I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 167 Slaying a Fourth-Rank Official

Tianyangli is an ordinary neighborhood in Jiangzhou City, inhabited by ordinary people. After dark, there are hardly any people on the streets.

Once the hour of Hai (9-11 PM) has passed, every household turns off their lights and goes to sleep. Apart from the occasional bark of a dog, there are no other sounds.

In the darkness, a graceful shadow suddenly appeared on a rooftop, gazing at a small courtyard across the way for a long time.

Finally, she moved slightly, as if preparing to leave.

"Chen Ming!"

Suddenly, a loud shout shattered the peaceful night.

The figure on the rooftop stopped again, turned around, and saw two men flying rapidly toward them.

To be precise, it was a young man carrying another person, running across the rooftops at an incredible speed.

Fourth grade!

Princess Hongyu on the rooftop judged the man's cultivation level; clearly, he had come to cause trouble for Chen Ming.

So she planned to watch the excitement before leaving.

She has been away from Qingfeng City long enough, and she has taken care of everything she needed to do. It's time for her to go back.

Before leaving, she came to take one last look at Chen Ming.

Last night, after discovering that Chen Ming seemed to have made a breakthrough, she left. She was unaware of what else happened afterward.

Princess Hongyu also had spies in Jiangzhou City, and she knew that Chen Ming had moved away from the Feng family. She planned to talk to Chen Ming tonight.

But for some reason, after arriving here, she sensed a kind of danger, so she stopped, took a few steps back, and the sense of danger disappeared.

She observed for a while but couldn't pinpoint the source of the crisis. After much deliberation, she decided to trust her instincts, stop moving forward, and choose to leave.

As luck would have it, someone came to cause trouble for Chen Ming.

Perfect timing! She also wanted to see what changes had occurred in that kid and why his true energy had surged.

Just then, Chen Ming, dressed in black, came out, holding the divine weapon in his hand. He leaped onto the roof and greeted the newcomer.

……

"You're Chen Ming?"

Lai Xiangran stopped on a rooftop, released the man who had led the way, and fixed his eyes on the young man in black a few feet away.

"it's me."

Chen Ming was also sizing up the other party. According to Qiu Xiang, the Tianji Sect came from another place and had gained a foothold in Jiangzhou City only after being protected by a top-level expert above the first rank.

It is precisely because they have such a powerful backer that the two younger disciples of the Tianji Sect have acted quite domineeringly in recent years.

In particular, the eldest disciple, Lai Xiangran, was exceptionally talented and looked down on everyone. Several years ago, he and a legitimate son of the Ji family both fell for the same woman and refused to give way to each other.

Later, at the urging of some people, the two decided to have a public duel, and whoever won would win the beauty's heart.

In the end, Lai Xiangran emerged victorious, riding high on his success. The Tianji Sect also gained immense fame.

The price of this was that it created a grudge against the Ji family.

Last year, the supreme expert who protected the Heavenly Pole Sect passed away. Only then did Lai Xiangran become low-key and secluded himself for arduous cultivation.

The current Tianji Sect has a total of three people: Lai Xiangran, Han Xiangcheng, and a sect leader who is their senior uncle and has a second-grade cultivation level.

The leader of the Tianji Sect is very mysterious and rarely shows his face. He always delegates matters to Lai Xiangran.

Especially after the death of that supreme expert, this person's whereabouts became a mystery.

Many people who had grudges against the Tianji Sect refrained from harming these two brothers precisely because they were wary of this person.

"It seems that some people still couldn't resist."

Chen Ming thought to himself.

First, his junior brother Han Xiangcheng came to cause him trouble, and then his senior brother Lai Xiangran. These two were clearly being used as pawns.

The reason these two brothers from the Heavenly Pole Sect approached him was simply because he was unaffiliated with any sect and easy to bully.

……

“My junior brother challenged you to a duel, and you actually resorted to despicable means to ambush him. You are utterly shameless.”

Lai Xiangran's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "Call out your companions too. The one who ambushed my junior brother must be a fourth-rank cultivator. What kind of skill is it to hide in the shadows and secretly injure people?"

"???"

Chen Ming was filled with questions.

And believe it or not, there was indeed a fourth-rank official lurking in the shadows beside him...

He coughed lightly and said, "Friend from the Heavenly Pole Sect, I defeated your junior brother with my own strength. There were a few other people present at the time who witnessed that battle."

He was referring to the person Lai Xiangran had just captured, who was now stealthily fleeing into the distance. Hearing his words, the person froze on the spot.

Lai Xiangran snorted coldly, "You still want to argue? With my junior brother's strength, how could he not even withstand one of your sword strikes? You must have known you were no match for him, so you had your hidden master launch a sneak attack and injure my junior brother!"

He spoke with such certainty, as if he had witnessed it himself.

Chen Ming wanted to reason with him further, "Is there any possibility..."

"Looks like you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin!"

Lai Xiangran lost his patience, gripped the hilt of his knife, and said coldly, "I'd like to see how long your division commander can hide."

Before he finished speaking, he had already drawn his sword.

