Nine Astra Skies

Qiu Ying was the Left Prime Minister of the Xiwu Empire. If he died, all hell would break loose. He was more important than Liu Xun and Liu Kan!

Ye Chen weighed the options again and again. If Qiu Ying had died, Ye Chen felt that Great Emperor Mingwu would probably not do him any harm before he obtained any conclusive evidence. Besides, if Ye Chen could make up an alibi to rule out his suspicions, it would not be a problem!

Ye Chen continued refining pills while planning to assassinate Qiu Ying.

The next day, Little Tanuki returned, holding a map in its mouth. It was a map of the Capital City. Ye Chen had no idea where Little Tanuki got that from. The route to Qiu Ying's mansion and its exact location were drawn on the map.

Ye Chen had always been very meticulous. After thorough preparation, he already had a plan in mind.

Qiu Ying was both insidious and cunning. Knowing that Ye Chen had arrived in the Capital City, Qiu Ying must have prepared himself. The only upside was that he was not aware of Ye Chen's exact strength, so he would not anticipate much. Hence, Ye Chen must take him down with one strike! Otherwise, it would be more than difficult the next time he wanted to catch Qiu Ying again!

Ye Chen took a glance at Little Tanuki. When it came to an assassination, Little Tanuki could surely surprise him with unexpected results.

For the entire week, Ye Chen had modestly refined pills, all the while reading through various materials. The success rate of refining the Soul-amassing Pill in the armguard space had reached eight percent while the success rate for the Soul-consolidating Pill had reached five percent. There was already great progress compared to before.

During this entire week, once every three days, Ye Chen would request to go to the side courtyard for three hours. His excuse was to go for cultivation and Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Li Xu had never doubted him. They could see Ye Chen's hard work throughout these days. There were many talented people in this world but very few who were as hardworking as Ye Chen! By knowledge alone, he had already reached the standard of an Advanced Apothecary. What else was there to be dissatisfied with Ye Chen?

Time passed by silently. The night was getting late and it was once again the end of a three-day cycle. A glint of cold light flashed in Ye Chen's eyes and he stood up as usual. He calmly said to Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Li Xu, "Master, Senior Brother Li, I'm going to the side courtyard to cultivate."

"Sure, go ahead," Master Apothecary Xuanyi waved his hand and said.

Ye Chen left the alchemy room and walked toward his side courtyard.

Darkness had descended upon the place. When Ye Chen had arrived at the courtyard, he changed into dark black clothes. This set of nightclothes was stolen by Little Tanuki from a clothing store in the Capital City and it was a perfect fit for Ye Chen. As Little Tanuki's white fur was too dazzling in the dark, it had no choice but to blacken itself with ink.

The Raven Hawk flew to the woods behind the courtyard. Ye Chen grabbed the claws of the Raven Hawk, taking him and Little Tanuki into the air, vanishing into the darkness of the night.

All Ye Chen had heard was the rustling sound of the wind. The Raven Hawk was a Tenth Level beast. Its flying speed was extraordinary. Even if it carried one person, it still flew as effortlessly and as fast as lightning.

The Raven Hawk flew to a height of thousands of meters. The people below could not see Ye Chen and Little Tanuki at all!

Looking toward the distance, the lights of many houses were lit, just like a gazillion stars were scattered onto the dark ground. From the night sky, they could simply imagine how prosperous the Capital City was!

It did not take long before the Raven Hawk had determined the direction and locked onto the location. The Raven Hawk had taken Ye Chen and Little Tanuki along as it dived downward, landing at a deserted area. Ye Chen and Little Tanuki jumped off the Raven Hawk and it disappeared into the dark within a few moments.

"Twenty minutes!" Ye Chen roughly estimated the time. It only took him twenty minutes to arrive here from Huxin Island by riding the Raven Hawk. Even by riding the fastest Nightwind horse, it would still take him more than two hours at least.

Qiu Ying's mansion was surrounded by high walls. Qiu Ying had no idea that he had become Ye Chen's target. The light in the study room was still lit. Qiu Ying was sitting on a cattail hassock in the study room and was in the middle of cultivating. The study room was heavily guarded by Seventh and Eighth Level black-armored guards outside.

In addition to the visible guards, not far away there was a beginner Tenth Level and nine top Ninth Level combatants hidden in the darkness.

After knowing that Ye Chen had come to the Capital City, Qiu Ying had been thinking of Ye Chen all the time. However, Ye Chen was now a disciple of Master Apothecary Xuanyi, so he had no chance of doing anything to him. Deep down, he felt very tormented every day as if he had something stuck in his throat. As long as Ye Chen did not die, he would always feel uneasy.

Qiu Ying had been watching the situation at Lake Ming every day. Once Ye Chen had stepped out of Lake Ming, Qiu Ying would kill him at all costs! He had some relations with the Taiyi Sword Sect. He had already bought over two Taiyi Sword Sect Elders with a lump sum of money. With two Earthly Venerable Rank Elders, his agenda would surely be foolproof!

It had been a long time but Ye Chen still had not come out and it had upset Qiu Ying. Yet, he had no choice but to wait.

In the silence of the night, from time to time, noise from a few insect rang from the garden bushes.

Qiu Ying was already in a state of meditative absorption.

Ye Chen appeared in the garden, sweeping the place with his Astral Body. With that, he had already locked on Qiu Ying's position. Ye Chen let out a cold sneer when he saw Qiu Ying. Today was the day of Qiu Ying's death! Ye Chen had known all the positions of the guards including those hidden in the dark. Then, he took off and ran toward the study room.

A mysterious gleam flashed in Little Tanuki's eyes. It had begun casting an Illusion.

Ye Chen swept past in front of the black-armored guards. Those black-armored guards had their gazes transfixed in front of them. In their eyes, what they saw was a quiet courtyard. Ye Chen was completely transparent to them as if it was just a light breeze brushing past.

