After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 306 Gathering
General Shen, who was being guarded by armored soldiers, clearly did not understand the young man's words. He simply retreated slowly, moving away from the other party.

Meanwhile, on the second floor of the brothel, a man in a bamboo hat and blue robe looked at the young man, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes, and said:
"I can tell from your martial arts cultivation that you are not weak, but as an assassin, with such strength, instead of waiting in the shadows to strike and kill in one blow, you openly reveal yourself. Do you think... you are me?"

As he spoke, the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe suddenly burst into unrestrained laughter, clearly not taking the young assassin from the Hidden Kill Pavilion below seriously at all.

The young man looked up at the other person, a smile playing on his lips, though it was unclear whether it was a mocking or a bitter smile.

The next moment, the laughter of the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe abruptly stopped.

"Your Excellency, please execute this traitor!"

General Shen in the main hall was not aware of the situation at the moment. Upon hearing the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe speak with delight, he cupped his hands and said.

He could return to the capital safely once he killed the young assassin in front of him.

However, when he looked up at the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe, he found that the man's face was full of fear, his eyes were wide open, and he stood there without saying a word.

A look of surprise flashed across General Shen's eyes. He turned to look and saw that a figure had appeared beside the other party at some point.

He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. The figure had clearly been standing next to the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe, but when he first glanced at him, he had completely ignored him, as if he hadn't seen him at all.

The other party seemed to have no presence at all. If he hadn't been startled by the appearance of the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe and hadn't taken a second look, he would have unconsciously ignored him even if he saw him in his line of sight.

In an instant, General Shen sensed something was wrong and his expression changed drastically.

He's no fool; on the contrary, he's extremely vigilant and cautious about everything, having survived the relentless pursuit of assassins from the Hidden Killers.

"who are you?"

General Shen stared at the figure next to the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe on the second floor and asked in a deep voice.

Meanwhile, he led a group of armored soldiers and slowly retreated towards the back of the hall.

At this moment, he had clearly seen the true appearance of that figure.

She was a young woman dressed in a black dress, with an extremely beautiful face. Even though General Shen had frequented brothels and seen many beauties who had fallen into prostitution, none of them could match her stunning beauty.

Yet, this stunningly beautiful woman, who would undoubtedly attract countless eyes on the street, was completely ignored by him at first glance, as if she were just an ordinary woman.

Faced with General Shen's question, the woman in the black dress remained completely expressionless on her beautiful face, as if she had a facial paralysis and remained silent.

Seeing this, General Shen glanced at the other party and then glanced at the young man at the entrance of the brothel. Neither of them seemed to have any intention of making a move.

General Shen dared not be careless in the slightest, and kept retreating towards the back of the hall.

"Hey, sir, you've run into me."

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind, like the madam of the brothel.

General Shen was about to turn around when he found himself suddenly flying backward, crashing heavily in front of the young man from the Hidden Kill Pavilion in the blink of an eye.

He was immediately terrified and tried to escape, but found that his acupoints had been sealed and he was unable to move at all.

At this moment, the young man looked at General Shen, who had fallen to his feet, and shook his head helplessly.

Immediately, he looked up at the brothel, and the madam of the brothel transformed in an instant, becoming an ordinary man, and then walked towards him in a swagger.

The woman in the black dress upstairs still had a stunningly beautiful, expressionless face, completely devoid of emotion.

The next moment, the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe beside her suddenly fell straight down, plummeting from the second-floor railing and crashing into the lobby with a loud thud, then fell silent.

Seeing this scene, General Shen, who was lying on the ground, was filled with despair. The assassin he had hired from the Soul Chasing Hall at great expense had died silently.

"It's meaningless, too weak."

The man shook his head and walked to the young man's side. He glanced at General Shen at his feet, then patted the young man on the shoulder and said:

"Don't worry, I won't steal your kill. I just happened to be passing by."

Upon hearing this, the young man immediately bowed and saluted, his gaze almost imperceptibly sweeping over the other person's hand, where there was a tattoo of the character "甲" (jia).

For a moment, a look of eagerness flashed in his eyes.

In the Hidden Assassins Pavilion, all assassins are divided into four levels according to their strength: "A", "B", "C", and "D".

