Chapter 981: Coming to Cause Trouble

Tianmo Branch Hall.
One of the wealthiest branches of Yipin Hall, it is renowned throughout the Central Plains not only for being second only to the main hall within Yipin Hall but also because the Tianmo Secret Caves are rich in rare magical artifacts such as “Fire Qilin Blood” and “Fire Qilin Scales”!

However…
Such astonishing wealth naturally requires even greater military strength and powerful fighters to protect it!

Yipin Hall has stationed over ten thousand disciples at the Tianmo Branch Hall, with no fewer than five thousand skilled fighters always on duty…
These five thousand are all top-tier or second-tier martial artists in the current martial world, each possessing remarkable skills. Even any single group among them could easily assault the Tianmo Secret Caves or even traverse the entire cave system!

In addition, the four top experts of the Tianmo Branch Hall organize a “Dragon Slaying Operation” once a week—targeting the Fire Qilin—to obtain as much of its blood and scales as possible…
Though successful only rarely, these four experts are core members of Yipin Hall, each equipped with a full set of fourth-stage magical weapons, on par with the best fighters today.

With these four top experts and thousands of elite Yipin Hall disciples, few can approach the ruins of Tianmo Hall, let alone the Tianmo Branch Hall itself.

Over time, it has begun to seem like a territory exclusive to Yipin Hall—testament to their tactics and strength.

That day…
The disciples of the Tianmo Branch Hall, as usual, practiced near the ruins of Tianmo Hall. Aside from a few who indulged in practicing in the gang’s prison cells, there were only ordinary disciples on duty, numbering no more than a hundred—when there were no major operations or important matters, they usually didn’t return to the branch hall easily but continued practicing in groups.

“Damn it, it’s my turn to stay behind. Today is the weekend, and the Four Great Heroes have an operation this afternoon… So frustrating—I can’t even join.”
“Come on, it’s once a month, just half a day. What’s there to complain about? If you really don’t want to, just contribute something to the gang’s warehouse.”
“Shut up, that just benefits you brutes!”
“Enough nonsense.”
“How about we go practice swordsmanship?”
“Fine, let’s practice. Who’s afraid of whom? I heard you’ve been practicing a fast sword technique lately. I’ve been practicing the Yue Family Spear Style—how about we have a duel?”

After some chatter, the disciples of the Tianmo Branch Hall descended to the training ground.
Clashes of blades and swords!

A dozen or so disciples from the Tianmo Branch Pavilion idly sparred in the open space surrounded by wooden posts, exchanging blows back and forth as a way to pass the time.
Before long, suddenly, the sound of rapid hooves approached swiftly!
The disciples from the First-Class Hall, engrossed in their intense sparring, paid no attention at all—after all, the Tianmo Branch Pavilion had quite a number of people, and it was quite normal for one or two, or even a group, to return from time to time.
But!
The sound of the hooves continued to intensify as it neared the perimeter of the Tianmo Branch Pavilion.
“Who is that?”
The group finally noticed and stopped fighting.
Following the sound, they saw a rider leap over the horse-riding post as one…
“…Don’t you know the rules of the Tianmo Branch Pavilion?!”
“Riding is prohibited within the horse-riding post area! Which branch do you belong to?!” shouted the leader of the First-Class Hall disciples.
Given the status of the First-Class Hall in the Central Plains, no one had dared to cause trouble for a long time. The group thought the newcomer was just some brother from another branch showing off his riding skills.
However!
With several sharp sounds of something cutting through the air, the flag of the First-Class Hall collapsed like a kite with its string cut, and the plaque of the Tianmo Branch Pavilion was shattered into pieces by the hidden energy contained in the flying knives, crashing to the ground under the astonished and furious gazes of the First-Class Hall disciples.
Black pigeons descended onto the shoulders of the First-Class Hall disciples…
This was an alarm that the branch had been attacked.
“Who the hell are you?!”
Though shocked and angry, the First-Class Hall disciples had sharp eyesight and immediately recognized the skillful use of consecutive flying knives—something no ordinary person could master. Instead of rushing forward, they merely shouted in anger.
Thud! Thud!
The rider turned around, his icy, piercing eyes like blades fixed on them, with a mocking tone:
“Rules?”
“The rules of the First-Class Hall?!”
“Today, I’m here to establish rules for you!!”
His words, laced with deadly intent, were absolute. It would be strange if the people of the First-Class Hall remained indifferent.
“So you’re here to cause trouble!” The group’s expressions changed instantly. “Brothers, go! Take down this arrogant guy!”
At the same time, a group of people rushed out of the Tianmo Main Pavilion, armed with swords and knives!
Xingke didn’t even blink, looking down at the forces from the First-Class Hall attacking from both sides:
“Hmph. Since I have ten minutes, I’ll play along with you.”
With a shake of his palms, he leaped off the horse!
“Let’s see!”

