Chapter 1352: Chaos in the City Lord's Mansion

The City Lord's Mansion in Ye City.

City Lord Duan Xiu emerged from his quiet chamber, his brows tightly furrowed as he looked towards the direction of the prison. "Who dares to be so audacious as to attempt a rescue here?"

He had once been a military general before being transferred to Ye City to serve as City Lord. His military background had forged him into a calm and collected individual in times of crisis. He calmly analyzed the situation and called for his subordinates. "Anyone daring to rescue someone from within the city must at least be in the early Integration Stage. Go quickly to the four neighboring cities for help, and have them inform the nearby stationed army."

"Yes!"

Donning his old black battle armor and helmet, Duan Xiu seemed to return to his military days over a hundred years ago.

"Husband, what's going on?"

"Dad, what happened?"

Duan Xiu's wife and son also noticed the commotion and came out of their rooms. Their faces were filled with worry as they saw Duan Xiu in his battle armor.

His resolute gaze softened. He held his wife's hand and said earnestly, "They're just a bunch of thieves. Don't you know my strength? Nothing will happen." Besides, Ye City still had a secret weapon that hadn't been used.

"Then please be careful," his wife and son both said, deeply worried about Duan Xiu.

Waving his hand without looking back, Duan Xiu called out loudly, "Alright, go back and rest!"

After bidding farewell to his wife and son, Duan Xiu headed to the underground secret chamber of the City Lord's Mansion.

Few knew that beneath Ye City lay a city-protecting grand array of the Integration Stage. Once activated, it might not defeat the intruders, but it could certainly hold them off until reinforcements arrived. He twisted a book on a bookshelf, and with a thud, the bookshelf shifted aside, revealing a stone door. He channeled spiritual energy into the stone door, which then opened to reveal a long tunnel.

He quickly entered the tunnel and arrived at the underground secret chamber. As he passed through the tunnel, oil lamps embedded in the stone walls lit up one by one, leading all the way to the deepest part of the chamber. "What?!"

When he reached the chamber, he was startled. The core of the city-protecting grand array, originally carved into the chamber walls, had been completely destroyed, making repairs impossible.

"How is this possible?!" Without his spiritual energy as a key, no one should have been able to enter here.

"City Lord Duan, are you very surprised?"

A ghostly voice came from behind City Lord Duan. "Who's there?" City Lord Duan twisted his head sharply. He had kept his spiritual energy active the entire time, yet he hadn't noticed anyone approaching him. The opponent's strength surpassed his own.

The other party introduced himself with a name Duan Xiu had never heard before: "Heartless Sect, Wu Lei."

"So it truly is your Heartless Sect!" City Lord Duan vigilantly stared at Wu Lei, quietly touching his storage ring to retrieve a red-tasseled spear. "It seems you've split into two groups: one to rescue someone, and the other to hold me back."

Wu Lei gently shook his head and said plainly, "Rescuing people is just a cover. Our true purpose for this trip is to kill you."

"Such audacity!" The red-tasseled spear surged forward like a dragon soaring through the nine heavens, its tip shimmering with scorching light, enveloped in blazing flames. Although he was in the Void Refinement Stage, he currently possessed the combat power of the Integration Stage, and he did not fear this Heartless Sect member named Wu Lei.

Wu Lei spread his hands slightly, threads of electrical current dancing at his fingertips, unleashing a furious lightning storm within the confined chamber.

Pffft—Duan Xiu stood in the center of the lightning storm. Thunder raged around him. Before the red-tasseled spear could even reach Wu Lei, he was incapacitated by the electric current, losing control of his body, and the spear clanged to the ground.

"City Lord Duan doesn't know that even among cultivators in the Integration Stage, there are still distinctions in power, does he?" Wu Lei said this without the slightest hint of sarcasm, yet considering the current situation, it carried a heavier sarcastic tone.

"How is this possible?" Duan Xiu's body was numb from the electricity; he couldn't even clench his fists. He looked at Wu Lei in disbelief. Even if there were power distinctions within the Integration Stage, it shouldn't result in a single-move victory. The lightning storm he had just unleashed had surprisingly targeted all of his weaknesses.

"What's so impossible about it?"

A voice that was all too familiar rang out from behind Wu Lei. "Wenwu?!"

City Lord Duan's eyes widened as he watched his son, Duan Wenwu, emerge from behind Wu Lei. "You're a spy for the Heartless Sect!" The existence of the secret chamber, his own weaknesses—if all of this information was leaked by his son, then everything made sense.

