Fengcheng.
A room, luxuriously decorated, without sunlight.
Dozens of people sat here, each wearing a mask, appearing mysterious and sinister.
"Feng Province has produced a Pseudo-King. What are your thoughts on this matter?"
"Is it related to the Path of Longevity?"
"It might be related to the Path of Longevity. Previously, when we dealt with the Ji-surname Prefect of Fengcheng, the Nine Provinces Cauldron showed no anomaly. This time, when we moved against the Yun-surname Prefect, the Nine Provinces Cauldron also remained still."
"The Nine Provinces Cauldron will surely react to someone with great fortune, even manifesting itself. Perhaps we have been looking in the wrong direction. Could this newly emerged Pseudo-King be the person with the most fortune in Feng Province?"
Silence fell upon the crowd for a moment. Someone said, "Highly possible. The Nine Provinces Cauldron was shattered into nine fragments, each guarded by Kunlun, Yaochi, Shushan, Forbidden City, and Baiyujing. All these events occurred when individuals with extraordinary fortune appeared."
"A fragment of the Nine Provinces Cauldron, which carries the fortune of humanity for ten thousand years, a single drop of its liquid can grant eternal life."
"Legend has it that the one from the Lotus Sect consumed half a drop of liquid thousands of years ago and has lived to this day."
"If that is the case, then our Longevity Alliance should dispatch assassins to deal with this Pseudo-King."
"A mere Pseudo-King at the fourth level of the Earth Realm is not worth mentioning. We must be careful not to be caught by the Sword Bearers."
"If we, who have been lurking in Fengcheng for decades, are exposed due to such a slip-up, all our efforts will be in vain, and we will all face the Master's punishment."
"Let us send someone to kill this Pseudo-King and see if his demise causes any tremor in the fragments of the Nine Provinces Cauldron."
...
On a deserted, remote highway.
Dozens of men in black blocked Chen Jiuyang's path. Chen Jiuyang's car had been reduced to scrap metal, engulfed in raging flames.
It was just as the Sword Bearers of Fengcheng had said; Chen Jiuyang had replaced Yun Tiancheng and become the target of these mysterious individuals.
However, several questions surfaced in Chen Jiuyang's mind.
How were these mysterious people so certain that the Nine Provinces Cauldron was in Fengcheng, and how did they deduce its connection to fortune?
The dozens of men in black before him were not weak; they were strong enough to overthrow the forty-six Marquises of Feng Province from before.
Could it be that the weakness of martial arts in Feng Province, the absence of major influential sects, was also related to these people?
Before they made a move against the Prefect of Fengcheng, had they first eliminated the large martial arts sects and aristocratic families in Feng Province?
"You're so eager to come and die. Very well, I shall send you on your way."
Chen Jiuyang slowly drew his saber. "Since you dare to block and kill me with such confidence, let me see your strength first. You may make the first move."
A black-clad man flicked his voluminous sleeve, and various terrifying蛊虫 (gǔchóng - poisonous insects/worms) crawled out from his clothes, then surged towards Chen Jiuyang.
"Poisonous蛊?"
Chen Jiuyang's brow furrowed. "It seems the force that previously harmed Uncle Yun was indeed you."
Hundreds of ferocious and terrifying蛊虫 swarmed towards Chen Jiuyang. However, Chen Jiuyang, with his Three Revolutions Pure Yang and blood essence to suppress evil, stood his ground without moving against these mere蛊虫.
"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"
As these蛊虫 approached within three meters of Chen Jiuyang, they seemed to encounter their natural enemy, screaming and turning into dust.
"Old monster, it seems your little darlings have no effect on the Pseudo-King. You'll need to bring out the real goods if you want to kill him."
Someone chuckled sinisterly. "Everyone, attack together."
"Buzz! Bang! Boom! Rumble!"
Dozens of martial artists, all having reached the Earth Realm and possessing considerable combat prowess, attacked in unison with sabers, swords, bows, spears, and divine intent techniques.
Dozens of moves were unleashed upon Chen Jiuyang in an instant. If it were any other martial artist who had not reached the Half-Step Heaven Realm, they would have met their demise before this group.
