57: Elite Disciple

[In the fifth month,]

[Nanjiang City was surrounded by an army of a hundred thousand from the Yan Dynasty, led by Marquis Wu and Yue Tianxiong.]

[Although Wu Bin died in Nanjiang City, Marquis Wu did not come of his own volition—he was sent by Xiao Tianci.]

[Because Cold Dustless returned to report that the Pavilion Master of Fengyun Pavilion, which was you, possessed the strength of a Great Grandmaster.]

[Marquis Wu had no desire to offend a Great Grandmaster for the sake of a nephew.]

[If a Great Grandmaster were to target his Wu family, the consequences would be unimaginable.]

[However, he dared even less to defy Xiao Tianci's orders—the entire Wu family was held firmly in Xiao Tianci's grasp.]

[Upon receiving the news, you immediately took Fragrant Lord Qiao and Kuang Min to the city walls.]

[Looking up, a hundred thousand soldiers clad in silver armor formed a vast expanse of silver light under the sun.]

[However, Marquis Wu spoke quite politely, shouting loudly, "Pavilion Master Qin, His Majesty greatly admires your talents and has specifically sent me to invite you to join the Yan Dynasty. As long as you are willing, we can overlook everything that happened before."]

[Yue Tianxiong, however, glanced at Marquis Wu impatiently. "Marquis Wu, why waste so many words on a rebel?"]

[Marquis Wu smiled and replied in a low voice, "I heard this Pavilion Master Qin is a figure at the Great Grandmaster level; it's better for us to be polite."]

[Ignoring him completely, Yue Tianxiong stepped forward and roared, "Hand over the rebel Kuang Min and everyone from Fengyun Pavilion immediately! Otherwise, when the city falls, all the men will be slaughtered, and all the women will be sold as slaves!"]

[Just as he finished speaking, the next scene left everyone completely shocked—]

[In the sky above, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi rapidly gathered, forming a giant palm that blotted out the sun.]

[The hundred thousand soldiers looked up at the sky; amidst the dense dark clouds, that giant palm slammed down—]

["Boom!!"]

[With a deafening roar, the area where the hundred thousand-strong army stood was flattened into a hundred-zhang deep pit, leaving behind only a pool of bright red meat paste.]

[The defenders on the city walls were all dumbfounded, their eyes wide and speechless.]

[You clearly saw just now that Marquis Wu and Yue Tianxiong seemed to be suppressed by some power, unable to move, and were flattened into meat paste in the blink of an eye.]

[You suddenly remembered a woman—the Second Elder of the Liu Clan who had flattened the Yan Imperial Capital into ruins with a single palm strike.]

[Could she... be in Nanjiang City?]

[Why did she take action?]

[Could she... be planning to release the Yao Beasts ahead of time?]

[What did I do to make her reach this decision earlier?]

[This thought sent a chill through your body, and cold sweat broke out.]

[The soldiers defending the city nearby also began to exclaim loudly:]

["This is the method of an Immortal!"]

["It seems an Immortal is protecting our Nanjiang City."]

["Well killed! This Immortal is a good person!"]

[Suppressing the tension in your heart, you quietly left Nanjiang City.]

[You planned to—flee the Secret Realm.]

[So you came to Ziyang Village and asked the villagers about Ji Bin's residence.]

[When you found where Ji Bin lived, he was indeed at home.]

[You looked at his residence—a small wooden hut surrounded by a dirt wall.]

[Although Ji Bin had heard of you, the playboy of Longyang Town, he had never met you in person.]

[Seeing you walking toward him with a smile, yet seemingly carrying a hint of killing intent, he immediately stared at you warily. "Who are you? Why do you have killing intent toward me?"]

[At the same time, he used his Divine Sense to probe you and found that you were only an Innate Martial Artist, which put him somewhat at ease.]

[You cursed yourself in your heart, not expecting that such a tiny bit of killing intent would be detected by him; a Cultivator's perception was indeed extraordinary.]

