# Chapter 117: The Big Fish Falls Into the Net
Where did the lightning come from?
That assassin's heart was greatly alarmed, and he immediately wanted to retreat.
"Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen, holding the Flash Soul Sword, smashed through the wall and struck with the fastest possible speed, thrusting his sword toward the assassin's brow.
The black-clothed assassin heard the sound of breaking wind, continuously retreating, his speed even a fraction faster than Zhang Ruochen's, dodging what should have been a fatal strike.
"Shua!"
Zhang Ruochen swung his arm, slashing past the assassin's neck. With a tearing sound, he cut off a piece of black cloth from the collar.
The assassin touched his neck, found his head still attached, and breathed a slight sigh of relief: "Not bad for the top freshman. You have some skill. Can you tell me, what was that lightning just now?"
Zhang Ruochen knew he was stalling for time, waiting for the other assassin in the distance to shoot him, so he continued attacking: "Go ask the King of Hell in the underworld!"
"Hmph! A mere Mysterious Extreme Realm late-stage freshman dares to try killing a Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection expert? You're far too arrogant!"
A cold light flashed in the assassin's eyes as he drew an extremely thin sword from his sleeve.
A sleeve-hidden fish-belly sword.
"Shua!"
Sword light flashed, the sword energy like a white rainbow, stabbing toward Zhang Ruochen's heart.
His speed reached fifty meters per second, incredibly fast, almost in an instant reaching Zhang Ruochen's heart.
Just as he thought he would surely kill Zhang Ruochen, suddenly, the space in front of Zhang Ruochen twisted. His sword actually went astray, passing under Zhang Ruochen's armpit.
"How could this be? No!"
The assassin was terrified to the extreme.
For two martial arts experts locked in combat, there could be no mistakes. A slight mistake meant certain death.
"Puchi!"
Zhang Ruochen stabbed into the assassin's ankles, severing the tendons in both legs.
Then, twisting his body, Zhang Ruochen moved behind the assassin, pressed two fingers together, and struck the Heavenly Heart Meridian in the assassin's spine.
"Pa!"
The Heavenly Heart Meridian snapped, his cultivation was crippled.
The black-clothed assassin fell heavily to the ground!
Zhang Ruochen didn't have time to check the assassin's face. Carrying the Flash Soul Sword, he leaped down from the pavilion, bounding one zhang at a time toward the other assassin forty meters away.
That assassin was hiding among the leaves of an iron pine giant tree. Seeing Zhang Ruochen charging toward her with his sword, her heart was greatly alarmed.
"How did he discover my hiding place?"
The female assassin drew two green poison-tipped arrows from behind her back, nocked them both to the bowstring, and pulled the black longbow into a full moon.
She was extremely confident in her archery. Within forty meters, even a Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artist couldn't dodge her arrows.
"Meow!"
Just then, she heard a cat's meow behind her.
A black shadow quickly flashed before her eyes.
That shadow extended a sharp claw and swiped at her wrist.
"Puchi!"
The female assassin's right hand was severed by the claw, falling from the tree.
From her wrist, bright red blood gushed forth, staining her black robe.
A sharp pain shot from her wrist, causing the female assassin to let out a muffled groan.
"Boom!"
Below, Zhang Ruochen swung his sword in a slash. The iron pine giant tree's trunk was severed and crashed down.
The female assassin fell from the tree over twenty meters high, hitting the ground hard. Just as she tried to flee, she found a cold gleaming sword pointed at her head.
"Still trying to escape?"
Zhang Ruochen used his sword to lift the veil from the female assassin's face, revealing a rather pretty countenance.
"It's you?" Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised.
The female assassin was the top freshman from the West Courtyard six years ago, Hua Lian.
Hua Lian clenched her teeth, revealing a cold smile. She glanced at Xiao Hei not far away, extremely unwilling: "I didn't expect you to have raised such a powerful barbarian beast. We miscalculated."
"Who's a barbarian beast? This Emperor was shaking the world when your ancestors weren't even born yet." Xiao Hei said with great displeasure.
Zhang Ruochen said: "Tell me, who else in the West Courtyard are assassins of the Underworld Gate?"
"Zhang Ruochen, you underestimate me too much!" A strange smile appeared on Hua Lian's face.
"Boom!"
A blood formation five meters in diameter formed beneath Hua Lian's feet, emitting a blinding blood light, blasting Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei away simultaneously.
"Go to hell!"
Hua Lian drew a thin sword from her sleeve, moving like lightning and wind, stabbing toward Zhang Ruochen's brow.
Too fast.
Zhang Ruochen could barely see her attacking technique.
