Martial Cultivator

Chapter 103: Assassination

Accompanied by the sound of cicadas, the horse carriage slowly drove into the Divine Capital. The officials from the Ministry of Rites, who had been waiting here for a long time, looked at the simple carriage with some surprise. They rubbed their eyes, hardly believing what they were seeing.

No matter how the Myriad Heaven Palace had declined in recent years, it was still one of the two lineages of Daoism. The group of daoists who entered the Divine Capital a few days ago had put up quite the line-up. Originally, he thought that since the arrival today was the Saintess, there would naturally be an even grander line-up. But how could he have imagined that the only thing that arrived in the Divine Capital today was just a common carriage? Where was there any trace of a daoist sect?

Except, while the Ministry of Rites' officials were still in shock, the daoist driving the horse carriage had already handed over his invitation card. The large seal of the Myriad Heaven Palace was clearly visible on it, which was very hard to forge.

After confirming that the Saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace was indeed inside the carriage, that official from the Ministry of Rites bowed respectfully and said, "In this case, please follow this official to your lodgings, Saintess."

Although the imperial court wanted to win the friendship of the Myriad Heaven Palace and had to show some friendliness, when Chen Chao saw how that Ministry of Rites official behaved, he still furrowed his brows with some displeasure. Song Lian's face remained expressionless, but he also looked a little unnatural.

The driver of the carriage looked at the Left Guard's constables on both sides and also glanced at the two commanders sitting high on their horses.

But he quickly began to drive the carriage again, following the Ministry of Rites officials towards a long street.

Song Lian glanced at Chen Chao, who understood his meaning and became a little annoyed. He thought to himself: if I had not come here to watch the fun, I would not have truly ended up as a guard for a foreign cultivator like this.

But even though he was thinking that, Chen Chao still rode his horse obediently towards the side of the carriage. As the deputy commander of the Left Guard, no matter how unhappy he was right now, he had to uphold the dignity of the Left Guard too.

The sound of horse hooves gradually sounded out. Chen Chao held the reins and looked around with some vigilance.

Although he also knew that this was the Divine Capital and it was virtually impossible for anything to happen, he still subconsciously heightened his vigilance. He kept feeling a little uneasy.

While surveying his surroundings, he also noticed that the curtains of the carriage were too thin, and he could even vaguely see that a young girl was sitting inside the cabin.

He could not see her face clearly, but he could vaguely sense that the girl was probably quite beautiful.

Thinking of how the girl was the Saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace and the most talented person of her generation, Chen Chao could not help but sneak a few more glances. He even had some fleeting thoughts about killing the young girl. That way, there would be no one left to compete with Xie Nandu in the upcoming literary exam.

But as soon as he had this thought, he furrowed his brow, realizing how absurd this idea was. Disregarding the serious consequences of killing this Saintess in the Divine Capital, he might be punched to death by Song Lian before he even had the chance to succeed.

After all, Song Lian was already a formidable martial artist who was close to high-level Great Beyond Realm.

Besides, even if he had the intention and the ability to carry it out, it was uncertain whether Xie Nandu would appreciate it or not.

That proud girl probably would not want to have anything to do with any schemes.

Chen Chao shook his head and thought to himself that there would not be so many rules to follow if this was deep in the mountains. As long as he could kill the demon, any method could be used, so long as the opponent died quickly enough and the price he paid was small enough.

Nothing else mattered.

……

……

The horse carriage slowly drove into a not-so-spacious long street that was somewhat slanted. The pedestrians on the street had been cleared out by officials from the Ministry of Rites beforehand, so after entering this long street, there was an inexplicable sense of tranquility. Chen Chao furrowed his brows slightly and subconsciously felt somewhat uncomfortable. It was just that this route had been planned by the Ministry of Rites, and even reported in advance, so there should be no problem.

Although Chen Chao did not know where the residence of the Myriad Heaven Palace was arranged to be, there were many roads that led to that place, and there was no need to choose this somewhat remote street at all. If he had been the one preparing, he would rather choose to switch to another path at the expense of taking a detour.

As he thought about this, his hand already slowly moved down and was about to touch the hilt of his saber.

Just as his hand touched the hilt of that broken saber, there were suddenly some whooshing sounds coming from the tall building on the side of the long street.

Chen Chao's expression immediately became extremely ugly. In the early years, when he was killing demons in the mountains, he was extremely well-prepared. He was incredibly familiar with the sound of a feathered arrow flying through the air; almost engraved in his bones. At this moment, upon hearing a similar whooshing sound, he naturally immediately thought that there must be an assassin lurking on the side of the long street.

"An assassin!"

Chen Chao shouted loudly, and in the shortest amount of time, he drew out his broken saber from his waist and instinctively swung it, colliding with a feathered arrow made of fine steel that mysteriously appeared in front of him, creating a shower of sparks.

Sparks fell all around.

