Everyone in the Seven Blood Eyes capital city had settled into silence. They breathed. They waited. And their eyes glittered with increasingly intense trepidation and alarm. Everyone was wondering what exactly was happening in the Violent Crimes Division in Harbor 176.
The Seven Blood Eyes Formation could not crush Sima Ru, but it could keep making it impossible for anyone to see what was happening inside the division.
Normally speaking, the only people who could see through the formation were the high-ranking members of Seven Blood Eyes, as well as the echelon highnesses. Except… Master Seventh prevented them from doing so. The only people capable of observing events inside the division were those from the Seventh Peak.
Therefore, the only thing non-Seventh Peak cultivators could see was Sima Ru entering. Then, not long later, the isolating barrier faded away and everything went back to normal.
***
The next day….
In an unusual break from the norm, the chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition stopped issuing challenges.
The Violent Crimes Division constables returned to their positions, and operations began as usual. Just like always, they tracked down Night Dove operatives and sent prisoners to Xu Qing.
Sima Ru was nowhere to be seen, and her little brother Sima Ling was still imprisoned.
The bone ship in the harbor had lost whatever force was holding it together, and it collapsed into nothing.
The chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition were shaken so deeply that they lost any desire to challenge the other mountain peaks. What was the point? No matter what other challenges they won, the Violent Crimes Division in Harbor 176 was like a sharp spike piercing toward their hearts.
Sima Ling had obviously been crushed by the Violent Crimes Division. Huang Yikun from the Dark Serenity Sect had challenged the Seventh Peak, only to go missing. And before going missing, he had told everyone he was going to take care of Xu Qing.
All of these things… revolved around Xu Qing!
To the chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition, the Violent Crimes Division in Harbor 176 was as dangerous as a dragon’s pool or a tiger’s den. It was incomparably mysterious, and at the same time, unimaginably perilous!
The Seven Sect Coalition had arranged for them to come here and methodically issue challenges to crush the spirits of the Seven Blood Eyes disciples. The goal was to make sure that all disciples in Seven Blood Eyes felt fear and reverence for the coalition.
At first, the visiting chosen had done exactly that. Their constant challenges left the Seven Blood Eyes disciples morose and alarmed. In fact, some of the disciples had even started trying to ingratiate themselves with the visiting chosen.
But now, even as those chosen tried to intimidate the local disciples, they were being intimidated by the Violent Crimes Division!
“Just what is Xu Qing’s real battle prowess level?”
“Sima Ru went in there and never came out. It wasn’t her true form, but she still had four-flame battle prowess. She could crush all of us as easily as turning over her hand. But she got crushed in the Violent Crimes Division!”
“Is the Seventh Peak… the real nucleus of Seven Blood Eyes?”
“It’s too bad our Elder Brother Master Shengyun left….”
The Seven Sect Coalition chosen were shaking in their boots. At the same time, the Seven Blood Eyes disciples were getting very excited at how things were playing out. Xu Qing and the Seventh Peak were really in a league of their own.
It was like a beam of light was suddenly shining down onto the darkness that had enveloped the hearts of the disciples from the various mountain peaks. Before, the mainland chosen had seemed unstoppable. But now, things were different. At the same time, the local disciples were feeling increasing reverence for both the Seventh Peak and Master Seventh.
What was more, rumors were starting to circulate that Seven Blood Eyes was undergoing a big transformation, and that soon, there would be a sect leader in charge!
Right now, Seven Blood Eyes had peaklords, but not a sect leader.
The disciples of each mountain peak would follow the orders of their peaklord, and didn’t ever pay much attention to the other mountain peaks. Everyone was independent and only worked together on special occasions.
But now… the Seven Sect Coalition’s visit had become like an iron hammer, striking Seven Blood Eyes from all directions. Furthermore, the visit made it seem like a storm of troubles was on the way. The disciples felt immense pressure from the outside. However, that pressure seemed to be forging Seven Blood Eyes into something different, getting rid of the dregs that had built up over years, and making the sect stronger.
The visiting nonhumans and the Seven Blood Eyes allies were now able to see that with their own eyes, and were also seeing how popular the Seven Blood Eyes’ patriarch was. He was actually using the Seven Sect Coalition to refine and temper his own sect.
The Seven Sect Coalition wasn’t blind to this fact either, and as a result, they didn’t urge their visiting chosen to issue more challenges. That said, a new series of instructions was sent by the coalition.
According to the new instructions, adjustments needed to be made to the peaklord arrangement, especially when it came to the Seventh Peak. Furthermore, all of the highnesses of the various mountain peaks, especially the Seventh Peak, were to be sent to the Revered Ancient mainland for assigned duties.
Sir Bloodsmelter ensured that all the new instructions were bogged up in formalities. However, the Seven Sect Coalition was very insistent. They continued to send more messages, which became increasingly threatening. Eventually, they outright stated that if their new instructions were not obeyed, the Seven Sect Coalition would enforce them with violence.
