Da Xuan Martial Saint

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Hiss! Hiss!

The rain that filled the sky seemed to come to life as it merged into lively droplets, converging under the guidance of Yu Jiujiang's fishing rod, and formed an imposing water dragon that pounced fiercely towards Cheng Houhua.

Cheng Houhua wore a faint smile, his cold sword cutting straight down without generating any visible sword light but instead sending forth a white, hazy chill. It collided with the oncoming water dragon, instantaneously freezing it solid, one chunk at a time.

But at that moment,

Yu Jiujiang suddenly exhaled a breath.

"Zha!"

It sounded like a command.

From the mouth of the frozen water dragon, a burst of water condensed to the extreme shot out like a beam of sword light, firing directly at Cheng Houhua with murderous intent fully revealed.

Cheng Houhua's expression shifted slightly, with no time for further action. He could only wield his cold sword horizontally to block the stream of water arrows, but the force of the strike still sent him flying backward, bending his entire sword into an arc under the fierce impact.

But after flying nearly thirty feet, the cold white mist emanating from the cold sword continued to freeze the stream of water inch by inch, finally forming a nearly thirty-foot long line of ice stretching across the street!

"..."

Seeing that his strike had not been effective, Yu Jiujiang's face darkened and he was about to move forward when he suddenly seemed to sense something, his expression slightly startled as his movements slowed down significantly.

Cheng Houhua's gaze also shifted subtly, the hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth fading quite a bit.

"The He Family really can't be propped up, a bunch of trash that can't even probe out what other moves Yan Jingqing has prepared. It seems only fitting that they follow fate and meet their demise."

The actions taken today were in truth more about probing, to see if Yan Jingqing still had other moves left. It wasn't worth causing a major conflict over someone like Chen Mu, yet the He Family seemed to be a bit too incompetent.

With a lethal weapon like the Blood Fiend Blazing Flame Arrow, they couldn't even deal with a mere inspector of the Metropolitan Commander, let alone force Yan Jingqing to reveal any other hidden moves he might have.

As the words fell,

Cheng Houhua shook his head slightly.

According to the artistic calculations of fate done by the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, the He Family's fate had many paths, but most led to destruction. If they were doomed to be wiped out anyway, then making use of them before their demise would only be natural.

Hiss!

A stream of water transformed into a sharp arrow and flew from the side, but Cheng Houhua seemed not to have reacted in time, and the dart pierced right through his right abdomen, traversing from the lower right belly to the left shoulder before bursting out into the air.

However, watching this scene from afar, Yu Jiujiang's face showed no emotion. Instead, he slowly lowered his fishing rod.

Crack!

A crack appeared on Cheng Houhua's chest, and then his body quickly lost color, turning into an ice sculpture which then instantly shattered. All the surrounding cold white mist rapidly dissipated, and his figure was nowhere to be found.

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And almost exactly after two breaths had passed,

Chen Mu's figure silently appeared in the alleyway. With one step, he crossed over the frozen Ice Dragon, the icy streaks, and the rows of congealed streams to arrive beside Yu Jiujiang, asking in a deep voice, "How are you?"

"I'm fine."

Yu Jiujiang shook his head, then let out a sigh and said, "It was the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion that intervened, a True Disciple... It's simply because of his age; he could hold me back, but I couldn't keep him here."

Chen Mu glanced at the situation in the area, and even though he hadn't been here just before, the sight of almost the entire street covered with unusual icy scenery allowed him to roughly guess the intensity of the previous fight—that Yu Jiujiang must have gone all out.

"Ice huh... That must be Cheng Houhua from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, practicing the Cold Winter Artistic Conception among the Four Seasons Artistic Conceptions. Right now, it's exactly his time, not to mention ice impedes water easily, and water blocks ice with difficulty. You've had a hard time."

In essence, the Cold Winter Artistic Conception did have some affinity suppression over the Kan Water Artistic Conception.

"Cough, cough."

