Su Que stood on the shore, facing the boundless sea before him, and threw out a punch!

Boom!

The Seven Injuries Fist Force erupted beneath the deep sea!

A massive water pillar rose from the ocean, then instantly turned into a sky‑filling wave, surging and rolling off to one side.

After raising the Level of his [Law], the power of the Seven Injuries Fist had grown much stronger.

He estimated that if he launched a punch through the air at a Martial Artist of the First Stage of the Tribulation Seed Realm, that Martial Artist’s fleshly body would explode on the spot.

Su Que was quite satisfied with the enhancement of the Seven Injuries Fist, and continued his Cultivation of the Seven Injuries Fist.

...

While Su Que was cultivating his Fist Technique during these days, the troops under Li Xuanji’s command were rushing all over the Qi Kingdom.

Whether in desolate villages and small towns, or in deep mountains and old forests, their footprints could be found.

Li Xuanji was intent on controlling the Martial, and wanted every Martial Artist—be they in seclusion or those who had once shown themselves before others—registered in the rolls.

One day, a thousand‑man unit under Li Xuanji’s command went into a mountain valley more than five hundred li from the Capital City.

That valley was often shrouded in dense fog.

The residents of the small town beside the valley also had many legends about that valley.

Some residents entered the valley and vanished without a trace; those who went in after them to search also disappeared within the valley.

Thus, the town’s residents and the hunters no longer dared to enter this valley.

Some residents whose former houses were too close to the valley, fearing the valley’s ominous strangeness, even moved to live farther away.

The thousand‑man unit under Li Xuanji were all elite soldiers who had gone through several battles, killed men on the battlefield, and seen blood.

They were not afraid of death, so naturally they did not fear these legends.

After hearing the eerie tales of the valley from the town’s residents, they still entered the valley.

These soldiers formed up into an advancing formation.

They drew their Weapons, held them in hand, and advanced cautiously.

Before long, under the Centurion’s command, the entire force penetrated deep into the dense fog.

Within the fog, their visibility was extremely low; they could only see trees roughly a li away.

They even assumed that no one could possibly live here.

However, Li Xuanji had given orders that no matter how remote the place, it had to be searched to see whether there were any traces of habitation.

The soldiers all believed no one could live here, yet none voiced any objection; they still advanced and searched with great diligence and seriousness.

Sha sha sha...

The thousand‑strong army trampled the soil underfoot, making sounds that only made the mountain forest seem even more silent.

After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, just as they were gradually going deeper into the valley and seemed about to see a sheer cliff wall—

Suddenly, a streak of cold light shot out from a cave in that cliff wall.

The next instant, the cold light swept across the necks of these thousand‑odd soldiers.

At once, a blood mark appeared on every soldier’s neck.

Then every person’s head tilted, and their heads tumbled to the ground.

Immediately after, their bodies went limp and collapsed to the earth.

Blood spurted madly from a thousand‑odd necks, soaking the forest soil.

After severing the heads of those thousand‑odd soldiers, that streak of cold light suddenly paused, revealing its true form.

It was an Iron Sword only the size of a palm.

After pausing, the Iron Sword immediately flew back, once again turning into a streak of cold light that shot back into the cave from which it had emerged.

...

The residents of the small town beside the valley kept their eyes on the spot where that thousand‑man unit had entered the valley, from that afternoon until dusk, and then until the next morning.

There, dense fog roiled, making it utterly impossible to see what was inside the fog.

After such a long time, the thousand‑man unit still had not returned.

The town’s residents felt that this valley was even more sinister and uncanny.

...

That thousand‑man unit had been gone three days and still had not returned to the Imperial Palace to report.

This drew the attention of the general under Li Xuanji’s command.

The general reported the situation to Li Xuanji.

After listening, Li Xuanji put down the book in his hands, his brows slightly furrowed. After thinking for a moment, he said to the general:

"Send another, smaller unit to take a look."

The general said, "Very well. This matter is far too strange. I’ve decided to go see for myself."

This general was a Martial Artist at the Early Stage of Gang Condensation Realm and had considerable confidence in his own strength.

Hearing this, Li Xuanji thought for a bit, then nodded in agreement.

But three days later, he received news that after that general entered the valley, he never came out again.

Li Xuanji’s heart tightened at once.

’Could there truly be an absolute expert in that valley?’

So thinking, Li Xuanji planned to go there in person.

If there was an absolute expert, he very much wanted to form ties with them.

But on second thought, he feared that an absolute expert might have an eccentric temperament and might even kill him.

He was at the Late Stage of Gang Condensation Realm; had he not met Su Que, he would have thought himself extremely formidable.

However, after meeting Su Que, he realized that even with such Cultivation, there might still be Martial Artists capable of killing him.

’There may be something terrifying in that valley.’

Li Xuanji speculated inwardly.

He thought that perhaps sending no more people into that valley was the best choice.

However, he did not know whether the mysterious thing in that valley might one day pose a threat to him and his descendants.

So he decided to find others to test it once more.

He ordered a eunuch to summon one Monk, one Daoist, and one layman.

The Monk was from the Great Buddha Temple; after Li Xuanji destroyed it, he had submitted to him and possessed the strength of the Early Stage of Meridian Opening Realm.

The Daoist was from the True Profound Sect; after it was destroyed, he too submitted to Li Xuanji and possessed the strength of the Late Stage of Meridian Opening Realm.

He summoned one Monk and one Daoist because he wanted them to see whether there were any things in that valley unknown to him, but known to the Buddhist Dao.