Chapter 243 Part 1

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Chapter 243 Part 1: Martial Saint Makes a Comeback (1)

Vegetable Market Execution Grounds.

King Qin held a sword and slowly approached Qiao Mu.

This sword seemed like a weapon held in hand, but upon closer inspection, it seemed to merge seamlessly with the bones of the hand, indicating it was also made of the same mystical material, Blazing Essence Gold.

With a swift strike, a beam of light from the sword cut through the air, leaving a long gash on Qiao Mu’s belly, causing blood to gush out like a spring.

The flesh clone he controlled from a distance lost connection with him because of this and completely vanished.

In fact, he had been multitasking, engaging in combat with King Qin while controlling "Qiao Shui" to deceive Li Gongde.

With a leg already injured, he couldn’t use his agility skills and quickly found himself at a disadvantage, completely overwhelmed in the fight.

His mortal body was no match for the Taoist soldier made of precious metal. With a leg injured, he struggled to move swiftly and could only face King Qin head-on.

As a result, Qiao Mu soon gained more than a dozen wounds… He was somewhat surprised himself, how was he still alive?

King Qin appeared very restrained.

He continuously attacked Qiao Mu like a cat playing with a mouse, but he wasn’t in a rush to end Qiao Mu’s life.

He was very patient, he was waiting.

Qin Shiqing was not an impulsive person, his goal was not to kill the person claiming to be a Qiao family member named Qiao Gui, but to capture all Qiao family members and give an explanation to the Immortal Gate Great Dao Sect.

Killing one Qiao Gui was not enough!

In the Wan family mansion in the Imperial Capital, Qin Shiqing let his guard down after killing Qiao Mu and got killed by the resurrected Qiao Mu who ambushed him.

With King Qin’s intellect, how could he make the same mistake twice?

He was prepared for more than one Qiao family member, so after hearing about Qiao Shui’s attack on King Qin’s Mansion, he pretended to leave but quickly returned.

"Finding one Qiao family member in the city means there might be more, they must all be captured."

"If Qiao Shui attacks my King Qin’s Mansion, I will first kill you, Qiao Gui, here, and see who frowns first." King Qin coldly smirked.

Many years ago, he lost his family and became a lonely man with a strong belief in the dao. He didn’t care about the newly established "King Qin’s Mansion".

On the other hand, the Qiao family members were completely different from him.

It was clear that this was a flourishing martial arts family, and the Qiao family members were known for their loyalty and protectiveness.

When one Qiao family member died tragically, another blood relative would quickly seek revenge.

So, if they attacked the point guarded by Qiao Gui, the other Qiao family members would likely be drawn in like moths to a flame, one by one ending up at the execution ground.

King Qin was already alone, no one’s death would make him frown.. So when both sides started switching sides, how could he possibly lose?

"Why haven’t the other Qiao family members arrived yet? What about Qiao Shui who intruded into my King Qin’s Mansion?" King Qin wondered.

He was getting impatient.

……….

The room inside King Qin’s big house.

While Li Gongde was looking at the floating image on the red wooden table, he suddenly felt a movement in his heart as footsteps came from outside the room.

"Someone dares to come?" He was slightly surprised.

The guards of King Qin’s Mansion, as well as the Iron Bone Warrior, were all scattered by Qiao Shui.

Especially the Iron Bone Warrior, his body was still half kneeling outside the door.

Although Qiao Shui was already dead, the guards had no choice but to run away. How could they regain their spirits and come back so quickly?

However, when he turned around, he saw a figure with a black starry mask on its face. This figure was shrouded in a robe, making it hard to see the specific body shape. It was the Star Xuan Envoy of the Wuji Association.

"Greetings, Envoy." The Star Xuan Envoy lowered his voice and bowed slightly.

Li Gongde’s face twitched slightly. Instead of looking at the Star Xuan Envoy, he glanced at the silent courtyard outside.

In broad daylight, how dare you come in here? This is King Qin’s Mansion." Li Gongde frowned but quickly composed himself:

"What urgent matter do you have?"

His contact with the Wuji Association naturally had to be in secret, and this was after all King Qin’s Mansion, not his own home.

For the past couple of days, Li Gongde had been confined in this room by King Qin, unable to go out, so it was impossible for the Wuji Association to contact him.

The Star Xuan Envoy of the Wuji Association had just managed to slip away from the surveillance of the people in King Qin’s Mansion, Qiao Shui had just died, with no one around him, he hastily rushed over. This obviously meant that something big was about to happen!

"Hello. Perhaps we of the Wuji Association no longer need to remain hidden." The Star Xuan Envoy raised his head, his entire face covered by a mask, speaking in a calm and emotionless tone, trying not to show any personal feelings.

Yet, the emotion in the words of this Star Xuan Envoy at this moment was nearly impossible to conceal.

"The Martial Saint is not dead, and he is about to return!"

Li Gongde’s eyes flickered for a moment, suddenly hearing this news, but his face showed little excitement.

He put his chin on his hand and started thinking deeply.

"It seems like the world is about to get chaotic again…. No, this world has never been peaceful."

"I’m just not sure if I can continue using my identity as a wealthy man." He let out a slight sigh in his heart, feeling a bit reluctant.

In the end, although King Qin didn’t kill him, Li Gongde, instead using a decoy, he also didn’t really care much about Li Gongde.

