"Quick! Hurry and sign up! An opportunity like this comes once in a thousand years!" A cultivator crushed a Communication Jade Slip on the spot to summon his friends and family.
Ling Cangqiong stood in the shadow of the city tower. What a clever scheme.
But the most shocking part was yet to come.
The Sect Master of Ming He Sect suddenly stepped forward and bowed before the gaze of countless cultivators:
"Our entire Ming He Sect is willing to merge into Yantian Sect! From this day forth, the Star River lineage shall be renamed 'Yantian Star Pavilion'!"
The city erupted!
Two top-tier sects were merging?
This was a world-shaking change, one that could alter the balance of power across the entire Great Yan Territory!
Ling Cangqiong's pupils contracted sharply.
He suddenly realized—this was no spur-of-the-moment decision. It was a carefully plotted, open scheme!
This must have been why the two Sect Masters had suddenly challenged each other...
After the announcement, the Yantian Sect elders in Tianyan City immediately set up a temporary registration station.
At that moment, Tianyan City was abuzz. Countless Rogue Cultivators were flushed with excitement as they scrambled toward the temporary registration station Yantian Sect had set up.
"Me! I want to sign up first!"
"Move aside! I'm at the ninth level of Qi Condensation, just one step away from Foundation Establishment!"
The crowd shoved and surged, the scene nearly spiraling out of control.
Yet the three family heads standing on high watched with grave expressions, exchanging glances.
Chen Xuanfeng, head of the Chen Family, narrowed his eyes and said quietly, "Yantian Sect has suddenly lowered its requirements, and Ming He Sect has gone so far as to submit to them... Something's not right."
"Indeed." Lin Yue, head of the Lin Family, replied in a low voice. "These two sects have always been like fire and water. How could they suddenly join forces? And why choose to fight just outside Tianyan City...?"
Su Yuanzheng, head of the Su Family, was just about to speak when, suddenly—
"Ah!!"
A piercing scream erupted from the crowd!
A young disciple dressed in Yantian Sect robes had suddenly collapsed, a dark-blue dagger buried in his chest. The blade was coated in deadly poison. The disciple had died before he could even struggle!
"What happened?!" A Yantian Sect elder cried out in alarm, but before he could step forward to investigate—
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
A series of muffled impacts followed. Several more Yantian Sect disciples inexplicably collapsed!
Among them were even several Core Disciples of the Divine Treasury Realm!
"Enemy attack! There are assassins!" a Ming He Sect elder roared.
But the area was packed with people. The killer had already vanished into the surging crowd without a trace.
In the shadows in the distance, several figures cloaked in black quietly gathered.
The scar-faced Blood Edge, their leader, licked the blood from his face and sneered. "Mission accomplished. Withdraw."
It was the Iron Blood Squad!
In an instant, the once-boiling crowd fell into chaos. Ling Cangqiong stood in the shadow of the city tower, the corner of his mouth curving into a cold smile.
Several Yantian Sect elders stood rooted in place, their faces ashen. Their Spiritual Sense swept back and forth through the surging crowd, yet they couldn't detect the killer's trace.
In the end, they could only continue the registration with grim expressions. After all, the dead could not be brought back to life.
Meanwhile, the Yantian Sect Master appeared above Tianyan City, furiously sweeping the city with his Spiritual Sense.
Just then, a terrifying pressure suddenly descended over the entire city!
"Boom—"
The Yantian Sect Master appeared high above the Imperial City, unleashing the full might of his ninth-level Dharma Aspect Realm cultivation.
His eyes were bloodshot. His violent Spiritual Sense swept over every inch of the land like a tangible force, making even the air tremble.
"Outrageous!"
A cold reprimand rang out.
Ling Cangqiong slowly emerged from the void, his dark dragon robe fluttering in the wind.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he fixed the Yantian Sect Master with a piercing gaze.
"Yantian Sect Master, you dare sweep My Imperial Capital with your Spiritual Sense so recklessly? Do you think the Great Yan Imperial House does not exist?"
Before his words had even faded, nine dazzling streams of golden Dragon Qi burst from Ling Cangqiong's body. They soared into the sky like nine true dragons, weaving together overhead into a Dragon Pattern Heavenly Net that blotted out the sun.
That vast Imperial Dao Pressure forcibly drove back the Yantian Sect Master's ninth-level Dharma Aspect Realm Spiritual Sense!
The sight left every cultivator in the city pale with shock.
After all, Ling Cangqiong had reached Cave Perfection!
The Yantian Sect Master's pupils contracted. A storm of shock surged through his heart.
He had wanted to use this opportunity to demand that Ling Cangqiong seal off the entire city, but now he had no choice but to rein in his arrogance.
"This old man overstepped."
He spoke in a low voice as the True Essence roiling around him gradually subsided.
Yet in his bloodshot eyes, an unyielding fury still burned.
"However..." The Yantian Sect Master's tone shifted, his voice suddenly turning sharp. "Yantian Sect disciples have been murdered in Tianyan City. I ask Your Majesty to give us an explanation!"
The entire city fell silent.
He actually dared to confront a Cave Perfection powerhouse with such forceful words!
Ling Cangqiong's eyes flickered, and the faintest trace of a cold smile touched his lips.
The two faced off across the air. Their invisible auras collided, bringing the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth to a standstill.
This was exactly the effect Ling Cangqiong wanted.
He wanted the entire court to witness with their own eyes how arrogant and overbearing these sect cultivators were—how they dared openly defy imperial authority within the Imperial Capital!
The ministers who owed their rise to imperial power indeed looked stricken.
They owed their current positions entirely to the Imperial House's support.
If the sects were allowed to rise above imperial authority, their interests would be the first to suffer!
"Boom—"
Just then, the Four Great Imperial Guard Commanders led elite Imperial Guards through the air, their overwhelming killing intent surging into the heavens.
At their head, the Azure Dragon Commander's eyes flashed like lightning as he leveled the long halberd in his hand at the Yantian Sect Master.
"Outrageous! You're nothing but the master of a mere sect, yet you dare demand an explanation from His Majesty? Who do you think you are?!"
As his furious shout rang out, several terrifying auras suddenly erupted from the depths of the Imperial Palace.
The powerful figures from the Hall of Offerings did not show themselves, but their faintly discernible pressure had already left everyone present gasping for breath.
Ling Cangqiong stood with his hands behind his back, cold light flashing in his eyes.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
"However..." The Emperor's voice suddenly rang out, carrying an unquestionable authority. "You dared to murder someone in My Imperial Capital..."
"Shen Changqing!"
At the cold call, Shen Changqing, Division Master of the Heaven Suppressing Division, instantly appeared before the throne and dropped to one knee.
Ling Cangqiong looked down at him from above and spoke, each word deliberate:
"I give you three days to find the culprit. If you fail..." The Emperor's voice turned icy. "I have no qualms about finding someone else to lead the Heaven Suppressing Division!"
"The Heaven Suppressing Division oversees the realm, yet you let scoundrels who defy imperial authority run rampant in the Imperial Capital. What punishment do you deserve?!" Ling Cangqiong's voice suddenly rose. "And now, with the Demon Race causing trouble, the Heaven Suppressing Division seems to be nothing but an empty name..."
His unfinished words brimmed with killing intent!
Cold sweat beaded on Shen Changqing's forehead. He bowed deeply to the ground. "Your servant... obeys!"
At that moment, everyone felt the Emperor's fury.
Ling Cangqiong was not only using this incident to rebuke the Heaven Suppressing Division; he was also declaring to the entire realm that within the Great Yan Territory, imperial authority would brook no challenge!