Duan Wenwu looked at his incapacitated father and chuckled, "I haven't truly joined the Heartless Sect yet. Only after I kill you will I be considered a true member." To join the Heartless Sect, one must kill their closest kin. And Duan Wenwu's closest kin were his parents.

However, his cultivation was too low. Even if Duan Xiu stood still, he wouldn't be able to harm a single hair on his father's head. As City Lord, Duan Xiu possessed life-saving artifacts bestowed by the imperial court. Therefore, he needed to ask a high-ranking member of the Heartless Sect to act. High-ranking members of the Heartless Sect would not help him for free. For this, he had promised to help open Ye City's treasury, allowing Wu Lei to take whatever he desired.

"Why?" Duan Xiu's eyes were bloodshot as he struggled against the rampant lightning within his body.

"Why? How dare you even ask why?!" Hearing the question, Duan Wenwu seemed to snap, his expression turning manic. "You never used your privileges to make deals with sects to get me into top-tier or first-rank sects. Nor did you let me use treasures from the treasury to increase my cultivation. As a result, I'm twenty-five years old, and my cultivation is still stuck at the Golden Core Stage! I'm the City Lord's son, yet you never even used your special privileges for me once! Mother only comforted me, saying I wasn't naturally suited for cultivation and could pursue a different path. 'Pursue an official career, an official career, an official career!' Are you trying to make me as rigid as you are? Did either of you ever consider my feelings? If you named me Wenwu (literary and martial), then where is the 'martial' part?!"

Twenty-five years old and at the Golden Core Stage—this cultivation talent wasn't slow. However, this wasn't the result of Duan Wenwu's own efforts but rather Duan Xiu's use of his personal savings to help his son advance. This was already the limit; Duan Wenwu's aptitude was simply too poor. The rare treasures needed for further advancement were beyond what Duan Xiu could provide.

"Exchanging benefits would harm the interests of Ye City's populace. The treasury belongs to the imperial court, not to me personally. How could I give it to you—"

"Enough! Don't say another word!" Duan Wenwu roared. "Since you insist on upholding your image as City Lord, then don't blame me for being heartless!"

The Heartless Sect had methods to improve one's aptitude, requiring the heart blood of family members as a medicinal primer. The higher the cultivation of the family member, the better the effect of the primer. If his father, a Void Refinement Stage cultivator, became the primer, he might transform into a dual-spirit root genius.

"Wenwu..." Duan Xiu's eyes blurred as he looked at the strange Duan Wenwu. A series of images flashed through his mind: his son's birth, learning to babble, taking his first steps, climbing trees to raid bird nests, getting his hand slapped by his tutor, crying while reciting texts, testing his spirit roots, and finally, cultivating spiritual energy. *Such a good child, how did he end up like this?*

Duan Wenwu saw his father's expression, and his tone suddenly softened. He sighed, "Father, I love you and Mother, but I want to become stronger even more. For this, I have no choice but to sacrifice you both. I hope you can understand me."

"True Monarch, I trouble you to act." Duan Wenwu bowed to Wu Lei, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes. "My parents, and everyone in the City Lord's Mansion—please kill them all!"

If the imperial court found out he joined the Heartless Sect, they would surely use it as a lead for an endless investigation. For this reason, he had reported the Heartless Sect's Ye City branch, leading to the arrest of all its members. Then, Wu Lei and another high-ranking Heartless Sect member would use this as a pretext to act, raid the prison, and kill his resisting father and everyone else in the City Lord's Mansion. He himself would appear on the death list, and there would be no more Duan Wenwu in the world. He could then smoothly join the Heartless Sect without worrying about imperial investigation. The Heartless Sect prioritized benefits. Since he had offered True Monarch Wu Lei so many advantages, once he joined the sect, he would naturally receive Wu Lei's patronage.

Wu Lei said nothing. His body surged with lightning, and he condensed a bolt of thunder in his palm. "City Lord Duan, farewell."

A flash of sword light descended from above, carving an unfathomably deep chasm between Wu Lei and Duan Xiu. The secret chamber, along with the study above it, was similarly sliced open.

Wu Lei sharply looked up, staring intently at the old Daoist holding a sword above him, and gritted out four words: "Daoist Buyu!"

Daoist Buyu scrutinized Wu Lei, slowly matching him with a person from his memories, and then a realization dawned on him. "You're Wu Lei! We haven't seen each other in over a thousand years, have we? I remember you were in the late Integration Stage when I joined the Heartless Sect. How are you still in the late Integration Stage now? Your Heartless Sect's cultivation methods really aren't effective, are they?"