Starting from the imperial palace guards, his clones spread all over the world.

Chapter 717 Revealing Identity
As Liang Jin finished speaking, the once bustling black market suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

The silence lasted only a moment before it was broken and drowned out by even more frenzied and shrill laughter.

"Pay taxes? Beheading? Hahaha!"

"Has this kid lost his mind? What nonsense is he spouting!"

"Hey! Do they really think this Duange Town black market is their backyard? They even dare to put on airs here?"

……

But beneath this seemingly out-of-control commotion, in pairs of eyes, some bright and some dim, a tacit, excited light of anticipation for a good show was shining through.

They knew all too well that in this lawless land, those who dared to defy the rules of the black market rarely met a good end.

A faint, almost imperceptible stench of blood seemed to be slowly spreading through the air.

really.

The scarred man standing opposite Liang Jin's face, with its grotesque, crisscrossing features, visibly darkened.

How could he not see the undisguised murderous intent in Liang Jin's eyes?
Faced with this murderous intent, Scarface felt his blood run cold, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

But when he thought of the unfathomable background and ironclad rules behind the black market in Duango Town, his courage immediately returned.

If this kid dares to cause trouble in the black market, he won't even have a chance to leave tonight!

Thinking of this, Scarface suddenly straightened his chest, dispelling the last trace of fear in his heart, and braced himself to shout sharply:

"Kid! Were you threatening me just now?"

He raised his voice, trying to intimidate people with his imposing presence:
"Doing business in Duange Town is all about mutual consent! The most damn taboo thing is forcing someone to buy or sell!"

"What? Are you implying that you want the blood of the divine turtle, but don't want to pay for it?"

"Hey! That's like a toad yawning—what a big mouth you have! I think you're tired of living!"

As he spoke, Scarface suddenly drew the thick-backed, ghost-head-shaped longsword from his waist.

His companions, as if receiving a signal, stepped forward in unison, drawing their weapons with a series of sharp "whoosh" sounds, their gleaming blades all aimed at Liang Jin.

A chilling murderous aura, mixed with the cold of the Gobi night, instantly enveloped this small area.

Su Yumo, who had been standing quietly to the side like a secluded orchid in a valley, frowned even more deeply at this moment.

Her slender, jade-like hand unconsciously rose slightly, but then slowly lowered again, ultimately showing no sign of intervening.

She subtly glanced at Liang Jin more intently from the corner of her eye.

Bao Rui was so frightened by what he saw that he was about to speak.

Liang Jin said in a deep voice:

"So much nonsense."

"Since you are determined to defy my laws, then submit to the law."

Before he finished speaking, his right hand, which had been casually resting on the guqin on his lap, swept its long fingers across the strings in a seemingly nonchalant manner.

"Om-"

A not-so-loud, even somewhat muffled, piano note rang out.

At that moment, the onlookers felt as if a barely perceptible breeze had brushed against their faces.

In this vast Gobi Desert where the temperature difference between day and night is extreme and night winds are frequent, a gentle breeze is perfectly normal, and almost no one notices anything unusual.

Some even still wore lingering mockery on their faces, waiting to see how Liang Jin would handle the situation.

Only Su Yumo, the moment Liang Jin's fingers touched the strings, her charming peach blossom eyes suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints!
An indescribable sense of extreme danger washed over her body like ice water, making every hair on her body stand on end!

She was like a startled cat; without thinking, she lightly touched the ground with her delicate feet, her graceful figure carrying a fragrant breeze, and hurriedly took a step back.

It was as if they were trying their best to stay away from Liang Jin and that seemingly harmless guqin!

"This guy... his sonic skills have reached such a level?! Formless and shapeless, gathering energy into a blade?!"

A storm raged in Su Yumo's heart, and her eyes were filled with shock and disbelief as she looked at Liang Jin.

Liang Jin's seemingly casual sweep was clearly "seen" by a master like her. An extremely condensed and incomparably sharp invisible internal force, along with that deep zither melody, swept silently towards Scarface and his group like a gust of wind sweeping through the grass!

Its speed and power were so great that even if she went all out to deal with it, she would never dare to say that she could take it without getting hurt!
The intelligence she had gathered in the past all said that Marquis Liang Jin of Zhenxi had an incomparably strong physical body, and his long spear possessed unfathomable power, making him a match for ten thousand men on the battlefield.

