, so he used Guanyins Tears to kill them.”

Murong Li calmly analyzed the scene at the time, almost perfectly deducing the sequence of the three people’s engagement.

“For this person to ultimately seize the seven killing stele, he must have a thorough understanding of the Divine Artifact’s characteristics.

He even knew to use the Murong Clan’s Bloodline Power to drive the Shifting Stars Divine Artifact Incarnation, so he must also be extremely familiar with my Murong Clan. His background shouldn’t be low.

Damn it! Who exactly dares to scheme against my Murong Clan?

If my Murong Clan finds out, we will surely tear him into ten thousand pieces!”

Murong Li’s face was ferocious, even somewhat distorted.

That was the supreme Divine Artifact, the seven killing stele!

The seven killing stele, which ranks among the top in terms of killing power among Divine Magical Weapons!

His thoughts were the same as Murong Qing’s; if they could obtain the seven killing stele, their Murong Clan’s strength would surely skyrocket, and it would be truly possible to succeed in restoring their nation.

At this moment, Murong Li suddenly turned his gaze toward Shi Tianxing.

Being familiar with the characteristics of Divine Artifacts and having an intimate knowledge of the Murong Clan—the one that best fits these conditions is actually the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance.

Furthermore, the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance has a grassroots background; their Legacy Cultivation Technique consists of only one Guan Ri Sword Art, while the rest are quite jumbled, including many Grappling Techniques.

It was no wonder Murong Li immediately assumed the suspect had a high-level background.

There are some things that bottom-level Jianghu People simply cannot come into contact with.

They have only heard the names of many Divine Magical Weapons and have no concept of their power.

In fact, most people have never even seen what the Murong Clan’s Shifting Stars looks like, so how could they know that Shifting Stars needs to be activated by the Murong Clan’s Bloodline Power?

Shi Tianxing was also secretly regretting.

This was the Divine Artifact, the seven killing stele.

It just so happened that their Yiqi Guanhri Alliance’s divine weapon was having problems; if they could seize the seven killing stele, the alliance’s crisis could be resolved.

If they had known this earlier, the alliance shouldn’t have been so hesitant and should have sent people immediately.

However, he didn’t regret it as much as the Murong Clan.

The Yiqi Guanhri Alliance simply arrived late, while the Murong Clan was involved but lost the Divine Artifact, which was even more pathetic.

At this moment, sensing Murong Li’s gaze, Shi Tianxing immediately reacted and hurriedly said, “You’re not suspecting my Yiqi Guanhri Alliance, are you?

If my Yiqi Guanhri Alliance knew that the seven killing stele was buried under Lianshan City, we would have certainly mobilized everyone to directly blockade Lianshan City and seize the Divine Artifact. Why bother with all these schemes?”

Murong Li withdrew his gaze and let out a long breath.

He also knew that what Shi Tianxing said made sense; it shouldn’t be the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance.

However, Murong Li then suddenly drew the long sword in his hand, and Sword Qi swept across, directly slicing Jiang Kaitai’s corpse into pieces.

“This old dog Jiang Kaitai truly deserves to die!”

Compared to Murong Qing, Murong Li was much older and acted with calm composure.

But even so, he was infuriated by Jiang Kaitai.

If not for the support of his Murong Clan back then, how could Jiang Kaitai, an outsider, have established a foothold in Lianshan City?

In the end, that old dog had been harboring ill intentions all along, concealing news of the Divine Artifact.

The seven killing stele was buried right under the Murong Clan’s territory, yet the Murong Clan could only watch helplessly as the Divine Artifact vanished.

This feeling was extremely uncomfortable.

“Young friend Shi, let me use the Blackwater Gang under your Yiqi Guanhri Alliance’s command.”

Shi Tianxing was momentarily stunned.

“What does Senior Murong intend to do?”

A ferocious killing intent appeared in Murong Li’s eyes: “There’s no need to keep a dog that doesn’t listen. That old dog Jiang Kaitai is dead, but the Heaven Wolf Gang is still there.

Help me surround and kill the Heaven Wolf Gang. Everyone who has ever joined the Heaven Wolf Gang, and everyone related to the Heaven Wolf Gang—exterminate them all, leave none alive!”

Shi Tianxing nodded, not feeling that anything was wrong.

The Murong Clan had suffered a great loss; not only was the Divine Artifact gone, but a direct clan member had also died.

