427: Let us unite as one to punish the rebels and prevent the wicked from wreaking havoc in the world.

Merman Tears Ink is colorless and odorless, possessing neither toxicity nor lethality; on the contrary, it is a rare and effective medicinal ingredient.

This medicine is a rare specialty unique to the Myriad Domain Void Sea, Merman City, and the Merman race. For a Mortal, a single drop of turbid grade Merman Tears Ink can allow them to be reborn, remain forever young, achieve immortality, and undergo an Awakening of their innate Divine Ability, henceforth becoming a noble Merman Lord.

There is a possibility of failure during this transformation process, and the failure rate is as high as eighty percent.

Once it fails, there are no significant side effects, and at worst, it simply makes one more beautiful. However, the punishment for a true failure is terrifying, as failure in the transformation results in the Merman City Lord stripping one of their status and demoting them to a slave, destined to become a Merman slave for the rest of their life, serving the Merman race forever.

Merman Tears Ink can be used to refine Medicinal Pills; it can be used as either a primary or secondary ingredient to concoct various pills.

The medicinal effects vary greatly depending on the grade of the Merman Tears Ink, so they cannot be generalized.

If a Shisha Realm Cultivator accidentally ingests shasha-grade Merman Tears Ink, firstly, it will not be fatal, and secondly, it will not cause injury. However, it will cause them to briefly lose their cultivation for six hours. During these six hours, their magic power will be unable to circulate, their Divine Ability will be unusable, and their physical strength will be extremely weakened.

Ye Tingxiu: "Hehe... These thieves are very calculating; it's truly..."

Xiao Hongyun: "Truly what?"

Ye Tingxiu: "Insidious."

Xiao Hongyun: "Hmm, indeed, a bit insidious."

Ye Tingxiu: "Shall we make a move?"

Xiao Hongyun: "How is the evacuation of the residents around Pomo Alley going?"

Ye Tingxiu: "Every household has been evacuated, and we have confirmed multiple times that no one was left behind."

Xiao Hongyun suddenly said: "Not good... They have already discovered us. Quick, act immediately!"

Meanwhile, while Ye Tingxiu and Xiao Hongyun were discussing closing the net, Li Xiangsi and his four subordinates, hiding within a private residence, were repeatedly refining the implementation steps of their plan to ensure they had contingency plans and escape routes in case of unexpected situations on the day of the Ascension Dragon Banquet.

Little Hammer and Big Beard stood guard in the corridor, occasionally peeking through the second-floor observation window to watch the street outside the wall.

Big Beard said: "Hammer, it's already dawn. Why is there no one on the street?"

Little Hammer said: "Maybe they're sleeping in..."

Big Beard: "No, the situation is not right. Hammer, listen carefully. At this time of day, the neighbors usually make some noise—either yelling for their kids or arguing between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Today, it's too quiet..."

Little Hammer: "Stop being so paranoid; you're making it creepy."

Big Beard realized something was wrong, shouted in alarm, turned around, ran a few steps, pushed open the door, and rushed in: "Boss, we've been exposed!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangsi was shocked and quickly put away the blueprints: "What's the situation?"

Big Beard pointed outside and said: "The government troops have evacuated all the neighbors. Now it's as quiet as a dead city outside. There must be government troops lying in ambush in the dark surroundings. We must have left a trail somewhere; otherwise, how could the government troops have tracked us here?"

At this moment, Xiao Hongyun and Ye Tingxiu appeared rapidly on the street with dozens of Demon Suppression Bureau officers. At the same time, a barrier was quickly forming, gradually enveloping the entire residence, clearly intending to shut the door and catch the "dog" inside, like catching a turtle in a jar.

"It's him, damn it!" The moment Li Xiangsi saw Xiao Hongyun, his face instantly darkened. He realized his identity had long been exposed and that the other party must have tampered with him during the interrogation. He had no time to check for problems and could only quickly issue orders, commanding his four subordinates to go to the front door to block the government troops, while he took Big Beard and Little Hammer and rushed quickly toward the woodshed in the backyard.

