Chapter 257: Chapter 232: Ye Langtian Returns, Blood Demon Cave

The power Li Shang unleashed in his haste didn’t reach its peak, while the Level 20 Soul-Locking Arrow Xu Qing fired had already reached its own.

Moreover, Xu Qing had used a one-time burst, unleashing the full Mighty Power of the Level 20 Soul-Locking Arrow. He had forcibly turned a permanent weapon into a single-use one.

CRACK! CRACK!

The phantom of the Six Paths of Reincarnation that Li Shang had manifested shattered to pieces. It couldn’t withstand the Level 20 Soul-Locking Arrow and was brutally pierced through.

"No! Impossible!!!"

Li Shang’s eyes widened in utter horror and terror. Not even a full second had passed before the phantom of the Six Paths of Reincarnation shattered.

"No!!!"

PFFT!

Blood splattered.

The Level 20 Soul-Locking Arrow shot through, impaling Li Shang’s body. It pierced his heart, which then burst apart.

Li Shang coughed up blood, his aura weakening. The phantom of the Six Paths of Reincarnation around him slowly dissipated as he fell rigidly to the ground.

"Li Shang!"

Cangba Dao was shocked. He was utterly stunned, finding the scene almost unbelievable. Staring at Li Shang’s rigid body on the ground, he was completely, utterly dumbfounded.

Shocked.

Utterly shocked.

At the same time, Cangba Dao was overcome with fury. His expression was incredibly dark as he stared at the Soul-Locking Arrow piercing Li Shang’s heart. Having exhausted the last of its Power after piercing the heart, the Level 20 Soul-Locking Arrow began to dissipate right before Cangba Dao’s eyes. Starting from its fletching, it slowly crumbled into a cloud of ash.

SPURT! SPURT! SPURT!

From his chest.

Blood gushed forth.

"Guards!"

Cangba Dao roared.

"Marquis!"

"Prince."

"..."

In the blink of an eye, several people arrived.

Soon, Li Shang was carried away for immediate medical treatment. His injuries were so severe that even if he survived, recovery would be no simple matter.

"Marquis."

HUMMM...

From within the darkness, what looked like a viscous black liquid began to flow. It slowly rose, gradually forming a dark, humanoid figure that stood behind Cangba Dao.

This was a member of Cangba Dao’s Shadow Guard, a terrifying force hidden in the shadows under his command. They assisted him by watching over and monitoring the entire Cangzhou Prefecture.

"Dark One."

Cangba Dao said in a heavy voice, "Investigate this with everything you have. Mobilize the entire Shadow Guard. You must find out for me who is responsible."

"Yes, as you command."

Dark One nodded respectfully.

"When you find them, do not act rashly. Simply inform me. I will personally decide what to do," Cangba Dao said.

"As you command."

Dark One nodded again.

HUMMM...

The moment he finished speaking, Dark One again dissolved into a viscous, flowing black liquid, slowly vanishing into the darkness as if he had never been there at all.

"Haaa..."

Cangba Dao took a deep breath, his gaze profound. He looked at the bloodstains on the ground, then glanced up at the dark sky. ’Who in the world could it be? To use such a powerful method... The aura and fluctuations from that arrow contained the Mighty Power of at least two Divine Techniques: Cause and Effect, and a curse.’

’What was the attacker’s motive? Were they only targeting Li Shang, or was this a show of force directed at me? A warning that I shouldn’t dare to ally with the Fengdu Deceitful King?’

’I must investigate this thoroughly.’

Time flew by.

「Three days later.」

Xu Qing didn’t know if the arrow he had shot three nights prior had been effective, as he himself wasn’t sure what level of Mighty Power his full-force shot could truly achieve.

However, on the morning of the third day, news arrived from Zhu Hong.

"Sir."

Zhu Hong reported to Xu Qing, "I have something to report to you, sir."

"What is it?"

Xu Qing asked.

"Sir," Zhu Hong said, "something huge happened three days ago. The Prince’s son-in-law was severely injured by an unknown assailant. He still hasn’t woken up, so the Prince had to cancel the engagement banquet."

"Oh."

Xu Qing looked up, a hint of surprise on his face. "So something like that actually happened? I wonder which expert was bold enough to severely injure the Prince’s son-in-law."

"I don’t know."

Zhu Hong shook his head. "I just heard that the Prince was furious and vowed to find out who did it, but there hasn’t been any news yet."

"You could say this incident has truly alarmed all the higher-ups in Cangzhou Prefecture. Many of the major factions here are in shock."

"Mm."

Xu Qing nodded.

Evidently, Xu Qing’s arrow that night had indeed hit its mark. However, it had only managed to severely injure Li Shang, not kill him.

It could only be said that this was to be expected of someone blessed by destiny. ’Killing a character like that was never going to be simple,’ he thought. ’There was no way he’d be killed by a single arrow from me.’

’Unless the Soul-Locking Arrow I shot that night had reached Level 30. In that case, a single shot would likely have been enough to kill him.’

Time flew by.

Xu Qing settled into a peaceful routine. His shop hadn’t sold another Level 20 weapon or piece of equipment, but the Level 20 Iron Sword he had previously sold to Xiao Yun had still brought his business some attention.

Moreover, as more and more experts and powerful individuals came to his shop, they bought one piece of weapon and equipment after another.