Chapter 115: A Brutal Thrashing for the Commandant

"Little brat, you see Captain Fu of the Shengzhou Jingan Bureau before you, why haven't you knelt down to pay your respects yet?"

The young captain had barely finished speaking before a newly appointed lieutenant behind him interjected with a sneer.

"What did your Jingan Bureau lose that gives you the audacity to slander me?" Ling Chi retorted, his eyes filled with mockery.

He had just stepped out of the Wei family estate when he was blocked on the only path home. Someone from the Wei family must have tipped them off, and it was likely for the treasure he carried.

"How arrogant! A little thief, daring to evade the question! To show contempt for our Jingan Bureau is to show contempt for His Majesty. Do you know your crime?"

Captain Fu pointed his horse whip, and the soldiers behind him drew their blades in unison.

"Return it to your Jingan Bureau? Didn't the person who tipped you off tell you that I am also a Garrison Lieutenant of the Jingan Bureau?"

Ling Chi shouldered his blade, his mocking gaze shifting into a cold, angry laugh. As soon as he spoke, the expressions of the men opposite him changed drastically. They had no idea that the person they were trying to rob was a colleague from the same bureau.

"I am under the command of Captain Cao Hubao of the Yingzhou Garrison, Ling Chi, Garrison Lieutenant of Willow Town in He County. The He County Commandant, Zhao Qing, is my master."

"Don't you dare say I'm an impostor. Even if your father is Circuit Intendant Fu, he won't be able to protect you. Don't forget how you bought your own position as captain in the first place."

Ling Chi's words seemed to strike a nerve. Captain Fu hurriedly shouted:

"You dare to impersonate a Jingan Bureau Lieutenant? If you dare to resist, I will report this to Lord Sun and have your entire family executed!"

Captain Fu looked down at Ling Chi from his horse as if he were an ant. With his cultivation at the eighth level of the Qi Sea Realm, there were almost no members of the younger generation in the Northwest Circuit who could contend with him. Although he didn't know what precious treasure was in the nanmu wood box, it was clearly valuable enough for the boy to trade it for the corpses of Wei Xuan's father and Wei Ming.

At this thought, the greed in Captain Fu's eyes intensified.

Ling Chi said slowly, "I have been pursuing a wanted criminal from He County to Wei Province. Now, having successfully completed my mission, I am blocked on this public road by you people trying to kill me and steal my treasure. Fu, you truly have the gall of a mad dog."

Ling Chi’s killing intent was already ignited. These people really thought they could handle him with just a few men. The group was now in a panic; they had expected to rob an ordinary youth, not someone who was not only a Jingan Bureau official but also the apprentice of a county-level lieutenant.

The commotion outside the city gate drew the attention of martial artists entering and leaving Zhu County. Dozens of them stood a hundred paces away, pointing and whispering.

"Are you Ling Chi of He County? The lightning cultivator who fought the Headless General’s corpse in He County?" a flag officer suddenly realized, asking in shock.

"What? You’ve heard of me? Didn't the informant tell you my name?" Ling Chi asked, holding his blade with a composed air.

Even among the onlookers, several martial artists were shocked. They had witnessed Ling Chi’s battle against the Headless General outside the walls of He County and knew exactly how fierce he was.

"Old Huang, have you heard of this Ling Chi? Why is the Jingan Bureau trying to arrest him in the street?" one martial artist asked.

"If you want to know about him, go to He County and ask. Everyone there knows him," the man surnamed Huang replied, his eyes flickering with an inexplicable fear. He still remembered that overwhelming, divine power as if it were yesterday.

"I... I, Fu Zun, am your superior. If I say you are a fake, you are a fake! Hand over the treasure immediately, and I may spare your life," Fu Zun said, his greed overriding his sense of danger as he feigned composure.

"A captain from Shengzhou thinks he can order a Garrison Lieutenant from Yingzhou around? You really are blinded by greed, forgetting life and death."

Ling Chi suppressed his violent killing intent. He had to deal with the He family; he couldn't afford extra trouble right now. He had patience—he could lurk in the shadows for days, waiting for the perfect moment to strike a fatal blow.

"Since you refuse to repent, take him down!" Fu Zun ordered abruptly, unable to wait any longer.

The flag officers looked at each other, bowing their heads, not daring to move. Seeing his subordinates frozen, Fu Zun shouted in frustration: "Lieutenant Quan! Take him down at once!"

Lieutenant Quan cursed internally. If you want the spirit treasure so badly, why don't you do it yourself? He could only complain to himself, and as he drew his long sword to strike, a series of thunderclaps exploded in his ears. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

Seeing that today would not end peacefully, Ling Chi’s anger erupted. Why wait for them to make the first move?

*Hum! Ha!*

Two small dragons of lightning mist appeared, detonating a series of thunderous sounds. Everyone opposite him, from Fu Zun down to the lieutenants and flag officers, tumbled from their horses. Even Fu Zun himself was left dazed, his spirit shaken by the "Hum and Ha" breath, stars dancing before his eyes.

"My father is Fu Qiuwen, the Circuit Intendant of the Northwest Circuit! How dare you resist arrest?"

Fu Zun had always acted recklessly in Shizhou, the capital of the Northwest Circuit. Anyone he set his eyes on, even married women, would be brought to him by any means necessary. When he received word that Wei Xuan had given a treasure box to a youth as a reward for returning her father's body, he was immediately tempted. He thought it would be an easy grab, never expecting the boy to strike first.

Ling Chi had already made his move, so there was no more talk. He swung his blade, still in its scabbard, with full force.

The onlookers heard a thunderclap and saw the Jingan Bureau men fall from their horses in unison. Fu Zun was horrified; what kind of martial art was this? It was strong enough to daze even his eighth-level Qi Sea mind.

The answer he received was the scabbard swinging toward him. Ling Chi had finally suppressed his urge to kill. Putting aside the onlookers, he couldn't afford to offend the Circuit Intendant Fu Yan-zhi too deeply, or it would cause complications when he faced the He family later.

Fu Zun shook his head, the cold energy in his body helping him regain his senses. He saw only the golden scabbard growing larger and closer, and he hurriedly raised his sword to block.

*Bang!*

The blade and scabbard collided with a thunderous sound. Ling Chi’s angry strike was not so easily blocked. The sword bent instantly and flew from his hand. Purple-gold lightning, combined with immense force, slammed into Fu Zun's shoulder, knocking him and his horse to the ground.

"You little beast... you deserve to die."

Fu Zun knelt on one knee, supporting himself with his sword, his face flushed red—whether from injury or sheer humiliation, it was hard to tell. His opponent was a level lower in cultivation and younger than him, yet he had been knocked off his horse in a single blow, left kneeling in such a shameful posture.

Lightning surged through his body. Pain and rage caused him to lose his reason. Seeing Ling Chi’s relentless assault, he could only condense his ice-attributed spirit energy to defend himself.

Ling Chi drove his blade into the ground, pushed off with his feet, twisted his waist, and slammed a fist into Fu Zun’s forehead.

Fu Zun rolled away, scrambling to his feet to engage Ling Chi. Dozens of blue ice spikes manifested in the air, shooting toward Ling Chi. Activating his "Undying Body," Ling Chi transformed into a golden-purple figure, ignoring the whistling ice spikes as he drove his lightning-charged fist deep into Fu Zun's breastbone.