[In a flash of inspiration, you said, "Someone said you stole my family's old hen."]

[Hearing this, Ji Bin relaxed completely and laughed, "Who said..."]

[But before he could finish, you had already closed in instantly, your fists wrapped in dense True Essence as the "Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Fist" suddenly surged—]

["Boom!"]

[The sounds of a tiger's roar and a dragon's cry echoed around as the majestic True Essence instantly pierced through his Dantian.]

[It all happened too fast; before he could react, you shattered his Dantian with a single punch, and the Foundation Establishment True Essence within him poured out like a flood.]

[He forced his body to stay upright and roared at you, "You bastard, you dare to sneak attack me? Do you know who I am!"]

[Knowing that Cultivators had strange methods, even though you had crippled his cultivation, you still felt uneasy and immediately waved your hand—True Essence transformed into sharp blades, instantly piercing through his limbs.]

["Ah!"]

[He let out a heart-wrenching scream.]

[You then pulled a Storage Pouch from his bosom and smiled at him.]

[His face was pale as he asked tremblingly, "You... you actually know my identity?"]

[You injected Spiritual Qi into the Storage Pouch, and with a flash of light in your hand, the blue double-fish jade pendant appeared. You then smiled at him and said, "An elite Disciple of the Liu Clan Immortal Family!"]

[He was shocked. "Which family sent you as a spy?"]

[But he soon noticed something was wrong. "How can you only be at the Qi Refinement Stage? And yet a Heavenly Human Realm Martial Artist?"]

[When you released Spiritual Qi just now, you had exposed your Qi Refining cultivation.]

[He suddenly realized something and his eyes widened. "You're a Native of this place!?"]

[You looked at him and smiled. "I'd love to kill you, but unfortunately, you're still useful alive. But for now, just shut up."]

[With that, you waved your hand casually, and True Essence condensed into a miniature sword that stabbed into his mouth—]

["Ah—!"]

[He let out one last scream; his tongue had been shredded by you.]

[He glared at you with eyes full of rage, as if he wanted to devour you.]

[He hadn't expected that a single moment of carelessness would lead to your sneak attack.]

[How could he have known that you, a stranger, would suddenly strike him?]

[You then picked him up and quickly flew toward the nearby Yougu Mountains.]

[You flew through the Yougu Mountains for half a month before finding a natural cave located on a steep cliff.]

[Then you found a vine and tied him up inside the cave.]

[Finally, you glanced at him—his limbs were ruined, he couldn't speak, and his cultivation was completely lost.]

["Hmm, this should be safe," you muttered to yourself.]

[Unfortunately, you couldn't kill him; otherwise, his identity jade pendant would become invalid.]

[After all, he had the Physique of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator; even though his cultivation was crippled, living for another year or half a year wouldn't be a problem.]

[This amount of time was enough for you to infiltrate the Liu Clan Immortal Family.]

[After leaving the cave, you counted the items in the Storage Pouch while traveling.]

[First, you saw a pile of Low-Grade Spirit Stones; scanning with your Divine Sense, there were actually one thousand three hundred and eighty-six of them.]

["Huh? Didn't Liu Xianer say there were only over three hundred during the last simulation?" you wondered in your heart.]

["Damn, that little brat Liu Xianer, learning how to lie at such a young age!" you cursed in anger.]

["Daring to lie to me... just wait a hundred years, see if I don't give you a beating!"]

[The more you thought about it, the angrier you got; although you were also using her as a tool, the fact that she lied to you was intolerable.]

[Taking a deep breath, you continued counting the other items and found—]

[A Spirit Gathering Array, a xuanling sword, a Flowing Cloud Boat, an light evasion talisman, and some Medicinal Pills. Along with that blue double-fish jade pendant, the rest were just clothing and miscellaneous items.]

["This elite Disciple is quite poor too!" You couldn't help but shake your head.]