You, a tyrannical ruler, roam the heavens; you cannot understand my joy.

Lu Zuo raised an eyebrow, flashed to the door, and pushed open the inn door with a palm.

Outside the gate, torches blazed like dragons, and a massive, dark cavalry force surged in like a tidal wave. They were all dressed in black, carrying quivers and narrow swords at their waists. Their horsemanship was superb, and their uniformity exuded a cold, murderous aura.

Yin Qiniang, who was facing the main gate, saw everything clearly and immediately exclaimed in surprise, "The black-clad archers?!"

Then, as if she had thought of something, her gaze focused on Lu Zuo.

"The elite of the Eastern Depot have appeared here..."

"The young expert that those bodyguards were talking about during the day, the one Liu happy was targeting, could it be you?"

Lu Zuo nodded: "Exactly."

Hiss!

A collective gasp filled the lobby.

"Um?"

At this moment, in front of the black-clad archers, a middle-aged eunuch who appeared to be the leader had already reined in his horse.

His gaze swept across the entrance of the inn, instantly locking onto Lu Zuo's figure, and he exclaimed in surprise.

Immediately, he quickly took out a scroll of silk painting from his pocket, unfolded it for comparison, and found that the person in the painting bore an eighty percent resemblance to the young man at the door!

"Found it!"

The head eunuch roared in a shrill voice, "The Grand Eunuch orders that this man be killed without exception upon discovery!"

"Release the arrows!"

Swish swish swish...

The front row of dozens of riders almost drew their longbows and unleashed a barrage of arrows!

The dark mass of arrows tore through the air, converging into a deathly shriek!

A torrential rain of arrows descended upon Lu Zuo's body, heading straight for the inn's entrance!

Clang!

A soft hum, like the roar of a dragon.

Lu Zuo unleashed his Demon Blade Thousand Blades, unleashing a bloody storm!

Crackling sounds rang out as the blade trembled, producing a dense, cracking sound like ice breaking, and instantly disintegrated into thousands of fragments!

Buzz!

These fragments hovered in front of Lu Zuo, spinning rapidly and emitting a sharp buzzing sound!

Immediately afterwards, each fragment unexpectedly generated a blade of energy!

One energy blade gives rise to two, two gives rise to three, three gives rise to millions...

Immediately!

Countless fragments and air blades intertwined and swirled, instantly forming a terrifying tornado of sharp blades several meters high!

At the edge of the storm, the air was cut into visible ripples, emitting a mournful howl like the wailing of ghosts!

The dense rain of arrows that shot forth collided with this storm of blades and was instantly pulverized!

"impossible!"

The head eunuch's ferocious expression froze, and he stood frozen on the horse, dumbfounded!

The black-clad archers, how many martial arts masters do they tremble with fear?

And this young man...

How could it be broken with a single strike?

Such strength is probably even greater than Yan Nantian's!

Inside the inn, Yin Qiniang's eyes were wide open, and her mouth was unconsciously agape.

Having roamed the martial world for many years and witnessed all sorts of extraordinary skills, she was utterly astonished by such dazzling, domineering, and almost supernatural swordsmanship...

But I've never heard of it before!

Wu Daizi stared wide-eyed at Lu Zuo's retreating figure: "Shatter the rain of arrows, transform your inner energy into a blade..."

"How can someone so young possess such terrifying internal energy cultivation?"

"Even the Moon-Inviting Palace Master of the Flower-Shifting Palace probably doesn't have that..."

boom!

A thunderous sound interrupted Wu Daizi's words.

Suddenly, the storm of blades exploded in front of them!

Thousands of fragments and countless blades of energy transformed into an overwhelming torrent of death, shooting towards the black-clad archers!

Puff puff puff puff...

The sharp blade pierced flesh, leaving a dull thud!

The dozens of black-clad archers at the forefront were pierced through by fragmented blades of energy, along with their horses!

In an instant!

Blood splattered everywhere, people and horses fell over, and there were many dead and injured!

Including the leading eunuch, at least a hundred members of the black-clad archers died!

With a loud bang!

Lu Zuo stomped his feet hard on the ground, causing the ground beneath him to crack and collapse, and his figure shot out!

Crackling sounds...

All the fragments rolled back at that moment, reforming in his hands into the complete Demon Blade Thousand Blades.

Immediately, Lu Zuo charged into the remaining black-clad archers and began a massacre!

Where the blade flashed, men's armor was torn apart, horses' heads flew off, and no one could withstand a single blow!

Inside the inn, there was a deathly silence!

Yin Qiniang's face was ashen, and she murmured, "Monster..."

"To possess such terrifying cultivation at such a young age, he must be a monster!"

Inside the door, everyone stared wide-eyed, not blinking for a moment.

Outside the gate, Lu Zuo traversed the ranks of black-clad archers, his blade flashing as he slaughtered his way from south to north, wiping out the remaining two hundred-plus black-clad archers without even blinking.

"No, that's all?"

"That's it, all gone?"

Wu Daizi muttered to himself, "Several hundred black-clad archers, even if Yan Nantian came, they'd be in trouble."

"He actually... only took less than 45 minutes?"

Yin Qiniang: "Why do I feel... that Liu happy was courting death by chasing after him?"

After these words were spoken, everyone in the inn nodded vigorously, and no one objected!

"With methods like this..."

"Let alone Liu Xi, even if Yao Yue came in person, she wouldn't gain any advantage!"

As he spoke, Lu Zuo, standing amidst the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood, turned around and slowly walked back towards the inn.

Yin Qiniang and the others immediately felt a chill run down their spines, and a sense of inexplicable panic arose within them.

"Let's leave the matter of the map aside for now."

