I tried to kill the heroines of destiny, but they ended up chasing after me.

"Is that so? Then it seems I can't persuade you." Huang Quan said with a regretful tone, turning around with a smile in the afterglow of the setting sun: "Then, I don't need to persuade you anymore."

With his back to the setting sun, Huang Quan glanced behind him, but his face was hidden in the crimson afterglow.

Suddenly, a clear and melodious sword cry was heard, and a sword beam flew swiftly as if soaring above the nine heavens.

Sword light flashed like a rainbow, and fierce winds swept across the scene, like the suns colliding and splashing out brilliant colors.

And the people behind him also saw this last glimmer of light.

A scene they will never have the chance to describe again.

"After all, it's understandable that cultivators can easily go missing or lose their lives."

At this moment, the 'Ghost Serpent', who had transformed into a demonic beast, clutched his empty sleeve. If it weren't for his keen senses, he would probably have fallen into a deep sleep along with his five companions.

Escape, there is no turning back.

Filled with fear and resentment, he conceived the idea of ​​escaping.

He originally thought that the target this time was only in his twenties, at most Po Jun.

But he guessed wrong, no, everyone guessed wrong.

This young man was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

He was a spy who had infiltrated Canghai City at great cost, and he absolutely could not be allowed to perish here.

However, after running a few steps, he heard a voice behind him say, "You don't need to try to make a commotion and wait for someone to come to your rescue."

Then, his consciousness went dark.

Chapter Fifty-Four: The Lord of the Prefecture and the Grand Ceremony

Amidst the utter chaos of countless Dao energies, a figure was hidden.

From the perspective of an ordinary cultivator, he might seem somewhat mysterious, hidden in the mist, and impossible to see his true face.

The overwhelming grandeur surrounding him, the wondrous flow of Daoist energy, the natural harmony, it all seemed to be created by nature itself.

A middle-aged man dressed in academy attire greeted the lord of the manor, whose face he could not see, with utmost reverence.

He reached up and rolled up his clothes, as if preparing to kneel down.

As a result, they were held back by an invisible force and could not advance an inch.

The middle-aged man had no choice but to give up, nodding and lowering his head: "Your subordinate greets the Lord of the Manor. There is some progress on the matter you entrusted to me."

Fortunately, the fog obscured the lord's solemn expression, preventing him from revealing anything unusual to his subordinates: "Hmm, how many times have I told you, kneeling is not customary in Canghai City. Have you found out anything about the matter I instructed you to do?"

He stared blankly at the screen in front of him, his hands unconsciously clenching, a hint of nervousness in his expression.

[Side quest triggered: Investigate the truth behind the deaths in the alleyway in the northwest corner of Canghai City.]

[Task countdown: 21:29:21]

[Task Reward: 300 Academy Construction Points + One Random Lottery Draw]

[Task Penalty: The difficulty of the main quest "Grand Ceremony of Establishing the Prefecture" is increased by 10%]

Long story.

He was originally an ordinary person from the Azure Realm, living a life of idleness and doing nothing, but one day, a truck driver used his supreme magical power to crash his truck directly into this world.

What follows is a very clichéd plot.

He possessed the body of an ordinary, mediocre sect disciple, with no resources, no talent, and no background.

This is a young man with no job, no income, and no savings.

If nothing unexpected happens, I will live my life in a daze.

Or one day, you might become an ant that is crushed at will.

But with such an experience, how could there not be any unexpected events?

Just as he was preparing to live a life of ease amidst hardship, his 'golden touch' was activated.

The Ultimate Academy System

It has been about three years.

With the system's help, he made rapid progress, rising from an unknown disciple to the renowned 'Lord of the Palace'.

Everything looks wonderful.

If such an opportunity were left to the public, countless people would flock to it.

You are not a fish, so how can you know the joy of fish?

He was truly suffering but couldn't express it.

First, they cannot leave their own territory.

It does not refer to Canghai City, but to Canghai Academy.

Of course, it's not absolutely impossible to leave.

However, the power granted to him by the system will only be effective within the Canghai Academy.

If you leave this area, you will be reduced to your original state.

A laughable Qi Refining Realm.

