9: Chapter 9 King's Slaying

After leaving the Task Hall, he checked his task token and found the contact information of the other four people.

He activated the token with Spiritual Qi, sending out four voice transmissions simultaneously, and arranged to meet the four people who had accepted the same task as him at a pavilion outside the main gate of Chiyun Valley.

After sending out the message,

Lin Shen did not rush over immediately; instead, he returned to his residence to make some preparations.

Although Wang Chaoyang said there was no danger, he was naturally cautious and suspicious.

In order not to leave any hidden dangers and for his own safety, this operation still required thorough and foolproof preparations.

After all, this trip was a job of ransacking houses and exterminating clans.

Given Lin Shen's personality, if a single person from that Cultivator Family escaped and full clan extermination was not truly achieved, he would not be able to sleep peacefully in the future!

"The benefits of this trip are immense, so I must indeed strive for it. If there is life-threatening danger, then I will have no choice but to use this item!"

Lin Shen opened a prepared small wooden box, and looking at the three beads blooming with terrifying lightning inside, a sense of sufficient confidence suddenly surged in his heart.

These three beads blooming with terrifying lightning were named zhenlei bead, which Lin Shen had accidentally obtained two years ago.

At that time, just one of these zhenlei bead containing terrifying lightning was enough to be fatal and threaten a Cultivator at the Qi Refining Peak Realm.

Now two years had passed, and after being constantly nourished by his own lightning-attribute Spiritual Qi, the power contained within these three zhenlei bead was even more terrifying than before.

"However, this item is incomparably precious. Unless it is an absolute last resort, it still cannot be used rashly!"

Lin Shen looked at the three zhenlei bead emanating the terrifying power of lightning, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly:

"If used properly, even when facing the threat of the Foundation Establishment Realm, I can rely on these three zhenlei bead to buy myself a sliver of an opportunity to escape."

Putting these three zhenlei bead into his Storage Pouch, Lin Shen prepared a few more self-defense items. After confirming that everything was correct without any errors, he then headed towards the location he had agreed upon with those four people.

...

Outside Chiyun Valley.

In a nearby pavilion provided for resting.

When Lin Shen arrived, there were already two people waiting here in the pavilion.

One of them had a face like jade and a tall, upright figure. A purple robe fluttered with the wind, exuding the cultivation base of Qi Refining Stage 9, which was just a step away from Qi Refining Peak.

Judging from the Aura on his body, he was clearly the kind of person who had lived in comfort and luxury since childhood.

As for the other person, his skin was somewhat dark, and he wore a very ordinary black robe. His right hand was finely rubbing the hilt of the sword at his waist, as if he were caressing an extremely precious item in this world.

Although this person only had the cultivation base of the 8th Layer of Qi Refining, the feeling he gave Lin Shen was extremely dangerous.

This dangerous Aura was even richer than that of the Qi Refining Stage 9 person.

Narrowing his eyes slightly,

Lin Shen walked forward.

"Such a rich Aura of thunder and lightning..."

That Qi Refining Stage 9 Cultivator nodded with much satisfaction and said, "I didn't expect this Junior Brother to have a lightning-attribute mutated Spiritual Root. This is quite rare in Chiyun Valley."

"This Elder brother's name is Senior Brother Lin Zhiyuan, with a cultivation base of Qi Refining Stage 9."

Senior Brother Lin Zhiyuan added a sentence, a friendly smile appearing on his face.

Lightning-attribute mutated Spiritual Roots were quite rare, especially those practicing lightning-attribute Cultivation Techniques; their combat power was often much stronger than those of the same rank.

Therefore, even though Lin Shen's cultivation base was inferior to his, Senior Brother Lin Zhiyuan still placed the same level of importance on him as on himself in his heart.

"My name is Lin Shen!"

Lin Shen smiled and cupped his fists in a Jianghu etiquette: "May I ask what is this Senior Brother's esteemed name?"

Lin Shen shifted his gaze to the silent Cultivator at the 8th Layer of Qi Refining standing aside.

