Chapter 517 Encountering a Mutated Blood Scythe Demon Mantis, Gaining a Powerful Talent, and Stumbling Upon Giant Spirit Martial Artists

’He killed a Giant Spirit Martial Artist at the Seventh Layer of the True Master Realm with a single punch?’

’It really is the Black Gold Emperor Body!’

’I’m no match for him at all!’

He didn’t know why he’d run into someone with the Black Gold Emperor Body here, but he had no time to dwell on it.

"Run!!!"

He spun around and fled, wishing he could grow another pair of legs.

But now that Jiang Che had revealed his true form, how could he possibly let the man escape alive?

"You think... you can get away?!"

Jiang Che stomped, instantly blasting a huge crater in the ground. His massive body shot forward like a black bolt of lightning, catching up to the fleeing assassin in a heartbeat!

His massive hand shot out and grabbed the man’s shoulder as his other fist, covered in fearsome armor, swung forward.

"Die!!!"

CRUNCH!!!

This Giant Spirit Martial Artist, an expert at the Eighth Layer of the True Master Realm, didn’t even get a chance to beg for mercy before his head was smashed to a pulp.

The battle was over.

From Jiang Che’s transformation to the end of the fight, only a few short breaths had passed.

Two Giant Spirit Martial Artists, powerful enough to unleash a bloody storm across Great Chu, were now utterly and completely dead.

*Hooo...*

Jiang Che glanced at the two corpses on the ground and released his Black Armor Form.

’Black Gold Emperor Body?’

He mused thoughtfully.

’It seems my Black Armor must be related to the power system of the Great Yan Kingdom...’

’This makes things even more complicated.’

’If anyone finds out I have this Black Armor, I’ll never be able to clear my name!’

Jiang Che shook his head, pushing the thoughts aside.

He quickly cleared the scene, looting anything of value from the two bodies before sprinkling them with a solution designed to destroy corpses and erase all traces.

In an instant, the two corpses dissolved into a clear liquid that seeped into the soil.

He then walked over to the corpse of the Purple Spot Blood Scythe Demon Mantis and took out the Soul Storage Jade Talisman.

"Extract!"

A ferocious, purplish-red Beast Soul was pulled out and sealed within the Jade Talisman.

[Beast Soul: Mutated Blood Scythe Demon Mantis (Seventh Layer of True Master Realm)]

[Spirit Attachment Ability: Purple Shadow Instant Kill. Consume a large amount of True Qi to instantly triple your speed and imbue your next attack with the "Dark Annihilation" effect. This effect ignores 100% of the target’s True Qi Shield and 50% of their physical defense, inflicting a Tearing Wound that bleeds incessantly.]

’Triple speed... Dark Annihilation... ignores True Qi Shields...’

Jiang Che’s eyes lit up.

’What a find!’

’This is so much stronger than the Sixth Layer one!’

’I’ve really struck it rich this time!’

Stowing the Jade Talisman, Jiang Che departed without another moment’s delay.

To avoid any other assassins who might be in the area, he activated [Shadow Escape] and slipped away from the Black Mist Wood without a sound.

...

「Tingtai Garden.」

The night was deep, and all was still.

A transparent, ghostly figure passed silently through the courtyard’s Restriction, slipping into the house like a wisp of smoke.

After canceling [Shadow Escape], Jiang Che materialized and walked to the table.

RATTLE—

He untied his Storage Bag and emptied its contents—everything he had looted from the two assassins—onto the table.

Back in the Black Mist Wood, time had been tight, so he had only given the items a cursory glance.

Now that he was back in the safety of his own room, he could finally take a proper inventory.

’There’s a fair bit of money here, but given my current wealth, it’s not of much use to me...’

’And these Elixir Pills...’

Jiang Che picked up a few dark red vials, uncorked one, and took a whiff. The pungent stench of blood immediately assaulted his nostrils.

’I don’t know what kind of Elixir Pills these are, but they seem to be cultivation aids for the Giant Spirit Demon Martial System. I’d better not take them randomly...’

Aside from these, there were some miscellaneous items for survival in the wild.

And then there was a palm-sized, old notebook with a grayish-brown cover.

’Let’s see what this is...’

Jiang Che picked up the notebook and opened it to the first page.

What met his eyes was a surprisingly lifelike and meticulously detailed portrait!

The person in the painting had a cold, stern face and an arrogant glint in their eyes.

It was none other than Ye Guyun!

Jiang Che frowned and continued to flip through the pages.

The second page: Feng Wuji.

The third page: Xiao Hongxiu.

The fourth page: Lin Muyang.

...

This notebook contained portraits of all the top geniuses among the current generation of Direct Disciples!

As he flipped to the last page, a folded piece of paper suddenly slipped out.

Jiang Che picked up the paper and unfolded it.

[The sixth day of the sixth month, at noon. Ye Guyun, Feng Wuji, and two others are to be dispatched to the Black Mist Wood for combat training. They will not be accompanied by any Elders.]

"This..."

A jolt of shock ran through Jiang Che as he finished reading.

’The sixth day of the sixth month?’

’Isn’t that tomorrow?!’

’So those two assassins were lurking in the Black Mist Wood to scout the area!’

If Jiang Che hadn’t stumbled upon them by chance today, these rising stars of the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect would likely have been completely annihilated in the Black Mist Wood tomorrow!

’This intel is too precise...’

Jiang Che stuffed the letter back into the notebook, his brow deeply furrowed.

’They have detailed portraits, they know their exact training itinerary, and they even know for a fact that no Elder would be with them...’

’There’s a mole!’

’And what’s more, this mole must have a high-ranking position!’

’Who could it be?’

’Ye Guyun is on Coiling Dragon Peak, Feng Wuji is on Heaven-Slaying Peak, and Xiao Hongxiu and Lin Muyang are on Shadow Killing Peak.’

’The movements of these disciples are spread across three different Peaks.’

’Someone who can keep track of the Core Disciples’ movements across all three of these Peaks...’

’It can’t be an ordinary Elder from one of the Peaks. It might not even be someone from any of the individual Peaks at all.’

’Could it be someone from Xingdao Peak who handles mission assignments? Or someone from Duobao Peak in charge of resources?’

Jiang Che shook his head.

There were too few clues to make a deduction.

The only thing he could be sure of was that this was a huge conspiracy, and he was way out of his depth.

’This... is not something I can handle.’

Jiang Che was very self-aware.

He had killed two assassins and foiled part of the plot, but who knew what other plans the Great Yan Kingdom had in store?

Besides, investigating a mole was the kind of thing that would get him burned if he got involved.

’No, I have to report this!’

With that thought, Jiang Che hesitated no longer.

He put the notebook and the letter away, tucked them securely in his robes, pushed open the door, and sped off into the night toward Tingfeng Pavilion, where Song Yuan resided.

He could only tell Song Yuan about this first.

As a confidant of Daoist Wu Wei and the senior brother assigned to guide him, Song Yuan was the only person Jiang Che could trust who also had access to the sect’s upper echelons.

...