In the northern part of Wushan Prefecture, a large flame shot up into the sky.

A large number of people were hauling water buckets, dousing the flames from various directions.

But compared to the spread of the fire, this amount of water was merely a drop in the bucket, completely futile.

Further out, groups of mobsters with red cloth tied around their arms were laughing wildly and fighting fiercely against the stationed spirit army.

A few individuals with extraordinary skills were engaged in combat with the city’s family’s martial experts.

Even though Wushan Prefecture is the capital of Mountain Province, the actual top-level martial strength in daily life depends on the family-sponsored experts within the city and a few reclusive super-grade martial artists residing here.

Besides that, there is not much more.

When the Red Turban Army mobsters first rushed in, hardly anyone noticed.

It was only when they began to burn, kill, and loot openly, even killing officials, that martial artists arrived.

As a result, the martial artists were also killed, prompting the officials to mobilize more forces.

A chaotic battle thus began.

With the governor leading troops on patrol outside, there were only a few large, lax families left to assist with defense within the city.

This led to a breakthrough, ultimately resulting in the explosion of the gunpowder depot within the city.

Massive explosions sent flames shooting, igniting many wooden structures within the city.

Boom!!

Another blaze shot up to the sky.

The second explosion in the gunpowder depot scattered a large area of blinding flames.

On the street near the city gate, the crowd had mostly fled to the distance, leaving only the crackling sound of flames burning the wooden walls.

From some residences, suppressed cries of terror could still be heard. These were the few residents who lived here, unwilling to flee, holding on to a sliver of hope.

The cries were faint, completely drowned out by the sound of the flames, unheard by ordinary people.

But Zhang Rongfang heard them.

He leaped down from an intact wooden building, landing on the cold, dirty street.

Scattered all around were abandoned outerwear, food, small goods, and in some places, faint traces of blood.

In the distance, the faint sound of weapons clashing could still be heard.

’Is it really this serious!?’ At first, he thought it was just a surprise attack, but now it seems... they have invaded from the city gate?

Worried about his sister and brother-in-law, he immediately kicked off the ground and sped towards the direction of Mu Chi Mansion.

Buildings and houses flew past on either side, some had been forced open, while others were still fine. The doors were tightly and seamlessly shut.

The closer Zhang Rongfang got to Mu Chi Mansion, the louder the sounds of fighting and gunfire became.

Before long, he saw two overturned carriages on the street ahead, with blood from dead horses pooling on the ground.

Bam!

With a muffled thud, a few mobsters were violently struck, sent flying backward, and slamming heavily onto the ground, soon closing their eyes and breathing their last.

Zhang Rongfang’s heart stirred, he quickly leaped up, climbed continuously, and landed on the rooftop of a tavern, looking towards that direction.

He saw a large group of spirit army surrounding Mu Chi Mansion in multiple circles.

These spirit army troops, coordinated with martial arts experts, were forming ranks to kill the surrounding mobsters.

They took turns firing rifles and crossbows, well-trained and clad in heavy armor.

Even when ordinary mobsters struck with full force, they could only make small dents on the armor.

From a distance, with his dim light vision, Zhang Rongfang could clearly see his brother-in-law and sister, their faces solemn, consulting with a burly and strong spirit army leader at the center of the protected crowd.

Soon, most of the mobsters around Mu Chi Mansion had been cleared.

Several experts were being surrounded and killed in turns, and they seemed to be nearing their end.

Zhang Rongfang let out a sigh of relief.

Knowing that everything here was safe.

Given this, the mobsters who charged into Wushan Prefecture were just a small faction; thoughts flashed through his mind as he pondered on their true goal.

Blowing up the gunpowder depot implies that gunpowder is their greatest threat.

Plus, by previously cutting off surrounding routes and supplies, releasing mobsters akin to cannon fodder to plunder everywhere.

Are they trying to divide and besiege each city!?

A realization connected instantly in Zhang Rongfang’s mind.

"It’s not good!! The governor is dead!!"

Suddenly, a faint cry of alarm drifted in from afar.

Zhang Rongfang’s eyes narrowed, and he quickly rushed towards that direction.

His speed was extremely fast, reaching the location of the cries within just a dozen seconds or so.

On a large plaza within the city, hundreds of spirit army and mobsters lay on the ground, with only a few survivors.

A small squad of newly arrived spirit army was rushing in from the outside, inspecting their fallen comrades.

Among them, about ten people were carrying the corpse of a burly old man, slowly walking out.

Leaving behind two spirit army leaders, their faces pale, urgently discussing something in hushed tones.

Zhang Rongfang’s heart sank; the situation had escalated to the point where they dared to kill the governor, which was tantamount to rebellion.

He recognized the old man’s corpse; it was indeed the governor of Wushan Prefecture.

The governor was the military representative here and even came from a spirit noble background; now, they dared to kill even spirit nobles... what about the governor-general stationed in the Mountain Province!?

What about the God Worship protected by Snow Rainbow Pavilion!?

And what about the Great Dao Teaching, the Zhenyi Sect, the Western Sect, and the top experts nearby?

Layers upon layers of questions flashed through Zhang Rongfang’s mind.

He began to leap swiftly across rooftops, using his dim light vision to survey the surrounding situation.

Fortunately, within Wushan Prefecture, apart from the initial chaos caused by the huge explosion, the intruding rioters were quickly encircled and eliminated, and the situation soon stabilized.

