Chapter 653: The King of Hell Walks Alone

Chapter 653 The King of Hell Walks Alone

After watching Huangliang Youhai completely drown that nonsensical deformed dream, Zou Sijiu finally withdrew from Huangliang and shook his head at Li Jun standing before him.

"An empty nest. They've all run off."

"Impossible. Everything I said was the truth. That really was the Spring and Autumn Society's headquarters in Huangliang, the prototype of a Confucian state Yan Dongqing built for himself. He clearly gathered the core members of the Spring and Autumn Society there—how could there be no one?"

A despairing wail suddenly shot up.

Wu Jiang, who had been clasping his hands toward the sky in Zhenlu Court, pretending to offer a sacrificial prayer to Xu Haichao's spirit, now collapsed limply to the ground as if his spine had been ripped out.

"It's Yan Dongqing. He must have known my identity, so he deliberately transferred me to Liaodong, and now he's given me false information through Zhao Ke. He tricked me. He wants me dead."

Wu Jiang's face was pale, muttering to himself.

"Realizing it now... isn't that a little too late?"

Zou Sijiu slowly crouched in front of Wu Jiang, grabbed the man's topknot, and forced his terrified gaze toward a towering gate-guarded mansion in the distance.

The night above the mansion was like a deep ocean, with a massive figure coiled within.

Swoosh!!

A sound like tearing silk filled the air, followed by a blinding burst of fire that exploded atop the mansion, illuminating half of Quzhou Prefecture.

Boom!

A furious fire dragon pierced through the entire mansion from top to bottom, the violent explosion devouring everything inside.

The spreading shockwave, carrying scorching air, traveled several li and slammed heavily into Wu Jiang's face.

His eyes, reflecting the flames, saw a massive crater and the scattered ashes and wreckage.

Aoo!

The Moqi Whale circling high above let out a piercing cry.

Chen Qisheng stood by the pit, his expression indifferent, as he withdrew the true martial spirits he had summoned to block the entrance.

"Auntie Zou, I really can't figure it out. Why are you Spring and Autumn Society Confucian Sequence threes so useless? Even worse than those Weapon Sequence scumbags who climb up by screwing in mechanical hearts. Or are you, too, just garbage mass-produced by the Zhu family using imperial power?"

Zou Sijiu, looking at Wu Jiang whose spirit had collapsed and eyes were vacant, couldn't help but curse.

After learning what had happened at Zhenlu Court, he and Chen Qisheng had immediately set out from the East Courtyard.

Based on information from the New Donglin Party, they had successfully caught this Spring and Autumn Society member named Wu Jiang in Quzhou Prefecture.

The entire process faced no decent resistance. By the time Li Jun arrived, Zou Sijiu had already dragged Wu Jiang into a dream and emptied his innards completely.

Naturally, he also learned about Wu Jiang's connection to the Zhu Ming royal family.

"The Zhu family's depths—I can understand that. A withered camel is still bigger than a horse, and a rotten boat still has three thousand nails. But with your temperament and brains, how did you dare put on a disguise and play both sides between the young emperor and Yan Dongqing? Wu Jiang, you really are a lantern in a cesspit."

"I was overreaching. But what about you? You're just bullies who pick on the weak. What right do you have to shout here?"

Having foreseen his own end, Wu Jiang's heart was filled with fear replaced by thick rancor. He sneered contemptuously at Zou Sijiu, then turned to look at Li Jun, whose gaze was icy, and taunted loudly:

"The Spring and Autumn Society, the Liutao, the Honghu, and their true master, the Zhu Ming royal family—are you willing to provoke them for the sake of a dead sect's martial sequence? Can you afford the price? Do you dare?"

"Looks like you're beyond saving."

Zou Sijiu clicked his tongue. "Don't worry. Not a single one of those you mentioned will get away. You're just one step ahead of them."

Pfft!

The moment the words fell, a sharp force struck silently. It pierced through the back of Wu Jiang's head, leaving a thumb-sized hole in his forehead from which viscous filth gushed out.

Wu Jiang's body fell backward with a thud, his eyes still wide open in death.

[Acquired 40 Proficiency Points]

[Remaining Proficiency Points: 72]

Li Jun glanced at the floating text, raised a hand, and gathered the crushing force of collapse, pressing down to grind Wu Jiang's corpse into a pulp of bloody flesh, mixing it into the dust.

Zou Sijiu had anticipated this and dodged aside early, avoiding the splattering blood.

He looked at the expressionless Li Jun and silently sighed in his heart.

Aside from that night in Jianghu City in the Wa District when Su Ce died, he hadn't seen such violent and brutal killing intent radiating from Li Jun in a long time.

Even back in the fiefdom, it was far from this heart-shaking aura that made one dare not look directly at him.