Otherwise, why would King Qin detain him and not return to help…. Perhaps King Qin never thought about how Li Gongde would restore his reputation after being executed, and how he would handle the aftermath.

Thinking about this, Li Gongde lightly tapped his hand in the air.

The floating water mirror on the mahogany table quickly shrank, turning into a sparkling transparent water droplet, which he then drew into his wide sleeve with a hand gesture.

Although Li Gongde had told Qiao Shui, who was on his deathbed, some things, he naturally couldn’t reveal all of his own secrets.

The Wuji Association is a group of ordinary people resisting the power of the Nine Immortal Gates, mostly consisting of martial artists, but there are also some unusual members.

In search of ways to defeat the Nine Immortal Gates, the Wuji Association tried different paths. One example is Saintess Wu Qingxin, who was sent by the Martial Saint to the Xuantian Sect to practice immortal cultivation.

He turned around and left the chaotic King Qin’s Mansion with the Star Xuan Envoy from the Wuji Association, quietly disappearing.

……………………….

In a remote area of the Zhong Province, deep in the mountains.

Wu Qiankun once again ventured into the forests, but this time he was not alone. He was accompanied by dozens of people.

These dozens of people were senior members of the Wuji Association, including the seventy-two wise men under the Martial Saint.

Hai Wuya was also among this group of people.

Hai Wuya was not considered a senior member of the Wuji Association. He had been imprisoned shortly after the Inhuman War, and although he was included among the seventy-two wise men, he had been outside the Wuji Association’s system for forty years, spending over thirty years studying alone in prison.

Not to mention senior members, before being released from prison and reinstated as Minister of Rites, he rarely interacted with people from the Wuji Association.

Among all these people, Hai Wuya is actually quite different.

The other seventy two wise men are mostly descendants of Martial Saints, some of whom were personally raised by Martial Saints.

But Hai Wuya is unique.

He was a colleague of the Martial Saint before he became a saint, belonging to the same generation, at most being of different ranks in the officialdom.

The reason he is here is partly due to his recent contact with the Wuji Association in order to spread the "Xumi Mountain King Sutra".

The second reason is…

Wu Qiankun’s news was so shocking that Hai Wuya felt compelled to come here, wanting to witness the truth behind the outrageous rumors.

However, as he walked into the forest, he already had a growing sense of the answer in his heart.

Intuition!

It was the instinctive sensing of the Martial Saint Spiritual Technique!

Walking among the mountain paths, Hai Wuya followed the crowd up the steps, unconsciously coughing lightly, with beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

As he got closer to the cave at the mountaintop, he could feel his own intuition frantically warning him.

With each step closer, each step up the stairs… that immense pressure kept increasing.

Hai Wuya glanced at the other people in the crowd.

Among these people, young and old, fat and thin, many of their facial expressions were similar to his.

The group was very quiet, with an inexplicable sense of unease spreading.

"Is the Martial Saint really still alive?" someone couldn’t help but ask, holding onto a glimmer of hope.

The mystery of the Martial Saint’s life and death, even within the Wuji Association, was a secret known only to a very few.

And these high-ranking people, referred to as seventy two wise men, were only recently informed by Wu Qiankun about this fact, and brought them personally.

"A Martial Saint won’t easily die," Wu Qiankun ahead of the group casually replied.

He seemed very calm, having held the power of Wuji Association for the past one or two years. Now, he had gained momentum, increasingly showing the style of a Martial Saint in his early years.

"The Immortal Gate has always looked down on us ordinary martial artists, viewing themselves highly, and the Martial Saint just used their arrogance."

"But…" the person expressed doubt:

"If the world, if the Nine Immortal Gates were to know that the Martial Saint is still alive, the Immortal Gate would surely be furious!"

If the Immortal Gate sees martial artists as mundane, as ephemeral beings, then the strong Martial Saint managed to deceive the Nine Immortal Gates. If this matter were to be exposed, the consequences would surely be the fury of the Immortal Gate.

This person was worried, fearing that having so many people know that the Martial Saint was still alive would lead to trouble.

"Fury, who cares if they are furious or not?"

"Now is the time," Wu Qiankun calmly said.

As they talked, a group of people reached the mountaintop.

At the mountaintop, there was a very noticeable cave. Despite the bright sun, no light could enter the pitch-black cave.

At the cave entrance, the boundary between light and darkness was clear.

The deep cave was filled with darkness like a tidal wave. Nothing could be seen inside, making Hai Wuya and the others feel a shiver.

They felt that the Martial Saint was inside.

With this thought in mind, as they continued to look at the cave, something seemed off.

Upon closer inspection, they noticed that the cave seemed to be slightly moving, giving an eerie feeling.

Wu Qiankun stayed silent, waiting with the others outside the cave.

Nobody said a word, and the silence spread quickly like the tide.

But Hai Wuya’s intuition became even stronger, suddenly feeling like he couldn’t breathe.

Not long after.

Inside the cave, darkness surged like a tide, a tall figure bathed in darkness slowly walked out.

He emerged from the cave, standing under the sunlight, his skin faintly gleaming, still with an ageless appearance, except for his long white-gray hair turning half black and half white at some point.

Without looking at Hai Wuya and the others, he turned around and stood at the mountaintop, gazing at the sun in the sky.