The Scariest Thing Is the Air Suddenly Turning Tense

The Immortal Court is the core setting of the game Ancient Immortal Court, serving as the creator, ruler, and supreme guardian of the Immortal Realm.

The Immortal Court manages the vast, boundless Immortal Realm through the [Immortal Rank System].

The Immortal Rank System stipulates:

Sect Masters and meritorious elders, City Lords and meritorious officials, as well as a small number of rogue immortals with outstanding contributions, may all be inscribed in the Immortal Registry, ranking among the Immortal Ranks to enjoy the stipends of the Immortal Court.

Ranking among the Immortal Ranks is known as the "iron rice bowl" of the Immortal Realm; the stipends are generous, and dismissal is extremely rare.

However, qualification for the Immortal Ranks is notoriously difficult to obtain in the game. It has nothing to do with a player's talent or cultivation level, but rather examines one's moral conduct, social contributions, and even interpersonal connections—it is realistically brutal.

Even someone as powerful as Lu Ya, who grinded for five years in the game, was never listed in the Immortal Ranks due to his excessive killing.

Precisely because of this, after transmigrating into the real Immortal Realm, Lu Ya, as a salted fish, chose to prioritize ranking in the Immortal Ranks, aiming to become an Immortal Realm Sun Liancheng—someone who just collects a paycheck while pretending to care about the universe.

What Lu Ya calls an "Immortal Rank" is actually just an unofficial, idle position that only collects a stipend, equivalent to an honorary Immortal Rank or a reserve candidate.

The Immortal Ranks that truly hold real power are called—

Immortal Court Deacons!

Immortal Court Deacons originate from the Immortal Court Continent.

Furthermore.

The Immortal Court establishes branches in every major immortal sect or immortal city, stationing a large number of Immortal Court Deacons responsible for managing personnel, assessing performance, monitoring illegal activities, investigating immortal cases, and adjudicating immortal offenders.

The Colored Cloud Immortal Domain, where the Bamboo Spring Sect is located, has its Immortal Court branch stationed in East Floating City, a thousand miles away.

The Immortal Court Deacons who have come to review Lu Ya's qualifications for the Immortal Ranks have arrived from East Floating City.

Logically, Liu Xuanye should have personally taken Lu Ya to East Floating City to resolve this.

But considering Liu Xuanye's constitution, the Immortal Court branch in East Floating City made an exception and dispatched two deacons to the Bamboo Spring Sect to handle Lu Ya's entry into the Immortal Ranks and the Black Lotus bounty.

Two shrill cries echoed from the horizon.

The three of them looked up to see two figures standing with their hands behind their backs atop two giant immortal falcons, looking quite cold and detached.

They appeared to be a man and a woman.

Liu Xuanye's sword-like brows furrowed slightly; she flashed back to her bedchamber, suppressing the aura of her immortal sect.

This had become an instinct; she did not want to harm anyone.

Specific matters within the sect were always handled by Ning Zhongzi.

The two giant falcons approached from afar, soon revealing two highly imposing silhouettes.

Lu Ya looked up and swept a glance over them.

The giant falcons were over a zhang in length, with eagle heads and hooked beaks, their pitch-black wings covered in dense yellow spots, and their sharp black pupils ringed with golden circles.

Lu Ya was no stranger to these; they were the most common low-tier mounts of the Immortal Court in the game—

Hunting Falcon.

The two falcons circled the Bamboo Spring Sect a few times before diving down and landing on the slanted pine tree at the Sword Terrace.

Standing imposingly on the trunk of the slanted pine, the four falcon eyes constantly adjusted their focus, scanning everything in the Bamboo Spring Sect.

Sharp, alert, and their feathers were even somewhat beautiful...

Soon, a man and a woman stepped down from the giant falcons.

Both were under two thousand years old and possessed the cultivation of Nine-Star Immortal Masters.

They wore the Auspicious Cloud Immortal Robe of the Immortal Court, with the Sword Cloud Court Emblem engraved on their chests. The emblems were inscribed with high-level defensive restrictions, radiating a pressure that made it impossible to look directly at or defy them.

The high-and-mighty aura of the Immortal Court was manifested to the fullest.

Lu Ya cast a glance at them.

The woman was plain-looking with high cheekbones, giving off a cold and mean impression.

The man had sinister features, a hint of lewdness, a pale complexion, and a somewhat hooked nose.

Daring to come to the Bamboo Spring Sect without any protection, Lu Ya sighed in his heart that this fellow was a warrior.

Ning Zhongzi frowned slightly, seemingly not recognizing these two, and cupped her hands:

"Ning Zhongzi, Discipline Elder of the Bamboo Spring Sect, greets the two Deacons."

The cold woman looked around, her gaze lingering on Lu Ya repeatedly.

"A sect of five people, including two Tiger Immortals and one mortal..."

The sinister man stood beside Ning Zhongzi, his body turned to the side, not even sparing her a glance.

"In the five hundred years I have served as a deacon, this is the first time I have personally come to a local area to process Immortal Rank paperwork. Your Sect Master certainly has a big face."

The sinister tone revealed a biting bureaucratic authority.

Ning Zhongzi knew the visitors were ill-intentioned and asked with a darkened face:

"Where is Deacon Black Stone?"

"You still expect the Lord to condescend to come to a place like this?"

Ning Zhongzi showed no sign of anger, asking only with calm composure:

"May I ask how the two Deacons should be addressed?"

