Chapter 26

After half an incense stick, Jiang Ping'an raised his head, a look of shock appearing on his face.

He had read through the general content of the cultivation technique and confirmed that it was the same one used by the assassin before.

According to the book's introduction, after cultivating this technique, the more people one kills, the stronger one's power and the more intense the killing aura will become.

Once a certain level is reached, one doesn't even need to fight; just releasing the killing aura can kill people.

"Is this a demonic technique?"

Cultivating this technique isn't difficult; one just needs to keep killing people.

Moreover, it was written that this was the first level of the *Heavenly Slaughter Technique*. Just the first level could make these people reach this level; how powerful would the complete *Heavenly Slaughter Technique* be?

After deep contemplation, Jiang Ping'an decided to cultivate it.

The reason was simple: when releasing this killing aura, it could affect people's movements.

After so many battles, he understood that even a momentary daze during a fight could change the final outcome.

He wouldn't go around killing innocents; as long as it could make the enemy hesitate for a moment, it would be enough.

Cultivating the first level wasn't difficult; it was even simpler than any other technique he had cultivated before.

In Meng Kuo's room.

"What! You encountered someone from the Heavenly Slaughter Pavilion! Are you hurt?"

Meng Kuo's face changed drastically when he heard his daughter say she had encountered an assassin from the Heavenly Slaughter Pavilion, and he quickly checked her body.

"I'm fine. It was... Jiang Ping'an who saved me."

Meng Jing recounted the events that had happened.

After hearing her, Meng Kuo was extremely shocked.

"Ignoring the influence of the Heavenly Slaughter Technique and killing four assassins who were stronger than you in one strike?"

If it weren't for his daughter telling him, Meng Kuo would never have believed it was true.

He had already overestimated Jiang Ping'an's combat strength, but he never imagined that the other party still had hidden abilities!

Meng Kuo had also been targeted by the Heavenly Slaughter Pavilion and knew how terrifying the Heavenly Slaughter Technique was.

Even he, a seasoned general, was affected by the Heavenly Slaughter Technique.

If it weren't for Old Li being there, he would have been in grave danger.

Meng Kuo was still shaken by the thought. Fortunately, Jiang Ping'an was strong, and his daughter was unharmed; otherwise, he couldn't imagine the consequences of losing her.

Ye Lin, standing beside him, had a complex expression.

It turned out that Jiang Ping'an had held back during their sparring match.

"That despicable Jiang Ping'an, he's so strong." Meng Jing gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with unwillingness and fighting spirit.

Meng Kuo took a deep breath, putting aside other emotions, and looked at his daughter Meng Jing with tenderness.

"Xiao Jing, Ping'an has good talent. How about I arrange a marriage for you with him?"

"Arrange a marriage with him?"

Meng Jing's face suddenly stiffened, and Jiang Ping'an's calm face involuntarily popped into her mind.

For some reason, her heart suddenly beat faster.

"No, I'm still young and don't want to get married."

Meng Jing lowered her head, kicking the ground with her little boots, and tightly gripped the knife at her waist, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Ha ha, you can decide when you're ready, but you should seize the opportunity. With his talent, many girls will like him."

Meng Kuo's eyes were filled with affection as he looked at his daughter.

"Hmph, it's his business who he likes. I'm going to practice my sword skills. I want to defeat that guy!"

Meng Jing, like a little deer, bounced out of the room.

After Meng Jing left, the smile on Meng Kuo's face disappeared, and a murderous intent emerged. "Xu Tao, you wait!"

It must have been Xu Tao who hired the assassins to kill his daughter.

He couldn't tolerate anyone trying to harm his daughter. This winter, no matter what, he had to take Ping Shui County!

Half a day later, at the Ping Shui County General's Residence.

Listening to his subordinate's report, Xu Tao suddenly stood up.

"Impossible! How could that kid kill two cultivators at the sixth level and two at the seventh level in one go!"

Captain Ma Lin also found it unbelievable and responded, "That's what the Heavenly Slaughter Pavilion said."

"Moreover, they said the information you provided was incorrect, causing them significant losses, so the deposit was deducted. If you want to continue the assassination, you need to increase the reward."

Xu Tao sat back in his chair, his face changing several times.

The Heavenly Slaughter Pavilion, with its vast resources, wouldn't lie.

