After taking care of the assassins from the Misty Rain Pavilion, Chu Yuqin headed straight for the martial arts training grounds—Wang Qingci quietly following by her side.
Wang Qingci was puzzled. At a time like this, how could Chu Yuqin leave the Northern Prince alone? True, she had heard rumors that the prince might possess some strength, but Blood Moon Tower had sent multiple ninth-grade masters… even a half-step Grandmaster had joined the assault.
Did Chu Yuqin really feel no fear? Did she believe her Chen'er was strong enough to face off against such overwhelming force?
Or… was the Northern Palace truly this terrifying now?
Wang Qingci's mind buzzed with questions, but her steps never slowed. Before long, they arrived at the palace's martial arts training ground—and the scene that greeted them stopped her dead in her tracks.
Blood was splattered across the tiles, corpses littered the arena—yet every body wore the uniform of Blood Moon Tower.
Only three figures remained alive: two ninth-grade warriors, barely able to stand, and Blood Moon Tower's deputy master—Liu Yuan. All three were drenched in blood, their bodies swaying with fatigue. The two ninth-grade assassins looked like they'd drop dead at any moment if left untreated.
This… hadn't taken long at all.
The Northern Palace had truly wiped out all of Blood Moon Tower's elite assassins?
Wang Qingci stared, stunned.
She had long suspected that the Northern Palace had hidden depths, but never had she imagined they could take out Blood Moon Tower's finest so quickly.
Five ninth-grade masters.
One half-step Grandmaster.
Even with a hidden expert in the Northern Palace, such efficiency bordered on impossible.
Just how had they done it?
As she turned, her eyes landed on a familiar figure walking calmly toward the training ground.
It was Lu Chen.
If there was anyone who could answer her questions—it would be him.
At that moment, Liu Yuan groaned, using his sword to prop himself up. Blood dripped steadily from his wounds, but his eyes burned with a mixture of hatred and disbelief. When he saw Lu Chen, the Northern King, approaching leisurely, he let out a low laugh.
"Northern King… I never expected you to be the one hiding the deepest."
He coughed harshly, spitting blood to the side. "It seems the entire world has been fooled by you."
Gone was the arrogance and bravado he once carried. In such a short time, nearly every assassin under his command had perished. Now, only three remained—and all of them were clinging to life.
The weapons the Northern Palace had used… even a half-step Grandmaster couldn't block them completely. Maybe not even a real Grandmaster.
Liu Yuan never imagined he would one day fall into the hands of a prince once considered the most useless person in the capital.
Lu Chen stopped in front of him, face calm. "Master Liu, any final words? When I destroy Blood Moon Tower, I can pass them along to your master."
Liu Yuan laughed bitterly, his face twisted with malice. "You brat… if I'm going to die, I'll make sure to drag you to hell with me!"
As soon as the words left his lips, Liu Yuan gripped his sword and launched himself forward.
A sinister, triumphant grin spread across his face.
Lu Chen had made a grave mistake.
If the prince hadn't shown himself, Liu Yuan might never have had the chance. But now, with him standing so close…
Even while heavily wounded, a half-step Grandmaster could still kill a so-called "waste" like Lu Chen.
"Not good!" Wang Qingci gasped, panic flashing in her eyes.
But what shocked her wasn't Liu Yuan's attack—it was the eerie stillness of everyone around her.
Chu Yuqin didn't move.
The palace guards didn't draw their weapons.
They just stood there, watching silently as Liu Yuan charged toward the Northern King like a mad beast.
Why… why weren't they reacting?
Liu Yuan was still a half-step Grandmaster!
Even if dying, he could easily take a ninth-grade warrior down with him. Yet none of them even tried to stop him.
What was going on?
Before she could make sense of it, Lu Chen calmly pulled out a long, black object.
It looked like a stick—cold, dark, and metallic—pointed straight at Liu Yuan.
Liu Yuan laughed madly, "You think that broken stick can save you? You're still just a useless prince! You really believe I can't kill you even while half-dead?!"
He saw no one else making a move. He saw Lu Chen standing alone with only a stick in his hand.
He thought he had won.
As he neared, his sword already mid-swing, he shouted, "Die!"
Wang Qingci's heart leaped into her throat.
And then—
BOOM!
A deafening sound erupted.
Lu Chen remained still, only taking a single step back.
His lips curled into a faint smile.
"Brother," he said calmly, "times have changed."
A moment later, Liu Yuan's body jerked mid-air as a gaping, bloody hole exploded from his back. His momentum died instantly, his lifeless body crashing into the stone with a dull thud.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Wang Qingci froze.
What… had just happened?
One moment Liu Yuan had been charging forward. The next, a loud sound rang out—and he was dead.
She blinked rapidly, trying to process it.
Lu Chen hadn't moved.
But Liu Yuan… had fallen.
And the hole in his body—massive and grotesque—was clearly from some sort of terrifying force.
That black stick…
Wang Qingci wasn't slow. Her eyes snapped to the strange weapon in Lu Chen's hand.
That was what had killed Liu Yuan.
She felt as if her mind was splitting apart from the realization.
A half-step Grandmaster.
Just like that?
Gone?
What sort of weapon was that? Could such a terrifying thing truly exist in this world?
She began connecting the dots—every unanswered question from before now making perfect sense.
The failed assassination attempts…
The fearless attitude of the Northern King…
The calmness of his guards, even when faced with a dying, desperate Grandmaster…
It wasn't that they weren't afraid.
It was that they knew.
They knew Lu Chen held a weapon capable of turning the tide in an instant.
Liu Yuan hadn't been the threat.
Lu Chen was.
A man with a weapon that could kill a half-step Grandmaster with a single shot—what danger could possibly threaten him?
Even Grandmasters… would likely fall before this terrifying power.
As she stared at the black stick in his hand, Wang Qingci broke into a cold sweat. The weapon seemed to hum with an invisible aura—dense, bloody, and oppressive. Her slender frame shivered unconsciously.
And it wasn't just her.
Even Li Feng and the others—those who had once seen Lu Chen use the Barrett to snipe an eighth-grade warrior—were stunned into silence.
Last time, he'd taken down an eighth-rank expert.
But now, he'd killed a half-step Grandmaster.
That level of strength… that level of threat…
Even the imperial court would seek to recruit someone of that caliber.
Even the grenades they used before had failed to kill such a foe.
But this time—Lu Chen had done it with a single shot.
The silence was overwhelming. The entire martial arts training ground felt like a tomb, blanketed by the night.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Not until the remaining two ninth-grade warriors from Blood Moon Tower fell to their knees, begging for mercy.
Only then did the others seem to remember how to breathe.
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