The Immortal City Shifts the Blame, Pinning It on the Blood Demon Sect!

Within the inner city of Black Mud City, in the main hall of the City Lord's Manor.

This usually resplendent center of power was now so silent that not even the faintest stray sound could be heard. The space was vast enough to feel suffocating, and everyone had deliberately suppressed even their breathing to the lowest possible level.

The Immortal City Lord knelt on the smooth white-jade floor.

Drops of sweat, each larger than the last, ran down from his forehead. They slid past the tip of his nose before finally striking the white-jade tiles with crisp drips.

His cloud-patterned brocade robe had long since been soaked through with cold sweat, clinging wetly to his back.

The City Lord's knees were pressed to the floor, his back bent into an exaggerated arc. He did not dare lift his head for even a glance at the seat of honor at the front of the hall. His face was full of uncontrollable panic, and his body shook without cease from sheer terror.

Seated in the place of honor at the front of the hall was an Outer Sect Elder dressed in a blue daoist robe.

The elder leaned against the broad-backed chair, idly rolling two jet-black iron walnuts in his right hand.

His fingers moved them back and forth.

The two iron walnuts scraped against each other, producing a piercing metallic rasp. The sound echoed through the empty hall, each scrape smashing against the City Lord's eardrums until his scalp tingled.

Then, the scraping of the iron walnuts abruptly ceased.

The elder's five fingers suddenly clenched inward.

Azure true essence surged wildly from between his fingers. The originally incomparably hard black-iron walnuts were crushed beneath that immense spiritual power, instantly turning into a puddle of glowing red molten iron.

The searing molten iron dripped down between the elder's fingers.

Drip.

Drip.

The molten iron struck the spirit-beast-hide carpet below, instantly burning through the thick rug and scorching several charred holes into the jade tiles beneath it. Pungent blue smoke rose in curling wisps.

"The City-Guarding Stele is gone," the elder finally said.

His voice was not loud, yet it carried the terrifying pressure unique to a higher-tier immortal sect, shaking dust and grit loose from the beams of the City Lord's Manor hall.

"And a large stretch of the formation wall in the inner city, built at enormous expense, has collapsed."

The elder casually flung the remaining molten iron from his hand onto the floor.

"Two days from now is the grand day when the Holy Maiden returns home to sever her mortal ties."

"At such a critical juncture, you have handed me a mess this enormous?"

The moment the elder's words fell, the City Lord's shoulders gave a violent twitch.

His knees unconsciously shuffled half an inch backward across the floor.

He clenched his back teeth tightly, and a faint taste of blood quickly spread through his mouth.

His mind frantically calculated a way out. He absolutely could not reveal the truth behind the Mud Alley massacre. If the elder learned that a mortal who could not even sense spiritual energy had pulled out a thirty-thousand-jin dao stele with his bare hands, smashed a Foundation Establishment Realm steward into a puddle of flesh, and even rammed down the wall separating immortals from mortals—

The City Lord knew that the moment those words left his mouth, he would be thrown into the sect's earthfire furnace and burned to ashes tomorrow.

This concerned the lofty dignity of cultivators, and it concerned his own head. This matter had to be buried.

He could only force himself to make up a story.

"Elder, please calm your anger!" The City Lord suddenly slammed his forehead against the white-jade floor with a dull thud.

He raised his face, which was full of panic and grievance.

"Today's calamity was absolutely not an ordinary mortal riot! That Azure-Water Qilin caused it!"

The City Lord shouted at the top of his lungs, doing everything he could to make his lie sound flawless.

"For some unknown reason, the Grand Elder's spirit beast was suddenly struck by a violent madness and rampaged through Mud Alley! The raging fluctuations of spiritual energy actually drew over the surviving remnants of the Blood Demon Sect lurking outside the city!"

The elder raised an eyebrow but did not interrupt him.

Seeing this, the City Lord hurriedly continued splashing filth onto that mortal.

"The mortal causing trouble outside the city gate is named Lu Chen! But he was possessed long ago by a demonic cultivator from the Blood Demon Sect!"

"That villain was exceedingly cunning. He had been disguising himself as a useless wretch without spirit roots while lurking in the outer city. Relying on demonic cultivator sorcery, he not only killed the steward, but also used an incomparably vicious method to forcibly pull out the dao stele suppressing the earth veins!"

"Your subordinate had intended to stop him even at the cost of my life, but that evil art was simply too bizarre. Even the city wall was rammed down by a demonic sect artifact he brought with him..."

After hearing this account, extreme disdain appeared on the elder's face.

A cultivator's arrogance meant he would never suspect that a mortal could possess such capabilities. Since the Blood Demon Sect had been invoked, everything now fell neatly into place.

The elder rose from his seat of honor.

Immense pressure blanketed the entire hall once again.

"Remnants of the Blood Demon Sect?" The elder sneered, his words brimming with contempt for a lower-tier force.

"These stinking vermin that cannot bear the light truly do not know the height of heaven or the depth of earth. The Holy Maiden is about to return home, yet they dare stir up trouble at a time like this. They are truly tired of living."

"Pass down my decree." The elder raised his voice.

