Fan Hailong's pupils shrank, his heart seized with alarm.
There had been no attendant to announce a visitor, nor had the man identified himself, he was clearly an intruder!
And for someone to dare break into the Prefectural Governor's residence at a time like this, he could only be coming with ill intent.
In the fleeting flash of lightning through the rain-soaked clouds outside, Fan Hailong caught a clear glimpse of the intruder's face, and his own expression changed drastically.
That man, Fan Hailong recognized him.
His appearance was all too familiar. Over the past few days, Fan Hailong had studied this man's portrait dozens of times at least.
Ranked 33rd on the Canglang Evaluation, wanted by name under direct decree of the Martial Saint Pavilion, a fugitive who had successively slain Flying Phoenix General Li Hongling, the young master of the Three Calamities Sect, Wei Su, and had broken into the Imperial Prison to rescue the former consort and princess of the Liang Dynasty..
Chen Kuang.
With so many titles and acts to his name, the reputation of this man had already begun to spread like wildfire among cultivators.
Especially when the Canglang Evaluation issued a special update just for him, outside their regular publication schedule, solely to insert his name into the ranking. Those who received the news instinctively paused and were immediately alarmed.
The last time the Canglang Evaluation did such a thing, it was when Shen Xingzhu burst onto the scene…
Could it be that this man was on par with Shen Xingzhu?
That bold notion, however, lasted but a heartbeat before it was discarded with a laugh.
Impossible.
Shen Xingzhu was a "Heavenly Beacon."
How could any random nobody dare compare?
Besides, this man had already been placed under a wanted order by the Martial Saint Pavilion, had made enemies of the Three Calamities Sect, and was being hunted by Zhou's forces, a veritable siege from all sides.
By all accounts, he was a dead man walking.
At best, he was just a flash-in-the-pan, something to be gossiped about for a few weeks before vanishing.
Talents like these emerged every few years.
And then what?
None of them made any real waves. After a while, they disappeared without a trace, most likely because youthful arrogance led them to offend the wrong people.
There was a saying often muttered by unaffiliated cultivators: if Shen Xingzhu hadn't been born into the Shen Clan, if her master weren't the Semi-Saint Dao Lord of Earth Spirit, she wouldn't be Shen Xingzhu.
The implication being that even someone like her, with unmatched talent, needed a powerful backer, without one, even she would have died long ago.
It was a bitter and somewhat cynical remark, but it reflected reality well.
In most people's eyes, Chen Kuang was exactly that, a textbook case in fact.
Barely after rising to fame, he had drawn the wrath of three major powers. How long could he possibly survive?
No matter how skilled he was, he was still just one man, and his cultivation wasn't even that high. What hope did he have of cheating death a second time?
Fan Hailong naturally thought this way as well.
Especially when that bloated, pig-headed Governor had told him he'd received word that Chen Kuang was hiding at the Chen family's estate near the southern docks, Fan Hailong knew then that the man's luck had run out.
Once the Martial Saint Pavilion took action, their methods would be nothing short of thunderous.
There would be no escape.
As for the source of that Governor's intel, Fan Hailong had his suspicions, it all seemed a little too convenient, but since the Martial Saint Pavilion had already sent people, no matter how strange it seemed, such petty schemes were inconsequential.
Fan Hailong had already guessed: the mysterious expert who had struck down his son that day must have been Chen Kuang.
After all, in the whole Jishao Prefecture, there weren't many cultivators known for sonic attacks.
And those brazen enough to provoke the Canal Guild were even fewer.
But for a desperate fugitive like Chen Kuang, it made perfect sense.
To Fan Hailong's eyes, Chen Kuang's intentions were clear. He had made the first move, clearly hoping to provoke Fan Hailong into attacking out of anger, thereby bypassing the Martial Saint Pavilion and eliminating only the Canal Guild.
After all, the water routes were under the Canal Guild's control. If Chen Kuang wanted to escape Liang, the fastest way was by water.
And if he took to the water, there was no avoiding the Canal Guild.
Rather than wait to be cornered, it was better to strike first and clear the obstacle from his path.
Moreover, Chen Kuang was clearly connected to the Chen family. To protect them, he'd naturally be forced to oppose the Guild.
This was a calculated two-birds-one-stone maneuver.
And he had nearly succeeded.
If it hadn't been for that cowardly Governor who exposed his identity and directly informed the Martial Saint Pavilion, Fan Hailong might have walked right into the trap.
