Chen Yuan's attitude was very arrogant, practically plastered all over his face.

Like a villain.

But...

In reality, it wasn't like that at all.

They only had positions, not rights or wrongs.

If you really wanted to discuss it, Chen Yuan had never oppressed ordinary people. The people of Tangshan were still under his protection, becoming a place of longing for people in the surrounding states.

And what about the Qianren Sect?

Relying on their martial strength, they were equivalent to local emperors, oppressing the various smaller forces beneath them to the extreme, while those smaller forces oppressed the people and commoners to the extreme.

The reason why Chou Qianchi kept his attitude so low was not because he had good intentions, feeling that what they were doing was wrong, but simply because he was afraid of Chen Yuan's strength.

In fact, if it weren't for Chen Yuan, the Qianren Sect and even many other Jianghu forces in Shu Prefecture would have forced Hidden Weapon Valley to forge weapons for them at this critical juncture.

Could you say who was right and who was wrong?

If Chen Yuan wanted to achieve great things, the first thing he had to do was be ruthless!

Shu Prefecture was the base camp he had decided on, and he had already begun dispatching forces to infiltrate it. He had to cleanse a portion of the forces, firstly to deter, and secondly to accumulate strength and prestige.

Otherwise, with Shu Prefecture's chaotic situation, it would only hold him back in the future.

Now that someone wanted to attack him secretly, he didn't care, as long as he achieved his goals.

Of course, those who secretly plotted against him would have to be retaliated against once they were found out in the future.

"You..."

Chou Qianchi was instantly furious upon hearing Chen Yuan's blatant and arrogant words. He tolerated Chen Yuan only because he was afraid of his official position and power.

In the current situation of undercurrents surging in the Jianghu, he didn't want to antagonize him.

But that didn't mean he was afraid of this person. Which Transformation Yang cultivator hadn't experienced wind and rain and stained their hands with blood?

For a mere upstart to dare to act like this was simply arrogant and conceited!

"It seems that Lord Chen is determined to take action against my Qianren Sect? Are you not afraid of Jianghu turmoil, afraid of the world falling into chaos?"

"The imperial court's authority extends across the four seas; are they afraid of trash like you?"

Chen Yuan couldn't wait for the world to fall into chaos.

"Very well, since that's the case, then this old man will teach you arrogant fellow a lesson. Don't think that a battle in Liang Prefecture City will give you real prestige that commands respect.

In this old man's opinion, that's just reckless courage. Young people should remember not to be too arrogant!"

"Noisy!"

Making his attitude clear, Chen Yuan sneered. The Emperor Slaughtering Blade condensed in his hand, and in the next moment, without the slightest warning, a terrifying blade light hundreds of feet long suddenly appeared.

The great battle began!

A moment later,

Chou Qianchi's divine weapons were shattered, his clothes were tattered, and all his methods were shattered by Chen Yuan. He spat out a mouthful of old blood, falling from the void like a kite with a broken string.

His eyes were filled with deep horror and shock!

Too strong!

Chen Yuan was too strong!

From the start of the fight, only a few dozen breaths had passed, and he hadn't gained the initiative at all. Chen Yuan, on the other hand, had unleashed three strikes, breaking all his methods.

What he didn't know was that Chen Yuan hadn't used his full strength at all, only a portion of it. Otherwise, the Samadhi True Fire could have refined him to death.

"Bang!"

Chou Qianchi's body crashed onto the ground below, smashing out a huge pit, with cracks like spiderwebs all around.

And the surroundings were silent.

Whether it was Xie Kunshan or Ouyang Zhi, they were shocked beyond measure, let alone the disciples of the Qianren Sect below. They hadn't expected that their sect master, who was so famous in the Shu Prefecture Jianghu and whom they admired so much,

Was actually so weak!

As fragile as a dead dog, unable to withstand even a few strikes.

They had no other thoughts in their hearts, only fear!

Even a Transformation Yang cultivator like the sect master couldn't stop him; what about them? They would probably suffer half of their casualties with a single strike, right?

As for Ouyang Zhi, it was much simpler. He just thought to himself:

"My father is truly a divine being!"

In less than two years, he had grown from a mere Tongxuan cultivator into a terrifying powerhouse who slaughtered Transformation Yang cultivators like dogs.

Truly terrifying!

"Sect master!"

"Sect master!!!"

Several elders within the Qianren Sect looked terrified and immediately activated the sect's protective formation, wanting to protect Chou Qianchi and prevent Chen Yuan from delivering a fatal blow.