"It's already a full three days," a guard whispered angrily, "D*mn it, why hasn't Han Liu come to take over the shift yet?"

"That kid might still be lying in the arms of some ladies!" Several guards next to him made a low smirk.

They chatted, absolutely oblivious to Ye Chen who was just nearby.

Ye Chen had reached outside of the study room. The locations of both beginner Tenth Level and top Ninth Level combatants were locked by Ye Chen's Astral Body. With a swoosh, Little Tanuki lunged toward them.

After just a short while, both the beginner Ninth Level combatant and top Ninth Level combatant had fallen into Little Tanuki's Illusion.

Little Tanuki was now top Tenth Level. People below top Tenth Level had no resistance at all to Little Tanuki's Illusion.

Ten steps - it was this distance that had separated Ye Chen and Qiu Ying. Ye Chen took out the Hell Rupture Sword and kicked open the study room door violently. The sword light was swift as it pierced toward Qiu Ying.

Qiu Ying heard the loud sound and instantly opened his eyes. He saw Ye Chen's bright star-like gazesaw in the darkness and was startled. He yelped and said, "It's you, Ye..."

Little Tanuki, who was hiding on the other side, had its gaze brightening up with a mystical light.

Qiu Ying had only managed to mutter a half of Ye Chen's name. He was still struggling to get up and his eyes were filled with shock.

A single moment like that was all that mattered. Between two combatants, a split-second was all it took to determine life and death!

Just like an electric or a flint!

That incredibly sharp Hell Rupture Sword turned into an afterimage that could not be captured even by the eyes.

Pierce!

There was a muffled sound.

With a single sword, Ye Chen had penetrated the point between Qiu Ying's eyebrows. Qiu Ying's expression instantly froze on his face. Blood dripped slowly from his forehead and his gaze turned from bright to dim.

Qiu Ying had been in power for several decades. As a top Tenth Level combatant, he had experienced thousands of battles. He had a high position in the Xiwu Empire and he had climbed through the ladders to the Left Prime Minister position. He probably had never expected that he would one day die in this study room, in the hands of a mere seventeen-year-old boy.

The moment Ye Chen's sword penetrated his forehead in between the eyebrows, Qiu Ying had already lost his ability to think. There was not even enough time for him to change to a reluctant expression!

Ye Chen's sword strike was too quick. Coupled with Little Tanuki's Illusion, Qiu Ying did not have any chance to fight back.

With a swish, Ye Chen jumped out of the window behind the study room. Before long, he had disappeared into the vast darkness of the night.

Qiu Ying remained sitting on the cattail hassock as if he was still cultivating in meditative absorption. A while after Ye Chen had disappeared, only did his head drop with a thud.

About half a minute after Ye Chen had left Qiu Ying's mansion, Little Tanuki jumped onto Ye Chen's shoulder. Ye Chen grabbed Raven Hawk's claw and it soared up into the sky.

About ten minutes later, a guard had noticed something amiss in the study room and rushed in only to realize that the Left Prime Minister, Qiu Ying, was dead!

"An assassin!" a loud yell rang out.

Very quickly, Qiu Ying's mansion was illuminated brightly but Qiu Ying's assassin was already long gone.

"Perfect! When a man accomplishes his mission, fame and fortune become irrelevant. Is this what it feels like to be an assassin in the legends?" Ye Chen muttered to himself and chuckled as he looked at the mess in Qiu Ying's mansion below him.

Qiu Ying's death also meant one less worry for Ye Chen. Anyone would feel uncomfortable being targeted by someone as malicious as Qiu Ying.

Ye Chen returned to the side courtyard and changed his clothes. He threw his clothes into the space in his armguard. Little Tanuki, too, washed away the ink on its body at Lake Ming. Ye Chen looked at the time, realizing that it had only been fifty minutes. It was a lot faster than he had expected. He walked toward the alchemy room.

"Ye Chen, why are you back here?" Li Xu smiled gently when he saw Ye Chen.

"When I was cultivating in my room, I suddenly thought of some doubts in alchemy. So, I'm here to take a few books back and have a look," Ye Chen answered. After a moment's rummage, he took a few books, turned around and went back to the side courtyard. In this way, both the Master Apothecary and Master Li could testify for him that he had not left the Xuan Pavilion tonight. He would not have to worry even if Great Emperor Mingwu investigated him.

When Ye Chen returned to the alchemy room, he saw a Heaven-Earth Pouch on the table with a "Qiu" word embroidered on it. He could not help but laughed.

Little Tanuki's speed was always much faster than him. The reason why she had lagged behind Ye Chen by half a minute was because Little Tanuki turned around to find Qiu Ying's belongings. It brought back Qiu Ying's Heaven-Earth Pouch!

When he came back earlier, Ye Chen had noticed that there was something in Little Tanuki's mouth but he was too occupied to take a close look at it. He opened the Heaven-Earth Pouch. At one glance, Qiu Ying's Heaven-Earth Pouch contained many good stuff. There were more than twenty thousand Soul-amassing Pills, five hundred Soul-consolidating Pills, a Tier One Spirit Artifact sabre, and several books about cultivation systems and martial arts techniques. Besides that, there were also some Capital City property title deeds. Indeed, he was the Left Prime Minister. He was much richer than the Second-rank Prince of Donglin, Liu Xun.

Ye Chen sorted those things and stuffed them into his armguard space.

"Well, what's this?" Ye Chen found something in the corner of the Heaven-Earth Pouch. It seemed to be a tooth from some kind of mystical beast. The tooth was the size of a thumb. It was entirely pure white, very sharp, and the surface texture was delicate and smooth. There were all kinds of weird symbols on it and it looked very rare.