Dream of the Red Chamber: Starting from Immortal Martial Arts

"Tell me your background..."

Upon hearing this, the two knew they were doomed. After exchanging a glance, they roared, and a thick aura of blood emanated from their bodies, forming a blood-red veil that covered the object. With their strength greatly increased, they fiercely drew their swords and slashed at the villain in front of them.

However, just as the opponent raised his knife to defend, the two suddenly turned around by pushing off with their feet, and slashed their steel knives at their companion's neck.

"Pfft~"

One man's head flew off, his headless body gushing blood; another man's neck was severed, his body falling straight down, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the bandit leader!

It's as if it's saying, "I'm waiting for you down here."

Upon seeing this, the bandit leader looked regretful and said calmly, "Such a decisive assassin, very much in line with the style of the North!"

"Clean up the battlefield, leave no trace."

Before long, the thieves retreated, and the place was still a vast expanse of white, with only some shallow marks on the ground revealing the difference.

After an unknown amount of time, a middle-aged man dressed in a brocade robe with an ordinary appearance led a group of men in tight-fitting clothes and came running over, stopping in an instant on the riverbank.

Search~

The men scattered and searched bit by bit, but found nothing. Even the soil stained with blood was removed.

"Manager, over here."

Suddenly, a man pointed to two symmetrical semicircles on the ground, which looked like they had been formed by turning around and scraping, and said in a deep voice: "The captain and deputy captain of the Wuyin squad killed each other by slashing. This is a unique mark of the Wu squad, representing the enemy biting its tail."

"Tail-biting?"

The middle-aged man's eyes narrowed. He was a newly promoted first-level Inner Strength manager in the Immortal Capital, who had just been transferred to Jiangnan after being assigned to a team of fifth-level cultivators.

The disappearance of Wuyin was initially thought to be a routine ambush in a secret realm, but it turned out to be such a disaster.

"How many other teams do we have in the vicinity?"

One of them took out a booklet and replied, "There are seventeen branches in total in Lianghuai, including Wuyin."

The middle-aged man's face was cold as he sternly ordered, "Bring all the men here to surround Fengyang. Search every single place, from towns and villages to county seats, prefectural cities, mountains, bandit strongholds, and ghost markets."

"If we've been caught by the tail, it means they've shown themselves too. Send reinforcements north, add more men, and slaughter them all!"

"only!"

The autumn wind brings death, desolation, and bleakness, foreshadowing the future of this place.

For the next month or so, the entire Fengyang Prefecture was in chaos as two unknown forces clashed.

It extends from the Bian River in Hong County in the east to the Ying River in Yingzhou in the west, from the city of Bozhou in the north to the outskirts of Dingyuan in the south.

In every mountain forest, river, secret realm, and even within the city, one can see two forces locked in a continuous battle, with corpses strewn across the land.

From the fourth or fifth stage of the mortal realm to the early, middle, and late stages of the first rank, no matter which side captures any enemy, the enemy's heart meridian is instantly shattered, causing them to commit suicide.

As a result, the two sides even dispatched second-tier cultivators to fight several battles, but neither side could defeat the other.

This led to even fiercer fighting among the lower ranks of both sides, to the point that the corpses often didn't even have a complete human form left.

The ruthless methods prompted the surrounding clans to dispatch small teams of cultivators to patrol around their clan territories, fearing they might be ambushed.

As the situation escalated, in the study of Ruihu Academy at Ningguo Mansion in Xianjing.

Jia Tang sat in the main seat with an indifferent expression. Below him, the three chief retainers of the Qingyun Chamber of Commerce, the five managers of the North, the four generals of the Ning and Rong mansions, and the eight minor commanders were arranged on the left and right.

Zhao Daniu, the attendant on the right, said, "Young Master, let our eldest brother lead us south to support our second brother."

Zhao Ergou's face was icy cold as he replied in a chilling voice, his words brimming with uncontrollable killing intent.

"A bunch of damned bastards, daring to challenge us, they deserve to die nine times over. Let's go south and slaughter them."

Jia An on the left chimed in, "General, the Second Elder has broken through to the Second Rank, and the Fifth Elder has entered the Late Stage. The two of them, along with one Outer Strength and three Inner Strength, are locked in a stalemate with the enemy in the south. We should send reinforcements south to wipe them out with lightning speed."

Jia He frowned slightly and analyzed, "Based on the current intelligence, their influence in Jiangnan is no less than ours."

"You should know that our Jia family originated in Jinling."

"The only families in the entire Huai River region that can achieve this level of success are the Li, Lü, and Sheng families. Further south, we enter the Jiangzhe region, where we have never had much conflict with the people."

He paused, then continued, "Gentlemen, didn't you realize that we have the General as our backer, and given our consistent style of action—direct and ruthless—we have no choice but to take action."

"But they are the same, which is worth investigating further. They are definitely not clans that prospered with the Great Zhao."

Everyone's expression changed slightly; in that case, only the Li family met the requirements.

Jia Tang shook his head and retorted, "It's not the Li family. The Jinling Li family is just a branch that migrated there during the Song Dynasty. Their main branch has always been based in Hejian Prefecture. Gong Cai told me about the characteristics of the Li family, and this doesn't match at all."

"Moreover, the other party had sent a message through the palace judge, wanting to form a secret alliance and inviting me to send someone to meet with them."

Jia He was taken aback by what he heard, nodded, lowered his eyes, and fell into deep thought.

In the silence, Grand Elder Wang Heyuan suddenly spoke up: "Is it possible that the other party, like us, is from the North or the Southwest?"

Jia Tang narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "Those in the North who possess this power are none other than He, Su, and Chen!"

"Also, it won't be the Southwest. They've always been self-centered, sticking to their own territory and refusing to move."

Wang Heyuan shook his head and sighed: "You've all forgotten one family. That was a powerful clan that flourished since the Warring States period. They were also divided into two families, one in the north and one in the south."

Everyone's expression changed drastically. Jia Tang's expression shifted between light and shadow. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "It doesn't seem like it. The current situation is very much in line with the style of us martial artists."

Wang Heyuan did not refute, and said, "Since that's the case, then let this old man go south and see if there are any old friends I know there."

Jia Tang nodded slightly. There were still too few available people; to be precise, they were being held back.

The household guards and first-rank minor commanders within the manor cannot be touched, nor can the people of the eight prefectures of Xianjing be summoned, as such obvious methods would easily be recognized.

Otherwise, if the Qingyun Chamber of Commerce's true colors were exposed, all the families in Jiangnan would have to work together to crush it, and the intelligence systems they had secretly built up everywhere would collapse.

"Then I'll trouble you to make the trip. Take my letter to the Li family in Hejian and ask them to lend a hand. As long as Wenxiu gets involved, we can make the situation even more complicated."

"only!"

Jia Tang's eyes flashed with a fierce light. After returning to Xianjing from Yangzhou, he hunted so many low-level Yuan Beasts, but only managed to push the Second Elder to the second level, while pushing the remaining three Elders to the later stage.

It's still too slow.

We need to speed things up!

"Jia Ping and Jia An, you will take half of the Tiger Tally and lead your Tiger Guards north to Xuanfu to cross the border, hunt alien races and elemental beasts, and accumulate enough resources for the four of you to advance to the second tier!"

"Keep your movements concealed, and use the deputy flag to request assistance if necessary."

With their strength, even a second-tier cultivator wouldn't be able to stop them.

Jia Ping's eyes suddenly lit up, and a sinister sneer appeared on his lips.

Jia An was in the same boat; his mind was in turmoil, and sparks flew from his nostrils.

"only!"