Assassination

Yaoguang, Xu Qiexing, and the prince of the Taixuan Dynasty conversed in an orderly manner. Tang Fenghua stepped up beside Yaoguang to protect him closely. As Yaoguang's personal bodyguard, he stayed close beside Yaoguang under most circumstances, so remaining glued to his side now was entirely natural. As for Wang Feng... He led the experts of the Zhenhai Courtyard to begin eliminating the sixteen Great Cultivators lying in ambush outside. With Yaoguang enforcing an information blockade, not a single message escaped before those sixteen met their deaths. Right at this moment, the prince of the Taixuan Dynasty suddenly spoke up: "First Seat Yaoguang, though I know this request is somewhat presumptuous, I wonder... might I speak with you in private?" Saying so, he cast an apologetic glance at Xu Qiexing. "This is Nine Cauldrons Sect territory. Hall Master Xu, please rest assured that we will not show the slightest discourtesy." Hearing this, Xu Qiexing shook his head. "That would be inappropriate." Yaoguang naturally followed standard protocol and declined as well. Chu Guang was not surprised, but continued to plead: "If First Seat Yaoguang is willing to converse with me privately, I can concede another percentage point on this order of three hundred flying swords." Yaoguang and Xu Qiexing exchanged a glance. The market price of three hundred Zixiao-13 commercial-grade flying swords reached as high as twenty-four million spirit stones. Even a single percentage point came to two hundred and forty thousand. Conceding two hundred and forty thousand spirit stones just to speak with him in private? Yaoguang knew what was going on. After some thought, he decided to play along. "Prince Chu Guang is so generous that I can find no reason to refuse." He gestured invitingly. Beside him, Xu Qiexing opened his mouth to speak, but a message from Yaoguang reached his divine sense: "I know what they want to do, Hall Master Xu. Things will get a bit chaotic here in a moment, so be sure to protect yourself." Xu Qiexing froze, then seemed to realize something, his pupils constricting. "Hall Master Yaoguang..." "Rest assured, I have already coordinated this matter with the Sect Master and the others," Yaoguang replied. Seeing this, Xu Qiexing's tension eased slightly, yet he remained on high alert. Soon, the two arrived in another room. Prince Chu Guang directly took out a small artifact inscribed with a formation to seal off all information in the area. "What does Prince Chu Guang wish to say?" Yaoguang asked. "Hall Master Yaoguang, you are in danger now." Chu Guang wore a solemn expression. "On my way here, Great Cultivators from the Great Sun Sword Sect intercepted me and infiltrated my delegation. Their goal is you—they want to take you to the Great Sun Sword Sect to serve them. To that end, they have activated numerous sleeper agents planted long ago in your Nine Cauldrons Sect. I estimate that as soon as the Great Sun Sword Sect strikes, those sleepers will emerge to assist them." Yaoguang was slightly surprised by these words. However, he soon "sensed" something and said with a smile, "Is Prince Chu Guang speaking the truth? This is no laughing matter." "There is no time left for jokes! The Great Sun Sword Sect has infiltrated our Taixuan Dynasty—and your Nine Cauldrons Sect—very deeply! The reason I wanted to speak to you alone is that I simply have no idea who can be trusted and who is a Great Sun Sword Sect spy! Therefore, the best course of action is for us to leave this area as quickly as possible and go into hiding..." Having said this, Chu Guang quickly added, "I know you do not trust me, but your hiding place can be wherever you consider safest. What is more, throughout the process, I am willing to stay by your side and serve as a hostage..." "This is the Nine Cauldrons Sect, and right next door is the Third Sky-Patrol Research Institute. Could the Great Sun Sword Sect's infiltration of our Nine Cauldrons Sect truly reach such an extent?" "Hall Master Yaoguang has only recently arrived from the subordinate world below, so there is much you do not know. Over the years, the Nine Cauldrons Sect has prided itself on being all-inclusive, recruiting far too many Great Cultivators. No one knows how many of those Great Cultivators actually belong to hostile factions! So while the Nine Cauldrons Sect may appear powerful on the surface, it is actually hollow at the core, a loose heap of sand. At the slightest danger, it could collapse and disintegrate. Compared to the Nine Cauldrons Sect, the Great Sun Sword Sect is vastly more powerful." Chu Guang said with utter solemnity, "Furthermore, the Great Sun Sword Sect values you like never before! I secretly overheard their communications. According to them, as long as they can abduct you, any sacrifice is worthwhile! In their eyes, you alone are worth three elite battle institutes! Therefore, in this operation, they will spare no casualties and spare no expense." "Spare no casualties, spare no expense..." "Yes." At this point, Chu Guang smiled wryly. "In fact, even if you hide wherever you deem safe, I don't think we can escape this disaster. They value you so highly that even if they had to trade a hall master for you, they wouldn't hesitate." He looked at Yaoguang. "The more I learn, the more powerless I feel. Were it not for the fact that the Great Sun Sword Sect also has me in their clutches, I would even suggest that you simply defect to the Great Sun Sword Sect. After all, you are not a cultivator nurtured natively by the Nine Cauldrons Sect, and it has only been three or four years since you joined. Your feelings toward the Nine Cauldrons Sect surely haven't reached the point where you would fight to the death for it, right?" Yaoguang cast a peculiar glance at the Taixuan prince. Well, so the persuasion to defect was waiting right here. However... "Speak of this no further," Yaoguang said coldly. "The Nine Cauldrons Sect is not as pathetic as you claim, nor is the Great Sun Sword Sect as powerful as you imagine. Rest assured, I have ample guard strength at my side, more than enough to slay these Great Sun Sword Sect spies who infiltrated our ranks." Sensing Yaoguang's firmness, Chu Guang's heart sank as well. Yet he was not