n

n

n

nZhao Ning’s lips curled up as he said mockingly, “You only realized now?”

n

n“You…” Little Zhou was about to explode and he drew his sapphire light sword to fight him.

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nXiao Ran pressed his palm on his shoulder and met his puzzled gaze. “Let this be a lesson to you.”

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n“Brother Xiao…”

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n“Stay here and be good.” Xiao Ran interrupted him.

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nHis face was expressionless.

n

n“Drugging and injuring an envoy should be punished according to the law.”

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nZhao Ning said disdainfully, “He has already turned into a piece of trash. Do you think you can turn the tables around by yourself?”

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nThe people outside rushed in and drew their swords. They pointed their swords at Xiao Ran and surrounded the two of them.

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nThe die had been cast, and victory was within his grasp.

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nZhao Ning gave an ultimatum. “There’s only one way out before you. Listen to my arrangements obediently and give our assessment a good grade. If you put in a few good words for me when you return to the capital city, I’ll spare your lives.”

n

n“I’m afraid it’s not that simple, right?” Xiao Ran replied in a teasing fashion.

n

nZhao Ning took out two poisonous pills from his chest pocket. “This is the Centipede’s Hundred Feet Pill. Its effect will erupt every month. When it flares up, your entire body will twitch and you will wish you were dead! As long as you cooperate obediently and don’t spout nonsense when you reach the capital city, I will send the antidote over on time.”

n

n“You really have balls of steel. One trick after another. It seems that you’ve already planned this well in advance and you’re just waiting for us to fall for it,” Xiao Ran said.

n

nClap! Clap!

n

nZhao Ning slowly applauded him. “You came to your realization so quickly. No wonder the higher-ups sent you here. If there had been more people or a Gold Sword Guard was leading the team, I might not have the guts to do this.”

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nHis face was filled with malevolence.

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n“You have only yourselves to blame for being weak.”

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n“Indeed.” Xiao Ran nodded meaningfully.

n

nIn a sudden flash, he launched his attack.

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nThe Painted Ancient Fan unfolded and faced them for a moment. Rays of golden light rushed out in a circle. Everyone, including Zhao Ning, was sent flying.

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nHe was instantly seriously injured and fell to the ground.

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nHe struggled for a long time but could not get to his feet.

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nZhao Ning was shocked. He pressed his palm on the ground and retreated to the back. He said in disbelief, “You’re clearly only at Level 1 of the Master Realm. How did you injure all of us with just one move?”

n

nHis gaze landed on the folding fan in Xiao Ran’s hand.

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n“Could it be due to that?”

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nThe Painted Ancient Fan was obtained from Qu Bo’an.

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n“You have some foresight.” Xiao Ran walked over unhurriedly.

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nSeeing that Little Zhou was still in a daze and had yet to recover from what had just happened, he snapped at him, “Don’t just stand there. See if he has the antidote on him.”

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n“Okay.” Little Zhou quickly ran over.

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nAfter locating the antidote on Zhao Ning and consuming it, he recovered the spirit energy that had vanished earlier.

n

n“I treated you guys sincerely, but you! You secretly drugged me!” Little Zhou scolded him angrily.

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nHe straddled across him and gave him a severe beating.

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nXiao Ran watched calmly until he was done venting his anger. Then, he ordered, “Cripple his skills.”

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n“How dare you!” Zhao Ning glared at him.

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n“My brother-in-law is the local prefectural governor. If you dare lay a finger on me, you won’t be able to leave this city.”

n

n“Don’t talk about your brother-in-law being the prefectural governor. Even if he was the duke, there is no room for negotiation about crippling your dantian!” Little Zhou said without mercy.

n

nA ray of green light condensed on his fist and he smashed it into his dantian.

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n“Don’t…”

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nZhao Ning spat out a mouthful of blood. The force of the fist penetrated his body and violently destroyed his dantian, causing him to faint from the pain.

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n“Wake up.” Little Zhou gave a scornful snort.

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nHe stepped on his five fingers and crushed them.

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nCrack!

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nHe then mashed the crushed fingers under his foot until it was a bloody, gory mess. The victim woke up to the pain.

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n“Ah…” He let out a wretched cry which spread to the outside.

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nThose who heard the commotion quickly rushed over.

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nSeeing Zhao Ning and the others lying on the ground in a miserable state and Xiao Ran and Little Zhou glaring at them menacingly, they did not know what to do.