In fact, the patriarch of the strongest group in the coalition, the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, powered up his sect’s taboo magical treasure in an awesome display of intimidating force.
When the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect powered up their taboo magical treasure, some of the other sects followed suit. The Second Peak’s supervisory sect, Spiritgloam Valley, and the Sixth Peak’s supervisory sect, the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect, also did the same.
In addition to all that, more orders came down, demanding that Seven Blood Eyes send half of the Seazombie’s wartime reparations to the Seven Sect Coalition, and set up Foreign Affairs Ministries on all of the islands that had been taken in the war.
The department was called Foreign Affairs, but it might as well have been called the Supervision and Investigation Ministry. At the top level, it supervised the patriarch, and at the bottom level, it investigated disciples. Overnight, Seven Blood Eyes suddenly seemed extremely unstable.
Xu Qing wasn’t paying much attention to all that. For one thing, he knew that the leadership of Seven Blood Eyes had all started out like venomous bugs in a jar, and had carved out a bloody path to the top. There was no way they would be unable to deal with a crisis like this. In addition to that, he knew that when it came to inter-sect relations, you couldn’t just look at the surface. There was too much at stake to put much stock into whatever rumors were floating around.
“The Seven Sect Coalition is also made up of disparate parts,” Xu Qing murmured. His encounter with the House of Grue Hunters had made that clear to him.
Xu Qing’s attention was focused mostly on his beetle research and on tightening the net around Night Dove.
Thanks to the curfew and recent raids, Night Dove’s operations were severely limited. The final big crackdown came a few days later in the middle of the night.
Night Dove’s five main headquarters in Seven Blood Eyes had been identified.
The most elite constables from all seven of the Violent Crimes Divisions would join forces, becoming five sharp blades that mercilessly attacked those five headquarters. At the same time, even more Violent Crimes constables would spread out into the capital city to enforce the curfew, and catch any Night Dove operatives who fled from the headquarters.
As the night wind blew, Xu Qing emerged from the Violent Crimes Division in Harbor 176, followed by the shadowy forms of several thousand Seventh Peak constables. Then, Xu Qing issued his orders.
“The Violent Crimes Division shall go to war tonight!” he said, his voice ringing out, somber and desolate. “Afterward, there will be no Night Dove in Seven Blood Eyes!”
“Yes, sir!” the thousands of constables shouted. With that, Xu Qing’s deputy directors led their teams out into the night.
It was windy, and dark clouds made it a moonless night.
All the businesses near the Violent Crimes Division were closed, even places like inns that were usually open at night. Everyone huddled in alarm as they looked out at the shadowy forms of the Violent Crimes constables racing through the night.
Xu Qing led the way, his hair streaming behind him as he raced along. All of a sudden, he thought back to his second night in Seven Blood Eyes, back when he had first joined the sect.
Back then, he had been carefully walking along when a group of Violent Crimes constables raced by. He remembered how he had been so on guard, but at the same time, envious of them. [1]
Now, he was leading thousands of constables on a nighttime raid.
Three years, he thought, speeding up.
The constables he led all looked at Xu Qing with zeal and fervor. That was just how things worked in a chaotic world. The weak venerated the strong.
At the same time… the things Xu Qing had done as he walked his path gave them something to imitate. Three years ago, Xu Qing had been just like them. An ordinary constable. Three years later, he was now the director of the Seventh Peak’s Violent Crimes Division!
The wind blew harder.
Before long, Xu Qing spotted a mansion off in the distance. It had once been a business run by the Fourth Peak, but had later been purchased by a private party and converted into a brothel. The curfew had put it out of business, and now it looked dark and empty.
“Attack!” Xu Qing said coolly. The thousands of constables behind him rushed toward the mansion, bursting with killing intent. Moments later, rumbling booms rang out as Night Dove operatives fled in all directions, only to be surrounded and attacked by Violent Crimes constables. In the blink of an eye, the sounds of slaughter filled the night, accompanied by the stench of gore. .
Xu Qing didn’t do anything. He simply hovered in midair and watched coldly. At the same time, he kept an eye on the reports coming in from the attacks on the other Night Dove headquarters.
“Director Xu, things went smoothly at the third headquarters. We’re doing a final sweep right now!”
“Things went well at the second headquarters. We killed the Foundation Establishment chief and are currently wiping out the remaining operatives.”
“The fifth headquarters is secure!”
“We need backup! A cultivator from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect is present in the fourth headquarters, along with a three-flame Night Dove operative!!”
Just as Xu Qing was reading that last message, he saw a distress signal light up the sky in the distance. He burst into motion with explosive speed, heading in the direction of the distress signal. The golden crow manifested around him, its wings unfurling, and its tail leaving behind clouds of sparks.
From a distance, it looked like Xu Qing was cloaked in flames as he shot forward with unstoppable force!
1. He first encountered Violent Crimes constables in👈