"The New Donglin Party still hasn't sent news about Yan Dongqing?"

Hearing Li Jun's inquiry, Zou Sijiu nodded. "Not yet. But that's to be expected. Unless they're stupid, they've definitely gone into hiding by now. Finding them won't be easy."

"What about the others?"

"Yang Baize has sent over the Spring and Autumn Society intelligence they've gathered. He's taken charge of some insignificant small fry himself. The remaining three core members—their gate-guarding families are all in the Beizhili region."

Zou Sijiu said, "Do we go after them one by one now? Or go straight to their master?"

Li Jun did not answer. Instead, he suddenly turned to face the north.

Zou Sijiu frowned, a flicker of alarm rising in his heart. Several strands of his slick hair quietly turned red.

About ten zhang away, the space twisted strangely, and from the ripples, a figure slowly emerged.

In an instant, Zou Sijiu's sense of alarm surged and magnified, threatening to turn into panic that he could barely suppress.

Clang!

A flying sword shot over and hovered three zhang above Zou Sijiu's head.

Chen Qisheng stood on the sword, his eyes locked on the newcomer, his true qi boiling like hot water, prepared for a formidable enemy.

The newcomer did not look young. He had obvious graying hair at the temples, sharp brows and a prominent nose, and his gray eyes carried a fierce, standoffish look, along with a barely concealed arrogance and indifference that looked down on everything.

Thud!

A human head landed heavily before Li Jun, rolling several times before landing face up, its lifeless eyes staring straight into his.

Li Jun recognized the head at once. It belonged to the Honghu member who had appeared at Zhenlu Court that day.

Yu Fu.

"Jin Wei, Wu Jiang, Yu Fu—besides those three who are already dead, the ones who attacked you that day also include Liang Gongming of Longhu Mountain and Zhao Yin of Donghuang Palace."

The man spoke slowly, his tone and voice as harsh as expected.

"Those two can't die just yet. But I can promise you that when the time is right, I will personally hand over their heads, including Yan Dongqing's, to you."

The two forces within Li Jun—the sharp edge and the crushing weight—seemed provoked, surging on their own, flowing out of his body.

Countless invisible blades sliced through the ground beneath Li Jun's feet, carving fine, crisscrossing gashes, which were then flattened by the pressure of collapse, over and over.

"Surname Zhu?"

"Zhu Pingxu." The man stated bluntly.

"So you're a prince."

"I am no prince. Just a member of the Zhu family."

Zhu Pingxu said, "What happened at Zhenlu Court was my failure to control my subordinates. That's why I've come this time to apologize in person. If you are willing to stop here, besides these heads, I can also cede three prefectures as the foundation for Tianshu and provide you with a batch of injectors—enough for you to rebuild three Tianshu."

Zou Sijiu and Chen Qisheng, who stood on guard behind, exchanged a glance upon hearing this.

The offer made by the other party is undeniably tempting.

The places that can be called a base represent where a large number of common people live, and their genes have not been fixed and locked.

In other words, they have not been contaminated by the sequences of the three religions—Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism—which have a sectarian nature. Only then can they serve as soil for the development of martial sequences.

But in the current Ming Empire, where can such 'clean' land of three prefectures be found? Without much thought, it can only be territory that once belonged to the Han Buddhist sequence.

Moreover, it should have undergone a fierce cleansing, and the people's faith in the Buddhist sequence within the territory has been completely uprooted.

To achieve this, the other party must have expended immense human and material resources.

As for injectors, their importance to martial sequences goes without saying.

Moreover, with the demise of sect martial sequences, the injectors within the Ming Empire are becoming rarer, one less with each use.

When Li Jun was trapped in Xin'an, Yang Baize had to resort to deception and fraud under the name of Pei Xingjian to gather injectors. From this, it can be seen that martial injectors have become increasingly scarce.

This can be said to be the biggest dilemma facing lone martial sequences today.

Even if the Ink Sequence still has relevant technical methods to produce injectors, the high-ranking lone practitioners who can serve as suppliers are now few and far between in the entire empire, and they are generally unruly and uncooperative, so there is no hope that they would do such self-sacrificing things for others.

Martial injectors are the most precious legacy left by the sectarian system for martial sequences. Without these things, lone martial practitioners would have to refine their martial arts step by step on their own. Coupled with the already difficult ascension rituals, it is undoubtedly adding frost to snow.

Now, this batch of injectors provided by the other party, although it cannot fundamentally solve the problem, is particularly important if Li Jun has the intention of rallying other lone martial practitioners to establish his own power.

But if lone practitioners also need to band together into a force, then what is the difference from the sects that have been destroyed?

Li Jun showed no interest in the conditions offered by Zhu Pingxu, and only said indifferently: "From what you're saying, you intend to shoulder this matter yourself?"

