novelapdf Chapter 5 The Price of Rules
Chapter 5 The Price of Rules
Jiangzhou City Center. Martial Arts Association Headquarters Building.
The top-floor intensive care unit was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant.
Lei Qianjue lay on the hospital bed. His severed right arm was wrapped in gauze like a giant white dumpling. Dark red blood was still seeping from the edges of the gauze.
Lin Zhentian, vice president of the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Association, stood by the bed. He was wearing a crisp Zhongshan suit, his temples were gray, and the muscles in his square face were taut.
"Old Lei."
"What kind of tactics do they use?"
Lin Zhentian stared at the gauze soaked with black blood. He could smell the acrid stench of burnt flesh. This was not a wound inflicted by an ordinary sword or knife.
Lei Qianjue opened his cloudy eyes. His withered lips trembled slightly.
"Spells and magic".
"An extremely domineering and evil technique."
"The moment my internal energy touched that black energy, my meridians were completely destroyed. If I hadn't decisively severed this arm, I would be lying here as a corpse now."
Lin Zhentian's eyelids twitched violently.
Legends of true cultivators have long circulated in the martial arts world. However, most of these individuals hide deep in the mountains and forests, refining elixirs and drawing talismans, rarely interfering in worldly disputes. What kind of monster did that fool Chu Wanshan provoke?
"Bang!"
The mahogany double door to the ward was violently kicked open.
Two blood-covered men tumbled and crawled into the house. They were the two internal energy masters from the Chu family.
They were dragging a roll of carpet stained with blood.
"Chairman Lin!!"
"Help!!"
One of the worshippers was so engrossed in shouting that his voice was hoarse. He frantically lifted the carpet.
A bloody, mangled mess rolled out.
A surge of acid gushed into Lin Zhentian's stomach. He clenched his molars tightly.
It's impossible to tell that it's a single person.
Chu Wanshan had torn all his clothes to shreds. His skin was covered with deep, bone-revealing scratches. All ten fingernails had curled off, exposing the white, gleaming bones.
What's most horrifying is his face.
Black veins, like living worms, writhed wildly beneath his skin. With each inch they moved, Chu Wanshan let out a beast-like scream. His mouth gaped open, blood and foam gushing from his throat, unable to utter a single word.
"Chairman Chu?!"
Lin Zhentian strode forward. He pointed his right hand, fingers together like a sword, onto Chu Wanshan's Tanzhong acupoint on his chest.
The powerful internal energy flowed into his fingertips.
"boom!"
The black worms inside Chu Wanshan's body instantly went berserk. Like sharks smelling blood, they surged wildly, following Lin Zhentian's internal energy.
Lin Zhentian felt a tingling sensation in his fingertips. A piercing chill ran up his arm and straight to his heart.
He was terrified. He abruptly withdrew his hand, took three large steps back, and only stopped when his back hit the wall.
He looked down. The index and middle fingers of his right hand had turned purplish-black. His fingernails had shattered on the spot.
"What the hell is this thing?!"
Lin Zhentian broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly mobilized his internal energy and tightly sealed several major acupoints on his right arm, barely managing to stop the spread of the black energy.
"He...he said..."
The kneeling worshipper trembled violently, his head banging against the tiles with loud thuds.
"What did he say! Tell me!"
Lin Zhentian shouted angrily.
He said...before midnight, you'll have to bring your own head to him.
"otherwise......"
"Slaughter the martial arts world of Jiangzhou."
The ward fell into dead silence.
Only the sound of Chu Wanshan rolling and scratching the ground could be heard.
Lin Zhentian laughed in anger. He kicked the solid wood bedside table next to him, smashing it to pieces.
"Arrogant!"
"Does this brat who's only practiced a few unorthodox methods really think the Jiangzhou martial arts world is made of clay?!"
Where is he now?!
The offering swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva.
"He...he went to Panlong Mountain."
Lin Zhentian suddenly turned his head.
Panlong Mountain.
This is the most auspicious and spiritually rich place in Jiangzhou. It is also where the president of the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Association went into seclusion to attempt to break through to the Divine Realm.
This kid not only wants to kill people, but also wants to seize the sect leader's secluded training ground!
"interesting."
A clear, cool female voice came from the doorway of the ward.