His knife was also completely black, exactly the same as Han Xiangcheng's.

The same move, when used by him, becomes more than ten times more powerful.

In the next instant, a flash of light slashed toward Chen Ming's face with incredible speed.

This was a blade aura; at such close range, and with such a sudden attack, an ordinary fifth-rank cultivator would have no chance of dodging it. If the fourth-rank cultivator hiding in the shadows hadn't intervened, this blade aura would have been enough to cleave his head in two.

hum-

The "Phoenix Cry Sword" in Chen Ming's hand seemed to sense its master's impending danger, and it trembled violently. This caused Lai Xiangran to momentarily lose his composure. A peerless divine weapon?

He was first startled, then overjoyed.

Just then, the peerless divine weapon was drawn, a red sword light flashing as it cleaved through the deadly blade aura.

Chen Ming gripped the "Mingfeng Sword," staring at Lai Xiangcheng opposite him. The sword's light flickered erratically. "Isn't it a bit too ruthless of you to try and kill someone with a single move?"

He hadn't really grasped the meaning of Qiu Xiang's description of Lai Xiangran as domineering until now. Now, however, he was experiencing it firsthand.

To be honest, he didn't have any ill feelings towards Lai Xiangran or the Tianji Sect. He even felt a little sympathy for their plight.

That stab just now made him realize exactly what kind of person Lai Xiangran was.

His answer was Lai Xiangran's slashing knife.

For Lai Xiangran, his junior brother's injury was no longer important; all he cared about was the peerless divine weapon in Chen Ming's hands!

A fifth-rank soldier, wielding this divine weapon, was able to block his blade strike, demonstrating just how extraordinary this weapon is.

Such a peerless weapon, falling into the hands of this kid, is like a pearl being tarnished.

It should belong to me!

At this moment, Lai Xiangran had already decided to kill him.

……

Huh?
Princess Hongyu, who was not far away, almost intervened when she saw Chen Ming in danger. She hadn't noticed the Heavenly Dao Alliance disciple's presence. If she hadn't intervened…

To her surprise, she witnessed a scene that astonished her.

Chen Ming actually blocked that potentially fatal blade aura. The blade of that divine weapon was radiating a faint red light, which was clearly sword aura.

"He's clearly a fifth-grade cultivator, how could he possibly cultivate sword energy?"

"The divine weapon in his hand doesn't have a primordial spirit..."

At this point, the two started fighting again.

Princess Hongyu clenched her fists instinctively, ready to rush to Chen Ming's rescue should he be in danger.

But three moves passed, five moves passed, more than ten moves passed...

The shock in her eyes deepened, and a storm raged within her.

How can this be?

With his fifth-rank cultivation and a broken divine weapon, Chen Ming actually managed to fight a fourth-rank opponent to a standstill, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

She would never have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.

"His internal energy is actually so profound!"

Although it didn't truly reach a level comparable to internal energy, it only managed to contend with it by using that divine weapon through a clever trick.

However, this was already shocking enough.

"Could it be..."

Princess Hongyu thought of a possibility: he had actually combined the Taiyin True Skill with the Lieyang Divine Skill.

With her discerning eye, she could naturally see that these two techniques originated from the same school. If they could be combined, their yin and yang would complement each other, and their power would naturally increase greatly.

The problem is, it's too difficult, almost impossible.

But she couldn't think of any other possibility.

"This kid—"

Princess Hongyu's eyes gleamed with admiration, once again elevating Chen Ming's importance to a new level.

At this point, Chen Ming and Lai Xiangran had already exchanged more than twenty moves.

In her opinion, his swordsmanship was extremely skilled, even surpassing that of the fourth-ranked swordsman. If their cultivation levels were equal, the fourth-ranked swordsman would be no match for him.

However, Chen Ming's cultivation was ultimately too weak; the difference of one realm was like an insurmountable chasm. Being able to withstand twenty or so moves was something to be proud of.

She could tell that Chen Ming's true energy was almost depleted and he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

Sure enough, after two more moves, a flaw appeared in Chen Ming's sword technique.

Princess Hongyu was about to make a move.

hum-

A ringing sound came to her ears, and an indescribable emotion welled up inside her, causing her to momentarily lose her composure.

wrong!

Her eyes cleared instantly, and she regained her senses. Her heart was no longer filled with surprise, but with horror.

That sword strike just now was clearly sword intent!
"what--"

A piercing scream was heard.

Princess Hongyu saw the fourth-rank martial artist's arm severed and disappear into the night in the blink of an eye. Only Chen Ming remained standing there, with an arm holding a knife in front of him.

Blood was spilled all over the ground.

A gentle evening breeze blew by, ruffling Chen Ming's clothes and making him look like a statue.

Princess Hongyu felt a surge of emotion, deeply moved by the scene before her.

Fifth Rank, Sword Intent!
She finds it difficult to combine the two.

But he did it.

For the first time, she sensed an unfathomable depth in this young man.

P.S.: It's mid-month, please support me with your monthly votes. I bet some people are asking what show it is; it's "In the Name of the Law".

(End of this chapter)