One hundred miles south of Yujing City, the mountain ranges begin.
In the early morning, the golden light of the sun illuminates the peaks.
The mist curls between the mountains, resembling a fairyland.
At the foot of one of these mountains, nestled within a forest, more than twenty people were gathered.
Because they were in a shaded area and the woods were dense, the sunlight couldn’t reach there.
They sat before a campfire, letting its crackling sound drive away the cold.
All twenty-four people showed solemn expressions, most of their gazes fixed on the fire, saying nothing.
Finally, the youth sitting at the easternmost end glanced at everyone and said indifferently: "The main altar of our Heavenly Heart Sect was destroyed, as were the Huaisu Sect and the Yuding Sect. Who will be the next to be destroyed?"
The other twenty-three people remained solemn, saying nothing.
This youth was tall and handsome, his eyes glittering sharply as he looked around.
With a cold laugh, he said: "Will it be your Demon Heart Sect, or the Fengtian Sect, or the Devouring Heaven Sect? Or perhaps the Lingxu Sect? Or the Fearless Sect?"
The others remained silent.
The handsome youth sneered: "Our Heavenly Heart Sect isn’t considered weak, is it? Yet even our main altar was destroyed by him."
Someone finally couldn’t help but ask: "Elder Chen, how did he do it?"
"I don’t know." The handsome youth slowly said: "It’s still a mystery, because there were no survivors."
He let out a cold laugh, a mocking laugh: "Not a single survivor, can you believe it."
"People say we’re evil, but he’s even more evil than us!" a middle-aged man scoffed.
The handsome youth shook his head: "In his eyes, we ought to die a hundred, a thousand times over. He shows no mercy at all. He’s utterly determined to exterminate us completely. Do you feel his resolve?"
The others slowly nodded.
It was clear that Fourth Prince Chu Zhiyuan was serious, acting not for fame or achievements.
Chu Zhiyuan was determined to exterminate these people, leaving them no way out.
"Those still harboring the illusion that he can’t do anything to them or their sects are truly laughable," the handsome youth said: "He can locate the sect’s main altar and break its grand formation."
He said coldly: "No matter if the main altar is in Da Jing, Da Meng, or Da Zhen!"
"Mr. Chen, isn’t that too pessimistic?" a youth shook his head: "He’s only destroyed three sects in the Southern Border, there are plenty more. Could it be that he spared the others?"
The middle-aged man opposite him replied: "Maybe he just hasn’t found them."
Another middle-aged man said: "Could also be because there’s not enough time, the Court is waiting for him to lead people to negotiate with Da Meng."
Another youth remarked: "Bringing people to Da Meng for negotiations, does it have to be him?"
"He has a past with Da Meng’s Emperor Li Hongzhao, giving him an advantage over others."
"Seems like he has some enmity with Li Hongzhao, wouldn’t that be more troublesome if he goes?"
"It’s said they have been openly and secretly competing, ever since Li Hongzhao came to Yujing, constantly at odds."
"Heh, could be that their rivalry turned into something else, a bit of romance maybe."
The handsome youth at the easternmost end wore a gloomy expression as he coldly swept his gaze over everyone’s faces.
He felt both angry and desolate.
In such a critical moment, they still had the leisure to discuss such trifles.
Indifferent to the life and death of the sect, it was like playing the flute to a cow, a complete waste of effort!
"Mr. Chen," the handsome youth sitting at the westernmost end clapped his fists and said: "Since this guy is so difficult to deal with, we should just eliminate him."
The handsome youth coldly replied: "Today, I intend to discuss how to wipe him out. If it was that easy, he wouldn’t still be alive."
"Then Mr. Chen, give us a plan for us to see."
"Set an ambush on the road between Da Jing and Da Meng, gather and annihilate him!"
"In my opinion, we should target the Prince Qing Mansion, since he’s destroyed our main altars, let’s eliminate his mansion then!"
"Ridiculous!" The handsome youth coldly stared at the middle-aged man who spoke: "What use is destroying the Prince Qing Mansion? To vent our anger and seek revenge? That would only set the entire Da Jing Court against us!"
"If we destroy the Prince Qing Mansion, we might garner more support, as many sects hold grudges against the Court, maybe even recruit a few."
"Don’t invite trouble!" The handsome youth coldly said: "Let’s kill him first, then destroy the Prince Qing Mansion. Otherwise, who knows what a madman like him might do!"
"Mr. Chen makes sense; let’s deal with Chu Zhiyuan first, then talk about the Prince Qing Mansion!"
"Yes, once Chu Zhiyuan is dead, the Prince Qing Mansion can be destroyed at any time!"
The crowd echoed in support.
The handsome youth’s expression remained grim: "But everyone, you should know, Chu Zhiyuan is incredibly hard to eliminate."
The crowd gradually fell silent and nodded involuntarily.
The assassination attempts on Chu Zhiyuan never ceased from the Evil Sect experts.
Often many at once, or single-handed attempts.
But none succeeded, not even managing to injure him.
Chu Zhiyuan seemed impervious, discovering anyone who approached—certain death ensured.
And just look at how many White Bone Towers have already been built outside Purple Sun Villa.
"Why is he hard to eliminate?" The handsome youth said solemnly: "Our Heavenly Heart Sect has been tirelessly gathering information about him."
The crowd perked up, focusing their attention on him.
The handsome youth said in a deep voice: "His most unique trait is his extraordinary intuition, extremely acute."
The handsome youth continued: "We have been searching for a method to counteract it."
"Mr. Chen, has the Heavenly Heart Sect found one?"
"Previously, the Hidden Breathing Technique was one method; now we’ve found another to counter his extraordinary intuition."
The crowd’s spirit lifted, their eyes gleaming with hope.
The reason they answered the call to gather here to discuss ways to deal with Chu Zhiyuan.
Was due to the Heavenly Heart Sect’s significant influence. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NovєlFіre.net
And why does the Heavenly Heart Sect have such influence? Because it shared the Hidden Breathing Technique with the other sects generously.
Through this Hidden Breathing Technique, many sects gained great benefits.
Now, the Heavenly Heart Sect was about to share a new secret technique to counter Chu Zhiyuan, exciting them instantly.
"This is not a secret technique, but a kind of treasure," the handsome youth said in a deep voice.
Speaking, he took out a string of beads from his sleeve.
Each bead was the size of a Dragon Eye, glinting with a dark sheen under the firelight.
The handsome youth raised the string of beads, speaking in a deep voice: "This was bestowed upon us by our sect’s Venerable, a divine artifact to obscure intuition and destiny!"
Holding up the string of beads, his eyes sharp as he glanced over everyone’s faces: "With these beads, you can approach Chu Zhiyuan without being detected!"
The crowd, initially disappointed to find out it wasn’t a secret technique, regained their spirit.
The handsome youth coldly stated: "Only one is needed, each person with one of these beads can approach Chu Zhiyuan, and assassinate him!"
They focused on the beads, quickly counting the total: twelve.
"Twelve beads, one for each person, allowing us to gather twelve people," the handsome youth said slowly: "We only have this one chance!"
Someone suggested: "If it’s twelve people, they should all be Great Grandmasters."
Some showed difficult expressions.
"Our Great Grandmaster has already been eliminated."
Listening to these words, the handsome youth’s expression grew even gloomier.
The situation was dire, exceedingly difficult.
The entire Evil Sect had suffered heavy losses, and very few Great Grandmasters remained in their sects.
The fact that the world’s Evil Sects couldn’t gather twelve Great Grandmasters was truly woeful!