The First Sage of Military Strategists

Upon hearing this, Liu Jinchen couldn't help but glance at Yan Qiuling again. He couldn't discern Yan Qiuling's true strength, but he sensed an aura emanating from her that made him tremble.

He felt that Yan Qiuling was very strong, but he didn't know exactly how strong she was. However, she was very arrogant and didn't take Shao Siming seriously at all.

"The Yin-Yang Cult?" Han Qing remained calm. He was indeed not afraid of Shao Siming alone. "General Liu, I will help you resolve this crisis. Where are those Yin-Yang Cult members you captured?"

Now, the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. The most important thing is to gather intelligence and find out where the enemy is and how strong they are as soon as possible.

Han Qing's first thought was to kill the Yin-Yang Cult members, absorb their soul light points through the Seven Killings Stele, and read their memories.

Liu Jinchen shook his head: "That day, Huangfu Qi injured me and attacked the prison, rescuing many prisoners from inside."

“In that case, let’s wait. Didn’t Huangfu Qi say he was going to kill all the leaders in the city? I’ll wait for him to walk right into our trap!” Han Qing thought to himself.

"By the way, young master, there are still several Yin-Yang Sect strongholds in the city, ranging from dozens to hundreds. I originally intended to send people to arrest all of them and bring them back to prison, but Huangfu Qi's appearance disrupted my plans. In order to avoid angering the Yin-Yang Sect experts, I have been turning a blind eye to them and letting them spread their doctrines and develop followers. However, with you here, young master, I think we can take action now!"

Han Qing nodded slightly: "There's no time to lose. Send men tonight to capture all these people. I want to interrogate them myself!"
To ensure everything goes smoothly, I will send someone to help you!

"Good!" Liu Jinchen glanced at the large group of people behind Han Qing. They were all strong and imposing, none of them easy to deal with.

Liu Jinchen acted swiftly, launching a thunderous attack that very night, destroying all five major Yin-Yang Sect strongholds in the city and capturing a total of three hundred Yin-Yang Sect members.

As dawn broke, Liu Jinchen led Han Qing toward the cell where these people were being held.

After the curse seal was broken, Liu Jinchen's physical condition improved a lot. Although he still looks very weak, at least he is no longer curled up in a chair as if he was about to die at any moment.

"Young master, these people are truly despicable. They use all sorts of means to buy young men and women in the city, some even by force. Officials of the Great Yu Dynasty are secretly colluding with them, otherwise the Yin Yang Sect wouldn't have been able to develop so many strongholds in the city!"

Han Qing nodded slightly. Lin Yueqiu had also participated in one of the battles, destroying a stronghold of the Yin Yang Sect in the city. When he returned, he was indignant and explained in detail the situation inside the Yin Yang Sect stronghold. Many young men and women were chained in cages and kept like pigs and dogs.

After hearing the two men's descriptions, Han Qing felt even more disgusted with the Yin-Yang Sect.

The fact that the Han and Luo families were secretly colluding with a cult shows that the Great Yu Dynasty deserved to perish.

As he pondered, he arrived at the depths of the prison. With a glance, he saw Yin Yang Sect members locked in cells on both sides, all wearing shackles.

When they saw Han Qing and his companion arrive, they showed no fear whatsoever. Many of them were cursing and swearing, and some were even using extremely vicious language to curse Han Qing and his companion.

Liu Jinchen frowned: "Young Master, there are quite a few lunatics among these people who aren't even afraid of death!"

Han Qing raised an eyebrow: "Then let them die!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a cold wind swept through the cell, the cries of the prisoners inside stopped abruptly, and they fell to the ground in droves, lifeless as they hit the ground, completely turning into corpses.

With Han Qing's current strength, he doesn't even need to lift a finger to kill these low-level martial artists. He can easily destroy their souls by probing into their bodies with his spiritual power.

Liu Jinchen was shocked. More than 300 people had been killed in just a few breaths. The cell fell silent for a moment.

He hadn't expected Han Qing, who seemed so gentle, to be so ruthless and decisive.

"They're nothing but a bunch of beasts. If they're not killed, they'll only bring more harm to the world." Han Qing said this and turned to leave the cell.

Liu Jinchen didn't say much and immediately called the soldiers outside to come in and deal with the bodies.

The next few days.

Han Qing stayed in Fengyang City, living in the small courtyard next to Liu Jinchen, as did Yan Qiuling, Zhou Xiaoru, and others.

Within the Seven Killings Stele, hundreds of soul points floated up and down.

For three days in a row, Han Qing stayed in his room, absorbing soul light points and inheriting martial arts skills, transferring his proficiency to the Yin-Yang Curse Seal.

He only had a fragment, but the Seven Killings Stele could perfect a martial art to its extreme, so the fragment was gradually deduced into a complete version.

Han Qing gradually absorbed the soul points from these more than three hundred believers. He also gleaned a great deal of information from their memories. By combining this information, he had found the location of this branch altar of the Yin Yang Sect.

