The place where Zheng Jingcheng and Pan Ruoye fought was far from Changling, but some cultivators were still able to feel it. Because of the similar cultivation method, and powerful cultivation, the yellow-robed man traveling in a carriage in Changling sensed the result of the battle. He could not sense what had happened, but he could sense Zheng Jingcheng’s energies fade in the end.

Jiaodong Commandery paid attention to all famous cultivators, especially the ones of the Changling cultivation places, including the ones who just started cultivation but performed well. It had many warehouses that contained the detailed information on the cultivators that they paid attention to along with a detailed evaluation of all realm seven grandmasters..

The Jiaodong Commandery’s information was likely the most authoritative assessment in the cultivation world. Because many years ago, when Zheng Xiu entered Changling, they had made detailed assessments of all the talents during that time. Later, most of the development of these people agreed with these assessments.

In those assessments, Zheng Bainiao would have a foolproof time killing Shen Xuan, and Zheng Jingcheng, Pan Ruoye. No matter how this was looked at, Shen Xuan and Pan Ruoye were not on the same level as the two from the Zheng Family.

Jiaodong Commandery put Shen Xuan as the first target to kill mostly in exchange for the silence of the Changling powers. This was a balance between powers.

Shen Xuan was a new power, and harmed the interests of many people in Changling. But he was the empress’s hand. Other than the people of Jiaodong, no other power in Changling dared to touch the man. Jiaodong Commandery did not want Empress Zheng Xiu to be very strong. Killing him would benefit both Jiaodong Commandery and the Changling powers.

Pan Ruoye was set as the second target to kill because she had once been a confidant of the empress, and knew too many secrets of Jiaodong Commandery. After leaving the empress, she became an unrooted duckweed. Even Mo Shoucheng, who had some connection to her, had passed away. Killing her would not cause any displeasure from any side.

From a certain point of view, Shen Xuan and Pan Ruoye had to die. But now, the two were still alive, and Zheng Bainiao and Zheng Jingcheng were dead.

In the secret talk between Bureau Chief Chen and Ye Celeng, the former mentioned that three people had come from Jiaodong Commandery. Yet there were more than three from Jiaodong Commandery who stepped onto the stage of Changling. Of course, there were more than three. He had only mentioned three because only these three could affect the situation of Changling.

Now, there was only the yellow-robed man in the carriage.

The battle between Pan Ruoye and Zheng Jingcheng was just a simple battle between cultivators. Jiaodong Commandery had absolute confidence in Zheng Jingcheng, but to kill Shen Xuan in Changling, Jiaodong Commandery had made countless arrangements. No one knew how much power had been secretly exerted to ruin the situation.

Because much of Zheng Xiu’s power overlapped with Jiaodong Commandery, her movements could not be concealed from Jiaodong Commandery. So the person who had secretly ruined the situation was not Zheng Xiu, but a power that Jiaodong Commandery did not know of.

When did Changling have such a strong power that Jiaodong Commandery did not know of?

This was a very scary thing on a strategic level. But this yellow-robed man did not panic at this. He was thinking calmly. The contents of his thoughts were still killing. He was thinking now, whether and who he should kill in order to reverse the situation. Only the people of Jiaodong Commandery? Zheng Xiu could understand his thoughts right now.

He was not just the oldest of the three, he was also the most terrifying of the three, and even of Jiaodong Commandery. He had a powerful and domineering name, Zheng Husha.

Jiaodong Commandery was by the ocean and lived by the ocean. In the ocean, the vicious tiger sharks were the overlords, and a term that meant killing.

It was a question who to kill.

The carriage moved slowly through the drizzle of rain. Zheng Husha silently considered this question. Yet then, in his sharp perception, a noise appeared.

For cultivators like him, even if he was focused on pondering something with all his attention, he could still sense the changes within hundreds of meters around him. They could sense the change in shape of any raindrop falling on the ground, the movement of each insect, and even how the grass roots in the ground were absorbing water, and how the water flowed in the roots.

When the noise occurred, he already “saw” the source of the noise.

This was a swordsman leaning by the window of a tea house several hundred feet away. A thin hiltless flying sword fell from the sleeve of the swordsman into the water gully below the window. Then the sword, like a fast fish, moved through the window and targeted the carriage he was in.

Zheng Husha frowned. An ambush from a cultivator of such power could not arouse much of his interest. He reached out a hand from the dim carriage cabin. He made a simple movement–he tightened his hand into a fist.

A whirlpool suddenly appeared in the air in front of the swordsman several hundred feet away. The rain spun in the whirlpool, and so it was clearly visible.

The swordsman controlling the swords saw the whirlpool, and felt like the power of the whirlpool had permeated into his heart. His face did not even have time to change when his heart was twisted into a ball by a great power. He powerlessly hung his head and died. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, falling down the wall of the tea house into the gully below.

The flying sword was still dozens of feet away from the carriage. It lost its support, floated for a while like a leaf in the water, and then silently sank into the mud of the gully. Before an assassination’s attempt could even take form, he was killed. But Zheng Husha did not feel any pride. He slowly pulled his hand back and looked up.

He was thinking of killing others, but now, someone wanted to kill him. This seemed laughable, but it was not laughable at all.

Many gasps sounded. The carriage that had been moving at a sedate pace suddenly stopped.

There was a large man in cloth robes standing on the street ahead. He held an iron pillar that was so wide that several people were needed to circle it. With a thunderous shout, he threw the iron pillar at the carriage!

Translator Ramblings: I really hope that Zheng Husha (tiger shark) is more of a nickname because it’s a weird thing to name your child.