Chapter 78: Night Raid

Midnight arrived. Already fully equipped, Yaoguang opened his eyes, having finished nurturing his psyche.

"Move out!" At his command, the nine others, including Lyu Jianfeng, Jiang Sheng, Li Cunyu, Xu Dengfeng, and Yue Xingzhou, all rose simultaneously, each clad in a combat suit.

A vehicle waited in front of the entrance. The ten individuals quickly boarded, and the car lurched forward, disappearing into the night. As their vehicle merged into the darkness, over a dozen other cars emerged from all directions under the cover of the shadows.

In this beheading strike, the ten-man squad led by Yaoguang was responsible for raiding the royal palace to eliminate the core members of the Liao family. However, a force of over a thousand armed men was also deployed to draw away and pin down the Liao family’s rapid response units across the capital. Additionally, each family utilized various trump cards to ensure the plan's smooth execution. Had these preparations not been in place, the grandmasters would never have risked their lives so boldly.

Simultaneously, the voice from the public channel echoed in Yaoguang’s ear. "The location of Chief Prosecutor Kong Fang has been confirmed."

"General Lyu has arrived at Commander Zhang Jian’s office."

"Liao Zhenguo remains within the royal palace."

The number of martial paragons and grandmasters serving the Liao family was significant, but not every martial paragon remained stationed at the palace at all times. Currently, only Prince Liao Zhenguo and the hidden guardian, Bian Liancheng, were at the palace. The other two, Kong Fang and Zhang Jian, were occupied elsewhere. One was managing the daily operations of the Grand Prosecutor’s Office, while the other sat in the military command center, overseeing the three branches of the armed forces.

However, according to Lyu Jianfeng, Lyu Tianhe would personally confront Zhang Jian to keep him occupied, so that was not a major concern. As for Kong Fang, it would take him some time to rush from the Grand Prosecutor’s Office to the palace. If their efficiency was high enough, that window of time would be enough to execute the plan.

While the public channel relayed information, Lei Yun’s voice came through on a separate frequency. "Spotters are in position."

"Signal connected."

"Target locked."

Aside from her voice, other members of Yue Xingzhou’s logistics team chimed in. Lei Yun and her small crew were already struggling to keep up with Yaoguang’s pace. In fact, even Yue Xingzhou’s team was not yet fully adapted to supporting a martial paragon. However, given the lack of trust in the Lyu and Jiang families, they had no choice but to rely on their own teams for the time being.

The vehicle sped forward, soon entering the cluster of manors where the Liao family resided: Dayu's royal palace.

***

Inside the palace, Liao Shanhe, the head of the Liao family and the reigning king of Dayu, was questioning Liao Ming. "What is happening? Why is there still no news? His Excellency Mo Guang is waiting for an explanation from us. We cannot afford to make the same mistake twice!"

"I personally contacted Ji Pingtian," Liao Ming replied, his expression filled with tension. "According to him, they detected traces of the Rebirth Society and mobilized a group to track them down..."

They had lost contact. Fang Lu, their highest-ranking mole within the World-Saving Society, had gone silent. And since she was the one who had been assigned the mission to kill with a borrowed knife, her silence for over twenty-four hours filled Liao Ming with a sense of foreboding, despite Ji Pingtian’s explanation.

"It is impossible for Fang Lu to strike at the Rebirth Society. She understands the true identities of those high-level figures perfectly. Even if she went to investigate just to win Ji Pingtian’s trust, she would have left us a clue... or at least would have had us notify His Excellency Mo Guang..."

Liao Shanhe spoke while picking up a file sent a few hours ago by Lu Zhenhai from Tiannan High Prosecutor's Office. A large number of core members from various aristocratic families had gathered in the capital of Tiannan. Although the Yue family had done their best to suppress the news, the sheer number of arrivals made it impossible to keep entirely quiet. At most, the news was delayed by a few hours.

Connecting the disappearance of Fang Lu with the abnormal gathering of aristocratic family members, a realization hit him.

"Could it be... that Ji Pingtian already knows about our cooperation with the Rebirth Society? Does he intend to use his influence to rally the aristocratic families against us?" Liao Shanhe’s face darkened. But he quickly dismissed the thought.

Impossible... Fewer than five people in the entire royal family knew that secret. Fang Lu was one of them, but she was trustworthy. Without that information being leaked, Ji Pingtian would never have the courage to defy order by using the World-Saving Society, an organization founded with royal support, to attack the royal family itself. Once they did that, the World-Saving Society would lose its control, the various royal families would withdraw their support and begin a crackdown, and the entire organization would collapse in no time.

"Could it be... that Ji Pingtian wants to stand up for that kid, Su Yaoguang, and is using the pressure of the families to force us to back down to ensure his safety?" Liao Ming guessed cautiously.

"Su Yaoguang?" Liao Shanhe frowned.

