Origin Paradise!

"Your life."

The wooden box was opened, and inside lay a bullet, bright red and crystal clear. Just as Yan Liang raised an eyebrow, the bright red bullet suddenly disappeared, and a tall figure descended, his voice clear and cold yet as loud as thunder.

The newcomer had an extremely handsome appearance, his platinum hair was fading to black, his eyes were gradually turning crimson, and the aura of a vampire duke flowed out.

With his speed ability fully activated, Jiang He thrust his hand in a swift motion, slicing into the opponent's heart cavity and producing a teeth-grinding grinding sound between the ribs. A mere ordinary Gold Saint was nothing more than a mere mortal to him, let alone a super genius, or even a rising powerhouse.

Yan Liang was completely unaware of the attack before death struck. The shattering of the domain's core allowed life to revive him. His expression was one of pain and terror; the attack had come far too suddenly.

"Do not!!"

Jiang He gripped the prey's head, unleashing an immortal-level extraordinary burst of power that enhanced his plant control. Thorns spread from his palm, crawling into Yan Liang's eye sockets and mouth and nose, spreading rampantly throughout his body.

In an instant, Yan Liang was reduced to a withered corpse, his soul annihilated by the dragon soul of the Long-Hate Dragon Spear.

Jiang He casually killed the secretary outside the door. Blood Shadow, regardless of his form, had normal senses. After confirming that nothing was missing, he picked up the wooden box and disappeared.

A quarter of an hour passed, and seeing that Yan Liang had not come downstairs, his personal maid brought up dinner.

Crackling!

"Someone, someone, come!"

"Come quickly, there are assassins!"

The screams at midnight quickly ignited the chaos.

……

In the bar.

The piercing alarm that sounded over the fortress woke up Uo Mizuki.

The old bartender put down his empty glass, his eyes becoming extremely sharp.

Colonel Yu rushed over to report, his voice slightly hurried: "Yan Ziliang has been assassinated. The fortress military has detained all three thousand members of the border merchant group, suspected to be high-ranking vampires who have infiltrated."

Yu Jianyue picked at her ears, and after confirming that she hadn't misheard, her expression turned slightly strange.

Very few people knew that Yan Liang was coming; the travel information of these super geniuses was specially covered up by the corresponding organization of the Empire.

Of course, even a super genius wouldn't be at the level of having a peak-level Gold Saint act as a bodyguard. Such a strong person is already capable of leading a mid-grade family and would not be willing or able to be driven by others.

Yan Liang's death signifies that the relationship between Cangwu Fortress and the neighboring Jinxi Fortress is about to enter a tense phase, especially given the involvement of high-ranking vampires.

The old bartender grabbed Yu Jianyue by the collar and got up to leave.

The latter felt as if they were flying at lightning speed. After silently counting to five breaths, the two arrived at one of the Yan family's villas. Military soldiers had already surrounded the place, and a professional investigation team had intervened.

"The aura of a high-ranking vampire is genuine. We've been enemies for a thousand years, so we can't possibly be wrong about this."

"There are traces of thorn magic at the scene..."

"Immediately notify the lieutenant general on the mainland..."

"The Yan family and the people from the Western Border are on their way..."

The deputy commander of the fortress was in charge of the overall situation in an orderly manner. He summoned Major General Yuan and said sternly, "Stop all your recent small actions. Don't let a single person from the border merchant group escape. Now is not the time for you to act recklessly. The vampire duke is likely still in the fortress. Once things are weighed, it's not a matter of weight. If I lose my job, we'll find a place to fight to the death."

Upon hearing this, Major General Yuan was struck dumb. The serious situation caused by Yan Liang's assassination attempt had directly disrupted his own affairs. Everything at Cangwu Fortress would now be exposed and subject to investigation from all sides.

"how so!"

Major General Yuan gritted his teeth. Not all superior families have super geniuses. As long as one is born, the influence they exert will be considerable before the super genius is confirmed to be ineligible for the hero title.

The timing, location, victim, and perpetrator of this incident are all wrong, making it easy to escalate to the level of collusion with vampires and a political assassination. Regardless of the true internal attitude of the Yan family, they will inevitably show enough madness, otherwise people will realize that killing members of the Yan family does not have to be punished.