But despite everything, Fan Hailong wasn't pleased with how things had unfolded.
After all, one Pavilion cultivator had already fallen here in Jishao Prefecture. Once this matter was resolved, the Pavilion would undoubtedly be looking to plant their own people here.
Now that three such titanic figures had arrived, getting rid of them afterward would be no easy feat.
The dream of the Canal Guild holding uncontested power was about to die…
Even more unsettling was the sheer ruthlessness of the Martial Saint Pavilion.
Just because of one glance from the Governor, just a look, they had executed him on the spot.
That made Fan Hailong's heart pound with fear.
Now that the Governor was dead, all the promises he had made during their collaboration were null and void.
Whether the Enlightenment Envoy would honor any of it was a very big question.
The Envoy had come expecting to harvest the fruits of this operation. Now, Fan Hailong found himself standing in the hallway with a heavy heart, feeling like he might soon become the proverbial donkey, slaughtered once its millstone labor was no longer needed…
That gluttonous, brainless Governor, what an unreliable idiot!
Just a few moments earlier, Fan Hailong had been mentally cursing the man for acting without considering the consequences.
In his mind, Chen Kuang was already dead.
The only thing worth worrying about was how the Martial Saint Pavilion might try to carve up Jishao Prefecture after this.
So in this very moment, when Fan Hailong saw a face, one perfectly matching the wanted poster, he felt a terror no less than if he'd just seen a true ghost.
For an instant, it was as if he'd fallen into an icy abyss. A chill climbed up his spine, locking his body in place. Even his breathing faltered.
Just moments ago, an entire trio of famous Moon-Embracing Realm cultivators had gone to the Chen estate to eliminate this Chen Kuang.
How could he still be alive?!
And if he was, he should at least be on his last legs, not walking straight into the Governor's mansion with his head held high.
What the hell was going on?
Fan Hailong's entire body went stiff. The closer that silhouette came, the heavier the dread in his heart became.
He swallowed dryly.
A terrifying idea was taking shape in his mind, growing ever clearer, yet he wished he could shut it out completely, he sincerely wished he were just a fool incapable of such thoughts.
But Chen Kuang was not going to give him that chance.
The wind hissed and rustled...
"Shua-la-la..."
The porch of the Prefectural Governor's manor was draped with lanterns. Their flickering light danced in the wind and rain, illuminating the courtyard and the neatly paved marble path within it.
The wind howled and the rain lashed down as the lanterns swayed chaotically, some flipping over as they fluttered wildly.
A young man stood amid the slanting wind and rain, cradling a zither in his arms. His entire figure was shrouded in the shifting shadows of the lantern light in front of the hall.
And slung across his back, was a corpse, a corpse with a very familiar face.
Not long ago, Fan Hailong had been toasting wine with the prefect, paying respects to this very man!
It was the Sect Master of the Firebrand Sect, Bai Fen!
Fan Hailong's legs went weak in an instant. If not for the stiffness in his body from earlier leaving him unable to move his legs properly, he would've staggered on the spot!
His face turned ghostly pale and his eyes were filled with terror.
This was a true top-tier Moon-Embracing Realm cultivator, a top expert from the Martial Saint Pavilion!
And now, he had become nothing more than a corpse carried on Chen Kuang's back!
Even though his eyes were still open, they were dull and lifeless. In Fan Hailong's eyes, a cultivator of that level, lying limp on the enemy's back without resistance, was no different from being dead.
What's more, now that Chen Kuang had come closer, Fan Hailong could see more clearly.
His entire back was soaked in red!
Blood gushed from Bai Fen's body, soaking through Chen Kuang's back before continuously dripping to the ground, leaving behind a long, gruesome trail that stretched through the entire Governor's manor.
It was obvious that he wouldn't live for much longer...
Fan Hailong knew this wasn't an illusion. It wasn't a fake. The pressure of Bai Fen's cultivation still lingered on his body, and because it wasn't being suppressed, it was even more distinct.
The truth was glaringly obvious: Chen Kuang had killed one, or perhaps even three, Moon-Embracing Realm cultivators, and had then walked through the storm from the South Warf all the way to the Governor's manor.
He had come to kill.
Thud! Thud! Thud!...
Each footstep was like a boulder crashing down onto Fan Hailong's heart, sending waves of unbearable pressure through him.
Even his body began to tremble slightly with every step Chen Kuang took.
Splash!
