The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Huanglong Prefecture, Weishan County.

Weishan was a small county in the northern part of Huanglong Prefecture, not even as prosperous as Qinghe.

The county had only one Strong Internal Martial Artist, whose word was law in the city.

The upheaval in the Divine Mansion Sect had not affected this place in the slightest.

Only the county’s sole Strong Internal Martial Artist received the station’s announcement: the Divine Mansion Sect had a new Sect Leader, one who apparently no longer bore the surname Murong, but Ouyang.

In a certain courtyard home in Weishan County.

"Fuck! I never would’ve thought... never would’ve thought that thick-browed, big-eyed bastard Ouyang would betray us too!"

A middle-aged man pounded his chest and stamped his feet.

This man was Situ Liuyun, Peak Master of Yunxiao Peak, one of the three Peak Masters who had followed Murong Tian out to quell the rebellion.

Beside him was a lean, elderly man: Zhang Weiguang, Peak Master of Changhong Peak.

That day, they had not followed Sect Leader Murong Tian back to the Divine Mansion Sect.

But it was precisely because they hadn’t gone that they had saved their own lives.

The two of them, lacking Yu Hui’s intelligence network, were tragically ambushed and surrounded by the Lingzhou Army, but thankfully managed to fight their way out in the end.

However, the Elder Disciples of the Divine Mansion Sect weren’t so lucky; they were all cut down by the Lingzhou Army.

Not only that, but Changhong Peak’s Peak Master, Zhang Weiguang, had his left arm severed by an expert from the Lingzhou Army, his combat strength a fraction of what it once was.

The two men had barely managed to evade their pursuers and hide themselves in Weishan County.

With their power, extracting information from a mere Strong Internal Martial Artist was naturally a simple task.

And it was from this intelligence that they learned Luotian Peak’s Master, Ouyang Hua, had become the new Shenfu Sect Master—a clear sign he had colluded with Ling Province to usurp the throne.

They had originally hoped that the few Peak Masters stationed with the Northern Garrison Army would hear of the situation in Huanglong Prefecture and persuade that old general to intervene.

But now that Ouyang Hua was the new Sect Leader, it had become an internal affair of the Divine Mansion Sect.

The Northern Garrison Army no longer had any reason to interfere.

Situ Liuyun was naturally filled with resentment.

"I wonder if Sect Leader Murong is still alive."

Zhang Weiguang sighed softly.

He and Situ Liuyun had been searching for Murong Tian’s whereabouts while fleeing their pursuers.

Situ Liuyun’s eyes were bloodshot. "That old traitor Ouyang probably knows where the Sect Leader is! He was the one who returned to the mountain with the Sect Leader that day. The Sect Leader must have been backstabbed by that old bastard!"

The more Situ Liuyun thought about it, the more furious he became.

Among the masters of the Thirteen Peaks, Ouyang Hua had been the most loyal to Murong Tian. To think that the traitor would be him, of all people.

Just as the two were stewing in their indignation—

The courtyard gate was suddenly kicked open.

"Fuck, what a waste of my time. I actually thought you two knew where that old scoundrel Murong was."

A squad of fully armored soldiers from the Lingzhou Army appeared in the courtyard.

Ever since Ouyang Hua became the new Sect Leader, the Lingzhou Army had found a legitimate reason to operate openly in Huanglong Prefecture, acting without restraint.

Situ Liuyun and Zhang Weiguang both turned to look at the gate.

A burly man with a full beard, carrying two huge iron hammers, strode through the gateway.

This was the man who had been hunting them all along: Niu Rui, a Thousand Households of the Lingzhou Army.

Normally, with their strength, Situ Liuyun and Zhang Weiguang would never fear a mere Thousand Households. But now, both were grievously injured, able to muster thirty percent of their full power at best. How could they possibly fight Niu Rui?

Niu Rui looked at the two men in the courtyard with a sneer.

"How ridiculous."

He scoffed.

These so-called Peak Masters of the Divine Mansion Sect actually thought they’d escaped his encirclement. Little did they know, this was all part of the Lord General’s plan to use them as bait to lure out Murong Tian.

