61: He harbored a wicked plan!

The Qiujiang Massacre spread throughout Jinling overnight.

Inside the City Lord's Manor, the atmosphere was heavy.

Usually, this was the most solemn place in Jinling City.

At this moment, it was shrouded in rage.

"Bang!"

A Warm Jade Teacup worth a thousand gold was slammed violently onto the ground!

Fragments splattered everywhere, mirroring the City Lord's current furious mood.

"Useless!"

A loud roar made the entire hall buzz and vibrate.

"All of you are useless!"

The City Lord of Jinling, Zhuang Bai, a master at the Early Stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm who was usually deeply majestic, now had a distorted face, looking like a crazed tiger.

His burly body stood in the hall, and his vast martial intent pressed down like a physical weight, making it difficult for everyone in the hall to breathe and making their legs go weak.

Lord Zhou was dead.

Old Man Qian was dead.

The elite Water Ghost Team he had painstakingly cultivated had suffered heavy losses.

The City Lord's Manor had never suffered such heavy losses in decades!

However, Zhuang Bai was not angry about the lives of his subordinates.

In his eyes, those people were just consumables that could be replaced at any time.

"My Spirit Turtle!"

His eyes were crimson, filled with blood.

"A Middle-Tier Spirit Turtle!"

His voice was full of resentment and violence; that was the true source of his heartache.

That Spirit Turtle, which possessed a rare Bloodline, was his hope for breaking through to the Middle Stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm or even higher martial Realms!

He had a method to refine the essence blood of Spirit Beasts; consuming it could accelerate his Cultivation speed.

His ability to advance from the Meridian Opening Realm to the Early Stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm was inseparable from that Low-Tier Spirit Beast in the backyard.

Spirit Beasts were hard to come by, let alone Middle-Tier ones.

One must know that back then, he had spent an enormous amount of connections and cost just to obtain that Low-Tier Spirit Beast in the backyard.

As long as he could keep that Middle-Tier Spirit Turtle in captivity.

Then his Cultivation speed would accelerate once again.

Even breaking through to the next Realm would not be a problem!

Now, Old Man Qian was dead, and Lin Feng was nowhere to be found!

He had lost both his bait and the fish—a heavy loss and a great humiliation!

"Seal the city!"

"Immediately block all city gates and all waterways of Jinling!"

The City Lord's cold command echoed through the hall.

"Place the entire city under martial law! Not even a fly is allowed out!"

"Investigate!"

He waved his hand suddenly, his intent surging.

"Whether it's a person or a ghost, dig three feet into the ground to find everything related to this matter!"

His gaze finally fell on a piece of intelligence that had just been presented.

It recorded the only survivor of the Qiujiang Massacre—the runaway Lin Feng.

"Issue the highest wanted order! I want him alive or his corpse!"

"Additionally, thoroughly investigate all strange Martial Artists who have entered the city recently!"

The City Lord's voice was cold and gloomy.

"I want to see who dares to snatch food from the tiger's mouth on my territory!"

"Who dares to play such tricks right under my nose!"

Only by finding Lin Feng would he know what happened then.

He wanted to thoroughly investigate all strange Martial Artists who had entered the city recently.

He was afraid that word of the Middle-Tier Spirit Beast would leak out.

When that time came, the competition he would face would be even greater!

The fury and doubt in his heart had reached their peak.

"My Lord, your subordinate has already dispatched the Black Armor Guards to search the entire city for Lin Feng."

A manager reported tremblingly.

"At the same time, the recent movements of all martial arts schools, merchant houses, and Jianghu Loose Cultivators in the city are also under secret investigation."

"Hurry!"

The City Lord waved his hand impatiently.

"I want results! Within three days, give me an explanation!"

"Yes!"

...Jingtao Martial Arts School.

Duan Tianba listened to the secret report from his subordinate, and the initial shock on his face was gradually replaced by wild joy.

A sudden change on the river!

The City Lord's fury!

Lin Feng on the run!

All the seemingly chaotic information quickly intertwined in his mind, eventually converging into a single thought.

An extremely malicious plan made him tremble with excitement.

