"Tsk tsk tsk, this guy is really ruthless."
Lin Eryou clicked his tongue as he looked at the mangled mess of flesh and blood before him. Though his tone was casual, his gaze was solemn.
Chen Kuang had actually smashed Fan Hailong to death with his zither... While there was a hint of drunken recklessness to it, the scene was nothing short of brutal.
At this point, Chen Kuang had used his first stage of Tower Ascension Realm to kill someone at its peak. Compared to the earlier reversal where he killed Bai Fen, this feat was actually far less shocking.
The brutality of the moment might lead many to believe that Chen Kuang had become arrogant and violent after leaping three great realms to slay a half-step grandmaster, that he was simply venting his rage.
But Lin Eryou felt a chill in his heart. He realized that Chen Kuang's scheming ran far deeper than he had initially imagined.
Others might only see Chen Kuang's savagery in this moment, but few would notice that killing Fan Hailong had once again been a calculated move.
If he hadn't used Bai Fen's corpse at the start to create overwhelming pressure, frightening Fan Hailong out of his wits and giving him false hope of survival, wearing him out both mentally and physically.
This battle wouldn't have been so easy.
Until the moment Fan Hailong was beaten to death, he hadn't even summoned the will to fight back. That, upon reflection, was the truly terrifying thing.
Lin Eryou's evaluation of Chen Kuang rose once more.
This man... couldn't even be measured against his peers anymore.
Just like Shen Xingzhu, although she was only twenty-five, no one truly saw her as a junior.
Elders and Sect Masters of various sects all treated her with the utmost respect, often welcoming her as an honored guest.
Even Li Hongling, disciple of a Martial Saint, when meeting Shen Xingzhu during her political visits to the Imperial Capital, had to respectfully address her as "Immortal Master" and didn't dare to raise her voice.
And now...
Lin Eryou was beginning to feel like he was seeing another Shen Xingzhu before his eyes.
No.
Perhaps Chen Kuang was even more terrifying than Shen Xingzhu!
After all, not even Shen Xingzhu had gone from Qi Opening Realm to Tower Ascension Realm in a matter of days!
Realizing that was enough to make one's scalp go numb...
Lin Eryou shook his feather fan, wiping the cold sweat from his brow, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
He had nearly forgotten that Chen Kuang had started at the Qi Opening Realm, not the Sea-Cleaving Realm as speculated by the author of the Canglang Evaluation.
When they first met at the Eastern Court Lake, he'd had a faint sense that Chen Kuang would achieve great things someday.
But at most, he thought the guy would rank in the top ten of the Canglang Evaluation within ten years.
Who could have guessed that just a few days later, he would've already killed a Moon-Embracing Realm expert head-on...
By the Canglang Evaluation standards, he was already top three.
Truly... terrifying beyond words!
Zhou Yanwei muttered quietly, "My men finally got something. The force that suddenly appeared to rescue those listed captives, we'll have their background traced in a few days. Should we consider forming an alliance?"
"Now that the Enlightenment Envoy is dead, there's temporarily no one managing Jishao Prefecture. My father will likely appoint me to stabilize the situation, since I happen to be traveling nearby. I can take the opportunity to insert my own people, and they can also take over the Canal Gang."
"That could be our bargaining chip. Chen Kuang might consider the offer."
Those people had hidden themselves extremely well. If not for this recent incident, they probably would've remained buried within the Liang Kingdom, waiting to smuggle the mother and daughter out and plot a restoration.
Lin Eryou shook his head. "We misjudged."
He sighed and patted Zhou Yanwei on the shoulder.
"Chen Kuang is absolutely not someone who will play the role of a subordinate. Within three years, every cultivator under heaven will know his name."
"Someone like him, how could he ever be content serving others?"
Zhou Yanwei fell silent for a while. A bold question almost slipped out: Not even the Emperor of Great Zhou?
Then he remembered, wasn't Chen Kuang currently going against the Emperor of Great Zhou?
Zhou Yanwei chuckled wryly and nodded. "You're right."
He added suddenly, "One's subordinates must be utterly loyal. If they can't be used, then they're a threat in waiting... This man can be a friend, but never a vassal."
