What the…!
The true immortal, who hadn’t even announced his name, was knocked out cold when Ge Long’s head made impact. Universal shock mirrored on the crowd’s faces when they saw him tumble down from the sky. A casual beckon returned the head to Ge Long’s hand.
“Anyone else?” Hefting his head, the servant slowly floated back up and coldly announced, “To challenge milord, you must first get past me.”
Resting his head back on his neck, a barely perceptible flash of light reattached it to his body. Below, countless cultivators stared at him, their eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets.
“Are you man or ghost?!” someone asked haltingly after a long moment.
“Mind your own business.” Ge Long glared. “What does it matter either way? Defeat me if you want to challenge His Excellency, or get lost!”
The surrounding cultivators gave their best imitation of cicadas in winter. Mute as mice, even the handful of immortals who’d been ready to step forward hesitated. Immortals in the same cultivation realm wouldn’t give them pause, to say nothing of a golden core servant, but this fellow was truly too abnormal. He could even frisk about with his head chopped off… and then use the severed head as a thrown weapon!
What kind of monster was he?
Many were tempted to fall back, as the Governor of Dusk was no longer an easy target to pick on. There were naturally rules to follow when challenging a youth sovereign. One had to send an official challenge, select a location, and even invite powerhouses as witnesses. This current mess of random hollering and insults was unheard of. Just about anyone was walking in and having a go!
Lu Yun was entirely within his rights to have someone screen his challengers. For someone to bark at a youth sovereign when they couldn’t even defeat his servant was sheer insanity!
“The same goes for the seventeen golden and three arcane immortals hidden nearby. This steward allows you to come forth as well and challenge me!” Ge Long shouted as he suddenly pointed at various spots nearby.
“Seventeen golden immortals and three arcane immortals!” Qing Han immediately realized the implications. His expression turned somber at the drama that was unfolding: this was a ploy to kill Lu Yun.
The hidden immortals would attack together the second Lu Yun revealed himself, and it would be impossible to withstand such an assault. Full-fledged golden immortals couldn’t be compared to peerless immortals whose cultivation had been sealed to the august immortal realm. The latter might be a little stronger than most august immortals, but they were far from the strength of a golden immortal.
In Cloudwater Township—or rather, the Sword Pavillion—Lu Yun had had to rely on a bloodcorpse to deal with the half-step golden immortal, borrowing its strength to kill the immortal. He stood no chance against proper golden immortals, not to mention the three arcane immortals that were also present.
Qing Han narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over each and every person at the scene, firmly engraving their appearances and auras in his mind.
“Hehe, why are mighty golden and arcane immortals running away? What a bunch of weaklings.” Sensing the departure of the nearby immortals, Ge Long laughed out loud, rather proud of himself.
“Alright, let’s go.” Standing on the fortress ship, Lu Yun gently shook his head as he watched Ge Long below. Not even he knew what kind of creature the steward was. He wouldn’t even have been aware of the man’s formidable combat potential, if not for Ge Long saving Qing Han the last time. Each august immortal from the Feng Clan had been an extraordinary powerhouse in their own right, but Ge Long’s head had sent them all flying.... It was simply impossible to measure the man’s fighting prowess by his cultivation realm.
After Qing Han and Ge Long had returned to the ship, the grandiose vessel slowly flew away under the crowd’s unwilling stare, making for Xiankan. Now that the immortals who’d been lying in wait had left, the cultivators naturally no longer wished to challenge Lu Yun. That would simply be suicide. However, the way Qing Han had looked at them before leaving made them uneasy.
……
Along the way to the capital, Lu Yun refrained from setting even half of a foot outside the ship. A malicious consciousness had zeroed in on him the moment he’d entered Life Province. If he dared to leave the fortress ship, he’d be immediately killed by the consciousness’s owner.
Xiankan now lay right in front of his eyes.
“What an imposing imperial tomb!” Lu Yun observed the capital, astonishment plain on his face.
An imperial tomb! Xiankan was unexpectedly established above a tomb!
“The legacies of the world’s nine majors mostly originate from the tombs of ancient immortal emperors. The nine celestial capitals are all built above these tombs,” explained Qing Han. Far from being a secret, this was a well-known fact. However, no one but Lu Yun could’ve laid eyes on Xiankan and immediately recognized that it was built above a tomb.
Of course, Qing Han was aware of his friend’s abilities, so he wasn’t surprised in the least.
Xiankan was a thousand kilometers wide and resembled a giant curtain of light from afar. Despite a population of millions upon millions of members of Nephrite Major’s innumerable clans, the capital didn’t seem crowded. That stemmed from the innumerable small worlds within the metropolis, many of which weren’t even activated.
It was a miniature universe unto itself.
Xiankan was the center of Nephrite Major’s politics, power, wealth, culture, and resources. No other place in the major could be mentioned in the same breath. All of the major’s houses and clans possessed their own territories, but their headquarters were located in the capital. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of most clans lived in Xiankan. To leave Xiankan was to be exiled. To leave meant to fall behind and be overtaken by the other clans.
“Dusk Province is nothing but a cesspool by comparison.” Lu Yun bluntly gave his province such a qualifier.
Qing Han shook his head, but didn’t comment.
“Halt!” an expansive voice suddenly resonated in the sky. “No flight apparatus are allowed within fifty kilometers of the capital!”
“What?!” Qing Han immediately erupted in anger. “Jin Hexi, what do you mean by this?!”
Flight treasures forbidden within fifty kilometers of the city? Such a rule had never existed. On the contrary, all sorts of flying vessels could head straight into Xiankan.
After all, the city was a miniature universe. Given the egregious distance between the various locations inside, even immortals would exhaust their energy, if forced to ride their swords. Flight treasures were the only convenient means of transportation.
Yet someone was now saying that flight treasures were forbidden within Xiankan? What manner of madness was this?
Lu Yun’s eye also twitched. A colossal fortress ship slowly overtook theirs from behind and entered the fifty-kilometer boundary of Xiankan. No one stopped it. Clearly, this was yet another obstacle aimed squarely at him.
An immortal wearing golden armor stood in front of Lu Yun’s ship, his figure radiating a golden haze.
“Didn’t you hear me? All flight treasures are banned within fifty kilometers of the capital. Please disembark, or turn around and depart.” The armored immortal’s voice was detached, and his expression haughty.
“Who is he?” Lu Yun asked Qing Han.
“Jin Hexi, a golden immortal from the Jin Clan.” Qing Han’s chest gently heaved up and down from anger. “They’re a Feng Clan vassal.”
“A Feng Clan vassal?” An evil grin appeared on Lu Yun’s lips. “I’ve already killed an august immortal of the Feng Clan, so what’s there to be afraid of from a vassal golden immortal? Ge Long, ramming speed!”
“Aye aye, sir!” Ge Long circulated his internal energy and poured it madly into the spirit key in his hand.
Boom!
The ship trembled and sent out rays of light in every color as it hurtled toward Jin Hexi.
“S-stop! I wasn’t done yet!” Qing Han wanted to cry. “Jin Hexi is the commander of the Xiankan imperial troops—”
But it was far too late.
The giant fortress ship rumbled forward and made straight for Jin Hexi. The latter stared, flabbergasted, disbelief shining in his eyes.