The night air lay heavy and still.
In the fourth courtyard of the Prefectural Governor's Office.
A black-robed figure hovered above a corner of the eaves, his hood hiding his face. Gang Force surged around him and spread in all directions, setting the courtyard's trees and grasses rustling and rippling the pond's surface.
Below him stood a tall man with his hands behind his back, rooted like an ancient pine, unmoving.
He was the Qi Martial Guard's Pacification Commissioner stationed in Guangwu Prefecture, and Prefectural Governor Jiang Chong's personal guard!
At the peak of Outer Astral Force!
Yan Peng!
His face was hard as iron, his gaze locked on the figure overhead. His voice rang like a great bell:
"Who are you? Do you know that under Great Qi law, trespassing in the prefectural governor's residence is a capital crime?"
"Heh, heh, heh..."
The black-robed man let out a strange laugh from midair, thin and raspy.
"Great Qi law?"
"Great Qi law also says the wives of imperial kinsmen must not be dishonored. Yet here you are, you mangy cur, holed up in the governor's inner residence!"
"Bastard!!"
Yan Peng's eyes flew wide, his hair and beard bristling.
"Die, villain!"
"Hum—"
As his words fell, earthen-yellow Gang Force exploded from his body. An aura as heavy as a mountain rose from the ground.
Yan Peng crossed his palms, then swept them upward. In an instant, a palm imprint several yards wide took shape, its lines winding like a coiled earth dragon. With a low roar, it swept down upon the black-robed man, blotting out the sky!
Earth Treasury Dragon-Shaped Palm: Dragon's Fall into the Endless Abyss!
"Well struck!"
The black-robed man was ready. With a low shout, the black energy around him suddenly seethed.
He used no elaborate technique. He