Lin Zhentian and Lei Qianjue's expressions changed simultaneously. Ignoring their injuries, they both bowed their heads and bent over.
"Special Envoy Ye".
A young woman dressed in a pure white leotard walked into the ward.
Her long hair was tied up high, and her features were exquisite. She held a snow-white handkerchief in her hand, gently covering her mouth and nose, her eyes filled with undisguised disgust.
Special Envoy of the Ancient Martial Arts Masters Alliance. A Grandmaster of Transcendent Realm. Ye Qingcheng.
She walked up to Chu Wanshan and looked down at him.
"Evil spirits enter the body, corroding bones and devouring the soul."
"Those people in Miao territory who play with insects, or those sorcerers from Southeast Asia, love to use these kinds of underhanded methods."
Ye Qingcheng's voice was so cold it was like ice crystals.
"The path of martial arts is about cultivating upright and righteous internal energy. This kind of evil technique that focuses on the lower body is nothing more than a thin layer of paper when it encounters a true master."
Lin Zhentian quickly responded.
"The envoy is right. This kid relies on evil magic to plot against us. If it comes down to a real fight, he's no match for the envoy."
Ye Qingcheng glanced at him.
"Keep your petty thoughts to yourself. Since our Ancient Martial Arts Alliance has received offerings from secular tycoons, it's only natural that we should solve their problems."
"Didn't he want you to go and get yourself killed?"
"Let's go. To Panlong Mountain."
"I'd like to see what he'll use to slaughter the entire martial arts world of Jiangzhou."
Ye Qingcheng casually tossed the handkerchief at Chu Wanshan's face, then turned and walked out the door.
Lin Zhentian let out a long breath. A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.
With a Grandmaster at the Transcendent Realm making a move, that kid is definitely going to die tonight.
……
Western suburbs of Jiangzhou. Slum area.
A long police cordon was set up outside the tenement building. Dozens of police cars were flashing their red and blue lights.
But no police officer could get close to that old red brick building.
If someone takes just three steps forward, they'll feel as if a thousand-pound boulder is pressing on their chest, making it hard to breathe. Stepping back, they'll immediately feel normal again.
Lu Yuan stood in the unlit living room.
He was holding the copper piece he had taken from the Chu family's safe in his hand.
The temperature inside the room was extremely low. The chill emanating from the ancient ice had frosted the walls.
Lu Yuan gently rubbed the surface of the copper sheet with his thumb.
Rough. Cold. Carrying a sense of vicissitudes that have endured the passage of time.
The coordinates of the Sirius Star Region in the cultivation world are engraved on this.
Earth was sealed off by the "Heaven and Earth Separation" formation, and its spiritual energy was depleted. This kind of magical artifact with star coordinates is just a piece of scrap metal on Earth.
unless.
Someone is sacrificing human lives to create this formation.
Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes.
Car accident. Blood draw. The copper plate was stolen.
The Chu family was merely a gofer. The larger entity behind them was attempting to activate this fragment of the coordinate scroll using this most primitive form of blood sacrifice.
What do they want to bring down to Earth?
Lu Yuan put the copper piece into his Nine Heavens Storage Ring.
He walked to the sofa, bent down and picked up Lu Qingxue, who was still unconscious.
The Nine Yin Meridians within my younger sister's body are a ticking time bomb. The flawed Marrow Cleansing Pill can only temporarily suppress it. We must find a place abundant with spiritual energy and set up a Spirit Gathering Array to completely stabilize her heart meridian.
Lu Yuan's divine sense spread like a large net, instantly covering the entire Jiangzhou City.
Reinforced concrete. Vehicle exhaust. Polluted industrial fumes.
The Earth's air is so dirty it makes you want to vomit.
But to the due east of Jiangzhou City, there was a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy. It was like a well that was about to run dry hidden in a parched desert.
Panlong Mountain.
Lu Yuan held his younger sister in one arm. With his other hand, he drew an intricate rune in the air.
"receive."
The cart, along with the ancient ice, was stored in a storage ring.
He stepped over the ice shards scattered on the ground and pushed open the iron gate.
At the police cordon outside the tenement building, a police officer in charge was holding a megaphone, ready to issue a warning.
The megaphone was just raised to his lips.