But if Chou Qianchi couldn't stop him, let alone the sect's protective formation.

Mobilizing the power of his blood essence, Chen Yuan forcefully aimed a punch at the Qianren Sect's protective formation.

"Boom!!!"

The void changed color, and the surrounding space instantly collapsed, twisting and distorting. The ground trembled endlessly, as if a dragon had turned over. Some people even fell directly to the ground.

And the protective formation shattered inch by inch under this punch, turning into nothingness.

This punch definitely gave Chen Yuan the power to rival a True Lord.

The formation was just a paper tiger.

After dealing with the formation, Chen Yuan only glanced indifferently at the Qianren Sect martial artists below. Then, his aura soared into the sky, and without the slightest hesitation, he began to deliver the final blow.

A wisp of terrifying sharpness fell suddenly, directly towards Chou Qianchi.

"Ah!!!"

Everyone present heard a miserable scream, which was the sound coming from Chou Qianchi. Smoke and dust rose, and in an instant, a murderous intent locked onto Chen Yuan.

Chou Qianchi's primordial spirit suddenly erupted, like a stream of light rushing towards Chen Yuan.

He wanted to use his primordial spirit to kill Chen Yuan!

He was also an old Jianghu figure, having experienced countless bloody storms. From the previous exchange, he had completely understood that there was no hope of victory at all.

Unless he launched a surprise attack, there would be a glimmer of opportunity.

Therefore, he feigned death and screamed miserably, then suddenly attacked at that critical moment, just to catch Chen Yuan off guard.

Unfortunately, he had overestimated himself and underestimated Chen Yuan.

A lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit.

Not to mention that Chou Qianchi was a Transformation Yang cultivator no matter what. Even if he was truly trash, Chen Yuan wouldn't be careless before completely destroying his primordial spirit.

Chou Qianchi's primordial spirit was extremely fast, almost arriving in an instant. He wanted to see the look of panic on Chen Yuan's face, but all he saw was a slight upturn of his lips, as if saying:

"How can you call me young if I'm not arrogant?"

Then, just before he was about to rush into Chen Yuan's spiritual platform, he suddenly felt as if he had fallen into mud, his whole body seemed to be imprisoned, and his eyes widened instantly.

Chen Yuan was expressionless, quietly watching Chou Qianchi, whose eyes were filled with shock, crumble inch by inch in front of him.

Chou Qianchi, a famous figure in Shu Prefecture, fell here!

Looking at the Qianren Sect disciples scattering and fleeing below, Chen Yuan slowly raised his hand and said indifferently:

"Attack!"

In the next moment, led by Lu Renyi, all the Heavenly Inspection Guards instantly poured into Qianren Mountain, and a battle between the imperial court and the Jianghu immediately broke out.

Chen Yuan, however, did not take action. In his perception, there were only a bunch of miscellaneous fish left below, not worth his attention. His gaze turned to Xie Kunshan not far away.

From the moment Chou Qianchi fell, the imprisonment on him had been lifted. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned around and began to burn his blood essence to escape.

Unfortunately, he couldn't escape Chen Yuan's grasp.

The heaven and earth's vitality condensed into a giant hand in the void, radiating terrifying suppressing power, directly pressing Xie Kunshan so that he couldn't move, and then grabbed him closer.

Xie Kunshan's body trembled, his eyes filled with fear, and he lowered his head to the ground.

"Will you tell me yourself, or will this official search your soul?"

Chen Yuan looked down at this person expressionlessly.

"You dog official!"

Xie Kunshan roared angrily.

Chen Yuan wasn't angry either. A divine thought instantly poured into his spiritual platform, wanting to find out if someone was plotting against him, and if so, who it would be.

He had indeed noticed something was wrong, feeling that the Qianren Sect knew he was supporting Hidden Weapon Valley behind the scenes, yet they still dared to suppress and threaten them, which was not normal.

Either they were brain-dead, or they didn't take him seriously, or... someone was deliberately pushing them.

However, he didn't know exactly what it was, nor could he really believe Chou Qianchi's one-sided words. He had his own judgment.

When his divine thought entered his soul, Xie Kunshan's eyes suddenly stiffened, instantly becoming dull. Chen Yuan frowned and withdrew his divine thought, staring at this person with a meaningful look.

At the moment his divine thought went deep into his soul, his soul instantly melted away. Obviously, this was a restriction set by a strong person, which even he couldn't avoid.

"Who could it be?"

Chen Yuan frowned, thinking about the person behind Xie Kunshan.

He didn't guess randomly, but judged based on his current position and situation.

