"You devil!"
"Evil black goat, dragon that spews thunder, Satan of Hell! You terrifying monster!"
"Even if we can't kill you today, sooner or later, warriors from the Lord will send you back to Hell! A monster like you will eventually be feared by everyone. Everyone will abandon you, and everyone will take up arms against you!"
Whether it was a dying beast's final howl or whether he had truly seen the humanity missing from the depths of Lan Yi's indifferent eyes, Dean lay on the ground like a writhing maggot, howling in unwilling fury.
The howl of a defeated man was truly ugly.
It was just like some senseless clown frantically hypnotizing himself, convincing himself that what he had done was meaningful. Lan Yi had seen too many enemies who died by his hand in this state.
After all, power was easy to obtain.
But the heart of a true strongman—one that remained unmoved by honor or disgrace, stayed true to its purpose, and calmly sought a solution no matter the circumstances—was far harder to acquire.
This ugly display naturally fell into Lady Philia's eyes as well.
The beautiful woman's rippling gaze fell upon the tall and extraordinary Lan Yi before her. Everyone would take up arms against him?
Even if that day truly came,
she certainly would not be among those who raised arms against him.
Seeing that Lan Yi had not executed Dean on the spot,
Zhao Sikong, who had been standing quietly to the side as a backdrop of shadows, took one step forward.
"Immortal Master, this white-skinned foreigner's filthy words are truly unbearable. Why not gag him and continue with the journey?" When Zhao Sikong, dressed like a steward, spoke, quite a few women who had no hope of currying favor with Immortal Master Lan Yi couldn't help but brighten at once. They had not noticed it before.
This handsome, fair-skinned steward also seemed like a fine candidate.
To become the Immortal Master's steward—
that carried far more weight than a sixth-rank official before the Prime Minister's gate!
Most importantly,
compared with Zhao Jian's brutality, Geng Liangchen's ghostly air, and Huo Yuanjia's untouchable nature, this Spirit Refining expert, the Shadow Heavenly General, seemed much easier to deal with.
"You. Cut out his tongue."
Lan Yi pointed him out without the slightest hesitation.
Kent, whose name had been called, paused slightly. Then he lowered his head and stepped out from the crowd, slowly drawing the Dharma Sword hanging at his waist.
This was the divine weapon everyone called a gift from Immortal Master Lan Yi.
It was called Lei Xiao. It could shoot Sword Qi and control thunder. Apart from needing to be charged, its only weakness was that it was limited by its wielder's thoughts and reactions.
"Kent, you traitor! Do you think killing people can solve every problem?" Dean and Kent still seemed to be old acquaintances.
"You don't understand, Mr. Dean. The more people Lord Lan Yi kills, the more loyal I become to him."
Kent kicked Dean over. Deep submission filled the face that had weathered countless battles. He brutally thrust the Dharma Sword into Dean's mouth, his movements practiced and his angle perfect.
"In this world, money and power can't buy loyalty, but fear and strength can!"
With a thought,
the flesh beneath Dean's cheek split open in the next instant. Sword Qi directly shredded his mouth, while faint scorching filled the air and electricity burned the wound shut, stopping the bleeding.
Lord Lan Yi had only ordered him to cut out Dean's tongue. He had not asked for his life.
But...
Poor Mr. Dean probably would not live much longer. Kent knew perfectly well what fate awaited these idiots' assassinations and attempts at defection. Fortunately, he had dealt with everyone who had come to contact him. Though he felt he had handled things cleanly, when faced with the amused eyes gleaming faintly on Lan Yi's face, he still understood that every one of his actions had been under observation.
Although Lord Lan Yi had said nothing, he had probably managed to scrape through.
Only at this point
did Kent secretly let out a breath of relief. His awe and loyalty toward Lan Yi deepened further.
Kent was not the only one who had been approached for defection.
Among the foreigners who had already submitted and received weapons, two had vanished from the world forever today. They had held Dharma Swords in their hands, but when facing the martial artists, the martial artists had merely sneered and tossed out a section of Cang Hua transformed into a magnetic circuit. The Dharma Swords' safeties locked at once, leaving them no room to resist.
Since Immortal Master Lan Yi dared to bestow weapons, he was not afraid of the foreigners turning those Dharma Swords against him.
Even without Lan Yi locking their safeties,
the martial artists had more than enough ways to deal with that lot.
Yearning was the emotion furthest from understanding.
Lan Yi was neither a universally loving and friendly god nor a hero who rescued people from fire and water. He remained perfect, like a divine statue in a temple that demanded worshipful gazes. Yet in the eyes of the reporters and many onlookers, an icy danger belonging to metal and thunder had appeared around him. Aside from people like Philia and Uesugi Yuriko, who still adored him, most of the other women had retreated inwardly.
A romantic love that threw caution to the winds was wonderful, but shouldn't they consider their lives too?
"Everyone, from here, please accompany me to the warships at the harbor."
Lan Yi took in every expression on their faces.
It was still more interesting to spout nonsense with Jin Buhuan.
The farther a psionic cultivator walked forward, the more they might miss the past, but they would never turn back. Rather than turning around, it was better to let more people catch up. If they became too lonely, they might do something crazy—like a certain psionic cultivator who, because he was too lonely, cultivated some bizarre thing like the Six Desires Demon Splitting Chapter.
"What are we going to the warships for?" some poorly informed people asked in confusion.
Was this Immortal Master going to put on another performance?
"You country bumpkin. The Immortal Master is kindhearted and is taking us out to sea for some fun." This came from a rather dim-witted young master of a wealthy family.
"Heh, idiot. The Immortal Master is going to take action himself." This came from someone well-informed.
"Take action against the warships?"
"Exactly. Those foreign devils still want to stick their noses into our Xinghan's own affairs. How could the Immortal Master indulge them? He's already deployed troops and generals and tracked down their movements. Didn't you notice that the Martial Heavenly General and Ghost Heavenly General weren't there today?"
Quite a few people suddenly understood.
Hadn't the Immortal Master just said he was going to challenge the naval cannons?
Haha, now he was taking them to fight the cannons.
The expressions of those who had just laughed inwardly changed drastically. Wait—didn't that mean he was taking them onto a battlefield?! On a battlefield, swords and blades had no eyes, to say nothing of cannons that could blow a whole group apart in one blast. If they were unlucky enough to die aboard an ironclad warship, wouldn't they have died for nothing? Even if Immortal Master Lan Yi possessed boundless magic and divine abilities, there was no guarantee he would save them.
Many people immediately began trembling at the knees, nearly turning and fleeing.
But they could no longer leave.
The Qi Cultivation Practitioners surrounded them under the leadership of smiling Zhao Sikong. Everyone was politely and securely invited into the vehicles to depart together, with not a single reporter overlooked.
Quite a few people immediately put on ingratiating smiles while cursing Zhao Sikong viciously in their hearts.
They truly must have been blind to think the Shadow Heavenly General was easygoing!
Their desire to curry favor grew even stronger!
That was the nature of power. The moment it appeared, it immediately seeped into every corner, even the neglected edges and margins.
Interestingly, not a single person present dared to disrespect Lan Yi inwardly. This left Lan Yi somewhat disappointed.