Emperor-grade Lightning Rune, strike!
The azure blue Lightning Rune hovered atop Chu Kuangren's head.
Immediately after, a vicious Thunder Dragon swooped out, and Tremendous Heavenly Might surged, enveloping Swordsman San in full.
"What… What is this?! Heavenly tribulation??"
Swordsman San was incredibly terrified.
Just as he wanted to run, that Thunder Dragon was already charging down at him.
The ferocious lightning energy nearly corroded every part of Swordsman San's body in an instant.
However, the numbing effect of the lightning was so strong that he could not even wail in pain.
After a few moments, the rays of lightning subsided, leaving only a charred body on the scene.
Chu Kuangren reached out and took away his adversary's Yin and Yang Ring to do a brief search through it. It was then he found a communication compass within.
Before he could utter a single word, the communication compass vibrated on it's own.
He injected his spiritual power into it, linking the communication compass to its receiver.
"Swordsman San, how did your mission go?"
A middle-aged man's voice was heard from the other side of the communication compass.
"Judging from your tone and the fact that you could contact Swordsman San, I'm guessing that you're one of Sword Tribe's higher executives?"
Chu Kuangren held onto the communication compass and smiled gently.
That voice on the other side of the communication compass fell silent.
Then, that person started speaking again. "You are… Chu Kuangren?"
Although it ended with a question mark, that person's tone sounded quite certain.
"That's right. It's me."
"I'm the Sword Tribe Leader." That voice on the other end of the communication compass delivered another exciting news.
Chu Kuangren replied cheekily when he heard that. "Hey, what a coincidence this is. If you really are the Sword Tribe Leader, I happen to have something I want to discuss with you."
"What is it? Are you pleading for mercy?" The Sword Tribe Leader said nonchalantly.
From his perspective, no one would feel unafraid when facing such a large-scaled organization like them.
Adding to the fact that Chu Kuangren was an outside world sky-pride and that Black Heaven Sect was lesser-known here, he really did not have anyone to rely upon in the Emperor Road.
"Nah. I just wanted to let you know that if you intend on assassinating me again in the future, please at least send someone who is more competent. These laughing stock of yours have done nothing but embarrass your tribe. I'm fine too if you want to come over personally to kill me, but I hope you have prepared your will and coffin beforehand. I only kill, and I don't do burials."
After Chu Kuangren finished his sentence, silence took over once again.
"You're waging war against the Sword Tribe?!"
It was clear from the Sword Tribe Leader's tone of voice that he was starting to get agitated.
Throughout the many years, this was the first time someone was daring enough to speak to him like that.
"Waging a war? You idiot. The war has already begun long ago!"
Once Chu Kuangren finished speaking, sword qi swirled within his palm, and he disintegrated the communication compass right there and then.
Some communication compasses had a tracking function.
If he were to bring it with him, it would undoubtedly reveal his location to his enemies.
"Let's leave."
Chu Kuangren said to Shang Qingxue. When the two of them passed by a teahouse, they tossed out a couple of dozen soul emblems.
"Here. Take this as compensation for your teahouse."
"Many thanks, Master. Many thanks."
The teahouse owner was moved to tears. With that, he packed up his stuff and quickly went back on the road.
Meanwhile, about ten kilometers out, a gaze was locked onto the place where Chu Kuangren battled Swordsman San.
It was an old man donned in long black robes.
"This guy's combat strength is truly not one to look down on. I can't believe he didn't need to wield his Emperor Weapon to kill off Swordsman San."
"It seems like brute force is not a good way to deal with this fella. I must make some necessary preparations before going for him."
This old man was one of the three swordsmen who were sent here to assassinate Chu Kuangren.
After witnessing Chu Kuangren's combat strength, he realized that it was impossible to beat Chu Kuangren with his raw strength alone.
Nevertheless, that did not mean that he had no other way.
…
Back at the other side, in the Sword Tribe.
Sword Tribe Leader was so infuriated after he received Chu Kuangren's message.
"War! Very well, then. It has been so long since somebody has openly challenged us, Sword Tribe to a war! I'd like to see just how you're going to deal with my Sword Tribe!"
A stone-cold glint gleamed in Sword Tribe Leader's eyes.
His Sword Tribe was a hugely successful empire, and their scale of resources was not something the other past ancient orthodoxies could compare with.
Their true wealth is simply unfathomable, for the massive resources they owned had been passed down for generations since archaic ancient times!
Hence, how was it possible for an outside world sky-pride to reign terror upon them?!
…
Seven Chord City.
This place was a huge fortress on Emperor Road. There was a lot of traffic here, so the place was buzzing.
Especially in recent days, there has been almost an endless stream of cultivators going in and out.
The most special part about Seven Chord City was that the finest guqin cultivators on Emperor Road were gathered here.
Seven Chord points to the seven strings on a guqin.
On this day.
There are two new visitors to Seven Chord City, one man and one woman.
These two people's faces were shrouded with faint spiritual light, hence their appearances were blurry.
The only thing people could tell was their extraordinary demeanors, especially the young man who was in front. He had an almost otherworldly demeanor, as though he would ascend to immortality at any moment.
These two were Chu Kuangren and Shang Qingxue, who had come to Seven Chord City because they heard that a grand event would take place here soon.
There were a lot of cultivators on Seven Chord City's streets.
Among them were quite a number of elites, too.
Moreover, a large portion of the cultivators held various musical instruments in their hands.
Melodious tunes would be heard from the inns on both sides of the street from time to time, which was very pleasant to the ears.
Compared to the other cities where cultivators gather, Seven Chords City had a slightly more elegant presence. Many cultivators who pass by here carry a certain carefree temperament to them.
"Sect Leader, this Seven Chord City looks like a really unique place." Shang Qingxue exclaimed admirably. She had never seen a cultivator city quite like this one.
"It's definitely quite fascinating."
After that, they looked for an inn for their temporary stay before utilizing their free time to scout for more info about this place.
Very soon, Chu Kuangren had gotten all he needed to fully understand the forces in Seven Chord City.
There were indeed many cultivation forces in Seven Chord City, but for Chu Kuangren, most of them were not worth mentioning at all. The only organization worth his attention was the Seven Chord Guqin Association.
The Seven Chord Guqin Association was an organization formed together by the musical forces in Seven Chord City. They had three presidents, each one representing a past ancient orthodoxy that was masterful at music. These were the Ji clan, Phantasmic Melodious Sect, and Melodious Void Sect respectively.
These three forces all had roots tracing back to the past ancient era, so they were all incredibly powerful.
The Emperor Weapon that was rumored to have surfaced recently was also guarded by these three forces in turn. They intended to wait until the Infinity Guqin Banquet before presenting it to the public.
By then, all musical cultivators could showcase their respective prowess and see whom the Emperor Weapon would acknowledge as its owner.
"When this Emperor Weapon first revealed itself to the world, dark ominous clouds shadowed the sky for three days, accompanied with incessant rumbling thunder. Since I'm lacking a good guqin now, I might fancy my chances at competing for this one."
Chu Kuangren muttered under his breath.
Nevertheless, competing for an Emperor Weapon was never as easy as it sounded because its success still depended on whether the Emperor Weapon would acknowledge you.
Hence, the great Sect Leader Chu, who had been slacking off on his guqin Dao, decided to freshen up on his knowledge and skills.
In the meantime, he would find out how many guqin cultivators in this city had the ability to compete with him for that Emperor-grade guqin.