Just when Major General Yuan was in a state of utter confusion.

Yu Jianyue walked over and said coldly, "Major General, the 48-hour period for the unauthorized investigation is about to expire. Can I take my people away now?"

Major General Yuan was furious and said, "This happened after you all came back, so you are all suspects! Yan Liang went to the prison the day before he died, and Jiang Wuyang must not be released!"

"So you mean a near-master alchemist at the peak of the Silver rank not only escaped from prison, but also took the time to kill a super genius, and then went back as if no one else was there?" Yu Jianyue sneered. "Who are you insulting here? Should we settle the score for Si Chuan's wrongful death tomorrow?"

An officer nearby chuckled. To reach the near-master level in alchemy at such a young age meant that his combat strength was no longer worth anticipating, let alone the ability to swiftly kill a golden genius across eras and then disguise himself as a vampire duke to deceive the nemesis who had fought against the vampires for thousands of years. Such a difficult task was something that even the two in the court would never have dreamed of when they were young.

The deputy commander of the fortress walked over, grabbed Major General Yuan by the collar, and said coldly, "You've lost even the most basic judgment. Dealing with the Yan family won't be easy for me. Don't cause me any more trouble. Go back to your barracks and rest for a few days. Remember, rest well!"

“…Understood,” Major General Yuan said through gritted teeth.

Yu Jianyue whistled, put her hands behind her head, turned and left. The mastermind behind Major General Yuan was not the military, but someone else.

……

In jail.

Jiang He sat cross-legged on the ground, chewing on a piece of earthen cake to neutralize the stomach acid.

The boomerang eventually pierced itself; I should have focused on a different flavor profile, which isn't actually that difficult.

Bang!

The cell door opened.

Yu Jianyue swaggered in, dressed in a motorcycle outfit.

She pulled out a chair, sat down, and slammed the door shut with a kick, her eyes full of interest.

"It's just the two of us now."

"Your Excellency the Duke."

Jiang He calmly looked up. "What are you saying?"

Yu Jianyue crossed her legs, crossed her arms, and laughed, "The famous gun I keep is nicknamed the Nemesis. It is so powerful that it can make bricks fly. It is good at bombarding enemies with pure and massive amounts of source energy. When dealing with dark creatures, I adjust it to the source energy of dawn, and otherwise I use the source energy of darkness."

"If you're willing to risk your life, you can deliver a blow comparable to an elite hero. As for whether it will hit, I don't know. The good news is that the enemy doesn't know either, so it's perfect."

"Here's the key point: the characteristics of natural enemies have a derivative ability, which is the ability to distinguish, and that's where the nickname comes from."

"I am not the kind of person who is easily swayed by lust..."

"Is it."

Yu Jianyue glared at the other party and continued, "Before dismounting, I deliberately... examined your chest. You are undoubtedly a high-ranking vampire, but I don't care, since you led me away from the Infernal Fortress."

"Until you assassinated the empire's genius."

“People have stances,” Yu Jianyue sighed. “The only things that can influence stances are interests or feelings. I don’t care about the former, but the latter requires trust first and foremost.”

"So, Your Excellency the Duke."

Yu Jianyue's eyes were icy cold. "Don't force me. At least show some sincerity."

The dim lights flickered.

Jiang He remained calm and asked, "What do you mean?"

The lights went completely dark in an instant.

Yu Jianyue suddenly burst into laughter, stood up, waved, and said cheerfully, "Unrepentant to the end, that's right. Only caring about personal feelings and disregarding the greater good, we're the same kind of people..."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Fish-Moon: "..."

That's enough, are you getting addicted to this?

Jiang He unlocked the stone shackles and said indifferently, "There seems to be some commotion outside. Should we leave now?"

Yu Jianyue couldn't help but wonder, could people really pretend to be that good? If so, what about the trust between people?

……

The two men walked out of the prison one after the other, picked up He Xiaoqi, and headed straight for the fortress warship field.

Yumizuki requisitioned a Perfect-class transport ship, a privilege reserved for super geniuses.

"Sichuan... um... my good brother Sichuan..."

On the transport ship, He Xiaoqi wept uncontrollably, grieving for the dead Si Chuan. The other man died unjustly, while he himself survived, which filled him with shame.