But a full half-month had passed, and they hadn’t seen so much as a shadow of Murong Tian.

Niu Rui had lost his patience.

All he wanted now was to take their heads to the Lord General and claim his reward.

"Damn it, to hell with it all. Let’s fight."

The rogueish spirit of a Martial Artist flared up in Situ Liuyun. All he wanted now was to drag this Lingzhou Army’s Thousand Households down with him to hell.

The armless Zhang Weiguang also revealed a fierce expression.

Even in death, he had to take someone with him.

Niu Rui sneered. "You Divine Mansion Sect vermin. You dare look at me like that? Die!"

The two iron hammers in his hands whipped up a gale as they smashed down toward Situ Liuyun and Zhang Weiguang.

But just as the colossal hammers were about to fall—

A flash of brilliant light, like a bolt of white silk, streaked across Niu Rui’s midsection.

Niu Rui’s raised hammers froze in mid-air. He looked down in disbelief.

The momentum of his own swing tore his upper body from his lower. Niu Rui had been cleaved in two by a single slash.

Cut clean in half, in the most absolute sense.

A young man’s head appeared from behind Niu Rui’s still-standing lower body.

"Master Situ. Peak Master Zhang."

"Bai... Bai Yuan?!"

Situ Liuyun and Zhang Weiguang stared at the young man, their eyes wide.

They had, of course, met Bai Yuan before, as he was a True Disciple, but they never could have imagined he would appear here.

They looked again at the corpses in the courtyard.

It was obvious that Bai Yuan had slaughtered all these Lingzhou Army soldiers without a sound.

Such skill was far beyond what even they could achieve in their prime.

An excited look appeared on Situ Liuyun’s face when he saw Bai Yuan. "Nephew Bai, what exactly is the situation within the sect now?"

He and Zhang Weiguang had been trapped in the northern part of Huanglong Prefecture and knew very little about what had happened to the Divine Mansion Sect.

Bai Yuan recounted the events of that night at the Divine Mansion Sect to the two of them in full detail.

The more Situ Liuyun and Zhang Weiguang listened, the grimmer their expressions became.

The Divine Mansion Sect was completely finished...

The Divine Mansion Sect on Shenfu Mountain now was nothing more than a puppet of the Lingzhou Army.

In this one battle, the Lingzhou Army had directly broken the spine of the Divine Mansion Sect.

"Let’s go. We should leave this place first."

Bai Yuan broke the silence. He took out two premade masks from his robes. Although the effect was far inferior to what he could achieve with a proper disguise, an ordinary person wouldn’t notice anything amiss.

With the masks, it became much easier for the three of them to leave the city.

Before long, Bai Yuan had led Situ Liuyun and the other man to a forest outside the city.

Bai Yuan asked, "Have you two Peak Masters heard anything about the Sect Leader’s whereabouts?"

The reason he had come to Weishan County was to find Murong Tian. He had only just overheard from some Lingzhou Army soldiers, thanks to his freakishly sharp hearing, that Situ Liuyun and Zhang Weiguang were also in the city, which led to the scene in the courtyard.

Situ Liuyun and Zhang Weiguang shook their heads; they also wanted to know where Murong Tian was.

However, judging from the Lingzhou Army’s actions, Murong Tian must still be alive. Otherwise, Niu Rui wouldn’t have tried to use them as bait to find him.

Bai Yuan then exchanged information with the two of them about the past half-month’s events.

He then had the two of them return first to the Divine Mansion Sect’s camp in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Now that their pursuers were dead, it wouldn’t be a problem for Situ Liuyun and Zhang Weiguang to make it back with their level of skill.

After seeing Situ Liuyun and Zhang Weiguang off, Bai Yuan set out once more.

Along the way, he hadn’t found Murong Tian, but he had killed quite a few soldiers from the Lingzhou Army.

It was just a pity that he hadn’t found any high-grade Cultivation Techniques; otherwise, he could have unlocked another legendary-tier skill.