But today I have witnessed firsthand that this Marquis of Zhenxi also possesses such terrifying and astonishing mastery of sound techniques!

The intelligence... has made a huge mistake!
And at this time.

The "gentle breeze" had already swept past Scarface and his companions.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Scarface's expression, a mixture of ferocity and a hint of lingering mockery, froze, and the ghost-head knife he held high in his hand stopped in mid-air.

His companions beside him were also frozen in place, as if under a spell, maintaining their knife-pointing posture, standing motionless.

Their eyes instantly lost all their luster, becoming empty and blank, as if their souls had been ripped from their bodies in an instant.

The whole scene was so eerie it sent chills down my spine.

Liang Jin, however, acted as if he had only done something insignificant, speaking calmly and breaking the deathly silence with his voice:

"Baorui, go and fetch the blood of the divine tortoise from their bodies for me."

Bao Rui certainly wouldn't dare refuse.

He approached Scarface and his men with fear in his eyes, trembling as he reached out his hand, as if he were afraid that Scarface would chop him at any moment.

His fingers, trembling, finally touched the scarred man's chest and collar.

At this moment——

A sudden change occurred!

"Pfft!"

A dull, teeth-grinding sound.

Without warning, Scarface's huge, ferocious head slid off his neck in an extremely smooth arc, crashing heavily onto the gravel ground and kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Those wide-open eyes still held the ferocity of their dying moments and a trace of bewilderment that had yet to spread.

Immediately following, like dominoes being toppled, "thump! thump! thump!" several muffled thuds echoed as the heads of Scarface's companions were also severed from their necks and rolled to the ground.

After a brief pause, the warm blood, like a fountain that had been suppressed for a long time, suddenly gushed out from the neat cut, drawing tragic bloody arcs in the air.

"puff--"

A large amount of blood splattered all over Bao Rui's body and face, who was standing right next to him.

A strong, nauseating stench of blood instantly filled the air.

"what--!!!"

Bao Rui let out a heart-wrenching scream that sounded inhuman, and fell to the ground with a thud. He frantically rubbed his face with his hands, finding it sticky and warm to the touch.

He looked down and saw his hands covered in a glaring crimson. When he looked up again, he was met with the head of the scarred man, which had rolled to his feet and was wide open in the eyes.

Extreme fear instantly shattered his psychological defenses.

A foul-smelling liquid uncontrollably soaked his crotch.

He couldn't help but want to escape.

"Ok?"

Liang Jin's icy gaze swept over, and a cold snort struck Bao Rui's heart like a heavy hammer:
"Are you deaf?!"

These three words are more effective than any whip in the world.

Bao Rui jolted awake, forcibly pulled back from the brink of collapse.

The dead are indeed terrifying, but the marquis before us, who takes lives with a smile and treats human life as worthless, is undoubtedly a hundred times more terrifying!
"No...I'm not deaf! Please forgive me, Your Excellency! I'll get it right away! I'll get it right away!"

Bao Rui scrambled back to the headless corpse of Scarface, which was still twitching slightly. He suppressed his boundless fear and the churning in his stomach, and reached out his blood-stained hand to grope inside the still-warm clothes.

The onlookers who had been waiting to see a good show were now as if they had been jolted awake from a nightmare.

“Kill… kill someone!!”

"They really killed someone! The head... the head fell off!"

Screams, cries, and the crashing sounds of tables and chairs being overturned erupted instantly.

The crowd that had been mocking Liang Jin earlier was now in complete chaos, like an anthill being doused with boiling water.

The entire black market, centered around Liang Jin's location, was plunged into panic and chaos.

Su Yumo kept her brows furrowed and coldly observed everything.

Bao Rui finally touched a cold, hard object in the arms of the scarred man's corpse.

He was overjoyed, clutching a seemingly ordinary small white porcelain bottle tightly in both hands. He scrambled back to Liang Jin, knelt down with a thud, and held the bottle high above his head, his voice trembling uncontrollably:

"Lord...Lord! The thing...the thing has been brought! This is...the blood of the divine tortoise you wanted!"

