149: Chapter 149 The Power of Returning to Truth, Leaving No Trace in the Snow! (4k)

Night was deep. At the foot of a barren mountain thirty miles outside the city.

"Rumble—"

A dull, vibrating sound came from deep within the mountain, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

Several farmers who had risen in the night threw on their clothes and ran out of their thatched cottages, looking toward the pitch-black mountain forest with panic on their faces.

"This commotion... could it be a flash flood?"

"Bullshit! On a clear day like this, where would a flash flood come from? Don't tell me it's an earthquake!"

"Quick! Call the others, grab torches and go take a look. If it really is a mudslide, we need to hurry and save our lives!"

Soon, more than a dozen young, strong men held torches and, emboldened, crept toward the mountain.

However, when they climbed over a mountain ridge and saw the scene before them by the light of the torches, everyone froze in place.

"Clatter."

Someone's torch fell to the ground.

What kind of flash flood was this?

It was clearly a ruin that looked like a slaughterhouse!

Trees for miles around had been uprooted and shredded into sawdust that filled the sky.

The ground was covered with more than a dozen bottomless, massive craters, and the surrounding rocks showed eerie signs of melting.

The air still held a terrifying pressure that was suffocating, pressing these ordinary farmers until their legs went weak, almost forcing them to kneel on the ground.

"Is... is this the gods fighting?"

An old farmer's teeth chattered, his voice filled with intense fear.

"Quick... quickly go report this to the officials! Notify the Capital Prefecture!"

Soon, several strong men turned back and rushed toward the distance.

...

Great Wei Imperial City, First Prince's Mansion.

The atmosphere in the study was so oppressive it made people unable to breathe.

"Trash, you are all trash!"

Wei Yanxi slammed the inkstone on the table to the ground, splashing high-quality Huizhou ink everywhere.

His face, usually gentle as jade, was now twisted into something ferocious.

Several dark guards dressed in black, tight-fitting clothes knelt below, trembling like cicadas in winter, not daring to even breathe loudly.

"Say it to me one more time?"

"The number one on the Flower Rain Pavilion's silver flower ranking, just disappeared into thin air like that?"

After these days of investigation, there was finally a lead regarding the killer organization that had attacked him.

It was the Flower Rain Pavilion, which had branches everywhere. Although the Flower Rain Pavilion had an inseparable connection with the imperial city, in the end, it was just a transit station for killers.

Except for the personnel specifically trained there, it had all kinds of people.

They didn't recognize identities there, only tokens.

Therefore, even his current investigation was riddled with difficulties.

However, there was one clue: among the people who made the move that day, one had extremely agile movement techniques, so much so that even his Return to Truth Realm guards couldn't catch up.

And the only one capable of doing this was Xu Jianyi, the head of the silver flower ranking, known for his "Shadowless Step."

Wei Yanxi gritted his teeth, his voice filled with uncontrollable irritability.

"You searched for an entire night and only brought me back the words 'no trace found'?"

The leader of the dark guards bit the bullet and kowtowed.

"Your Highness, please calm your anger."

"Your subordinate led men to search inside and outside the capital, and we truly did not find any trace of Xu Jianyi."

"However... we discovered a site of an extremely terrifying battle in a barren mountain thirty miles outside the city."

Wei Yanxi's brows furrowed tightly as he stared at him coldly.

"Speak."

The dark guard leader swallowed his saliva, a lingering fear flashing in his eyes.

"That mountain forest... was as if it had been ravaged by a natural disaster."

"The trees for miles around were all shredded by violent True Qi, and the ground had collapsed into more than a dozen huge pits."

"From the residual aura, the strength of both sides in the battle definitely reached the Peak of the Return to Truth Realm, and even..."

He paused, his voice dropping extremely low.

"It is even possible they touched the threshold of the Innate Realm."

Wei Yanxi's eyes narrowed.

"Innate?"

He stood up abruptly and paced back and forth in the study, his expression shifting uncertainly.

Xu Jianyi went to assassinate him, only to be intercepted halfway?

And the person who intercepted Xu Jianyi had such terrifying strength?

"Could it be an expert secretly trained by the second or third brother?"

The names of a few political rivals flashed through Wei Yanxi's mind, but he quickly dismissed them one by one.

Impossible.

If they had a powerhouse of this level in their hands, how could they have kept it hidden until now?

"Investigate!"

Wei Yanxi turned his head abruptly, his eyes sinister.

"Send more men. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find this mysterious expert for me!"

"I want to see the person alive, or their corpse if dead!"

"Yes."

The dark guards, as if granted amnesty, hurriedly retreated.

The study returned to a deathly silence.

Wei Yanxi slumped into his chair, rubbing his throbbing temples.

Things had been progressing smoothly these past few days, but for some reason, he always felt that this matter was not that simple.

"Who exactly attacked me, and also knew my itinerary and the list of my subordinates..."

...

In the capital, at a remote, abandoned residence.