However, he hadn’t wasted a single enhancement point these past few days, and the number of master-level skills on his panel had increased significantly.

He was, in a way, following in Old Dong’s footsteps. He now possessed a terrifying seventeen master-level skills, making him frighteningly strong.

’Sure enough, my cheat grows fastest in a crisis.’

He was now a great deal stronger than he had been half a month ago.

But he had learned a very important piece of news from Situ Liuyun and Zhang Weiguang: the current Shenfu Sect Master, Ouyang Hua, had been with Murong Tian on that day. He might know Murong Tian’s whereabouts.

Bai Yuan thought for a moment.

Then he immediately set off back toward Huanglong Prefecture.

...

The colossal entity that was the Divine Mansion Sect had collapsed overnight.

While all the other powers in the city were watching from the sidelines, Ouyang Hua quietly became the new Shenfu Sect Master.

With the support of the Lingzhou Army, Ouyang Hua quickly attracted many of the disciples who had previously fled back to the Divine Mansion Sect.

That night, the Lingzhou Army had mostly targeted the upper echelons of the Divine Mansion Sect.

As a result, quite a few disciples had survived, since the Lingzhou Army never truly intended to annihilate the entire Divine Mansion Sect.

Under the banner of the new Sect Leader, Ouyang Hua, the Divine Mansion Sect gradually began to show signs of recovery, though it could no longer pose a threat to Ling Province.

The various powers throughout Huanglong Prefecture remained silent on the matter. After all, in their eyes, this was the Divine Mansion Sect’s internal affair.

Ouyang Hua, a mere Peak Master, had colluded with the Lingzhou Army to usurp power. Though it was dishonorable, the victor becomes king, and so they naturally submitted.

After all, whether it was Murong Tian or Ouyang Hua, both were figures they could not afford to offend.

Huanglong Prefecture returned to its former prosperity.

Bai Yuan, his face changed, appeared in the city once again.

The rise and fall of the powers above did not have much effect here; the street vendor selling steamed buns still set up his stall on time each day.

The affairs of the Divine Mansion Sect were, for the most part, just fodder for idle gossip after meals.

Ling Province had clearly planned this for a long time. The world now believed that the Divine Mansion Sect’s affair was an internal conflict, with Ouyang Hua serving as the best proof. In fact, similar events had occurred several times throughout the sect’s thousand-year history.

The result of each internal struggle was a century of decline for the Divine Mansion Sect.

Everyone had assumed the internal struggle would be between Bai Yuan and Murong Jiujiang. Who would have thought Ouyang Hua would be the one to backstab them and steal the prize?

Truly, the ways of the world are unpredictable.

"This Master Ouyang is quite the character. In his early years, he was a guard for the Murong Family. Later, he became close with the former Sect Leader, Murong Tian, which allowed him to become an Outer Disciple of the Divine Mansion Sect. After that, he clawed his way up to the position of Peak Master. To think that he’s now gone even further and become the Shenfu Sect Master... he’s truly a titan of his generation."

An old blind man, reciting from some storybook he’d heard somewhere, was recounting the life of that Master Ouyang in the tavern with great flair.

Bai Yuan took it all in.

He knew a little about Master Ouyang’s life, and what the old blind man was saying was actually eighty to ninety percent true.

This was highly unusual.

How would a tavern storyteller know such detailed truths? This was the Shenfu Sect Master, a man ordinary people would only regard as a divine being. Very, very few people could possibly know of his origins.

Someone was now deliberately spreading these stories behind the scenes.

The goal must be to increase Ouyang Hua’s legitimacy.

Making Ouyang Hua out to be a titan of his generation sounded much better than the truth: that the Lingzhou General had joined forces with the Longevity Palace to forcibly move against the Divine Mansion Sect.

The war in the Northern Territory would eventually end.

Once the Grand General of the North realized what had happened and decided to pursue the matter, not even the Lingzhou General could afford to bear the consequences.

That was why the Lingzhou Army was trying everything they could to cover up the truth.