Chapter 1 Night Falls

The night descended, a sheet of blackness.

Xu Jingming quietly appeared in a remote corner of the Qi King's mansion. He was wearing a bronze mask and silently observing his surroundings. Only areas with light were somewhat visible.

"I need to find out where Miss Fei is being held." Xu Jingming immediately used his mind power to investigate his surroundings.

The mind power was gentle and invisible, spreading silently, reaching a hundred meters.

There were skills in using mind power. It could be used violently, impacting the enemy's mind. It could be used gently, making it difficult for the enemy to detect. It could even influence people's hearts, even control them.

The many techniques of mind power recorded in the *Yuanchu Star Conjecture: Light Chapter* were incredibly advanced, arguably the most outstanding techniques of the universe's humans in the Starry Sky life stage. Unless the other party's mind power was strong enough, it would be difficult to detect.

"Is it snowing?"

Xu Jingming also noticed snowflakes falling sparsely in the darkness.

Sensing his surroundings within a hundred meters, Xu Jingming quietly walked through the Qi King's mansion.

Xu Jingming had learned about the layout of the Qi King's mansion when he entered the Blood Rain Guard's Southern Bureau's "Judicial Division." At that time, he had looked at the layouts of several royal mansions, including the Yan King's mansion, the Qi King's mansion, and the Liang King's mansion.

"It's snowing." A guard looked up at the sky. "I still have to stand guard for three hours! If the snow gets heavier, I'll suffer tonight."

There were patrolling guards, fixed guards, and even some hidden sentries in the Qi King's mansion.

The fixed guards had to stand there, even in rain or snow!

"If my strength could reach the Second-Rate realm, I could be lying in a room eating and drinking. Why would I have to suffer like this?" As the guard thought this, a shadow flashed from behind. The guard only felt a force assail the back of his head. His eyes went dark, and he collapsed to the ground.

Xu Jingming carried the guard into a nearby room and closed the door.

"Huh?" The guard woke up groggily and found himself lying on the ground, a masked man in green staring at him.

"What, what happened to me?" The guard was horrified to find that he couldn't move anything except his head.

"You just can't move temporarily," Xu Jingming said. "I'll ask you something, and you'll answer honestly. Otherwise, you'll never be able to move again."

"I'll talk, I'll talk," the guard said immediately. "I'll say anything. Please don't kill me."

As for shouting for help?

He would probably be killed as soon as he shouted!

"Where is Miss Fei, whom the Qi King's mansion captured today, currently being held?" Xu Jingming asked.

"In the main hall," the guard said quickly. "The king is hosting a banquet in the main hall tonight, inviting Miss Fei."

"A banquet for Miss Fei?" Xu Jingming was surprised.

"Many people in the mansion know about the banquet for Miss Fei," the guard said immediately.

"Well, very good." Xu Jingming nodded slightly and pressed the back of his head. Power seeped in, and the guard immediately fainted again!

A master who had reached cellular control was very clear on how to temporarily paralyze someone and how to make someone faint.

"Sleep for a few hours." Xu Jingming looked at the guard and walked out, closing the door to the room behind him.

Afterward, he found another guard stationed in a remote location and interrogated him. He got the same answer. Many people in the Qi King's mansion knew that the king was hosting a banquet, inviting Miss Fei.

"He's really hosting a banquet for Miss Fei. What is this Qi King thinking?" Xu Jingming was a little puzzled and quietly hurried toward the main hall. With his mind power sensing a hundred-meter radius, he was able to quietly avoid the guards, both hidden and in plain sight.

This was also the reason why he came alone. Under the mansion's defenses, the more people there were, the easier it was to be exposed.

"The main hall." Xu Jingming quickly saw the brightly lit main hall.

Inside the main hall.

Thick candles were extravagantly lit, illuminating the entire main hall as if it were daytime.

"Miss Fei, how is the food in my Qi King's mansion? Does it suit your taste?" The Qi King sat in the main seat, smiling as he looked at Fei Xinlan, who was sitting below.

The more polite the Qi King was, the more nervous Fei Xinlan became.

Recently, she had experienced a lot. Her brother, Fei Qing, had died, her father had disappeared, and some enemy forces were also beginning to stir. Fortunately, Dean Ming had deterred them, so she was able to live cautiously in the martial arts academy, but she could also feel that many of her fellow disciples in the academy were keeping their distance from her.

In the past, she had someone to rely on no matter what.

Even when traveling from Lanyue City to the capital, she had her father and many guards along the way.

But now, she had no one to rely on!

"Did Your Highness forcibly bring me here just to host a banquet for me?" Fei Xinlan asked.

"Hahaha."

The Qi King smiled. "Miss Fei, I have prepared many gifts for you. Starting tonight, I will let you savor them one by one."

"What do you want to do?" Fei Xinlan was a little uneasy. "Kill me if you want to."

