The Martial Law pursued balance—a balance under the Mysterious Realm’s laws.
The greater the desired effect, the steeper the cost. Though exceptions might arise, it was fundamentally balanced.
Ling Xiao could simply choose laws that favored him.
“This kid’s using sorcery! Run! There’s no chance—we must inform the Sword King Sect’s experts. Only they can kill him!”
Seeing Luxing’s inexplicable death, Wan Ben felt unprecedented fear. He couldn’t stay a moment longer.
He had to escape, no matter what!
Escape was his only thought, win or lose irrelevant.
“Diewu, let’s go too. This Ling Xiao isn’t human—he’s a devil, a demon!”
Zhuhua retreated, her intent to fight gone, replaced by the same urge to flee as Wan Ben.
Escape!
It was the sole thought of every martial artist attacking the Divine Sword Sect.
How could they win against a monster?
“Since you came, why leave?”
Ling Xiao’s expression was cold as he dove into the crowd.
Wan Ben’s army had arrived with over ten thousand men.
Now, barely a thousand remained.
Like a ferocious beast, he reaped lives in the throng.
The Divine Sword Sect disciples snapped into action.
They knew letting even one escape could doom the sect.
Not one could be spared—all had to die.
“You can’t kill me! I’m an official of the Holy Dynasty! Kill me, and you defy the Holy Dynasty!”
The demoralized army collapsed instantly.
Ling Xiao killed Zhuhua and Diewu, captured Wan Ben alive, and left the rest to the Divine Sword Sect disciples.
Defending the sect was their duty too.
Wan Ben, trembling and whimpering, invoked the Holy Dynasty to threaten Ling Xiao.
“Hmph. Once you’re dead, the Holy Dynasty will quickly elevate General Lin Ze. Go in peace.”
Ling Xiao slapped Wan Ben to death, absorbing his martial soul.
The battle ended, leaving only aftermath.
Tianfeng City was now essentially the Divine Sword Sect’s territory, its residents tied to the sect’s fate.
If word of today’s events leaked, the entire city would face disaster.
But that was unlikely.
To be safe, Ling Xiao spent a day setting up a concealment array for the Divine Sword Sect.
Paired with Martial Law, as long as the sect didn’t attack, outsiders couldn’t find them.
– Cost: The sect’s leadership must not order attacks, and no more than a hundred disciples can act independently.
– Effect: As long as no attack orders are given and fewer than a hundred disciples act on their own, the concealment array remains unbroken.
In other words, without attacking, the array was virtually invincible.
Even expert array-breakers couldn’t crack it.
Only someone defying the Mysterious Realm’s laws could.
After this, Ling Xiao raided Wan Ben’s stronghold in Yunkong City.
The man was truly Baiyun Province’s richest.
His gold exceeded a billion taels, silver ten billion.
Martial arts below gold-grade were abundant, a hundred times the Divine Sword Sect’s collection.
He had nearly a thousand mortal-grade treasures.
And almost ten thousand low-grade spirit stones.
Plus vast amounts of top-tier secular elixirs—worthless to sect martial artists but precious to secular ones.
Ling Xiao took five thousand spirit stones for alchemy materials.
The rest, he planned to leave for the Divine Sword Sect.
To him, the sect was home, always on his mind.
After this incident, his position in the sect changed.
No longer Supreme Elder, he was now Supreme Sect Master.
He held greater authority than the Sect Master, with power over life and death for all members.
The current Sect Master merely managed the sect on his behalf.
Hm?
As he gathered Wan Ben’s belongings to leave, he sensed three powerful auras deep within the governor’s mansion.
There must be a secret chamber.
Following the auras, he found it.
The chamber’s door was open.
Inside sat three people—two men and a woman, all young.
They were idly flipping through books Wan Ben had hidden there.
Besides travelogues and stories, there were several entry-level gold-grade martial arts.
Wan Ben’s ambition was immense, sourcing so many gold-grade techniques from who-knows-where.
“Who’s there?”
Ling Xiao hadn’t concealed his aura, so they noticed him at the chamber’s entrance.
“What’s your relation to Wan Ben?”
When he didn’t answer, they asked again.
Ling Xiao noted they were Sword King Sect disciples, stronger than the previous ones.
The strongest was at peak Mortal Realm second level, the other two at early Mortal Realm second level.
“Hey, commoner, we’re talking to you!”
The woman glared at Ling Xiao with haughty disdain, as if he were fit only to kneel before her.
It made sense. The Twelve Sects were tied to the Holy Dynasty, their leaders often nobility.
They viewed secular martial artists as commoners, naturally inferior.
But Ling Xiao wasn’t buying it.
He looked at them calmly. “This is the Baiyun Governor’s Mansion. Why are you here?”
“Hmph, Wan Ben’s lackey is so ill-mannered! Daring to question us? Are you worthy? Even Wan Ben himself wouldn’t dare!” the taller man snorted.
“Wan Ben not daring doesn’t mean I don’t.”
Unsure if they knew about Tianfeng City, Ling Xiao decided they couldn’t leave.
“How bold! Where’s that dog Wan Ben? He took our junior brothers and sisters to wipe out the Divine Sword Sect. A measly minor sect needs this long?”
The shorter man slammed the table, reducing the stone slab to dust.
That confirmed it.
They knew about Tianfeng City. They couldn’t be spared.
Ling Xiao slowly drew his Ice Dragon Sword.
“Oh? This kid has a precious-grade treasure sword. Senior Brother, I don’t even have one that good,” the woman said.
Perhaps due to arrogance, the three Sword King Sect disciples didn’t realise Ling Xiao might attack.
They were still eyeing his Ice Dragon Sword, intent on taking it.
