"How arrogant! I heard you, Xiao Yunlong, are known as the Dragon King in the Northern Territory? Today, we shall slay this dragon!"
"All of you, attack! We'll tie this guy down, and you go capture those two women!"
As the masked man in black in the center let out a cold snort, dozens of assassin experts around him moved. In the dark night, they charged out like jackals, tigers, and leopards.
Three black-clothed figures erupted with potent true qi, scattering the surrounding torrential rain. They leaped forward in a pincer formation towards Xiao Yunlong.
At the same time, several Martial King masters also lunged towards Zhuge Wushuang and Tu Fu, their aim being to prevent them from reaching the deck to rescue Liu Ruyan.
Xiao Yunlong couldn't help but sneer. Thirty divine kingdom powers erupted from within him as he engaged the three leading black-clothed experts.
Originally, with Xiao Yunlong's strength, he could break through their encirclement and reinforce Liu Ruyan at any moment, but there was no need for that.
Just as the dense mass of black-clothed Hwajing Grandmasters were about to leap onto the deck, three burly black-armored guards suddenly appeared from the ship's cabin.
The black iron armor emitted a deep, dark glow under the ship's lights. Each of them wore a ferocious iron mask, giving them a terrifying aura.
Suddenly, the black-armored guard standing at the bow of the ship drew his black sword from his waist with a clang and then swung it horizontally.
The bright black sword light, like a long rainbow or a surging tide, unleashed a single strike that instantly beheaded seven or eight black-clothed Grandmaster assassins who were flying forward.
Then, the black-armored guard on the left also swung his sword, cutting through them like vegetables, immediately eliminating more than ten black-clothed assassins.
Finally, the remaining black-armored guard on the right also swung his sword, directly slaughtering the rest of the black-clothed assassins.
In just three swords, each of the three black-armored guards unleashed a sword strike. Three sword lights, piercing through the sky, annihilated these dozens of black-clothed Grandmaster assassins with overwhelming force.
This scene shocked the three assassin leaders to their core, even making their hearts tremble!
"This is... Innate Sword Qi! These three fellows are... are sword path powerhouses at the Innate Aperture Opening realm!"
The three assassin leaders began to panic. Although their cultivation was not low, those who had comprehended the sword path at the Innate Aperture Opening realm could completely crush martial artists of the same level.
"Damn it, I didn't expect them to have such a powerful backup. We've been tricked! Hurry, let's go!"
The leading black-clothed assassin gritted his teeth and shouted, then flickered his figure, attempting to escape.
"Trying to leave already? You fools, did you really think you could surround me? I'll slaughter you like dogs!"
As his voice fell, Xiao Yunlong's aura erupted. His figure moved like a phantom in the dark night, instantly appearing behind the leading assassin.
"You..." Feeling the surging aura emanating from Xiao Yunlong, the assassin leader was filled with terror. Only now did he realize he had made a mistake.
It turned out that this Northern King Xiao was the strongest, and the other party had merely been toying with them!
Without any hesitation, Xiao Yunlong unleashed a punch, killing the leader on the spot. Then, he swiftly struck out with two more palms, and the remaining two assassin experts were immediately killed.
The remaining assassins, their minds in disarray from fear, were quickly dealt with by Tu Fu and Zhuge Wushuang. The battle ended without suspense and swiftly.
Xiao Yunlong leaped onto the deck and reached Liu Ruyan's side. He said softly, "You must have been frightened along the way. Are you alright?"
Liu Ruyan replied gently, "I'm fine. You arranged everything so securely, and with these peerless experts protecting me, how could anything happen to me!"
As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something and pulled the capable short-haired girl beside her, saying, "Oh, Yunlong, let me introduce you. This is my classmate, her name is Wei Qianqian. Qianqian is from the Southern Border, so she's returning with me on this ship."
This Wei Qianqian was petite and slender, but her features were exquisite, a standard beauty with a melon seed face. However, her face was now as pale as paper, appearing to have been frightened. Her delicate body trembled slightly.
She clutched Liu Ruyan's arm and said timidly, "Ruyan, you... who exactly are you people? Killing people so readily, it's too terrifying."
