Inside the banquet hall, the lights shone dazzlingly bright. A place that had just been brimming with boisterous luxury was now dead silent.
In that brief instant just now, aside from martial artists who had reached a certain level, most people had had no idea what had happened at all.
All they knew was that a burst of light seemed to flash, and by the time their vision cleared, only a headless corpse had appeared before their eyes. Even more terrifyingly, that corpse had quickly vanished immediately afterward, turning into a pile of gravel.
They soon realized that this had been the man who had shouted at Chen Chuan just moments ago, yet in the blink of an eye, he had met such an end.
This outcome left most people petrified with fear. The Ministry of State Affairs was already an overwhelmingly powerful organ of state violence, and this display struck even deeper terror into their hearts.
The political figures present remained silent, while corporate executives connected to the arrested individuals fidgeted uneasily. Yet not a single person dared to move, terrified of becoming the center of attention.
Zhan Jiyue glanced at the gravel on the floor. He, too, had been unable to see clearly what had transpired in that moment.
However, because he had stood relatively close, his mind had caught a vague impression, allowing him to piece together the general sequence of events.
That was Liang Qin, after all—a man with a track record in Great Shun of recklessly challenging opponents time and again, getting beaten half to death by the accords as a result. Yet even so, he never grew tired of it, doing it over and over.
That sheer madness made many martial artists wary of him. The problem was that, as a Dongxuan View martial artist, the nation could never afford to discard such combat power. Thus, as long as he had not caused catastrophic destruction, his behavior had consistently been tolerated.
Yet now, he had been defeated in a single clash, creating a tremendous sense of disorientation. But on second thought, when it came to Chen Chuan, it seemed entirely reasonable—because this was the true caliber of a martial artist ranked among the world's finest.
Global influence was not a standard for evaluating a martial artist's combat prowess, but those ranked near the top were guaranteed to possess terrifying might!
Not far from them, Fang Shucheng had experienced enough to pull back while the two were talking earlier, yet even so, he still felt immense pressure.
Clashes at the Dongxuan View level, even when taking place within another field space, leaked faint traces of field power that still caused all the mutated tissue in his body to contract and lock up.
Not just him—his team members were equally numb and frozen where they stood. The arrested individuals and surrounding guests were in an even worse state: all had collapsed unconscious, foaming at the mouth and twitching uncontrollably on the floor.
However, as elite operatives of the Ministry, they had undergone simulated training many times, and their bodies possessed a degree of resistance. After only a brief moment, they recovered from the discomfort and strode forward, hoisting up Zhu Han—who was also dazed under the influence—and slapping handcuffs onto him.
Whether intentional or not, Fang Shucheng did not immediately remove Zhu Han's communication equipment. This allowed Zhu Han, once he came to his senses, to frantically send a message through his boundary credential to someone.
"Elder Chai, Elder Chai? Aren't you supposed to protect us? Hurry, don't let him take me away!"
On the other end, Elder Chai did not utter a sound. He was indeed tasked with protecting the Zhu family, but that depended on the circumstances. Openly obstructing the Ministry of National Security was a crime; he felt he could not harbor such actions, as it would violate his sense of duty.
Zhu Han sent message after message, but received no reply, plunging him into despair. In that moment, he seemed to feel gazes falling upon him from every direction—astonishment, pity, amusement, and gloating.
When had he ever suffered such humiliation? He struggled frantically, and as if in answer to his prayers, a burst of field power surged into his mind, allowing him to black out on the spot.
Fang Shucheng approached Chen Chuan, saluted, and reported, "All targets have been taken into custody."
Zhan Jiyue looked toward a certain direction and transmitted a message to Chen Chuan via mental power: "There is someone in the private box. He seems to be from the former imperial household."
Chen Chuan's eyes shifted slightly. Although they had come here to make arrests, other affairs also fell under the purview of the Ministry of State Affairs.
He could keenly sense that the presence of someone dressed in former imperial attire was no coincidence; there had to be some purpose behind it.
However, after checking against the database, this individual had no identification whatsoever—in fact, he could hardly be considered a real human being.
Attempting an arrest would be pointless.
So he merely cast a glance in that direction, instructed the resonators outside to record the relevant data, and then said, "Fall back."
Fang Shucheng answered with solemn discipline. Calling out to the other team members, he immediately brought along the targets arrested during this operation and the near-dead martial artist, swiftly following in Chen Chuan's footsteps as they departed.
They had entered suddenly and forcefully, and they departed just as decisively and swiftly, leaving the hall full of distinguished guests sitting there in stunned silence.
After a while, once they confirmed that the Ministry operatives had truly gone, the entire venue erupted into an uproar.
Some cursed in anger; some grumbled; others, realizing that the field jamming had been lifted, scrambled to contact the outside world to complain or vent their fury.
