Chapter 431: A Shocking Upheaval! The Boss of Warring States Falls!

The Six Gates of Qinghe Commandery cursed without end as they worked through the freezing night.

More and more beggars from the Beggar Sect gathered near the crime scene...

At the head of them were two Inner Elders from the Beggar Sect’s Main Altar!

The two men stood there with several Outer Elders and a group of sub-branch disciples, their eyes fixed viciously on the residence before them.

“Send everyone out at once!”

“Seal off the entire city and every waterway crossing!”

“And find out for me whether anyone knows the killer’s identity!”

“To dare kill the Branch Master of our Beggar Sect sub-branch at year’s end... whether it was the Lu Family or someone from the Caobang hall, this time they must pay the price!”

Yao Dahe’s death was equivalent to a crisp, resounding slap across the face of every Beggar Sect disciple in Qinghe Commandery!

Celebrate the New Year?

Celebrate my ass!

Up to now, the Inner Elders still had not found any trace of Elder Zheng, Qiu Dahong, or the four Outer Elders!

And now another Yao Dahe had died!

They had no way to go back and explain themselves to the Sect Leader!

If they did not do something...

They would never be able to report back.

They would have no face, either to those above them or those below them.

Within Qinghe Commandery, all Beggar Sect disciples were mobilized and spread out to every dock and street crossing, questioning people about who had entered or left the city and whether anyone knew any inside details.

The Six Gates investigated the case, the Beggar Sect hunted for the murderer, and both Caobang and the Lu Family were drawn into the tension as well.

Everywhere, in streets and alleys, martial artists carrying sabers and swords could be seen.

A grim, taut atmosphere filled the prefectural city.

The Beggar Sect, Caobang, and the Lu Family all seemed on the verge of war.

But with the Six Gates watching closely, the Beggar Sect could not make a move.

No one wanted to become a name on the Maritime Wanted List for no clear reason.

...

Whether the factions in Qinghe Commandery would be able to enjoy a peaceful New Year or not, Wangchuan did not know.

He first took stock of the spoils he had swept away from Yao Dahe’s residence.

Thirty-six master copies of martial arts manuals.

More than seven thousand taels of gold!

And one Lesser Rejuvenation Pill as well.

The harvest had been quite rich.

Wangchuan was in an excellent mood.

He immediately began cultivating the fifth-rank body-protection technique 《Golden Bell Shield》.

“What a pity that neither 《Fish Scale Technique》 nor 《Iron Shirt》 was cultivated to a high enough realm. Once 《Dragon-Elephant Body-Protection Technique》 broke through past Integration, those low-rank body-protection techniques stopped giving attribute rewards...”

“I have to start taking 《Golden Bell Shield》 seriously.”

Wangchuan found himself another sparring partner.

After Ye Baiyi broke through to the Third Rank, he was no longer suitable for sparring.

So Wangchuan sought out Li Qing.

Li Qing had sparred before.

He also knew that sparring with the Hall Master allowed for rapid improvement in real combat, so he began with a third-rank palm technique...

Four days later,

eight or nine of Li Qing’s cultivation methods had broken through in succession, earning him more than thirty attribute points. He smoothly advanced into the Third Rank.

Wangchuan’s 《Golden Bell Shield》 also broke through to the bottleneck just as he had hoped:

“Ding!”

System prompt:

“《Golden Bell Shield》 has risen from Minor Mastery to Practice Makes Perfect. Reward: +2 Stamina.”

《Golden Bell Shield》: Practice Makes Perfect

After activation, temporarily increases Stamina by 20, grants +20 Defense, and when attacked, actively reduces damage by twenty percent. Aside from the four fatal weak points at the heart, groin, temple, and eyes, all other areas will no longer trigger critical hits or lethal damage.

Next Realm: Entry-Level Mastery

After activation, temporarily increases Stamina by 30, increases Strength by 30, grants +30 Defense, and when attacked, actively reduces damage by thirty percent. Aside from the three fatal weak points at the groin, temple, and eyes, all other areas will no longer trigger critical hits or lethal damage.

Very strong.

Having cultivated it to this realm, Wangchuan could already clearly feel the power of a fifth-rank body-protection technique.

Compared with 《Dragon-Elephant Body-Protection Technique》, 《Golden Bell Shield》 had stronger attributes.