Liang Jin took the porcelain bottle expressionlessly, without even glancing at Bao Rui's miserable state. He casually grabbed the relatively clean corner of Bao Rui's clothes from his shoulder and carefully wiped the bloodstains off the bottle.

After doing all this, he brought the cleaned porcelain bottle close to his eyes and examined it carefully by the flickering firelight.

"This is the blood of the divine tortoise?"

He whispered to himself.

Judging from the appearance of this porcelain vase alone, it is simple and unadorned, even somewhat rough, just an ordinary porcelain vase.

In contrast, he couldn't help but recall the porcelain bottle containing eerie black blood that he had seen in the mysterious underground palace of Burial Dragon Ridge—the bottle was always surrounded by an indescribable special aura, as if it could block all external forces from prying into it, mysterious and dangerous.

Just in case, Liang Jin subtly channeled a surge of pure internal energy into his palm, like the most sensitive tentacles, to carefully examine the exterior of the porcelain bottle. After confirming that there were no hidden mechanisms or traps, he cautiously used his fingertips to pry open the bottle opening, which was tightly sealed with a mixture of beeswax and some special material.

The moment the stopper was opened, a faint yet exceptionally pure, ancient and desolate scent of blood immediately wafted out from the bottle opening.

The scent wasn't strong, yet it seemed to penetrate the body and directly affect the spirit, instilling a sense of awe in people.

Liang Jin tilted the bottle and looked inside, using the light to his advantage.

Sure enough, at the bottom of the porcelain bottle, a drop of liquid about the size of a soybean was suspended.

The drop of liquid was an extremely deep, dark gold color, as if it contained the essence of the ocean and the earth. It rolled slightly in the bottle, faintly emitting a light that flickered like breathing.

"It really is the blood of a divine beast..."

A knowing glint flashed in Liang Jin's eyes.

With his extraordinary perception and keen insight into energy, he could confirm that the porcelain bottle contained genuine divine beast blood.

"Unfortunately, it's not essence blood."

He felt a slight sense of regret.

Essence blood is the crystallization of the life essence and power of divine beasts, and its preciousness far exceeds that of ordinary blood by hundreds or thousands of times.

This drop of blood, though extraordinary, is ultimately just ordinary blood and cannot be compared to essence blood.

at this time.

Lying limply on the ground, Bao Rui, seemingly trying to assert his worth, spoke haltingly, his lips trembling:
"Lord...Lord...this...this divine tortoise blood...is...is an extraordinary and rare treasure!"

"Legend has it... if... if one takes it, it can... prolong life, adding years to one's lifespan out of thin air... and... it can also greatly increase one's power, transforming one's body!"

Liang Jin resealed the porcelain bottle and put it away.

His gaze calmly fell on Bao Rui's deathly pale face, streaked with blood and tears, and he asked indifferently:

“Baorui, shouldn’t these words be spoken to me by the seller who possesses the blood of this divine tortoise?”

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable sense of authority:
"Where did you hear such detailed information from?"

Bao Rui trembled violently, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He hurriedly pointed to the headless corpse of the scarred man beside him, and said in a tearful voice:
"It was...it was him! It was him...it was him bragging to others before, that I...I overheard him by chance!"

"Every word I have spoken is true; I would never dare to deceive you, Your Excellency!"

Upon hearing this, Liang Jin's lips curled into a meaningful smile, a cold smile devoid of any warmth.
"Oh? That's really... very thoughtful."

His gaze swept over the corpses on the ground, his tone calm yet chilling: "Even if I were to kill these blind fools on a whim, someone would immediately be eager to tell me about the miraculous effects of this 'blood of the divine tortoise'."

"This performance was quite well done."

Upon hearing this, Bao Rui's face instantly turned from pale to ashen, his lips trembled even more violently, and his teeth chattered.

He opened his mouth, as if trying to explain something further.

Extreme fear had seized all his ability to speak, leaving only some meaningless "hoarse" sounds coming from his throat.

at this time--

With a whoosh, the crowd was forcibly separated once again!

About twenty or thirty burly men with fierce eyes, led by a middle-aged man with a shiny goatee and sinister eyes, surrounded them menacingly.

These people were clearly different from the ragtag group led by Scarface. They moved with a more organized manner and carried better weapons. They formed a circle around Liang Jin, Su Yumo, and the limp Bao Rui.

