Chapter 691 284: Seizing Opportunity Ahead, Supreme Tribulation

"Such ferocious sword qi."

In Luqiao County, as Chen Ping stood in front of the county government office, he looked around and saw countless corpses lying everywhere, near and far.

There were men and women, young and old.

There were chickens and dogs, cows and sheep.

Some were driving ox carts, while others were carrying vegetable baskets.

The majority still had smiles on their faces, genuine expressions of joy, now forever frozen in their final moments.

When disaster struck, it seemed these people did not even have the chance to respond.

Chen Ping reached out and caught a wisp of lingering dark sword qi from the air, holding it firmly in his palm, silently sensing it, his gaze turning slightly cold.

"Do I have it easy? This world, a government office, a county, arduously conquered just so these ordinary citizens could have enough to eat and wear, live a slightly better life. I've nearly gone bald from the effort, expending countless thoughts.

The first law of the Great Yu Dynasty is that murder demands retribution, debts must be repaid. You did this, now want to leave—such an easy way out isn't possible."

Chen Ping slowly walked to the side of a small child holding a broom, looking at the child's still wide, unseeing eyes, and gently closed them with his hand.

His brow twitched violently, as if an invisible eye had opened.

Within this pervasive murderous atmosphere, he saw shattered soul fragments and the sword qi that swept across the entire city.

The sword qi, like a serpent, glimmered with starlight within the darkness, dispersing into a net, converging into a force.

As it swept across Luqiao County, on the surface, the city seemed unchanged, but in reality, all life—human and animal—was extinguished with a single stroke.

Moreover, an intangible evil spirit was swallowed whole by the red-clad man floating high above the city at the instant of their deaths.

The red-clad man had eyebrows like blades, a wide mouth, a square face, and a dignified appearance.

There was no intent to kill in his eyes, nor was there any hatred.

Indeed, the strike was not meant to kill.

"I kill you, and it's none of your business."

He merely passed through the city, casually swinging his blade to enhance his strength along the way, nothing more.

Whether the city's citizens found it pitiable or not held no significance to him.

Fragmented souls floating in the air were swept together by Chen Ping's divine sense, forming a realistic image.

It manifest in the void.

Besides the red-clad attacker, there were three men and women with smiling faces, watching cheerfully.

A semi-rounded fat man, not old, yet dressed extravagantly, with a jade pendant at his waist, gemstones inlaid on his hat, holding a jeweled sword whose somber sword intent could be felt even through the sheath, sharp enough to cut eyebrows.

The other two, charming and alluring young women, had lowered brows and bowed heads, their attire hinting at maidservant roles despite its quality.

"A noble scion, maidservants, and even a chief constable from the government office."

The image in his mind allowed Chen Ping to roughly guess the origin of the individuals, but no matter how he thought about it, it seemed off.

The fat man appeared bloated and clumsy, but given his ability to float effortlessly mid-air, it was obvious he was a high-level warrior in the Divine Martial Realm, a Dao Foundation Realm expert.

Even the two maidservant-like young women possessed the same cultivation realm and could fly by their own power.

Not to mention the middle-aged man in blood-red clothing, head adorned with a headpiece; in the lingering soul fragments from the city's massacre, Chen Ping sensed the man's cultivation realm to hold a subtle threat toward him, appearing not below Daoist Mingxin of Black Lotus Hall.

The man's sword strike conveyed a sense of order, a deadly law power.

If Chen Ping did not know that Dao Alchemy Realm masters could not exist in this world, he might have believed this figure wasn't a Dao Foundation Realm venerable, but a Dao Alchemy Realm master.

"Where is such a powerful chief constable?

This world, is it really home to experts unknown to me? Apart from those in the South Sea Purple Bamboo Forest, the others in the Divine Martial Realm should be identified, and their locations confirmed."

"Now, these intriguing strangers have appeared, likely coming from the Star Sea, acting against the rules."

Chen Ping forcibly suppressed his murderous intent, opened his mouth slightly, and a point of white light appeared.

"Azure Dragon, Suppressing Fate."

Images of countless creatures from the four seas and eight wildernesses coalesced into a water curtain, revealing everything under the Azure Dragon Seal's suppression.

Chen Ping sensed the changes in fate and finally discovered discord on the southern map.

It was a few qi mechanisms, entering this world from beyond the heavens, passing through, briefly staying, then hastily flying further south.

Reaching a certain place, they vanished completely.

"It's the Celestial Star Ruins again."

Sensing the darkened area within the Azure Dragon Seal, Chen Ping felt unease.

Ji Mingyue reacted quickly, guessing Chen Ping's thoughts at a glance: "Did they head to the Celestial Star Ruins? There's not much to investigate there. Their goal must be the Heaven-Reaching Tower."

Saying this, Ji Mingyue frowned deeply, puzzled.

"If they're rushing for that treasure, charging in recklessly would likely lead to failure."

Back then, when Chen Ping, Ji Mingyue, Han Xiaoru, and Fang Qingzhu entered, they fell into a scene that seemed part illusion, part reality, experiencing ten years fleeting by...