Meanwhile, Ye Tingxiu drew the Ruined Blade from his waist and swung it to split the wall in front of him. The wall disintegrated and fell to the ground like chopped tofu. He charged in first and shouted: "Charge! If you meet resistance, execute them on the spot!"

Dozens of Demon Suppression Bureau officers filed in like a pack of tigers descending the mountain into a sheep pen, charging inside with unstoppable force. Rich in combat experience, they coordinated perfectly; they went through windows where possible and broke through walls where necessary, never taking the front door. They caught the thieves off guard, forcing them into a steady retreat.

These foreign thieves were no match for the Demon Suppression Bureau; they couldn't even delay them for a moment. They were directly pinned to the ground and slaughtered. Even after their heads were cut off, they were tied to the waists of the Demon Suppression Bureau officers as proof of merit to be exchanged for rewards later—it was truly brutal.

Li Xiangsi panicked and rushed into the woodshed, bumping into the equally panicked Cai Nianxiong.

When Cai Nianxiong saw it was Li Xiangsi, he glared at him angrily: "My father is Cai Guozhong. You, surnamed Li, you have some nerve to kidnap me? Do you not want to live?"

"It's you I'm kidnapping!" Li Xiangsi went up, grabbed Cai Nianxiong by the collar, and slapped him: "If you yap one more time, I'll kill you!"

Cai Nianxiong was stunned by the slap, then glared and roared: "My father is Cai Guozhong! If you dare to touch me, I'll kill your whole family."

Seeing this, Li Xiangsi, a man of few words and ruthless actions, drew his short blade and stabbed it directly into Cai Nianxiong's arm.

Cai Nianxiong turned his head to look at the blade in his left arm and immediately screamed in terror: "I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong! Brother, brother, I was wrong."

Li Xiangsi dragged Cai Nianxiong out of the woodshed, intending to retreat with him.

He had kidnapped him earlier thinking that with the person in hand, he could definitely get the 22 million in cash. After the mission was completed, taking Cai Nianxiong away from the Sword Tower would be another great achievement. After all, Cai Nianxiong was Cai Guozhong's only son; holding Cai Nianxiong was equivalent to holding Cai Guozhong's lifeline. At that point, he could make Cai Guozhong do anything, and might even have a chance to force Cai Guozhong to turn his guns around and counter the Sword Tower.

Now that the mission had failed and their whereabouts were exposed, Li Xiangsi would never let Cai Nianxiong go easily. Otherwise, the trip would have been for nothing, returning empty-handed. Even if he were lucky enough to escape with his life, he would not escape severe punishment upon returning; he might even suffer a fate worse than death and implicate his family in the disaster.

Big Beard was waiting outside the woodshed, anxious: "Boss, why bother with him now? Just kill him and let's run! The brothers in the front can't hold out for long."

Little Hammer climbed to the top of the wall to look outside, but when he reached out, he touched an invisible barrier. He turned back and said: "Boss, there's a barrier outside the wall! We're trapped here!"

Li Xiangsi said coldly: "The well. I specifically left an escape exit under the well."

Daring to risk his life coming to the Sword Tower, Li Xiangsi naturally would leave himself a way out in case of an emergency.

Upon hearing this, Big Beard and Little Hammer quickly ran to the well and moved the stone covering it.

"Go!" Li Xiangsi dragged Cai Nianxiong and jumped into the well, no matter how much Cai Nianxiong struggled, it was useless.

"Want to leave? Did you ask me first?" Ye Tingxiu, holding his blade in one hand, had already slaughtered his way to the backyard.

He formed a seal with one hand and slammed it onto the ground: "Quake!"

A wave of frost Qi instantly rippled out, sending Li Xiangsi, Cai Nianxiong, Big Beard, and Little Hammer flying backward simultaneously.

Ye Tingxiu leaped forward, stepped onto the edge of the well, shouldered his blade, held his head high, and looked at the few thieves with contempt: "Surrender now!"

Li Xiangsi gritted his teeth and choked Cai Nianxiong by the neck. After getting up, he quickly held his short blade against Cai Nianxiong's heart: "Back off, you bastard! I told you to back off! Don't you see I have a hostage? He is Cai Guozhong's son! If you don't want him to die, get out of my way!"