Chapter 0635 The Old Knight

Chapter 0635 The Veteran Hero

After entering Zhilong City, Qin Yun felt suffocated by the oppressive atmosphere inside.

"Xiao Yun, you must keep your cool and come up with a plan to destroy this city and rescue all the slaves here!" Ling Yuner said.

Qin Yun heaved a deep sigh and began walking through the city to gather detailed information.

First, he needed to understand the city thoroughly.

Zhilong City wasn’t a large city, but it certainly had its own power structure.

His current task was to identify the major forces within Zhilong City—those who dominated the slave trade.

After spending most of the day inquiring, he learned that there were five major slave lords in the city: the Long Family, Yang Family, Tian Family, Lü Family, and Ji Family. Surprisingly, these great families had formed an alliance, with the Long Family backed by the Herbal Immortal Valley.

He also heard that the evil dragon here was under the control of the Herbal Immortal Valley.

Although the evil dragon belonged to the Long Family, since the Herbal Immortal Valley had agreed to protect them, the Long Family allowed the valley to lay claim to the beast.

Undoubtedly, the largest slave lord in Zhilong City was the Long Family—specifically, Long Zhigui.

Long Zhigui’s son often visited the city to hang out with the heirs of the other families, collect vast amounts of Amethyst Coins, and receive various gifts.

Long Zhigui was affiliated with the Herbal Immortal Valley, and his son, Long Yongliang, was also a star disciple of the valley. It was said that Long Yongliang would even represent the Herbal Immortal Valley in the Martial Grand Tournament.

After piecing together the intel, Qin Yun began planning his next steps.

His main goal was to destroy this city—Long Zhigui’s key stronghold and the place where the Herbal Immortal Valley and the Long Family kept their evil dragon.

Additionally, he intended to rescue the slaves here. Since he had encountered this atrocity, he couldn’t turn a blind eye.

Only by doing so could people see the difference between him and those like the Long Family and the Herbal Immortal Valley.

While they traded slaves, Qin Yun would liberate them. The contrast would be stark once word spread.

"I’ve heard that a batch of prime slaves is about to arrive, mostly women," Qin Yun said, gazing at the darkening sky outside an inn.

"If a batch of prime slaves is coming, the young masters of the major slave families will surely go to 'sample' them first!" Ling Yuner said. "This is the perfect chance to wipe them out in one go!"

"Apparently, they’ll pick through the slaves outside the city first. The ones they like will be kept as playthings, while the rest will be brought in for sale. Those who can’t be sold will be fed to the evil dragon," Qin Yun said. "They’ll probably set out after dark!"

The sky was already dim, with the sun just having set.

After waiting a while longer, night had fallen completely.

Qin Yun hurried toward the city gates.

Upon arriving, he saw a large group of people riding hulking tigers, thundering out of the city.

"These young masters could easily fly, yet they choose to ride giant tigers just to show off?"

Qin Yun smirked at the display but quickly followed them out of the city, blending into the darkness.

He couldn’t act yet—among the group, only five were the young masters of the major slave families. The rest were bodyguards, all powerful fighters.

Qin Yun had just sensed that there were several Martial Lords at the Xuanwu Realm within the group.

"Five young masters, each protected by a Martial Lord at the Xuanwu Realm!" Qin Yun thought to himself. "This won't be easy to pull off!"

This made things much harder for Qin Yun. If there had been only one or two, it might've been doable.

"Using the Heavenly Lion Subduing Dragon Cauldron, I should be able to capture one, but catching several at once would be difficult." Qin Yun had no choice but to keep tailing them and think of another plan.

As he trailed them, he suddenly sensed a faint energy ripple from the forest behind.

"There are people in the forest below—and a whole bunch of them!" Qin Yun quickly entered the forest to see who they were.

If they were secretly protecting the young masters, he could eliminate them here.

Upon entering the forest, Qin Yun was taken aback. "These guys are hiding really well—I nearly walked right past them!"

Qin Yun's mental energy was strong, yet he could barely detect a trace of their presence.

After entering the forest, he concentrated hard before spotting a few figures.

"Who are these people?"

Qin Yun was taken aback. Judging by the energy he sensed, these guys weren't exactly powerhouses—mostly at the Lingwu Realm, with early, mid, and late stages among them.

They hadn't noticed Qin Yun either, as they were shadowing the young masters' group through the forest.

