161: Sweep through thousands of troops

Time returned to when Chen Linsheng was in seclusion.

Deep within the Immortal Cave, time seemed to stand still.

Chen Linsheng sat cross-legged on a prayer mat with his palms, soles, and crown facing the sky, his entire body enveloped in a faint yet exceptionally solid pale-golden shimmer.

The light was not static; it flowed slowly like a living thing with his long, deep breaths, sometimes vanishing beneath his skin and sometimes peeking out, casting flickering shadows on the stone walls.

His entire focus was immersed in the newly opened "territory" within his body.

Within his five viscera, five cyclones of vastly different attributes yet harmonious coexistence were rotating steadily.

Heart fire blazed, liver wood flourished, spleen earth was heavy, lung metal was sharp, and kidney water was enduring. Under the command and harmony of the Hunyuan True Body, the Five Elements Qi had initially formed an endless cycle of rotation. Wisps of pure Origin Qi were born from this cycle, nourishing his already incredibly powerful physique like trickling streams, and constantly merging with the prototype of the Golden Garment beneath his skin, making it increasingly solid and resilient.

Everything from the outside world was deliberately blocked from his perception.

At this moment, only the internal movement of mountains and rivers and the surging of blood and Qi were real.

However, the extraordinary five senses brought by Tracking Perfection could not be completely isolated after all.

He did not know which day of seclusion it was—perhaps the third or the fourth—when Chen Linsheng was guiding a new stream of Lung Metal Origin Qi, trying to integrate it more perfectly into the Golden Garment on his right palm—

"Hum..."

A faint yet exceptionally clear vibration, as if from deep underground or transmitted through thick rock and soil, lightly tapped at the edge of his perception.

Chen Linsheng's brow twitched imperceptibly.

Immediately following, similar fluctuations began to arrive intermittently.

Sometimes it was from the northwest, where a sharp and peerless Saber Intent seemed to tear the sky apart before vanishing, followed by the muffled roar of energy annihilation; even after being weakened by distance, the cruelty within could still be felt.

Sometimes it was from the southeastern waters, where the surging sound of waves exploding could be faintly heard, mixed with short screams and the screech of clashing weapons, before everything returned to silence, leaving only a thick scent of blood that seemed to drift in with the wind.

More frequently, it came from various directions around the prefecture city, places he had heard of or were completely unfamiliar with.

A remote mountain villa, a stretch of abandoned riverbed, a densely forested hilltop... intense combat fluctuations erupted from time to time.

The roar of True Qi collisions, the muffled thud of collapsing houses, and... an efficient, cold, and solemn rhythm, like the harvesting of wheat.

That rhythm did not belong to the gratified vengeance of Jianghu feuds, nor did it belong to the tragic combat of two armies facing off.

It was more like a precise elimination, an unquestionable erasure.

"Army Breaker Manor..."

Chen Linsheng understood clearly.

Though he was in seclusion in the Immortal Cave, after the bloodbath at the Martial Examination Drill Ground, the cold gaze of Ling Feng when he left and Eunuch Cao's whisper of "The show is over, it's time to pull in the net" had already foretold the coming storm. He just didn't expect the storm to arrive so quickly and fiercely.

He could "hear" that within every eruption of energy fluctuation, there was a faint trace of the sharp Qi unique to the Pojun Guard's standard-issue weapons, mixed with the Evil Qi of the Black Iron Mountain Range.

The actions were crisp and decisive, never dragging; resistors were often suppressed and eliminated in an extremely short time.

This was the style of the Army Breaker Manor.

No sentimentality, no interrogation; wherever the iron command pointed, it became a Shura field.

Chen Linsheng could even imagine the scene: the Black-Armored Dark Cavalry gliding across the land like ghosts, crossbow bolts piercing the air, saber light like snow, coldly cleansing all marked filth.

A cold shiver, not born of fear but of a living being's natural awe for pure destructive power, quietly passed through his spinal cord.

But he immediately suppressed this tremor.

His mind settled again, and the rotation of the Five Elements cyclones within his body even quickened slightly, using the faintly transmitted solemn Qi as a whetstone to temper his will.

The cultivation of the Golden Robe Skill required a stability as firm as a mountain and an all-encompassing unity; the blood and wind outside were merely scenery on his path of cultivation, to be observed but not to disturb his heart.

"The White Lotus Sect... they brought this on themselves," he thought to himself, no longer allowing his mind to wander.

However, the world outside had indeed changed.

In Jiuqu Prefecture city, the noise and passion brought by the previous Martial Examination had not yet completely cooled before being replaced by another heavier and more piercing atmosphere.

