Happy City

In his mind, the Glazed Bottle began to shake incessantly.

Haw—ptooey!

As if spitting out a mouthful of thick phlegm, it sprayed a black pill from its mouth.

Nine Ox Great Strength Pill: After consumption, grants the strength of nine oxen. Side effect: For one month, will unconditionally provoke the baseless hatred of red units.

Seeing the pill, Hanyu hesitated. It seemed to be one of those rare pills whose side effect was not all that terrifying—and it even had a time limit.

If it had been something outrageously bad, he would have shoved it straight into Rat Daoist's mouth without even blinking.

There was no denying it: he wanted this pill. The strength of nine oxen—if that hit someone, wouldn't blood splash everywhere?

"Does anything red even seem that scary?"

After muttering to himself, Hanyu's gaze flickered, and a pill appeared out of thin air in his hand.

Without a second thought, he tossed it into his mouth. After chewing a few times, he tasted beef. Heaven knew how the Glazed Bottle had come up with a beef-flavored pill.

Not long after swallowing it, a warm current coursed through his entire body. He cautiously walked over to the pill furnace, gripped one handle in each hand, and exerted a little strength. The pill furnace rose effortlessly into the air.

He then tried lifting the pill furnace with one hand. It merely took a little more effort.

The strength of nine oxen was this terrifying!

A Disciple heard the commotion and poked his head inside to investigate, only to stare dumbfounded at the massive furnace flying toward him.

Bang!

The pill furnace smashed and shoved the Disciple into the wall. Judging by that impact, he was probably beyond saving.

The tremendous crash instantly drew more people over. The dozen or so Disciples stationed below all rushed toward the sound.

Hanyu frowned at the passageway. Gritting his teeth, he lowered his head and charged forward like a crazed wild ox. One Disciple after another who blocked his way was brutally sent flying, and he quickly reached the foot of the stone stairs.

The Stone Gate was above. He had been brought down from there before.

Not only did Hanyu not stop, he accelerated and charged straight up.

Upon reaching the Stone Gate, Hanyu threw a full-force punch. Amid an enormous crash, the Stone Gate shattered into pieces.

The entire Five Immortals Sect was jolted awake by the thunderous noise. Rat Daoist was the first to give chase. The moment he emerged, he saw Hanyu smash through the gate and flee into the distance.

"Get the hell out here! Chase him, now!"

Rat Daoist was frantic. With the three great sects all out in force, if they did not capture him quickly, then once those people discovered the truth, it would be like tossing a meat bun to a dog.

What was more, if Ye Zhi Qiu learned that his side had broken someone out of the jail, the Five Immortals Sect would likely never know peace in Yujin City again.

The remaining forty-odd Disciples poured out in full force, chasing in the direction Hanyu had fled. For a time, the lights on several streets swayed and flickered.

"Split up and surround him."

A Disciple made the suggestion. At once, the group split into three teams, each with ten people running in a different direction.

"Damn it, what are the Prefectural Guards of Yujin Prefecture even doing? Such a huge commotion, and not one of them has shown up." Hanyu cursed as he ran.

Ye Zhi Qiu had already come out when the Prefectural Guards he had stationed in the city reported the situation. He stared coldly toward the Five Immortals Sect.

"So it was Rat Daoist. Tsk, tsk!"

Yet he was in no rush to act. The people from the three great sects were also in the city, and they clearly could not be kept in the dark about this commotion. He would simply wait for them to jump out one by one.

Unless he gave these people a proper lesson, they would forget who was in charge here.

Sure enough, after Hanyu ran through several streets, he suddenly realized that more and more people were chasing him from behind, all dressed differently.

"You Five Immortals Sect have some nerve, abducting Little Alchemist and making us take the blame."

Disciples from the three sects loudly questioned the Five Immortals Sect Disciples.

"When did we ever make you take the blame? As for Little Alchemist, everyone relies on their own ability."

The Five Immortals Sect Disciples replied indignantly.

The argument between both sides grew fiercer and fiercer. In the end, they apparently forgot all about pursuing Hanyu and actually began fighting in the street first.

