Chapter 17: The Decisive Strike

The death of Yan Zhong, the leader of the Fourth Enforcement Team, quickly spread throughout the Enforcement Hall. Naturally, the spies from the other nine factions of the Six Plateau Stars also sent word back.

Another piece of news soon spread as well: the competition for the new leader of the Fourth Enforcement Team would be decided within three days. Undoubtedly, the most lively group at this time was the members of the Fourth Enforcement Team, all eager to compete for the leadership position.

Qu Yi and Li Yu returned to their own courtyards and stayed inside, continuing to train diligently. Qu Yi, of course, continued scanning the Dual Path. With only a few years left before his soul realm could reach the later stage of Divination, he had to train every moment.

At this point, Qu Yi still had no intention of going to the Artifact Hall, as his cultivation level was only in the early stage of Divination, and it was uncertain whether he could even enter. Therefore, he planned to wait for an opportunity later to help the Artifact God search for old items.

The Fourth Enforcement Team occupied an area of hundreds of miles in the valley, located in a mountainous region with ten peaks in total. These ten peaks had already been numbered from one to ten.

“All members of the Fourth Enforcement Team in the valley—those who wish to compete for the leadership position should go to the Ten Peaks Mountain starting tomorrow and seize it through strength.”

This message suddenly appeared in the sky above the courtyard where the Fourth Enforcement Team lived, serving as a notification to their members. At this time, aside from nearly forty members still on missions and not back yet, sixty members remained in their courtyard. Everyone heard the message and pondered it in their own minds. Naturally, Qu Yi heard it too.

Inside the Dimensional Sphere, Qu Yi entered.

“Haha, Qu Yi, do you want to take on the leadership position?” The Artifact God, still lying on the soft chair by the lake, didn’t even look at Qu Yi as he spoke.

Qu Yi chuckled and immediately sat cross-legged by the lake, saying, “It’s too noisy outside. It’s best for me to train here. Of course, I want to get this leadership position. Otherwise, I won’t have any status to present when I go to the Artifact Hall—probably even the guards won’t let me in.”

After hearing this, the Artifact God turned over on the soft chair and fell silent.

……

Meng Zhan, the leader of the Twentieth Enforcement Team, and Gui Ning, the leader of the Forty-Third Enforcement Team, were gathered together, with a member in the middle stage of Divination beside them.

This member was named Mu Shang, a member of the Fourth Enforcement Team and also from the Guangyuan Gate. He had a somewhat gloomy appearance.

“Mu Shang, Yan Zhong is dead. Whether the Fourth Law Enforcement Team can fall into our hands depends on you. Our Guangyuan Gate has always held considerable influence within the Law Enforcement Hall. If the position of leader of the Fourth Law Enforcement Team goes to someone else this time, our Guangyuan Gate will lose an important force, and our disciples will no longer be able to speak with authority.”
“I understand, Meng Zhan,” Mu Shang replied briefly.
Although both Meng Zhan and Gui Ning held the position of leader, they were both at the mid-stage of the Divided Mind cultivation level. Moreover, since they were both from Guangyuan Gate, Mu Shang wasn’t willing to lower his own status.
Gui Ning nodded before saying, “Mu Shang, your magical weapon is just a low-grade spiritual artifact, so it can’t guarantee that you’ll successfully take over as leader. Therefore, Meng Zhan and I went to the Artifact Hall and used our accumulated wealth over the years to obtain a mid-grade spiritual artifact for you—a Golden Spear.”
The Taiyuan Gate wouldn’t assign magical weapons to disciples at the Divided Mind stage; they had to exchange wealth for them. Only the elders at the Combined Body stage would be granted magical weapons as appropriate by the Taiyuan Gate. As for those at the Calamity Crossing and Great Vehicle stages, they were the guarantee of the Taiyuan Gate’s strength, so naturally, all resources were directed toward them.
Mu Shang glanced at Meng Zhan and Gui Ning in surprise but didn’t refuse. He took the two-meter-long Golden Spear from Gui Ning’s hands and immediately marked it as his own with his blood.
“I will definitely get the position of leader,” Mu Shang said calmly.
Although Meng Zhan and Gui Ning felt reluctant to see the Golden Spear disappear, they smiled upon hearing Mu Shang’s words.
…
By now, over a hundred people had gathered at Ten Peaks Mountain.
In addition to the sixty members of the Fourth Law Enforcement Team, members from other law enforcement teams also came to watch the excitement.
Although the chief leader, Li Kui, said the leader would be determined within three days, everyone knew it would only take one day to decide who the new leader would be. So, everyone came just to see who the new leader of the Fourth Law Enforcement Team would be.
Out of the sixty members of the Fourth Law Enforcement Team, twenty decided to compete for the leadership position. The other forty knew their own limitations—they didn’t have powerful magical weapons, and given their cultivation levels, they didn’t want to embarrass themselves in front of everyone, so they withdrew from the competition voluntarily.
Now, these twenty people formed pairs and went to the ten peaks.
Qu Yi and a man namedWild Wind landed on Peak Five and bowed to each other.