Lin Eryou raised an eyebrow and cupped his hands solemnly. "Your Highness, I am loyal to the core."
Zhou Yanwei blinked, then laughed and returned the gesture, patting his shoulder. "Brother Lin, what are you saying? Of course I trust you. Since you've chosen to assist me, we are not only ruler and subject, we are also friends."
Lin Eryou smiled. "Then please, just call me Zishu."
Zishu was Lin Eryou's courtesy name.
He said, "The world has already descended into chaos. The road ahead is long, I hope one day, we can both witness the end together."
Zhou Yanwei nodded and said again, "That hidden force within Liang Kingdom, I've already more or less pinpointed their base in Jishao Prefecture. It's only a matter of time before we uncover their strongholds in the other eleven prefectures."
"But for now, I won't act. In fact, I'll even help them resist the Enlightenment Envoys."
His goal, however, wasn't to let that hidden force seize control of the Liang Kingdom, but to use them as leverage, forcing the Enlightenment Envoys to rely on him just to keep their footing.
Every Enlightenment Envoy without exception was a trusted confidant of Ji Chengtian at court. They might not hold high rank, but their influence was immense.
Including the one who had just died.
He too had once been a repeatedly praised remonstrator by Ji Chengtian.
Prince Qi's show of concern during inspections was just to curry favor in front of these Enlightenment Envoys.
But if Zhou Yanwei could use this opportunity to earn their recognition, or even their submission, he'd gain his first core group of loyal followers.
"Your Highness is wise."
Lin Eryou cupped his hands again.
Then he looked downward, and saw Chen Kuang, carrying three severed heads, walking openly out of the Governor's manor.
He had entered without alarming anyone.
Now he left brazenly and completely unhidden.
That image of him holding three heads... was absolutely shocking.
But in Jishao Prefecture, there was no longer any real danger to him. He had no more need to hide, and could now act as boldly as he wished.
Zhou Yanwei blinked, watching Chen Kuang stride straight ahead. "Is he... heading to the lakeside?"
Lin Eryou squinted into the distance, then smiled in realization:
"He's returning the favor, using their own methods against them."
By the lake, a sacrificial platform had already been built.
It was hastily constructed overnight, originally intended for the Governor and the Enlightenment Envoy to use in a grand display, offering tens of thousands of human heads as a "warning to others."
Now, Chen Kuang stepped through the rain, carrying three heads in full view of everyone, to offer them as sacrifice to the Dragon King!
Lin Eryou calmly analyzed:
"By offering these three culprits, once the storm clears in a few days, the common folk will realize the Dragon King's wrath was just the Governor's fabrication. The sacrificial narrative will collapse on its own."
Zhou Yanwei nodded in agreement. This was indeed the best way to calm the populace and debunk the idea of sacrificial offerings.
But very soon, Lin Eryou would realize, he was still thinking too small.
...
Surrounding the Governor's manor were many members of the Canal Gang.
Most were Qi Opening Realm cultivators, but among them were two trusted aides of Fan Hailong, one vice gang leader, and one subordinate guild leader.
Both were in the Innate Realm, one at the Origin Force stage, the other at the Unified Force stage.
When the manor collapsed, the two immediately realized something had gone wrong and rushed inside, only to stop in their tracks after a few steps.
A young man emerged, covered in blood, his body dripping rainwater onto the ground.
In his hand, three heads: the Enlightenment Envoy, the Governor, and Fan Hailong!
He didn't say a word, but the shock was absolute.
The guild leader's face went pale with horror.
"Gang Leader!"
They had never imagined that Fan Hailong, who had soared in power thanks to a fateful encounter and built a dominant force in Jishao Prefecture, would suddenly die like this!
The rest of the Canal Gang members stared wide-eyed, their pupils shrinking as they all screamed and retreated.
With a rush, they cleared a wide circle around him.
The vice gang leader gulped, shouting with a forced bravado, "Who are you?! How dare, how dare you kill inside the Governor's manor-"
Before he could finish saying "dare" a third time, his voice faltered.
He had spoken out of habit, and only after the words left his mouth did he realize... their gang leader had already been killed. What was he trying to uphold now? Wasn't this just courting death?
He'd skimmed a few thousand taels of silver each month as part of the Canal Gang, but none of it was worth his life.
