Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The black-robed man moved, and delivered a palm strike in Ling Han’s direction.
Ling Han neither dodged nor ducked, and allowed the other person to land a direct hit. Utterly calm, he said, “You are now in my grasp. If I want you to live, you will. If I want you to die, the only path that lies ahead of you is death.”
Peng , this palm strike landed solidly, but Ling Han did not take even half a step back, as if the man had just given him a light pat.
“How could this be!?” The black-robed man was so shocked he felt his hair stand on ends. This had surpa.s.sed his imagination, and he felt a fear of the unknown rise up in him.
Ling Han smiled, and said, “Welcome to my world.”
“Illusion, this all must be an illusion!” The black-robed man took a few consecutive steps back. He’d experienced a momentary loss of consciousness just now; it had to be in that instant that he had fallen into this trick. Everything he saw and felt now had to be false.
Ling Han stretched out a hand and pressed down as he said, “Looks like I will have to deal you some serious punishment first. How strange. I am obviously not one who enjoys employing violence, so why would there always be someone to force me to do so?”
Hong , a huge mountain appeared, and pressed down on the black-robed man.
The black-robed man was abruptly, and undoubtedly, crushed onto the ground. The mountain was like G.o.dly metal, its weight frighteningly heavy, and the black-robed man had no choice but to employ his full effort to stand up against its weight. Yet, his whole body was staggering and on the verge of collapse; he absolutely would not be able to hold on for long.
“Ah…” A terrible scream burst out of him as over a dozen bones in his body were instantly broken. Ling Han, meanwhile, raised his hand slightly to avoid directly crus.h.i.+ng him to death.
Ling Han waved his hand once more, and the black cloth on the black-robed man’s face instantly vanished, revealing an extremely common-looking face. Walking on the streets, he’d belong to the category that wouldn’t even garner a second look.
But one had to understand that once one had reached Immortal level in his cultivation, he would naturally bear an unearthly air, and could hence be easily differentiated from normal mortals.
‘Strange.’
Ling Han’s curiosity was stirred. Sitting down cross-legged on the ground, he asked, “You are an a.s.sa.s.sin, correct? You have deliberately cultivated some kind of cultivation technique that allows you to look more ordinary.”
The black-robed man merely yowled in pain. As an a.s.sa.s.sin, before learning a.s.sa.s.sination techniques, he had to first experience various torture, and he would only be accepted after he had successfully pa.s.sed through them without breaking. It was to ensure that even if he failed his mission, he would not reveal the secrets of their organization.
Although he was screaming very terribly, he did not have the slightest intention to beg for mercy.
Ling Han smiled slightly, and said, “Here, I am a real G.o.d. There are only things I haven’t thought of, but none that I cannot do. If you endure so well, then I’ll try out all the punishments I can think of on you.”
As he continued to cruelly torment the black-robed man, he continued cultivation. In any case, he could not waste the time.
The black-robed man was very determined, but after half a day, he gave up.
In the Black Tower, his pain was magnified a hundredfold. Even using a small knife to lightly cut his skin brought him pain that sank right to his bones and straight into his spirit, causing the willpower that he was so proud of to crumble completely.
“My name is Meng Yi, a junior a.s.sa.s.sin of the Dark Night Hall…” he spoke, his eyes staring straight ahead like an idiot’s.
Ling Han listened. So it turned out that someone had made a request to the Dark Night Hall, giving out 10,000 True Origin Stones as a reward for his life.
This was an incredible amount, yet it was offered only to take the life of a Shattering Void Tier cultivator. Those in the minor levels of the Mountain River Tier, or even middle levels, would become restless to earn such easy money.
This was practically a gift.
Meng Yi was only a most low-ranking a.s.sa.s.sin; he naturally could not possibly know who his employer was. He had only been “lucky” to be the first to accept this mission. Of course, from the look of things now, his luck was actually exceptionally bad.
“It may be the Luo Clan, or Zhao Lun, and could also possibly be the Shui Clan, or it could be others who are jealous of me.” Ling Han rubbed his chin, and could not help but laugh. He had just arrived in the Immortal Realm a few days ago, yet he had already made so many enemies that he could not identify who would go so far as to hire a.s.sa.s.sins to take his life. Was this a success or a failure?
“It should be a success, right? As the saying goes, only a mediocre person would not garner envy. I am a genius, which is why so many want to kill me.”