A strong killing intent, mixed with the stench of sweat and blood, pressed down on Liang Jin as if it were a tangible force.

The man with the goatee who was leading the group had sharp eyes like a hawk. He first glanced at the scarred man and his companions who were lying on the ground with their heads separated from their bodies, and his pupils contracted slightly.

He then pointed sharply at Liang Jin, his voice hoarse yet carrying a ruthless edge:
"Where did this madman come from! Daring to commit violence in public in the black market of Duange Town, breaking the rules of this place! You have some nerve!"

The group of men behind him shouted in unison, and the sound of swords being drawn was incessant.

"Breaking the ironclad rules here means losing your life and facing punishment!"

The man with the goatee's voice suddenly rose, revealing his murderous intent.

Liang Jin sat motionless, not even raising an eyebrow.

Before he could speak, a clear yet angry shout suddenly rang out beside him:
"Be bold!"

Before the words had even finished, a slender figure in purple appeared like a graceful swan, steadily protecting Liang Jin. It was Su Yumo.

Her eyebrows were raised sharply, and her beautiful eyes held a murderous glint. Despite facing dozens of thugs, her aura was in no way inferior.

When the group of men first saw Su Yumo's stunningly beautiful face and graceful figure, their eyes involuntarily revealed a look of amazement and greed.

The man with the goatee leered at Su Yumo, his gaze lingering on her body. He chuckled dryly, licked his chapped lips, and said with a lascivious grin:

"Wow! I never expected there to be such a beautiful lady!"

"Perfect! We'll capture you and send you to the deepest 'money pit' of the black market. We'll definitely fetch an unprecedented price! Brothers, you're in for a treat tonight!"

Upon hearing this, Su Yumo didn't get angry but laughed instead; her clear voice carried undisguised sarcasm:
"A bunch of blind fools who are courting death!"

"How dare you disrespect the Marquis! You truly don't know how to spell 'death'!"

Mr. Hou?

The two words seemed to possess a magical power; the lewd smile on the goatee man's face froze instantly, replaced by an indescribable shock and disbelief.

The group of men behind him, who had been exuding murderous intent, were all stunned for a moment. Then they couldn't help but look at each other, and they all saw the same shock and fear in each other's eyes.

The entire Western Desert region is vast and boundless, with deeply entrenched and intertwined powers, but there is only one person who dares to and is qualified to be called "Lord Marquis"!
That ruthless figure who wielded immense power and influence in the western frontier, killed countless people, and was feared even by the imperial court!

"The Marquis of Zhenxi?! He's the Marquis of Zhenxi?!"

The man with the goatee cried out in shock, his voice trembling, and the color drained from his face instantly. His hand, gripping his weapon, began to tremble slightly.

The group of men behind him turned ashen-faced, and many of them instinctively shrank back, their previous arrogance completely gone.

Su Yumo took in their reactions, her eyes growing even colder, and said grimly:

"Now you're scared? Too bad, it's too late!"

With that, she flipped her jade-like hand, and the pure internal energy within her body began to circulate wildly like a river bursting its banks. Her clothes fluttered and rustled even without wind.

A powerful aura erupted from her center, even causing the surrounding dust to swirl and form a small vortex.

The powerful fluctuations of internal energy caused the air to emit a low hum.

Sensing this powerful aura that far exceeded their expectations, the goatee and his companions' expressions changed drastically, filled with terror:
"Damn it! This woman is a top-tier expert! Retreat!"

A murderous glint flashed in Su Yumo's eyes:
"Trying to leave now? Leave your life behind!"

She was about to unleash the palm strike she had been gathering for so long, aimed at the group of arrogant thugs who dared to speak so disrespectfully.

If this palm strike landed squarely, it would be enough to kill these dozens of people on the spot!

suddenly!

"Clang clang clang clang—!"

A sudden burst of rapid, high-pitched piano music, like the sudden surge of clashing swords and galloping horses, exploded from behind her without warning!

The music came too suddenly and too intensely!

An intense sense of crisis, so strong it felt like it could tear her soul apart, instantly enveloped Su Yumo's entire body, making her blood almost freeze!

The music was not directed at the man with the goatee.

It was Su Yumo!
There was no time to think it through; it was a purely instinctive reaction from the body!