Chen Kuang gave him a cold glance. Without a word, he kept walking forward.
The vice gang leader and the guild leader's faces changed drastically as they staggered back.
With every step Chen Kuang took, they backed up seven or eight.
But he walked faster than they could retreat. In just a few breaths, he was already right in front of them.
"Don't! Don't kill me! Immortal Master, spare us! Immortal Master, please!"
The two of them turned ashen, fell to the ground, and scrambled away in panic. Then, with sycophantic smiles, they shouted to the others around them:
"What are you standing there for? Move! Make way! Can't you see? Make way for the Immortal Master!"
The Canal Gang members looked at each other in confusion, they had already scattered long ago.
Chen Kuang ignored them entirely.
He walked all the way to the half-finished sacrificial platform. The government troops and Canal Gang members who had originally been guarding the area had all fled in terror.
The few who remained loyal were instantly slain by a blood-red miniature sword that he conjured in his consciousness.
This tiny sword had formed in his mind the first time he fully activated the Song of Weed-Cutting.
It seemed to be a miniature version of the sword meant for killing, with similar function, though most of its power had been stripped away. Still, the advantage was that it could be used at any time, without needing to be triggered by killing.
This was the "Sword of Intent." Every time Song of Weed-Cutting was activated, one such sword would appear. Formless and invisible, it could kill at the speed of thought.
The moment Chen Kuang saw this sword, he understood.
This was precisely what Huo Hengxuan had used when he "killed" Chen Kuang in the illusion, with a single glance charged with murderous intent.
However, this "Sword of Intent" didn't consume Spiritual Energy, it consumed divine sense.
Especially since he had recently comprehended a piece of zither intent, after using the sword just a few times to kill a handful of Qi Opening Realm cultivators, Chen Kuang already felt a deep, soul-exhausting fatigue.
If he used it a few more times, he might suffer a collapse of divine sense and die from the backlash.
If he weren't sure he was currently safe, he wouldn't have dared to use it so freely.
...
On the sacrificial platform.
Chen Kuang stepped to the highest point, holding the three severed heads.
Whoosh... whoosh...
In front of him, the Eastern Court Lake roiled violently in the storm.
Countless fishing boats rocked on the surface, battered by waves. Dark clouds stretched for miles, and wind and rain howled, it was a far cry from the bustling, prosperous scene it had been when he first arrived.
The wind by the lake was far stronger than on land. Chen Kuang's white robe flapped like a battle flag in the wind, drawing the attention of everyone present.
The fleeing soldiers and gang members couldn't help but pause and glance up at the platform.
Fishermen and residents near the lake also poked their heads out, drawn by the commotion, curious to see what was happening.
Chen Kuang stared out at the fog-covered lake, murmuring to himself:
"In this high-mystic world of spirits and gods, how could a mere prefect dare to use the Dragon King as a pretext for sacrificial offerings without reason? Especially when Eastern Court Lake has already seen a sacrificial incident once before."
"Even now, the fishermen by the lake pray for the Dragon King's protection before casting their nets each day, proof that their belief is deeply rooted."
"Whether the Dragon King has left or not, how could a mortal possibly be certain?"
"Wouldn't the prefect fear that making arbitrary human sacrifices might anger the Dragon King and invite divine punishment?"
"Unless..."
"...he really did receive an instruction from the Dragon King in a dream."
Chen Kuang raised the heads in his hand. A scene from the illusion in his mind grew clearer, and he narrowed his eyes at the storm-tossed lake.
"You once asked me on that boat, whether the Dragon King who committed a wrong out of a moment of kindness was right or wrong. And I gave you an answer you were satisfied with."
"In that case, it's now my turn to ask you a question."
He paused, drew a deep breath, and shouted toward the lake:
"Senior Brother Wen Si, in the story you told, about that prefect who sacrificed his own daughter to the Dragon King-"
"His name was Feng Yu, wasn't it?!"
His voice rolled across the water like crashing waves, sending a ripple across the entire surface of the lake.
Boom!
Thunder crashed overhead, but it couldn't drown out Chen Kuang's cry.
...
Not far away.
From the pitch-black, chaotic surface of the lake..
A lantern lit up!