The people of Yipin Hall seemed to have been waiting for this moment; half of them raised their hands to launch hidden weapons…
Xian Kai even didn’t bother activating his Dragon Form. With each step covering ten meters, he headed headlong toward the disciples of Yipin Hall rushing out from the Heavenly Demon Altar.
Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!
The hidden weapons struck Xian Kai like hail.
Unfortunately…
Though these weapons from the Life and Death realm were quite lethal, they were far from enough to penetrate the defenses of someone who possessed a complete set of fourth-stage demonic weapons and the eighth-level cultivation, the “Immortal Body.”
When the skilled warriors of Yipin Hall saw this, their hearts sank. Such high defenses! It was a master!
The moment this thought crossed their minds, a fierce figure charged at them with deadly intent, its sword blade blazing like fire!
The leading warrior of Yipin Hall didn’t even realize how Xian Kai had dodged his strike—his consciousness was already gone. The last image in his memory was those icy, merciless eyes filled with endless killing intent!
The victim didn’t see what happened clearly, but those around him saw it all. They saw clearly that the moment their comrade swung his sword, the opponent moved right up to the blade’s edge, and his long sword pierced through the man’s throat as if there was no one there!
Death!
After killing the first man, Xian Kai drew his sword again without pause…
A terrifying wave of black flames flashed across the scene! The blazing sword light instantly enveloped all the disciples of Yipin Hall.
This was Xian Kai’s strength—before even finishing his drawing motion, he launched a second, even more fierce attack! It was so swift that the disciples of Yipin Hall couldn’t react at all.
With the attack already underway, they could only brace themselves and try to defend.
Unfortunately…
Was Xian Kai’s attack really that easy to block?
Bang! Bang!!
The sword light struck them, and they were hit like by lightning! Many spat blood on the spot, their bodies collapsing as they could barely hold their weapons.
Since practicing the “Meridian Transformation Scripture,” Xian Kai had become even more skilled at releasing hidden energy. This time, he released two streams of hidden energy at once—one upward, one downward, one bright, one dark. If these ordinary elite members of Yipin Hall could block two streams of hidden energy, that would be miraculous…
Yet…
This encounter made them realize who their enemy really was.
“It’s Xian Kai!”
“Damn it!”
“Quick! Send pigeons to call for reinforcements from the altar masters!!”
As the name spread, the disciples of Yipin Hall paled and scattered. Several of them frantically left the battlefield and sent pigeons.
By the time they sent the pigeons, more than a dozen people had already been killed by Xian Kai!

“The Magic Swan World-Destroying Art” had already reached the middle stage of the tenth level, just one step away from perfection. Combined with dark energy, even the most skilled experts might not be able to withstand it.
“Since the news has already spread, die then.”
Kai Xin deliberately took some time before catching up to the few First-Class Hall disciples who had sent messenger pigeons…
…
In the distant Tianmo Ruins, a group of First-Class Hall experts who had already cleared all Tianmo Sect disciples from the main hall and were about to activate the Tianmo Order were suddenly startled by black pigeons descending from the sky.
“What’s going on?”
“Has one of our branches been attacked?”
They looked at each other in confusion.
“Who could be playing tricks at a time like this?” Yin Xin, the leader of the Tianmo branch, frowned and glanced at his subordinates below the steps. “Who’s on duty today? Find out what happened!”
For about two years now, no one in the Central Plains martial world had dared to attack a First-Class Hall branch. So when the black pigeons appeared, their first thought wasn’t to send reinforcements but to assume it was some prank.
As soon as he spoke, the subordinates quickly sent out messenger pigeons…
In less than half a minute!
Several messenger pigeons arrived simultaneously in Yin Xin’s hands and those of several other branch leaders.
The moment the pigeons arrived, Yin Xin’s heart skipped a beat…
If it were the duty subordinates responding, they would definitely reply to those who asked questions, not send messages directly to the four great leaders!
The subordinates also turned pale.
“Leader, could it be the people from Xifeng Tower causing trouble again?” In the entire Central Plains, only the people from Xifeng Tower resented the First-Class Hall’s occupation of the Tianmo Secret Caves and would come to cause trouble from time to time.
But this wasn’t that kind of situation—it was a direct attack on the branch, which was tantamount to declaring war.
“It’s not Xifeng Tower…”
Yin Xin glanced at the note, then raised his eyes again, his gaze blazing with intensity: “It’s Kai Xin.”
“Huh?!”
Everyone was shocked.
“Kai Xin?”
“What’s he doing here at the Tianmo branch for no reason?”
At the same time, the other three deputy leaders also read the warning message with serious expressions and looked at Yin Xin. “This guy is quite bold, coming straight to our Tianmo branch. Does he think our branch is easy to mess with?”
“Hmph!”
“That’s right… Our First-Class Hall Tianmo branch isn’t a place he can come and go as he pleases just because he has some fame and skills. Thinking he can look down on all the heroes under the sky.”
“Let’s go!”
“Cancel this operation. Everyone return to the Tianmo branch. I want to see what this Kai Xin plans to do!!”