Liu Ruyan held her tightly, comforting her, "I'm truly sorry, Qianqian. I should have told you in advance, or not let you travel with me. But I was afraid you'd misunderstand that I was intentionally distancing myself from you. Don't be afraid, it's all over now. This is my boyfriend, Xiao Yunlong. He's a good person!"
Xiao Yunlong nodded slightly at her and instructed, "Ruyan, take her off the ship and get into the car first!"
"Okay!" Liu Ruyan said, helping the still unsteady Wei Qianqian off the ship and into a car parked not far away.
Looking at the retreating figure of the capable short-haired woman, Xiao Yunlong appeared lost in thought.
In fact, the moment he first saw Liu Ruyan, he had noticed this woman. It had surprised him greatly at the time.
After all, Liu Ruyan had left the capital in a hurry three days ago, and she had brought a classmate along. Or rather, it was hard to understand why this classmate would agree to travel with her.
However, according to Liu Ruyan, she was afraid of her misunderstanding, which was a plausible explanation.
What truly made Xiao Yunlong sense something was amiss was when these black-clothed figures appeared earlier. Wei Qianqian had shown no surprise or fear.
This was because Xiao Yunlong had been watching her at the time and saw it clearly. This was absolutely abnormal.
As for the fear she displayed later, even being unable to walk steadily due to extreme shock, that was rather intriguing.
"What's going on with this woman?" Xiao Yunlong turned and asked the three black-armored guards standing on the deck.
The number of these black-armored guards was not large, but each of them was an incredibly powerful expert.
Of course, these black-armored guards were not cultivated by Xiao Yunlong, nor were they left behind by the Old Northern King. They were sent by the mysterious old man who had taught him the Three Thousand Divine Kingdom techniques.
In fact, even Xiao Yunlong did not know the identities of these black-armored guards, nor had he seen their faces. He only knew they were very strong!
When he went to the capital for enfeoffment, it was also due to Xiao Yunlong's carelessness that he allowed the black-armored guards to enter the capital in advance. However, they had set up an ambush in the suburbs of the capital.
At that time, the signals in that entire area had already been completely blocked. So, by the time Xiao Yunlong realized something was wrong and wanted to call for help, it was clearly too late.
This was a bitter lesson for Xiao Yunlong!
The black-armored guard in the center said, "This person is indeed Miss Ruyan's classmate. We investigated her at the beginning. Their relationship had been very good throughout the entire semester, so we didn't object when Miss Liu proposed to bring her back to the Southern Border with her."
"I see!" Xiao Yunlong nodded slightly, but his expression was noncommittal.
Although the black-armored guards were very strong, their operational principles were rather rigid, and they were not proficient in gathering intelligence. It wasn't that they were not proficient, but rather that they were completely unfamiliar with it.
Therefore, asking them to thoroughly investigate a person's background and origins was probably unreliable!
"Let's go, back to the Southern Border camp first!" Xiao Yunlong waved his hand, and then everyone got into their cars and sped back to the Southern Border camp.
As for the battle scene at the port and those black-clothed assassins, Xiao Yunlong had instructed the guards stationed at the camp to clean them up.
Upon returning to their residence in the camp, Liu Ruyan went to wash up.
Because he noticed she seemed to have caught a chill, Xiao Yunlong thoughtfully brewed her a bowl of ginger soup and also took out the exquisite bracelet.
The night passed in a blink of an eye. Perhaps it was due to the intense commotion the previous night, but Xiao Yunlong only woke up when the sun was high in the sky.
After lunch, Xiao Yunlong took Liu Ruyan to the Southern King's Palace, accompanied by Lu Zhengtong.
Xiao Yunlong had originally planned to spend four days here, hoping to find some clues about the Wonderful Sound Sect. However, until now, there had been no leads, so he had to give up.
After all, the situation in the Northern Territory was becoming increasingly tense, and he could no longer delay his departure.
However, as soon as they reached the gate of the Southern King's Palace, Xuanyuan Qingfeng hurried out from inside. Upon seeing Xiao Yunlong, he immediately shouted, "Your Highness the Northern King, you've arrived at the perfect time! I was just about to notify you. His Highness the Southern King has something important to discuss with you."
"What is it?" Xiao Yunlong asked.
"It seems... there are clues about the Wonderful Sound Sect!" Xuanyuan Qingfeng said.
"There are clues?" Xiao Yunlong's eyes lit up, and he became somewhat excited.