Chapter 317: The King

Outside Rainlan City, in the outer city area, inside an ordinary cave dwelling.

“Not good, one of my offspring worms has been discovered.” A cultivator inside the cave dwelling sensed it and felt somewhat puzzled. “How did this offspring worm clone of mine get exposed?”

The Bewitching Heart Worm Clan possessed very strong disguise abilities and infiltrated the souls of cultivators. The many defensive systems of Rainlan City were unable to detect them. Normally, even if one clone was exposed, it would not affect the others.

“It seems I must act more carefully.” The cultivator thought to himself as he remained inside the cave dwelling.

Only a moment later—

Boom!

A streak of blood-colored light instantly pierced through the formation of the ordinary cave dwelling in the outer city and swept past the cultivator.

“Hm?” The cultivator widened his eyes, still unable to believe it.

The blood-colored light condensed into Luo Feng’s figure. In his hand he held an offspring worm of the Bewitching Heart Worm.

“These Bewitching Heart Worms are very cunning. When entering a city they usually send offspring worms. The mother worm is probably hiding outside the city.” Luo Feng frowned. The clans capable of infiltrating the city—the Bewitching Heart Worm Clan and the Soul-Devouring Serpent Clan—were indeed the most feared by cultivators. As for the Void Wanderer Clan, their appearances throughout the entire Jiugang Holy Realm could be counted on one’s fingers, and their threat could practically be ignored.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One clone after another of Luo Feng, using the Simulated Eye of Life and Death, followed the causal lines and hunted down the various Bewitching Heart Worm clones.

“Not good!”

“A cultivator can track my many clones!”

As clone after clone was captured, the remaining clones became panicked.

A single Bewitching Heart Worm could split into only nineteen offspring worms in total. Each death of an offspring worm was a considerable loss.

“Leave the city immediately!”

At a cultivator gathering, two cultivators exchanged glances and immediately stood up to leave without hesitation.

“Brother Xike, why are the two of you leaving so soon?” Other cultivators at the gathering asked.

“Urgent matters.”

The two cultivators replied casually and prepared to depart.

Suddenly—

A streak of blood-colored light instantly pierced through the formation and flashed past, sweeping over the two cultivators who were about to leave. They collapsed powerlessly to the ground. The blood-colored light condensed nearby into Luo Feng’s figure.

“Two more offspring worms.” Luo Feng looked at the two Bewitching Heart Worm offspring worms in his hand and crushed them instantly.

The cultivators at the gathering saw the offspring worms and also recognized Luo Feng.

“Brother Xike and the other were actually controlled by Bewitching Heart Worms?”

“The Bewitching Heart Worms must have been targeting us, planning to control us?”

The group of cultivators felt a wave of lingering fear.

“Thank you, Senior Luo Feng.”

Most of the cultivators present were at the level of Early-Stage God Emperor Seekers and possessed intelligence records on Luo Feng. They knew this was the terrifying existence who had overwhelmingly defeated Heavenly Crane Elder and completely ignored the Insect Nest!

“Senior Luo Feng, I am Nan Fengyu.” A woman spoke up immediately. “Thank you, Senior Luo Feng, for saving our lives.”

Luo Feng glanced at the woman. She was one of the official members responsible for sales at the Yun Dan Tower, and he had naturally seen her a few times before. Luo Feng gave a slight nod.

Nan Fengyu was extremely excited.

Whoosh.

Luo Feng instantly transformed into a streak of blood-colored light and disappeared.

“The Bewitching Heart Worms infiltrating Rainlan City are extremely difficult to track. Yet Senior Luo Feng can hunt them down.” The cultivators present were shocked. Their strength was too weak; even face-to-face they could not detect the presence of a Bewitching Heart Worm.

When facing Bewitching Heart Worms, they could only resist the innate secret technique “Heart Bewilderment”! This was also one of the reasons cultivators placed great importance on mental will.

The stronger the mental will, the greater the hope of resisting “Heart Bewilderment.”

…

Inside another ordinary cave dwelling in the outer city.

A thin cultivator sat cross-legged.

“What is going on?” The thin cultivator mentally contacted his companions. “Our Bewitching Heart Worm Clan has thirty-five branches across the Thirty-Five Cities of the Jiugang Holy Realm. This time we have gathered in Rainlan City! The operation must not fail. Why has a member of the Bewitching Heart Worm Clan launched an attack now? Which branch does the attacker belong to?”

“It is from my branch,” a voice replied. “According to the King’s orders, everything below the leader level must remain secret. When I brought my kin to Rainlan City this time, I only restrained the core clan members under me. As for the middle and lower members… I only told them to restrain themselves and did not give many instructions.”

“Jiuyu! The closer we are to the critical moment, the more we must remain completely hidden. We cannot take action anymore.”

“Occasional assassinations by mid- and low-level members are the normal situation every cultivator city encounters. If for a period of time the entire city suffered no infiltration assassinations, that would instead be strange.” Leader Jiuyu replied.

“Fine, fine.”

The thin cultivator transmitted mentally. “Everyone must remember: if ordinary members are exposed, let them die! Do not attempt to rescue them, or more of our kin may be exposed.”

“Understood.”

“We know.”

“The King’s matter is the most important.”

The leaders responded one after another.

Low-Rank Primordial Lifeforms normally lived within the Nine Rivers. Because they hunted cultivators, they had gradually formed thirty-five large branches based on the locations of the Thirty-Five Cities of the Jiugang Holy Realm.

The Bewitching Heart Worm Clan already had a branch in the region around Rainlan City.

Different branches were separated by great distances and rarely contacted each other.

But this time…

Under the King’s summons, all thirty-five branches of the Bewitching Heart Worm Clan in the Jiugang Holy Realm responded. Each branch had sent at least more than half of its core strength, secretly gathering in Rainlan City.