"Wang Zhan!"

Wang Zhan only spoke indifferently, and then said no more, continuing to stroke the longsword at his waist and casting his gaze into the distance, wondering what he was thinking about.

Wang Zhan?

Hearing this name, Lin Shen's heart couldn't help stirring slightly.

He was far too familiar with this name.

Over the past three years, the news he heard most often in the inner sect was about this Wang Zhan.

This person possessed merely the most ordinary Five Spiritual Roots. Having joined Chiyun Valley for nearly nine years, the speed at which his cultivation base increased was not fast.

However, his actual combat capability was extremely strong. Relying on his formidable slaughtering ability, Wang Zhan had directly fought his way all the way from the outer sect of Chiyun Valley into the inner sect.

When going out to execute tasks, countless Cultivator of the same rank died at his hands.

Even, a year ago.

While executing a team task, they encountered an ambush by a group of desperate bandit Cultivator, among whom there were even multiple Qi Refining Stage 9 Cultivator.

Under such a desperate situation, not only did Wang Zhan not perish, but instead he powerfully crossed ranks to kill three Qi Refining Stage 9 Cultivator, leading two severely wounded fellow sect Cultivator to fight their way out of the encirclement and return to Chiyun Valley.

At that time, this news caused quite a stir within Chiyun Valley.

It was simply because Wang Zhan's Spiritual Root Aptitude was too poor. Otherwise, if his Spiritual Root Aptitude had been slightly better, relying on such terrifying actual combat capability, quite a few Elders would definitely have scrambled to take him as a Disciple.

Lin Shen nodded slightly.

With this person around, it seemed that this task would go much smoother than he had imagined.

However, Wang Zhan's attitude was cold, so he didn't bother to ingratiate himself with someone who gave him the cold shoulder.

After nodding slightly in acknowledgement, he stood in place and patiently waited for the remaining two people.

Not long after, about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea,

the remaining two people also arrived together.

This was a man and a woman whose relationship was extremely intimate. Judging by their appearance, they should be Dao Companions, or fellow Disciples under the same Elder.

"I didn't expect Senior Brother Wang Zhan to have also accepted this task. It seems our task this time will be much more secure."

The man dressed in a green robe landed steadily on the ground, smiled and cupped his fists as he spoke: "I am Wu Qingfeng, and this is my Junior Sister Zhao Xue."

Zhao Xue, dressed in a snow-white dress beside him, also stepped forward and greeted them with a smile.

Lin Shen and the others smiled and nodded, each reporting their own names, which counted as a preliminary understanding between both sides.

"Since everyone has arrived, let's discuss the task plan for this trip before setting off."

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Senior Brother Lin Zhiyuan, who had the highest cultivation base among them, looked at Wang Zhan, seemingly wanting to consult his opinion.

There was no help for it.

Although his cultivation base was sufficient, his strength was definitely inferior to the Wang Zhan before him.

In this world, everything was respected based on strength.

In a situation where there were fellow sect apprentices whose strength was more formidable than his own, he certainly wouldn't rashly step forward to be this leader.

However, Wang Zhan merely shook his head: "I am not good at plotting and only know how to fight and kill. Senior Brother Lin, you can make the arrangements as you see fit."

Seeing Wang Zhan hand this leadership role over to him, Senior Brother Lin Zhiyuan's face gained a few more smiles.

He looked at the others and smiled as he spoke: "Since Junior Brother Wang wants to hear my opinion, then I shall briefly discuss some of my own thoughts. I wonder if the other Junior Brothers and Junior Sister have any objections?"

Lin Shen and the others all shook their heads.

Even Wang Zhan had no objections, and since their cultivation was not as high as Senior Brother Lin Zhiyuan's, they naturally wouldn't try to be the ringleader.

What's more, it's better to have less trouble than more trouble.

With someone arranging the task's plan properly and thoroughly, they could also spend less effort, and there was no need to do those thankless tasks.