Heh Heh Heh!

However, before he had even finished speaking, Yun Yue suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. Then...

Boom!

A violent aura suddenly erupted. The entire roof of the lakeside pavilion was forcibly blown away, and countless chunks of rubble flew backward, clattering against the ground and the surface of the water.

Yun Yue's expression changed drastically. He instinctively crossed his arms in front of his chest to shield himself. Only after the shock wave passed did he lower his arms.

However...

"Dou... Dou Emperor?"

The old steward had his Heavenly Spirit firmly clutched in Lu Bu's hand. He muttered in a daze, his eyes vacant and his face filled with disbelief.

"Heh heh..."

A faint chuckle rang out. A black hole appeared in Lu Bu's palm, and Devouring Power erupted instantly. In the blink of an eye, that sturdy Dou Ling expert turned into a dried corpse and slowly fell.

The horrifying wound at his chest gradually healed. The powerful vitality of the Dou Ling realm instantly healed Lu Bu's injuries.

"Perfect. Next... it's the two of you!" Lu Bu smiled faintly.

Yun Yue's indifferent face gradually began to pale. Damn it... this is bad!

Several dozen kilometers west of the Imperial Capital stood a magnificent mountain. It was where the Misty Cloud Sect was located, which was why the mountain was also known as Misty Cloud Mountain.

At the same time that Lu Bu's aura erupted, a pair of eyes opened in a dark corner of the Misty Cloud Sect's rear mountain:

"Heh heh heh... What pure soul power. Looks like a fine prey... Heh heh..."

A sharp, eerie laugh rose softly from the corner. Black mist suddenly surged there, followed by the clinking of swaying iron chains.

The next moment, the black mist vanished, and so did the eyes, as if nothing had happened.

The Imperial Capital, the lakeside pavilion in the manor.

Gurgle, gurgle...

The old steward's corpse slowly sank into the water and disappeared beneath the lake's surface. Seeing this, Yun Yue and Yun Chun felt utterly horrified.

"Impossible, impossible..." Yun Yue's face changed from pale to ashen:

"How could you have obtained such powerful strength? You're clearly only a slave..."

"Heh..." Lu Bu let out a cold laugh. He raised his right hand, and a faint black hole appeared in his palm.

But just then, Yun Yue suddenly flicked his fingertip. A jade token appeared in his palm, and he crushed it with a crack.

With a sudden whoosh, a pair of gray-white Dou Qi Wings abruptly grew from Yun Yue's back. He immediately pushed off the ground and soared into the air.

"You slave, just wait for the Misty Cloud Sect to surround and annihilate you!" Yun Yue snarled. His Dou Qi Wings shook violently as he prepared to shoot away.

"Do you think you can escape?" Lu Bu shook his head slightly. He stomped the ground, and a layer of light patterns spread out like lightning. In the blink of an eye, the entire lake was enveloped.

"Imprisonment!"

Lu Bu formed a hand seal and shouted softly.

In an instant, the gently rippling water of the entire lake solidified. The wind ceased, the waves stilled, and Yun Yue, who had been about to fly through the air, suddenly felt his body grow heavy. He fell uncontrollably, slamming onto the walkway with a smack.

Although a Heavenly Symbol Master could not mobilize the power of heaven and earth here, Lu Bu's own abilities remained. Setting up a formation to deal with enemies was still effortless.

"You... you..." Cold sweat began to bead on Yun Yue's forehead. His lips trembled slightly. His father's trump card was useless, and the steward was dead. He was now calling to heaven with no answer and calling to earth with no response.

"9527, don't kill me! He was the one who informed on you. He's the culprit who got you killed!"

Yun Yue pointed at Yun Chun, who was likewise trapped by the formation, and shouted. His face was pale and his robe disheveled, nothing like the elegant young master he had been moments ago.

Lu Bu shook his head slightly. What a piece of trash. He acted so convincingly just now that I thought he was some kind of expert.

"Don't worry. Neither of you will escape," Lu Bu said indifferently. He raised his left hand, and yellow Dou Qi surged upward, swaying gently like flames.

The original body's Dou Qi was fire-attribute, but it also contained a strand of wood energy. In other words, the original body actually possessed the ability to become an alchemist.

Unfortunately, he was only a slave. Even with talent rare among ten thousand, he had no teacher to guide him.

Hearing the killing intent in Lu Bu's words, Yun Yue's expression changed instantly. His opponent had never intended to let him go.

"9527, are you really going to fight me to the death?" Yun Yue gripped his sword tightly, gray-green flames flickering within his Dou Qi robe.

"As expected of a master. Truly high and mighty..." A cold glint flashed in Lu Bu's eyes. Even at a time like this, Yun Yue still refused to lower his head.

"Azure Nether Flame Slash!"

Yun Yue shouted, and the long sword in his hand blazed with gray-green light. A Dou Qi slash wreathed in gray-green flames cleaved toward Lu Bu. He intended to seize the initiative!

"Hm?" Lu Bu raised an eyebrow. This gray-green flame seemed somewhat interesting.