The pressure on Hanyu lessened sharply. He prepared to change direction and run, but before he passed a few intersections, someone suddenly called out to him.

"Little Alchemist."

Ye Zhi Qiu stood before the Prefectural Yamen, smiling at him.

"It's you!"

Hanyu recognized him as well—the man who had yelled about throwing him out of the city back in the jail.

Ye Zhi Qiu studied him curiously. Seeing him wrapped in strips of torn cloth, he nearly laughed aloud. Rat Daoist must have given him some special treatment.

"Where are you going?"

Ye Zhi Qiu asked.

Hanyu sighed helplessly. "I haven't finished serving my sentence yet! Things are so chaotic outside, I figured I might as well go back and properly finish my time in jail."

"There's no need for that."

Ye Zhi Qiu pointed to the sky. "Midnight has passed. Your sentence is over. You don't need to return to the Yujin Prefecture jail."

Hearing that, Hanyu turned and tried to run. "I think it'd be better if I did."

"You can't leave."

Ye Zhi Qiu burst into laughter and flashed to Hanyu's side. Surging True Essence gently wrapped around him and sent him flying into the distance.

Hanyu, who had only just managed to escape, landed once more amid the encirclement of the three sects' Disciples.

The Disciples, who had been focused on fighting, saw Hanyu fall from the sky and instantly remembered their real business. They grabbed their weapons and charged after him together.

"Take him!"

"Let's see who dares!"

An enraged roar rang out. Rat Daoist's flying figure arrived in an instant. With a sweep of his sleeve, a vast force sent the surrounding Disciples from the three sects flying through the air.

"You old bastard, you've finally shown your face."

At that moment, three more figures drifted over. They were Heavenly Saber, Jade Spring, and Spirit Heart—the three Sect Masters.

"Quite the scheme, Rat Daoist."

Spirit Heart Sect Master looked at him with a sinister smile.

"Everyone relies on their own ability!"

After speaking, Rat Daoist suddenly reached out to grab Hanyu.

"Bold!"

The three Sect Masters shouted and attacked at once. Rat Daoist hurriedly withdrew his hand and retreated several steps, while the Heavenly Saber Sect Master fiercely drew his blade and pursued.

After Spirit Heart and Jade Spring exchanged a glance, Spirit Heart took responsibility for capturing Hanyu while Jade Spring swept his whisk and hurried forward to join Heavenly Saber.

"Little Alchemist, come with me!"

Spirit Heart Sect Master forced out a kindly smile, but with his harsh, mean-looking face, the smile looked wrong no matter how he wore it.

Hanyu turned and ran. Spirit Heart Sect Master sneered, leapt forward, and clawed at his shoulder. The instant his hand closed, it felt as though he had grabbed lead and iron. Hanyu hurriedly twisted his shoulder free.

Elsewhere, Rat Daoist and Heavenly Saber and Jade Spring fought fiercely for several exchanges, from the ground into the sky. True Essence surged, Sword Qi and Blade Qi crisscrossed, tiles were continuously blown from the nearby buildings, and blade and sword marks were carved across the walls.

After only a few exchanges, Rat Daoist could barely hold on. A large portion of one sleeve had been sliced away by Sword Qi at some unknown point, while dense wounds covered his chest—left there by Jade Spring Sect Master's whisk.

Seeing Spirit Heart Sect Master seize Hanyu with his claw, Rat Daoist could not help being distracted as he shouted.

"Little Alchemist, why are you running? Your body is incredibly tough—fight him! Even if you trade injury for injury, he'll be the one afraid of you!"

In that split second of distraction, Rat Daoist suffered another heavy loss. A streak of Sword Qi slashed across his chest, and blood instantly streamed down.

A hundred meters away, Hanyu had indeed been seized by Spirit Heart Sect Master again. Upon hearing Rat Daoist's words, he could not help tentatively throwing a punch at him.

Spirit Heart Sect Master saw that punch contained not a trace of True Essence and looked down on it somewhat, meeting it with one hand.

Bang!

When their fists collided, Hanyu did not budge an inch, while the other man was knocked back several meters, his blood and qi roiling.

Spirit Heart Sect Master wore an expression of utter disbelief, while Hanyu looked as though he had seen a ghost.

