NOVPUB
Chapter 469: Chapter 465 Li Yang Cave Heaven
"Wait a moment!"
The Primordial Spirit True Monarch from the City Guard Army was about to intervene when a deafening roar echoed through the void.
Thirteen streaks of lightning, like roaring silver dragons, ripped through houses with irresistible force and fiercely struck the five Peak Martial Kings, eight Martial Sects, and Primordial Spirit experts within the building.
Among them, it was only the strongest Peak Martial King who slightly sensed the crisis and activated his Martial Arts Will to respond.
But...
It was useless.
Facing the Thunder Sword amplified by the Thunder Light Domain, even a Peak Martial King who unleashed his Innate Divine Ability could hardly defend against it.
His newly risen Martial Arts Will had not even touched Gu Jinlai himself when it was struck by the Thunder Sword, torn apart, and then with searing, wild power, it thundered into his body, instantly burning his flesh to char.
He widened his eyes as if he wanted to see clearly who the attacker was, but as the house collapsed due to the thunderous blow, the falling rubble and debris had already completely shattered his charred body.
All thirteen people perished on the spot.
This shocking scene caused the Primordial Spirit True Monarch to stiffen, and the words he intended to say next abruptly ceased.
Gu Jinlai’s figure landed in the courtyard, briefly sensed around, and quickly gathered various items and materials.
When the Ouyang family evacuated Wind and Rain City, they couldn’t take large, moderately priced materials with them, carrying only those smaller in size. It was now convenient for Gu Jinlai to pack and take away.
As for the property assets...
In a while, people from Hai Feng City would come to clean up the battlefield, consider it compensation for their trouble.
"All right, these fugitives from my Wind and Rain City have been executed on the spot. Since the matter here is resolved, I shall take my leave," Gu Jinlai said to the Primordial Spirit True Monarch as he cupped his hands together.
Associating Gu Jinlai with the scene of those thirteen lightning swords breaking the sky, the Primordial Spirit True Monarch forcefully swallowed and stuttered, "You... please... go ahead..."
Gu Jinlai nodded, took the packed materials, and headed straight towards Sanctum Tower outside the city.
Watching Gu Jinlai leave, the Primordial Spirit True Monarch remained unresponsive for quite some time.
"Whoosh!"
At this moment, Devas from various origins began to arrive rapidly.
There were Devas from both the City Guard Army and the City Lord Mansion.
"What happened?"
One of the Devas from the City Guard Army asked directly, "I just felt a vast and wild energy, as if someone was releasing a Divine Skill, and moreover... not an ordinary Divine Skill? Was it those Peak Heavenly Beings above making a move? But why haven’t I received any news?"
"It’s Wind and Rain City."
The Primordial Spirit True Monarch had just calmed down and immediately said, "It was Gu Jinlai, the Zone Leader from the Outer City District of Wind and Rain City. He said he came to capture a group of criminals who fled to our Hai Feng City..."
"Wind and Rain City?"
The City Guard Army’s Deva looked somewhat surprised.
Indeed, in the past few days, several large factions from Wind and Rain City had taken refuge in Hai Feng City. As for the reasons...
He had also heard a bit about it.
It was said that Gu Jinlai, the Zone Leader of the Outer City District in Wind and Rain City, was purging all discipline and legal violations in the Outer City, sweeping away all darkness and crime with the force of thunder.
Because the Zone Leader possessed combat ability comparable to Peak Heavenly Beings, the family powers of the Outer City District could not withstand him. Those with connections escaped to the Inner City, and those with the means fled to neighboring cities.
He had also heard related reports in the past few days.
To think that...
These families had fled to Hai Feng City, yet the Zone Leader still did not let them go and instead chased them directly to Hai Feng City, capturing all the fleeing families.
"Cross-city law enforcement without prior reporting to us."
The Deva frowned slightly, showing some dissatisfaction.
But then thinking of Gu Jinlai’s terrifying strength, on par with Peak Heavenly Beings, he too had to suppress his discontent.
A small breach of protocol wasn’t going to make those real bigshots of Hai Feng City provoke such a powerful figure over such a trivial matter.
"Alright, since he has not caused any impact on the surroundings, let’s just let this pass," the Deva said before he prepared to leave.
At that moment, however, he seemed to receive some message, his expression shifted, and he quickly said to a Primordial Spirit True Monarch beside him, "Commander Lei Yuan wants to see you, he has questions to ask."
"Lord Martial Saint?"
The Primordial Spirit True Monarch was startled.
Lei Yuan, that was one of the three giants of the City Guard Army.
Second only to the commanding officer of Hai Feng City, Li Shengyang.
Immediately, the two dared not delay any longer and went straight to the residence of Deputy Commander Lei Yuan.
...
At this moment, in the residence of Lei Yuan, aside from the Martial Saint standing at the very top of Hai Feng City, there were also two Devas, one of whom was, remarkably, Yun Haoran from Yunhai Commerce.
The ruling class of Hai Feng City was somewhat comparable to Wind and Rain City.
Although they were part of the Inner Ring cities, with much higher security than the Outer Ring cities, the presence of a prospering economy with large amounts of wealth meant that even more powers were entrenched in this city, unwilling to leave.
Apart from the National Guardian Saint of the City Lord Mansion, Hai Feng City had six additional Saints and twelve Martial Saints, totaling nineteen top-tier powerhouses.
The only difference being that the quality of these nineteen top-tier powerhouses was somewhat lower compared to those of Wind and Rain City.