To this vast continent, he was but a relatively strong ant.

Only within the Canghai Academy was he the powerful 'Academy Master' who could command the wind and rain.

For a short time, it was fine, but gradually, he felt like a canary locked in a cage.

To outsiders, they appear beautiful and glamorous, but in reality, they have no freedom whatsoever.

Then, at first, the [Strongest Academy System] only promised him endless benefits, constantly enticing him to complete the mission as soon as possible, which was still within an acceptable range.

Until recently, he felt something was wrong. Many of his actions, which he thought were right, were rejected and he was even asked to correct them.

An invisible hand controlled his movement like a marionette.

He also tried to rebel, using the academy's student search function to recruit ten people who were suspected of being "chosen ones".

He pretended to be a snake with the system, buying himself time to develop.

The system seemed to have sensed his purpose.

What should have been an easy "Grand Ceremony for the Establishment of the Prefecture" turned into a hellish challenge.

Ahead lies the road to the underworld, a path fraught with peril.

He cannot accept a further 10% increase.

……

The grand opening ceremony is approaching.

Canghai Academy is also making every effort to prepare for this.

It wasn't exactly a complete disaster, but it did consume a lot of manpower.

However, this morning one of the students encountered a strange and bizarre incident.

It was reported that five bodies were found in the suburbs. Because the manner of death was too bizarre and did not seem to be caused by a conflict, the report was immediately sent over.

The middle-aged man looked helpless and sighed to the manor lord, "Reporting to the manor lord, based on the situation at the scene, there should actually be six corpses, and the way these six corpses died is extremely strange."

The lord of the manor snapped his folding fan shut and asked in confusion, "Strange? How so?"

"Five of the bodies were killed with a single sword strike without any ability to resist... but their positions were indeed in an encirclement formation, as if they initially wanted to block someone, which is still within the realm of understanding."

"As for the other one, I don't know whether I should talk about it or not, because the way he died was just too bizarre."

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and, after a moment of hesitation, asked the manor lord for instructions.

"I trust your judgment, but please speak freely." The lord of the manor said, nodding as he gestured for him to continue.

"The last body... I must have misjudged it. That shouldn't be possible, sir..."

He doubted his own judgment and was about to deny it when the lord of the manor waved his hand to interrupt him.

"Don't deny your judgment too early. You should know that after eliminating all your original 'possibilities,' the remaining 'impossibilities' are the real answer."

"Yes." The middle-aged man cupped his hands and continued, "He has a non-fatal wound that severed his arm, and a fatal wound, a sword through his chest, but at the same time his life force was devoured. It's hard to deduce the order in which the two wounds occurred—whether he killed someone and then devoured their life force, or whether he used the sword wound to cover up the truth after devouring their life force."

"Besides the cause of death, did you glean any other useful information?"

"Hmm... how should I put it? I also found this on the furthest corpse."

As he spoke, the middle-aged man took out a small piece of a broken plaque, on which were not written in human language.

Upon seeing these words, the manor lord was so shocked that his pupils shrank slightly.

"A transformed demon beast?"

"How did these guys get killed here?"

The lord of the city found it somewhat unbelievable. Of course, he knew that the demonic beasts were planning to attack him. It's easy to dodge a spear in the open but hard to guard against a hidden arrow. Completely cutting off their entry into the city would be a very difficult thing to do.

Because people are greedy, as long as you bribe some people, you can sneak into the city without anyone noticing.

How could a spy who had painstakingly infiltrated the enemy fail in a remote alley?

Moreover, someone carrying a "Beast King's Token" is at least a "squad leader" with sixth-tier strength, which corresponds to the Creation Realm in humans.

But he lost his life so quietly and without anyone noticing.

He rubbed his forehead.

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

"What I care about are the expressions on these corpses."

"Expression?" the manor lord asked, puzzled.

"That's right, their expressions—their faces still held that mockery or confidence—which suggests they were killed unexpectedly."

"In other words, these six people were killed in self-defense while trying to assassinate their target."

"The target's true strength far exceeds their estimates." The lord concluded, waving his folding fan. "Investigate. Don't miss any variables."