Am I really this strong?

All along, Hanyu had at most considered himself to possess the strength of a sect Disciple. He had never imagined his physical body could clash with a sect powerhouse of this level. Even after taking the Nine Ox Great Strength Pill, he had only dared attack those sect Disciples.

Now that one punch had succeeded, Hanyu's thoughts became livelier.

"Why is your physical body so monstrous?"

Spirit Heart asked incredulously.

Hanyu chuckled, raised his fist, and said, "My fist is even more monstrous. Come on."

Tap! Tap! Tap!

With several swift strides, Hanyu made the first move for the first time in his life. He swung his iron fists without any technique, hammering them toward Spirit Heart Sect Master.

In truth, he did not need technique. He did not need to dodge—he only needed to make sure his fist struck the other man every time.

Just as Rat Daoist had said: trade injury for injury and see who feared whom.

Though Spirit Heart Sect Master's movement technique was exquisite, how could he withstand Hanyu's utterly plain attacks?

Hanyu took a palm strike that made his chest tighten, then answered with a punch to Spirit Heart's chest. Blood seeped from Spirit Heart's lips as he retreated in panic.

"Someone come help! There's something wrong with this Little Alchemist! He clearly has no cultivation at all, yet his body is terrifyingly well-trained, and his strength is astonishing. I can't beat him!"

Heavenly Saber and Jade Spring exchanged a look. Jade Spring immediately withdrew from the fight and rushed after Hanyu.

The pressure on Rat Daoist finally dropped sharply, allowing him to catch his breath. He glanced over, and his expression became strange as well.

He had never imagined Hanyu could beat Spirit Heart Sect Master so badly that he had to call for help. His original plan had merely been to use Hanyu's body to stall them. Who could have expected a Little Alchemist to be so monstrous?

At once, the urge to retreat rose in his heart. Even at full strength, he might not have been able to capture Little Alchemist again. Now he was injured, with three sects beside him. This fruit was clearly not his to pluck.

"Stop. I'll give this Little Alchemist to you. I'm not fighting over him anymore."

After Rat Daoist spoke, he blocked a streak of Sword Qi and prepared to withdraw.

"You're not going anywhere."

The speaker was not Heavenly Saber, but Ye Zhi Qiu, who was slowly approaching from afar.

What was more, Rat Daoist discovered in horror that while they had been fighting intensely, the Prefectural Guards had already mobilized in full and surrounded the area. The Five Immortals Sect Disciples and the Disciples of the other three sects had all been captured.

Heavenly Saber sheathed his blade with a gloomy expression, faced Ye Zhi Qiu, and said coldly, "Ye Zhi Qiu, do you know that by doing this, you're making enemies? Let's see how you gain a foothold in the cultivator world in the future."

With his hands behind his back, Ye Zhi Qiu sneered. "The likes of you can represent the cultivator world?"

"Aren't you afraid the Cultivator Alliance will come looking for trouble?"

Watching his Disciples being taken away by the Prefectural Guards one by one, Rat Daoist shouted urgently as well.

"You've forgotten again. I am the Prefect of a prefecture. Your four sects disrupted the lives of the people in Yujin Prefecture, so arresting you is perfectly justified. If the Cultivator Alliance wants trouble, let them go find my sect. Behind me, there is not only the Imperial Court, but also a sect."

Ye Zhi Qiu remained calm as he glanced at the two men and sneered coldly.

"Since there's no peaceful resolution, why not join forces?"

Rat Daoist's face darkened. He looked at the Heavenly Saber Sect Master, and after they exchanged a glance, both suddenly attacked.

A short sword shot from Rat Daoist's sleeve, aimed straight for Ye Zhi Qiu's throat, while the Heavenly Saber Sect Master held his saber in both hands and lunged forward with a slash.

Blazing Fire Spreads!

Flames erupted along the saber blade. As the saber descended, a Fire Dragon burst forth, winding toward Ye Zhi Qiu.

"A secret technique? I have one too."

Ye Zhi Qiu drew his saber and cleaved through the water, knocking the short sword away before slashing toward the Fire Dragon.

Windless Waves Rise!

