The grade-6 master had fallen and died quietly.

In addition to being too careless, it also had something to do with the variety of Lin Ping's martial arts.

He first used the Sunflower Manual, then the Six Pulse Sword attack, followed by the Nine Yin White Bone Claw attack!

Each one of them was considered a peerless martial art by itself, and their attack styles were completely different. Faced with a combination of attacks from all of them, how could the intruder resist?

Lin Ping looked at the corpse on the ground, but there was not much fluctuation in his heart. However, he was secretly worried about what to do with it. He didn't want to expose this matter and wanted to continue to cultivate in a low-key manner in the cold palace and to do his check-ins unobtrusively.

It would be great if there was something like corpse water, a must-have item for killing people, Lin Ping thought in his heart.

Soon after, he managed to think of a solution that was not a solution.

He carried the body of the black-clothed intruder and quietly went into the courtyard. He then threw the body directly outside and ignored it.

Chun Fei did the exact same thing in the past too.

Every time she killed someone, she would just throw it outside the courtyard. Anyways, the body would be carried away inexplicably the next day, and no one would knock on her door to assign any blame.

After all, the people killed were trespassing in the cold palace and had bad intentions. The mastermind behind them did not dare to seek revenge for them.

"What the hell was Chun Fei doing? Over the past year, the assassins attracted here seem to be getting more and more powerful! Today, even a grade-6 martial artist appeared!

"Originally, I had no intentions to act. But since I can't hide and was targeted, I could only kill him!

"I must do my best to raise my cultivation base to that of a grade-7 martial artist! I can feel that I am nearly there…"

…

…

The cold palace was situated in a remote area and was thus windy at night.

Under the guise of darkness and wind, it was a good opportunity to kill.

From the murder to the process of settling the corpse, Lin Ping did everything silently. No major movement and commotion arose, and everything was covered by the sound of the wind.

No one felt any abnormalities, not even in Chun Fei's room on the other side of the courtyard.

In fact, when Lin Ping murdered and "disposed" of the body, neither Chun Fei nor her maid Yun Su was sleeping. Both of them remained vigilant and had even set up traps in the room, waiting for the assassin to come.

When Chun Fei went out tonight, she had encountered an accident and spied on something she should not have seen nor heard. After overhearing those secrets, Chun Fei suspected that the other party would not let her go this time and would definitely have her killed off!

In addition, she had already been injured earlier today, causing her strength to be greatly reduced. It was a prime opportunity for them to act.

Thinking of this, Chun Fei and court lady Yun Su felt depressed and hopeless, thinking that they might not survive past tonight.

They had made all the due preparations. Even if they were to die, they would not go down without a fight.

The two anxiously waited the whole night until dawn, yet the assassin they had been waiting for still did not arrive.

After seeing the dawn, the two women breathed a sigh of relief.

It looked like the person did not send an assassin to take their lives for whatever reason.

The cold palace was safe during the day.

Although the man was extremely powerful in the palace, he still couldn't cover the sky with one hand. After all, he was just a eunuch and still had to be careful about what he did.

However, what they didn't know was that a killer actually did come last night.

It was just that this killer was settled by the eunuch who was responsible for cleaning the grounds, someone they had thought was irrelevant.

…

…

In the Directorate for Credentials.

As one of the 12 Directorates of the Grand Xia Palace, although it was not as large as the Directorate of Ceremonial, it was still a force that could not be underestimated in the palace.

Since it was established, the Directorate of Credentials was responsible for handling documents and communication with court officials, as well as many other logistical duties such as managing the libraries, tax collection, and many more. With such heavy responsibilities and positions of power, it was without a doubt that there were many tricks played by those in the directorate.

Especially now that the Grand Xia Dynasty was experiencing both internal and external problems and the eunuchs were in charge, the rights of these eunuchs were even greater.

The Grand Xia Dynasty was founded more than three hundred years ago, and the scale and development of the eunuchs who were in power in the palace had already reached an unprecedented level. The number of eunuchs had reached a staggering total of 100,000!

Although the civil and military officials often complained about the power given to the eunuchs, no one could do anything. Even the Emperor had difficulty handling the huge number of eunuchs now and was constantly being restrained when making various decisions or changes.

