170: kill

Mu Xingyan!

Zhang Sheng's heart skipped a beat—wasn't this the guy who had just been taken out a few days ago by the Qinglan Guards and a mysterious expert working together?

The Chiyang Dao Sect, once a renowned top-tier Sect that left third-rate trash like the Eight Gods Sect in the dust, had now degenerated into the Chiyang Demon Sect.

A strangely shaped Spiritual Artifact disk hummed, emitting an eerie yellow light that swept over everyone present.

However!

When the yellow light swept over Zhang Sheng's body, it suddenly paused for an instant!

Song Xuan Sha's eyes turned cold, and his figure vanished from the spot like a ghost!

Almost simultaneously, a violent blue lightning orb instantly condensed in his right palm!

"Go!" He hurled the lightning orb fiercely. It expanded several times over in the wind, rushing straight at Zhang Sheng with an aura of destruction!

With such power, any ordinary True Fetus Realm Cultivator hit by it would certainly be left with no bones remaining!

Zhang Sheng's pupils constricted!

His thoughts raced, and eighty-one solid layers of Profound Light Shield instantly stacked up in front of him!

Boom!

The lightning orb slammed into them! It shattered twenty layers of the Profound Light Shield before finally exhausting its energy and dissipating!

"Perfected State?!"

Song Xuan Sha was knowledgeable and recognized at a glance that Zhang Sheng's defensive Spell had reached the realm of perfection.

Zhang Sheng hurriedly sent a voice transmission: "Lord Xuansha! There must be a misunderstanding! I am the Prefect of the New Prefecture who just ascended a few days ago! I have a communication jade slip from Director Zhao Kang of the Tax Bureau as proof!"

A Jade Slip shot toward Song Xuan Sha like lightning.

Just as the Jade Slip arrived, the space beside Song Xuan Sha silently cracked open, and a large hand, as if cast from metal and stone, reached out and steadily caught the Jade Slip.

Immediately, a deep voice resonated directly in Song Xuan Sha's mind:

"Young Master Xuansha, the Jade Slip is correct; it is indeed Zhao Kang's seal. This person is named Zhang Sheng, the newly ascended Prefect of the Hua Prefecture."

"Oh? The Hua Prefecture... the place where Chao Xingzhi killed Mu Xingyan?" Song Xuan Sha realized, "No wonder the Qi-seeking disk reacted; it was likely tainted by the aftermath of that great battle."

"Not only that," the deep voice added with a hint of amusement, "some interesting news has come from the Esoteric Sect."

"Uncle Tie! Hurry up and tell me, don't keep me in suspense!" Song Xuan Sha urged.

Zhang Sheng looked at Song Xuan Sha communicating with that invisible presence with a calm expression, but inwardly he was tense, as if waiting for judgment.

Uncle Tie's voice sounded again: "This Prefect Zhang just killed a little Genius a few days ago who had the potential to make it onto the fledgling tiger ranking. He has mastered at least two Perfected State Spells! That kid Song Hao has his eye on him, and he himself has the intention to join the Qinglan Academy."

"Moreover..." Uncle Tie's voice carried a hint of gravity, "even I have some trouble seeing through this kid's background. His Qi is integrated as one, and his Foundation is solid—truly extraordinary!"

"What? Even you can't see through him?" Song Xuan Sha was truly surprised now.

"If he is gifted with extraordinary Talent, it is normal not to be able to see through him," Uncle Tie replied.

"Haha! Wants to join the Qinglan Academy? Then he will be a Talent of my Song Kingdom in the future!" Song Xuan Sha's attitude shifted instantly.

Two Perfected State Spells might make someone a Genius or a seed for future Divine Ability in the eyes of others, but among the Prodigies Song Xuan Sha had seen, this was not yet top-tier.

"Returning your Jade Slip!" Song Xuan Sha's voice rang directly in Zhang Sheng's mind, "When you make it onto the fledgling tiger ranking one day, come find me again!"

Zhang Sheng was bewildered by this sudden turn of events.

But one thing was certain—he was safe for the time being!

It seemed he had to get on the fledgling tiger ranking as soon as possible, enter the Qinglan Academy, and put on that tree-patterned black robe to truly be at ease!

Seeing that Song Xuan Sha had actually let Zhang Sheng go, many people in the viewing stands revealed undisguised disappointment in their eyes.

As soon as Song Xuan Sha left, Zhang Sheng quickly departed from this place of trouble.

The slave market was bustling with noise and booming business.

The base price for a Divine Breath Realm slave was two thousand spirit crystals, while a True Fetus Realm one was as high as twenty thousand—a tenfold difference.

Zhang Sheng glanced over; those that hadn't been sold yet were either low in strength or poor in appearance.

He knew that if such goods remained unsold for a long time, they would eventually only end up as cannon fodder or bait in the opening wars.