A waterspout slashed out from his saber like a water dragon, crashing head-on into the Fire Dragon.

A huge cloud of steam billowed continuously between the two dragons. In the end, the Fire Dragon could not overcome the suppression of the five elements and was swiftly consumed by the water dragon.

The Heavenly Saber Sect Master's face turned pale, as if the attack had consumed a great deal of his True Essence. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, he turned to call Rat Daoist and flee.

Yet the moment he turned, Rat Daoist was nowhere to be seen. The instant he had spent vast amounts of True Essence attacking, Rat Daoist had already slipped away.

The Heavenly Saber Sect Master nearly coughed blood in rage. He could only silently remember this and settle the score later. He could not remain here any longer and had to leave first. As for the remaining Disciples, the three sects could only join together afterward and seek mediation from the Cultivator Alliance.

Meanwhile, Hanyu's high spirits lasted only a moment. Once Jade Spring Sect Master joined the battle, he was suppressed beyond measure.

Spirit Heart Sect Master kept trying to seize him, while every time Hanyu punched, Jade Spring Sect Master's whisk would wrap around him.

When he turned to attack Jade Spring Sect Master instead, the man's movement technique was nimble. He simply refused to fight Hanyu head-on, dragging him along so Spirit Heart Sect Master could attack from the side.

Gradually, Hanyu was beaten into a fury. Ruthlessly disregarding everything, he rammed the two men apart, picked up an unextinguished torch from the ground, reached into his clothes, lit the Bliss Pill, and hurled it forcefully into the sky.

"Don't you want it? Go pick it up yourselves!"

The Bliss Pill streaked across the sky, spewing vast amounts of smoke. The Heavenly Saber Sect Master took the lead and caught it.

"What a fragrant scent."

His nose twitched slightly. As a wisp of smoke entered his lungs, he felt an indescribable sense of exhilaration.

"Excellent pill!"

The Heavenly Saber Sect Master could not help praising it.

"Give it to me!"

"Give it to me!"

Two voices shouted in unison. Spirit Heart and Jade Spring both flew toward Heavenly Saber and attacked.

After entering the pill's thick smoke, the two men likewise felt pleasure spread through their bodies, and their thoughts about the pill's effects climbed to an even higher level.

This was likely a pill that benefited the physical body.

With Hanyu as proof before their eyes, the two men—no, all three men—made the same assumption.

There was only one pill, but three people wanted it. Thus, an intense struggle erupted in midair. Almost every time one person got it and took a breath, it would change hands again.

The thick fog grew denser and denser, gradually enveloping all three. Only the vague silhouettes of their battling figures could be seen intertwining within it.

Suddenly, no one knew who had struck the Bliss Pill away, but it flew toward Ye Zhi Qiu.

Hanyu's expression changed. He hurriedly shouted, "Cover your mouth and nose! Don't breathe it in!"

Seeing how serious Hanyu looked, Ye Zhi Qiu did not dare be careless. Drawing his saber, he stepped forward and gave a loud shout.

Great Wind Rises!

He swept out a hurricane that rolled the Bliss Pill away in the opposite direction.

When the Bliss Pill landed, the hurricane carried its thick fog away, scattering and spreading it outward. Hanyu knew they were screwed.

The three Sect Masters seemed addicted as they chased after the falling Bliss Pill.

Mad laughter came from the fog. The Heavenly Saber Sect Master hugged his saber and rolled on the ground, the Jade Spring Sect Master danced and sang while holding his whisk, and Spirit Heart Sect Master grinned foolishly as he clapped beside them.

Hiss!

So this was what the Bliss Pill's effect was like? And it would last for a year?

Looking at the smoke that had spread through half the city, Hanyu shrank back. Seeing no one around, he wanted to quietly slip away.

"If you leave, I'll issue an Arrest Warrant."

Ye Zhi Qiu suddenly appeared before him, sneering coldly.

Here's a big chapter for everyone. In the early hours today, I saw that you brothers had given me a huge gift—over four hundred votes in one go, pushing me onto Monday's recommendation vote rankings. My bookmarks also kept rising all night. Thank you all for your support. I'm truly grateful to every one of you.