Intimidating the City Lord's Mansion

"A Nine-Star Great Dou Shi. Go back and tell the City Lord that I'll pay him a visit another day." Dou Qi flames swirled around him, and every movement he made carried immense Dou Qi, as though he could stir the very forces of heaven and earth.

Though he was still a little short, it was not far off. Upon reaching the Dou Wang realm, one could influence the momentum of heaven and earth within a small area, even condensing Dou Qi into wings.

Gu Men was utterly horrified. This Dou Qi far surpassed that of the Xiao Family's legendary Supreme Elder. His eyelids twitched wildly, and for the first time, he felt that even the City Lord's vast, sea-like Dou Qi was no more than this.

"I will certainly deliver the message." Gu Men forcibly bent his body slightly, speaking through gritted teeth. All he wanted now was to leave the Xiao Family safely.

"My lord." Seeing Gu Men being completely suppressed by Zhang Tian, the guards beside him nervously drew their longswords, ready to make a move.

"I admire your unwavering loyalty, but I hate it when people start waving blades around." A powerful suction force erupted from Zhang Tian's hand. Nearly every sword and saber in their hands flew out of control, drawn together and twisted into a ball of iron.

His single hand formed a claw as suction burst forth from his palm.

The Profound Rank Low-Level Absorption Palm. Once mastered, it could freely drag massive boulders weighing a thousand jin, and could even suck all the blood out of a human body.

In an instant, there was only a fleeting shadow. Before anyone could react, they saw a large mass of writhing blood in Zhang Tian's hand.

The guards who had drawn their swords all died on the spot. Thin streams of bright-red blood seeped from their chests, staining their clothes and armor crimson.

The blood of those guards had been forcibly torn from their bodies by Zhang Tian. He felt that he could casually pull the blood from the body of the Nine-Star Great Dou Shi before him as well.

"Interesting. This Absorption Palm actually feels somewhat like Crane Control and Dragon Seizing." Zhang Tian's eyes lit up slightly. Against enemies far weaker than himself, this move was practically an instant kill.

"A Nine-Star Great Dou Shi has not cultivated easily. I'll spare you today." After saying that, Zhang Tian ignored Gu Men. In almost the very next instant, Gu Men bolted through the door and fled.

Early the next morning, the City Lord's Mansion had lost its usual grandeur. Its former solemn and imposing air had vanished, replaced by a somewhat dull and silent atmosphere.

The two tall guards who had once stood there so proudly were nowhere to be seen, and the entrance to the City Lord's Mansion was completely empty.

Zhang Tian knew that it was all merely superficial. Dozens of concealed auras were hidden within the City Lord's Mansion, along with one exceptionally powerful and heavy aura.

Five-Star Dou Ling.

Such strength was indeed enough to dominate all of Wu Tan City from on high.

Just before entering, Zhang Tian felt his Dou Qi surge again. It had become increasingly dense, as though he could break through into the Dou Wang realm at any moment.

Xiao Yan had broken through again.

It seemed that in less than a month, he would be able to become a Dou Wang.

The moment he entered the City Lord's Mansion, the imposing red gates slammed shut. Two nearly identical Dou Qi fluctuations rose in an instant, and ghost-headed broadswords swept toward Zhang Tian with a foul wind and overpowering stench of blood.

Zhang Tian snorted coldly. A dragon-scale-like suit of Dou Qi armor covered his body, its presence imposing. With a pull of the Absorption Palm, the two attackers immediately lost control of their bodies and crashed into a corner.

"Azure Demon Hand?" A black arm gleaming with dark light brushed past the back of Zhang Tian's head, and several strands of fluttering hair instantly rotted and snapped apart.

Clearly, this man was far stronger than the two brothers who had wielded the ghost-headed broadswords.

Sure enough, he was the infamous rogue cultivator known as Azure Demon Hand Yi Ku. To refine one of his strange Dou Techniques, he had massacred an entire village, and had long been a target of the Gama Royal Family's purge and bounty.

After striking once, Azure Demon Hand did not continue attacking. Instead, he retreated behind a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothing, behaving with utmost respect. The others silently stepped forward, faintly encircling Zhang Tian.

Zhang Tian looked around. Dozens of people had surrounded him: three One-Star Dou Lings and more than a dozen Great Dou Shis, all radiating sinister, gloomy auras.

"All of them are rogue cultivators?" Zhang Tian's heart stirred. Among them, he spotted quite a few notorious bandits, mountain brigands, and outlaws with bounties on their heads—the Black Wind Stronghold Chief and the Ghost Gate Sect Leader.

He gradually understood something. Compared to the forces operating openly, the City Lord's Mansion naturally needed a group of people who could act in the shadows without regard for imperial laws or worldly restraints, handling certain dark matters that could not be spoken of.

In a city, through all its storms, rises, and falls, who could say that they had not all been stirred up by the City Lord's Mansion?

A single dominant power meant stability, but it also meant that within a city, there would be two forces with a say, including the City Lord.

Compared to the forces in the open, the dark forces that could develop recklessly and without restraint in secret were more reassuring.

"An elder of the Xiao Family." The middle-aged man at the front glanced at Zhang Tian. His square face carried an innate air of authority. Apparently believing Zhang Tian was already trapped, he said flatly.