The grim-faced man offered a perfunctory cupped-fist salute and said:

"Zhang Pingzhi."

The woman continued to scan her surroundings, responding coldly:

"Tahongzi."

Ning Zhongzi had never heard their names; they were likely new Deacons transferred to the East Floating Immortal Court from elsewhere.

"Deacon Zhang, are you expecting me to summon our Sect Master?"

The grim-faced man froze, his brows furrowing as his cheek twitched. Feeling challenged, he scowled for a long moment, but ultimately declined.

"No need. Let's get this over with quickly."

Lu Ya sensed a sinister edge to the man's tone. Upon closer inspection—

He was a eunuch!

No wonder he dared to come to the Bamboo Spring Sect without any defensive precautions.

The Immortal Court truly had all sorts of people.

Seeing the pair beating around the bush instead of immediately assessing him, Lu Ya found it dull and boring. He glanced up at the sky, ignored the faint ripple of spiritual energy, and simply yawned before walking toward the slanted pines at the cliff's edge.

At this moment.

Muyu Feifei also woke up, leaping from the immortal ship's deck onto the branches of two slanted pines.

Gazing at the two large birds, she grew instantly excited, her timid eyes filled with awe.

"Wow, spirit beasts at the Immortal Master realm!"

"They're much more powerful than us."

"And they haven't even been enlightened yet..."

"Look how beautiful they are!"

"If they're so powerful and beautiful, why are they still being ridden by others?"

"Those hateful immortals."

As for getting things done quickly.

The grim-faced man and the cold woman both looked toward the pitch-black immortal ship on the bamboo platform at the cliff's edge.

The cold woman even stepped into the cabin to conduct a thorough investigation.

"It is indeed the Black Lotus immortal ship."

"Did you really defeat Black Lotus?"

"And killed Yunzhongzi?"

"Could it be... that Sect Master Liu's condition has worsened again?"

Their words carried a clear bias that made them sound incredibly unpleasant.

Ning Zhongzi's face darkened as she said:

"Yunzhongzi was killed by our sect's Sword-Wielding Elder, Lu Ya, not by the Sect Master."

"Him? Based on what?"

The grim-faced man sneered and shook his head, not even sparing Lu Ya a glance. His eerie smile was somewhat chilling.

Ning Zhongzi produced two black urns and tossed them one after another to the grim-faced man and the cold woman.

"This is the ash of Yunzhongzi, and this is the ash of the rest of Black Lotus. You two Deacons may verify them."

Yet, the two didn't even look, directly stowing the urns into their spatial rings.

"The cost of faking such things is too low. To think you could pin the credit for wiping out Black Lotus on a mere mortal using a few urns of ash—you underestimate the Immortal Court far too much."

"Think what you will. Regardless, our sect wiped out Black Lotus; we only care about receiving the bounty."

Ning Zhongzi sensed that the two were intentionally making things difficult and, unwilling to argue further, stated plainly:

"As for Elder Lu Ya's Immortal Rank qualification, it is a position reserved since the founding of our sect, granted by the Sect Master to those who have made significant contributions to us."

The grim-faced man suddenly laughed.

"You know it's been since the founding? How many years has it been since your sect was founded? Regardless of who among you killed Yunzhongzi, to claim the Immortal Court's bounty, you must surrender the spoils of war."

Spoils of war...

Ning Zhongzi finally understood. After all that beating around the bush, these two were actually trying to embezzle the spoils from Black Lotus!

After all, Black Lotus had rampaged through the Colored Cloud Immortal Domain for over five hundred years with few failures; they must have accumulated quite a few treasures.

Although the Immortal Court was, on the whole, an organization that fostered the prosperity of the Immortal Realm, it had its fair share of parasites. Especially in remote places like the Colored Cloud Immortal Domain, it was quite common for individual Deacons to extort and demand bribes.

Most of the spoils from Black Lotus were in Lu Ya's hands, and Ning Zhongzi did not intend for him to suffer any losses, so she composed her expression and spoke sternly to the two:

"I have never heard of such a rule in the Immortal Court."

The sinister man's expression was arrogant, and his tone, while seemingly reasonable and persuasive, carried a clear threat.

"Rules are made by people, and special cases call for special exceptions. Although the bounty for Yunzhongzi is not high, the Immortal Court will issue you a reward certificate, which will be of great benefit to the reputation of your sect."

"You wouldn't want Sect Master Liu to be investigated, would you?"

Facing the west where Liu Xuanye was located, the sinister man pointed his long, pale, pointed finger at Lu Ya.

"As for this... what was his name again?"

Ning Zhongzi replied:

"This is our sect's Sword-Wielding Elder, Lu Ya."

"Sword-Wielding Elder?"

The cold woman holding her sword shook her head, her expression indifferent. With her back to Lu Ya, she walked slowly toward the sinister man.

The sinister man knew that Lu Ya was watching birds at the cliff's edge with the two young girls, and he suddenly sneered.

"Can you stop insulting the title of Sword-Wielding Elder?"

His laughter was not loud, yet it sounded like a swarm of mad bees and butterflies—terrifying, twisted, and extremely bizarre.

"Is this just some immortal commoner you brought along to make up the numbers? And you want him to rank among the immortals? His temperament is like that of a child; the Bamboo Spring Sect is at such a critical juncture, yet he has no sense of crisis at all. Guess what he is doing—"

As the words reached his lips, his slightly curved nostrils suddenly flared, catching a hint of something burning.

"Where is that smell of smoke coming from?"

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