Chapter 1 Night Outside the Qi King Residence

Night. Outside the Qi King Residence.

A gray-clad man, Guard Chou, cautiously observed with a few men. "Master, the fighting has begun."

"What a commotion!"

"Is Mr. Jing's sect attacking the Qi King Residence head-on?" The Fei family's observers muttered to themselves. The sounds of fighting within the Qi King Residence could be heard even outside the walls, attracting the attention of many.

After waiting for a long time, "The Qi King Residence is on fire!"

"The fire is spreading!" It could be seen that one area after another within the Qi King Residence was being set ablaze, the fires growing larger and larger, leaving those watching from afar in disbelief. The fires in many parts of the residence indicated a complete loss of control!

Guard Chou and his subordinates exchanged glances.

"Brother Jing's sect has such great strength!" Guard Chou exclaimed.

"Even the top-tier experts and super-class experts in the Qi King Residence can't control the situation," others marveled.

Suddenly, blurry figures appeared from a distance, quickly approaching. Guard Chou and the others hiding in the corner were startled!

"Brother Chou." A familiar voice rang out. Guard Chou and the others then saw clearly that it was Xu Jingming, who had removed his mask, and Fei Xinlan, whom he was holding with one arm. "Miss," Guard Chou said joyfully,

then worriedly, "What happened to you?"

His own Miss had become a disciple of Dean Ming and had already reached the Third-Rate realm. Why did she need someone to carry her while traveling?

"The Qi King gave me Weak Bone Powder," Fei Xinlan said. "My body is weak, and I can't walk fast!" The Qi King had done this to better control Fei Xinlan and to make it harder for her to commit suicide.

"Weak Bone Powder?" Guard Chou breathed a sigh of relief.

Even without any antidote, the body would recover after a month.

"You take Miss Fei back; I still have some things to do," Xu Jingming said. He had already discovered Guard Chou and the others while waiting outside the Qi King Residence earlier.

"I'll take care of Miss. Brother Jing, be careful." Guard Chou could see that Xu Jingming's face was pale, indicating that his injuries were not light. Xu Jingming nodded slightly and turned to leave into the darkness. Guard Chou and the others watched this scene, feeling a bit emotional.

"He risks his life to repay a small kindness from back then." "Truly a righteous man."

While they were sighing, Fei Xinlan was also emotionally stirred. She had even wondered if Brother Jing had feelings for her, which was why he was working so hard. However, during their contact just now, she had not sensed any love in Brother Jing's eyes or words.

"Miss, let's go." Guard Chou and the others protected Fei Xinlan and immediately left cautiously.

Imperial City.

An old man, staggering down the street with a wine gourd, suddenly had a consciousness descend upon him. The old man's eyes became much deeper, and he looked up in the direction of the Qi King Residence.

"Taking thirty-five thousand taels of gold at once?" The old man shook his head slightly. "Moreover, he used a forbidden technique from the High-Grade Inheritance! Is he a young member of some great family in the universe? Or an external member of the seventeen top factions?"

Very few people could learn the High-Grade Inheritance to begin with.

Although the secrecy surrounding the Planetary Lifeform stage was lower, one still needed sufficient background. For example, if one's parents were high-ranking members of the seventeen top factions, they could pay a certain price to allow their children to learn the "basics" of the High-Grade Inheritance to lay a foundation.

"He has accumulated more than fifty thousand taels of gold in the Blood Rain World!"

"Logically speaking, he should be severely punished! However, being able to use a forbidden technique, he might have some connection to me in reality," the old man thought. After all, as a ninth-order Source Lifeform, the younger generation who could use forbidden techniques might be related to him.

For example, the parents of this junior were high-ranking members of the seventeen top factions?

For example, this junior was an external member of the seventeen top factions and might become a Source Lifeform in the future.

"Hu."

The old man took a step, and his figure blurred and disappeared.

Xu Jingming, carrying his package, walked through the snowy night. Suddenly, an old man carrying a wine gourd appeared in front of him on the street. "Hmm?" Xu Jingming felt a huge crisis in his mind.

A terrifying aura enveloped him, and Xu Jingming's consciousness instinctively trembled in fear.

"So strong. This intangible mental pressure is definitely not from an eighth-order," Xu Jingming immediately judged. "This is a Source Lifeform." This gave him a headache.