Back at the inn, Lu Zuo looked at the stunningly beautiful Yin Qiniang and asked, "Where exactly are the golden beads?"

what?

Yin Qiniang was slightly taken aback, probably not expecting that Lu Zuo would still be thinking about food at this time.

"Young master,"

I have no idea where to buy that stuff.

"I was just double-crossing them, killing the people at this shady inn, and then lying in ambush for Wu Daizi..."

Was this a shady business all along?

Lu Zuo pondered for a moment, then remembered the mechanism on the ceiling and concluded that the woman was not lying.

"So you haven't seen this plant grown anywhere before?"

"No," Yin Qiniang shook her head. "At least I haven't seen any in Liaodong. Maybe they're just growing some in some remote mountain village?"

Wu Daizi also said, "I have been operating in Liaodong for many years and I have never seen that so-called 'golden bead'."

This is troublesome...

Lu Zuo had inquired everywhere along the way, but no one had ever seen corn.

Nowadays, even people in Liaodong say they've never seen it, which shows that it's not cultivated on a large scale...

Forget it...

I'll go ask in the nearby city tomorrow.

Since someone is selling them, someone must be growing them. With a little effort, we can always find them.

Lu Zuo thought for a moment, then searched everyone's bodies, and thoroughly searched Wu Daizi's room and the inn inside and out, but he really couldn't find the picture.

He had no choice but to give up and return to the main hall, his eyes scrutinizing Yin Qiniang and the others.

Yin Qiniang's heart skipped a beat when she saw his gaze. Knowing that Lu Zuo was about to kill her, she quickly begged for mercy, "Young master, spare my life."

"I never intended to harm the young master or anyone else."

"He just wanted to steal that map!"

"Even if we kill everyone in this inn, it will still rid the martial world of a scourge!"

"The original owner of this inn was a despicable scoundrel who murdered for money!"

Tsk!

Before Lu Zuo could reply, a cold light suddenly flew down from upstairs and instantly slit Yin Qiniang's throat!

Blood splattered, flowing like a fountain.

With a muffled thud, Yin Qiniang collapsed to the ground, her eyes wide open!

Immediately, a cold light flashed, and the chilling shadows of swords filled the space.

After the sword shadows stopped, Yin Qiniang's men fell to the ground one after another.

Clang!

The person who made the move sheathed his sword and turned to look at Lu Zuo.

At this moment, Lu Zuo also saw her face clearly.

This woman was petite and delicate, with skin as white as snow, a fairy-like appearance, and an icy and chilling temperament, like an ancient iceberg.

"The appearance of the black-clad archers indicates that Liu happy and the experts from the Eastern Depot are not far away."

"If I were you, I would immediately flee the pass to save my life."

The woman said coldly, then ignored him and went upstairs.

Who is it?

Lu Zuo ignored her and released the pressure points of Wu Daizi and the others, then turned his gaze to Jiang Yuyan.

Since the feud has already been formed, and this attempt to undermine the Ming Dynasty will likely happen again in the future.

Let's just kill Liu happy while we're at it, and maybe help her change her fate...

……

Nothing happened that night, and the next morning arrived quickly.

Outside the inn, the sound of horses' hooves could be heard.

Liu happy sat upright on a black horse, followed by a massive cavalry of over a thousand men, all elites of the Eastern Depot.

"Whoa!"

Suddenly, Liu happy pulled on the reins, his pupils contracting to pinpoints as he stared intently ahead.

In front of the inn, on the open field, lay layers upon layers of corpses of men and horses!

Dark red blood soaked through the withered, yellow grass of late autumn, pooling into patches of filth.

"This...how is this possible?"

Liu happy's face showed an almost blank expression, and he called out in a low voice.

The foreman beside him muttered, "More than three hundred black-clad archers, when arrayed, could hold off a thousand troops!"

"Even if Yan Nantian himself came, it would still take some effort to kill them all!"

"How could they all be wiped out overnight?"

"The two palace masters of Yihua Palace have joined forces?"

"Or perhaps, a wicked figure has emerged in the martial world that we are unaware of?"

"Yan Nantian?" Liu happy suddenly snapped back to reality, staring at the corpse on the ground, and analyzed, "Yan Nantian's sword is domineering, but I've never heard of it being able to create such a scene of dismemberment!"

"The wounds were numerous, varying in depth, yet all were fatal..."

"It felt like being sliced ​​through by countless tiny, sharp blades at once!"

The more he looked, the more horrified he became!

As the head of the Eastern Depot, he had witnessed countless gruesome deaths, but the way he died, as if he had been thrown into a meat grinder, was something he had never heard of or seen before!

Just then.

With a soft creak, the wooden door of the inn in the distance slowly opened from the inside.

All eyes turned to him, and there stood a young man holding a long knife, stepping forward.

"Stop guessing, I did it."

Lu Zuo's voice wasn't loud, but to Liu happy and the others it was like a thunderclap!

"Is it you?"

Liu happy exclaimed in astonishment, "This kid actually has...?"

Whoosh!

As he pondered, a cold glint flashed past him!

Liu Xishen's astonished expression was still frozen on his face, but he was already speechless.

Pfft!

Immediately afterwards, blood gushed from his throat like a fountain, and he fell off the horse, crashing heavily into the dust.

This moment!

The world seemed to have been muted.

Dead silence.

The deathly silence was even more thorough and chilling than after Lu Zuo slaughtered the black-clad archers last night!

The boss's facial muscles stiffened, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets as he stared intently at Liu happy's furiously wide-eyed head on the ground, then suddenly looked up at Lu Zuo, who was standing quietly in place.

Liu happy, the powerful and influential head of the Eastern Depot, who commanded respect throughout the court and the martial arts world, just like that...

His throat was slit just like that?

He didn't even have time to activate the Absorption Technique!