Imperial Scepter

Having broken free from the stalemate at the village entrance, Gao Chun and his group of five slowly stepped into the interior of Li Family Village.

The village is crisscrossed by lanes, paved with blue bricks, and houses are arranged in a staggered pattern.

The high walls on both sides of the courtyard, with the intertwined branches of ancient trees, cut the sunlight into fine, mottled patterns.

The village, which should have been bustling with activity, was unusually silent.

Huang Xiaoming, who is known for his social skills and ability to navigate social situations, immediately sensed the danger.

His usual carefree and playful demeanor had vanished, replaced by a tense and cautious expression.

A pair of small eyes kept scanning the courtyard wall, the alley entrance, and the half-open wooden door, not daring to miss any unusual movement.

Having traveled to various villages year-round, he knew best that village lanes and alleys were far more suitable for ambushes and kills than forests.

Li Daoqiu walked on the far left of the group, his figure as steady as a rock, his eyes as sharp as a hawk.

He took the vigilance work to the extreme, not even missing the slightest changes in the flow of Xuan energy.

He tilted his head slightly, lowered his voice to remind everyone, his tone calm and solemn.

"Li Tianjiao is narrow-minded and will retaliate if insulted. Everyone, keep your formation and do not scatter."

Gao Chengzhi clung tightly to Gao Chun's clothes, his small body pressed close to his uncle.

The initial curiosity had vanished, replaced by a nervousness inappropriate for my age.

He tried to walk quietly, not daring to make the slightest noise, for fear of attracting trouble.

He secretly vowed in his heart that he would not hold his uncle back this time.

Wang Hu adopted the guard posture to its fullest extent, his burly body leaning slightly forward.

He stood firmly within half a step of Gao Chun, like the most solid shield.

He would immediately stand in front of the slightest disturbance.

Protecting purity has long been an instinct and belief ingrained in our bones.

Gao Chun walked in the middle of the group. The 12-and-a-half-year-old boy was light and agile, with a carefree smile on his face. He looked around as if he were visiting a temple fair, without any awareness of the danger he was about to enter.

No one knew that the bloodline origin crystal in his chest could automatically issue warnings. This was the third function of his bloodline supernatural power. Within three hundred meters, no malice could hide.

From the moment he stepped into the main alley of Lijia Village, the bloodline crystal kept jumping up and down.

Gao Chun had already figured out everything around him, and Li Tianjiao and his group were secretly following him from the shadows.

"Heh heh, can't beat them openly, so they try to play dirty tricks?"

He muttered to himself, it seemed that the attack at the village entrance had not completely intimidated the other party.

"The aloof young master image I deliberately portrayed before wasn't quite intimidating enough; I'll have to work on improving my 'acting skills' in the future."

"Hmph, when I used the Level 3 Thunder Shadow earlier, I only used a small amount of Xuan power, mainly relying on speed to defeat my enemy. This time, I will use all my Xuan power and rely purely on my aura to overwhelm my opponent. It will be a good opportunity to test just how terrifying the Level 3 Thunder Shadow, when activated at full power, really is."

"The Level 3 Thunder Shadow is a top-tier Bronze-level technique. Once unleashed at full power, its might is enough to terrify these peers."

Just imagining everyone's panicked state later, Gao Chun couldn't help but secretly smile.

He was secretly delighted, but on the surface he pretended to be innocent and naive, swaying slowly without any sign of panic. He even deliberately slowed down, acting as if he was completely unaware of what was going on, as if he was deliberately cooperating with the other party to finish this charade.

He wanted to see what tricks these people could pull.

Perfect timing! I'll play with them again today and clean everything up once and for all, so they won't bother me later.

The five of them continued on their way, and the deeper they went, the fewer pedestrians they saw around them.

The alleyway became narrower and narrower, and the walls on both sides grew higher and higher, blocking out the sky.

The light grew dimmer, the atmosphere more oppressive, and the silence suffocating.

This is a classic ambush trap; a slight misstep could lead to utter destruction.

Li Daoqiu's expression instantly turned extremely solemn, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks.

"Something's not right! It's too quiet here, abnormally quiet. Something's definitely wrong!"