"Kill? If I really wanted to kill you, I could have sent a few people to quietly eliminate you at the Imperial Capital Martial Arts Academy today." The Qi King looked at Fei Xinlan, his eyes infatuated. "You are Fei Qing's younger sister. How could I be willing to kill you casually?"

"Killing you like that would be too easy on you?" The Qi King smiled, his smile turning cold. "Fei Qing is dead, dead and gone, too easy on him. If I want revenge, I can only take it out on you."

"Revenge?" Fei Xinlan was stunned.

"Our current Emperor was able to seize the throne because Fei Qing was his greatest contributor." The Qi King gritted his teeth. "Fei Qing ruined everything for me—my children, my generals, everything! I am now a mere idle prince, confined to the capital, unable to take a single step out. All of this is thanks to your brother!"

"You are still a prince! You still have so many people serving you!" Fei Xinlan said.

"That's just His Majesty showing his magnanimity," the Qi King sneered. "Does he dare let me leave the capital? No, he will only confine me, monitoring my every move."

"I hate it, I hate it! If Fei Qing hadn't schemed for the Emperor, how could we have failed? When I learned that you and your father were coming to the capital from your hometown, I leaked the information to the Black Lotus Sect. But alas, the Black Lotus Sect was useless! They actually failed to intercept you."

"The interception the day before we arrived in the capital was because of you?" Fei Xinlan was shocked.

That time was really dangerous. Fortunately, Wang Jiuyan and his men arrived at the crucial moment! If they had been any slower, the entire team would have been finished.

"But you still survived."

The Qi King nodded. "It's good that you survived. It will make me feel even more relieved. Mr. Yu, tonight, I would like to trouble you to display your knife skills and carve a 'Nightmare Demon Diagram' on Miss Fei's body. This is also the first gift I am giving her!"

"Yes, Your Highness."

In the main hall, besides the Qi King and Fei Xinlan, there were two other people seated, one on each side of the Qi King.

One was an old man with white hair, the famous expert in the capital, Liu Yuchen, who was also the Qi King's master.

The other was a man in black. This man was blind! He wore a saber at his waist and exuded an evil and terrifying aura. He was Yu Tianxing, a mysterious expert whom the Qi King had recently recruited.

"Miss Fei, don't worry," the blind man in black said. "Although I am blind, my mind's eye is open! I will not damage Miss Fei's body."

Fei Xinlan's face turned pale.

Carve a Nightmare Demon Diagram on her body with a knife?

"Fair skin, a Nightmare Demon Diagram, it's beautiful just thinking about it." The Qi King looked at Fei Xinlan. "Miss Fei must be looking forward to it. Don't worry, there will be a second, a third, many more gifts waiting for you. In the days to come, you will be a rare source of amusement for me."

Fei Xinlan couldn't help but shiver, her eyes filled with despair.

The Qi King was a madman!

"Hmm?"

The white-haired old man who had been calmly eating and drinking, as well as the blind man in black, both looked solemnly toward the outside of the hall.

The fact that these two experts were looking outside at the same time startled the Qi King.

"So, I've still been discovered! My mind power is indeed average." A voice sounded, and at the same time, a blurry figure had already charged into the main hall. The guards stationed at the entrance of the hall shouted angrily to stop him.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

All six guards fell to the ground, each with a bloody hole between their eyebrows.

"There's an assassin!" the other guards in the hall exclaimed.

"There's an assassin!"

"Protect the king!"

These guards were all First-Rate experts, and their voices were extremely loud, instantly spreading throughout the entire mansion, causing the mansion under the darkness to suddenly seem to awaken. Some guards who had already gone to bed were awakened, and they all jumped up.

Only a few guards were on duty patrolling. Most were eating dinner or resting, but the appearance of the assassin made everyone in the Qi King's mansion afraid to be negligent.

"Protect the king!" Guards from all directions rushed madly toward the source of the sound, the main hall.

The maids in the main hall were so frightened that they hid to the side. The Qi King calmly looked at the masked man in green in the hall, still not flustered. He was surrounded by many personal guards, and he also had the two super-class experts, Master Liu and Mr. Yu.

"Your Highness, don't worry. Leave this person to me." The blind man in black moved instantly. His mind sense was able to completely lock onto Xu Jingming, and in an instant, he turned into a blurry black shadow, pouncing straight at Xu Jingming, and a terrifying saber light rose!

This saber light had an evil feeling, and it affected people's hearts, enveloping Xu Jingming as if a nightmare had descended.

"Good saber technique!" the Qi King praised.

*Poof.*

The blind man in black stopped and stood there blankly. There was a bloody hole between his eyebrows. With a *bang*, he had already fallen down, and there was no more sound. Fresh blood stained the ground red.

This scene silenced the entire main hall.

Super-class expert Mr. Yu? Killed in one move?

