Chapter 102: Freezing Cold
Since it was almost 10 p.m., the traffic flow was not very heavy, and Alkaid arrived at Griffin Garden in just half an hour.
Due to its poor geographical location, this was a villa district that was nearly abandoned.
Moreover, given that it was late at night, nine out of ten villas were pitch-black.
Alkaid observed the area for a moment and soon approached a villa near the main road.
Through the secret technique of "Perception," he locked onto the fluctuations of at least a Martial Saint-level aura.
"There's even a treasure chest creature here."
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He used the "Formless" secret technique to conceal his aura and stealthily approached the Martial Saint stationed there.
Along the way, he passed by several other guards, two of whom had Grandmaster-level strength, but none noticed the silent infiltration of Alkaid.
The leading Martial Saint was conducting a patrol at the time.
After briefly assessing his movement pattern, Alkaid stood silently at a corner, reducing his aura to the extreme using the "Formless" secret technique.
Relying on his rich experience, even when the Martial Saint reached his hiding spot, he remained undetected.
Just as he turned the corner...
A cold light broke through the air.
The Divine Shadow Sword, like a ghost piercing the void, struck instantly under the Blazing White light.
The Martial Saint sensed the incoming sword beam immediately, but...
It was too late.
His body couldn't react in time.
He had no choice but to unleash Divine Intent instantly, transforming it into a Divine Intent secret technique that seemed to coalesce into a terrifying blaze, about to set Alkaid's spiritual world completely ablaze.
It must be said that this Divine Intent Martial Saint was decidedly resolute and ruthless.
Facing an abrupt attack and unable to react in time, he didn't hesitate to risk deploying a Divine Intent secret technique.
If the opponent couldn't withstand his Divine Intent secret technique, he would have been able to quickly escape the disadvantageous situation of being assassinated and strike back.
As for withstanding it...
It proved that the opponent's realm of cultivation wasn't much inferior to his own.
Having lost the initiative, facing an assassination from a peer in the same realm, the situation was already difficult to reverse.
All he could do was to take a gamble.
And the result...
He lost the gamble.
A more ferocious, dazzling, and intense light instantly illuminated his spiritual world.
The spiritual backlash brought by the Divine Intent secret technique left him completely despondent.
"It's over!"
At that moment, his heart was filled with a chilling sensation, along with a kind of indignant fury.
Divine Intent!
A fellow Divine Intent Martial Saint, so despicably low, lacking the courage to confront a peer head-on and instead opting for an underhanded ambush...
If it had been a direct confrontation, he would not have ended up so powerless to fight back...
...
"There's a disturbance!"
"Who is there!"
The confrontation between Alkaid and the Martial Saint instantly drew the attention of several people below.
The entire villa lit up brightly, and noises erupted.
However, as Alkaid charged down confronting several martial masters and Grandmasters in the arena, the noisy situation lasted only a few minutes before subsiding.
...
"Need to speed things up."
With a flick of the Divine Shadow Sword in Alkaid's hand, the fresh blood scattered.
He glanced at the blade, now showing cracks...
With some regret,
"Time to change it."
The Divine Weapon that had accompanied him through several fierce battles was about to be retired.
Although the Divine Shadow Sword belonged to the Divine Weapon category, there are distinctions of quality even among Divine Weapons.
The grade of the Divine Shadow Sword was clearly not on par with items like Heavy Star, Crescent Moon, and others.
Not to mention compared to the War Artifacts held by the high ranks of the Red Star Empire.
Thinking this over, Alkaid quickly followed his memory to an entrance to a basement.
At the entrance was a password door.
Thanks to Jiang Shengtian's great emphasis on this transfer site, the password was very firmly memorized, and Alkaid quickly entered the correct numbers, opening the door.
However, when the basement door opened, what appeared in front of him was not Divine Weapons or gold and silver jewelry, but...
Cultivation materials.
A large amount of materials for condensing Divine Intent.
This abnormality was somewhat unexpected to him.
"Related to the Demon Lord's plan?"
Alkaid briefly pondered, quickly guessing the situation.
The Red Star Empire was originally supposed to deliver a Demon Artifact to the Artifact Sect but managed to refine it during the turbulent period. However, due to various reasons, such as insufficient strength and realm, Red Star couldn't completely control this Demon Artifact.
And to wield an Immortal Soldier Demon Weapon...
Divine Intent... or rather Divine Sense is clearly a vital criterion.
For this reason, they required a great amount of Divine Refinement resources to concentrate and develop one person's Divine Sense to maturity to control the Demon Artifact, then leverage the power of the Demon Artifact to defeat the Rebirth Society and forcefully open the Stellar Gate.
"No wonder these past decades, Red Star has almost completely monopolized the materials for nurturing and refining Divine Intent. I thought it was because Red Star feared other countries producing Divine Intent Martial Saints..."
The real reason turned out to be this.
Understanding the reason, Alkaid quickly got busy, sorting and collecting these processed medicinal materials.
As there were too many materials, in the end, Alkaid could only pick the most valuable ones to pack together, leaving the rest for...
Regretful abandonment.
Half an hour later, carrying a bag as tall as a person, Alkaid left Griffin Garden.
The remaining medicinal herbs that couldn't be taken were not destroyed.
After all, it would take some time to use up these materials, and who knew...
By then, he might have returned.
...
Red Star Military Base in Dayu.
At this moment, in the conference room, the Sixteenth Prince's face looked extremely grim.
