Four waves of Immortal Sect pressure clashed in the air, whipping up howling winds as clouds churned overhead.
The two Nine Star Immortal Sect Masters' Golden Bodies blazed with golden light, like Buddha's radiance shining down upon the world.
Above them,
Three thousand sword lights hung upside down, ringing like clashing metal. Complex sword formations formed strange yet exquisite mathematical patterns, like the vast Xingtian Ritual.
Below them,
A bewitching fox shadow shifted like the sunset. Three enormous tails swayed like flickering flames, churning the surrounding air into a sea of wine and giving off a heady, intoxicating fragrance.
In the end, Wine Fox Immortal had turned against her own side.
She'd come to watch the show, but had been forced to put on one herself.
She'd come to investigate Lu Ya, only to find herself repeatedly investigated and teased by him.
He was far worse than Liu Xuanye. He'd even dared to crush Xu Yinglong's skull beneath his foot!
Fortunately, Lu Ya had only made her dance and fight. If he'd told her to be his woman, wouldn't she have lost her virtue?
Fighting was better!
One day, she'd grow a fourth tail, a fifth, a sixth...
Then she'd make Lu Ya kneel on the ground, stick his butt in the air, and sing "Two Tigers"!
With that thought, her Crimson Shadow Fox Form shot skyward, flying straight at the two Nine Star Immortal Sect Masters.
The four of them were soon locked in a free-for-all!
The two Nine Star Immortal Sect Masters shook their heads in dismay.
Clearly, they disdained lowering themselves to fight Liu Xuanye and Wine Fox Immortal.
But for the Immortal Court's dignity, and to punish the rebel, they had no choice.
The Ink Immortal Sect Master waved his hand, scattering the sword formation, and sneered, "I don't show myself, I don't use Immortal Release, and all you've got is this petty swordplay?"
Wine Fox Immortal swished her tails and called out, "If little sister Xuanye were here, you wouldn't be fighting for shit. Do me a favor and let's just pretend to fight. Look, Lu Ya hasn't killed anyone, has he? Xu Yinglong went too far this time. What's wrong with letting them keep a ship?"
Another iron-hard fist of spiritual power slammed toward Wine Fox Immortal's head.
"Wine Fox Immortal, do you know what you're doing?"
"Don't talk. Let's put on a show. Just pretend to lose to me."
"Bastard!"
At that moment,
the Immortal Court guards surrounding Kun,
the inspection deacon carrying out a perfunctory inspection in Azure Phoenix City,
and the guards and inspection deacons aboard the other six Immortal Ships—
were all dumbfounded.
They were really fighting?
This was the first time they'd encountered resistance during an Immortal Court inspection.
Even though Deacon Xu hadn't come to inspect at all,
and didn't have any inspection or acceptance documents,
did any of that matter?
He was Xu Yinglong!
He was the third most important figure in the East Floating Immortal Court!
His father was the East Floating City Lord, a half-step Immortal Venerable, Xu Nian!
His great-uncle was the Colored Cloud Domain's adjudicator, an Immortal Saint, True Person Zhushen!
Forget the East Floating Immortal District—even across the entire Colored Cloud Immortal Domain, no one dared lay a hand on him.
They didn't know how things had come to this.
They'd been living high on the hog with Xu Yinglong for over a thousand years. It had always been this way.
Before they came to Bamboo Spring Sect, everything had seemed normal. They'd even prepared more thoroughly than usual.
How had things turned out like this?
What kind of background did City Lord Lu have?
What were they supposed to do now?
Should they notify East Floating City?
But True Person Silver Moon hadn't known about this surprise operation. How could they notify her?
Should they fight?
With the Ink Immortal Sect Master and the Illumination Immortal Sect Master there, it seemed they couldn't get involved.
But it wouldn't look right to just watch while rebels resisted the inspection.
What should they do?
Gradually, everyone's eyes settled on the man watching the show... Lu Ya.
Shoot the horse before the rider; capture the ringleader first. Why not seize City Lord Lu?
People tended to believe only what they wanted to believe. The weaker they were, the less they knew their own limits—especially Xu Yinglong's underlings, who'd spent years idling about and throwing their weight around, neglecting battle formations.
As they saw it, Deacon Xu's actual cultivation was only that of a Six Star Immortal Monarch. This kid could grab people from a distance, but even an ordinary low-level Immortal Master could do that.
They could just send a high-level Immortal Master over. Maybe they'd capture him in one go. And even if they didn't, the two Nine Star Immortal Sect Masters had their backs.