A flickering fishing lantern, mounted on a small boat, slowly emerged from the dense fog.
Standing on the boat was an old fisherman in a straw raincoat, paddling with a bamboo pole.
He raised his head. Beneath his straw hat, countless fish eyes stared out at Chen Kuang.
"You really are quite clever, junior brother," Wen Si said sincerely.
Though he was far away and his voice didn't grow louder, Chen Kuang could still hear it as clearly as if he were right beside him.
The difference in their cultivation levels was obvious, even in such fine details.
Chen Kuang rolled his eyes.
It wasn't until he realized that as the prefect of Jishao Prefecture, Feng Yu could have used countless excuses to kill.
Yet he specifically chose the Eastern Court Lake and invoked the Dragon King, who truly existed here, this made the situation suspect.
Because the Lake Dragon King... did exist.
And if others were unsure whether the Dragon King was still around, Chen Kuang certainly knew.
The Dragon King himself had sent him to the Eastern Court Lake!
From the way Wen Si had told the story, and especially the question he had asked afterward, it was clear that he deeply resented what had happened in the past.
And that he cared greatly about his reputation.
Under those conditions, it was impossible he would stand idly by while someone falsely used his name for evil.
Unless... this entire scheme was his idea to begin with!
Only now did Chen Kuang realize how strange it was that Wen Si had disappeared after delivering him to the Eastern Court Lake to fulfill the "escort to the Azure Heavens" mission.
Maybe Wen Si never left at all.
He was born in Eastern Court Lake, it made perfect sense for him to remain and take root there.
But why did he instruct Feng Yu to perform the sacrifice?
Chen Kuang immediately thought of Wen Si's three preconditions:
First: The story Wen Si told had no ending. The sacrificed daughter and the prefect, both were left unresolved after the Sage of Music, Xi Mengquan, jumped into the lake and struck the Dragon King.
Second: Wen Si had vowed never to set foot on land again, committing himself to cultivation in the water.
Third: His attitude toward Xi Mengquan was far from respectful, he called him "that old bastard."
If the story had truly ended in a perfect resolution after Xi Mengquan's intervention, Wen Si would have seen him as a benefactor, not mocked him.
There was only one explanation: Although the story made it sound like Xi Mengquan arrived in dazzling fashion to punish evil and uphold justice...
In reality, he didn't solve anything. Or maybe... he arrived too late.
Chen Kuang also realized that the Dragon Gums Zither could not possibly have been crafted from Wen Si's teeth, though he called himself the Lake Dragon King, Wen Si's true form was not a dragon, but a fish.
His teeth looked dragon-like, but their composition was entirely different.
When Chen Kuang smashed Fan Hailong's head earlier with the zither, he realized it was far too tough to be mere teeth.
Bai Fen's Heaven-Searing Sword had already snapped, yet the Dragon Gums Zither remained unscathed.
Even for a great demon's physical body, that was excessive.
If every one of Wen Si's teeth were this strong, he wouldn't be the Lake Dragon King of the Eastern Court Lake, he'd be the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea...
So the true origin of the Dragon Gums Zither remained a mystery.
And Senior Brother Wen Si clearly wasn't being honest, he had schemed with Xi Mengquan to deceive him...
What was certain, however, was that the story told by the nameless musician had nothing to do with the zither.
It was simply a tragic tale that happened by the Eastern Court Lake.
But, the prefect who sacrificed his daughter...
Now, the prefect who tried to sacrifice ten thousand people...
The resemblance was all too familiar.
Chen Kuang instantly understood why Wen Si had given Feng Yu this "convenient excuse" to act.
Because Wen Si himself couldn't leave the water.
If he wanted someone outside the water dead, he needed someone else to do it for him.
But back then, Xi Mengquan hadn't killed them.
Not only had he failed to act, he might even have made a pact with Wen Si: that someday, Chen Kuang would come and finish the task.
...
"Exactly so," Wen Si said, now speaking far more fluidly than when they had first met. "You've done me a great favor, junior brother."
"What happened back then, was not only due to my single moment of foolishness, but also because I blindly followed my own restrictions. My vow to stay in the water began as a cultivation path, but it later became a heart demon."
