Chapter 85: Solar Vermillion

Li Pin had killed Han Li and emerged victorious. To the martial competition and ordinary martial artists, the only interesting point of this outcome was that this was the second death of the competition. However, Li Pin's subsequent killing of Zhou Chaoguang sent shockwaves through the Jiang Province martial world with an impact similar to that of an earthquake.

Who was Zhou Chaoguang? Anyone with status and identity knew that he was a grandmaster! An actual, full-fledged grandmaster!

Considering that grandmasters were the pinnacle of the local martial arts scene in cities, the death of one, especially during a martial competition, greatly astonished the public. Putting aside top-notch local martial arts influences in cities, even the martial arts experts from Jiang Province City were taken by shock.

Even the Four Pillars Martial Hall, which had almost been used as a tool to deal with Li Pin to curry up to the martial society's chairman, Lin Yuzhi, was no exception.

Hall Master Yun Kaitai's gaze kept wavering in shock.

Yun Yi shuddered from fear.

The Solar Vermillion Sect's sect master, Qiu Chufeng, had pulled in favors just to invite Zhou Chaoguang from the capital. Upon hearing the news of Zhou Chaoguang's death, Qiu Chufeng stood up in fury.

He raged, "That's impossible! That's definitely impossible!"

This grandmaster stared at Jiang Zhenhai and the other disciples who had rushed over to report the news to him.

Qiu Chufeng's eyes were bloodshot as he said, "With the help of

that

... Han Li was already able to unleash power close to that of an Aura Force martial artist. Zhou Chaoguang was an actual Aura Cultivation Grandmaster!

"Even when put up against the other Aura Cultivation martial artists, he was not considered weak! He had even made a name for himself and received the nickname Thunder Fist! Who is Li Pin? How could it be possible for him to kill both of them!?"

He flung his sleeves fiercely. "You're lying to me, aren't you!?"

The viciousness Li Pin showed when he killed Han Li and Zhou Chaoguang had left Jiang Zhenhai shaken. Now, seeing the master he respected and feared in a fit of rage, Jiang Zhenhai shivered slightly.

He couldn't even speak without stuttering. "M-master... I-I didn't..."

At this moment, a middle-aged man stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "We've already made a copy of the match's recording."

He was Qiu Chuyun, Qiu Chufeng's cousin. He was an authentic Aura Cultivation Grandmaster, just like Zhou Chaoguang.

Qiu Chuyun was a grandmaster who had achieved this stage through the use of medicine and by slowly working at his martial cultivation with time. Nevertheless, back when Qiu Chufeng led elites from the Solar Vermillion Sect to venture into the capital, Qiu Chuyun had taken charge of the Jiang Province City's Solar Vermillion Sect and handled all of the sect's matters. He had even nurtured a Core Formation disciple, Zhang Chiyan.

Qiu Chuyun gestured to one of the sect's disciples, and they quickly played the recording.

The entire match between Li Pin and Han Li had been recorded clearly. The video started from the point when Zhou Chaoguang interfered in the fight during two crucial, match-deciding moments, continuing until the point when Li Pin suddenly erupted and killed Han Li and then Zhou Chaoguang.

Bang!

After watching the video, Qiu Chufeng swung his arm violently across the table, sending many cups flying. They fell heavily onto the floor and shattered.

"Trash!" he chided furiously. "He had such a good opportunity, but he didn't grab hold of it to kill Li Pin! Han Li! He's really trash!"

Qiu Chufeng glanced at Zhou Chaoguang, who was lying in a pool of blood in the video, and chided him inwardly.

He's also trash! Since he already made a move, why did he still hesitate!?

"He's an Aura Cultivation Grandmaster, yet he didn't even have a shred of decisiveness to him, resulting in him throwing away his life unnecessarily. He even left behind a whole lot of trouble for me!"

The person behind Zhou Chaoguang had sent him over to return a favor to Qiu Chufeng. However, now they could hold Qiu Chufeng accountable for Zhou Chaoguang's death!

The person in question was an old person in his seventies and probably couldn't even do anything to Qiu Chufeng's cousin, Qiu Chuyun. Nonetheless, if Qiu Chufeng didn't take care of this matter carefully and the old guy were to make a big fuss, it'd bring humiliation to the Solar Vermillion Sect.

The more Qiu Chufeng thought about it, the angrier he felt.

Suddenly, Qiu Chufeng's chest heaved strongly, and it felt as if a fire was going to spew right out of his eyes.

He roared, "How does a young child like this dare to bully our Solar Vermillion Sect!"