Ling Han was very good at cheering himself up. He sent this a.s.sa.s.sin into exile in the Black Tower. Of course, he had robbed the latter of all his possessions. There was a sum of 164 True Origin Stones on him, 17 arrows, and a total of seven bottles of various alchemical pills.
“As an elite cultivator of the Mountain River Tier, why are you so poor?” Ling Han shook his head. Really, even he was richer.
What he did not know was that Meng Yi had spent all his wealth on those arrows. Every one of them was forged from G.o.dly metal, and though the Immortal Realm did not lack G.o.dly metal, and these arrows were only forged from Level One G.o.dly metal, they were still a very great expenditure.
Added with the amount he had spent on alchemical pills, it was actually very impressive that he was still left with over a hundred True Origin Stones.
… Even the Scarlet Heaven Academy only gave a genius like Ling Han a monthly allowance of two True Origin Stones as a reward.
Ling Han exited the Black Tower and returned to the Academy.
This time, the Dark Night Hall had failed in their a.s.sa.s.sination, but they would definitely not give up just like this. Hence, the a.s.sa.s.sin that came the next time would definitely be even more powerful. It might be a middle level a.s.sa.s.sin, a high level a.s.sa.s.sin, or even a copper-plated a.s.sa.s.sin.
From Meng Yi, Ling Han had understood that the Dark Night Hall’s influence was very powerful, and their branches could be found in practically every empire and city.
The a.s.sa.s.sins in this a.s.sa.s.sins’ organization were divided into six ranks. From the lowest rank to the highest rank, they were: junior level, middle level, high level, copper-plated, silver-plated, and gold-plated. This hierarchy was not based on the cultivation levels of the a.s.sa.s.sins, but rather the number and ability of the targets they had a.s.sa.s.sinated successfully.
The more people they killed and the higher the abilities of their target, the higher the grade they would attain. In this way, they could rise through the ranks.
Thus, a middle-level a.s.sa.s.sin could possibly be even stronger than a copper-plated a.s.sa.s.sin.
However, ordinarily, the higher the rank of an a.s.sa.s.sin, the more powerful they would be. After all, there were few exceptions.
“Still, it’s not a good idea to keep being hunted down, but what can I do?” Ling Han scratched his head. It seemed like he really did not have any way to solve this problem, and could only try his best to be as cautious as possible.
After returning to the Academy, Ling Han tossed all his worries to a side, and focused on cultivation. He was sure that even the Dark Night Hall would not dare act boldly in the Imperial Capital. Additionally, he also had the Black Tower, so things had not reached the extent that he needed to worry about danger to his life.
Three days later, Ling Han was summoned by the Left Minister. The compet.i.tion between the three empires would begin very soon, and the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire had to confirm the candidates that would partic.i.p.ate in the arena battles.
This was a grand occasion. Thus, not only was the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire conducting a selection, even the Royal Empires that were subordinate to their rule were sending out their respective geniuses, determined to exert their own efforts. After all, if the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire did not obtain good results, they would be embarra.s.sed as well.
This was a relations.h.i.+p wherein glory for one meant glory for all, and loss for one meant loss for all.
Ling Han went to the Left Minister’s Residence first. Then, personally led by the Left Minister, they headed to the residence of the Ninth King.
The Ninth King had the surname of Hu and the given name of Feiyun. She was one of the Nine Kings of the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire, and her authority could be claimed to extend to all levels of society. And yet, the unbelievable fact was that this Ninth King was actually only in the middle levels of the Mountain River Tier.
The power of the Nine Kings was above even the Left and Right Ministers, and the Seven Great Generals, but Hu Feiyun was only in the middle levels of the Mountain River Tier, so how would others be willing to submit to her authority?
Because she had the protection of the empress of the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire—that was how.
About 700,000 years ago, the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire actually had an eighth General, and at that time, there were only seven Kings. The Seventh King ranked in the last place similarly was only in the Mountain River Tier, and that general had not taken her seriously. He had even taken liberties with her.
In the end, the empress of the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire flew into a towering rage, and directly crushed this general, with his whole clan being eliminated right afterward!
From then onwards, no matter who it was, they would be respectful towards the Nine Kings because the empress had said once before that seeing the Nine Kings was equivalent to seeing her!