Chapter 38: Chapter 38 Scapegoat_1

Translator: 549690339

Silence.

“Ahem- Who are you?”

Cui Pingyu stared intently at the person across from him, he could sense someone was there, but they kept holding back, igniting a hateful itch in his teeth.

Despite his grievous injuries, the enemy still lurked, excessively cautious.

“Would the fellow daoist present please come out for a chat?”

“Fellow daoist, we had no grudges in the past and no recent hatred. Why go to the extent of a lethal blow?”

“Fellow daoist… fellow daoist, are you here for Lin Yiyin? I am willing to let her go and compensate with three hundred thousand lower grade Spirit Stones…”

Seeing no response from the enemy, Cui Pingyu had a thought. While secretly healing his wounds to restore his strength, he spoke to steady the person, waiting for backup.

“Fellow daoist, who hired you to kill me? I am willing to pay five times the price…” Cui Pingyu continued, but before he could finish, a sword light slashed toward him.

“Hum!”

The dazzling sword light, like the setting sun, brought forth boundless killing intent, dispersing sword qi in all directions.

Cui Pingyu wanted to buy time, while Han Li intended to lower Cui Pingyu’s guard and strike at the right moment. Who would want to waste words with him?

Old Ancestor Han knew a truth well: villains die from talking too much!

As the sword light came slashing down, Cui Pingyu reacted instantly, his cultivation technique running to its limit. his robust True Yuan auicklv forming a solid barrier to protect him.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The vast sword qi came sweeping through, destroying all in its path, and the True Yuan barrier shattered in less than two breaths, but this bought Cui Pingyu some time.

He formed a seal with his right hand and then slammed it forward, releasing a massive palm seal made of condensed True Yuan. With Yin and Yang energies swirling on it, it destroyed all the sword qi, seemingly possessing the power to annihilate heaven and earth.

One of the supreme skills of the Yinyang Sect: the Yin and Yang Palm Seal!

At the same time, Cui Pingyu didn’t dally any longer. Gritting his teeth, he used another secret technique and his aura exploded, returning him to his peak condition.

He didn’t wait to see the outcome, knowing that the Yin and Yang Palm Seal wouldn’t kill that sixth elder, especially since he had only learned the first half of it, so he immediately fled.

The battle lasted less than two minutes in total. If reinforcements were coming, they would have arrived by now. The lack of any sign meant they either didn’t want to come or couldn’t make it.

If he didn’t escape now, he truly faced death.

At that moment, the sword light flickered again, cutting through the Yin and Yang Palm Seal, and Han Li saw Cui Pingyu making some distance.

Without hesitation, he pursued with his treasured sword in hand, quickly catching up to Cui Pingyu. His sword qi filled the sky, forcing Cui Pingyu into a fight.

Cui Pingyu’s eyes nearly burst with fury. He didn’t want to fight; it cost him his life force every moment, and he realized that even at his peak, he couldn’t defeat this enemy.

Not only was this person’s cultivation and strength higher than his, but they were also extremely sly.

The fight ended quickly; with one sword strike, Han Li ended Cui Pingyu’s life, then collected his Space Ring and immediately vanished from the spot.

This battle shocked all the major forces in Zhenyi City, alarming every Great Master and cultivator of the Pihai Realm. Cui Pingyu, who had bullied Zhenyi City for fifty years, was dead.

Although there were suspicions of a sneak attack, the fact that this person single-handedly killed Cui Pingyu, who was in the late stage of the Gangyuan Realm, was undeniable, and it was done in less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea. Such strength would be at least the eighth or ninth layer of the Gangyuan Realm.

The two Great Masters who had thought about helping sighed; Cui Pingyu had provoked such a powerful Great Master, his death was not undeserved.

By the time two Gangyuan Realm Great Masters from the Daqian Empire arrived, standing above The Cui Manor, Han Li had already vanished without a trace, taking Lin Yiyin with him.

“Very strong!”

This was the conclusion the two Great Masters reached after observing the battlefield.

They already knew the assailant who attacked Cui Pingyu was formidable while watching from afar; now, after a closer inspection, they found him even stronger than they had anticipated.