This was once the home of a wealthy Family, but because they had committed a crime earlier, the entire Family was executed.

The entire Family was wiped out, and even this piece of land was regarded as an ominous sign; no one was willing to go near it.

They were afraid that the former residents would turn into vengeful ghosts to claim their lives.

Chen Ran stood in the center of the weed-choked courtyard, his eyes slightly closed.

The morning mist swirled around him, but when it approached within three feet of his body, it was quietly evaporated by an invisible force.

"So this is the Return to Truth Realm..."

Chen Ran slowly opened his eyes, feeling the vast, abyss-like power within his body.

If the True Qi of a sixth-grade Martial Artist was a small stream, then his current True Qi was a vast ocean.

Not only was the quantity astonishing, but its quality had also undergone a earth-shattering transformation.

Chen Ran raised his right hand, his thoughts shifting slightly.

Hum!

A wisp of pale golden True Qi surged out along his Meridians, condensing in his palm.

The originally formless and qualityless True Qi was now so refined it was almost tangible, emitting a heart-stopping high temperature.

Chen Ran waved his hand casually.

He didn't use any Martial Skill, just the pure release of True Qi.

Boom!

A half-moon-shaped golden Qi blade whistled out, crossing a distance of tens of zhang in the blink of an eye, slashing fiercely onto a rockery outside the courtyard wall.

The hard Taihu stone was sliced open like tofu, the cut smooth as a mirror, with even traces of having been melted by high heat remaining.

This was the effect formed by extremely refined True Qi. It was rumored that those top-tier experts could even dry up a lake with just their True Qi.

Chen Ran withdrew his hand, shrinking the True Qi back into his body.

Immediately afterward, the entire rockery collapsed with a roar, rubble falling all over the ground.

Chen Ran nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad."

"The True Qi is refined like steel, penetrating through the body, with damage several times greater than before."

He clenched his fist, feeling the terrifying power dormant deep within his Physical Body.

After breaking through to the Return to Truth Realm, his Physical Body had also undergone a rebirth.

His bones were crystal clear like jade, and his blood surged like thunder.

"However, although the power is strong, it still needs time to adapt to control it."

Chen Ran restrained his aura, pressing the released True Qi back into his Dantian.

He was an extremely pragmatic person.

Having powerful strength alone was not enough; one must be able to control it like an extension of one's own arm to exert maximum power in battle.

He didn't want to be like those newly Breakthrough upstarts who couldn't even control the surrounding flowers and plants when they fought.

Chen Ran practiced a set of the most basic Long Fist in the courtyard.

His movements were slow and unadorned.

But with every punch thrown, a dull sonic boom echoed in the air.

Only after he had completely sorted out the power within his body did he stop his movements and exhale a breath of murky air.

"Time to go to the prison and wrap things up."

Chen Ran brushed the dust off his body and turned to walk toward the prison.

...

The prison, Cell Block D.

In the dark and damp cell, a nauseating stench permeated the air.

Xu Jianyi lay on the pile of hay in the corner like a pile of rotten mud.

All the bones in his body were broken, and his Meridians had been completely sealed by Chen Ran with gold needles.

Now, even moving a finger was a luxury.

Hearing the footsteps outside the iron door, Xu Jianyi struggled to open his eyes.

Chen Ran walked in wearing his official Prison Officer uniform, his face expressionless.

"You... you woo-woo..."

Xu Jianyi wanted to speak, but his throat bone had been severed, and he couldn't make a sound.

He could only stare at this person with eyes full of fear.

Chen Ran ignored him completely and directly pulled up the interface of the heavenly book of prison suppression.

[Prisoner: Xu Jianyi]

[Sin Value: High]

[Background: Top killer on the Flower Rain Pavilion's silver flower ranking, once escaped from an Innate Realm expert, received a mission to assassinate the First Prince...]

[Status: Critically injured and dying]

[Capture Participation: Extremely High (Personally captured)]

[Cultivation Technique: Treading Snow Without a Trace (Entry-Level)]

Chen Ran looked at the information on the panel and rubbed his chin.

Such a high Sin Value.

This old guy definitely had a lot of blood on his hands.

He looked at the information record on the panel again; he hadn't expected this person to actually have a connection with the Flower Rain Pavilion.

"Keeping you is also a trouble."

Chen Ran's tone was flat, treating the person in front of him as a piece of wood.

"Besides, I don't like long nights leading to many dreams."

Xu Jianyi was stunned for a moment, then reacted, frightened out of his wits—Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

He begged frantically, trying to grasp the last straw.

However, Chen Ran remained unmoved.

Secrets of the Flower Rain Pavilion?

None of his business.

He was just a Prison Officer muddling through his days in the prison; he didn't want to be some Martial Forest alliance leader, so why would he want to know so many secrets?

The more you know, the faster you die.

Chen Ran understood this principle better than anyone.

All he wanted now was that top-tier movement technique Xu Jianyi possessed.

Chen Ran raised his right hand, his fingers together like a sword.