"It's absolutely rebellious!"
Jiang Zhengming's eyes were filled with uncontainable fury: "It has always been us, the Red Star, forcing others, never anyone daring to coerce us."
He slammed the table heavily: "The Rebirth Society, daring to this extent, forcing us to release the captured terrorists... Such actions are provoking our domination over the Artifact Nurturing Realm. If we don't punish them severely, where will the Red Star royal family's face be? Where is the dignity of our Red Star Empire?"
"Your Highness, please calm down."
Shangguan Xiong hurriedly said, "Considering that His Majesty suggested we let go of these remnants of the Rebirth Society for now might just be a temporary measure. Those madmen from the Rebirth Society dare to cause chaos in our Red Star Imperial Capital, and there's only one outcome for them—death.
It's likely that he has already become a prisoner sentenced to die by a thousand cuts by His Majesty's decree."
"Are the people from the Rebirth Society still following?"
Jiang Zhengming asked.
"They are."
Shangguan Xiong nodded, and after a pause, he continued, "However, these remnants still possess some strength. For now, we are just keeping an eye on them, not letting them completely out of our sight. If we were to recapture them, we would need your Highness's order to call in some experts from nearby."
"No matter, I've already issued commands to the nearby nations, and ten Martial Saints are rushing this way."
Jiang Zhengming sneered, "A bunch of jumping clowns. Do they really think that leaving the military base means they are safe? Under the heavens, all lands belong to the king! In this world, there's no one Red Star can't catch, and no one who offends us and gets away unscathed!"
Shangguan Xiong listened and nodded somewhat enviously.
Compared to the Shangguan Family, the Sixteenth Prince, Jiang Zhengming, without a doubt, held much more power.
His command, the surrounding nations wouldn't dare disobey.
And sure enough, immediately after the command, ten Martial Saints responded.
These Martial Saints...
Some were even former members of the Rebirth Society, now forced to demonstrate their loyalty to distance themselves from the Rebirth Society, to avoid being held accountable later.
At that moment, in the conference room, Shangguan Xiong's trusted subordinate seemed to have received some sort of news, suddenly saying, "General, the Martial Saint from the White Tower Federation mentioned he has suddenly fallen ill and can't make it."
"The White Tower Federation!?"
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Xiong snorted lightly, "Fang Quan, right? I've noted this. It seems the Fang Family thinks their days have been too peaceful... Since they don't want to continue, there's no need for them to exist."
Jiang Zhengming nodded slightly.
But it wasn't long before the subordinate spoke again: "Dragon Sparrow Country also sent a message. Their Martial Saint has encountered issues with his cultivation and can't fully commit..."
"Dragon Sparrow Country!? When Red Star needs him, it's his great honor. To dare defy the decree!? Very well, very well!"
A flash of anger crossed Jiang Zhengming's eyes.
And as the news from Dragon Sparrow Country arrived, the remaining nations seemed to have conspired together, all sending the same message—
Each of their Martial Saints was being held up by various matters.
In the end, it meant one thing—they couldn't make it.
One or two sending such messages might have left Jiang Zhengming and Shangguan Xiong coldly amused, but as the third and fourth also spoke the same, both began to sense that something was wrong. By the time every nation said the same, outright denying respect to the Sixteenth Prince, even Jiang Zhengming, albeit slow to catch on, realized the severity of the situation.
He contacted his father, the Emperor, immediately.
But...
No one answered.
Next, he tried contacting Qi Renjie, who was specifically responsible for intelligence, likewise, no one responded...
In that moment, Jiang Zhengming had a bad feeling.
"Something has happened."
Jiang Zhengming said gravely.
Could it be...
That lunatic who broke into their palace had escaped?
That's why these nations' Martial Saints had the guts to refuse the Red Star royal family?
"Ding Dong!"
Just as the two sensed that something was amiss, both their phones simultaneously received a message from an unknown number.
The key was...
The picture attached to the message.
Just a glance, and the previously superior-feeling Jiang Zhengming and Shangguan Xiong's faces drastically changed.
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
The two quickly opened the photo, enlarged it, and examined it closely. The more they looked, the more uncontrollably they trembled.
The message from the unknown number turned out to be of the bodies of Jiang Shengtian, the Jiang Family head, and Shangguan Jinlong, the head of the Shangguan Family.
Dead!
The Red Star Emperor, the family head of the Shangguan Family, dead!
At that moment, both felt as if the sky were falling and the ground were sinking beneath them.
"How dare they! Who on earth... how could they dare... "
"Lawlessness! Sheer lawlessness!"
Both trembling, their hands shook nonstop and for the first time, emotions other than arrogance, scorn, and anger appeared in their eyes—fear!
"Ring Ring!"
Shortly after the photo was sent, Jiang Zhengming's phone rang first.
Seeing the number, he hurriedly answered the phone and urgently asked, "What exactly has happened?"
"You know already?"
An old man's voice came from the phone: "Forget about everything else, the situation has changed, come back to the Imperial Capital immediately!"
Almost simultaneously, Shangguan Xiong's phone also rang.
"Mom..."
"A huge incident has occurred, the power of the Shangguan Family absolutely cannot fall into the hands of others, hurry back!"
Hearing the voices on the phone and comparing them to the images they had received, both Jiang Zhengming and Shangguan Xiong suddenly felt as if plunged into an ice cave.
Their bodies couldn't feel a bit of warmth.