This means that in just one month, that kid has become even stronger.

Why won't that damned civilian die!

"General, are you going to increase the reward?" Ma Lin asked cautiously.

"Increase my ass! Do you think I have too much money!"

Xu Tao angrily cursed. Although he was unwilling, he didn't have the money to hire the Heavenly Slaughter Pavilion again.

Winter was approaching, and he would settle the score on the battlefield.

Xu Tao took a deep breath and said, "The grain collected is far less than expected. How can we fight in the winter? Increase the grain collection efforts."

"General, many farmers are rebelling because of the grain collection," Ma Lin reminded him.

"Kill them! Damn, a bunch of civilians dare to rebel! What right do they have? You go down and suppress them personally!"

Xu Tao was still angry when he heard about the rebellion.

"Yes, General."

Ma Lin left and led people to collect grain.

In their eyes, the common people were just tools and had no right to rebel.

In Jiang Ping'an's room, countless corpses appeared as shadows. These corpses had died in tragic ways, like a hell, making one's hair stand on end.

Jiang Ping'an touched his right eye, his face showing surprise.

After obtaining the *Heavenly Slaughter Technique*, he planned to practice it briefly to use it as an auxiliary technique in critical moments.

After all, he wasn't a bloodthirsty person and didn't want to cultivate through killing.

But things were far beyond his expectations.

When he used this technique, its power exceeded his imagination.

The room became eerie, and the怨气 (yuan qi, grudge energy) from various tragically dead corpses gathered into a cold aura, making one's body shiver.

Jiang Ping'an could clearly feel that when he used this technique, his right eye produced energy fluctuations, and then these strange phenomena appeared.

Illusory corpses appeared around him, many of which he had never seen.

These people weren't killed by him, so why did they appear in the phenomena he released?

Could it be that the people killed by the original owner of this eye were counted on him?

Jiang Ping'an stopped using the technique, and the surrounding killing aura disappeared.

This technique didn't seem to consume much spiritual energy, but after using it, his head felt a bit dizzy, as if it was consuming his mental energy.

Jiang Ping'an wanted to test how strong this technique was, but since Senior Li wasn't there, he could only find someone else to test it.

"I'll go out and see if I can find any other assassins."

Jiang Ping'an hung two protective talismans around his waist to prevent any mishaps.

He had already determined the level of these protective talismans; when fully charged, they could withstand a full-strength attack from a cultivator at the ninth level.

As Jiang Ping'an stepped out, several soldiers just returned from outside.

"Damn, we didn't catch it again. That beast runs so fast!"

"What kind of monster is it? I've never seen it before, but it looks very cool!"

"Who knows? Tomorrow, we'll call more people and must catch it!"

The soldiers were exhausted and covered in dust.

Jiang Ping'an asked, "Haven't you caught that monster yet?"

A few days ago, several horses in the eastern stables were eaten by a monster. A group of soldiers had been chasing it for several days, but they hadn't caught it yet.

"No, we can't catch it. That beast is too fast, even Captain Ye Lin couldn't catch it."

The soldiers were frustrated; they had been exhausted trying to catch the beast.

Jiang Ping'an was a bit surprised. He had seen Ye Lin's speed, which was definitely faster than that of an ordinary cultivator at the sixth level.

Even Ye Lin couldn't catch it.

Jiang Ping'an thought for a moment, "Which direction did the monster run?"

"West, towards the border. We were afraid of conflict with the Ping Shui County soldiers, so we didn't go further," the soldier replied.

Jiang Ping'an nodded, "I'll go and check."

"Jiang Shao, don't go. You won't catch it."

"Yeah, that thing is very cautious. It runs as soon as it sees a shadow."

"It's dark today. Tomorrow, we'll send two or three thousand people. We won't believe we can't catch that beast!"

These soldiers had been fooled enough over the past few days and knew how cunning the beast was. One person definitely couldn't catch it.

Jiang Ping'an smiled, "I just want to take a look."

He actually wanted to try the *Heavenly Slaughter Technique*. If he couldn't find that beast, he would find other beasts to test it.

The other soldiers, seeing his determination, didn't say much. They knew he definitely wouldn't catch it.

They had been out all day and didn't know that Jiang Ping'an had already become the captain.