The spear in Xu Jingming's hand seemed not to have moved. He glanced at the blind man in black. "This person probably just reached the super-class realm. No wonder he couldn't even take one of my moves."

After taking the Icy Flower Spirit Liquid, Xu Jingming was in excellent condition, with nearly 50 times the combat bonus! Much stronger than those who had just entered the super-class realm, whose combat bonus was only about 20 times! Coupled with the *Light Chapter's* spear technique, which was extremely fast to begin with.

"This spear technique!" The white-haired old man, Liu Yuchen, widened his eyes. He had clearly seen the scene just now. The masked assassin's spear moved, and its speed was visibly much faster than the blind man in black's. The blind man in black's saber technique seemed ridiculously weak in the face of such a spear technique.

"The enemy is strong! Protect the king and leave quickly!" The white-haired old man's figure was like a ghost as he appeared in front of the Qi King.

"Master Liu, be careful!"

The Qi King's face turned pale. After saying that, he immediately fled out the side door under the protection of his personal guards. After all, the Qi King had also reached the Third-Rate expert realm, so he could run pretty fast. Those personal guards were all First-Rate experts, but at this moment, they were all focused on protecting the king and did not attack Xu Jingming.

"Mr. Yu was a super-class expert, and he was gone in one move? Wouldn't we be courting death if we went up there?" These personal guards were also a little afraid and quickly protected the king as they fled.

The maids also followed behind and fled.

But the white-haired old man stopped Xu Jingming and said, "To be able to kill Yu Tianxing in one move, you are definitely not an unknown figure. Who exactly are you?"

"A dead man doesn't need to ask." As Xu Jingming's voice sounded, the spear in his hand had already reached the white-haired old man.

*Clang!*

Liu Yuchen's sword light rose, blocking the terrifying spear.

*Roar!!!*

The spear shadows flashed continuously, tearing through the air and producing a piercing sound. Liu Yuchen's footwork and sword technique were like a swimming dragon between heaven and earth. But Xu Jingming was like a terrifying light! A light that crushed everything!

In the blink of an eye, seven consecutive spear strikes! The seventh strike had already pierced through Liu Yuchen's chest.

"How is that possible?" Liu Yuchen looked down at his chest. The spear had pierced through his heart, completely shattering it!

"Sigh."

Xu Jingming pulled out his spear, and blood flew. The white-haired Liu Yuchen fell weakly, also becoming a corpse.

On the other side, the Qi King was escaping outward under the protection of his guards when he encountered a large number of guards rushing over.

"Protect the king!"

"Protect the king!"

These guards all protected him on the left and right.

The Qi King's mansion was large, but for First-Rate experts, it was only a matter of time before three or four hundred guards rushed to surround the Qi King.

There were a large group of guards holding shields, as well as guards holding strong bows and crossbows. Layers of guards protected the king, and only then did the Qi King feel at ease.

"My Qi King's mansion has thousands of First-Rate experts. Now that Dean Ming is dead, even the most powerful expert in the entire capital would be doomed to die if faced with an attack by thousands of First-Rate experts," the Qi King said confidently.

Thousands of First-Rate experts were far from enough to compete for the world.

But to deal with an assassin?

"Your Highness, Senior Liu is dead," a guard reported.

"Dead?" The Qi King's face changed. That Mr. Yu was a newly recruited super-class expert, but he was still far behind Liu Yuchen. Liu Yuchen was also the one he trusted the most. Whether he was going to brothels or dealing with people from all walks of life in the capital, he would always ask Master Liu to accompany him.

"Kill that assassin for me!" the Qi King pointed in the direction of the main hall, his face ferocious.

Xu Jingming led Fei Xinlan out of the side door of the main hall and chose a nearby house under the guidance of his mind power.

"You stay here first," Xu Jingming said.

"You are..."

Fei Xinlan looked at Xu Jingming with some uncertainty.

From the moment Xu Jingming appeared in the main hall, Fei Xinlan felt that this person's figure was so familiar! The sound of his voice was also very similar to her Brother Jing! But this assassin's eyes seemed a little different from Brother Jing, and his spear technique was too exaggeratedly strong!

Killing Mr. Yu in one move and then instantly killing Liu Yuchen, could such strength really be Brother Jing?

"You didn't recognize me?" Xu Jingming took off his mask.

The experience in the mysterious land, especially the hundred years of training on the sixth planet, had caused Xu Jingming to undergo a complete transformation. His eyes were also much sharper than before, and the sense of oppression was also much stronger.

That was why Fei Xinlan didn't dare to recognize him for a moment.

"Brother Jing!" When Fei Xinlan saw Xu Jingming take off his mask, the taut string in her heart suddenly relaxed, and tears instantly flowed down.

Her brother was dead, her father was missing, and she had been captured.

Fei Xinlan only felt that the future was a dark abyss.

Finally…

Brother Jing had come!

"Don't cry," Xu Jingming comforted her.