Begin the Bloodshed . . .
The young man in cyan clothing, Cha Eun Xiao, seethed with righteous anger. "Old bastard! Still clinging to your delusions, are you? Tonight, you meet your end."
His eyes glinted with unrelenting resolve. "No, I won't let them die quickly. It's too merciful. While the others may meet their demise swiftly, I guarantee that this old bastard and that prince will beg for death for the rest of their lives. They will live in eternal agony, endlessly confessing their heinous deeds!"
It was indeed Cha Eun Xiao and Bing-Er who had infiltrated the Second Prince's palace.
Cha Eun Xiao had no intentions of concealing his true identity this time. He wanted to operate openly, to ensure that everyone knew he was responsible for toppling Second Prince's dominion. Only by doing so could he release the immense fury pent up within him.
With Cha Eun Xiao opting to act without concealment, the fate of Second Prince's Palace was irrevocably sealed.
Second Prince may have shrouded himself in a cloak of enigma, but he was about to meet a most unfortunate end.
He had proclaimed, "It's going to be a memorable night," and his words had proved chillingly prophetic.
Cha Eun Xiao had no intentions of allowing anyone to leak information about his true identity. This night, everyone within Second Prince's Palace would face retribution.
The sound of moans reverberated throughout the palace, and black-clad assassins perched atop its walls, vigilant in their surveillance. Attempting to flee would be met with instant death.
One individual tried to ignite a signal firework to summon reinforcements from various factions within Chen-Xing City. However, before he could complete the task, an arrow swiftly found its mark, claiming his life.
Sparrowhawks, attempting to take flight, were pulverized by an invisible force, their lifeless forms plummeting from the sky.
At the palace gates, Song Jue stood alone, wielding a sword imbued with a malevolent presence. He swung it relentlessly, every strike sending forth a blinding cascade of white light. Wherever the blade descended, it left a trail of dismembered corpses. The martial art he employed was the same sword art that had served him well in the Qing-Yun Realm, a style marked not by raw strength but by its mercilessness.
It was a vicious sword art. No one who suffered its blows left with an intact body.
In the other three directions surrounding the palace, three individuals clad in black moved like reapers of death, their swords slashing like a relentless avalanche. After the brilliant display of swordsmanship came a torrent of blood. Where their swordsmanship was unleashed, life ended. Their victims were numerous, leaving a sea of lifeless forms in their wake.
While Second Prince's Palace had sustained significant losses during the Kingdom of Chen's earlier upheaval, its core forces remained largely intact. The palace was defended by hundreds of guards and even a contingent of Royal Guards. However, when confronted by these three death-dealers, they were like sheep among wolves. Their formation disintegrated, and they were left defenseless.
From all directions—east, south, north, and west—four slaughterers descended upon Second Prince's Palace. Their combined force was beyond the palace's capacity to withstand. The guards found themselves powerless, and it wasn't until they faced this onslaught that they fully comprehended the peril they were in.
It was evident that these individuals had come to eradicate Second Prince's Palace entirely. The two great sects had previously attacked the palace with great intensity, but their primary target had been the members of the three noble clans. While many of the clan members had perished, the palace's defenders had suffered minimal casualties as the great sects had still acknowledged the necessity of maintaining a semblance of amicability with the royal family.
The arrival of formidable cultivators from the martial world sent shockwaves through the palace guards. More cultivators had joined the fray, and this time, their power was vastly superior.
The palace guards found themselves overwhelmed and increasingly terrified. Their apprehension was one of the key reasons why the quartet of assassins could eliminate them with such ease. Had the guards retained their unwavering courage and resolve, even Song Jue, despite being in peak condition, would have struggled to dispatch them promptly.
Yet, the guards had been exposed to the brutal and bloody encounters with higher-level martial cultivators, leaving them with a profound understanding of the martial world's reality. They knew that superior numbers offered no advantage. Realizing the unwavering determination of their adversaries, they sought avenues of escape.
This prompted the four assassins to relentlessly pursue the over two thousand fleeing guards, creating an absurd spectacle. Guards sprinted out of their designated areas, some entertaining the notion of fleeing the palace entirely, oblivious to the futility of their attempts.
The absurdity of the situation manifested itself in guards desperately scaling the palace walls, hoping to break free. However, their efforts led to them leaping over the wall, only to crash back down, their screams filling the air. Each fall left a guard with a ghastly chest wound, blood spattering from their injuries.
Men in black attire descended from the wall after them, wordlessly brandishing longswords to decapitate the guards. They showed no mercy, whether the guards were wounded or already dead. Their heads were unceremoniously severed, ensuring there was no chance of survival.
Cha Eun Xiao's words before the mission resonated in the minds of the assassins. "If you want to ensure someone's death, just take their head. It's the only way to be certain."
His pragmatic advice had elicited laughter from the assassins. The truth in his words was inescapable, an axiom that all assassins knew well. "No matter how powerful they are, once their head is removed, they're as good as dead. If someone can survive without a head on their shoulders, well, let's spare their wretched existence."