knife

Chapter 208 Catching a Turtle in an Old Man's Mouth
Wearing a straw hat and a raincoat, Chang Jian leisurely rode his horse through the spring rain.

For ordinary people, the Black Zone is a dead end.

Once inside, life and death are left to fate.

But for someone like him, these places are beautiful or spectacular.

These places are rarely visited, which has allowed them to preserve their original appearance to the greatest extent possible.
You can see many precious trees, medicinal herbs, stones, and other materials that are not found elsewhere.

Just like yesterday at noon, while washing the horse in a stream, I unexpectedly found a piece of fine yellow jade in the shallow ditch.

Based on Chang Jian's experience, this piece of material is worth at least a thousand gold pieces, if not ten thousand.

Although he no longer cares about money, this unexpected windfall still brings him great comfort, somewhat reminiscent of his youthful state of mind.

This trip to the Black Domain was at the request of Linghu Ye.

The matter that Linghu Ye personally asked Chang Jian to take action must be of great importance.

If anyone is currently a thorn in Linghu Ye's side, it would undoubtedly be Xiao Changche.

Although, in a fair comparison, Li Dachui is more despicable.

But Xiao Changche's reputation was undeniable, and his influence among the 100,000 border troops outside the Great Wall was considerable, which posed the greatest threat to Linghu Ye.

Li Dachui is indeed more cunning and scheming, but without Xiao Changche, his threat is nothing. Linghu Ye can easily eliminate him by bringing up his past as a bandit.

However, Xiao Changche also had a major weakness: he liked to lead from the front in battle and preferred to use his martial arts skills to break through enemy lines and open a path for the charging troops.

Xiao Changche initially developed this habit out of necessity.

Because he had few subordinates, Xiao Changche valued each and every one of them highly, as the death of any one of them would be a loss!
Over time, Xiao Changche developed this habit.

This time, the annihilation of the forces in the Black Domain gave Linghu Ye an opportunity. If Xiao Changche once again took the lead, then he might as well give him a hard blow.

Thus, Chang Jian appeared at Black Wind Ridge.

Black Wind Ridge is the strongest bandit group in the Black Domain. Of course, the reason it is the strongest is because it has always received support from Linghu Ye.

It's impossible for Linghu Ye not to be envious, given that hundreds of thousands of people live in the Black Domain.

As the Protector-General of the Protectorate, he would naturally leave some pieces behind.

Given the opportunity, he would certainly like to turn the Black Domain into the White Domain, a place that would serve him faithfully.

In the struggle for supremacy, every bit of strength is precious.

However, the changes over the past year have been dazzling. In the blink of an eye, the Beiting Protectorate has been divided into the Andong and Anxi Protectorates. Xiao Changche has set up his own office and has gone from being his subordinate to being his hindrance.

If Xiao Changche were to die suddenly, even if the area outside the Great Wall were to change from what it used to be, its threat level would be reduced to the point where it would be negligible.

At least, among the 100,000 Qin border troops, besides himself, there will be no one else who can make them submit.

Unfortunately, they overlooked the fact that Chi Qiu Yuan had infiltrated the Black Domain over the years. How could the Black Wind Gang, the most powerful force in the Black Domain, not have their spies?

When the news of a top-tier expert like Chang Jian appearing at Black Wind Ridge reached Li Dachui and his group, Li Dachui immediately guessed the other party's intentions.

When Li Dachui deliberately leaked this information to Li Guohua at the opening banquet of Zhang Ruo's Inspectorate, the entire plan naturally became meaningless.

Upon receiving this news, Chang Jian breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, the task of secretly assassinating Xiao Changche had put him under considerable pressure. Firstly, Xiao Changche was a ninth-rank Xuan Yuan expert, and secondly, he was affiliated with the army, making him a formidable opponent. If he failed, he would have thoroughly offended his enemy. The Chang family's foundation was located outside the Great Wall; what good would that do in the future? Li Dachui and Zhou Zhi were both troublesome enough.

Even with Linghu Ye backing them up, this matter is still quite troublesome.

Now that the other party knows the news and tells Li Guohua, it serves as a warning and is also a relief for him.

Consider it a trip to the Black Domain, and now we're leisurely making our way back!

The wind carried a light drizzle through the air, horseshoes clattered on the bluestone slabs, echoing the bells around their necks, and the chirping of birds on both sides of the road made Chang Jian feel that the trip had not been in vain.

Suddenly, he reined in his horse and narrowed his eyes.

A simple thatched hut had appeared by the roadside ahead, supported by four pillars and a thatched roof. Judging from the condition of the pillars, it had clearly been built recently.

There shouldn't be a shed like this here!
Just as Chang Jian was thinking this, he saw an oil-paper umbrella appear outside the shed, open with a snap, and then a person holding the umbrella casually walked out and stood in the middle of the road.

"Li Dachui!" Chang Jian took a deep breath.

Under the umbrella, Li Dachui bowed with a smile: "Master Chang, you're in high spirits! What should have been a half-day journey took you three days. You've kept us waiting!"

