Chapter 35

Qin Sang struggled to stand up, seeing the King of Hell bite into the soul of Master Yuanjue. He glanced at the King of Hell, who was much more substantial than before, and seeing no signs of it turning on its master, he felt slightly relieved. He couldn't wait to interrogate Master Yuanjue's soul.

He was very curious about the martial arts holy site, Xuanji Temple, and wanted to know if Master Yuanjue had encountered any other immortal masters during his travels over the years.

...

When Master Yuanjue's soul dissipated, a look of surprise appeared on Qin Sang's face.

The souls of those the King of Hell had killed before all existed for about the same amount of time, but Master Yuanjue's soul existed for only half as long. This was the first time Qin Sang had seen such a situation.

Qin Sang was puzzled and hadn't expected this to happen; he still had many questions left unanswered.

Even so, the information he obtained from Master Yuanjue made him feel that the encounter was worthwhile and not in vain.

It turned out that the reason Master Yuanjue could immediately recognize Qin Sang as a cultivator was that Xuanji Temple had killed a cultivator several decades ago!

At that time, the cultivator was besieged by two founding masters of Xuanji Temple, both of whom were innate experts.

The cultivator had similar abilities to Qin Sang, holding a bell in his hand. With a light shake, one of the founding masters of Xuanji Temple died mysteriously, just like Monk Mang, with no visible injuries.

The other founding master was terrified and fought to the death, using a technique that drained his vital energy.

The cultivator didn't expect a mortal to have such astonishing speed, and in a panic, he hastily took out a talisman from his pocket and released a water curtain. However, it was too slow, and he was pierced through the heart by a sword beam.

Seeing Monk Mang's mysterious death, Master Yuanjue immediately thought of this old incident. He was still hesitant but decided to act immediately after hearing Qin Sang's bluff.

It could only be blamed on Qin Sang's lack of experience in the world, which led to his mistake.

After that battle, Xuanji Temple's only two innate experts were one dead and one injured, a significant blow to the temple. It wasn't until Master Yuanjue broke through to the innate stage that the situation stabilized.

The gains and losses of Xuanji Temple were completely disproportionate.

The cultivator did not have the cultivation methods they expected. He only had a purple bell, two talismans, and a bare jade slip, nothing else.

They tried to infuse true qi into the bell and the jade slip, but there was no reaction. One of the talismans was also destroyed by them.

After achieving the innate stage, Master Yuanjue traveled extensively, with the primary goal of finding a way to unlock the purple bell and the jade slip.

During the great upheaval in the Great Sui, Master Yuanjue received a message and returned to his sect, passing through Hening County.

Qin Sang pondered for a moment, bent down to pick up Master Yuanjue's body, and felt a wave of weakness. The escape and struggle, though brief, had almost drained his strength.

He hurriedly activated the "Yinming Scripture" to circulate once, restoring some strength. Then he turned back to pick up Monk Mang's body, kicked open the inner chamber door, and saw the scene outside, drawing a sharp breath.

He had killed people before, more than one.

He had also been on the battlefield, witnessing the gruesome scenes of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.

But seeing nearly a hundred bodies on the ground, with no visible fatal injuries, lying or kneeling motionless like sculptures, still made him feel some physiological discomfort.

Qin Sang picked up the King of Hell's banner and saw that several holes on the banner had disappeared. The King of Hell obediently stayed to one side.

Monk Mang was strict in his military discipline, and the curfew in Hening County was very strict. Despite the commotion, the surrounding residents kept their doors tightly closed, not daring to come out to watch.

Qin Sang looked around, stabbed each body with a sword, and piled the bodies next to the woodshed. He threw a fire starter, and soon the Chu residence was engulfed in flames.

So many bodies wouldn't burn completely, but Qin Sang only wanted to cover up the King of Hell's banner. Burned to a crisp would be enough.

Qin Sang recited a scripture, thinking about the blood on his hands, feeling somewhat hypocritical. He couldn't help but laugh bitterly, realizing he was becoming more cold-blooded.

...

Magistrate Ma, wearing a robe, looked out the window with a worried gaze. He was writing official documents when he noticed a fire outside.

Why hasn't County Magistrate Li sent anyone to put out the fire?

*Bang!*

Just as Magistrate Ma was about to return to his room to change into his official robes, he was startled by two heads being thrown onto the table. He screamed, dropped his brush, fell backward, and hit his head on the ground, letting out another scream.

"Spare my life, hero!"

Magistrate Ma, though fifty years old, moved quickly. He fell to the ground, head down, and kowtowed to the feet in front of him.

"Hero, whatever you want, I will do it. Please spare my life!"

The heads were those of County Magistrate Li Ji and Chu Dashuang, nearly scaring Magistrate Ma to death.

The so-called top martial arts expert, Monk Mang, died mysteriously, and Magistrate Ma didn't think he had the ability to resist.

Another *thud*, and the county seal was thrown in front of him.

"Go out and calm the people. At the third watch tonight, take the seal and open the city gates. If you are late, your entire family will pay with their lives!"

Magistrate Ma, head down, swore, "Hero, rest assured. I will definitely handle the matter properly. If I fail, I will take my own life without your intervention!"

Qin Sang chuckled, "You don't ask why I want you to open the city gates?"

Magistrate Ma's eyes darted around, and he said with a grand air, "Hero, you must know that I have long awaited the righteous army! The current false emperor is debauched and has provoked the wrath of heaven, causing disasters and leading to the thirteen counties of Great Sui being filled with white bones. It is a matter of human and divine indignation! Yet, Li Ji and other false emperor's lackeys are stubborn and oppressive. I, an old and weak man, can only pretend to cooperate with these villains, hoping for a wise ruler to save the people. Today, my wish is finally fulfilled, and I will do my utmost to serve the hero and the prince..."

Magistrate Ma finished his passionate speech and realized the feet in front of him had disappeared. He cautiously lifted his head, but no one was there.

...

Hening County fell, and the rebels set their sights on the state capital. The nobles of Jiangzhou were in a panic, making one bad decision after another, forcing the Duling County troops to return to aid the state capital. They were ambushed on the way and suffered a crushing defeat.

On the second day after the city fell, Qin Sang left Hening County. Later, he heard that Wang Liu was furious, but Qin Sang didn't care.

That year, the people of Jiangzhou spent the New Year in the midst of war.

In less than three months, the state capital of Jiangzhou fell. The army, after a brief rest in Jiangzhou, split into two routes, one heading north to Pingzhou and the other to Huzhou.

By then, Qin Sang had already been in Hunwu County for a month.

He had yet to break through the third level of the "Yinming Scripture." His cultivation had not progressed much in the past month, and he had been stuck at a bottleneck for a full month.