"Defying the City Lord's Mansion is a capital crime. Do you intend to treat the laws of the Gama Empire as nothing?"

Every word and gesture was filled with authority. Without drawing attention to it, he had already placed a huge accusation on someone else's head. Truly admirable.

Zhang Tian looked around. Gu Men was a Nine-Star Great Dou Shi; there was no way he would not have taken part in such a fight. The only possibility was that Gu Men had not returned to the City Lord's Mansion last night, but had fled Wu Tan City directly.

So, the City Lord might know Zhang Tian's attitude and might even know that Zhang Tian would come to the City Lord's Mansion today to cause trouble, but he did not know Zhang Tian's strength.

"Putting a huge accusation on others with every word and gesture—it looks quite imposing." Zhang Tian took a step forward. His Dou Qi armor became increasingly solid, while a blue spear condensed from Dou Qi appeared in his hand.

"But it is merely a display of incompetence and cowardice." Before his words had even faded, though his voice still seemed to echo softly in their ears, everyone below the level of an Eight-Star Dou Shi suddenly realized that their enemy had vanished!

Too fast. This was nearly the shared thought of every Great Dou Shi present, especially the peak Nine-Star Great Dou Shis, whose faces turned even uglier.

If he had only recently entered the Dou Ling realm and had not gained many stars, they might have been able to join forces and fight him to a standstill. But the gap between a Nine-Star Dou Ling and a One-Star Dou Ling was absolutely no smaller than the gap between a Dou Zhe and a Dou Shi.

Almost in the next moment, a peak Great Dou Shi died at Zhang Tian's hands. Only those at the Great Dou Shi realm or above could see his movements clearly, but only the few One-Star Dou Lings could truly make their bodies react in time.

A moment later.

Covered in blood, Zhang Tian leaned on his spear. After driving its tip into Azure Demon Hand's heart, Yi Ku's body stiffened, his eyes abruptly widened, and blood continuously poured from his mouth. Before dying, Yi Ku trembled as he muttered.

"You can't kill me... I am the disciple of Azure Wood Old Ghost from the Black-Corner Region..."

Zhang Tian was covered in blood—some his own, some belonging to others. Yet from beginning to end, not a single person had managed to injure him, except Azure Demon Hand Yi Ku, who had even been specifically targeting him.

To Zhang Tian, whose body was made of flesh and blood, poison-covered Yi Ku posed an even greater sense of danger than the Five-Star Dou Ling City Lord.

Collapsed on the ground and breathing heavily, Zhang Tian kept his eyes shut. His forehead was drenched in sweat, and less than half of his Dou Qi remained.

"Have you made your decision?" Zhang Tian said to the City Lord amid the pile of corpses.

At this moment, the City Lord was in an utterly miserable state. His once luxurious appearance had long vanished. A bloody hole had been pierced through the back of his hand, his knee was impaled by a spear, his Dantian was shattered, and one of his hands had been broken.

"Either Blood Hand Human Butcher led Qing Mo Shou and the others in an attack on the City Lord's Mansion, and I came to defend it to the death; or the City Lord charged ahead alone, only to be outnumbered and torn apart by the bandits."

Zhang Tian's calm words made the City Lord's pupils shrink, and his entire body began trembling violently.

"The City Lord's daughter... concubines... wife... With that title, they should fetch quite a good price."

"Devil, you're a devil." The City Lord's body shook more and more violently, yet he frantically told himself to stay calm. He was absolutely not as worthless to Zhang Tian as his calm tone suggested, without the slightest value or benefit.

Amid his frantic cries, the City Lord finally managed to steady himself, suppressing the fear in his heart as he forced himself to speak calmly.

"You don't dare kill me. The Empire's laws... urgh—" Before he could say what he could offer Zhang Tian, the bloody hole in his chest shattered his illusions the moment he uttered the first word, "don't."

"Zhang admires your ignorance, as well as your blind faith in the Empire's laws. But I can teach you a new rule."

"On the Dou Qi Continent, the strong are revered."

Pulling out the spear that had pierced through him, Zhang Tian watched as the light slowly faded from the City Lord's eyes. His heart remained as still as water, without the slightest ripple. He had no desire to waste words on this sort of matter.

The Gama Empire was indeed terrifying. Jia Xing Tian, in particular, was known as the protector of the royal family. At the peak of the nine-star Dou Emperor realm, he was hailed as the strongest beneath a Dou Zong; even Yun Yun fell somewhat short of him.

He was a man who, once he made up his mind, could drag the royal family's enemies around him down with him.

The Yun Lan Sect and the Gama Royal Family had always maintained only a superficial harmony.

He also possessed the ability to kill a Dou Emperor from an unstable faction before his death. Dragging several Dou Emperors down with him was no burden to him at all. The only reason he did not do so was that he did not wish to weaken the Gama Empire's strength ahead of time.

Yun Yun could not even exchange a few evenly matched moves with the aging, weakening Jia Xing Tian. Neither could Hai Bo Dong. But that did not mean Zhang Tian could not.

By the time the Gama Royal Family discovered that he was responsible, one or two years would probably have already passed.

By then, Xiao Yan would likely have become a Dou Shi long ago. Using the Empire's laws to judge a Dou Emperor? What a joke.

A Dou Emperor itself represented strength and status, equivalent to the ruler of a nation. There were truly not many empires capable of punishing a Dou Emperor.