Su Yumo turned pale.

The fierce palm strike that was originally poised to strike the goatee and the others was forcibly reversed at the critical moment.

With a whistling wind, her jade palm struck out fiercely and without hesitation toward the direction from which the zither music came!
"boom!"

Su Yumo's powerful palm strike, capable of splitting stone tablets, collided violently with the invisible wave of sonic energy!
The expected explosive sound did not occur.

Her palm strike was like hitting an invisible yet soft and resilient wall, instantly dispersed and swallowed up by the surging waves of zither music in an almost tyrannical manner!
The powerful and stirring music seemed to ignore her palm strike defense, like mercury that could penetrate any opening, passing straight through the gaps in her palm strike and slamming into her body!
"Well!"

Su Yumo groaned, feeling an irresistible force penetrate her body. It was as if her internal organs were being kneaded by an invisible hand, causing her blood and qi to churn and become disordered.

She was involuntarily impacted by the continuous sonic energy, causing her to stumble and fall backward for a full six steps before she could barely regain her balance.

Her chest heaved violently, and her stunningly beautiful face was now filled with horror and paleness.

She looked up abruptly, glaring at Liang Jin, who remained seated playing the zither with a calm and composed expression, her voice trembling slightly with shock and anger:
"My lord! I was clearly trying to help you kill these madmen! Why...why did you turn against me?!"

She couldn't understand why Liang Jin would suddenly attack her!
Moreover, his first move was such a fierce and ruthless sonic killing move!
Liang Jin gently pressed his fingertips on the still slightly trembling strings, silencing the lingering sound. He raised his eyes and glanced at her indifferently, his gaze chillingly calm.

"These are all human lives; it would be a waste to kill them like this."

"It's not too late to kill him after my men have ascertained his name."

Killing those scarred-face guys who sold the divine turtle blood won't have much of an impact.

But in his eyes, these dozens of people were all moving "points of merit".

His "Tracking Across Miles" ability is exactly what he needs to kill.

As Liang Jin finished speaking—

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

As if to confirm his words, the entire earth suddenly began to tremble slightly, yet rhythmically!

At first, it sounded like distant rumbling thunder, but soon the vibrations became clear and increasingly intense, as if a thousand troops were galloping in from all directions at the same time!

Immediately afterwards, from the outskirts of the town, came wave after wave of screams filled with terror and despair:
"It's bad! Soldiers! Soldiers are here!"

"Run! So many...so many cavalry! We're surrounded!"

"Damn it! It's the banner of the Marquis of Zhenxi! It's the Marquis's personal guards!"

……

The next moment, from behind the undulating sand dunes and dilapidated earthen walls surrounding Duango Town, countless black cavalry figures emerged like ghosts!

Their armor was gleaming, and their weapons were like a forest. In the cold moonlight and flickering firelight, they silently formed a huge, impenetrable encirclement, like an ever-tightening iron hoop, crushing towards the black market in the center of town!
Large numbers of cavalrymen have surged into the town's narrow streets like a tidal wave.

They were well-trained, galloping on horseback, not wielding swords, but constantly throwing out specially made nets or hurling out barbed ropes, accurately trapping and dragging down groups of black market participants who were trying to escape like headless flies.

Those who stubbornly resisted were immediately surrounded and annihilated by several cavalrymen. Where swords flashed, blood splattered, and screams rose and fell.

In an instant, the sounds of clashing weapons, neighing warhorses, shouts of commands, cries of agony, and the wails of the dying mingled together, transforming this black market, originally rife with secrecy and crime, into a chaotic and brutal battlefield.

Or rather—a slaughterhouse.

Su Yumo was horrified to discover that the cavalry surrounding Duange Town and carrying out a swift and decisive crackdown were not just the ordinary guards led by Qi Zijun!
Among them were a large number of martial artists wearing special-style light armor, moving like the wind, and striking with ruthless precision!
These men exuded a fierce aura, with sharp eyes like eagles. Their martial arts style was completely different from military combat techniques. They were clearly elite private soldiers of the Zhenxi Marquis's Mansion, composed of disciples from the top martial arts sects in the Western Desert, such as the Star Demon Sea, the Boundless Bright King Sect, and the Great Snow Mountain Sect!
When these elite private soldiers made their move, the so-called "experts" and "desperate criminals" in the black market were utterly no match for them, and were often subdued or killed in a single encounter.