"In your next life, don't be an assassin."

Before the words faded.

A sharp finger wind whistled out, precisely piercing through Xu Jianyi's glabella.

Puff!

A spray of blood splashed up.

Xu Jianyi's voice stopped abruptly, his eyes wide open, staring fixedly at the damp ceiling of the cell.

The vitality in his eyes dissipated rapidly.

A top-tier assassin of the dignified Flower Rain Pavilion died so miserably in a cell on the bottom floor of the prison.

Chen Ran retracted his hand with an expressionless face.

In his mind, the heavenly book of prison suppression opened with a bang.

Golden light danced frantically in his vision.

[You have successfully executed prisoner Xu Jianyi, reward is being settled]

[Congratulations, you have obtained the top-tier movement technique: "Treading Snow Without a Trace" (Entry-Level)]

Chen Ran raised his eyebrows as he looked at the rewards on the panel.

"Only Entry-Level?"

However, being able to obtain this top-tier movement technique had already achieved his goal.

His thoughts shifted, and he extracted the reward directly.

Boom!

A vast stream of information surged into his mind.

The cultivation incantations, the operation route of True Qi, and the strength-exerting techniques of "Treading Snow Without a Trace" flashed through his memory like a revolving lantern.

Chen Ran closed his eyes, carefully digesting the information in his mind.

"Treading Snow Without a Trace," a top-tier Jianghu martial art, once came from a Grandmaster Realm expert.

Although it was only at the Entry-Level, when combined with his current terrifying True Qi of the Return to Truth Realm, its speed and stealth were far superior to his previous crude Cloud Water Step.

"With this movement technique, it will be much more convenient to do things in the capital in the future."

Chen Ran opened his eyes, a sharp edge visible in them.

He glanced at Xu Jianyi's corpse on the ground and turned to walk out of the cell.

"Someone."

Chen Ran stood in the corridor and called out lightly.

Several Jailers hurriedly ran over, nodding and bowing.

"Lord Chen, what are your orders?"

Chen Ran pointed to the cell behind him.

"That old man didn't make it and died."

"Find a broken mat to wrap him in and throw him to the Mass Grave outside the city."

The Jailers poked their heads in to look, nodded as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

A person dying in Cell Block D was the most normal thing in the world.

Besides, even if it was truly an "accidental" death, it had nothing to do with him.

"Yes! Don't worry, Lord, we will handle it right away!"

Chen Ran nodded, hands behind his back, and walked slowly toward his office.

This top-tier assassin who had made a name for himself in the Flower Rain Pavilion died so miserably in the prison without attracting anyone's attention.

Returning to his office, Chen Ran closed the door and continued to contemplate the mysteries of the Return to Truth Realm.

He did not release his True Qi or make a huge noise as before, but instead kept all that abyss-like power restrained.

Chen Ran walked to the table and, seemingly casually, slapped the tabletop.

There was no rolling air wave, nor was there a deafening explosion.

The tabletop remained intact.

But just hearing a muffled "crack," the bluestone floor three feet directly below the table instantly turned into a pile of powder!

"Striking through the mountain to hit the ox, penetrating the body to injure."

Chen Ran looked at the powder on the ground, a flash of realization in his eyes.

The force penetrated several zhang.

If in actual combat, this palm strike hitting the ground would cause soil to explode beneath the opponent's feet.

The violent dark force would directly surge into their legs, instantly shattering the opponent's internal organs.

This was the true terror of the Return to Truth Realm!

Not only that, Chen Ran's thoughts shifted, and his True Qi instantly condensed on his skin surface.

There was no dazzling light, only a thin film indistinguishable to the naked eye fitting against his skin.

He picked up a refined steel dagger from the table and slashed fiercely at his own arm.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew.

The dagger was like it had struck ten-thousand-year dark iron; not only did it fail to leave a single white mark, but it was also snapped into two pieces by the counter-shock force.

This was the key to how Xu Jianyi was able to withstand his offensive—by using condensed True Qi to form a protective film.

For Martial Artists below the Return to Truth Realm, causing any injury to the body surface was extremely difficult.

"Essence, Qi, and Spirit, the three become one."

Chen Ran casually threw away the broken blade, feeling the increasingly clear sensation in his mind.

After the transformation of his Physical Body and True Qi, he faintly felt that his cultivation direction had begun to move toward the ethereal "Divine Soul" level.

Just when Chen Ran was immersed in the joy of his improved strength.

A series of urgent footsteps suddenly came from outside.

Chen Ran's brows furrowed slightly, and he pushed the door open to walk out.

He saw that all the Jailers and Prison Officers in the entire prison were like ants on a hot pan, their expressions extremely nervous, and some even had their hats crooked.

"What happened?" Chen Ran grabbed a Jailer who was rushing past.

The Jailer was sweating profusely, his voice trembling.

"Lord Chen, quick... quickly go to the front hall."

"His Highness the First Prince... has come to the prison in person!"