Chu Zheng gripped the iron mace in his hand, stealthily got out of bed, lowered his breathing, and his ears twitched lightly as he meticulously captured every trace of sound.
As his attention gradually focused, the Qi flowing around him began to leave traces in his eyes.
More than ten fluctuations of Qi and blood appeared within his perception.
The courtyard around him was already surrounded by people.
Four people on the roof, three on each side of the house, among them, the Qi and blood fluctuations of five people were particularly prominent, having reached the realm of Grandmaster.
A thought flickered in Chu Zheng's mind, and he quickly figured out that these people were well-prepared, specifically targeting him.
A scorched scent surged into Chu Zheng's nostrils, and in the blink of an eye, red flames were reflected outside the window.
Chu Zheng's jaws suddenly tightened, his eyes cold and icy as ice.
Fire again?!
The fire spread extremely quickly due to the dry winter, and the scorching hot Qi moved around in the air.
If Chu Zheng were in the Spirit Transformation Realm, he could have used his hand to harness the fierce fire for himself, unfortunately, he was far from it.
After a brief contemplation, Chu Zheng suddenly looked up, stamped heavily on the ground, leaped up, and swung the iron mace in his hand, hitting the horizontal beam in the house.
Crack—
The nearly four-inch-thick wooden beam broke under the force, the entire roof frame collapsed instantly, ancient ash splattered everywhere, rising several meters high, hiding him from the sweeping gazes around.
The people who had been on the roof instinctively jumped up, and in the blink of an eye, all they saw was dirt and dust, unable to make out any clear situation.
Chu Zheng closed his eyes and, relying solely on his senses, instantly caught the movement of a Martial Arts Grandmaster.
Qi Condensing Great Completion was no match for him at all, only Grandmasters posed some threat to him.
Since the last battle, seven days had passed, and his strength had increased by nearly a thousand pounds, a transformation for ordinary people.
The Grandmaster, struggling to search for Chu Zheng in the dust, suddenly heard a piercing whistle by his ear, and just as the sound of space shattering arrived, the iron mace had already heavily fallen on his head.
Spurt!
The iron mace, carrying thousands of pounds of terrifying colossal strength, smashed down, completely overpowering the flesh and blood, turning the Grandmaster's head along with his upper body into a pool of bloodied mud.
Flesh and bone fragments splattered everywhere, forming blooms of blood.
In the next instant, Chu Zheng exerted all his strength and threw the iron mace in his hand, forcefully smashing towards two figures in the air not too far away.
With nowhere to leverage in the air, the two people couldn't dodge and were thrown over ten yards by the iron mace, landing already breathing out with no breath coming in.
In the blink of an eye, three out of four people on the roof were dead.
Before Chu Zheng could catch his breath, an invisible fierce wind whipped up by his side, slashing and cleaving like knives and axes against his body, instantly shredding his clothes to reveal bloody trails.
A series of fierce winds swept over, instantly blowing away the dust and smoke. The Grandmaster had gathered Qi into an edge, each movement was like wielding a bladed weapon, his inner strength profound, beyond comparison with ordinary martial artists.
The instant the house collapsed, several Grandmasters had already struck simultaneously, only to be a step too late.
Chu Zheng withdrew and stepped back, the flesh around his wounds wriggled and soon stopped the bleeding.
He was nearing great completion in his Tiger Body Entry technique, and his physique was already unlike an ordinary person's; although he had many wounds, none were fatal.
Although four Grandmasters remained, he might not be undefeatable.
"It's a Horizontal Training Grandmaster, use hidden weapons!"
One of them suddenly spoke up, actively increasing the distance from Chu Zheng, with over ten others following suit.
Whoosh whoosh—
In the next instant, countless hidden weapons shot towards Chu Zheng like raindrops, invisible in the night despite the glow of the fire.
Chu Zheng didn't need to think to guess that these hidden weapons were poisoned; he immediately raised his toes, kicked up several door panels, and swept up countless debris stained with sparks, shielding himself in front of him.
And then, without hesitation, he charged towards the nearby Mansion's Treasury, crashing through a blue tiled wall and stepping into the armory where weapons were stored.
In the next moment, several spears shot out from the darkness with uncanny accuracy under the night sky, without a hint of error, each spear taking a life. In the blink of an eye, five more were dead.
Soon there was commotion all around, and both Song Tonghai and Song Lingxue rushed over upon hearing the noise, their expressions turning sour as they observed the chaos.
No one could have imagined that, even with the Imperial Secret Guards stationed there, someone from the martial world would dare to make a move.
Both were injured and almost instantly found themselves at a disadvantage. Had it not been for the Grandmasters' focus remaining on Chu Zheng, defeat would have occurred in a flash.
Those who had achieved Qi Condensing Great Completion were swiftly murdered one by one by Chu Zheng, leaving only four Grandmasters.
Chu Zheng hid inside the armory, looking for an opportunity to strike, finding this situation quite tricky.
Grandmasters were indeed formidable, and with their defenses up, the spears thrown by Chu Zheng could hardly pose a threat.
And with their outwardly projected protective Inner Qi, Chu Zheng could not get close, ultimately because his Qi Refining time was still short.
Just as the standoff continued, two crimson streaks of light cut across the night sky, striking like thunder, and in the blink of an eye, they hit two of the Grandmasters.
Pu!
In a snap, both Grandmasters exploded into a mist of blood, leaving no trace of their bodies.
A tall figure clad in crimson armor slowly approached—it was Li Mingzhou.
Facing a Great Grandmaster, the Grandmasters had no chance to resist; in just a few breaths, the remaining two were effortlessly captured alive.
......
......
"Thank you, Commandant, for your assistance,"
Song Tonghai bowed deeply, his words filled with gratitude.
Li Mingzhou did not respond, his expression cold and detached, as he stepped forward and ripped off the two Grandmasters' masks.
Both men were similar in age, around their fifties, one with dark skin and ordinary features, the other with well-shaped brows and eyes, radiating a hero's aura at a glance.
"Yin Ping? What are you doing here?"
Upon seeing the man's face, Song Tonghai frowned deeply.
In his early years as a bodyguard, he had traveled far and wide. He had interacted with almost every famous martial artist in the martial world.
Yin Ping, from Beiyang Prefecture, had been well-known for making friends with heroes all over the Great Zhou, especially in the Northern Region.
The issue was, Beiyang Prefecture was located at the northernmost part of Great Zhou, nearly 80,000 miles from Wuyang County, making the two almost unrelated.
Song Tonghai took a deep breath and said solemnly, "We have no grudges. Who instructed you to do this? Can you reveal anything?"
Yin Ping remained indifferent, his head lowered, not saying a word.
"We are merely following orders. If you want to kill us, just do it; there's no need for so many words. You will just live a bit longer than us."
Suddenly, the other Grandmaster spoke fiercely, his eyes full of malice.
Li Mingzhou stepped forward abruptly, grabbed the Grandmaster by the jaw with one hand and thrust two fingers into his mouth, pulling out his tongue. Then, with a flick of his fingertips, he cut the tongue off at the root.
"Wu wu…"
The intense pain caused his body to convulse, blood spilling from his mouth.
"It just so happens I need to report back to His Majesty. I will take this man with me,"
Li Mingzhou said indifferently, glancing at Yin Ping and continued:
"His Majesty will proclaim to all under heaven, to exterminate this man's entire family, to slice him a thousand times. If you speak, you can die quickly and prevent harm to your family after your death."