A nineteen-year-old grandmaster carried significant weight. But if Ji Pingtian really wanted to protect him, he could have just spoken to him directly. Even if Liao Shanhe agreed and then immediately sent people to deal with the boy and deliver him to the Rebirth Society anyway, Ji Pingtian wouldn't have acted without a word.

"In any case, it is a fact that things have changed." After some thought, Liao Shanhe issued a cautious order to his assistant. "Have Kong Fang deploy all his men to find out what these aristocratic families are up to. At the same time, raise the alert level and prepare for a potential attack. Also, send a message to Zhang Jian to tell him to prepare for contingencies..."

He paused for a moment. "Never mind, I will message them personally."

With that, he stood up. Just then, cries of shock and fury erupted from outside. "Enemy attack!"

Immediately after, alarms blared, and gunfire suddenly rang out, accompanied by waves of miserable screams.

"An enemy attack?!" Liao Shanhe’s face paled instantly.

Could it be...

Abruptly, his keen perception as a grandmaster made his entire body tingle. From the corner of his eye, he clearly saw a flash of purple light vanish in an instant.

The next moment, sparks flickered within the room, and everything plunged into darkness. In many places, sparks burst out simultaneously. This was a clear sign that electronic facilities had been destroyed.

"An electromagnetic pulse?! No! It is a Primordial Magnetic Talisman!" Liao Shanhe immediately realized the truth.

Primordial Magnetic Talismans originated from the Primordial Magnetic Divine Light Instrument, an immortal weapon of the Snowdragon Empire. It was a powerful treasure specifically refined by the Snowdragon Empire to counter the high-tech weaponry of the Crimson Star Empire.

Over the years, the Snowdragon Empire had been researching the Primordial Magnetic Divine Light Instrument to develop a weapon called electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, to lower the threshold for martial artists to use such power. The Primordial Magnetic Talismans, which used spirit talismans to carry electromagnetic pulse energy, were the product of this research.

However, spirit talismans were expensive, and the costs were too high. Such weapons were considered laboratory products even inthe Snowdragon Empire. Why would they appear here[1]?!

Rapid gunfire echoed again. This time, it was less than a hundred meters away from the main building where he was located!

In other words, the enemies had infiltrated the royal palace and were only discovered when they were within a hundred meters of the core area. To be able to penetrate so far into a palace so fortified, they were certainly no ordinary enemies!

"The nine families?! Do they actually have the nerve?!" Liao Shanhe was both shocked and enraged. He quickly commanded, "Go, fetch Zhenguo and Bian Liancheng immediately—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a furious roar suddenly erupted. "How dare you!"

Following that was a booming roar like muffled thunder. The commotion was so loud that it even surpassed the sound of gunfire and explosions. This was the momentum generated by a martial paragon's core jin exploding with full force.

Someone was fighting the Liao family’s pillar of strength, Liao Zhenguo?!

Liao Shanhe rushed out immediately. In the faint light provided by the emergency lighting system, he saw a figure holding a sword in one hand, leaping into the air, and instantly colliding with Liao Zhenguo.

As visible ripples exploded outward from the impact, Liao Zhenguo, the strongest combatant and the pillar of the Liao family, was sent flying back like a cannonball.

Defeated already?! And the one losing isn't our mysterious enemy, but rather the strongest member of the Liao family, a martial paragon, an extraordinary existence who has shattered the shackles of the human body?

Liao Shanhe thought in disbelief.

Even if he could not fully equip himself due to the surprise attack, equipment only provides a martial paragon with true advantage during large-scale military operations. In a one-on-one confrontation, a martial paragon’s greatest strength is always themselves. Yet now, Liao Zhenguo, who has already begun nurturing the psyche in preparation for the psychic-will realm, was crushed in a head-on collision?! Who is the enemy? Ji Pingtian?

Liao Shanhe suddenly turned his gaze toward the attacker. However, in the dim light, the person standing before him was not the president of the World-Saving Society he had imagined, nor was it the martial paragon who served as the face of the Lyu family. It was a youth!

It was the very youth whose files he had seen not long ago because of the Rebirth Society.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Su Yaoguang?!" Liao Shanhe’s eyes widened in shock. "How is this possible?!"

***

"Impossible!" On the battlefield, Liao Zhenguo, who had been instantly repelled in the head-on clash, let out a similar low cry of disbelief.

He recognized Su Yaoguang as well! This was the prey that the high-level figures of the Rebirth Society personally wanted to hunt! Although news had come from the World-Saving Society that the hunt had failed, all the high-ranking members of the Liao family believed that the World-Saving Society had interfered. They never even considered Yaoguang himself to be a threat.

But now, this youth, whom they considered a mere prey that at most could pique the Rebirth Society's interest, had actually displayed martial-paragon-tier strength! Specifically, the techniques and abilities he unleashed during their head-on collision were superior to Liao Zhenguo's.

The situation seemed to be slipping out of their control.

1. Editor's note: to my understanding, the EMP would be the final, low-cost product. The talismans being used here are basically prototypes. ☜