Was this the Blood Rain World's targeting him?

"I only took thirty-five thousand taels of gold from the Qi King Residence's vast store of gold; did that attract this kind of targeting?" Xu Jingming thought to himself.

"Which family's kid are you? Why are you so ignorant?" The old man carrying the wine gourd shook his head. "Is the gold of the Blood Rain World so easy to take? Once you accumulate more than fifty thousand taels of gold, a heavenly punishment will descend! If you accumulate a hundred thousand taels, you can completely give up on the Blood Rain World, because you won't be able to move an inch."

Xu Jingming was stunned. Was the other party being so reasonable?

"Thank you, Senior," Xu Jingming said. "I don't know much about the Blood Rain World."

"Don't be too greedy in the Blood Rain World; it's best to stop when you reach ninety thousand taels. If it were someone else, they might have slapped you to death today, but who told me I have a good temper?" As the old man with the wine gourd was saying this,

a terrifying mental force came crashing down.

Rumble!

What did it feel like to have a ninth-order Source Lifeform's mental power target you alone?

It felt as if the entire world was pressing down! Xu Jingming only felt his mental consciousness completely stunned, and he lost control of his body for a moment.

"Bang."

A gourd smashed into Xu Jingming's chest. His chest caved in, and several ribs snapped. Under the force of the impact, his body flew uncontrollably, fell to the ground, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Only then did Xu Jingming regain control of his body.

"Haha…" The old man with the wine gourd glanced at Xu Jingming, turned, and left, disappearing into the night.

Xu Jingming remained in place, controlling his injuries and pondering the Blood Rain World's targeting he had just experienced.

"The Blood Rain World has an official operating body," Xu Jingming understood this. "There are all sorts of restrictions on players obtaining gold. Obtaining more will lead to targeting, and accumulating fifty thousand taels will lead to heavenly punishment. At one hundred thousand taels,

it will be impossible to move an inch."

"Today, this senior showed mercy," Xu Jingming understood this. He had only seriously injured him; he hadn't killed him! Nor had he taken away the package, which was a sign of respect.

"'Which family's kid are you?'" Xu Jingming recalled the other party's words and quickly came to a deduction. "Did my use of the forbidden technique make the other party believe that I have an extraordinary background? That's why he showed mercy?"

That was likely it.

In the entire human alliance of the universe, although there were countless civilizations, those who could cultivate the High-Grade Inheritance's "Planetary Lifeform Forbidden Technique" must have a great background!

Either they were children of great families like Yano, or they were external members of top factions like Xu Jingming. As for those who obtained the basic parts of the High-Grade Inheritance "illegally," they would not dare to use them within the virtual world network.

Those who dared to use them had all obtained them legally!

"The other party is a ninth-order Source Lifeform, so he should be a member of one of the seventeen top factions," Xu Jingming vaguely understood. "It's all about social connections!"

The Qi King was killed!

The death of a king was a major event! The Emperor learned of it that night and, in a fit of rage, ordered that the murderer be strictly investigated!

If it were a stable period, he might have turned the entire imperial capital upside down. But now, almost the entire world was in rebellion, and even the 'Blood Rain Guards' in the imperial capital were restless, many preparing for their own escape routes.

Who would risk their lives to investigate the death of a king?

"Wielding a shield, crushing a military formation of thousands of Third-Rate experts head-on? And killing the Qi King in a rage?" After learning a little about the situation, the Blood Rain Guards were all terrified. "Thousands of Third-Rate experts couldn't stop him, and the Qi King was still killed. Can we investigate such a ferocious person?"

The Blood Rain Guards were only going through the motions.

Moreover, almost all of the Qi King Residence's guards had fled, leaving only a very small number of extremely loyal ones who were still following the Qi King Residence's family.

The next day, Xu Jingming opened the door of his house. Snow had fallen all night, and the snow in front of the door was now deep enough to bury one's calves. "The weather is really good."

Xu Jingming was in a good mood.

The light of the morning sun shone on the pure white snow, making the world much brighter.

Xu Jingming admired the scenery at the door for a moment before seeing the amiable old man from afar, accompanied by three people. "Brother Jing." The old man walked over and exclaimed, "Admirable, admirable, such a large-scale operation."

"Please."

Xu Jingming led them into the house and closed the courtyard door.