“Wild Wind, during a duel, accidents are inevitable. I hope you won’t hide even a trace of your strength and will go all out. I’ll do the same. If I injure you, please don’t hold grudges against me,” Qu Yi said with a faint smile.

This Wild Wind had mastered a wood-elemental cultivation technique and had reached the mid-stage of the Divided Mind realm. It was said that he was extremely fast.

“Li Mu, this is exactly what I wanted to say. All these pretenses are meaningless. Let’s go all out—wounds and deaths don’t matter,” Wild Wind laughed loudly.

Hearing this, Qu Yi nodded happily. This was exactly what he wanted. He didn’t intend to hold back in battle and wanted to use this fight to make others afraid to face him, so he could easily take over as team leader.

Immediately, Qu Yi drew the Fulong Sword and pointed it at Wild Wind.

Wild Wind took out a Wannian Tiebi Wood Sword. The sword was a light gray color but exuded a gentle wood spirit aura.

Whoa!

Qu Yi’s body suddenly flashed, and his figure vanished. He appeared right behind Wild Wind and thrust his sword straight at him.

Wild Wind was shocked. How could Qu Yi be so fast? Even his own pride in wood-elemental speed seemed inferior to Qu Yi’s. Yet, Wild Wind’s spiritual sense still detected Qu Yi’s presence. He quickly turned around and used his wood sword to block the Fulong Sword.

Qu Yi smiled slightly and disappeared again, reappearing behind Wild Wind.

After breaking through to the early stage of the Divided Mind realm, Qu Yi utilized the gold-elemental speed technique “Ten Thousand Miles in an Inch,” allowing him to compete with those at the early stage of the Combined Body realm. Now, in his duel with Wild Wind, he deliberately held back his speed, only reaching the late stage of the Divided Mind realm.

Wild Wind sensed Qu Yi approaching from behind again. He turned sharply once more and used his wood sword to block Qu Yi’s thrust.

Qu Yi chuckled. He didn’t want to use his true energy to cast spells at Wild Wind. He vanished once more and reappeared behind Wild Wind in an instant.

The law enforcement members watching nearby mostly focused their attention on Qu Yi’s peak. They could see that Qu Yi was mocking Wild Wind, taking full advantage of Wild Wind’s pride in speed.

“I surrender! I can’t take it anymore!” Suddenly, Wild Wind shouted in front of everyone.

Before his words faded, he fled like a gust of wind, unable to bear staying there any longer.

Qu Yi stood on the peak, smiling. The strong wind blew his robes, making a rustling sound.

On the other nine peaks, battles were still ongoing.

Qu Yi’s gaze fixed on Mu Shang atop Peak Two, especially on the Golden Spear in his hands—a mid-grade spiritual weapon of the gold element, precisely what Qu Yi lacked at the moment. The Fulong Sword was only a top-grade treasure, and the Bafang Sword couldn’t be used publicly. Qu Yi was thinking of acquiring a gold-element magic weapon.

Suddenly, Mu Shang activated his vital energy, and a thin golden thread shot out from the Golden Spear. Yet the golden energy within that thread was extremely concentrated and powerful.

The law enforcement member competing with Mu Shang tried to block it with his yellow sword, but the golden thread pierced through the sword body and swiftly entered his body, creating a fist-sized blood hole.

Mu Shang stopped attacking the severely injured member and stood atop the peak, meeting Qu Yi’s gaze.

The law enforcement members from the other eight peaks also ended their matches. Then, the eight victorious members voluntarily gave up their right to compete. During the matches, they had sensed Qu Yi and Mu Shang’s strength through their spiritual senses and were now terrified.

Suddenly!

Qu Yi floated beside Mu Shang.

“I am Mu Shang!”

“I am Li Mu!”

The two greeted each other directly before drawing out their respective magic weapons and fighting.

Golden threads immediately appeared from the Golden Spear, shooting toward Qu Yi, as if he were fabric and they intended to embroider patterns on it.

Qu Yi pursed his lips and vanished. He then increased his speed once more, reaching the early stage of the HeTi level. The air was filled with deafening wind blasts, creating a terrifying momentum.

The next moment, Qu Yi thrust the Fulong Sword from behind Mu Shang.

“You can’t hurt me!” Mu Shang shouted angrily. He turned around quickly, spinning the Golden Spear, which transformed into a sphere of light to block the Fulong Sword’s advance.

“Is that so?”

Qu Yi smiled, then mysteriously reappeared behind Mu Shang. A golden dragon emerged from the Fulong Sword, charging straight at Mu Shang.

Mu Shang was shocked. He swiftly spun the Golden Spear, causing continuous streams of golden threads to emerge, like thousands of golden snakes soaring through the air while protecting his body.

Some of the golden threads wrapped around the golden dragon and penetrated its body, shattering it completely.

At that moment, Mu Shang sneered at Qu Yi, radiating an air of defiance—“You’ll never hurt me.”

Qu Yi’s usually calm face suddenly showed a strange smile.

“Final strike!” Qu Yi suddenly shouted.

Then, Qu Yi seemed to pass through into another dimension, only to emerge from it. By the time he came out, the Fulong Sword had already pierced Mu Shang’s dantian.
“You…” Mu Shang gave a look of disbelief before collapsing.