"We mustn't view him as a young child anymore..." Qiu Chuyun spoke in a deep voice. "He killed Zhou Chaoguang... Despite the fact that this was a result of Zhou Chaoguang's wariness of Li Pin's identity as a participant in the competition, leading to his slower punches... This is enough to prove Li Pin's capabilities.

"Even if Li Pin can't compare to an Aura Cultivation martial artist, he is definitely a top contender amongst Aura Force martial artists. In a one-on-one life-or-death battle, those in the Solar Vermillion Sect who can win against him would only be you, me, and Heng Qiu."

His words quickly calmed Qiu Chufeng down.

He's right!

Qiu Chufeng thought.

No matter how much fury and contempt he had toward Li Pin, it was an undisputable truth that Li Pin had killed Zhou Chaoguang. An opponent like this was a threat to the Solar Vermillion Sect and needed to be taken seriously.

A thought seemed to have suddenly struck Qiu Chufeng, and he remarked, "His injuries weren't light! Did he..."

Qiu Chuyun knew what Qiu Chufeng wanted to ask. "He went to the treatment room to receive treatment with the astral equipment."

Qiu Chufeng's countenance was grim. "He's actually daring enough to use the astral equipment?!"

Qiu Chuyun nodded.

The fact that Li Pin dared to be treated with astral equipment proved that he was confident there wouldn't be any hidden dangers or deformities left behind from the treatment. Even though his injuries might not fully recover, he would be 70-80% recovered.

Unless Qiu Chufeng were to immediately make arrangements for an expert of Jiang Zhenhai's level to assassinate him, it wouldn't work out. It wouldn't mean much even if they sent a Core Formation martial artist to the competition.

As for Jiang Zhenhai....

Qiu Chufeng took a look at his proud disciple, who still had a fearful gaze. He used to be quite satisfied with this disciple and had even viewed him as his successor. However now, Qiu Chufeng couldn't help but feel a little annoyed and irritated as he looked at Jiang Zhenhai.

If Jiang Zhenhai had done better and reached the Aura Cultivation phase, how could their Solar Vermillion Sect have been pushed into such a passive stance?

"Sect Master, assassinating Li Pin is not the priority right now. Unless you can convince Chairman Lin, Hall Master Shu, and the others to join forces to assassinate Li Pin... there's likely no stopping him. What we should do now is to differentiate ourselves from Zhou Chaoguang as soon as possible and not leave any leads behind," Qiu Chuyun said.

When Qiu Chufeng heard this, his heart skipped a beat.

In comparison to Li Pin, the investigators that the higher-ups would send were more important. Any misstep could cause the entire Solar Vermillion Sect to fall.

Qiu Chufeng replied, "When we made arrangements previously, we had taken into consideration that Li Pin's death may invite investigations, so we didn't leave any traces behind. But you're right. We must be more careful."

Qiu Chuyun quickly nodded, and the two of them quickly started discussing how to clean up the aftermath.

At this moment, Jiang Zhenhai couldn't help but interrupt them. "Master, about Li Pin..."

Qiu Chufeng looked conflicted for a moment. "Li Pin...."

"He's now a participant and has quite a bit of popularity. People have hopes for him to get into the national competition. If anything were to happen to him, the higher-ups would definitely conduct an extremely stringent investigation. We can't make a move on him. However, after the competition ends..." Qiu Chufeng sneered. "He killed two of our Solar Vermillion Sect's Core Formation martial artists. We won't let him off!"

The competition between martial arts influences wasn't as friendly and amicable as things might seem on the surface. They would take action in secret, resulting in deaths.

Had the Solar Vermillion Sect not encroached on other influences' benefits to be able to develop to their current state? Had they not been assaulted previously? Of course they had!

It was because they had stepped on the corpses of those influences that they could achieve the glory that the Solar Vermillion Sect enjoyed today.

However, what Jiang Zhenhai was thinking about now wasn't to seek revenge.

Jiang Zhenhai thought carefully for a moment and then asked, "Then for the martial competition... how are we going to handle Li Pin?"

"The martial competition...." Qiu Chufeng muttered before falling silent.

After a while, he finally spoke. "What we were aiming for in the martial competition was never the first in place in Jiang Province! It's to be invited to participate in the national competition, regardless of whether we get the second or third place."

When Jiang Zhenhai heard this, he was struck with realization.

That's right!

He, Jiang Zhenhai, was not fighting to become number one in Jiang Province. Their interests didn't clash with Li Pin's at all!

The one who wants to dominate over Jiang Province and get first place in Jiang Province? That's Gu Haoran!

Therefore, the pressure of getting first place in Jiang Province and facing Li Pin is something for Gu Haoran to bear. What does it have to do with me?

Realizing that, Jiang Zhenhai felt as if he had been relieved from a heavy burden.