He shouted in a low, stern voice, ordering everyone to immediately gather together and prepare for battle.

Huang Xiaoming's heart skipped a beat and his face turned pale instantly, but he still stubbornly refused to back down.

Gao Chengzhi's small body trembled slightly, but he still gritted his teeth and did not back down in the slightest.

Wang Hu's pale purple profound energy erupted suddenly, and his aura as a three-star bronze master spread out without reservation.

He stood in front of Gao Chun, his eyes fierce, like a war god ready to charge at any moment.

Almost at the same instant.

The crystal containing the bloodline essence in Gao Chun's chest suddenly jolted violently.

The warning level was instantly raised to the maximum.

The malice had reached its peak, and an ambush was imminent; more than a dozen killing intents locked onto them simultaneously.

A mischievous glint flashed in Gao Chun's eyes, but his face still wore an innocent smile. He even tilted his head slightly, pretending not to have noticed anything.

He was overjoyed:

The show is finally about to begin.

Li Tianjiao thought he had hidden himself perfectly, but little did he know that from the very beginning, he had been being played like a fool by Gao Chun.

"Watch out!! There's an ambush!!"

Li Daoqiu shouted sharply, channeling his pale purple profound energy to its limit, preparing for a desperate battle.

"Do it!!!"

A vicious and frenzied roar suddenly exploded in the alleyway!

On the high walls on both sides, dark shadows flashed as more than ten young cultivators, wielding magical weapons, pounced down.

At the corner ahead, Li Tianjiao, holding a short black iron blade and with a crimson face, charged out first.

At the entrance to the alley behind, four teenagers quickly blocked the way, completely sealing off all escape routes.

The encirclement was formed instantly, a net so tight that it left the five people no chance of survival.

"Gao Chun! You humiliated me in public, making me a laughingstock! Today I will make you pay the price!"

Li Tianjiao appeared to be insane, his voice hoarse and venomous, as if he wanted to devour Gao Chun alive.

But Gao Chun just blinked, a sly smile playing on his lips. He wasn't afraid at all; instead, he seemed to be watching a monkey show with great interest.

"Seriously? That's all the manpower you have? Your ambush is really pathetic."

The boy's voice was clear and crisp, with a hint of deliberately teasing, which made Li Tianjiao immediately lose his temper.

Li Tianjiao laughed in fury, pointing his black iron short blade directly at Gao Chun, and roared fiercely.

"You dare to be stubborn even when you're about to die! This is my territory, you can't escape here!"

Today I will destroy your three-colored Dao Seed, break your limbs, and make you kneel and beg for mercy forever!

The teenagers behind him also shouted and yelled, their arrogance and menacing glint in their eyes.

Shouts of battle filled the alleyways, the atmosphere was extremely tense, and a major battle was about to break out.

Huang Xiaoming was so frightened that his face turned pale and his legs went weak, but he still insisted on staying with the group.

Li Daoqiu's eyes were serious as he quickly scanned the encirclement, searching for a possible breakthrough.

"The enemy outnumbers us and has the advantage of terrain. Let's huddle together, hold our ground, and wait for an opportunity to change!"

Wang Hu roared, his voice echoing through the alley, his muscles bulging, his fighting spirit soaring to the heavens.

"Don't be afraid, brother! I'll charge out and fight my way through! Anyone who dares to stop me, I'll break their bones!"

Gao Chengzhi's face was tense, his fists clenched, and although there was fear in his eyes, he remained resolute.

"Uncle, I'm not afraid! I'll fight alongside you and I'll never hold you back!"

Li Tianjiao looked at the five trapped people and a sinister, triumphant smile appeared on his face.

He approached step by step, his tone sinister and mocking.

"Gao Chun, kneel down now and cripple your cultivation, and I might let you die a quicker death!"

Gao Chun finally burst out laughing.

He crossed his arms, tilted his head, and had an innocent yet irritating expression on his face.

"I've already given you a way out at the village entrance, but you won't come down."

"If you insist on coming here looking for a beating, then I won't be polite."

The moment he finished speaking, he gently raised his small hand.

There was no solemnity, no grimness; the movements were as light and playful as if they were joking around.