"This branch altar is quite far from Fengyang, and the situation in Liangzhou is currently chaotic. I can wait and wait for Huangfu Qi to come to me. Otherwise, I can make a trip there. If I can kill that Shao Siming, it will be a great gain," Han Qing pondered.

So he continued to absorb soul light points and inherit and transform proficiency.

After waiting for three more days, Huangfu Qi finally appeared.

into the night.

After inspecting the south gate, Liu Jinchen was leading his men on horseback through the streets, followed by hundreds of armored soldiers.

Suddenly, he felt a dizzying sensation, as if he had fallen into a vast plain, with an endless, constantly rotating vortex of stars above him, from which he could not escape for a moment, and his blood and energy began to drain away at an accelerated rate.

However, he suddenly heard a cold snort, felt a gust of cold wind blow across his body, and then broke free from the illusion.

He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw standing in front of him was an old man with eagle eyes and white eyebrows.

This man was Huangfu Qi, and behind him, hundreds of armored soldiers had fallen to the ground, unconscious.

However, this time, he was not flustered at all, because Han Qing had arrived in time and was standing beside him.

"Who are you? Do you know that I am Huangfu Qi, one of the four branch masters of the Yin-Yang Sect? I advise you not to meddle in things that are not your business!" As Huangfu Qi spoke, he secretly activated the Yin-Yang Dao secret technique to sense good and bad fortune. The result was extremely bad, which meant that if the two of them fought, he would have a very high probability of losing his life.

This made him very alert and somewhat confused.

So young, and I am a half-saint of the Yin-Yang Dao, yet I am no match for him?
Han Qing laughed and said, "I've been waiting for you for a long time. Now that you're here, leave your life behind!"

"You are Han Qing!" Huangfu Qi's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he voiced his suspicions.

Han Qing didn't bother with any more words, and suddenly leaped up and pounced on him.

A murderous aura surged forth, and a suit of demonic armor had condensed on his body. Behind him, a large number of Yin soldiers emerged, like an army following Han Qing as they charged towards Huangfu Qi.

A vast starry sky suddenly appeared above Huangfu Qi's head, with starlight falling from it and merging into his body. His aura surged, and his physique visibly became stronger.

Then, he did something that greatly surprised Liu Jinchen: he took to the air and fled rapidly out of the city.

"They just ran away like that?"

"They just ran away like that?" Liu Jinchen was shocked.

Huangfu Qi was incredibly powerful in his eyes before, but he didn't expect to be so timid when he met Han Qing. He didn't even dare to make a move and turned to run away. Is Han Qing really that scary?

"Want to leave? Do you think you can?"

Han Qing made a sudden move, unleashing the Cloud Dragon Leap, with cloud dragons swirling around him, and chased after them.

Huangfu Qi soared upwards for several hundred feet, then suddenly turned around and found Han Qing chasing after him, the distance between them rapidly closing.

"Oh no! This is the Great Vajra Temple's Flying Escape Technique, Cloud Dragon Leap! It's so fast!"

Huangfu Qi gritted his teeth, knowing he couldn't leave. With a thought, a cold wind suddenly rose, and a statue of a god holding a long sword and surrounded by starlight appeared in front of him.

The statue had two faces, one male and one female. Seeing Han Qing chasing after it, the statue thrust forward with its sword, launching a fierce attack.

Han Qing was already clad in his demonic armor, and he raised his hand to unleash a slash.

This strike combined the military might of thousands of Yin soldiers and was imbued with a vast and profound martial arts essence.

A flash of cold light appeared, and the Star God statue exploded in mid-air, turning into a gust of cold wind that dissipated throughout the world.

Huangfu Qi, who was still soaring upwards, suddenly trembled, his mind and spirit were shaken, and his face showed a look of horror.

"What terrifying swordsmanship!"

Since becoming a demigod, he had never seen anyone display such fierce swordsmanship, capable of cleaving his idol in two with a single strike.

In that instant, he saw a crimson mirror emerge from the billowing evil mist behind Han Qing, emitting a crimson light that instantly shone upon him.

Huangfuqi's five senses became even more confused. He could neither see nor hear, and was almost cut off from all contact with the outside world.

"not good!"

He hurriedly retreated, and after struggling for a couple of breaths, he finally regained some of his senses.

The moment he regained his sight, he suddenly saw Han Qing rushing in front of him and slashing down with his sword.

When Huangfu Qi swung his sword to block, it was already too late.

The sword light flashed like a shadow, engulfing his body in an instant.

Huangfuqi was immediately divided into pieces, and it was as if a rain of blood had fallen on the world.

His soul left his body and fled into the distance with a look of terror on his face, but Han Qing finished him off with a blow, slashing him into pieces in mid-air and turning him into wisps of magical energy that dissipated in the air.

Huangfu Qi died as a result.

With a wave of his hand, Han Qing unleashed a gust of wind that swept over his weapons and belongings. He then secretly activated the Boundless Stele, and with a flash of ghostly light, all of these items vanished without a trace.

Under Liu Jinchen's horrified gaze, Han Qing landed gracefully.