The Class A assassins are the most powerful group in the entire Hidden Assassins Pavilion, each of them renowned in the assassin world, which is also his long-term goal.

Thinking it over, the young man raised his head slightly and glanced again at the woman in the black dress on the second floor of the brothel.

This time, he was carrying out a mission from the pavilion, chasing General Shen, who was under his command, all the way to this city.

He originally intended to use all his strength to take the enemy's life during the last hundred miles of the journey and complete the mission.

However, after arriving in this city, he encountered the two top-tier assassins before him.

The man in front of them, codenamed "Phantom Swan," offered to come and see after hearing that assassins from the Soul Chasing Hall had interfered with his assassination mission.

As for the woman in the black dress upstairs, she seemed to have the same idea.

Therefore, the current situation has arisen.

At this moment, the young man withdrew his gaze, then flicked his finger, and a small knife transformed into a silver light that shot directly into General Shen's heart, killing him instantly.

"Thank you both for your help."

The young man cupped his hands and spoke, though he wanted to kill his target with his own abilities.

But he also knew that he alone was no match for the dead man in the bamboo hat and blue robe.

Just then, a rough voice suddenly rang out throughout the entire brothel building:

"You guys got here pretty fast!"

The young man was startled and immediately looked around.

Immediately, a short man with a sallow complexion and two masked figures floated into the brothel in an instant.

At the same time, the man codenamed Phantom Swan also turned his gaze to the three who had arrived, narrowed his eyes, and said:

“‘Ghost Dwarf,’ ‘Black and White Rakshasa,’ tsk tsk, instead of obediently carrying out the Grand Plan of the Pavilion, why have you come to Jingzhou?” Upon hearing this, the short man glanced at Huan Hu and grinned.
"You know perfectly well why you're asking. We've come to admire the sage Saint's demeanor, not to see you, this neither-male-nor-female fellow!"

As he spoke, the ghost dwarf immediately turned his gaze to the woman in the black dress on the second floor.

The next moment, a fawning expression appeared on his sallow face as he said:
"I never expected to meet Lady Lianxing here. I am truly fortunate and this trip has been worthwhile."

The woman in the black dress maintained a completely expressionless face, merely glancing at the three approaching figures without offering any response.

Then, she turned around and went downstairs, heading out of the brothel, clearly not intending to pay any attention to the ghost dwarf and his companions.

Seeing this, the dwarf was not angry at all. Instead, he still wore a fawning expression and immediately tried to follow him.

Huanhu shook his head, gazing at the retreating figure of the woman in the black dress, and sighed:
"It seems that the assassin from the Soul Chasing Hall was too weak and did not arouse Lianxing's interest at all."

At this moment, one of the Black and White Rakshasa suddenly looked at Huanhu and asked:
"We heard that the Pavilion will send the Slaughter Saint himself to take action this time. It should be true, right? We don't want to make this long journey for nothing!"

Upon hearing this, a strange look flashed across Huanhu's face, and he smiled:

"Not only that, you've definitely made the trip worthwhile."

The dwarf ghost, who was about to leave with Lianxing, suddenly stopped upon hearing this and turned to Huanhu, asking:
"What do you mean? Is there some other information we don't know about?"

Huanhu glanced at the other person, but didn't seem to intend to hide anything, and waved his hand, saying:
"It's alright to tell you. Ever since that Eighth Prince obtained the Hidden Killing Order, the Pavilion has already used one of its three opportunities to act, and now there are two left."

"Given the rumored formidable martial arts prowess of the Eighth Prince, you should be able to make your own guesses about the identities of those who made those last two moves."

Upon hearing this, the ghost dwarf, the black and white Rakshasa, and the young man in the main hall of the Jiaofangsi were all stunned.

Soon, the ghostly dwarf, his expression shifting, tentatively asked:

"Could it be that besides the old man Killing Saint making a move, the Pavilion Master is also planning to take action?"

Upon hearing this, Huanhu narrowed his eyes slightly, glanced at the group, and said:
“I didn’t say that the Pavilion Master would definitely take action, but… we can’t rule out that possibility.”

One of the black and white Rakshasa stared at the phantom swan for a while, then shook his head:

"Since I joined the Hidden Assassins Pavilion, more than 30 years have passed, and I have never heard of the Pavilion Master personally taking action. Even when faced with the most difficult assassination missions, the Pavilion Master has never shown up."