The method to control these slaves was an extremely vicious Medicinal Pill—the slave soul pill!

The slave owner only needed to seal a wisp of Mental Energy into the Medicinal Pill and force the slave to consume it to control their life and death with a single thought.

However, this slave soul pill was firmly controlled by major powers, and the slave business had thus become their monopoly.

For an ordinary Cultivator, getting hold of one was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

After finishing his tour of the slave market, Zhang Sheng noticed that the area around the spirit suppressing pillar was heavily guarded, with no one allowed to approach.

Before leaving Heavenly Injury City via the teleportation array, Zhang Sheng decided to head out of the city first. He still had things to do.

Zhang Sheng walked toward the city gates at a leisurely pace along the road he had come from.

The thin, gaunt figure that had been secretly tailing him immediately took out a communication jade slip.

Once outside the city gates, Zhang Sheng flew at a low altitude toward the Hua Prefecture, not moving very fast.

At the same time, his Divine Sense spread out instantly like an invisible spider web!

Sure enough, as soon as he left the city, several figures followed right behind him.

They were the diners who had been sitting at the table behind him in Zhenshi Tower, and the leader was the very same burly man who had abused the cat-eared girl.

"Skinny Monkey, are you sure this kid really has a defensive Spell capable of withstanding Song Xuan Sha's lightning technique?" the burly man confirmed via voice transmission.

"Boss, it looks like a Spell! It could also be a Talisman, but this kid is definitely wealthy!" Skinny Monkey's voice was filled with greed.

"Hmph, he's just a brat in the Divine Breath Realm, spending money so lavishly—he must be loaded!" A fierce light flickered in the burly man's eyes. "Don't rush to act; let's get further from the city! Even if his turtle shell is hard, I'll drain him dry!"

"Boss is wise! If we pull this off, we'll be set to live comfortably for half a year!" Skinny Monkey quickly flattered him.

Just at the moment these people stepped out of the city gate, a cold arc curled at the corner of Zhang Sheng's mouth, and deep in his eyes, a thick killing intent flashed and vanished.

And further back behind this group of robbers, a hooded figure in black also quietly followed out of the city gate.

Zhang Sheng flew for tens of thousands of kilometers.

Behind him, the burly man and his group suddenly accelerated, and within less than a quarter of an hour, they fiercely surrounded him!

The burly man holding a giant axe blocked the front, while the others sealed off all possible escape routes for Zhang Sheng.

"Gentlemen... is there something you need from me?" Zhang Sheng wore an expression of timely panic.

"Hahaha!" The burly man laughed wildly. "Kid, stop the damn act! Hand over your storage ring, and if I'm in a good mood, I might just spare your pathetic life!"

He calculated in his heart that he would first force the kid to hand over his valuables; without his Spiritual Artifacts and spirit crystals, no matter how hard his turtle shell was, it wouldn't be able to protect him!

Zhang Sheng "tremblingly" took off his storage ring and threw it over—but the direction was skewed toward Skinny Monkey!

"Skinny Monkey, check the goods!" the burly man shouted.

Just at the moment Skinny Monkey reached out to catch the storage ring!

An icy, bone-chilling arc of cold light flashed out of thin air right in front of him without warning!

Slash!

Blood splattered!

Skinny Monkey's arms were severed at the shoulders!

Everyone looked on in horror, only to realize that it was a spinning moon blade!

Zhang Sheng's eyes were cold, and his mind moved again: Lingering Moon Flying!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Fast! So fast that it transcended visual perception!

In a hundredth of a second!

Except for the burly man, the others didn't even have time to scream before they were instantly turned into a sky full of blood rain and chunks of flesh under the cutting of countless suddenly erupting moon blades!

The burly man turned his neck with difficulty, his gaze toward Zhang Sheng filled with boundless fear.

He knew he had kicked an iron plate—an iron plate strong enough to grind him into dust!

"M-My Lord! Mercy! Mercy!" The burly man trembled like chaff, cold sweat the size of beans rolling down his forehead. The shadow of death made even this murderer who had killed countless people terrified to the core. "I... I have a slave soul pill! I am willing to be a slave for life! Please..."

However, his plea for mercy came to an abrupt end.

A gigantic palm, condensed from pure earthy yellow energy, appeared suddenly above his head like a mountain descending from the sky!

This giant palm seemed to be a human hand magnified a thousand times, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression!

The giant palm closed fiercely, gripping the burly man tightly in its palm!

Crack...

A tooth-aching sound of bones breaking rang out!

Extreme pain and suffocation instantly engulfed the burly man!

Zhang Sheng's eyes were like ten-thousand-year-old ice, cold to the extreme.

This was the new Spell he had only recently brought to the Perfected State—the Kun Yuan Dragon Capturing Hand!