Yu Jiujiang's breath quickly retracted, then he coughed twice, smiled and said, "It's nothing, at most I'll just go to eternal rest a year earlier. But how did you get here so quickly?"

The True Disciple of the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion must not have attacked Chen Mu, which was understandable. After all, if they directly moved against Chen Mu, that would be equivalent to declaring open war against Yan Jingqing and the Seven Profound Sect.

Now, with the He Family in between, both Yan Jingqing and the Seven Profound Sect would deal with the He Family first and then slowly settle accounts with the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion later.

"I was worried about you, so I came over as soon as I was done."

Chen Mu replied briefly.

Just as he was sensing the two auras from the Demon-Slaying Office and preparing to hurry over, the auras over there also quickly subsided. Clearly, the people from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion retreated very swiftly, without any dawdling.

Moreover, they seemed to have deployed only two people through the whole process, although the other presence was surely from the Five Viscera Realm—whether it was a Sect Executive or a True Disciple was unknown.

"I'm not greatly harmed. That True Disciple from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion is strong, but his Cold Winter Artistic Conception hasn't stepped into the second phase yet."

Yu Jiujiang coughed again and said, "What do you plan to do next...?"

"Go to the He Family."

Chen Mu stepped forward to leave, his figure quickly disappearing into the drizzling rain.

"It's time to settle the affairs with the He Family."

Yu Jiujiang, watching Chen Mu's departing figure, gazed up at the sky for a moment, then shook his head slightly, murmuring, "The Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion sure knows how to play a good game."

Only now did he realize that the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion's scheme was not limited to that. The elite forces of the He Family, including He Wuyou, had been drawn away by Yan Jingqing and were not in the city at the moment.

After inciting the He Family to move against Chen Mu, if successful, they would support the He Family to confront Yan Jingqing head-on.

If it failed, neither the Yu Family nor Chen Mu would let the He Family off the hook, and once the He Family encountered trouble, the He Family elites and He Wuyou outside the city would have no choice but to fully lean towards the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion and become an external force for it.

It's estimated that,

Even if they reported what happened here to Yan Jingqing as fast as they could, it might be too late. The Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, having initiated this incident, would have prepared in advance on the other side, ensuring He Wuyou and the others were taken into hiding before Yan Jingqing could act after receiving the news.

With this entire process, the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion suffered almost no loss and gained a new force for nothing. The only downside was provoking the Yu Family and Yan Jingqing. However, conflict between the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion and the Seven Profound Sect was inevitable sooner or later.

As for the Yu Family and Chen Mu, the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion wouldn't likely take them seriously.

The Yu Family, at best, is just a minor external power of the Seven Profound Sect. Although Chen Mu has considerable talent and may, in the future, reach a level comparable to that of a True Disciple of the Sect, it would first require time, and secondly, the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion would hardly take notice of just one True Disciple.

It would take someone like Yan Jingqing to be considered somewhat significant in their eyes.

And not everyone can become like Yan Jingqing, a True Disciple.

…
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The He Family residence.

In the central main hall.

He Zhengya, using a cane, was sitting in a rosewood chair, his eyes slightly closed, next to him was He Guangxun, frowning and pacing back and forth incessantly.

"Sit down."

Suddenly, He Zhengya spoke.

Hearing his own son, He Guangxun, unable to remain calm and pacing beside him, He Zhengya couldn't help but sigh. Ever since the incident involving Yan Wansi, when he was punished by Yan Jingqing, stripped of his position as Deputy Governor of the Smelting Bureau, and thoroughly reprimanded, He Guangxun had increasingly lost his composure.

He Guangxun, hearing He Zhengya's words, dared not retort and sat down on a nearby chair, yet he was visibly restless, saying, "Father, this is related to the life and death of our entire He Family..."

"Enough."

He Zhengya slowly opened his eyes and glanced at He Guangxun, speaking indifferently, "Once a decision has been made, wait calmly for the outcome. With the aid of the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion and employing numerous strategies, Chen Mu is bound to be unable to escape this disaster.