In the teahouses and wine shops, the Jianghu travelers who usually talked loudly lowered their voices, their eyes frequently darting toward the street outside the window.

"Have you heard? Black Wind Stronghold, fifty miles to the west, was wiped out the night before last!"

"Not just Black Wind Stronghold! The Water Monkey Den down the Qing River, and several manors in the northern old forest that were involved with the White Lotus Sect, have been taken down one after another over the past few days!"

"It's the people from the Army Breaker Manor! The Black-Armored Dark Banners make everyone step aside! They don't listen to explanations; if someone is confirmed as a White Lotus Sect associate or involved with them, they act immediately! Those who resist are killed on the spot, and those who surrender... it's said their martial arts are crippled and they're sent to the Northern Border Labor Camp."

"Hiss... that's so ruthless?"

"Ruthless? So many people died at the Drill Ground, and so many Genius Disciples were injured; would the Imperial Court not want Face? Would the Army Breaker Manor not want to maintain its prestige? This is already thunderous wrath!"

"It's for the best; those Water Bandits, mountain bandits, and the demons of the White Lotus Sect have caused no small amount of harm to the local area over the years. This time, they're being pulled out by the roots."

"Pulled out they may be... but I still feel a bit uneasy. Haven't you seen the people from the Prefectural Governors Mansion and the Water Patrol Division? These past two days, they've been running everywhere, and when they see those Black-Armored Soldiers from the Army Breaker Manor, their waists bend almost to the ground."

In the government offices, the atmosphere was even more solemn.

Judge Li rubbed his aching temples, looking at the reports just delivered to his desk, which briefly recorded "bandit threat cleared" or "rebel party executed," usually followed by shocking casualty numbers. He sighed and said to the Chief of the Water Patrol Division below him: "Cooperate fully. Give them whatever they want. If they need guides or manpower, send the best immediately. Remember, bring only your eyes and ears; do not bring your mouth, and certainly do not bring your own schemes."

The Prefectural Governor had closed his doors to guests for several days. According to rumors from the mansion, the light in this high-ranking provincial official's study burned all night, with maps of the northern border and the Capital City spread before him, his brows locked in a deep frown.

The local powers such as the Blazing Sun Martial Arts Hall, Yangwei Martial Arts Hall, and Qiushui Sword Sect all coincidentally chose the same strategy: closing their doors, strictly ordering Disciples not to cause trouble, not to discuss matters casually, and especially not to contact anyone of unknown origin. The hall masters and Elders knew clearly that the Army Breaker Manor's move south was both a cleansing and a deterrent. Before the Imperial Court's sharpest war blade, local tycoons and Jianghu Schools had to know their place.

The entire Jiuqu Prefecture seemed to have been swept by an invisible cold current. The markets remained open and the commoners continued their lives, but the solemnity and awe permeating the air made everyone subconsciously cautious in speech and action.

The Jianghu seemed to have become much "cleaner" overnight, but it was also so "quiet" that it made people feel uneasy.

Inside the Immortal Cave, the pale-golden shimmer on Chen Linsheng's body finally withdrew completely, with not a trace leaking out. He slowly opened his eyes, the light within them brilliant and showing signs of the Five Elements rotating before returning to a deep, pool-like calm.

The Five Viscera Absorbing Essence Art had stabilized at the Minor Achievement Realm, with the Five Elements rotation forming a self-sustaining cycle.

The Golden Robe Skill had also been successfully Initiated, with a layer of invisible yet substantial resilient power spreading across his entire body.

He stood up, his muscles and bones chiming in unison, and the sound of his surging blood and Qi echoed in his ears like a great river.

The solemn fluctuations faintly transmitted from outside had reached a peak last night and had now gradually thinned and subsided. The storm seemed to have passed.

Chen Linsheng walked to the cave entrance and pushed open the stone door.

The morning light was faint, mist filled the mountain forest, and the air was fresh.

However, beneath that fresh scent of vegetation, his sensitive nose still caught a very, very faint smell of blood that drifted with the wind but had not yet dissipated, as well as the cold lingering scent of iron and fire.

He looked up toward the prefecture city, his gaze piercing through the trees as if seeing that sky which, after being washed by thunderous methods, appeared exceptionally clear yet also exceptionally silent.

"The obstacles have been cleared, and the rules have been set," Chen Linsheng whispered to himself, his eyes showing little emotion.

For him, this was not necessarily a bad thing. At least before heading to the border Immortal Cave, there were far fewer potential troubles behind him.

He turned back into the cave, packed his simple belongings, and tucked the leather scroll of the Five Viscera Absorbing Essence Art and several essential items close to his body.

It was time to collect the rewards from the Martial Examination and then set out on a new journey.