A drop of blood burst from Bai Fen's seven orifices, splattering on the steps and blooming into a crimson flower, beautiful and eerie.
Chen Kuang finally stopped. He halted in front of Fan Hailong, standing at the edge of the corridor, looking straight at him.
He smiled gently and said slowly:
"I'll give you three breaths. Starting now, you may run."
Terror exploded within Fan Hailong like a dam breaking!
He didn't hesitate for a second as he spun around and bolted!
Fan Hailong activated every ounce of his Spiritual Energy, channeling it into his legs and in that moment, he broke through the curtain of wind and rain, fleeing out of the Governor's manor at the fastest speed he had ever achieved in his life.
He wished he had two more legs to run even faster! To hell with the Canal Gang, to hell with Jishao Prefecture, to hell with his own son, he abandoned all of it!
There was only one thing he cared about now and that was survival!
Just how powerful was someone who could kill three Moon-Embracing Realm cultivators?
A grandmaster. Definitely a grandmaster!!
Fan Hailong could no longer think. His mind was flooded with the image of Bai Fen's bleeding face, and the sound of Chen Kuang's slow, relentless footsteps.
Each drop of blood felt like it was draining out of his own body, taking with it all his warmth and courage.
At full burst, how fast could a peak Tower Ascension Realm cultivator run? Looking at the series of massive craters left across the Governor's manor by Fan Hailong's escape, Chen Kuang now had a good sense of it.
He looked down at his left hand, where two fingers were still joined together. Fortunately, he had already stuck the "Draw a Circle as a Prison" talisman onto Fan Hailong just moments earlier.
The talisman came from Shi Youguang's storage pouch.
It was a high-level spatial spell from the Qian-Kun techniques, capable of trapping the enemy in place and instantly returning them to the location it was activated from at the caster's will.
It could only be used once, after that, the talisman would become inert.
Chen Kuang hadn't expected that his deliberately orchestrated show of force would actually scare Fan Hailong to this extent...
In truth, given the disparity between their cultivations, that line should've been Fan Hailong's, not his.
In fact, to Chen Kuang, Fan Hailong posed a greater threat than even Bai Fen.
Because the difference in their cultivation levels wasn't huge, and the passive effect of "Invincible Before the Divine" had only about one-fifth of its intended effect against him.
That was precisely why Chen Kuang had chosen to strap Bai Fen to his back as a kind of "power bank," a new strategy that he was experimenting with.
Moreover, to maximize the psychological impact, he had hidden himself outside the manor and arranged for a dramatic entrance.
Thanks to the passive skill "You Can't See Me," this part of the plan had gone smoothly.
Then came Bai Fen's "corpse" on his back, and his own acting skills playing their part.
But he hadn't expected it to be this effective...
Chen Kuang thought to himself, contemplatively: "Of course... I might have underestimated just how much reverence ordinary cultivators have for a Moon-Embracing Realm expert."
Off to the side, the Enlightenment Envoy surnamed Ding had completely shed his earlier smugness. He was now curled up under a table, holding his head and trembling.
Seeing Chen Kuang glance over at him, he immediately stammered:
"Immortal Master! I-I don't know anything! I'm just a mortal! I was only tasked with handling the administrative reforms of Jishao Prefecture! All of this was Feng Yu's idea!"
He pointed a trembling finger at a corpse lying stiffly on the ground.
"It was all his idea! I had nothing to do with it, my lord! I've only been in Jishao Prefecture for two days, how could I possibly have come up with something so inhumane?!"
Feng Yu, was most likely the name of the Governor of Jishao Prefecture.
Chen Kuang turned his head and looked at the corpse on the ground. He was slightly taken aback.
He hadn't expected the prefect to already be dead...
Judging from the timing, it must've been the work of those three from the Martial Saint Pavilion.
Chen Kuang shook his head and let out a faint, incredulous chuckle.
This prefect had betrayed the Liang Kingdom and his own people, scheming with Fan Hailong to hatch a vile, ruthless plan.
He had staked everything, his career, his name, his very humanity, for a shot at immense power and glory.
And in the end, he was killed by the very allies he called upon for help!
Karma worked fast.
One had to wonder if this prefect, this official who was supposed to serve as the father and protector of the people, had felt even a moment of regret before dying?
Probably not.
People like him would only curse fate for being unfair, never once reflecting on their own wrongdoings.
Chen Kuang lowered his eyes and looked toward the Enlightenment Envoy from the Great Zhou.
That man, was no different.
