Ruffian 012

The outer hidden sentries were just about to light the wolf-smoke signals when several sharp arrows pierced straight through their bodies, the momentum sending them flying backward for several steps.

Before the disciples in charge of guard duty could even figure out what was happening, they were greeted by a sky full of raining arrows.

By the time the sect's martial experts had finished assembling and marched menacingly outside, they discovered that the headquarters' outer defenses were completely destroyed. Countless cavalrymen had smashed through their barricades.

Dozens of experts had barely shown their faces when a torrential shower of arrows met them. A few unlucky souls who couldn't dodge in time were instantly turned into pincushions.

The Sect Master finally saw clearly that the enemy was no orthodox righteous sect!

"The imperial army!!"

"How is that possible! What is the imperial army doing here!"

Some people were utterly panicked.

Only the Sect Master, after a brief moment of doubt, remained completely fearless. "What are you afraid of! They are nothing but a bunch of clay chickens and pottery dogs! This is the perfect chance to test my Seven Kills Sword Art!" Seeing the Sect Master draw his treasured sword, the others quickly followed behind him.

Given the current situation, this was the only path left for them to take.

However, the enemy continued to fire arrows, which caused the demonic sect experts to panic. They could only look for cover while deflecting the arrows with their weapons. Watching many sect members fall directly to the ground, the Sect Master's murderous intent reached its peak. The moment the rain of arrows paused, he charged out first, using his lightness skill to close the distance rapidly.

He had read military strategies and understood the principle of capturing the leader first.

The man standing right in the middle of the enemy forces was surely the commander. As long as he could kill him in a single strike, the rest would be much simpler.

Upward Slash! Piercing Thrust!

He wore a ferocious grin. Did not expect this, did you? How could you battlefield brutes compare to someone like me... hmm?

The fierce-looking man stared at him in confusion. The battlefield fell into a brief silence.

"Is that it?"

His proud Seven Kills Sword had merely left a few white scratch marks on the opponent's armor plates.

"All troops, hear my command! Leave none of the rebels alive!" the man shouted. The bow-wielding soldiers retreated, and the fully armored soldiers, led by the man, began to advance.

The Sect Master still wanted to resist, but several long spears suddenly thrust out from behind the armored soldier in front of him. He retreated rapidly to dodge the attack.

Immediately after, long spears thrust at him from all directions—front, back, left, and right—quickly trapping him in their midst.

The other sect experts were not faring any better. They had originally thought the enemy would be easy to deal with, but they never expected these soldiers to be completely unafraid of death and coordinate flawlessly with one another. With a single misstep, someone would be pierced through the chest, falling to the ground screaming.

"Bastards! You actually want to capture me alive!" The Sect Master erupted with all his power, forcefully breaking free from the dozen or so spears that pinned him. Pushing off the ground, he flew straight into the air.

Looking down at these ordinary people, the Sect Master's face was full of contempt: "A bunch of... hmm?"

He saw these men simultaneously pull out crossbows from their waists.

At that moment, the Sect Master felt as if time had frozen around him. He wanted to dodge, but he had no leverage in mid-air.

Watching this martial expert fall to the ground with dozens of arrows in his body, Huang Chao walked up and slapped him on the head.

"A martial expert, huh?"

"The Demonic Sect, huh?"

"Superior sword arts, huh?"

"Fuck off!"

The dying Demonic Sect Master glared with wide eyes and died full of humiliation.

"Kill! Leave no one alive!" Seeing that the leader was dead, Huang Chao immediately issued the order. Then he looked down and touched the full suit of armor on his body, his face showing how much he treasured it.

This stuff was truly excellent. Aside from being a bit heavy, it had no other flaws. This Fang Zhiyi really had some skills to actually manage to procure these full suits of armor.

At this time, in the distance, someone was staring blankly at the one-sided slaughter.

"Branch Master, is the Heaven Shrouding Sect finished?" Wang Ergou asked.

Zuo Qianqiu nodded: "It's finished."

Wang Ergou felt a bit melancholy, but thinking of Fang Zhiyi made him somewhat happy again: "Branch Master, you really have a good eye to know that Fang Zhiyi would be so promising. He just casually said a word, and the imperial court actually sent troops to wipe out the Heaven Shrouding Sect. I'm starting to wonder if he is the Emperor's illegitimate son."

Zuo Qianqiu kicked him: "Don't speak nonsense, watch your mouth."

"Kicking me again," Wang Ergou said, feeling a bit wronged.

Zuo Qianqiu didn't look at him, just muttered to himself: "While others were reading books, he was navigating among the court officials. Later, he roped us in to do business, and he had me send people to give gifts to those court officials, pretending to be the demonic sect to intimidate them..." He didn't finish the rest of his words. They had occupied two mines around Yang City, which he originally wanted to sell off directly, but Fang Zhiyi stopped him. Fang Zhiyi was so bold that it even terrified him a little.

Fang Zhiyi had him organize some tight-lipped sect members to secretly forge swords and craft armor. He originally thought it was just ordinary smuggling, since people in the martial world all loved divine weapons and sharp blades, but then Fang Zhiyi turned around and said he had connected them with a long-term client.

Now, he finally knew where all those smuggled weapons and armors had gone.

The generals who had received the benefits naturally couldn't just watch Fang Zhiyi be in trouble without helping. Coincidentally, the imperial court's orders had also arrived, so they simply pushed through and wiped out the demonic sect in one vigorous effort.

"You could say that if even one link in this chain had failed, the Heaven Shrouding Sect wouldn't have been destroyed today." Zuo Qianqiu's eyes looked a bit unfocused. Was Fang Zhiyi really just doing this to destroy the Heaven Shrouding Sect? Just how deep was this grudge?

The news of the demonic sect's annihilation spread throughout the martial world almost the very next day. From the mouths of the few who managed to escape, people in the martial world learned more details.

In short, it came down to one sentence: the demonic sect offended Yang City's county magistrate, Fang Zhiyi, and then the imperial court mobilized the border army to directly flatten the entire demonic sect.

However, this news did not make the other sects feel happy, because they keenly sensed a problem. The imperial court, which had always maintained its silence regarding the martial world, had actually made a move.

What did this mean?

This pacification operation against the demonic sect was reported up by Huang Chao. In order to claim more merit, the Great General added a note to the report, and this note made the Emperor panic a little.

"A single demonic sect has tens of thousands of members?" He knew these martial world outlaws were outrageous, but he hadn't expected them to be this outrageous. Fortunately, it was dealt with in time. If these tens of thousands of people had rebelled, what kind of massive disaster would that have caused?

And it was at this time that Fang Zhiyi submitted another memorial, explicitly pointing out the dangers the martial world sects posed to the imperial court. It made the Emperor's head hurt just reading it. He didn't want to think about such things. Even his imperial father hadn't been able to sort out these martial world outlaws; how could he? He couldn't just mobilize the border army every single time, could he? One must know, that cost a lot of money.

Yes, the Emperor was the only one who lost out in this operation; everyone else had quietly made a fortune.

After eating their fill, they had to work. Fang Zhiyi's cronies began to exert their influence.

Under the suggestion of several ministers, the Emperor finally decided to let Fang Zhiyi handle it himself. If he could produce results, they would discuss it further. This way, the imperial court wouldn't have to lift a finger. In a word, let Fang Zhiyi figure it out himself. If he had a way, the court would take advantage of it; if not, they wouldn't lose anything anyway.