Om-! ! !

Gao Chun was surrounded by purple lightning, and at the same time, three extremely dazzling purple lightning shadows suddenly appeared beside him.

It shone with a brilliant purple light and was surrounded by lightning. It was exactly the same as the high-purity one, and its aura was terrifying.

"Assassination Technique: Level 3 Thunder Shadow!"

One main body and three lightning shadows stood silently, without any intention to attack.

But the terrifying pressure that rushed towards them caused the entire narrow alleyway to tremble slightly.

"What?!"

Li Tianjiao's pupils shrank sharply, his face turned deathly pale, and his smugness froze on his face, turning into terror.

"This oppressive aura... how can it be this strong?! Just now at the village entrance, it didn't have this much power at all!"

As the young village chief of Li Family Village, he had some knowledge and was instantly horrified.

This kind of power is at least the power of a top-tier bronze-level spell!

They simply cannot win against top-tier bronze-level magic.

All the shouts of the Li family youths came to an abrupt halt, and the entire arena fell silent.

No one expected that Gao Chun, who was in dire straits, would make such a show of force with a casual gesture.

Gao Chun crossed his arms, tilted his head and smiled, his tone clear yet carrying a hint of slow, sarcastic mockery that made one's teeth itch:

"See that?"

Can jealousy feed you? Can a sneak attack change your fate? Is it so great to use some underhanded tricks?

"I'm really sorry, but in the face of absolute strength, no matter how many of you there are, you're just here to make up the numbers."

With a slight thought, the three lightning shadows simply took a step forward.

There was no attack, no collision, not even a finger touching the other.

But that invisible pressure suddenly spread out, making everyone on the spot unable to breathe.

Li Tianjiao's forward-charging figure froze on the spot, his hand gripping the short blade trembling wildly, his pale purple Xuan power quivering erratically, making it difficult for him to even stand.

The ambushers who jumped down from the high walls on both sides were terrified, their faces turning pale. They were caught in a dilemma, frozen in mid-air.

The four people blocking the road behind them collapsed to the ground, trembling, too scared to even lift their heads.

In the blink of an eye.

This meticulously planned ambush collapsed completely without even a fight being fought.

The Li family youths, who had been so aggressive just moments before, were now terrified and had lost all will to fight.

The entire room was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.

Huang Xiaoming stared in disbelief, then suddenly straightened his back, his face full of admiration and pride.

"Captain is awesome!! That's incredible!"

Li Daoqiu took a deep breath, and his gaze toward Gao Chun completely changed.

It's not cold and domineering, but rather a mischievous control that takes things to the extreme.

Wang Hu laughed heartily, his voice honest yet full of pride.

"I knew it! The captain is invincible! No one can stop him!"

Gao Chengzhi covered his mouth with his small hand, his big eyes sparkling with admiration that seemed to radiate stars.

Gao Chun waved his hand lightly, and the three lightning shadows turned into purple light and dissipated, transforming him back into the cheerful and mischievous boy.

He strolled slowly up to Li Tianjiao, tiptoed, and patted the other's stiff cheek with a smile.

The movements are frivolous and mischievous, with little lethality but extremely insulting.

"Now you know the difference, right?"

Don't play such childish tricks again, it's so boring.

Li Tianjiao trembled all over, his eyes were unfocused, and his arrogance and resentment were completely crushed.

He provoked her twice, but both times he didn't even manage to touch the hem of Gao Chun's clothes before being easily crushed.

He finally understood that there was a world of difference between him and Gao Chun.

Gao Chun stopped looking at him, his eyes darted around, and the Profound Vein Origin Bead in his chest rotated, sensing another Profound Vein Origin Bead.

He turned around and grinned at his companions, his smile both sunny and sly.

"Let's go, we're not playing with them anymore, we have important business to attend to!"

After saying that, he turned around and walked briskly toward his destination.

Wang Hu and his four companions immediately followed. The five of them moved with ease and grace, passing through the mess on the ground and over the distraught Li family youth.

Along the way, no one dared to utter a sound, and no one dared to stop them.

All that remained was a deathly silence of awe.

(This chapter contains 3400 words; there will be another chapter this evening.)