A corpse was lying in a large hall in the Directorate for Credentials at this moment. It was the black-clothed assassin who had intruded into the Changmen Palace the previous night.

An old eunuch with rouge on his face and slender sharp eyes, covered his nose and mouth with a handkerchief using his right hand and bent down to check the wounds on the corpse.

This person was the chief eunuch of the Directorate for Credentials, Zhang Yong!

He was a real big shot.

There were more than 100,000 eunuchs in the Grand Xia Palace, yet Zhang Yong's identity and strength could both be ranked in the top 20!

"Embroidery needles, sword qi scars… What a powerful claw skill!"

Zhang Yong stood up slowly and asked the eunuch next to him coldly, "Who did this?"

The person next to him was wearing a blue-gray robe and also looked to be a eunuch with a high position. Every breath he took was filled with strength, signifying that his cultivation base was not low. He had definitely cultivated for several decades and had at least a grade-6 cultivation base!

But in front of Zhang Yong, the eunuch was trembling. He hurriedly said, "Reporting to the chief, Manager Li's body was found outside the Changmen Palace."

"You mean, that bitch Chun Fei did it?" Zhang Yong asked.

"Probably not. I am still investigating as to who the real murderer is…" The blue-clothed eunuch hurriedly lowered his head and spoke truthfully.

Zhang Yong snorted coldly. "At least you are meticulous and didn't jump to conclusions. None of the martial arts used are what Chun Fei is proficient at. What's more, although Li Shan had only just entered grade-6, it's still not easy to kill him so easily. Only a grade-7 grandmaster would have the ability to do so. Chun Fei is not even at grade-6 and was also seriously injured by my finger attack last night. How could she be the one who killed Li Shan?!"

"Grade-7…" The blue-clothed eunuch was startled.

Although there was only a one-level difference between a grade-6 and a grade-7, it was the threshold between a middle-grade and a top-grade martial artist!

There was no way to compare the two. This difference was like the one between the clouds and mud.

There were countless masters in the imperial palace. Although there were not many grade-6 masters, they were definitely not a small number. A grade-6 master could at most rise to a position of manager. Only those who were in the top grades could be considered big shots.

Zhang Yong, the chief of the Directorate for Credentials, was naturally one of them! He was a grade-7 grandmaster!

Furthermore, his position could be ranked in the top 20 among the 100,000 eunuchs!

As for grade-8 martial artists, they were pitifully few. The total did not exceed the number of fingers on one hand!

The blue-clothed eunuch thought, Which grade-7 powerhouse would be willing to help Chun Fei?

Zhang Yong sneered and shook his head. "Chun Fei's reputation in the palace has been completely destroyed. Even His Majesty has developed a dislike for her. She has even been in the cold palace for four years without anyone paying attention to her. What's more, the Superintendent himself has passed the order that no one is to help her. In the imperial palace, no matter how eloquent this concubine might be, she would be unable to find allies under these circumstances."

The blue-clothed eunuch asked suspiciously, "Then what do you think about the matter, chief?"

Zhang Yong sneered coldly. "Chun Fei comes from the Taixu Sect. Although the sect was wiped out back then, there are still many remnants who escaped that day. Who knows if there are grade-7 grandmasters among them?"

The blue-clothed eunuch asked in a low voice, "Chief, you believe the remnants of Taixu Sect have sneaked into the imperial compound and are currently staying in the Changmen Palace?"

Zhang Yong wiped his thin lips with the handkerchief and sneered. "The case is more than likely as such."

"In that case, can't we just kill our way to the Changmen Palace and find out the troublemaker?" The blue-clothed eunuch's eyes beamed ardently. "If we're able to seize these remnants from the Taixu Sect, it will be a great achievement for us!"

"Stupid!" Zhang Yong reprimanded. "Is it so easy to catch a grade-7 grandmaster? And even if we find out where and who the person is, is it our job to catch him? We are crossing our boundaries by doing so!"

"Your words are wise, chief." The eunuch in blue clothes hurriedly lowered his head and asked tentatively, "Then, should we pass on such information to the Directorate of Ceremonial?"

"En…" Zhang Yong coldly replied in a shrill voice. "There are many powerhouses in the Directorate of Ceremonial. Even if there are grade-7 grandmasters behind Chun Fei, they will still die!"