The officer only felt a blur before his eyes. A gust of wind swept mud and water from the ground towards him.
When he opened his eyes, the entrance to the tenement building was deserted.
There wasn't even a ghost in sight.
……
Panlong Mountain.
The location of Jiangzhou City's dragon vein.
The mountaintop is shrouded in mist year-round. Here stands the most luxurious villa complex in the entire Jiangnan Province, covering ten acres and costing over three hundred million yuan.
Four internal energy martial artists dressed in black suits stood outside the large iron gate.
This is where the president of the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Association is in seclusion. Unauthorized personnel cannot even reach the halfway point up the mountain.
Lu Yuan carried Lu Qingxue, walking barefoot on the asphalt mountain road.
He walked very slowly. But with each step, he was already more than ten meters away. He had shrunk the distance to an inch.
"stop!"
The martial artist guarding the gate drew his baton from his waist and placed it across the gate.
"This is private property! Take one more step and I'll break your legs!"
Lu Yuan did not stop.
He didn't even glance at the four people.
"roll."
One word.
A visible ripple spread through the air.
The four internal energy martial artists were struck head-on by a speeding heavy truck. Their sternums collapsed instantly. They were sent flying backward, gushing blood, and crashed into the pure copper gate.
"Boom!"
The bronze gate, weighing several tons, collapsed along with its pillars, smashing the white marble fountain in the courtyard.
Lu Yuan stepped through the ruins into the courtyard.
The spiritual energy here is more than ten times denser than down the mountain. But it has all been forcibly gathered into the basement of the main villa using an extremely crude method.
To waste such a precious resource.
Lu Yuan walked to the front of the main villa.
Before he could even raise his hand, the two bulletproof glass doors of the villa were shattered from the inside by a single blow.
Glass shards flew everywhere like bullets.
Half a meter away from Lu Yuan, all the glass shards froze in mid-air before falling helplessly to the ground.
An elderly man with a full head of white hair, wearing a gray robe, strode out of the door.
President of the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Association. Half-step Divine Realm. Xue Wanshan.
His eyes were bloodshot. His entire body was surging with internal energy. His long robe was inflated like a balloon by the internal energy.
"Where did this stray dog come from! Daring to ruin my important seclusion!"
Xue Wanshan was furious.
He had been stuck at the peak of the Transcendent Realm for a full ten years. With great difficulty, thanks to the auspicious geomancy of Panlong Mountain, he had barely touched the threshold of the Divine Realm. He was at a crucial juncture in his breakthrough.
The loud noise outside directly shattered the true energy he had gathered, almost causing him to suffer a qi deviation.
He stared intently at the long-haired, barefoot young man in front of him who was holding a girl.
"You killed my martial arts association's honored disciple. You destroyed my secluded training ground."
"Today I'll skin you alive and throw you, little girl, into the river to feed the fish!"
Xue Wanshan stomped his foot suddenly.
The marble floor tiles cracked like a spider web.
He leaped into the air. His right hand transformed into a claw, aiming straight for Lu Yuan's throat with a piercing shriek that tore through the air.
The oppressive aura of a half-step divine realm expert was released without reservation. The precious green plants in the courtyard were cut in half by this wave of energy.
Lu Yuan stood still.
He watched as Xue Wanshan pounced down from mid-air.
It's like watching a fly baring its teeth and claws.
"Who do you think you are? How dare you mention my sister?"
Lu Yuan raised his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together.
There were no fancy moves. There were no external bursts of light or shadow.
He simply made a downward swipe towards Xue Wanshan, who was suspended in mid-air.
"Kneel down."
"Bang!"
Xue Wanshan's forward-rushing body suddenly stopped in mid-air.
He felt as if the sky above him had collapsed.
An irresistible, terrifying pressure slammed directly onto his spine. His prized protective inner energy collapsed on the spot, not even lasting half a second.
Xue Wanshan crashed to the ground like a shooting star.
His knees slammed heavily onto the hard marble.
"Snap!"
The kneecap was shattered. Two white shinbones pierced the hem of the robe. Two half-meter-deep craters were smashed into the marble floor.
Xue Wanshan's upper body was pinned to the ground. His cheeks were pressed against the cold, gritty stones. Blood gushed from his mouth.