It was clear that his attack on the Qianren Sect was in the other party's interest, and the other party's interest was not wanting him to have a good time, wanting to use the Qianren Sect's destruction to stir up a common hatred in the Shu Prefecture Jianghu, destabilizing his foundation and even causing a rebellion.

So who had the qualifications to profit from this?

Chen Yuan subconsciously thought of the demon race first, because the current Jianghu situation was like a dangerous powder keg that could explode with the slightest spark, which fit the demon race's interest in wanting the human race to be in great chaos.

The second person he guessed was Xiang Qianqiu. If he rebelled, it seemed that he could relieve a lot of pressure on Liangshan.

The third was those people who had grudges against him, wanting to drag him into the quagmire.

The fourth was the unfathomable Zhennan King Nangong Lie, who had ambushed him last time. If he had ambitions, it seemed that he didn't want the territories outside of Nan Prefecture to be peaceful either.

Unfortunately, these people didn't know that he also had his own plans.

Even with one's own strength, it was impossible, no, to be precise, it was to antagonize the entire Shu Prefecture, which would affect his reputation. Therefore, this time he definitely needed a reasonable reason to tell the outside world.

The evidence he had mentioned earlier wouldn't work, as that would only anger more people.

His preparation was to present genuine evidence, such as colluding with the Wusheng Sect demons, or exaggerating the evil deeds committed by the Qianren Sect several times over and quickly publicizing them in the Jianghu.

Or, for example, the Qianren Sect was actually deeply colluding with Liangshan, and he was acting under orders.

In addition, when Chen Yuan mobilized Lu Renyi, he had already informed his father-in-law, Shangguan Tiehong, and asked him to act as an internal response to divide and win over others.

There was also the former imperial dynasty remnant, the Liu family. As early as before, the Four Symbols Divine Arrow Liu Zhenzong had clearly told him that the Liu family could be used in the future, and they also wanted to make a comeback.

Chen Yuan didn't lack a foundation in Shu Prefecture, which was also his confidence in taking action.

He had been preparing for a long time...

As long as Mount Shu didn't openly oppose him, Chen Yuan's current strength, both overt and covert, was enough to sweep across the entire Shu Prefecture!

"Marquis... you..."

Ouyang Zhi, who was beside him, saw that Chen Yuan's expression was uncertain, thinking that Xie Kunshan's matter had angered him. He couldn't help but worry if he had said too much.

"You should also go down and gain some experience," Chen Yuan said casually.

"Yes, I will go now."

Ouyang Zhi replied quickly. Seeing that Chen Yuan didn't seem to object, he secretly rejoiced a little and plunged into the battlefield below from the void.

The great battle at Qianren Mountain lasted for several hours before it ended. Most of the mountain gate was covered in blood, and the stench could be clearly smelled even from a distance.

In fact, not too many people were killed below if you really counted. Only those who resisted resolutely were killed, and those who didn't want to die were spared.

It wasn't that Chen Yuan was showing kindness, but

These people were still useful.

His mines needed a lot of people, and they would need even more in the future. He had to prepare in advance and let these members of the Qianren Sect give their last bit of strength.

Of course, in order to prevent them from gathering to cause trouble, most people would have their cultivation sealed, and some people would be selected from among them to supervise the work.

Many experiences had shown that one's own people would be even more ruthless towards their own!

Moreover, those with surnames such as Xiao, Ye, Chu, Qin, and Gu, as well as those disciples who looked honest on the outside but were dark on the inside, or had steadfast expressions, were all eliminated one by one.

He didn't want anything else to happen. Luck didn't mean everything, and it didn't mean that these people wouldn't rise up in the future.

Inside the main hall of the Qianren Sect,

Chen Yuan sat on the seat that originally belonged to Chou Qianchi. Standing below were Lu Renyi and several deputy envoys. After Chen Yuan's careful selection, they had officially pledged their allegiance to him.

As for those who didn't want to, their graves were already overgrown with weeds.

"Lord, a total of primordial crystals, spiritual medicines, cultivation scriptures, various resource deeds..." A deputy envoy held the tallied scrolls in his hand and read them to Chen Yuan one by one.

In short... they had made a small fortune again.

Although it was not as good as the Bright Temple, it could be worthy of the heritage of a top sect. And now, they would all become Chen Yuan's accumulation. The heritage of hundreds of years had become his nourishment.

"A total of 1,362 prisoners were captured in this battle, and all the main lines and descendants of the elders of the Qianren Sect have been eliminated. Those with the surnames Chu and Xiao..."