"Damn it, I underestimated her. Hua Lian was the top freshman six years ago, her cultivation must be very deep. Even if she's not on the Xuan Ranking, she's probably not much weaker than a Xuan Ranking martial artist."
Zhang Ruochen quickly circulated his inner true qi, preparing to use the power of space distortion again.
"Pu!"
A sound of sword piercing flesh rang out.
Hua Lian's steps suddenly stopped. She stared blankly at Zhang Ruochen ahead, her whole body trembling, then fell straight to the ground.
Huang Yanchen stood behind Hua Lian, retracting her blood-drenched sword, and snorted coldly: "The assassins of the Underworld Gate are becoming increasingly brazen, daring to kill people right in the Dragon Martial Hall."
Zhang Ruochen looked at Hua Lian on the ground. Huang Yanchen's sword strike just now was extremely precise, piercing through Hua Lian's heart from behind.
Zhang Ruochen stared at Huang Yanchen: "Why did you kill her?"
Huang Yanchen's brows furrowed slightly, very displeased: "If I hadn't killed her, the one dead right now would be you. Could you have dodged that strike of hers just now?"
Zhang Ruochen said: "You could have severed her Heavenly Heart Meridian, crippled her cultivation. Why did you have to kill her? Keeping her alive might have allowed us to extract some information from her."
Huang Yanchen laughed: "You're too naive, thinking you can get information from an Underworld Gate assassin?"
"Shua!"
Huang Yanchen sheathed her sword and turned to leave.
Zhang Ruochen stared at Huang Yanchen's back, his eyes full of doubt: "Is she an assassin of the Underworld Gate or not?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Duanmu Xingling stood beside Zhang Ruochen, following his gaze to Huang Yanchen's beautiful back, startled: "You're not suspecting Sister Chen is also an Underworld Gate assassin, are you?"
Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head: "I just think it's too coincidental."
"It really is quite coincidental."
Duanmu Xingling nodded, then said: "But you don't need to suspect her. She absolutely cannot be an Underworld Gate assassin."
"Why?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Duanmu Xingling said: "First, the Underworld Gate's assassins mainly operate in the nine commanderies of Lingxi, and Sister Chen isn't from those nine commanderies. Second, assassins kill mainly for money. But Sister Chen doesn't lack money or cultivation resources. Do you know she has another identity?"
Zhang Ruochen asked: "What identity?"
"She is the most beloved princess of the Qianshui Commandery King. You've heard of the Qianshui Commandery Kingdom, right?" Duanmu Xingling said.
Zhang Ruochen nodded: "I know. I really didn't expect her to have such a noble status."
The Qianshui Commandery Kingdom was a high-ranking commandery kingdom, not part of the nine commanderies of Lingxi, but very close to them.
The combined territories of the nine Lingxi commanderies were less than a quarter of the Qianshui Commandery Kingdom's territory.
The eastern part of the Yunwu Commandery Kingdom bordered the Qianshui Commandery Kingdom. In a sense, the Yunwu Commandery Kingdom even depended on the Qianshui Commandery Kingdom.
Every year, the Yunwu Commandery Kingdom sent large amounts of tribute to the Qianshui Commandery Kingdom, seeking its protection. Otherwise, the surrounding commandery kingdoms would have long since swallowed up the Yunwu Commandery Kingdom.
Since Huang Yanchen was a princess of the Qianshui Commandery Kingdom, the possibility of her being an Underworld Gate assassin was ruled out.
"Sister Huang's temper is too irritable, not at all like a princess." Zhang Ruochen shook his head.
"Sister Chen has a straightforward personality and doesn't know how to pretend. If you spend more time with her, you'll find she's actually a very good person." Duanmu Xingling laughed.
Zhang Ruochen returned to Xuanzi Number One to examine the assassin whose cultivation he had crippled.
When Zhang Ruochen returned, he found the assassin had already been killed.
"Killed by a palm strike that shattered the heart." Zhang Ruochen touched the assassin's heart area and found the heart had been shattered into pieces.
Duanmu Xingling also caught up, saw the dead assassin, and said: "How could this happen? We were clearly in the courtyard, only thirty meters from the pavilion. Who could have killed him without anyone noticing?"
Zhang Ruochen's expression was grave: "The opponent is at least an Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection cultivator, possibly even a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial arts myth."
Duanmu Xingling's face changed: "Such a terrifying assassin is lurking in the West Courtyard. We must report this to the courtyard master immediately."
"No need. The big fish has already fallen into the net!"
The West Courtyard Master walked in from outside, his hands clasped behind his back, a faint smile on his face.
Zhang Ruochen asked: "Who is it?"
The West Courtyard Master looked toward a distant rockery and said: "Elder Situ, since you're already here, why hide any longer? Is there still a need for that?"
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