He desperately tried to circulate the internal energy in his dantian, attempting to stand up.
Useless.
The pressure that was pressing down on me wasn't martial arts energy at all. It was the overwhelming pressure of the Great Dao, which transcended the laws of Earth.
"Who...who are you...?"
Xue Wanshan's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Fear tightened around his heart like a venomous snake.
One finger.
It crushed a half-step divine realm cultivator.
This is a power that no human could possibly possess!
Lu Yuan did not answer him.
He lifted his foot and walked up to Xue Wanshan. He stepped on the back of Xue Wanshan's head.
"Click."
The sound of the skull shattering was particularly crisp in the night wind.
Xue Wanshan's body twitched twice. Then he fell completely silent.
The dignified president of the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Association, a top-tier expert at the half-step Divine Realm, was crushed to death on the spot like a cockroach.
Lu Yuan withdrew his foot.
He looked around.
The spiritual energy here is barely enough.
He took out ninety-nine top-grade spirit stones from his storage ring. He forced out a drop of essence blood from his fingertip.
"go."
The spirit stone transformed into ninety-nine streams of light, disappearing into the underground surrounding Panlong Mountain.
The Nine Heavens Gathering Spirit Array is complete.
The previously sparse spiritual energy within a hundred-mile radius began to converge madly towards the summit of Panlong Mountain. The trees at the foot of the mountain withered at a visible rate. Meanwhile, a thin layer of white mist began to permeate the courtyard at the summit.
Lu Yuan carried his younger sister into the villa and placed her on the bed in the most spacious bedroom on the second floor.
Nourished by spiritual energy, Lu Qingxue's pale face finally regained a touch of color.
Lu Yuan stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
He looked down at the foot of the mountain.
Time. It jumped right to midnight.
On the winding mountain road at the foot of Panlong Mountain, two blinding headlights ripped through the night.
Then came the second one. Then the third one.
Dozens of black Mercedes-Benz G-Class vehicles formed a long line, roaring up the winding mountain road. The ear-piercing roar of their engines shattered the deathly silence of Panlong Mountain.
The convoy stopped outside the shattered gate of the villa.
The car doors swung open in unison. Hundreds of elite martial arts practitioners, dressed in black training uniforms, poured into the courtyard, each carrying a gleaming machete.
Lin Zhentian walked at the very front.
When he saw the gray-robed old man in the courtyard, half of his body smashed into the pit and his head sunken, he was stunned.
Lin Zhentian's calf suddenly cramped.
"The... president?!"
Lin Zhentian's voice cracked. He couldn't believe his eyes.
Xue Wanshan, who had gone into seclusion to break through to the Divine Realm and was regarded as a pillar of strength in the Jiangzhou martial arts world, is dead.
His head was crushed by someone stepping on it.
The martial arts elites following behind all froze on the spot. Their hands, gripping their knives, trembled uncontrollably.
The only sounds in the air were heavy breathing and the clattering of teeth.
A pair of white flat cloth shoes stepped on the broken glass.
Ye Qingcheng stepped out from behind the crowd.
She looked at the corpse on the ground. A crack finally appeared on that perpetually icy face.
Half-step into the divine realm. There wasn't even a trace of him fighting back.
This is absolutely not something that Miao witchcraft could achieve.
Ye Qingcheng suddenly looked up, staring intently at the figure of the long-haired young man in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor.
"Who exactly are you?"
Ye Qingcheng's voice was no longer cold and aloof. It was filled with an intense tension and extreme apprehension.
"You killed a Grandmaster registered with my Ancient Martial Arts Alliance. You are declaring war on the entire Chinese martial arts world."
Lu Yuan pushed open the French windows.
We went up to the second-floor terrace.
The night wind blew his blue robe. He looked down at the ants in the courtyard who seemed to be facing a formidable enemy.
"Declare war?"
A mocking smile appeared on Lu Yuan's lips.
"You take this flawed martial art as the truth, and regard the mud at the bottom of the well as the ultimate standard."
Lu Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but it resonated like a thunderclap in everyone's ears.
"Today, I will use these mountains of blood and bones to reshape your reverence for power."
Lu Yuan raised his right hand, palm down.
He pressed down hard on the hundreds of martial arts elites in the courtyard.