The Path of the Martial Arts BOSS
Chapter 264 - 76: Individual Decisions

Chapter 264: Chapter 76: Individual Decisions

"Have they fled?"

Qing Yu, holding the report just delivered by his subordinate, murmured to himself.

After flying to a safe place on the White Phoenix, Qing Yu had sent people to the Changfeng Stronghold, the place where he had been closed off for three months, to investigate the situation.

After the search, his subordinates brought back only a forearm that had been severed by explosives.

It was the attacker’s hand.

The explosives hidden at the Changfeng Stronghold were set up with True Pill Realm martial artists as hypothetical enemies. For ordinary Divine Origin Realm opponents, there was no need to detonate the explosives at the stronghold.

Once detonated, such a large amount of explosives would leave no whole bodies of Qing Yu’s men; even their corpses would be turned into charred bodies.

Although the surface of this half-forearm was charred, the inside showed no signs of being scorched by flames; it clearly could not belong to Qing Yu’s subordinates, who at most were only at the Innate Realm.

"The attacker must be a True Pill Realm martial artist," Qing Yu concluded.

Only the hand of a True Pill Realm martial artist, who had begun the transformation of life by combining the Three Elements, could remain intact in an explosion.

"When did I ever provoke a True Pill Realm martial artist?"

"Cough... well, quite a few."

Speaking of the True Pill Realm, even the Divinity Realm was involved; Xuan Chen, the great disciple of Zhenwu Sect’s Sect Leader and a bigwig of the Divinity Realm, was still bedridden because of Qing Yu’s attack. Moreover, before he secluded himself, he even threatened Lu Shenbu of the Six Gates.

One must admit, although he always kept a low profile and rarely took action, Qing Yu still drew significant hatred, both directly and indirectly, much more than one would imagine.

"Yet, the number of people who can find such a hidden stronghold isn’t small," Qing Yu said, stroking his smooth chin with an inscrutable gleam in his eyes.

Before his seclusion, the Azure Dragon Association had stopped taking new assignments and had withdrawn all operatives back to Northern Zhou, keeping silent. Under such circumstances, those who could still find him must possess a strong intelligence network and excellent investigative methods.

Instinctively, Qing Yu thought of the highly likely Six Gates.

"Lu Qifeng wouldn’t be so foolish as to truly cross me, would he?" Qing Yu speculated with suspicion.

Now, Qing Yu was not afraid of the Six Gates. Even if relations were severed, with Qing Yu’s current strength, although not dominating the world, there were few places under heaven he couldn’t reach.

If relations were indeed severed, Qing Yu, who had no attachments and stood alone, would not suffer, whereas the extensive and well-established Six Gates would incur heavy losses.

"Forget it, let’s not think about that. Advancing to the Divine Origin is what is crucial now. I refuse to believe that anyone would dare cause trouble at the foot of Datong Mountain."

Qing Yu was currently at the foot of Datong Mountain, the location of the Mountain River Academy, practically a neighbor to the Academy.

In such a place, if someone still caused trouble, Qing Yu would admire their audacity.

Qing Yu picked up the very ordinary-looking "Geodetic Secret Volume·Copy Version" again and resumed his study, striving to refine his "Heavenly Son’s Qi Observation Technique" as soon as possible.

"Master, a report from Yunlai Inn in Yan Province states that Divine Catcher Meng has been severely burned by flames, his left arm severed below the elbow as if blasted by some explosive martial art, and he is currently recuperating at a hidden stronghold in Yan Province," Luo Yan hurried into the hall and reported to Lu Qifeng.

"Completely severed, no, it should be blown apart," Lu Qifeng directly asserted.

Regarding this once elusive colleague, Lu Qifeng had been perfectly aware recently that Meng Wuchang had been searching within the territory of Northern Zhou for traces of the Azure Dragon Association.

Since the Northern Zhou was an enemy state, Meng Wuchang could not mobilize the local government to assist him, hence he had been relying on the intelligence network of Six Gates during this time.

And the movements of the Six Gates’ intelligence network were crystal clear to Lu Qifeng, the head of intelligence.

Upon hearing of Meng Wuchang’s injuries, Lu Qifeng immediately thought of the gunpowder sample that Qing Yu had sent as a threat that day.

"Has it come to this? Qing Yu, I have truly underestimated you," Lu Qifeng murmured to himself.

Meng Wuchang’s retaliation against Qing Yu naturally involved Lu Qifeng’s instigation.

In fact, Lu Qifeng initially thought that Meng Wuchang was unlikely to succeed, but he could definitely cause quite some trouble for Qing Yu, and perhaps, distract him from entering the Divine Origin Realm for a prolonged period.

Of course, if he could have succeeded, that would have been great. By then, the gunpowder technology controlled by Qing Yu would definitely fall into the hands of Six Gates, significantly boosting their foundational strength.

But what Lu Qifeng had never expected was that Meng Wuchang, a True Pill Realm Martial Artist, not only failed to make an impact, but was gravely injured by Qing Yu through cunning methods.

This was truly unexpected.

Gunpowder indeed had no small power, and when concentrated in large amounts, theoretically, it could even injure someone in the True Pill Realm. But theory was, after all, just theory, and compared to Martial Artists whose great power originated within themselves, the limitations of gunpowder were too great.

Even those in the Divine Origin Realm, when faced with danger, could sense it in advance and leave a dangerous area the moment they stepped into a trap set with gunpowder.

However, Lu Qifeng could never have imagined that Qing Yu would set their stronghold on an isolated peak soaring into the clouds. In such a place, even if Meng Wuchang wanted to escape briefly, there was nowhere to flee.

What’s more, the mountain had been bombed to the point of collapsing; the situation could truly be described as earth-shattering. Under such circumstances, that Meng Wuchang was still alive was already considered extraordinary.

"Yan’er, arrange someone. I want to personally make a trip to Yan Province and bring Meng Wuchang back," Lu Qifeng ordered.

Meng Wuchang, true to his name, was very capricious and unpredictable. Fearing that he would insist on continuing, Lu Qifeng decided to personally go and bring Meng Wuchang back.

After all, the trend of impending storm was becoming increasingly evident in the worldly society, and Six Gates, at such a critical moment, could not afford to lose a Divine Constable.

··················

Zhenwu Sect, on Su Nu Peak.

A handsome yet somewhat desolate figure stepped out of the room where he had stayed for three months.

"Brother Qingxu, your wounds have just healed. Please rest for a few more days before leaving," Qingling hurriedly said upon seeing Qingxu preparing to leave.

"No," Qingxu showed a somewhat pale smile, "Su Nu Peak is all female disciples. It’s somewhat inconvenient for your brother to stay here any longer. I should return to Chonghe Peak."

In truth, after staying for three months, he should have gotten used to the inconvenience. The reason Qingxu was so eager to leave was because he was already quite impatient.

Yes, impatient. Thinking of a certain figure wearing a bronze mask, Qingxu couldn’t help but clench his teeth silently, ’Gong Ziyu, just you wait.’

Last night, Qingxu’s master had already sent word, having convinced the other Peak Masters to allow Qingxu to go in front of the Zhenwu Jade in the Zhenwu Forbidden Land to cultivate and gain insight.

This action would undoubtedly deplete the spiritual energy accumulated over the years by the Zhenwu Jade, starting from scratch, but at such a moment of impending storm, special measures had to be taken.