He flicked a fingertip, and the formation beneath his feet burst into light. A column of water exploded from the lake with a boom, transforming into a water serpent as thick as a water vat. Its jaws gaped wide as it bit down.

With a splurt, the gray-green flaming slash vanished at once, like a candle being plunged into water.

"Wh... What?" Yun Yue's eyes widened as he cried out in disbelief.

"Save your effort." Lu Bu lightly tapped the ground with his foot. The formation's radiance surged, and the water serpent transformed into countless water ropes. In an instant, they bound Yun Yue tightly from head to toe.

With a light tap of his toe against the water's surface, Lu Bu's figure blurred and vanished. Yun Yue only saw a flash before Lu Bu suddenly appeared right in front of him. Such speed had already exceeded the limits of his understanding.

"You... What are you going to do!" Yun Yue shrieked. Under the extreme fear, his voice became sharp and panicked.

Lu Bu said nothing. His expression remained indifferent as he raised all five fingers and violently plunged them into Yun Yue's abdomen, then pulled out a mass of gray-green flames.

"Pfft—!"

"Bastard! That's my Azure Nether Fire! Give it back!"

As the flame connected to his strength was extracted, Yun Yue immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. His flushed complexion instantly turned deathly pale.

Smack!

Lu Bu raised one foot and directly stamped Yun Yue beneath it.

"Heh heh heh... An ant, and you dare speak to me like that?" Lu Bu sneered. An inexplicable surge of exhilaration welled up from the depths of his soul.

Yun Yue's facial flesh was mashed together. The cold shoe sole, reeking of dirt, brought him wave after wave of humiliation. His eyes were bloodshot, his Ragefire blazing, and his hatred had reached its limit.

However, he had also grown smarter. He clenched his teeth tightly and did not say another word.

"Just wait. The Misty Cloud Sect's power is beyond what an ant like you can understand. When the time comes, I'll make you suffer every cruel torture in the world!" Yun Yue's eyes were blood-red as countless methods of making Lu Bu wish he were dead flashed through his mind.

"Heh... Boring!"

Seeing that he had stopped speaking, Lu Bu curled his lips. He applied a little more force with his foot, and with a crack, Yun Yue's neck was completely crushed. He died with his eyes open.

He would never have the chance to make Lu Bu wish he were dead again.

Lu Bu pulled off his Ring and examined it. "Tsk tsk, as expected of a young master. He really has plenty of good stuff."

The Ring contained a large pile of gold coins, roughly several tens of thousands, along with several bottles of pills, some cultivation techniques, battle skills, and clothes.

He turned to look at the green-robed servant by the walkway. Yun Chun was much smarter than his master and had been quietly crawling away the whole time. However, his strength was weak, and his movement was pitifully slow.

"9527, don't kill me!" Yun Chun shrieked. Noticing Lu Bu's gaze, he hurriedly shouted:

"We're brothers! We grew up together, slept in the same bed, and ate from the same bowl. We're the best of brothers!"

"I understand all that..." Lu Bu stroked his chin and crooked the corner of his mouth. He asked curiously, "Then why didn't you think of any of that when you informed on me?"

"I... I..." Yun Chun was instantly rendered speechless. Lu Bu flicked his finger, and an invisible Spirit Fire shot out, burning his soul to ashes in an instant.

He did not even have time to scream. Looking at the corpses of the two men, Lu Bu suddenly felt his body grow lighter, as if he could leap into the air with the slightest jump.

"The original soul dispersed?" Lu Bu rubbed his chin. He felt that he could control this body more smoothly than ever. "It should have..."

Lu Bu raised his hand and beckoned. The formation imprisoning the entire lake rapidly contracted, finally transforming into soul power and returning to his body.

"It's time to leave. But before I go, I should leave something behind. Heh heh heh..." Lu Bu gave a strange laugh, took some blood from Yun Yue, and then wrote a line on the wall:

"The murderer was Xiao Yan!"

Lu Bu wrote the bright red blood characters with forceful, elegant strokes, bold and imposing.

"Heh heh heh... Done. Cough, cough..." Lu Bu stiffened his face, rubbed it, and suppressed his strange laugh. "Damn it, how could I laugh like that?"

He instantly transformed back into the harmless-looking pretty boy he had been before. Then he pushed off the ground and soared into the air, entering a room in the manor. He took the ten thousand gold coins the original body had left behind and headed east from the Imperial Capital.

Xiao Yan was the one who killed them. What does that have to do with me, Lu Bu? If you have the guts, go find him.

Half an hour later.

A mass of black mist drifted over silently and descended into the lakeside pavilion.

"I'm late. Heh heh... What a skillful move. Even the souls are gone!" The black mist surged, and a pair of red lights shone from within as it stared at Yun Chun's corpse and gave a strange laugh.

Then, as the black mist churned, a strand of it swayed faintly and slowly drifted eastward.

"Heh heh heh... So that's where he went..."

The red light flared brightly. The black mist contracted and condensed into a streak of light that flew in the direction where Lu Bu had vanished.