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n“Kill them!” Zhao Ning yelled with bloodshot eyes, desperately clutching at any last chance to save himself.

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nThe group of men hesitated, unsure whether to attack.

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n“Are you all deaf?” Zhao Ning roared at the top of his lungs.

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nMost of them did not move. They all knew Xiao Ran and Little Zhou’s identities.

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nOnce they attacked, they would die a horrible death if they were discovered by the higher-ups.

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nOnly five people rushed up with ruthless expressions and charged towards Xiao Ran and his companion.

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n“Brother Xiao, you shall be my backup. It would only dirty your hands for you to deal with these ugly pieces of **!” Little Zhou quickly rushed up to engage them.

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nHe darted between them, leaving a few afterimages in his wake.

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nA chilly light tore through the air and dozens of beams of sword light landed. When he stopped, the five of them had turned into corpses and were lying on the ground.

n

nHolding the sword dripping with blood, he stared mercilessly at the remaining men.

n

n“Zhao Ning offended his superior and plotted to murder the envoy. Are you going to be an accomplice to the wicked?”

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n“I wouldn’t dare!”

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nLittle Zhou pointed at the fallen guard. “If you want me to believe that you’re not accomplices, you have to show me your sincerity.”

n

nThere was no shortage of smart people in the crowd.

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nThey braced themselves and walked over to stab Zhao Ning.

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nSomeone started and the rest of them knew what to do. They all left a sword gash on him.

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nThe slashes didn’t hurt his vitals. They only made him bleed. It wasn’t enough to kill him.

n

n“What do we do now?” Little Zhou walked over.

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n“Take all of them down and interrogate them severely,” Xiao Ran ordered.

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nThe men around them arrested the injured men and marched them off.

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nZhao Ning was given special care. He was bound with chains as thick as a baby’s arm and was secured with leg shackles.

n

nA few moments later,

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nafter completing the assessment of the base station, it was discovered that Zhao Ning pocketed two-thirds of the resources for training and developing skills that were regularly disbursed by the authorities.

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nThere were hundreds of special cases in Horizon Prefecture. This was an alarming figure.

n

nAnyone who needed Zhao Ning to take action had to cough up money.

n

nOn top of that he still had three principles. If the case was dangerous, he wouldn’t take action. If the money given wasn’t enough, he wouldn’t take action. If there were disobedient people involved, he wouldn’t take action.

n

nThe accounts ledgers were even more chaotic.

n

nAfter taking a look, Xiao Ran could not stand it anymore. It was all fake accounts from beginning to end. From Zhao Ning’s subordinates, he learned that more than 80% of the proceeds from the Divine Sword Guards’ businesses here had been embezzled by him.

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nHe often found all kinds of reasons and asked the higher-ups for money.

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nEven his subordinates’ salary had been delayed for six months.

n

n“This guy is worse than scum. They are all comrades working for the same organization. How can he have the cheek to cheat his own men?” Little Zhou scolded severely.

n

nHe looked at Xiao Ran, then asked,

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n“Brother Xiao, what do you plan to do with him?”

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n“Deliver him to the capital city and lock him in the Celestial Dungeon. Let him have a taste of the power of the foul Yin atmosphere,” Xiao Ran said.

n

n“Okay, I’ll arrange it now.” With that, Little Zhou left.

n

nThe Golden Tome of Creation flipped open to a random page and displayed two items. Even with all of them added together, the reward was pitifully little. It was only 200,000 Mastery points and 20 years of Martial Arts Evolution.

n

n“This is really too miserable.” Xiao Ran shook his head.

n

nHe added the 200,000 Mastery points to Summon the Wind skill.

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nIts attributes did not change, but its power increased by 30%.

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nHe was ten years away from breaking through to Level 6 of the Profound Realm in the Martial Arts Evolution.

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nNot long after he left, Little Zhou quickly returned. “Brother Xiao, the prefectural governor is here.”

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nAs he spoke, the prefectural governor barged into the room with his men.

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n“You’re Xiao Ran?”

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nXiao Ran looked at the surrounding Divine Sword Guards sternly. “As members of the Divine Sword Guards, you actually let an outsider barge in. Are you all trash?”

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nOne man felt aggrieved by his accusation and blurted out. “He’s the Prefectural Governor!”

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nPow!

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nXiao Ran’s palm landed and sent him flying. He then said, “From now on, you’re fired.”

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nHe turned to look at the Prefectural Governor.

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n“Who gave you permission to come in?”

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