"A god-given opportunity... truly a god-given opportunity!"

He muttered to himself, a fierce light flashing in his eyes.

The City Lord was now like a beast that had lost its mind, urgently needing a target to tear apart to vent his rage.

And why couldn't this target be Li Qing?

Why couldn't it be that arrogant Li Qing who stole his spotlight, cut off his source of wealth, and caused him to lose all face?!

A cold smile curled at the corner of Duan Tianba's mouth.

Killing with a borrowed knife!

The perfect opportunity to eliminate his greatest trouble was right before his eyes!

He paced slowly back and forth in the martial arts school's hall.

In his mind, one detail after another of the conspiracy was rapidly perfected.

"The City Lord's Manor is now desperate to find the culprit; they will investigate any suspicious clues at any cost."

"And Li Qing, this outsider, this monster who rose so suddenly, is undoubtedly the best scapegoat!"

"As long as I draw the fire to him, he won't be able to clear his name even if he had ten mouths!"

Duan Tianba sneered in his heart.

He knew that to frame Li Qing, he had to produce 'evidence'.

Moreover, this evidence had to be weighty enough to make the City Lord's Manor believe it.

He thought of the investigation showing that Li Qing often carried large fish to sell.

"Great River, large fish..."

Duan Tianba's eyes rolled as a plan came to mind.

He immediately called over a trusted subordinate and whispered instructions.

"Go, find me a few people whose mouths are tight and whose acting skills are good."

"I want them to 'unintentionally' reveal that they saw Li Qing acting suspiciously near the Qiu River Pier, and that he even seemed to have thrown something into the river!"

"And then he often caught large fish!"

"Remember, say it vaguely, but make the pointing clear!"

"In addition, I want you to find out who in the City Lord's Manor is the City Lord's confidant and is greedy for money and lust."

"I want to send a grand gift, a generous gift sufficient to move their hearts!"

A malicious light flashed in his eyes.

He would make sure Li Qing died without a place to be buried!

...The night was as dark as ink.

Inside the room in the courtyard.

Li Qing's mind was completely immersed in his Clone beneath the river water.

The Clone's massive turtle shell was currently lurking quietly in the underwater Immortal Cave.

Eating a piece of Vicious Beast meat with every bite.

[evolution value +1]

[evolution value +1]

The intermittent notification sounds made Li Qing's brow furrow.

[Host: Li Qing]

[Age: 15]

[Cultivation: Body Refining Realm Early Stage]

[Clone: Earth Spirit Turtle (High-Tier Spirit Beast)]

[Talents]

[Water Respiration: Can breathe underwater for ten double-hours]

[Mysterious Armor: Can resist most attacks from Low and Middle-Tier Martial Artists]

[Longevity: 2000 years]

[Mystic Water Manipulation: Can freely control a medium-sized body of water, condensing water into walls and gathering flows into whirlpools.]

[Great Strength: Strength of One Dragon]

[Early Stage Domination: Can apply mental deterrence and give simple commands to beasts with a lower rank than oneself, up to ten Vicious Beasts]

[Earth Vein Sensing: Can trigger small-scale earth veins to change local terrain]

[evolution value: 507.4/50000 (When evolution value is full, evolution can be initiated)]

He glanced at the System panel.

It was still too slow!

Since the Qiujiang Massacre occurred, the river surface had been blocked, and the underwater Vicious Beasts had become much more subdued.

This caused the large fish and Vicious Beasts captured by his generals to drop sharply.

After these few days, the daily evolution value income barely exceeded a hundred.

Compared to the full fifty thousand points needed for the next evolution, it was a mere drop in the bucket, seemingly far out of reach!

"No, I must find a way..."

A strong sense of urgency rose in Li Qing's heart.

He had a premonition that the storm over the Qiu River had not subsided.

On the contrary, perhaps an even larger vortex was waiting for him!

This feeling of helplessness from being unable to quickly improve his strength made him extremely unhappy.

"I can't just sit and wait for death."

Li Qing opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing within them.

Unease drifted in his heart.

He needed even greater strength!