Jiang Yan and his senior sister, Fairy Furong, were strolling happily and cheerfully through the streets of Dongyi County, chatting and laughing, thoroughly enjoying themselves as they planned to find an eatery or tavern for lunch. Suddenly, a shrill cry for help rang out from ahead: "Help! Someone help! Murder! Help! We are being robbed! Someone has robbed us! Tens of thousands of taels of silver have been stolen!" The weeping and screaming grew even more piercing, sending a shudder through the heart of everyone who heard it.
Fairy Furong turned to Jiang Yan and said, "Junior brother, what on earth is happening ahead? Let's go take a look first!" Jiang Yan and his senior sister quickly rushed to the scene. There, they saw two beautifully dressed, dignified, and wealthy-looking matrons in brocade silk skirts sitting on the ground, wailing and crying loudly. The two ladies, looking to be around forty or fifty years old, had faces stained with blood and injuries all over their bodies. They were accompanied by six servants, and not far behind them and their servants stood a luxurious sedan chair.
Stepping forward with concern, Jiang Yan and his senior sister asked, "Dear ladies, what has happened to you? Did you run into some trouble?"
The two matrons cried out bitterly, "Young master, young lady, we've been robbed! We had just withdrawn thirty thousand taels of silver from the Xinglong Money Shop when, as we reached this spot, we were ambushed by four murderous thugs. All our silver has been taken by them, and eight martial masters from our estate have already gone after them!" With that, they burst into even more heartbroken tears.
As it turned out, these two matrons were none other than Chen Yuxia, the wife of Cai Hong—the master of the Jinglun Paper Mill, a wealthy gentleman whose renown shook Huáxià—and her cousin Li Yumei. Li Yumei had been sent by Mill Master Cai Hong to help Madame Yuxia manage the financial accounts and general affairs of the paper mill. That day, Chen Yuxia and her cousin Li Yumei had just withdrawn thirty thousand taels of silver from the Xinglong Money Shop and were on their way to distribute wages to all the workers at the paper mill, never expecting to be intercepted and robbed right here.
The Jinglun Paper Mill was operated by the descendants of Lun Cai, the pioneer of the papermaking industry in Huáxià. The current mill master, Cai Hong, was the thirteenth-generation grandson of Lun Cai and was world-famous throughout the Great Han Empire of Huáxià. Papermaking, the foremost of Huáxià's Four Great Inventions, had been pioneered here more than a thousand years ahead of the Western world. The entire Jinglun Paper Mill was valued at three hundred million taels of silver, equivalent to fifty million taels of gold, making it unquestionably the preeminent financial titan of the Great Han Empire at that time. Papermaking had originated in the Great Han Empire and would flourish brilliantly over nine hundred years later during the Tang dynasty. Because of this, the mill fell directly under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court of the Great Han Empress. Mill Master Cai Hong held the noble rank of a First-Class Marquis of the Dragon Cavalry. Alongside him was the deputy mill master, Baili Lin, who was a commercial prodigy in Huáxià and held the noble rank of a Second-Class Marquis of the Dragon Cavalry, while his wife had been personally conferred the title of a First-Rank Lady of Honor by the Empress. Given such a formidable and illustrious family, what vicious and reckless scoundrels dared to openly rob the master's wife? They must have eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard.
"Madame, have you reported this to the authorities?" Jiang Yan asked.
Chen Yuxia replied anxiously, "My servants and martial masters have already gone to report it."
"That's good," Jiang Yan said. "Rest assured, since we have run into this matter, we will certainly take charge of it and recover every last bit of the thirty thousand taels of silver that was stolen from you."