The entire battle was a one-sided and overwhelming affair from the very beginning!

Even more surprisingly, a ghostly black shadow landed silently beside Liang Jin at a speed too fast for the naked eye to detect.

The visitor knelt on one knee, bowed deeply, and spoke in a clear, respectful voice:
"My lord, I am late in coming to your rescue. These petty scoundrels have disturbed you. Please forgive me!"

This was a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in a long black robe that accentuated her slender and alluring figure.

Her face was cold and sharp, her eyes like cold stars; she was Leng You!
Su Yumo couldn't help but gasp in shock.

She had no idea when or how Liang Jin had managed to secretly gather such a large number of elite private soldiers near Duange Town, and even sent someone like Leng You!
Immediately, Su Yumo forced a forced, awkward yet submissive smile, lowered her eyelids slightly, and said softly:

"My lord is wise and far-sighted; I was rash."

"Whatever the Marquis says goes."

As she spoke, she subconsciously tried to move closer to Liang Jin as usual to show affection and respect.

However, she had just taken a step—

Liang Jin's fingers, which were caressing the strings, twitched slightly, but he didn't pluck the strings. Yet, an invisible aura locked onto her.

Without raising his head, he spoke in a cold, emotionless voice:

"You have been struck by the Eight Sounds Piercing the Heart; you will be shattered to pieces within eight parts."

He paused slightly, raised his eyes, and his deep gaze was like a sharp sword, piercing Su Yumo's face, which turned pale instantly.

"You now have only two steps left."

Upon hearing this, Su Yumo's slender foot, which had just been raised and was about to fall, froze in mid-air as if bitten by a venomous snake, and she dared not bring it down even an inch!

She stared at Liang Jin in shock and anger, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief, rage, and a hint of barely concealed fear.

Recalling what had just happened, when the sonic attack came along with the zither music and pierced through her palm strike, she did feel a slight numbness in several places in her meridians, as if a few faint wisps of strange energy had entered. At the time, the situation was too critical to investigate further.

When she was forced back by the sound attack, she did indeed retreat six steps!
She didn't know whether Liang Jin's description of "the eight tones piercing the heart" was true or false.

But she dared not gamble! Nor could she afford to gamble!

Marquis Liang Jin of Zhenxi is a peerless villain who can fight and kill two genuine second-rank masters head-on!

Su Yumo thought to herself that even in her prime, she was no match for him, let alone now that she might be under his control!

Immediately, a pitiful and innocent expression appeared on Su Yumo's stunningly beautiful face, as if she were about to cry.

Her pair of watery, alluring eyes were veiled with a layer of aggrieved mist, and she said in a pitiful, trembling voice:
"My lord! Why...why are you treating me like this?"

"I have always been loyal to you, my lord, and have always put you first in everything. I have never had a disloyal heart!"

Her voice was choked with heartbreaking sobs:
"Could it be... could it be that the Marquis doesn't trust me and wants to use this opportunity to arrest me and send me to the Six Doors prison in exchange for that insignificant reward?"

"If that's the case, my lord, you only need to say one word, and I... I will surrender without resistance. Why go to such lengths..."

This pitiful sight of pear blossoms in the rain is enough to captivate all beings.

Upon hearing this, Liang Jin leaned forward slightly, his deep, cold eyes fixed on Su Yumo's beautiful face.

A cold smile slowly curved his lips:
"Don't even mention the Six Doors' prison cells, even the Blackwater Death Prison, the deepest part of the Heavenly Prison, can't hold someone like you, let alone accept you."

Su Yumo's delicate body trembled violently, and a barely perceptible trace of panic flashed deep in her eyes.

Liang Jin's gaze was as sharp as a hawk's, as if it could pierce through skin and look straight into the soul. He smiled coldly and continued:

"Am I right, Su Yumo?"

He paused deliberately, looking at the forced composure in the other person's eyes, before speaking slowly and deliberately:
"Or, I should call you—"

"Flowers, shadows!"

Upon hearing this, Su Yumo's expression changed drastically, and she looked at Liang Jin in disbelief.

(End of this chapter)