“Bang!”
A brutal crash exploded as the door was smashed open, wood splinters flying everywhere.
Two unfamiliar Chen Family guards burst in. Their expressions were fierce, yet there was not the slightest trace of spiritual energy on them.
“Ah!” Chen Ziyi cried out as the force of the impact made her stagger backward several steps, nearly falling.
But once she steadied herself, she did not hesitate. She spread her arms and stood in front of Zhou Kai, her pretty face pale.
Zhou Kai’s eyes instantly turned icy.
He had just stabilized his cultivation and fully restored his dantian. His mind had been clear and at ease. Now it had been interrupted so rudely.
What ignited his anger even more was that these two intruders were merely mortals.
Mortals?
They sent two mortals to break into the residence of a cultivator at the 4th stage Qi Refining Realm?
What a humiliation.
“Impudent!” One of the guards, a burly man with a fleshy face, ignored Chen Ziyi completely. He glared at Zhou Kai and barked in a rough voice, “By order of the Sixth Elder, we suspect you, Zhou Kai, of harboring a wanted criminal. We are here to search. Behave yourself and cooperate, or don’t blame us for being rude.”
Sixth Elder? Chen Xingze?
Understanding flashed through Zhou Kai’s mind, followed by deep mockery.
This method was far too… immature.
Sending mortals to test him? Or was it simply meant to disgust and humiliate him?
Zhou Kai could almost imagine the Chen Family Prodigy, raised under the family’s halo and accustomed to smooth success, hiding somewhere nearby, waiting to see his reaction.
Such a child who had never endured real storms.
Zhou Kai sneered inwardly. If it were him dealing with a low-stage cultivator without background, he would either strike like thunder, capture or kill directly, seize the storage pouch, interrogate harshly, and uncover every clue. Or he would remain silent and observe in secret, gathering solid evidence.
Sending mortals to take the lead? Aside from exposing his own intentions and ridiculous arrogance, what else could it accomplish?
Perhaps, in Chen Xingze’s eyes, Zhou Kai’s life or death did not matter at all. What he truly cared about were the three Foundation Establishment Pills.
Zhou Kai even maliciously speculated whether this twenty-five-year-old genius at the 8th stage Qi Refining Realm had ever taken a life before. Otherwise, how could he come up with such laughable tactics?
Having grasped the key point, the mockery in Zhou Kai’s eyes deepened.
If the other party wanted to play, he would play along.
He wanted to see whether the Chen Family would truly act against him, a Guest Elder, just because of two ignorant mortal guards.
Chen Ziyi hesitated for a moment. Seeing the absolute confidence in his eyes, she bit her lip and obediently stepped aside, though her gaze remained fixed on the two guards, filled with vigilance.
The two guards saw his cooperation and sneered as they stepped forward to act.
“Search?” Zhou Kai’s lips curved into a cold smile. “Do you even deserve to?”
A flash of cold light passed through his eyes. Spiritual energy stirred faintly within him. He did not even use a technique. He simply flicked his fingers.
Puff. Puff.
The two guards did not even have time to react. Their bodies went limp and they collapsed dead on the spot, shock and confusion still frozen in their eyes.
Chen Ziyi covered her mouth. Fear filled her eyes, yet there was also a strange sense of relief.
Zhou Kai brushed nonexistent dust from his robe and calmly looked at the two rapidly cooling corpses.
At the moment they fell, Chen Xingze, hidden in the shadows, curled his lips into a satisfied smile.
Just as Zhou Kai had guessed, Chen Xingze had been monitoring him these past few days but found nothing suspicious. The reward for capturing Shen Hanyi alive was three Foundation Establishment Pills. With his aptitude, he would certainly reach the Foundation Establishment Realm. Perhaps two pills would remain, allowing the Chen Family to gain another Foundation Establishment cultivator.
His two junior brothers had already gone to Hidden Beast Mountain to search for Shen Hanyi. He himself had to oversee matters at the Desolate Spiritual Herb Grounds and could not leave. Moreover, he felt Zhou Kai was hiding something. That was why he arranged this test.
Outside the courtyard, hurried footsteps approached. Several Qi Refining Realm cultivators advanced openly.