"Lord Liu, Huangfu Qi has been killed. I told you, with me here, this man is nothing to fear. Have I lied to you?" Han Qing asked with a smile.

Huangfu Qi nodded repeatedly: "What you say is true, young master. I thought you were not very capable because you were so young. I did not expect that you would be so powerful. You must have unparalleled talent. I was blind and did not recognize a true hero."

"Although Huangfu Qi is dead, I heard that Shao Siming of the Yin-Yang Sect is also in Liangzhou. You take some men and hang Huangfu Qi's head on the city gate, and then spread the word that the Yin-Yang Sect members in the city have been wiped out. If Shao Siming is lured there, I will kill her, and the crisis will be completely resolved," Han Qing instructed.

"Alright, I'll take some men to handle this right away," Liu Jinchen said hurriedly.

As he turned around, a fleeting look of surprise crossed his eyes. He hadn't expected Han Qing to be so capable, and for a moment, he felt incredibly confident.

Han Qing turned and returned to the City Lord's Mansion. On the way back, he had absorbed Huangfu Qi's soul light points and gleaned a lot of information from his memory fragments, including detailed information about this Shao Siming.

"It turns out that the Yin-Yang Incantation Seal has thirteen levels when it is perfected, and it emits thirteen colors of light. In this world, only the ancient incantation seal in the hands of the Grand Master of the Yin-Yang Sect, which has been passed down for thousands of years, has reached this level. The Junior Master of the Yin-Yang Sect also has a Yin-Yang Incantation Seal, but it is only at the seventh level and can emit seven colors of light," Han Qing pondered.

While he was pondering, he had already returned to the courtyard.

Although Yan Qiuling and Zhou Xiaoru did not act with Han Qing, they had been closely watching the battle on Han Qing's side. Seeing that Han Qing easily killed Huangfu Qi, the two of them did not make a move.

"Young master, your strength is truly remarkable. I never imagined that you could kill Huangfu Qi so easily." Zhou Xiaoru waved his fan, a gentle smile on his face.

“Although the branch leaders of the Yin-Yang Sect are half-saints, their strength is only average. They are not qualified to learn and inherit the Yin-Yang Incantation Seal, so it is normal that they were easily killed by Han Qing,” Yan Qiuling said.

"Qiu Ling is right. My current strength is enough to kill more than 90% of the half-saints in the world. I may not be invincible among half-saints, but I am at least a top expert," Han Qing said with a smile.

“What you say is absolutely right, young master.” Zhou Xiaoru nodded.

"Han Qing, I've heard that Shao Siming is also a proud and extremely confident person. Liu Jinchen hung Huangfu Qi's head on the city gate. As long as the news reaches her ears, she will definitely come to kill him within three days. This battle will not be easy, but if the three of us join forces, killing her will not be difficult!" Yan Qiuling added.

"I'm not afraid of her coming, I'm afraid she won't come!" Han Qing said slowly.

...

into the night.

The city lord's mansion courtyard.

Han Qing sat cross-legged on his bed in his room, with a bronze incense burner beside him emitting wisps of smoke.

He closed his eyes slightly, and the Seven Killings Stele appeared in his mind.

He inherited three martial arts techniques from Huangfu Qi: a martial arts method with seven realms of cultivation called Tian Shang Gong, a method of refining the spirit with seven realms of cultivation called Xing Chen Hao Yu Jue, and a sword technique called Wu Yun Zhe Yue.

The proficiency levels for these three skills are respectively: Mastery, Minor Mastery, and Minor Mastery.

"First cultivate martial arts, reach the seventh realm of perfection, and then cultivate magic," Han Qingxin said.

This is also the order that all martial artists generally follow, because only a strong enough physique can support a powerful soul. If it is reversed, the martial artist's mind will be filled with chaotic thoughts, which will lead to a series of illusions.

Therefore, he transferred the proficiency of these three martial arts to the Heavenly Profound Skill.

With the help of the Seven Killings Stele, his physique continued to grow stronger, and he made great strides toward the perfection of the seventh realm of martial arts.

...

The next day.

It was bright.

Above the city gate, Huangfu Qi's head was already hanging high.

Liu Jinchen posted notices to inform the people that all the Yin-Yang Sect members in the city had been killed and the imprisoned boys and girls had been sent back to their homes. For a time, the people of the city cheered.

However, the fact that there were also spies from various forces in Liangzhou hiding in Fengyang City has been quickly spread far and wide by many spies.

Liangzhou.

Tianshui City.

This is the largest and most prosperous city in Liangzhou.

In a study in Tianshui City, a middle-aged man dressed in a blue robe, exuding an air of refinement, sat on a silver-threaded nanmu chair, gazing through the window at the beautiful scenery in the courtyard.

This man was Liu Tianhe, the governor of Liangzhou. Beside him was a young man in white robes, with a sharp and piercing demeanor, like a drawn blade. His name was Bai Fengzhen. He carried a long sword on his back and held a wine gourd in his hand, occasionally taking a big gulp of wine into his mouth.

This man was Bai Fengzhen, Liu Tianhe's most trusted bodyguard and a martial arts master. (End of Chapter)