The thin cultivator looked at an elderly cultivator walking toward him.

“I received information that members of your Bewitching Heart Worm Clan have taken action?” the elderly cultivator asked suspiciously.

“It was unauthorized action by lower members,” the thin cultivator transmitted mentally.

“The closer we get to the final moment, the less room there is for carelessness. This time our entire Soul-Devouring Serpent Clan of the Jiugang Holy Realm has committed more than half of our strength. And the various ‘Kings’ are already prepared. At any cost, inside and outside forces will cooperate to completely destroy Rainlan City.” The elderly cultivator transmitted mentally. “Such a great price has been paid. No accidents can be allowed.”

“This was only a low-level assassination attempt. A trivial matter, not worth mentioning. Occasional infiltration assassinations are the normal state of Rainlan City.” The thin cultivator used the same explanation. “If there are no attacks for a long time, the three Hall Masters of Rainlan City will become suspicious.”

“Fine then. By the way, when exactly will the King arrive?” the elderly cultivator pressed.

“You only need to be ready to act at any moment,” the thin cultivator replied.

The elderly cultivator did not ask further.

…

A red-robed cultivator stood there, watching as a streak of blood-colored light in the sky attacked a cave dwelling. Moments later, the blood-colored light flashed away again.

Despite their close proximity, Luo Feng did not detect any problem with this red-robed cultivator.

“According to the intelligence, this cultivator should be Luo Feng?” the red-robed cultivator observed. “His strength should rank within the top twenty of Rainlan City.”

“However, in the entire Rainlan City, only one person is truly worth paying attention to—Hall Master Wei Yang.”

The red-robed cultivator looked toward the core area of the city.

“Hall Master Yuan Xiang’s injuries are getting worse and worse. He probably doesn’t dare take action anymore. Hall Master Gai Tao focuses solely on weapon refining and is extremely selfish at heart. If faced with a large-scale siege, he would probably choose to escape immediately.”

“Hall Master Wei Yang may also be selfish and ruthless, but he has invested far too much effort into Rainlan City. He already regards it as his own territory and will not easily abandon it.”

“My first target will be this Hall Master Wei Yang.”

“I will eliminate him first.”

“Once Hall Master Wei Yang dies, the rest will be much easier.”

The red-robed cultivator walked leisurely. Among the countless cultivators in Rainlan City, he appeared completely unremarkable.

Luo Feng stood in the sky as one clone after another merged back into his body.

“I killed a total of fifteen Bewitching Heart Worm clones,” Luo Feng thought. “These fifteen clones were all offspring worm clones. They should belong to two different Bewitching Heart Worms.”

“After losing these clones, those two Bewitching Heart Worms must have suffered severe losses.”

When facing enemies with many clones, Luo Feng found it quite troublesome.

Just like Source World experts—they were extremely difficult to completely kill.

Now Luo Feng faced a similar problem.

Buzz~~~ Buzz~~~ Buzz~~~

Suddenly waves of fluctuations descended, covering the areas Luo Feng had attacked earlier. Patrol teams of Rainlan City arrived one after another and began rapidly arresting large numbers of cultivators.

“According to Rainlan City regulations, when Low-Rank Primordial Lifeforms carry out infiltration assassinations, the one thousand cave dwellings surrounding their residence must be carefully inspected to prevent further possession.”

“According to Rainlan City regulations, all cultivators who had contact with the infiltrator must also be thoroughly inspected.”

“All cultivators must cooperate with the inspection. Those who resist will be executed!”

Cultivators across many areas were stunned, but after hearing the patrol announcement, they obediently cooperated.

“When the Low-Rank Primordial Lifeform was infiltrating, you knew him. Please cooperate with the inspection.” Patrol teams began arresting cultivators one after another. Though confused, they did not dare resist.

Arrests were happening everywhere.

Luo Feng watched from afar.

“This is bad.”

“They say it’s cooperation with the inspection, but unless you obediently pay a large amount of Primordial Crystals, you probably won’t be released anytime soon.”

“Well, they got involved with infiltrating Low-Rank Primordial Lifeforms. Once you’re involved, you’re bound to be stripped of something.”

Many cultivators whispered among themselves.

This was already the normal state of Rainlan City.

Every time infiltrators were discovered, a round of inspections would follow. Those inspected—even if they were not controlled—would still be heavily exploited.

Suddenly a patrol team approached Luo Feng. The patrol captain respectfully said, “Qiufeng thanks God Emperor Luo Feng for discovering fifteen Bewitching Heart Worm clones and saving many cultivators!”

Luo Feng watched everything.

“Senior Luo Feng!” A female cultivator who had been arrested in the distance called out when she saw him. It was Nan Fengyu.

“God Emperor Luo Feng, do you know her?” the patrol captain Qiufeng asked.

Luo Feng nodded. “She is a member of my Yun Dan Tower. I can guarantee she was not possessed.”

“If God Emperor Luo Feng guarantees it, then there is no problem. Release her.” The patrol captain ordered, and Nan Fengyu was immediately freed.

“Thank you, Senior Luo Feng.” Nan Fengyu quickly expressed her gratitude.

Luo Feng nodded, but his mood was not very good.

He had clearly been hunting Low-Rank Primordial Lifeforms—the Bewitching Heart Worms. Yet now tens of thousands of cultivators were implicated, all forced to undergo inspections and exploitation. For ordinary cultivators, earning Primordial Crystals was extremely difficult.

“Hall Master Yuan Xiang.” Luo Feng immediately sent a message.

“Hahaha, Luo Feng! How did you discover the Bewitching Heart Worm Clan? And even find fifteen clones?” Hall Master Yuan Xiang responded, clearly delighted.