The Enlightenment Envoy said obsequiously, "Immortal Master, as long as you're willing, I can help you cover your tracks. You'll be able to leave Jishao Prefecture completely undetected! I can even get the Enlightenment Envoys of the neighboring prefectures to give you direct passage!"
"We were all fellow disciples once, under the same master. They'll show me respect, as long as I say the word, it'll be done!"
Chen Kuang smiled. "Well then, thank you."
The Enlightenment Envoy froze, then lit up with joy.
He hurriedly said, "I'll make arrangements right awa.."
"Zheng-"
"Huh... huh..."
The Enlightenment Envoy clutched at his throat, eyes bulging wide as he struggled to hold onto the last thread of his life.
But unfortunately, it was all in vain.
His head slowly slid off his neck, finally separating from his body and rolling onto the floor.
Chen Kuang let go of the zither strings and said, "Well, since the Second Prince of Great Zhou will help me, I don't need your trouble."
The Enlightenment Envoy opened and closed his mouth like a stranded fish, unable to take in a final breath, and fell silent forever.
Chen Kuang wasn't in any hurry to summon Fan Hailong back.
In fact, he hoped Fan Hailong would keep running, the farther and faster the better.
Let him waste more of his Spiritual Energy and scare himself half to death first.
The more exhausted he became, the easier Chen Kuang's job would be.
Chen Kuang then walked over to the corpse of Prefect Feng Yu, crouched down, and severed his head, then hung it from his waist next to the Enlightenment Envoy's.
As for Bai Fen, slung over his back, he too had nearly reached the end of his life. He no longer even muttered strange, delirious words.
His entire chest and abdomen had caved in and his internal organs had already turned into a pool of blood.
The Revolving Water Spirit Bead had only prolonged his life by a quarter of an hour, and now its effect had ended.
Chen Kuang casually set the valuable artifact aside on a nearby chair, then picked up a wine jug, gave it a sniff, and praised:
"Fine wine indeed, probably even better than the premium Xinfeng Wine they serve in the Imperial Prison."
Chen Kuang murmured to himself, "The Liang Kingdom really is riddled with corruption. Layer upon layer of exploitation, this wine that even the palace can't get their hands on, yet the prefect has it in his private stock."
Holding the wine jug and cup in one hand, he strolled outside the hall with no regard for his appearance. The courtyard, surrounded by corridors on all four sides, was actually an open atrium.
Rainwater fell from the eaves like strings of beaded curtains.
Chen Kuang set the two heads down nearby, sat on the steps, caught some rainwater to rinse the cup, and began drinking by himself.
Only after he had emptied the entire jug and felt the wine gently rising to his head did he toss the cup and jug aside, lay the Dragon Gums Zither across his lap, and lifted his gaze toward the sky.
The wind howled and the rain poured.
The storm hadn't shown any sign of stopping. The pitch-black clouds hung low, thunder rumbled like rolling boulders and lightning flickered like serpents, pouring down their fury and sorrow upon the world.
"The wind won't stop... and the rain won't cease..."
Chen Kuang murmured, "Honestly, Senior Brother, you're getting a little annoying."
He placed his fingers on the zither strings, and suddenly plucked them.
"Zheng--!!!"
The zither's deep and distant note rang out like a grand bell echoing across heaven and earth, shaking the world in an instant!
At that very moment, the thick, dark clouds above came to a complete halt. The thunder ceased, lightning stilled, the wind died, and the rain froze.
There wasn't a single sound left, time itself seemed to have stopped.
Heaven and earth held their breath for that single note of the zither.
He was playing Calming the Winds and Waves.
Not far away, Lin Eryou, standing atop the roof, narrowed his pupils sharply.
Next to him, Zhou Yanwei exclaimed in astonishment, "I used to think the records in ancient texts were just fanciful nonsense, but to think I'd witness today the power to halt clouds with the sound of a zither..."
Both of them had sharp eyes and could clearly see, Chen Kuang had played that note entirely without relying on Spiritual Energy.
It was purely, unmistakably, real zither playing!
It was the intent within his music that had reached a level where it manifested outward into tangible effect.
He wished heaven and earth to fall silent, so they fell silent.
Such mastery would make ninety-nine percent of sound cultivators in the world bow their heads in shame.
Zhou Yanwei couldn't help but sigh, "Today I've truly opened my eyes. If not for seeing it in person, I would've believed that apart from Shen Xingzhu, there was no second Heaven's Chosen in the world."