surprised by this answer. Out of caution, he maintained his earnest, well-meaning guise and spoke once more: "But... this is far too risky. You haven't been in the Nine Cauldrons Sect long, so loyalty is hardly an issue, and the Great Sun Sword Sect values you so immensely. I estimate that if you defect to the Great Sun Sword Sect, you could become at least a full hall master, stepping directly into their core and decision-making stratum! The Nine Cauldrons Sect would never part with such authority for you! Up to now, you've only been a deputy hall master, and an honorary deputy hall master without real power at that." He said rapidly, "Join the Great Sun Sword Sect, and you ascend to heaven in a single bound. Refuse, and you face assassination by the Great Sun Sword Sect, courting death. With your talent, Star Lord, Foundation Establishment, and Origin Spirit are certainly not your limit. You should become a Star God, achieve a Golden Core, attain a Dharma Idol! Why throw your life away for a sect destined to have no future..." "Silence!" Yaoguang sternly interrupted him. "I believe we have nothing more to discuss." With that, he directly shouted toward the outside, "Tang Fenghua—" Seeing this, Chu Guang... or rather, the Great Sun Sword Sect spy disguised as the Taixuan Dynasty prince, abandoned any thought of inducing Yaoguang to surrender. *Whoosh!* In the next instant, true qi roared within him as though a terrifying energy engine had roared into full gear. As he opened his mouth and spat, a beam of sword light piercing the void blasted toward Yaoguang at point-blank range. This strike was indeed exceptionally decisive, as fierce as thunder. Unfortunately, Yaoguang had long been prepared for him. As the flying sword spat from his mouth struck like lightning before Yaoguang, an astral force field far surpassing that of anyone who had condensed an Astral Fiendgod Body descended. Deep in his mental world, both the Child of the Stars and the divine heart already planted in Longxiang City exerted power simultaneously. Combined with the spirit treasure he carried, the Soul of the Stars... an astral force field so powerful that not even a ferocious blow from a third-rank great sword cultivator could shatter it instantly gathered at Yaoguang's fingertips. When his fingertip collided with the flying sword bursting forward, it was as if energy rivaling a nuclear explosion erupted from the blade. Yet before this energy could wreak catastrophic havoc on the surrounding hall, the astral force field violently compressed, concentrating every bit of energy onto the third-rank sword cultivator's life-bound flying sword. The violent energy raged wildly within such a cramped space, nearly destroying the life-bound flying sword outright. "I cannot block Tang Fenghua's sword right now, but a mere third-rank great sword cultivator like you thinks he can harm me without even deploying his strongest lethal sword art?" Yaoguang said placidly. *Whoosh!* Almost the moment the sleeper agent disguised as "Chu Guang" struck, Tang Fenghua outside the hall made a ferocious move. A beam of sword light tore through the void with incredible speed, striking the third-rank great sword cultivator in an instant. *Buzz!* Without any loud rumble or roar, the third-rank great sword cultivator's head was crushed straight into powder. Meanwhile, another great sword cultivator who had been accompanying "Chu Guang" also lunged forward, trying to block Tang Fenghua. However... for a mission that was virtually suicidal, they were ultimately unwilling to dispatch a Great Cultivator who had achieved Dao Foundation establishment. Relying on the sharpness of his flying sword, Tang Fenghua easily took on both of them at once. After shooting down the Great Cultivator disguised as "Chu Guang," his attack continued unabated, sweeping toward the other man to eliminate him. "Why didn't you leave anything behind?" Yaoguang looked at the assassin before him, of whom not even a corpse remained, feeling somewhat helpless. Fortunately... it was no big problem. As a Dharma Idol cultivator, his formidable divine mind instantly enveloped the entire battlefield. He directly simulated the life signatures of two people. One was the disguised Prince "Chu Guang." The other was himself. The two life signatures swept across the void, and he even issued an order to the nine sword cultivators in the distance: "Hold them off!" Tang Fenghua, having coordinated this in advance, cooperated seamlessly. He rode his sword through the air in hot pursuit of "Yaoguang," creating the illusion that Yaoguang had been captured alive by "Chu Guang" and was being desperately pursued. During this time, the sixteen great sword cultivators who revealed themselves naturally spared no effort to intercept them. Yet the guard force around Yaoguang was exceptionally formidable, and with the Zhenhai Courtyard moving swiftly at the first scent of action, wiping out these nine sword cultivators and the sixteen further away was merely a matter of time. It was at this moment that the Heavenly Palace Hall of the Great Sun Sword Sect received news that "Yaoguang" had been captured. The Great Sun Sword Sect's Heavenly Palace Hall was not surprised by this. Perhaps to them, the moment Yaoguang was alone with "Chu Guang," the outcome of his capture was already sealed. After all, the weakness of Origin Spirit cultivators in close combat was renowned far and wide. Although Yaoguang concurrently practiced the Martial Path... in such a short time, just how high could his martial cultivation be? Before a third-rank great sword cultivator, would it be of any use? What they needed to do next was to have the twenty-odd sword cultivators already in ambush fight to the death to buy time for the Vajra to arrive at their doorstep and extract him. Orders were conveyed one after another. The sky-patrol warship Vajra, which had previously activated an information black zone, powered up at full throttle and sped straight toward the Jiuxiao Domain. On the other side, the Shenfeng Courtyard, Shenmu Courtyard, and Shenshan Courtyard abandoned their reconnaissance and probing at the perimeter and charged directly toward the Nine Cauldrons Sect's home territory. A great war was on the verge of breaking out.