You Reap What You Sow

He snorted coldly and stood up from the hilltop.

"It seems they couldn't resist using cultivators after all."

"Since you broke the rules first, don't blame me for taking action."

With a Divine Sense, he summoned Little Black and mounted it.

Little Black leaped into the air like a bolt of lightning, hurtling straight towards the south gate.

The two cultivators on the city wall, one about to reach Hu Tieniu and the other only a few steps away from the cannon, both thought they were about to succeed.

Just then, a sharp shout came from above.

"Those two shameless cultivators! These are ordinary people fighting, what are you meddling for?"

"Are you from the royal Xiao Household? Get out here!"

Both cultivators were mixed in with the defenders and the attackers. Fearing that he might hurt his own men if he acted rashly, Shen Jingchuan cursed from the sky first, trying to lure them out.

Upon hearing that shout, Xiao Zhen and Xiao Xuan knew that their fellow cultivators had arrived. They could clearly sense the fluctuations of Spiritual Power above them.

Having been exposed to their faces, the two could no longer shamelessly blend into the crowd, so they summoned their flying swords and took to the air.

Looking up, they saw a black-clad cultivator standing in mid-air, riding a winged black horse, coldly watching them.

Both of them were from the Xiao Household. Although they were stronger than ordinary Rogue Cultivators, they had never seen much of the world. This was the first time they had ever seen a flying horse.

Upon closer inspection, they recognized it as a second-tier Demon Beast.

The two were startled by the second-tier Demon Beast, but seeing that it was a docile herbivore and didn't seem to have any offensive power, they didn't take it seriously. Looking at the black-clad cultivator, whose aura was only at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, they felt even more at ease.

Shen Jingchuan was also observing them, and could tell that the two of them were both at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, one level higher than himself, so he didn't dare to be careless at all.

Xiao Xuan's face darkened, and he shouted, "Who are you, daring to interfere in the affairs of our Xiao Household? In the Great Qian Kingdom, I think you're tired of living!"

Xiao Zhen followed up with, "Are you the Rogue Cultivator who's been occupying Azure Cloud Stronghold?"

Without waiting for a reply, Xiao Xuan turned and winked at Xiao Zhen, saying, "Why waste words with him!"

Before he finished speaking, he rode his sword and charged forward.

Seeing this, Shen Jingchuan sneered inwardly. The royal family was indeed domineering; they didn't even ask for a reason before starting the attack.

He didn't dodge, patted the Little Black beneath him, and shouted, "Little Black, get him!"

Little Black Hei lowered its head, and a bolt of lightning flashed from its single horn, striking directly at Xiao Xuan, who was in the lead.

At the same time, Shen Jingchuan unleashed the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Rings. The five golden rings spun rapidly, their five colors swirling, and hurtled towards Xiao Zhen with a whooshing sound.

Xiao Xuan didn't take this dark horse seriously, but little did he know that the lightning of a second-tier Demon Beast was something that a mere Eighth Layer of Qi Refining like himself couldn't withstand head-on.

With a muffled thud, lightning struck him, tearing his True Qi apart like paper.

Before he could even scream, he plummeted straight down from mid-air, still smoking.

Xiao Zhen was terrified. Seeing the Five Elements Ring about to smash down, he quickly swung his sword to block it.

With a loud "thud," his arm went numb from the shock, and he hurriedly pulled out a small shield to block in front of him.

The Five Elements Ring continued its momentum, striking several times before the small shield slipped from his grasp and flew away.

This exchange surprised even Shen Jingchuan himself.

He cultivated the Five Elements Qi Refining Instruction, where the five elements mutually generate each other, giving him five times the Spiritual Power of others at the same level. Now, when he activated it at full power, the Five Elements Ring was far more powerful than he had imagined, and it was more than enough to deal with Eighth Layer of Qi Refining.

Xiao Zhen's small shield was knocked away, leaving it wide open, and he immediately thought to himself, "Oh no!"

Little Black had already rushed forward, and its unicorn horn lowered again, followed by a second bolt of lightning. There was no thunder, only a blinding white light.

With no way to block it, the blow struck Xiao Zhen squarely.

He felt a sudden numbness throughout his body, his True Qi instantly dissipated, his robes burst into flames, and he became a human torch, tumbling and falling from mid-air.

By the time it hit the ground, it was charred black from the electric shock and lay motionless.

Shen Jingchuan rode Little Black, skimming low to the ground.

He grabbed the two charred corpses in mid-air, put away the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring, and casually tossed the corpses into his Storage Ring.

Then, he turned his horse around and slowly rode towards the commander's flag behind the Government Army' formation.

At this point, the fighting on and around the city walls had reached a breaking point.

Tens of thousands of people looked up, watching this battle in the sky, all dumbfounded.

On the city wall, Hu Tieniu and his men, having witnessed Shen Jingchuan's methods firsthand, were the first to recover, shouting at the top of their lungs, "What are you all standing there for! Keep fighting!"

The defenders then realized what was happening and began firing crossbow bolts downwards again.

On the city wall, the defending soldiers were filled with excitement and their morale soared. Someone shouted first, and then ten thousand men shouted in unison.

"The Black Horse Immortal Venerable is mighty!"

"The Black Horse Immortal Venerable is mighty!"

The sound waves, like a tsunami, rolled over the city walls one after another, lingering for a long time.

The Government Army attacking the city watched helplessly as their two immortal masters were cleaved into charred remains. They lost all will to fight and abandoned their ladders, retreating in disarray.

Shen Jingchuan reined in Little Black in mid-air and asked the veteran general under the banner, "You're the commander of this force, aren't you?"

Xiao Chenglie looked up at the black horse spewing lightning, then at the black-clad cultivator, his heart filled with awe, and quickly cupped his hands in respect.

"Immortal Master, I am indeed..."

Shen Jingchuan looked at the terrified old general under the commander's banner and snorted coldly.

"Don't worry, I'm not like the Xiao Household. I wouldn't even deign to lay a hand on you mortals. Killing you would be as easy as crushing an ant."

Xiao Chenglie's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally eased somewhat. He quickly cupped his hands and said, "Yes, yes, thank you for your mercy, Immortal Master."

Shen Jingchuan didn't leave immediately, but looked down at him.

"If you manage to get back alive, please give the Xiao Household a message."

"If they want revenge, they can come at me. You can send someone back to report now; I won't stop you."

He paused, his voice turning cold.

"It was the Xiao Household who broke the rules first, interfering in the war between mortals; don't blame me for taking action too."

"Those two people just now had only themselves to blame."

He raised his hand and pointed to the battlefield behind him, then pointed to himself.

"Everyone present today saw it; those two attacked me first. I tried to stop them, and there's no denying that."

"Since your Xiao Household made the first move, don't blame me."

After saying that, Shen Jingchuan turned his horse around and gently patted Little Black's neck.

Little Black understood, and with all four hooves off the ground, it carried him back to the hilltop where they had been watching the battle, landing back in the same spot to continue watching the siege.

On the south gate side, the Government Army attacking the city were retreating like the receding tide.

Xiao Chenglie immediately knelt under the banner, cold sweat trickling down his neck and soaking his undershirt.

He knew perfectly well that if that immortal master had just uttered even the slightest thought, he would already be dead.

Especially the horse; just before it flew away, he clearly saw a wisp of lightning flickering on the single horn on its forehead.

Both immortal masters were killed with a single blow. Killing him would have been as easy as lifting a finger.