This was their golden opportunity to distinguish themselves and make a name!
On the deck of an Immortal Ship beside the flagship,
more than a dozen Immortal Masters were itching to try.
"I'll grab him!"
"Let me get him!"
"Let's all go together!"
Just then, a short, scrawny One Star Immortal Sect Master stepped out of the crowd with an air of composure.
"Ridiculous. His method of grabbing people from a distance is no ordinary trick. He must be a high-level Immortal Master. How could you be his match? Besides, for so many of you to attack one man would disgrace the Immortal Court. I'll go capture him myself."
You're an Immortal Sect Master—why are you stealing credit?
Everyone was chagrined, but there was nothing they could do.
The short Immortal Sect Master smiled faintly and, just like Lu Ya, reached out toward the flagship beside them and grabbed at it from a distance.
"Five Elements Immortal Capture Technique!"
"Hm?"
Lu Ya turned his head. It was only a One Star Immortal Sect Master. He couldn't be bothered to act, so he casually fobbed him off with a glance and paid him no more attention.
These people were so boring.
He was waiting for a guest.
The short Immortal Sect Master's eyes froze. It was as if he'd glimpsed the Abyss. His outstretched right hand trembled uncontrollably.
The people behind him were baffled.
"Senior Han, why did you stop?"
The Immortal Sect Master Han's face darkened. He forced a smile and said, "I just remembered something."
"What?"
"I've got immortal bean soup simmering in the furnace in my cave. I should go check the fire. I'll be off."
"..."
With that, Immortal Sect Master Han swept his sleeves and floated away in the direction opposite the flagship.
You're going the wrong way!
Everyone was left with black lines across their foreheads.
Had Immortal Sect Master Han been scared off?
He'd always been so brash!
What on earth was going on?
When they looked at Lu Ya again, they were left in awe and confusion, and decided it would be best to watch and wait.
Azure Phoenix City.
Muyu Feifei came out of a candy shop. The two of them clutched one candied hawthorn skewer with four hands. The shopkeeper had given it to them for free because of who they were.
The two tiger-headed girls had been licking it from either side. As they licked and licked, something started to feel off.
They looked up and nearly peed themselves.
"Good heavens, why are there so many Immortal Court ships?"
"And they're fighting the Sect Master and Wine Fox Immortal?"
"What do we do?"
"What do you mean, what do we do? With little uncle here, why even ask? We'll wake up and find another great victory."
"While they're fighting, why don't we go pick some herbs from the wet nurse's garden and trade them for candied hawthorns? Sounds good, doesn't it?"
"Xiaoyu, you're clever."
"Feifei, you're not bad either."
The battle unfolded just as the two little girls had predicted—another great victory.
But this time, Lu Ya didn't make a move.
He was waiting for a guest.
In the air,
sword shadows flashed everywhere,
and foxfire blazed.
Over the past ten days, Liu Xuanye had cultivated with Lu Ya countless times, deepening her understanding of the sword.
In her normal state alone, she'd held her own against the Nine Star Immortal Sect Master using Immortal Release for quite a while. Just as she began to falter, she suddenly used Immortal Release herself. Her sword lights blazed, quickly gaining the upper hand over the Ink Immortal Sect Master.
Wine Fox Immortal was no less formidable. She'd risen from Three Star to Four Star Immortal Sect Master, and, uninjured, fought with astonishing ferocity, keeping the Illumination Immortal Sect Master completely on the back foot.
So these were the Peerless Duo of East Floating Immortal Academy back in the day?
Lu Ya sipped immortal brew, chewed on goji berries, and enjoyed the immortal breeze. Suddenly, he felt like a father watching his daughters grow up.
Meanwhile,
the city's residents, tourists, Immortal Court guards, inspection deacons...
were all too stunned to speak!
They'd never seen an Immortal Court inspection team in such a sorry state.
The seven enormous Immortal Ships looked like all bark and no bite, like a tiger fallen into the plains and bullied by dogs.
This was the Immortal Court! Not only had a tiny sect defied it, they'd even given it a sound beating?
The battle was about to end.
Just as Liu Xuanye's three thousand swords enclosed the Ink Immortal Sect Master's Golden Body, ready to close in and end the fight in one strike—
Just as Wine Fox Immortal's endless three tails wound around the Illumination Immortal Sect Master's Golden Body, pinning him in place as she prepared to knock him out—
A flash of white light suddenly burst forth.
A sword came riding the wind from the west.
Before you continue