The moment that feather arrow made of stainless steel was struck, Chen Chao felt a tremendous force that made his arm ache. The webbing between his thumb and index finger had already ruptured right away, blood oozing out, almost causing him to lose grip on the broken saber.

If it was not for years of tempering his body day after day, letting him possess an extremely tough body, he would likely not have been able to change the direction of the arrow even if he had really hit it.

He gritted his teeth and exerted strength again, deflecting the feather arrow by a considerable amount, which finally made it nail into the ground beside the carriage.

Even if the direction of the steel feather arrow had changed, its momentum remained extremely fierce. After it was nailed into the ground, it plunged straight underground, god knows how many feet deep.

"Protect the Saintess!"

In the wake of Song Lian's timely roar, countless steel feather arrows shot out from the tall buildings on both sides. Countless steel feather arrows shot out one after another and the sky was filled with the sound of their whistling. Countless feather arrows shot toward the carriage. If it were not for the Left Guard, that Saintess in the carriage would have been pierced by these arrows into a hedgehog.

Song Lian leaped up and landed on top of the carriage. His official robes fluttered at this moment and a majestic qi surged out. When the countless feather arrows got close to the carriage, they all stopped around the horse carriage at this moment, no matter how fast their momentum.

This Commander of the Left Guard was an extremely powerful martial artist after all. The moment he released his aura, it was difficult for anything to approach the vicinity of his body.

However, the other party was so audacious that they dared to make a move in the Divine Capital, they surely had more tricks up their sleeves.

As the feathered arrows continued to fall, a flame suddenly cut through the sky and appeared in front of Song Lian.

A powerful aura emanated from it and a black figure broke through a window on a distant tall building, rushing towards Song Lian with an extremely strong aura.

At the same time, the air around them suddenly became freezing cold.

Several talismans appeared out of nowhere and hovered in mid-air, exuding waves of chilling air. In just a moment, the Left Guard's constables could not avoid in time and were instantly frozen into ice sculptures.

The entire street began to freeze, as if it were the depths of winter.

Chen Chao's arm had already felt sore after forcibly blocking that feather arrow. At this moment, seeing those talismans appear, he subconsciously leaped off his horse. The moment he leaped up, that white horse also turned into an ice sculpture in an instant.

Chen Chao did not hesitate, after leaping, he slammed towards those talismans. Brandishing the broken saber in his hands, he hacked apart many ice chunks, and finally landed on those talismans!

The extremely sharp broken saber sliced the hovering talismans into halves without any surprise.

The chill dissipated instantly.

After slicing the talismans, he did not hesitate and likewise landed on the horse carriage. Cutting apart the cabin with a slash, the curtains fell. He reached his hand out and grabbed the waist of the girl inside while separated by the curtain, carrying her as he retreated to the rear.

At the same time, Song Lian also jumped off the top of the carriage and began clashing with that unidentified cultivator.

Boom!

A huge sound came from under the carriage, as if it had been hit by something, and it exploded!

On the street, a huge pit appeared!

Chen Chao landed on the ground, still carrying the girl whose face he could not clearly see, but without any intention of stopping. After using his body to smash through a low wall, he began to sprint wildly while carrying the girl!

He did not know what other tricks the assassins had set up on this street. But he knew very well that getting away from there was the best solution.

As for whether would they be chased right now?

Chen Chao grinned.

Song Lian looked at the young man carrying the girl and running away into the distance with some admiration in his eyes. Since these assassins had prepared so thoroughly today, they must have had some more tricks up their sleeve. Running away now was naturally the best solution.

"You guys are really bold to dare commit a felony even in the Divine Capital!"

Now that the Saintess was gone, Song Lian laughed coldly and unleashed his full cultivation without any hesitation. His powerful aura brought immense pressure. This commander of the Left Guard unleashed his full power at this moment, making it extremely difficult for that cultivator who was previously fighting him to resist.

There was only Song Lian alone attacking on this street, but he seemed to have the imposing momentum of an army.

……

……

Separated through the curtain, Chen Chao who was running frantically with the girl in his arms did not follow the usual paths. Instead, after entering a small alley, he chose to use his body to break through a low wall and pass through a family's courtyard.

Although he was carrying a girl, he was extremely agile at this moment, moving like a monkey in the mountains.

After passing through several small courtyards in a row, he suddenly stopped in front of a corner and exhaled a turbid breath. He instinctively reached out to cover the girl's mouth and nose. But soon, he touched a soft lump and that girl moaned softly. Chen Chao immediately withdrew his hand like lightning and changed the saber to his other hand.

A figure just happened to leap over from above.

Chen Chao looked up, seized the opportunity, and swung his saber.

A dead body fell down!

The young man who killed a person with just one strike glanced in the distance. Picking up the girl once more, he started running in the opposite direction.

Soon, they disappeared into a courtyard, leaving no trace behind.