"According to your request, the gold has been divided into four portions. These three portions are each ten thousand taels. This last portion is five thousand taels." Xu Jingming pointed to the gold placed on the ground in the house.

The old man smiled and nodded. "Alright." As he spoke, he went to put away the five thousand taels.

The three people next to him began to make offerings, each offering ten thousand taels.

The Blood Rain World also controlled the way gold was obtained, limiting the number of people entering the Mysterious Land. For example, in the Hunter Cosmos Domain, less than 200,000 people entered the Mysterious Land every 330 days.

Xu Jingming watched the three people make offerings, feeling quite emotional. He had used the Mysterious Land to leap through the dragon gate and successfully join the top power in the universe's human alliance.

However, the threshold for the seventeen top powers was extremely high. Only a very small number of explorers were recruited each year.

Whoosh!

The three people and the thirty thousand taels of gold disappeared out of thin air. "Did the money arrive?" the old man asked.

"It arrived," Xu Jingming nodded. He had already received the notification.

"Alright, remember to take care of me if you have any business. The exchange rate I offer is one of the best in the industry," the old man said with a smile.

"I'll have another twenty thousand taels soon," Xu Jingming said. "I'll contact you then."

This twenty thousand taels was what Master Fei had promised.

"Impressive," the old man exclaimed. "I'll take my leave first." He left quietly with the five thousand taels he had collected.

On the third day after rescuing Fei Xinlan, Master Fei had already quietly gathered twenty thousand taels and sent it to Xu Jingming! After all, he knew that Xu Jingming and his master had defeated thousands of guards from the Qi King Residence and even killed the Qi King!

After asking someone to do such a big thing, Master Fei felt that twenty thousand taels was too little. But there was no way around it; he didn't have much gold and silver. After all, the Fei family had only risen to prominence recently.

"I heard that the expert wielding the double shields crushed the military formation of thousands of Third-Rate experts head-on and then killed the Qi King in a rage," Guard Chou said. "Brother Jing's sect is truly powerful."

"The information I've gathered says there was an expert using a spear, an expert using double shields, and an expert using a large hammer," Silver-Haired Guard Lu said. There were all sorts of chaotic pieces of information circulating about the killing of the Qi King. Rumors spread further and further from the truth as they passed from person to person!

"Bang, bang, bang." Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. A guard opened the door and immediately saw Xu Jingming outside. "Mr. Jing has arrived," he said. Xu Jingming walked in.

Xu Jingming walked in.

"Brother Jing," Guard Lu and Guard Chou greeted him warmly. Master Fei and Fei Xinlan quickly walked out of the house. "Mr. Jing," Master Fei said politely.

"Brother Jing," Fei Xinlan said. After taking the antidote, her body had recovered.

Everyone walked into the house and sat down. Xu Jingming took out a map from his bosom, placed it flat on the table, and said, "Master Fei, you should know that the situation in the imperial capital is getting worse and worse. The rebels may attack the imperial capital at any time."

Everyone present nodded.

Everyone understood this. The Western Regions were out of control, and the Eastern Regions had raised the banner of rebellion. The fall of the imperial capital was only a matter of time.

"So I've been planning to find a way to send Xinlan away from the imperial capital," Master Fei said.

"Some friends and I also plan to leave the imperial capital." Xu Jingming pointed to a location on the map. "We plan to go to Lanjiang City. Lanjiang City is located in a remote area with many lakes and rivers, making it difficult for large armies to attack."

This was the location that everyone in the Xia Kingdom had decided on after discussion.

The Xia Kingdom's experts had limited strength. Even with a peerless expert like Xu Jingming, he could only be a deterrent because he rarely came online. Therefore, it was better to go to an ordinary city.

"Lanjiang City?" Master Fei's eyes lit up as he looked at it.

"It will take about a month to get from the imperial capital to Lanjiang City," Xu Jingming said. "If Master Fei, you also want to leave, we can go together! We can also take care of each other on the way."

Master Fei looked at the map, his eyes shining.

"Close the door," Master Fei ordered. "Everyone else, go out first." After dismissing the others, Guard Chou also closed the door. Only Master Fei, Fei Xinlan, Guard Chou, Guard Lu, and Xu Jingming remained in the room.

"Mr. Jing," Master Fei looked at Xu Jingming and said solemnly, "You saved Xinlan, so there's no need to hide it from you. My son, Fei Qing…" Is alive!