The so-called Heaven's Chosen was someone born to make phoenixes lose their wings, to sever a dragon's horn, to shatter the pride of all cultivators under the heavens.
Until now, everyone agreed that only Shen Xingzhu fit that description.
But in this very moment, Zhou Yanwei even felt that Chen Kuang might be more worthy of the title than Shen Xingzhu!
Tell me, was there anyone else in the world who could, while still in the Innate Realm, kill a Moon-Embracing Realm cultivator in a head-on fight?
Anyone else who could break through to the Tower Ascension Realm in an instant?
Anyone else who could, at such a young age, reach the realm of stopping clouds with mere sound?
Zhou Yanwei had never seen a cultivator who could shatter all known definitions of cultivation.
Chen Kuang seemed to exist not within the framework, but outside the framework, defying all conventions.
Zhou Yanwei was genuinely impressed by Chen Kuang's abilities, and his desire to draw him in and recruit him only grew stronger.
If someone like this could become his ally, his chances of success would increase dramatically.
Even if all the remaining forces in the Liang Kingdom gave up on him, it wouldn't matter.
Lin Eryou fell silent for a moment, then let out a faint sigh.
"Of course the ancient records are false. In all history, only one person has ever truly achieved this level-"
"'Sage of Music' Xi Mengquan."
Zhou Yanwei froze, then twitched the corner of his mouth. "Are you serious?"
Lin Eryou nodded gravely.
Zhou Yanwei drew in a breath. "Then doesn't that mean Chen Kuang is either a peerless talent on par with the Sage of Music... or he's a direct disciple of the Sage himself?"
He looked at Lin Eryou. "When you gave him the Sage's lost musical manuscript earlier, had you already guessed?"
Lin Eryou scratched his nose and said, "When I gave him the manuscript, I thought he was just talking big about completing it. I only meant to use the manuscript to strike up a conversation since he was a sound cultivator."
Zhou Yanwei: "..."
Chen Kuang paid no attention to their conversation. His heart was focused solely on scattering the dark sky above him.
This piece, Calming the Winds and Waves, grew faster and more free-flowing as he played.
The clouds above trembled with every note, layer upon layer of storm clouds collapsing and breaking apart, until a sliver of brightness finally pierced through from behind.
At last, when the music reached its climax, the clouds overhead seemed to shatter like drums being struck, and countless raindrops poured into the Eastern Court Lake.
Just like that, the storm clouds gradually faded, and clear skies shone through, illuminating the world below, or at least, a portion of it.
At present, Chen Kuang could only affect the area around himself. Beyond that, his influence could not reach.
Thus, only the area surrounding the Governor's manor returned to sunshine.
While the rest of the world remained shrouded in rain...
Chen Kuang stayed under the eaves, avoiding being drenched. But Lin Eryou and Zhou Yanwei weren't so lucky, caught completely off guard, they were soaked from head to toe.
They exchanged glances without saying a word.
Finishing his performance, Chen Kuang closed his eyes and let out a long breath, surprisingly feeling somewhat drained.
Bai Fen had slumped lifelessly into a nearby chair at some point.
Fortunately, Fan Hailong had reappeared before him, quickening his recovery slightly.
Fan Hailong was frozen in place.
He had run with all his might, exhausted nearly all his Spiritual Energy, and in the blink of an eye, he had returned to where he started!
What kind of despair was this?!
He took a deep breath and collapsed to the ground, trembling as he said, "I was wrong... I shouldn't have targeted the Chen family..."
Sigh, the same old words again.
Chen Kuang clicked his tongue, stood up with his zither in hand, walked over to him, and suddenly asked, "Did you hear me playing just now?"
Fan Hailong froze, then nodded quickly. "I did..."
"Was it good?"
"Very good! It was very good!"
Chen Kuang said, "If it sounds good, then it's a good zither."
Suddenly, he raised the Dragon Gums Zither high, and smashed it down onto Fan Hailong's head!
Boom!
The strike carried six layers of force!
White Lotus Rebirth!
The entire Governor's manor trembled, a massive lotus-shaped crater erupting from the impact!
In the center, Fan Hailong was embedded into the ground, barely clinging to life. He coughed up blood, raised his head, and saw Chen Kuang lifting the zither again.
Chen Kuang muttered to himself, "Was it good?"
Fan Hailong's expression twisted in agony, trembling as he replied, "G-good... it was good..."
"If it sounds good, then that's a good head."
Boom!