If the military forces of the two cities were to be compared, the thirteen giants of Wind and Rain City might not be much inferior to those of Hai Feng City.
As one of the four major commerce guilds of Hai Feng City, Yunhai Commerce certainly had a strong background.
This man, was Deputy Army Commander Lei Yuan of the City Guard Army.
While listening to Yun Haoran’s introduction, he examined several extraordinarily valuable pieces of golden jade: "So, this Gu Jinlai, is he the one that the people from our Hai Feng City branch of the Holy Dynasty Bank have been searching for all along?"
"Correct."
Yun Haoran nodded emphatically, "That group of people first appeared in our Hai Feng City half a year ago; they directly sold a large amount of materials. Although they sold them in batches, the influx of goods worth tens of billions into the market still attracted a lot of attention. What really caught the eye of the Holy Dynasty Bank was the sale of a Supreme Grade Spirit Artifact among these items, which was appraised by professionals to be a standard weapon from Li Yang Cave Heaven!"
"Li Yang Cave Heaven."
Lei Yuan took out the piece of golden jade and examined it once more.
Li Yang Cave Heaven was one of the strongest grotto heavens in the Holy Land; they withstood onslaught until thirty-six years ago when the terrifying Demon Lord Cangming from the Demon Realm severed one of his arms, crossed the Demon Abyss, manifested a demonized incarnation, and annihilated the resident True Immortal of Li Yang Cave Heaven.
Although this cave heaven was breached, before its destruction, Li Yang Cave Heaven initiated the Fire Seed plan. Nine Fire Seeds copied a part of Li Yang Cave Heaven’s lineage, carrying large amounts of resources, and fled to various parts of the world.
Currently, three out of the nine Fire Seeds have been discovered, and four others are confirmed to have perished, but two Fire Seeds remain at large, leading anonymous lives with the intent to one day revive the glory of Li Yang Cave Heaven.
Half a year ago, that group brought out standard spiritual weapons from Li Yang Cave Heaven for sale, attracting the immediate attention of those with keen interests.
Even though it couldn’t be confirmed whether these people were part of the Fire Seeds of Li Yang Cave Heaven or just happened to have obtained some remaining spiritual weapons after its downfall, but...
Such an opportunity was already worth his taking action.
"Half a year ago, the group we focused on exposed a Primordial Spirit Monarch and a Deva, so we followed this lead to investigate, but after half a year, we found nothing, until two days ago when Gu Jinlai turned up with a piece of golden jade recorded by our Hai Feng City branch. That’s when I realized something was wrong, and after some careful thought, I surmised we might have headed in the wrong direction from the start."
Yun Haoran said in a somber tone, "Who can guarantee that the people carrying the Li Yang Cave Heaven lineage consist of only one Deva and one Primordial Spirit Monarch? Perhaps they have other members too, while that Deva and Primordial Spirit Monarch, after showing themselves somewhat ostentatiously once, immediately went into hiding, keeping a low profile, and let someone else move about openly. That person is Gu Jinlai."
After finishing, he passed forward a piece of intelligence: "My lord, please look at this. This is the latest information regarding this person named Gu Jinlai that I received just this morning. This person suddenly appeared in Wind and Rain City three months ago, with the identity of a refugee, and moreover... he was a refugee with no family in tow."
"No family in tow?"
Lei Yuan quickly realized something was amiss.
Admittedly, there are Solo Wanderers who flee to the Holy Dynasty, but a Martial King, already capable to some extent, shouldn’t be unable to protect even the closest people around him, right?
"We suspect that he hasn’t lost his family, but rather he has hidden them away. Additionally, his subsequent increase in strength is quite strange. Upon entering Wind and Rain City, he only showed the power of a High-level Martial King, but in a mere three months, he seemed to rival Peak Heavenly Beings," Yun Haoran continued.
Yun Haoran sneered: "Wind and Rain City’s explanation is that he obtained a Top-grade Divine Skill that martial artists could also cultivate, and he even perfected that divine skill. But now it seems... Martial King might just be a disguise. Peak Heavenly Being might be his true strength."
A thousand years ago, Earthly True Immortals were known to switch to cultivating as Heavenly Masters, so naturally, in the Holy Dynasty, there were Devas with no hope of progression who chose to become Martial Kings.
Lei Yuan’s gaze once again fell on the piece of golden jade in his hand.
He seemed lost in thought.
Soon, the Devas of the City Guard Army and that Primordial Spirit True Monarch arrived at the scene.
Lei Yuan inquired in detail about the means Gu Jinlai employed to deal with the members of the Ouyang family.
He ended up finding...
There must be something majorly problematic about Gu Jinlai.
Moreover, even if there wasn’t, considering the over a hundred pieces of golden jade in Gu Jinlai’s possession, he had enough motivation to stir up trouble.
After all, the goods sold by that group uncovered by the investigation alone were worth tens of billions, let alone the resources that remained unaccounted for.
Upon having this thought, his mind was made up.
He slowly stood up, "Gu Jinlai may be the Zone Leader of Wind and Rain City, but he certainly isn’t the Zone Leader of our Hai Feng City. It’s not his place to meddle in our Hai Feng City’s affairs, and by committing an act of violence in our city without our consent and without any notification, he’s clearly not taking our Hai Feng City Guard Army seriously."
He waved his hand coldly, issuing the command, "Gather the troops, apprehend Gu Jinlai. He must provide an explanation for today’s events."