"His moral standards are quite high." Yu Jianyue thought to herself, criticizing her uncle, as she drifted around a bend and lifted the transport ship into the air.

While seated, Jiang He used the official gazette to learn about the state of the empire.

Normally, top-tier families would not form marriage alliances with each other. Under the oppressive environment of the empire, the probability of in-laws taking advantage of each other is far higher than a powerful alliance. Moreover, with the five major clans watching, the two top-tier families ignoring the risks and continuing to merge have only one purpose: to bring down one of the major clans.

"Are we just leaving like this?" He Xiaoqi asked, his voice trembling with tears.

“Otherwise,” Yu Jianyue turned her head. “The Cangwu Fortress wasn’t even sealed off. If that duke is pushed too far, the result will be a great war.”

He Xiaoqi exclaimed incredulously, "A duke entered the city, such a good opportunity, and no one surrounded and killed him?"

"Theoretically, that's true, but isn't it normal to cover things up after an incident? Do you really think the Yan family is willing to let their leader fight a powerful enemy to the death for a dead person? It's one thing to be angry, but it's another."

Yu Jianyue raised his wine jug high and laughed loudly: "Life is but a dream!"

The vicissitudes of life deeply shocked He Xiaoqi, who, as a former frontline colonel, had never had to consider such things.

Jiang He put down the official gazette, and in her hand appeared the only tael of gold, which was the money Yu Jianyue had borrowed to buy clothes.

As the Source Gold Liquid was absorbed into his body, his speed of cultivating the Solar Breathing Technique increased by 1%, and this effect would last for a whole day.

When the source liquid entered his body, Jiang He keenly sensed that his internal organs had become stiff, like source stones.

"The daily limit is one hundred taels of gold."

"Petrification can be reversed naturally, taking about a day."

"However, Originium is also a supernatural factor."

Jiang He activated the power of Gluttony, and the petrification immediately disappeared.

This means he can use source gold without limit, and as long as he has money, he can achieve a hundredfold increase in cultivation speed.

"He's practically a human-shaped money-devouring beast," Jiang He thought to himself.

……

The land is forever dark, the fortress is endless.

Duke Merrick stood in the castle, watching with a heavy heart as the once prosperous fortress became a dead city.

On the adjacent wall, a large portrait of someone replaced the famous painting, filled with angry curses such as "May you die a horrible death," "Give me back my fortress," and "I will kill you."

Because of the high-ranking divination of the Sin Hunter, Duke Merrick has completely lost track of his enemy since the person left the fortress, and can only issue a huge bounty.

"Duke, a letter from the Yan family of the human race."

The deputy warden knocked on the door and came in, handing over a letter.

"There's no shortage of trustworthy people among the human race, but there are even more shameless ones. Having cooperated with them a few times, the Yan family must have some news about them."

Duke Merrick opened the letter and saw it was a challenge.

"Hi~"

"what's the situation."

Duke Merrick stared wide-eyed as he read the contents: the Yan family's super genius had died at the hands of a vampire duke, and a formidable thorn spell had been detected at the scene.

So the murderer is...me?

"This is utterly ridiculous; I am completely innocent."

The deputy warden asked in a low voice, "Your Grace, shall we accept the challenge?"

“I’m not going.” Duke Merrick waved his hand. “If I go, that old man Yan will lose face. He knows it wasn’t me who did it. The compensation I’m paying for losing face shouldn’t disappoint him.”

Chapter 450 Qingyu City

The Perfect-class transport ship is sailing at high altitude.

After passing through a deep, abyss-like void, the continent of Dawn gradually came into view.

The western part of the empire, relatively close to the Eternal Dark Continent, is the Western Territory, which consists of six provinces, including Cangwu and Jinxi, which are respectively governed by the Yu and Yan clans.

As the transport ship arrived over Cangwu Province, Yu Jianyue hummed a tune and pushed the ship's power to its maximum.

Looking down from the ship's window, Jiang He saw that the Cangwu Province was as large as a kingdom, with a total of ten prefectures. Six of these prefectures belonged to mid-ranking noble families, while the other four were the territory of the Yu family.

"The most important rights of aristocratic families are the right to collect taxes and the right to recruit soldiers."

"The tax revenue of each region is divided 70/30 between the local government and the central government."