At the Entry-Level Mastery realm, it could almost completely crush 《Dragon-Elephant Body-Protection Technique》 at Integration.

But after weighing it again and again,

he still decided to cultivate 《Iron Python Body-Protection Qigong》 first, to finish raising his fourth-rank body-protection technique, claim the attribute rewards, and only then continue improving 《Golden Bell Shield》.

Meanwhile, something happened over in Qinghe Commandery...

Although the Six Gates had already determined that Yao Dahe had died at the hands of a martial artist with exceptional swordsmanship, they instinctively concluded that it was the work of Lu Family Young Master Lu Ping’an. They immediately tried every means possible to suppress the news and continue dragging out the case.

But the Beggar Sect was no easy prey either.

They actually sent experts to infiltrate the Six Gates and inspect Yao Dahe’s corpse.

The very next day, a Lu Family team was ambushed outside the city. All seven of them were killed, their bodies dumped in the wilderness.

Immediately after that, one of the Lu Family’s escort convoys was wiped out, and more than a dozen Lu Family guards died.

Realizing that the “information” had leaked, the Six Gates immediately contacted the Lu Family and warned them to be careful.

The Lu Family had been targeted by the Beggar Sect for no reason at all. Once they realized that the Beggar Sect had pinned Yao Dahe’s blood debt on them, they immediately hired two fifth-rank martial artists from outside. The Lu Family Head personally led the operation and ambushed the two Beggar Sect elders outside the city, leaving one Beggar Sect Inner Elder dead and the other badly wounded.

The injured one fled Qinghe Commandery overnight.

The atmosphere in Qinghe Commandery grew even more tense.

When Wangchuan, the one who had started it all, learned through Divine Physician Shen of Medicine King Valley that Qinghe Commandery had descended into utter chaos, he felt somewhat guilty. So he called in Yang Feiyue and Li Xiangyang and assigned the two of them new tasks.

He ordered them to lead teams in striking at Beggar Sect strongholds and properties in several county seats of Qinghe Commandery, helping from the flank to contain and suppress the Beggar Sect, thereby easing the pressure on the Lu Family and the Caobang hall.

“I only have two requirements.”

“Control the intensity, and protect yourselves. As for the rest, handle it as you see fit.”

Yang Feiyue was an old hand in Jianghu and naturally understood the weight of it.

“This subordinate obeys.”

“We obey!”

Li Xiangyang cupped his fists and left. As a player, he was inherently more cautious to begin with, and he also had the kind of temperament that appeared rough on the surface but was careful underneath, which made him well suited for this kind of task.

Wangchuan continued cultivating 《Iron Python Body-Protection Qigong》.

Not long after Yang Feiyue and Li Xiangyang began their operations, before any report had yet come back, Su Wan suddenly called.

Wangchuan logged off and answered.

On the other end of the line, Su Wan’s voice was low and dejected, utterly devoid of its usual liveliness and spirit.

“Wangchuan.”

“The boss... something’s happened to him.”

“...”

Wangchuan’s heart clenched violently, and his brows locked tight.

Hiss!

He drew in a deep breath. He had no way to process such a shocking piece of news at once, and only then did he ask in a low voice,

“What happened?!”

The boss of Warring States Game Studio was a fifth-rank martial artist, a man of considerable strength. And the Capital was an extremely safe place.

He could not imagine how a fifth-rank martial artist could come to grief there.

A suppressed, muffled sob came from Su Wan on the other end of the phone.

“...The boss said that after failing to win the bid for the Ultimate Art at the auction, he left the auction grounds carrying a huge sum of money. On the way back, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. By the time he realized he had been hit, he very quickly lost consciousness...”

“The boss is dead?!”

Wangchuan’s pupils trembled.

Su Wan’s voice was extremely weak.

“Our boss wants to see you. Before he dies, he absolutely has to meet you.”

“Why me?”

In an instant, Wangchuan thought of many things.

A dying fifth-rank martial artist...

He had only crossed paths with the man once.

Before Soul Withering took him, should he not be seeing his family? Or trying to find his killer?

Wangchuan was extremely wary.

Su Wan drew in a deep breath and explained in a trembling voice,

“We have a property in the Capital where the boss’s family is living!”

“If the boss dies, all the assets under his name will be in danger! He’s worried that his family won’t be able to hold on to the 《spirit realm》 assets, so he needs someone to help manage them... and I recommended you to him.”