Rather than worrying so much, you would do better to consider how the He Family should respond to the subsequent changes after Chen Mu's death."

He Guangxun took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind, and after a brief moment of thought, said, "Previously, Yan Jingqing didn't wish for the He and Yu families to fight too early, hence he kept holding us back. After this, our turning towards the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion means Yan Jingqing will no longer interfere, and inevitably, there will be a battle with the Yu Family.

However, if the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion blocks Yan Jingqing, there's nothing to fear from the Yu Family. The main issue is... the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion regards our He Family as nothing more than pawns and cannon fodder."

He Zhengya spoke slowly, "Realizing this means you still have your wits about you. The He Family are pawns, the Yu Family are pawns, and so are the Xie and Xue families. From the day the four Sects moved into Yu County, our four families have been inevitably embroiled in strife, it was only a question of sooner or later."

"Even as pawns, as long as we make the right choices, we can still struggle in the storm and have a chance to come ashore. After this, arrangements should be made as soon as possible for some clansmen to settle in Xuan State and also send the suitable aged disciples with decent aptitude from our family into the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, regardless of Inner or Outer Sect."

He Guangxun nodded silently after listening.

Thud thud!

Just then, a gentle knocking sound came from the exterior of the main hall.

"Enter."

He Zhengya spoke lightly, propping himself up with his cane.

A servant respectfully entered with his head bowed, presenting a ball of paper to He Zhengya. After He Zhengya read it, he handed it to He Guangxun, saying, "This is news from the Purple Mist Mountain Range. Take a look yourself."

He Guangxun nodded and took it.

The servant carefully exited the main hall and closed the door behind him.

After He Guangxun read the message, he immediately stood up, setting the paper ball ablaze on the lamp while saying to He Zhengya, "Father, this about the Purple Mist Mountains..."

Whoosh.

Before he could finish his sentence, the door to the main hall was pushed open again, but this time without a knock, as if someone had directly barged in, their footsteps echoing 'da-da' across the lustrous crystal tiles of the main hall.

"Impudence."

He Guangxun's brow furrowed, he chastised sharply and turned to see which servant dared to barge into the main hall without knocking. But just as he was turning around, he saw He Zhengya, stiff as a statue, staring behind him with an expression of disbelief in his aged eyes.

By the time He Guangxun looked behind him, his face had drastically changed.

"You?! How could you..."

Thud,

Thud,

Chen Mu, clad in official boots and stepping through mud and water, walked forward, leaving clear footprints on the immaculate, crystal-clear tiles of the main hall.

He didn't heed He Guangxun, merely sweeping his gaze across the main hall before shaking his head slightly.

"Such a hall, built with pearls and jewels for walls and gold and silver for ornaments, how much of the people's fat and marrow did it take to plunder?"

Although the four great families of the Inner City, including the Yu Family, had amassed vast wealth, none went as far as the He Family in its extravagance, constructing a main hall that was almost akin to a small imperial palace with its display of pearls, jewels, gold, and silver!

The He Family.

In this land, they may have always dreamt of being the emperor.

But dreams are, after all, just dreams, and there comes a time to wake up.

He Zhengya sat still as if sculpted from stone, unmoving, staring at the approaching Chen Mu with a gaze that showed he had lost himself for a moment, until a sigh escaped him, and he seemed to age a decade more.

Boom!!!

Suddenly, a sound akin to the firing of a cannon resounded from outside, followed by a cacophony of noises, including battle cries, screams of terror, and the sounds of people scrambling, all merging into one continuous uproar that moved closer and closer.

"What's going on? What's going on?"

He Guangxun's eyes filled with horror as he looked outside, repeatedly asking. It seemed he wanted to go out and see for himself, but with Chen Mu standing in front of him, he dared not make any sudden moves, his hand resting on his knife but not daring to draw it.

Chen Mu spoke indifferently, "No need to go."

"This is the sound of the Inspectorate in collaboration with the Inner City's City Defense Division and the Demon-Slaying Office, the three forces combined in a siege, purging the treacherous He Family."