Even the stars who usually shone so brilliantly were now pale-faced.
Seeing figures who normally stood high above them and could decide their futures with a single word—including Second Young Master Zhu—taken away just like that, most of them were scared out of their wits.
In truth, almost everyone seated here had some sort of backing; some were even members of the Nature faction themselves. Yet now they realized that this identity offered them no protection whatsoever.
Fearing that their various ties to Second Young Master Zhu might implicate them, many did not want to linger a moment longer and slipped away in silence.
Quite a few, however, cast glances of pity and gloating toward Ying Bailu before departing. She had only just been thrust into the spotlight and had barely enjoyed any glory before losing her patron and benefactor in an instant. Her future was bound to be rough, wasn't it?
Ying Bailu remained seated, appearing largely unfazed, as if lost in thought. To the onlookers, this demeanor seemed like nothing more than putting on a brave face.
Yet most failed to notice the unique mental power faintly emanating from her, nor did they hear the silent whisper in her heart: *The plan failed, huh.*
Inside the private box, Elder Du remained seated, having never stepped outside throughout the entire ordeal. Despite his high rank, he knew what the world was truly like beneath the surface, and he knew this affair was far from as simple as it seemed. He had no intention of wading into these muddy waters.
Only after Chen Chuan and his group had left did he turn his head and say genially to the man in traditional garb, "It seems we cannot continue our discussion today. You know what to do, don't you?"
The man in traditional attire cupped his hands in a formal bow, then sat back on his knees. After a moment, the color of life drained from his face, and his entire body turned into a stark white paper figurine.
Elder Du glanced at it, leaned on his walking stick to stand up, and walked out of the room. Speaking into his boundary credential, he instructed, "Clean it up thoroughly."
Escorted by his security detail, he made his way outside to his private car. Once seated inside, he immediately contacted someone from his address book.
When the call connected, he said, "Old Zhu, it's me. Mm, yes, you got the news? Well, yes, your wonderful son invited me here. Let me give you some advice: if you can bail your son out, arrange for him to go abroad as soon as possible. Don't let him stay in the country. This game is beyond what your family can afford to play. All right, you have plenty more trouble ahead, so handle it carefully."
With that, he ended the call. He looked back at the Old Hanquan Palace, still brightly illuminated, then closed his eyes and leaned back against the seat. After a moment, he murmured faintly, "Things aren't the same anymore."
Meanwhile, countless messages radiated outward from Hanquan Palace to every corner of Central Capital. Every single person arrested by the Ministry tonight possessed deep backgrounds and extensive entanglements; this was bound to alarm various relevant agencies and numerous influential figures.
Beneath an abandoned ancient pagoda somewhere in Central Capital, Liang Qin lay motionless, seemingly unable to move.
Covering his body were over a hundred festering, lacerated wounds as well as numerous gaping holes, from which large amounts of blood bearing a metallic sheen flowed forth. In just a short while, it flooded the entire floor of the basement.
This was the backlash caused by the accords triggering when he used his avatar to forcefully attack Chen Chuan earlier. Because it utilized his own power to bind him, even a Dongxuan View martial artist like him could not recover in short order; he had to heal slowly like an ordinary human, destined for a long and agonizing process.
Yet he did not care about any of that. Even though he suffered severe agony, all he cared about was satisfying his desire for battle.
As the blood continued to pour out, it gradually submerged his entire body until only his face remained above the surface. Just before being completely engulfed, a bizarre gleam appeared in his eyes, his lips curving slightly as he muttered, "Exhilarating... truly exhilarating."
Inside the administrative building of the Ministry of National Security.
He Shugang had just returned to the office area from the State Administration Council. Over the past ten minutes or so, no fewer than five high-ranking figures had contacted him through direct or indirect channels.
His secretary stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said, "Minister, you're back."
He Shugang asked expressionlessly, "Where is Commissioner Chen?"
The secretary replied, "Oh, I saw Commissioner Chen come out of Vice Minister Ren's office just now. He should be back in his own office by now."
"Oh? Is that so?"
He Shugang paused briefly in his stride, but said nothing more as he continued walking toward his office.
Chen Chuan was standing on the terrace outside his office, feeding Chaoming. At that moment, he turned his gaze outward and saw an armored motorcade drive in and pull to a stop in the plaza.
He then saw another Chen Chuan step out of a car holding the Xuejun Saber. The figure looked up toward him, and the instant their eyes met, it rapidly transformed into a streak of purple qi that shot toward him, sinking into his body in the blink of an eye.
Chen Chuan reached out with a light grasp, catching the descending Xuejun Saber in his hand. With a crisp click, he calmly set it onto the weapon rack beside him.
Chapter 1371