"Even if I wanted to leave, I could no longer do so. To break a heart demon, one must find the medicine for the heart."
So he had arranged a real sacrifice, just so he could watch the villain suffer retribution.
Wen Si raised his head and said:
"Junior brother, please offer the villain's heads in sacrifice to me."
In an instant, the waves surged again.
Beneath the lake, an enormous black shadow rose.
It stretched for hundreds of li, covering nearly half of Eastern Court Lake, coiling and circling beneath the surface.
Wen Si's tiny boat was right in the center, utterly dwarfed by the shadow.
Chen Kuang said no more. He took a deep breath and declared:
"Today, Feng Yu, Prefect of Jishao; Fan Hailong, Canal Gang Leader; and Ding Wen, Enlightenment Envoy of Great Zhou, colluded with each other, using the name of a sacrificial offering to the Lake Dragon King as pretext to eliminate dissent and harm the loyal citizens of the Liang Kingdom!"
"Their crimes are heinous beyond description. They provoked the Dragon King, bringing storms and torrential rains, heaven's wrath itself!"
"Fortunately, these sinners have now been beheaded, their heads are in my hands!"
"I offer these three heads to the Dragon King, to appease his fury! And in exchange, may Jishao Prefecture be blessed with favorable weather in the coming year!"
His voice rang out across the entire lake. Countless commoners who had locked themselves indoors out of fear now opened their windows and doors, gazing out curiously.
As Chen Kuang finished speaking, he hurled the three heads toward the center of the lake.
Splash!!
The massive shadow surged up from the water, its silver-scaled body gleaming with dazzling light, water cascading down like waterfalls.
It was an immense creature, fish-like, yet not a fish; dragon-like, yet not a dragon; covered in spines, with countless eyes on its head.
It opened its mouth and swallowed the three heads whole.
Then it vanished back into the depths, parting the waters with a thunderous roar.
Throughout the entire process, the little boat at the lake's center remained still.
The straw-clad fisherman let out a long sigh. In that instant, his hunched posture straightened.
He raised his head, revealing a clear and elegant middle-aged face beneath the straw hat, refined and dignified, though his cheeks and neck were covered in slippery, glistening scales.
The man shouted toward the heavens:
"Scatter!"
At that command, the sky, once shrouded in dark clouds and battered by wind and rain, was suddenly split down the middle as if by a sword, the storm clouds dispersing rapidly.
It was like a curtain being pulled open on a grand painting.
A single ray of starlight fell, followed by the unfurling of the Milky Way across the sky.
All across Jishao Prefecture, anyone outdoors stood dumbfounded, eyes wide, some even reaching out as if to catch the rain.
But their hands found nothing but empty air...
And on the shores of the Eastern Court Lake, especially those officials and gang members who had witnessed Chen Kuang's head-offering up close, were struck as if by a divine miracle.
One by one, they dropped to their knees, kowtowing with reverence, some clasping hands and wailing:
"Dragon King has manifested! The Dragon King has manifested!"
"That wicked prefect has finally received his retribution!"
Some knowledgeable cultivators were drawn by the disturbance. When they came to investigate, what they saw left them stunned.
"Wait, wasn't that Chen Kuang?!"
"Didn't the Martial Saint Pavilion dispatch three Moon-Embracing Realm experts to eliminate him tonight?! With such a huge operation... and he's still alive?! No, he killed the prefect, the Enlightenment Envoy, and Fan Hailong?! What about those experts...?"
A collective gasp followed before they hurried off to report to their respective factions.
Time to update the intel...
After tonight, who would still dare accept the Martial Saint Pavilion's bounty?
Even Lin Eryou was thoroughly shocked.
He stared up at the starlit sky, mouth agape.
"There's really... a Dragon King?"
And the Dragon King listens to Chen Kuang?!
Lin Eryou's mouth twitched. He suddenly wondered if Chen Kuang had been pretending to be weak all along, maybe he really was the core disciple of some secret powerhouse, out here fishing for suckers.
At this moment, even Chen Kuang was surprised by his senior brother's new form.
The middle-aged man before him asked:
"Junior brother, do you know what my Dao is?"
Chen Kuang shook his head.
Wen Si said:
"My Dao is 'Crossing', to ferry others and to ferry myself."