Chapter 22
Having helped Emperor Yuan extend his lifespan for a month, Lin Jiufeng returned to the Cold Palace.
He said he would give Emperor Yuan a gift.
He must do what he said he would.
In the Cold Palace, Lin Jiufeng murmured, “I seem… I seem to have never left the imperial capital of the Yuhua God Dynasty before!”
He had been here for more than ten years, and he had stayed in the Cold Palace all this time.
He never even once visited all of the imperial capital, let alone the world outside the capital.
“The nine vassals are located in different locations. To destroy them, I have to do it one by one.”
The geographic locations of territories governed by the nine vassals appeared in Lin Jiufeng’s mind.
The vassal closest to the imperial capital was King Tianying in Qingzhou.
His lineage fought alongside the founding emperor of the Yuhua God Dynasty when he was building his empire. As a reward, they were assigned to Qingzhou and were given the authority to manage a 100,000 strong army.
As this place was considered to be a bottleneck which was the closest to the imperial capital, this was a very important position to manage.
But as time passed, thoughts of rebellion grew in the heart of the ancestor of King Tianying. He controlled the entire Qingzhou with the army and gave power to his own people arbitrarily. He turned Qingzhou into his own private domain.
He was a vassal, but he changed his own fate and became his own vassal.
“Let’s start with Qingzhou first.”
Lin Jiufeng opened the door of the Cold Palace and walked out with his sword.
Qingzhou was more than 10,000 kilometers away.
However, this wasn’t a problem for Lin Jiufeng who could soar through the air.
“I will destroy the nine great vassals in seven days. I will get back just in time for Dachun to deliver me wine and food.” Lin Jiufeng mentally calculated as he disappeared into the air behind the clouds and the fog.
3
…
Qingzhou.
Because he was the closest to the imperial capital, King Tianying was the first to receive the news.
It was early morning when he received the news of what happened the night before.
After opening the message, he was dumbfounded.
“This… how is this possible?” After a long time, King Tianying recovered his senses and crushed the letter in his hand. His body began to tremble.
“Nine Martial Sages, not nine Grandmasters. Yet, they were exterminated by a single sword stroke. Is there such a terrifying expert in the royal family?” King Tianying became anxious.
“My ancestor is also dead, what should I do?”
“I can’t just sit still and wait to be killed. Emperor Yuan will definitely take the opportunity to suppress me.”
“I have to find help.”
“But my ancestor has been killed!”
“Do I have to go over and join the demonic sects?”
King Tianying was very troubled. He was apprehensive.
He felt as if he would be killed by someone from the imperial capital at any moment.
1
He hurriedly discarded this idea and muttered to himself.
“Don’t scare yourself, Emperor Yuan might already be dead! I still have time to prepare.”
“Is this the mansion of King Tianying?”
“It’s really huge!”
Qingzhou City, in front of the mansion of King Tianying.
A person approached.
His clothes were white like snow. His face was handsome, and on his waist was a long black sword. His bearing made one think of the mountains and cypress trees.
Then, the man drew his sword.
An elegant sword aura quickly spread out after the man drew his long sword.
The early morning sun hadn’t completely dispelled the darkness of the night, yet
There was still a little dew on the leaves.
The sword energy condensed and it took away the darkness, shook off the dew on the leaves in the area, and then passed through the mansion of King Tianying.
King Tianying had just thought of a plan to ensure his safety.
Then, suddenly…
His pupils dilated as he asked in shock, “Why is he here so soon?”
Unfortunately, no one answered him.
The elegant sword energy passed by.
It killed King Tianying and everyone else in the mansion, painlessly.
4
When the first ray of sunlight pierced through the darkness, it shone on King Tianying’s mansion.
It was like a mirage, wavering and shrouded in dust.
Even a Martial Sage could not possibly withstand this sword energy.
Obviously, no one in King Tianying’s mansion was able to withstand it.
After executing this one stroke, the young man in front of the mansion turned around, shot straight up into the sky, and headed to the next place.
The entire Qingzhou was shocked.
The self-proclaimed King of Qingzhou…
The Overlord…
The arrogant King Tianying—was dead.
King Tianying’s mansion, as well as his entire family and sect, was completely destroyed.
But who did it?
Some people who allegedly witnessed the attacker described the latter as a banished immortal that descended onto the mortal world. With a stroke of his sword, King Tianying’s entire family was slaughtered.
1
However, others said that he was not a banished immortal, but a real one.
1
…
When Zhao Guogong of the Four Northern Regions received the news, he had the same reaction as King Tianying.
He was in a complete daze.
“I asked the old ancestor to use poison. There are so many Martial Sages competing. Since we cannot kill him as fast as the others, we should’ve used poison. Why did the old ancestor get into a fight?” Zhao Guogong said, trembling.
He was in fear.
This kind of fear was from deep inside his heart, and he couldn’t control it.
It was akin to people being able to sense their own death but were unable to stop it.
They could only watch—watch as they were about to be swallowed by death.
That was exactly how he felt.
Death was creeping up to him, threatening to swallow him entirely.
“No, I can’t just sit here and wait for death. My ancestor is gone and the Zhao Guogong Manor no longer has anyone to rely on. Now that the royal family has such a terrifying expert, I must find a backer.” Zhao Guogong was very anxious, he knew that the times had changed.
The power of the states was overthrown by that man in the imperial capital with a stroke of his sword.
“The demonic sects! The only ones who can save us are the demonic sects.” Zhao Guogong knew that even if he surrendered to the Yuhua God Dynasty, his life would still be forfeit because of what the nine vassals had done.
“I can’t surrender no matter what,” Zhao Guogong said firmly.
He got up to contact a member of one of the demonic sects.
Lin Jiufeng, who had just walked to the front of the Zhao Guogong Manor, smiled.
His hearing was amazing, and he heard what Zhao Guogong had said.
“If that’s the case, then die.” Lin Jiufeng drew his sword lightly and raised his eyebrows.
Boom!
An elegant sword light swept across the Zhao Guogong Manor.
It was already noon.
The sun was blazing and the northern lands burned hot like a fiery stove. Lin Jiufeng’s sword aura caressed the air, and a powerful flame was born, igniting the entire Zhao Guogong Manor.
No one managed to escape!
A vassal was annihilated by a great fire.
Lin Jiufeng stepped back.
Then, he turned around and left.
The nine great vassals were in different places. Some were in distant lands and even though Lin Jiufeng could fly, it still took him a significant amount of time to get there.
So he didn’t talk with them too much. He simply executed a stroke of his sword whenever he arrived at the right place.
No matter how much they talked, they still had to die anyway.
Why talk so much to the dead?
It was a waste of time!
…
In the next few days, Lin Jiufeng traveled through the nine regions of the Yuhua God Dynasty.
1
He killed the nine vassals.
Their families and their clans were wiped out together.
They did not even have a chance to seek help from the demonic sects.
Their deaths happened too fast.
This matter shook the world.
The Yuhua God Dynasty’s Rebellion of the States had ended just like that.
The nine vassals were all killed.
Who was the killer?
Everyone had no doubt that it was the horrifying expert who had killed the nine Martial Sages with one stroke of his sword in the imperial capital.
For a while, the world became peaceful.
Even the small countries nearby remained quiet, and they did not dare to breach the borders.
Some people even said that the mysterious person from the Yuhua God Dynasty was at the peak amidst the recovery of the world’s energies.
His cultivation should not be just that of a Martial Sage.
There were numerous rumors in the outside world, but Lin Jiufeng ignored them all.
He quietly returned to the imperial capital.
Entering the Cold Palace…
He met Dachun who was delivering his food like usual.