With that, Jiang Yan and his senior sister swiftly pursued the direction in which the criminals had fled. They had not chased for long before they spotted four figures fleeing rapidly in the distance. Releasing three layers of their spiritual energy, Jiang Yan and his senior sister quickly closed the distance and caught up with the four men.So it turned out to be the Four Fierce Fiends who had run amok across the Great Han Empire for over fifty years: the Purple-Bearded Fiend, the Black-Faced Impermanence, the Red-Haired Ghost Judge, and the Lascivious Demon. No wonder they were audacious enough to dare kidnap a First-Rank Lady of Title. These four had committed every imaginable crime—arson, murder, pillaging, and the rape of innocent daughters of high-ranking officials as well as ordinary folk. Over the past fifty years, more than ten thousand lives had perished at their hands. The Great Han Empire had once circulated their portraits throughout Huáxià in an effort to bring them to justice, but due to their formidable abilities and elusive movements, no one knew their real names. Although the local government had expended massive military and financial resources, they had gained nothing to this day. Today, however, with the four of them appearing on the streets of Dongyi and running into Jiang Yan and his senior martial sister Fairy Furong, cultivators from a Huáxià immortality-seeding sect, their doom was sealed.
Standing eight feet tall with giant mouths and protruding fangs, the four men wore truly ferocious expressions. No wonder no one at the scene dared to interfere. Their weapons were all evil, divine arms from the Demon Realm, and coupled with their considerable personal strength, no one was able to subdue them. The Purple-Bearded Fiend wielded a Nine-Ring Demonic Saber; the Black-Faced Impermanence used a Fatal Soul-Locking Chain; the Red-Haired Ghost Judge used a Horned-Dragon Soul-Breaking Staff; and the Lascivious Demon used a Hell Judge's Pen. All four of these Demonic clan divine arms possessed supreme demonic power. The Horned-Dragon Soul-Breaking Staff contained the primordial demonic power of a Demonic Realm demon king, a Horned-Dragon, while the other three divine arms contained supreme vengeful ghost Demonic Qi. The Nine-Ring Demonic Saber was eight feet long and weighed over a hundred catties; the Fatal Soul-Locking Chain was pitch-black throughout, harbored countless wisps of Demonic Qi, and weighed over ninety catties; and the Hell Judge's Pen was seven feet and six inches long, also weighing over a hundred catties. Combined with the fact that the four were themselves demonic cultivators, they were exceedingly difficult to deal with.
At this moment, Senior Martial Sister Furong said, "Junior Brother, stand back and watch how I slay these four vicious villains and eliminate this scourge for the people."
Simultaneously, the four men laughed contemptuously and said, "Just based on the two of you wet-behind-the-ears brats?"
With a sharp cry, Furong snapped, "Enough nonsense! Prepare to forfeit your lives!"
With that, she unleashed her cultivation base at the Seventh Layer of Deity Transformation Stage. Four fierce and powerful blasts of wind surged violently toward the four men. Not daring to be careless, the four enveloped their entire bodies in a shroud of black mist before vanishing entirely. At the same time, four divine arms wrapped in supreme Demonic Qi slashed down toward Fairy Furong. Springing into action, Fairy Furong leaped into midair, enveloping her entire body in a myriad of golden rays. "Ninefold Flame God Art—Break Form Technique! Break for me!"
Following several violent explosions, the weapons in all four men's hands were sent flying from the impact, and all four were knocked flat onto the ground, blood gushing freely from their seven facial orifices. Without missing a beat, Fairy Furong formed hand seals with both hands once more, conjuring four golden-glowing Dragon-Binding Ropes out of thin air. With a snap, the ropes bound the four men tightly.
Fairy Furong formed hand seals once more and cast: "Spirit Fire Art!" Four crimson flames flew toward the four Demonic Realm divine arms on the ground. In an instant, the flames swelled fiercely, and the piercing shrieks of vengeful spirits and the roars of demonic dragons echoed from within them. Before long, everything was reduced to ashes.
By the time Prince Li Qingshan of Dongyi arrived with his guards and royal attendants, the battle was already over. Prince Dongyi addressed Jiang Yan and Fairy Furong, saying, "I thank you two brilliant young talents of Huáxià for ridding the thousands of people in Dongyi of these four vicious villains. When I return, I will surely reward you handsomely. Upon my return, I will immediately hold a public trial for these four fierce demonic villains, and I kindly ask that you both be present to help deter other fierce fiends and madmen across Huáxià. Men!" Prince Dongyi barked an order, "Take these four away!" Because the four men looked utterly ferocious, thick black scarves had kept their faces tightly concealed throughout the entire ordeal.