The ghostly dwarf nodded slightly and said:

"In the past, when the Hidden Kill Order appeared, there was never a precedent of the Pavilion Master personally taking action, and I don't think the Pavilion Master will take action either."

Upon hearing this, Huanhu didn't say much, but slowly opened his mouth and said:

“Throughout history, no one who has obtained the Hidden Kill Order and eventually become the master of the Hidden Kill Pavilion has ever been a simple person. Although we have never seen the master make a move, it does not mean that the master’s strength is weak. In fact, the master may very well be the second Killing Saint hidden in the pavilion.”

"This time, although no news has been sent from within the pavilion, it is common knowledge that the eighth prince of Dali is a martial arts prodigy. Given his martial arts strength that enabled him to destroy Luoshen Peak, it is no exaggeration for the Hidden Killing Pavilion to treat him with utmost caution."

Upon hearing this, both the Ghost Dwarf and the Black and White Rakshasa fell silent, seemingly pondering Huanhu's words.

Soon, the ghost dwarf rubbed his hands together and said:
"No matter what, this trip was definitely worthwhile. It was already a great fortune to be able to witness the demeanor of the Slaughter Saint Elder. If we could see the Pavilion Master take action, that would be an even more once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The Black and White Rakshasa nodded, and one of them asked Huanhu:

"Do you know when the Pavilion will make its move against that Eighth Prince?"

Huanhu shook his head, then turned to look in the direction of Shangyang City and said:
"That's not something I can know for sure, but it should be within the next few days, which should be more than enough time for us to get to Shangyang City."

Upon hearing this, the ghost dwarf and the black and white Rakshasa exchanged a glance, and then spoke:

"Then I won't waste any more time with you. I need to get to the capital of Dali as soon as possible. I'd be furious if I missed it."

Having said that, the dwarf was about to leave in a hurry, but Huanhu glanced at him and reminded him:
"Rumors of this battle for the Hidden Killing Order have been circulating in the martial arts world for some time now. It is estimated that many martial arts practitioners will go to Shangyang City to watch, especially the Soul Chasing Hall. In order to avoid the other party having any ulterior motives, it is best to be more careful."

Upon hearing this, the dwarf's expression shifted, and he nodded in agreement before quickly departing, with the Black and White Rakshasa following closely behind.

In the blink of an eye, the three of them disappeared.

Seeing this, Huanhu withdrew his gaze and prepared to leave as well. However, at this moment, the young man hesitated for a moment and suddenly asked:
"Senior, may I also go to Shangyang City to see what it's like?"

Huanhu glanced at him and said:
"What could be the problem? Come with me."

After saying that, he walked out of the building on his own, and the young man followed him with a happy expression.

……

In the capital of the Great Li Dynasty, within the Heavenly Prison.

In the deepest, darkest cell, a dim oil lamp illuminates a narrow area.

Li Zhi sat cross-legged on the hay in front of a small table. His true energy swirled around him like clouds and mist, moving along a special trajectory. His aura was increasing at an astonishing speed.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of iron locks came from the end of the prison passage, and then a middle-aged man walked slowly and stopped in front of the cell door.

"Your Highness, I have come to see you."

Shen Qiming bowed and slightly raised his head to look at the young figure in the cell.

Then, he suddenly looked startled.

Shen Qiming discovered that, in less than half a month since he brought news of Li Musheng's destruction of Luoshen Peak, his master's martial arts aura had become even more astonishing than before.

"What's the matter with me?"

Li Zhi remained seated in his cell, meditating without even opening his eyes, and asked indifferently.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiming took out a wax-sealed letter from his sleeve, presented it with both hands, and said:

"Your Highness, this is the reply from the person you asked me to find."

At this moment, Li Zhi slowly opened his eyes. A faint, terrifying glint of light flashed across his eyes, and a celestial blade seemed to appear behind him before quickly disappearing.

Li Zhi glanced at Shen Qiming, raised his hand, and the letter in Shen Qiming's hand fell into his hand from thin air.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, the envelope turned to ashes. He then read the contents of the letter while asking:
"Have you heard any news about the Eighth Prince these days?"

(End of this chapter)