With the Murong Clan’s petty personality, they would certainly do something to vent their anger.

And the Heaven Wolf Gang was the object of the Murong Clan’s venting.

They could only be blamed for their bad luck in having a gang leader like Jiang Kaitai.

As for whether doing this would affect the Murong Clan’s reputation, no one would care.

Great Aristocratic Families and Great Sects have always held the power of life and death over these bottom-level forces, acting with utter impunity.

It could be said that as long as the Murong Clan didn’t directly slaughter the entire city, no one in the Jianghu would say much; at most, they would just say that the Heaven Wolf Gang was unlucky.

After the two left, a massacre targeting the Heaven Wolf Gang began.

Thousands of Heaven Wolf Gang members died miserably; only a small number of people had the foresight to flee and save their lives.

Originally, the Murong Clan wanted to exterminate them all.

But because they couldn’t find the Heaven Wolf Gang’s roster, they let it be.

However, the Murong Clan still released a message: if any of the forces under their command heard of anyone claiming to be from the Heaven Wolf Gang, they should be killed immediately, and they could come to the Murong Clan afterward to collect a reward.

The storms of Lianshan City no longer had anything to do with Chen Yuan.

In a barren mountain five hundred miles away from Lianshan City, Chen Yuan had already been nursing his injuries in a cave for seven days.

After leaving that night, Chen Yuan had ridden away at full speed until he rode a horse to death. Only then did he buy some dry rations on the road and then retreat into the barren mountains to heal.

In fact, Chen Yuan hadn’t suffered too many injuries; the only external wound was a gash torn by Murong Qing’s Sword Qi, which wasn’t serious.

What was truly serious were the burn injuries to his Meridians left by the fire dragon pill.

Once he used his Internal Energy, a sharp pain would come from his Meridians, and the burns would become even more severe, even carrying the risk of rupture.

Therefore, after leaving the vicinity of Lianshan City, Chen Yuan immediately found a place to heal and recover his strength.

Fortunately, among the Medicinal Pills he had obtained earlier, there was a bottle of Returning Yuan and Coagulating Blood Pills. In just seven days, the injuries to his Meridians had completely recovered.

Chen Yuan was currently sitting cross-legged on the ground, his Internal Energy gathering in his hands, but then the Blood Qi in his body surged rapidly, quickly transforming into dark red, cold Blood Fiend True Qi.

But this True Qi seemed to be out of control, growing stronger and stronger. The speed of his Blood Qi’s surge within his body increased, consumption skyrocketed, and it even caused Chen Yuan’s blood vessels to bulge, making him look extremely terrifying.

Chen Yuan circulated his Internal Energy with all his might, forcibly suppressing that boiling Blood Qi.

Then, he suddenly slammed a palm onto the stone wall beside him. The powerful Blood Fiend True Qi instantly branded a deep, dark red palm print into the stone wall.

“It’s still somewhat out of control.”

Chen Yuan sighed and shook his head slightly.

He now had one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

The good news was that Chen Yuan had already stepped into the fourth realm of martial arts, the Foundation Establishment Realm, and had successfully condensed True Qi.

After the seven killing stele entered his body, although most of the impact from the Blood Fiend Qi was transferred by Chen Yuan using Shifting Stars, a small portion still entered his body.

With the impact of this Blood Fiend Force, some Impurities in Chen Yuan’s body were successfully cleaned out completely by that domineering Blood Fiend Force.

After his injuries were nursed back to health, the Blood Qi in Chen Yuan’s body was already as thick as silver mercury, pure and flawless—he had completely achieved Major Achievement in the Blood Moving Realm.

When Chen Yuan tried to condense his Internal Energy and forge True Qi, he actually succeeded in forging True Qi extremely smoothly, ignoring the Bottleneck and stepping directly into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Ordinary Martial Artists who want to reach Major Achievement in the Blood Moving Realm need to rely on slow, painstaking work, constantly refining the Impurities in their Blood Qi to achieve it.

In top-tier Great Aristocratic Families like the Murong Clan, their Disciples have countless rare treasures and precious medicines to assist their cultivation, yet they still need several months or even a year or two to succeed in Blood Moving.

Chen Yuan, relying on the Blood Fiend impact, had crossed the Blood Moving Realm in an instant; it was practically like riding a rocket.

But the bad news was that his current strength was still somewhat weak. After the seven killing stele entered his body, he was actually unable to completely control this Blood Fiend Force.