"The Heavenly Inspection Division suffered a total of casualties in this battle..."

"This battle..."

"Very good." Chen Yuan opened his eyes and nodded slightly:

"All prisoners must be closely guarded. No one is allowed to escape. If anyone is found to have ulterior motives, they will be executed immediately. All casualty compensations will be doubled, and all rewards will be calculated one by one."

The families of these people would be sent to Tangshan as long as they were willing. He didn't want to see the families of those who shed blood for him suffer humiliation after their deaths.

He was ruthless and decisive towards his enemies, but he still treated his own people with tolerance. Both kindness and power were the way to govern an army, and it was the same when applied to these matters.

"Yes, Your subordinate obeys!"

A deputy envoy bowed.

"After deducting the rewards, all the remaining resources will be sent to Tangshan Prefectural City in batches without delay!"

"Yes, Your subordinate obeys!"

"Alright, you may leave first. Renyi, you stay."

Chen Yuan waved his hand.

After all the deputy envoys had left, Lu Renyi bowed and said:

"Lord Marquis."

"How are the things I ordered you to do?" Chen Yuan asked, staring at him.

Lu Renyi: "Reporting to the Marquis, after reviewing the Qianren Sect's records and the oral accounts of many surrendered disciples, I have learned that in the winter of the first year of Jingtai, the Black and White Heroes couple, who were quite chivalrous in the Jianghu, were killed by Chou Qianchi.

Their couple had a treasure that was very useful to Chou Qianchi. He secretly tricked them into a mountain valley, killed them, and hid their bodies in the back mountain of the Qianren Sect, seemingly wanting to refine them into demonic corpses. As for the fetus in her womb, it was killed and eaten."

"In the autumn of the second year of Jingtai, the Qianren Sect had a major transaction with Liangshan."

"In the autumn of the fourth year of Jingtai, Xue Zhian, an elder of the Qianren Sect, had a mishap in his cultivation. His anger surged into his heart, and he massacred a small town below. Later, the Qianren Sect covered it up and blamed it on demonic cultivators."

"In the spring of the sixth year of Jingtai, Chou Qianchi's youngest daughter, in order to preserve her youth and obtain a Face-Fixing Pill, secretly killed a wandering disciple of the Divine Maiden Palace..."

"In the winter of the sixth year of Jingtai, the Qianren Sect's current senior brother..."

"In the early summer of the eighth year of Jingtai, Elder Wu of the Qianren Sect..."

"In the spring of the ninth year of Jingtai, the Qianren Sect..."

Lu Renyi listed the many crimes committed by the Qianren Sect in recent years, and he had already obtained evidence. Once they were spread out, the public opinion would be difficult to predict.

At least, Chen Yuan wouldn't get a reputation for being a bloodthirsty tyrant because of this.

Chen Yuan's fingers tapped on the armrest on the side. He didn't find it strange because he had already expected these things. So far, he hadn't seen many Jianghu forces that were wholeheartedly good.

Even the compassionate Bright Temple had a lot of shady dealings.

It was conceivable that the imperial court's laws were actually aimed at ordinary people and low-level martial artists. For those who truly had status and power, these laws were practically non-existent.

As the saying goes, there was no right or wrong, only differences in position.

"Leave these matters to you. Be sure to spread them throughout the Shu Prefecture Jianghu in the shortest amount of time, and quickly build momentum. Well, someone will help you," Chen Yuan instructed.

"Yes, Your subordinate obeys!"

In the autumn of the ninth year of Jingtai, on the eighth day of the ninth month, Chen Yuan, the Heavenly Character Divine Envoy of the Heavenly Inspection Division and the Martial Security Marquis of the Southern Three Provinces, destroyed the top force in Shu Prefecture, the Qianren Sect, with 126 counts of crimes.

For a time, Shu Prefecture was shaken!

But before the rumors that slandered and smeared Chen Yuan could spread, the many pieces of evidence of the Qianren Mountain's destruction were placed before everyone's eyes.

And... it caused a huge reaction.

Well... to be precise, it caused a huge reaction among the lower classes. As for the upper classes of the Jianghu, there were no ripples, because they had all done the things that the Qianren Sect had done, but they just hadn't put them out in the open.

At this moment, far away in the town prince mansion of Southern Prefecture City,

Nangong Lie, the Zhennan King in a gold-plated python robe, frowned deeply as he listened to his subordinates' specific reports on the destruction of the Qianren Sect, his eyes flickering slightly.

This Chen Yuan was a little more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.

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