But Chen Jiuyang was different. Facing these dozens of moves, he merely raised a hand, starting from his little finger and curling it, he distorted the trajectory of these killing blows, then clenched his fist in mid-air.
"Bang—"
These dozens of moves were effortlessly crushed by Chen Jiuyang.
Immediately, Chen Jiuyang moved his saber, a cold glint flashing: "Yuan Dao—Instant Light!"
With a single saber strike, in the blink of an eye, over ten people were dead, their limbs and bodies scattered, blood gushing out.
The pupils of these individuals contracted sharply. "This Pseudo-King's saber is so domineering!"
Then, Chen Jiuyang moved, as if entering an unresisted realm. With a lift of his hand and a drop of his saber, a life was reaped.
In just a few minutes, of the dozens who had come to intercept and kill Chen Jiuyang, only one remained alive.
Chen Jiuyang grabbed the last survivor, using his divine soul to confuse and interrogate him, "What force do you belong to?"
"We are assassins from the Hall of Killing Gods," the Earth Realm martial artist replied obediently, his eyes vacant.
"Hall of Killing Gods?" Chen Jiuyang's brow furrowed. "Why are you targeting me?"
"We don't know. We just get paid to do a job."
Chen Jiuyang asked again, "Who hired you to intercept and kill me?"
"The Longevity Alliance." Chen Jiuyang's brow tightened. "What kind of organization is this?"
"The Longevity Alliance is an organization filled with the powerful and influential from all over the world. Everyone in it has a significant background. They would do anything to seek the method of eternal life," the Earth Realm martial artist replied honestly.
"The method of eternal life?" A cold glint flashed in Chen Jiuyang's eyes. This somewhat matched the clues, explaining the Longevity Hall's schemes in Fengcheng for the Nine Provinces Cauldron.
Just as Chen Jiuyang was about to further interrogate the whereabouts of the Longevity Hall members in Fengcheng, the Earth Realm martial artist surprisingly broke free from Chen Jiuyang's soul control, his face contorted with ferocity as he roared at Chen Jiuyang, "Pseudo-King, you dare to kill so many of our Hall of Killing Gods members. Those above will not let you go. Prepare your coffin!"
Immediately, the Earth Realm martial artist's seven orifices began to bleed. He bit down on the poison hidden within his body, and his life force ceased to exist.
What kind of organization was the Hall of Killing Gods, to make an Earth Realm Grandmaster commit suicide by poison, willing to be a martyr? Such methods sent a chill down Chen Jiuyang's spine.
Cultivating an Earth Realm martial artist required immeasurable effort and resources. Among the forces Chen Jiuyang knew, none could afford such extravagance.
The Dragon Country was vast and rich, full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. There were many forces and secrets that he was unaware of.
It seemed he needed to venture into the Shushan Secret Realm and the True Demon Secret Realm sooner rather than later.
Chen Jiuyang had killed dozens of people, yet the Sword Bearers had not appeared. This indicated that the mastermind behind this incident was merely testing him, not dispatching a powerhouse capable of threatening Chen Jiuyang's life.
After dealing with these people, Chen Jiuyang called for someone to pick him up. Not long after, his personal Qian King helicopter took off from the Yao family and arrived before him. Chen Jiuyang leaped into the helicopter and headed home to Qingzhu Village.
Upon returning to Qingzhu Village and arriving at the Lin family manor, Chen Jiuyang found the Chen family patriarch and asked directly, "Patriarch, do you know of the Hall of Killing Gods and the Longevity Alliance?"
The Chen family patriarch's brows immediately furrowed into the shape of the character '川' (chuān), and he asked solemnly, "I do. These are two super organizations whose histories are no less than that of our Shushan. Their strength is comparable to that of the Sword Bearer legions."
Chen Jiuyang's heart trembled. He had not expected these two organizations to have such profound backgrounds.
The Chen family patriarch said, "These two organizations are usually extremely secretive and never appear before the public. When they act, it is always a bloodbath."