"Now that the destruction of sect martial sequences is a fact, there is no point in judging rights and wrongs. I only want to say that Jiang Wei's death was not something we wanted to see, and disturbing Su Ce's rest was also not our desire."

Zhu Pingxu did not answer Li Jun directly, but said: "The instigator of all this is Yan Dongqing. The Spring and Autumn Society, Liutao, and Honghu were all deliberately dragged into the water by him..."

Li Jun interrupted him: "What exactly do you mean? Make yourself clearer."

"I hope you will lead your people back to the Eastern Institute now and stop targeting the Spring and Autumn Society. Of course, I will not let off anyone related to Yan Dongqing, and I will definitely give you an explanation."

Zhu Pingxu continued, "Li Jun, think carefully. As the leader of the Spring and Autumn Society, Yan Dongqing has been able to lie low and endure under the shadow of the New Donglin Party for so many years. How could he, because of a Xu Haichao, be reckless and choose to fight you to the death?"

"From the very beginning, his goal was not to avenge Xu Haichao. The matter involved is a hundred times more complicated than you imagine. I know you have no intention of contending for power, so I hope you will not get involved."

"Everyone says this is a muddy water, that the intricacies are complex, that I cannot wade through this river or see clearly the players in the game. But in truth, it's all just to complete one's own ritual of breaking locks and advancing sequences. What's the point of pretending to be so profound?"

Li Jun revealed a disdainful cold smile: "I don't care about any base or injectors. Yan Dongqing uses Xu Haichao as a pretext, but I am not like that. I kill only to avenge Jiang Wei and apologize to Old Man Su!"

"The Spring and Autumn Society will be eradicated root and branch, and no one can stop it. Not you, not the emperor behind you. If he is dissatisfied, I don't mind going to Beizhili to help Old Zhang find a new student!"

Li Jun's gaze was like a knife, its blade pointing straight at Zhu Pingxu.

"Do you understand what I said?"

"Sure enough, a bunch of despicable rebels not worth dying for..."

Zhu Pingxu was silent for a moment, and the arrogant indifference in his eyes that looked down on all living beings no longer concealed itself, leaping out.

"Li Jun, is it that the destruction of sect martial sequences did not wake you up, or do you think that by yourself, you can protect the two of them and that Ink Sequence Eastern Institute?"

The night wind suddenly stilled, and thunderclaps rose abruptly.

A black-red thunderbolt appeared out of thin air, filling Zhu Pingxu's field of vision.

Boom!

Flesh and blood fists and steel mechanical bones clashed fiercely, and the released force shot out in all directions.

The spreading shockwave scattered the True Wu spirits around Chen Qisheng and tore apart a dream that Zou Sijiu had secretly unfolded in the shadows.

Zhu Pingxu's right arm shattered inch by inch under the erosion of the sharp force, followed by his arm, head, torso...

Fine dust-like mechanical powder floated and condensed into a vague human form, with a red mechanical heart suspended in the chest area. Zhu Pingxu's calm voice came from within.

"Li Jun, in this empire, you are far from invincible. I have now delivered the message, and it is your choice whether to listen or not. But I will give you one last piece of advice: don't be too arrogant. Remember, there are mountains beyond mountains, and people beyond people."

Crack!

The red mechanical heart emitted a sharpest whine, trembling at high speed as if overburdened, with cracks rapidly spreading.

The sudden change happened in an instant. Facing this detonating mechanical heart, Li Jun remained expressionless. He directly reached out, grabbed it, bent down, and slammed it hard into the ground, burying it up to his shoulder.

Boom!

Like an earth-dragon turning over, with Li Jun as the center, the ground within ten zhang suddenly rose by several chi. Countless dust and smoke shot into the sky. In the cracks and gullies spreading, golden-red molten lava emerged, and the scorching air waves and dazzling flames made this world suddenly as bright as a blazing sun in broad daylight.

Clods and rubble fell like rain. The soil, roasted and scorching, emitted rolling white smoke, catching the slowly descending dust.

Li Jun slowly straightened up. His skin, not covered by a single thread, was fiery red. On his fist were mottled bloodstains solidified by high temperature.

"Jun-ge..."

Chen Qisheng and Zou Sijiu landed from midair. Zou Sijiu anxiously said: "The Eastern Branch just reported an attack. The losses are not significant, it should be just a warning from the other side."

"Indeed, birds of a feather flock together. They both like to strike hard at others' weak points. Fine, since you like to play this way, let's all go all out and have some fun!"

Li Jun looked at the two: "You and Mo Qijing return to the Eastern Institute now and guard the home front."

Chen Qisheng was startled: "And you?"

"This time..."

Black and red arcs of electricity coiled around his body, reflecting a pair of eyes filled with ferocity and anticipation.

"I will walk alone."