The ones severely injured were mostly the common people near the city entrance area, as well as the gunpowder storage and nearby houses.

Once assured that the prefectural capital’s danger was resolved, Zhang Rongfang did not stop and left the city, occasionally climbing to high places to observe the whereabouts of the Red Turban rioters.

Due to the scattered distribution of the rioters, Zhang Rongfang adopted a high-speed search, patrolling in circles around Wushan Prefecture.

His stamina was now extremely strong, as he madly sprinted and leaped in circles. It was only when dusk fell that he spotted the first group of ragged, fervent Red Turban rioters.

In the mountain forest near dusk, this group of rioters moved with agility, almost all equivalent to martial artists who had entered the ranks.

They lined up in a long formation, quickly rushing toward the nearest town.

Leading them was a burly one-eyed man, his single eye bloodshot and red, holding a knife and shield, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth without his noticing.

With a cold gaze, Zhang Rongfang leaped down from a high branch, charging head-on toward this group.

There were over a hundred of them in total, but in his eyes, they were merely over a hundred ants.

The key was, he wanted to obtain real intelligence from these people. Where did they come from? To which power do they belong? Who is the real mastermind, and where is he!?

Landing lightly, Zhang Rongfang did not inquire, but swiftly closed in, delivering a heavy palm strike to a rioter’s chest.

The person only saw a blur before him, felt sharp pain in his chest, and was sent flying backward, crashing into over ten rioters behind, perishing instantly.

"Who dares to hinder the actions of the Red Turban Army? I’ll kill you!!" the one-eyed leader halted, brandishing his knife and roaring furiously.

Sadly, the furious roar was just impotent rage.

A gray shadow zigzagged like lightning among the crowd, darting back and forth incessantly.

Each time someone was touched, they collapsed and could not rise again.

In just a few seconds, over a dozen had fallen!

The rioters surprisingly showed no fear at all, wildly swinging their weapons in all directions.

Yet even so, after a few more seconds, half of them had fallen.

In the forest, Zhang Rongfang moved like a phantom, his preemptive strikes making every rioter’s action as clear as daylight in his mind.

He weaved among the crowd with ease, his fingers tapping lightly like raindrops on each person’s chest and heart.

No one could stop him.

Whether attacking or defending, everything seemed like a leaky balloon in front of him.

With a gentle tap, another life was taken.

Soon, the numbers dwindled, leaving only the last three.

The other corpses were sprawled across the ground in disarray.

The one-eyed leader and his two deputies, the highest-ranked in the team, were left for Zhang Rongfang to deal with and interrogate last.

Swish!

Zhang Rongfang’s figure paused, finally appearing before the three.

Undisciplined, leaderless rabble, in the eyes of a Grandmaster, can basically be ignored. This battle was a massacre from start to finish.

"Speak, who sent you? If your answer is satisfactory, I may consider sparing your lives," Zhang Rongfang said calmly.

Under the dim sky, the three had twisted expressions. Looking at the bodies around them, there was not a trace of fear on their faces.

"Kill!! I have the blessing of the gods! I am immortal! Who can kill me!? Who can!?!" the one-eyed leader shouted, charging first at Zhang Rongfang.

Bang!!

In an instant, his entire body exploded, transforming into countless spiritual lines shooting in all directions.

Zhang Rongfang had already noticed the abnormality of the spiritual lines within his body and quickly retreated, landing just beyond the range of the flailing lines.

As soon as he stopped, the other two deputies rushed toward the target, swiftly charging from both sides.

Two more loud bangs, and two clusters of spiritual lines similarly burst open.

These three were actually willing to self-destruct without any plea for mercy!

Zhang Rongfang nimbly evaded the new two clusters of spiritual lines, growing increasingly uneasy.

After waiting a while for the lines to dissipate, retract, and reform into human shapes.

He stepped forward, decisively ending them with a single move each, draining their blood to kill them.

After finishing all this, he finally had time to examine the surrounding bodies carefully.

For some reason, Zhang Rongfang always felt there was something wrong with these people. Not a mental issue, anyone could see that, but something else.

As he checked each corpse, Zhang Rongfang soon came to a particularly unusual body.

Gently grabbing the dead’s hair, he lifted the person.

It was a woman, wearing a gray cloth dress, quite a pretty young woman.

But here, her face was twisted, fanatical, and her body showed no signs of having been trained at all.

Someone like this actually became a rioter?

Zhang Rongfang crouched down, carefully examining the state of the body.

The body was normal, organs, muscles, bones, all typical, though the leg muscles showed some signs of strain and tearing.

’How could someone like this exhibit the traits of a martial artist who had entered the ranks?’

Zhang Rongfang frowned, scanning the body.

He felt something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint what.

Everything appeared normal in front of him, yet how did they experience such a fanatical shift in mentality?

’This feeling is similar to the situation with those Blood God Pirates back then....’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He subconsciously recalled the Blood God Pirates he encountered on the island back then, exhibiting similar fanaticism and fearlessness of death.

But this time, it was a larger scale, a greater catastrophe.

Standing up, since he wasn’t very skilled in medicine, he checked again to make sure there were no issues before getting up.

’If this state was also transformed by some religion, then that so-called Ten Thousand Teachings Shepherd Contract.... Wait a minute!’