"Immediately assemble every enforcement squad in the city. Call up all those idle Outer Sect disciples as well."

"Enter Immortal-Breaking Mountain tonight. Conduct a carpet search!"

"Since the Blood Demon Sect wants to play, let them learn the rules of the Azure Firmament Sword Sect. They dared touch the City-Guarding Stele? I will make their entire sect bury itself with it!"

Hearing these words, the huge stone hanging over the City Lord's heart finally fell.

He hurriedly slammed his forehead against the ground again.

"Your subordinate obeys! I will certainly bring those Blood Demon Sect remnants to justice!"

Having received his orders, the City Lord climbed up from the floor, bent at the waist, and backed out of the hall step by step.

He crossed the towering threshold.

The heavy wooden doors of the hall slowly closed before him.

The City Lord stood in the corridor, no longer surrounded by that terrifying pressure.

The respect and terror he had shown moments ago vanished completely.

He raised his sleeve and viciously wiped his forehead several times, smearing away every trace of sticky cold sweat.

The fat on his face squeezed tightly together with lingering fear and viciousness, twisting his features beyond recognition.

He turned and beckoned toward several guard commanders standing in the distance.

One trusted commander hurried forward and dropped to one knee.

"What are your orders, my lord?"

The City Lord lowered his voice and leaned close to the commander's ear.

"Gather the enforcement squads and the Outer Sect disciples. Enter Immortal-Breaking Mountain."

The commander nodded, preparing to carry out the order.

The City Lord suddenly seized the commander by the collar and dragged him close.

"Prick up your ears and listen carefully." Barefaced killing intent seeped through the City Lord's voice.

"Once you enter the mountain, if you find that brat named Lu Chen—"

"Do not take him alive."

"Kill him on the spot. Chop his corpse to pieces, burn it clean, and grind his bones to ash!"

"I want him to vanish completely from the Wild Nine Provinces. He must not be allowed to utter even half a word!"

The City Lord had made up his mind to kill and silence Lu Chen. As long as Lu Chen died, the case would become an ironclad one with no living witness. The story of possession by the Blood Demon Sect would be cemented forever, and no one would ever uncover that a mortal had smashed down the city wall.

Upon hearing this, the trusted commander looked troubled.

He turned to glance at the sky outside. It had long since become completely dark, and not even a glimmer of starlight could be seen over the wilderness.

"City Lord..." The commander swallowed, his voice carrying a hint of hesitation.

"After night falls, the outskirts of Immortal-Breaking Mountain are full of high-ranking demon beasts moving in packs."

"And poisonous demon miasma hangs in the forest all year round. Once night arrives, the demon aura surges."

"If we send those Outer Sect disciples and ordinary enforcement squads in tonight, their vision will be obstructed. One misstep, and they could be ambushed by packs of demon beasts."

"If the casualties become too severe, and the higher-ups investigate, this subordinate cannot bear the responsibility..."

Before the commander could finish—

The City Lord flew into a rage.

He raised his right foot, clad in a cloud-patterned boot, and viciously kicked the commander squarely in the chest.

Bang.

Caught completely off guard, the commander was sent tumbling several times before crashing heavily onto the corridor's stone slabs. A crisp crack of breaking ribs sounded from his chest.

The City Lord strode forward and looked down from above at the commander curled up on the ground.

"Casualties? Why the hell should I care how many of them die!"

Pointing toward the collapsed inner city, the City Lord cursed loudly, displaying the immortal sect's utter disregard for human lives without reservation.

"What are the worthless lives of those lowly disciples worth?"

"Even if every last one of them dies, together they are not worth as much as one white-jade brick from my inner city wall!"

"The sect hands out spirit stones to raise them precisely so they can go fill graves at a time like this!"

"Pass the order immediately! Anyone who dares refuse to enter the mountain will be executed on the spot for betraying the sect!"

Clutching his kicked-in chest, the commander scrambled up from the ground in terror and repeatedly knocked his head against the floor.

"This subordinate understands! This subordinate will see to it immediately!"

The commander turned and, covered in dust, sprinted madly out of the City Lord's Manor.

Less than half an hour later.

On the broad white-jade plaza outside the City Lord's Manor, the shrill blast of horns completely shattered the stillness of the night.

Countless formation patterns lit up across the ground, driving back the surrounding darkness.

Dozens of small spirit boats were activated one after another.

An icy-blue glow shimmered over the hulls of the spirit boats, illuminating the fully armed, tense-faced enforcement squad members and Outer Sect disciples around them.

Under such pressure, not a single person dared voice even half a complaint.

Several high-ranking deacons leading the force stood at the bows, forcefully waving formation flags in their hands.

Dozens of small spirit boats rose into the sky at once.

Their engines roared, stirring fierce currents of spiritual energy that made the flags across the plaza snap and crackle in the wind.

The spirit boats turned in unison high in the air.

The massive flying formation tore across the night sky.

Dozens of dazzling trails pointed straight toward the edge of the dark, deep forest of Immortal-Breaking Mountain beyond Black Mud City. A vast net of pursuit had been cast across the wilderness.