“Since when did Zhenyi Manor have a nine-layer Gangyuan Realm Master who excels in swordsmanship?” pondered the lord of Zhenyi City.

The general, clad in armor and with a full beard, shook his head and said, “He must be a powerhouse from another prefecture of Leizhou, it’s unclear what Cui Pingyu did to provoke him.”

“He had it coming! I’ve wanted to kill him for a long time,” the city lord sneered coldly. He had always disliked Cui Pingyu but had never dared to take action.

Cui Pingyu had been in Zhenyi City for fifty years, always abiding by the rules, leaving no opportunity for the city lord to make a move. If he were to kill Cui Pingyu rashly, it would openly provoke conflict between the Yinyang Sect and the Daqian Empire, a responsibility he could not bear.

The offenses Cui Pingyu committed in Zhenyi City were all minor; at most, he captured beautiful female cultivators below the Pihai Realm for his own replenishment. He never targeted those with influential backgrounds. Such trivial matters were not enough to trouble a Gangyuan Realm Great Master, but they had truly disgusted the city lord for fifty years.

Now that Cui Pingyu was killed, he clapped his hands in approval. Finally, that fly was dead, and he no longer felt the lump in his throat, nor did he need to keep guarding against the infiltration of the Hehuan Sect.

The general nodded, his face showing a smile as well. As strong forces of the Daqian Empire, they had long wished for Cui Pingyu’s death.

“How shall we wrap this up now?” the general asked the city lord.

The city lord understood his meaning. A late-stage Gangyuan Realm Great Master had died, and the Hehuan Sect would definitely seek an investigation; they had to provide an explanation.

As for their inaction while Cui Pingyu was being killed, what of it? They had no obligation to help!

The Hehuan Sect had no leverage against them, except to make a note of it.

The city lord’s gaze returned to the battlefield, then suddenly paused, a smile forming on his face. “Got it,” he said.

Reaching out, a piece of black cloth fell on him, which the city lord nonchalantly tossed to the general and then left with a hearty laugh.

The general caught it and noticed a white lotus design on the black fabric; he too burst into laughter, clearly understanding the city lord’s plan.

They didn’t care whether the cloth was torn by Cui Pingyu during the battle or deliberately left by that Great Master. It was enough to settle the matter either way.

Blaming the White Lotus Cult would do.

The White Lotus Cult still had a Myriad Phenomena Realm Great Mistress of No Birth and a late-stage Hollow Void Stage Dharma King. They were fully capable of killing a late-stage Gangyuan Realm Master, right?

As for why the White Lotus Cult would want to kill Cui Pingyu and what grudges they had, it was not their concern; let them investigate it themselves.

It would be perfect if the White Lotus Cult and the Hehuan Sect were to fight, pulling in the Yinyang Sect and the Mysterious Forces behind the White Lotus Cult into a few large battles, resulting in the death of several immortals, Grandmasters, and Great Grandmasters.

That very night, the news spread, and the entire Zhenyi City was abuzz with it, then it continued to spread throughout Leizhou.

Zhenyi City’s families and powers sighed in relief upon learning of the death of the demonic Cui Pingyu, feeling grateful toward the scapegoated White Lotus Cult, having suffered terribly from Cui Pingyu’s harms yet unable to retaliate. The Hehuan Sect’s secret base in Zhenyi City also received the news, and the person in charge was shocked and immediately hastened to send the message back to the Hehuan Sect, provoking their outrage and alarm.

As time passed, the news reached all the prefectures in Leizhou. They were not particularly concerned with Cui Pingyu’s death but wanted to know whether the White Lotus Cult was responsible.

If it was the White Lotus Cult’s doing, had they already spread to Leizhou?

This caused concern among the prefectures of Leizhou, but before long, they noticed that the official Leizhou response was muted, and they gradually felt at ease.

If the Great Mistress of No Birth and the Dharma King of the White Lotus Cult had truly come to Leizhou, Leizhou’s officials would have been the first to be unsettled and would have already called together the major powers for a joint

suppression..