"You guys?" Chang Jian's gaze fell on the shed.

Another person emerged from within, his face covered by a demon mask, wielding a steel-tipped spear. "Xiao Changche!"

Chang Jian felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

Li Dachui moved the oil-paper umbrella over Xiao Changche's head, shielding him from the light spring rain.

Xiao Changche snorted, "You talk too much nonsense. Have you forgotten what happened last time? You didn't get the job done, and you almost lost two lives!"

"What we lost on one front, we gained on another!" Li Dachui said with a forced smile. "If it weren't for this, would we have been able to achieve such great success in the Yuan Kingdom?"

Looking at the two people opposite him, Chang Jian laughed and said, "This is truly karma. It'll happen quickly. Did you two come here specifically to ambush me?"

Seeing that Xiao Changche was about to lash out again, Li Dachui stopped her and whispered, "We're not really going to kill him, let me do it!"

Holding an umbrella, Li Dachui took a few steps closer and said with a smile, "Is Master Chang really that confident?"

"Two Xuan Yuan Ninth Rank cultivators, quite a show of force, but Li Dachui, the difference between Ninth Rank cultivators is also significant. Do you really think that two Ninth Rank cultivators combined are necessarily more powerful than one Ninth Rank cultivator?" Chang Jian stretched out his hand, and the falling raindrops gathered above his palm, forming a transparent water sphere. This water sphere dripped and spun above Chang Jian's palm, and suddenly, like a seed, it sprouted, grew branches, and then meandered upwards. In the blink of an eye, it actually transformed into a large tree grown from crystal-clear water droplets in Chang Jian's hand.

Chang Jian is demonstrating against Li Dachui and Xiao Changche.

This is absolute control over power.

Chang Jian had been at the peak of the ninth rank for many years, but he could not cross the threshold of the innate realm. For this reason, he even went to Tai'an City to consult Zhou Zhi.

Although both of them are currently at the ninth rank of Xuan Yuan, and are geniuses among geniuses in martial arts cultivation, their age is a factor. Even though they have entered the ninth rank, how profound is their cultivation?

Once martial arts cultivation reaches a certain stage, the effect of simply accumulating power diminishes.

With a snap, Li Dachui folded up his oil-paper umbrella, placed it by the roadside, rubbed it between his hands, and said, "I want to try it!"

Chang Jian nodded: "Okay, I'll give you a chance to try, but don't go back and complain if you suffer a loss!"

Li Dachui laughed heartily, "I'm not an immature child. People like me usually hide when they suffer a loss, afraid of losing face if others find out. Then I'll secretly work hard to try and get back at them when the next opportunity comes."

As he spoke, Li Dachui flicked his finger, and a raindrop flew through the rain, striking the large tree in Chang Jian's palm with a snap. With a whoosh, the crystal-clear tree instantly shattered into a shower of raindrops.

Chang Jian's expression changed.

He never expected that Li Dachui could see the key point of this rain tree.

Li Dachui stretched out his hands, and countless raindrops gathered in front of his palms to form a stick-like object. Then, the stick multiplied into two, then four, and in an instant, it transformed into a large net composed of countless fine threads. This net, seemingly slow but actually incredibly swift, attacked Chang Jian.

Chang Jian snorted coldly: "Fancy and flashy!" He unleashed a palm strike, as powerful as a knife or axe, cleaving the large net in two.

But the large net, now split in two, did not disperse; it continued to attack Chang Jian. Threads of silk emerged and disappeared from within, sometimes rising to the sky, sometimes falling to the ground, sometimes circling left, sometimes moving right, making it impossible to discern their movements.

Chang Jian clapped his hands together, and all the gossamer threads were instantly shaken into shattered raindrops that fell into the dust.

Chang Jian, who seemed to be doing it effortlessly, was actually incredibly shocked. He looked at Li Dachui as if he were looking at a monster.

Because the strength Li Dachui displayed was that of a peak ninth-rank cultivator.

Even if someone's control over true energy is inferior to one's own, it's likely limited.

Add to that the ever-watchful Xiao Changche,
Sweat immediately beaded on Chang Jian's forehead.

A thought suddenly popped into my head.

"Go!" With a wave of his sleeve, he gathered up countless wind and rain, which turned into countless swords and blades that attacked Li Dachui. Li Dachui laughed loudly, but instead drew the Minghong Blade from his waist.

"Master Chang is truly remarkable. Please forgive me for having to use my weapon!"

Before he finished speaking, Chang Jian's figure had already swept out, lightly touching a large rock, and like a wisp of smoke, turned eastward.

Chang Jian made his decision to run away very quickly and acted without hesitation.

Just as his figure passed a large rock in front of him, several deep blue sparks suddenly flew out from behind the rock, blue flames in the rain, extremely strange.

Chang Jian felt as if he had encountered a ghost, and his forward speed came to an abrupt halt. Then he saw a fat man emerge from behind a large rock.

"Li Kaixin!"

Chang Jian was shocked.

Another Xuan Yuan Ninth Rank.

(End of this chapter)