After tracking them for a while, Qin Yun was surprised to find that there were dozens of them scattered throughout the forest.

"Are they protecting those young masters?" Qin Yun wondered silently.

Before long, the young masters' group stopped and joined up with the main slave caravan.

The captured slaves were locked in cages—hundreds of them, with over two hundred women and the rest being strong middle-aged men and youths.

On the main road, many carriages were parked, ringing with a chaotic mix of cries and curses.

In the woods by the roadside, the figures in black began gathering.

Qin Yun now realized that these individuals were all old-timers.

"They have five at the Xuanwu Realm and over thirty at the late Lingwu Realm, all well-equipped. They don’t even need to worry about harming the slaves. We're in for trouble!" said an elder woman.

"If we had gotten the news earlier, we could have acted before those young masters!" another lamented.

Qin Yun had initially thought these people were secretly protecting the young masters, but it turned out they were would-be rescuers—though all of them elderly, clearly fearless individuals.

They had been hiding in Zhilong City, acting only after getting word.

This time, by the time they confirmed the news, they'd missed their chance to ambush the convoy beforehand.

"They should've just stationed themselves on the main roads. That way, they could spot the slave convoy immediately and send word back to intercept it earlier!" Ling Yuner remarked.

"There are too many roads leading to Zhilong City—dozens in total. If they had to monitor each one, they’d need dozens of people. And voice-transmission conches are expensive—they were out of their price range. In the end, they’re just too poor." Qin Yun understood the difficulties these elderly warriors faced.

He had huge respect for these dozens of elders.

As they discussed their strategy, Qin Yun landed among them.

The sudden appearance of someone had the old fighters instantly on guard.

"I'm also here to rescue the slaves!" Qin Yun announced his intentions as soon as he appeared.

His features were disguised, but he still looked quite young.

"Really? You're not a spy for them, are you?" an elder asked suspiciously.

"If I were a spy, you'd be surrounded by now!" Qin Yun chuckled. "Respected elders, I'd like to join you in rescuing the slaves!"

"You're too young!" one elder shook his head.

"At such a young age, you're already at the early Spirit Martial Realm. With such talent, you shouldn't get involved in this!"

"That's right. We're just old relics—if our lives don't matter, so be it. But you, young man, have a bright future ahead."

"Young man, focus on your cultivation. When you grow stronger, wiping out the entire slave city would be the best course of action!"

These veteran warriors all advised Qin Yun against joining, thinking this was too dangerous and might cost him his life.

"Elders, I'll be fine!" Qin Yun insisted.

"No more talking—we must act quickly! Those scum are about to harm the slaves!" an elder woman urged. "Young man, just watch from the side. If possible, help bury our bodies afterward!"

"Spread out, surround them!" an elder shouted, already charging ahead.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In just a few moments, everyone had vanished, rushing out of the forest and onto the main road.

"These stubborn old-timers!" Qin Yun cursed inwardly. He had a plan all along.

The slave handlers and the bodyguards of the young nobles were well-practiced in dealing with such situations.

Over the years, they had killed many warriors attempting to rescue slaves.

"Another group of reckless old fools—capture them alive!"

The speaker wore ornate golden robes embroidered with dragon patterns, clearly a member of the Long family.

This man was young, with unremarkable looks, but his aura was strong. His face contorted with cruelty as he glared at the charging warriors.

This was Long Yongliang, a disciple of the Medicine Immortal Valley and a member of the Long family.

Qin Yun had heard from Long Qiaofeng that Long Yongliang possessed a Profound Body, was skilled in alchemy, and held a high status in the Medicine Immortal Valley.

The slave handlers, often tasked with capturing slaves and combating rescuers, were battle-hardened fighters with extensive combat experience.

Qin Yun hid in the dark sky, observing the chaos below.

"These veteran warriors are about to be captured!"

Seeing the slave handlers throw out golden nets—high-grade Profound Weapons—Qin Yun knew the elder warriors were doomed.

Sure enough, the nets flew out and, with unnatural precision, contracted around the warriors, ensnaring them.

Some were caught two or three in a net, others alone. Within moments, dozens of elder warriors had been captured.

"Hahaha... These old slaves are quite strong. They should command a high price!" Long Yongliang laughed heartily. "They walked right into our hands!"

The others joined in the laughter.

The elder warriors rained curses furiously.

Qin Yun now realized that Long Yongliang and his men had plenty of experience dealing with rescuers—they captured them with ruthless efficiency.