The leading aura was at the 8th stage Qi Refining Realm. It belonged to Chen Xingze.
Zhou Kai sneered inwardly. This was exactly what he had been waiting for.
Just before Chen Xingze and the others rushed through the courtyard gate, Zhou Kai suddenly grabbed the two corpses like torn sacks. At the same time, he circulated spiritual power wildly through his dantian and poured it into his throat.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”
His voice boomed like thunder. Empowered by spiritual energy, it instantly spread through nearly half of the Chen Family estate.
“Enemies impersonating the Sixth Elder’s subordinates have attempted to assassinate a Guest Elder! Someone come quickly!”
As he shouted himself hoarse, instead of retreating, he carried the two corpses and ran straight toward the Chen Family’s Elder Hall.
The sudden turn of events left Chen Xingze and the several mid-stage Qi Refining Realm cultivators behind him frozen at the courtyard entrance.
They had anticipated Zhou Kai might surrender or resist stubbornly.
But they had never imagined that Zhou Kai would accuse them in return of “impersonation and attempted assassination,” carry the bodies, and make such a grand display by running to the Elder Hall to “report the case.”
For a moment, Chen Xingze and his men were completely stunned.
Zhou Kai’s shout had immediate effect.
The Chen Family estate was vast, but cultivators’ hearing was extremely sharp. Especially the words “enemy attack,” “assassinate Guest Elder,” and “impersonating the Sixth Elder.” These instantly ignited the nerves of everyone who heard them.
Figures leaped from courtyards and pavilions one after another, rushing toward the commotion.
Very quickly, along Zhou Kai’s path, a large crowd of Chen Family disciples and guards gathered. Several elders also arrived upon hearing the news.
They watched Zhou Kai running with two blood-soaked corpses, shouting “enemy attack,” and then looked at Chen Xingze and his group behind him with dark expressions as if in pursuit. Their faces showed uncertainty and undisguised curiosity.
“What’s going on?”
“What happened to Guest Elder Zhou?”
“Someone dared to attack within our Chen Family?”
“I heard him say someone impersonated the Sixth Elder’s men to assassinate him.”
“This is serious.”
Whispers rose like a swarm of bees. The scene grew chaotic and noisy.
Chen Xingze’s face turned livid. He was nearly exploding with anger.
He had intended to humiliate and test Zhou Kai with two mortals, forcing him to kill them so he could rightfully accuse him of murdering family guards and seize him. Whether to kill or torture him afterward would be entirely up to him.
But now Zhou Kai had struck first, throwing the dirty water back at him.
Impersonating the Sixth Elder’s subordinates to assassinate?
Zhou Kai had fully transformed into a master actor, his performance reaching its peak.
He ran to the square before the Elder Hall and threw the two corpses to the ground with a heavy thud. Wearing an expression of lingering shock and righteous indignation, he cupped his fists toward the rapidly gathering crowd, especially the arriving elders.
“Honored Elders! Fellow clansmen! Please uphold justice for me, Zhou Kai!”
His voice carried a tremor, his face displaying perfectly measured grief and fear. It was deeply convincing.
“Since joining the Chen Family, I have worked diligently, guarding the Spirit Beast Garden without the slightest negligence. Though my dantian was damaged and my cultivation stagnated, my heart has always remained loyal to the family. Just now, I was about to deliver a furnace of important pills I painstakingly refined for the family to the pill chamber for inspection…”
He pulled a jade bottle from his robes and raised it high. “This bottle of Lock Yang Pills! These pills strengthen the foundation and vitality, fortify the body, and help our Chen Family’s sons grow strong and carry on the family line. But who could have expected that these two villains would burst in at that very moment, claiming to act under the Sixth Elder’s orders, and attempt to kill me without explanation. They must have coveted this precious pill, intending to murder and seize treasure, or even to prevent me from contributing to the family!”
Many of the Chen Family’s male members lit up at the mention of Lock Yang Pills. It was indeed a valuable item.
Zhou Kai pointed at the corpses again, grief-stricken. “If I had not fought desperately and killed these villains by sheer luck, I would have died in a pool of blood today!”