Cloud City

"Impossible! Give up that foolish thought!" Liu Qingqing shouted angrily.

"Alas, I saved an ungrateful wretch." Jiang Ming turned away despondently and looked up at the sky.

After hesitating for two breaths, Liu Qingqing gritted her teeth, turned, and left.

Sensing Liu Qingqing's departure, Jiang Ming's lips curled upward, his golden eyes flickering.

Yunshui Sage was having a very hard time. He was disheveled all over, though his aura had not weakened much. Yet he had been suppressed and beaten the entire time, rage filling his chest. He was merely waiting for people from Jiang Domain to arrive, so that those before him who had launched the Holy War would suffer the bitter fruit of their deeds. That was also why he had not fled.

"Stop dragging this out," Jiang Ming said blandly.

The three Shadows heard this and immediately went all out, not daring to slacken in the slightest. Yunshui Sage spat out a mouthful of blood. What was this supposed to mean? The moment that guy opened his mouth, they fought like their lives depended on it. Were they really going to throw their lives away?

Seeing that the three before him held nothing back, not even using the power of laws to shield themselves, Yunshui Sage knew that if this continued, forget waiting for the people from Jiang Domain—he would be finished before they even arrived.

With that thought, Yunshui Sage erupted with power and broke free from the battle. "Since you insist on acting this way, think carefully about the consequences! I, Yunshui, am not someone to be trifled with either. Just you wait!" He turned and left without the slightest attachment.

Seeing that he had gone, the three Shadows descended beside Jiang Ming as well. Blade Shadow even slashed out with his saber, dismembering the four commanders and annihilating their Nascent Souls along with them.

"Young Master, Yunshui fled. This subordinate was incompetent." Blade Shadow dropped to one knee and cupped his fists. Dark Shadow and Sword Shadow knelt as well.

"It's fine." Jiang Ming waved a hand with a smile. "Take me to Cloud City, then you may return."

"Yes!"

Cloud Domain, Cloud City.

As the most prosperous city in Cloud Domain, Cloud City was fully twice the size of Cloudwater City. Countless experts resided within it, and the domain lord, the Yun Clan, was a Saint Realm lineage.

The Four Great Families of Cloud City were Liu, Ye, Jiang, and Lin. Originally, there had only been three great families. The Liu Clan had been a second-rate family, but Liu Ming, its patriarch, married the eldest daughter of the Ye Family. Borrowing the Ye Family's influence, the Liu Clan rapidly expanded and became the fourth great family. Together with the Ye Family, it became the greatest force beneath the Yun Clan.

The Liu Clan was Jiang Ming's destination on this trip.

"Liu Qingqing? Heh, you can't escape." Jiang Ming's lips lifted slightly, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

Liu Clan.

"Who are you? Why have you come to my Liu Clan?" Jiang Ming was stopped by the gate guards once again.

"I'm a friend of your eldest young lady. I came to see her," Jiang Ming explained with a smile.

"Since when does our eldest young lady have friends? If you don't leave now, I'll make a move!" the guard said viciously.

Jiang Ming frowned and slapped him. "Can't you speak properly? Why are you so hot-tempered? Did your wife run off with someone?"

"You!" The guard erupted with the aura of Core Gathering. Jiang Ming looked at him disdainfully and kicked him flying.

"Young Master, please wait a moment. I will report this at once." Seeing that Jiang Ming was not someone to provoke, the other guard immediately yielded.

Before long, that guard returned. "Young Master, the patriarch invites you in."

Jiang Ming nodded and strode into the Liu Clan.

Liu Clan's main hall.

"I hear you are Liu Qingqing's friend?" Liu Ming, the Liu Clan patriarch, sat in the seat of honor and looked down at Jiang Ming.

"Where is she?" Jiang Ming asked.

"I don't know," Liu Ming said.

"You don't know?"

"I truly don't. Ever since she secretly ran away from home last time, she has never returned." Liu Ming sighed.

"Were the people who captured her in Cloudwater City sent by you?"

"I merely sent people to look for her, but there has been no news. May I ask who you are, sir?" Liu Ming asked politely.

"My name is Jiang Ming. I come from Azure Region." He had indeed come from Azure Region.

"Azure Region?" Liu Ming muttered to himself. He had never heard of it. Where was that?

"Azure Region lies on the other side of Cloudwater Region. It is a poor and remote place," the steward at his side whispered into his ear.

Liu Ming raised a brow. "Junior, although you are my daughter's friend, isn't it somewhat inappropriate for you to rashly injure a guard of my Liu Clan?"

Jiang Ming smiled. "So what?" He pinched a talisman paper in his hand.

"Boy, you don't know the height of heaven or the depth of earth. Let me teach you a lesson!" Before Liu Ming finished speaking, he struck directly. A giant hand of spiritual power slammed toward Jiang Ming, clearly intending to leave no survivor.

Sensing that something was wrong, Jiang Ming activated the talisman. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the Liu Clan.

"Thousand-Li Escape Talisman!" Liu Ming narrowed his eyes. "How could such a remote backwater possess such a divine talisman?"

"Perhaps that youth obtained it through some fortunate chance," the steward said calmly.

"Have someone draw that boy's likeness. Put out a wanted notice across the entire domain," Liu Ming ordered. Never before had anyone dared cause trouble in the Liu Clan and escape unscathed.

"Yes!" The steward cupped his fists in acknowledgment and left the main hall.

On a hill outside Cloud City, Jiang Ming stood atop the peak, his golden eyes gazing in Cloud City's direction. "That old bastard really is a snob."

He took an item from the Imperial Prince's storage ring—the Myriad Transformations Mask. It was shaped like a mask and was a Heavenly Spirit Artifact. Once worn, it could alter one's facial features while concealing one's aura.

After Jiang Ming put on the Myriad Transformations Mask, his face blurred for a moment. In the blink of an eye, it became an ordinary, unremarkable face. His golden eyes gradually dimmed and shifted into a deep brown.

He entered Cloud City once more. The entrance fee was one High-Grade Spirit Stone. Of course, he had "borrowed" it from someone else; using a Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone right away would have been far too shocking.

In the woods outside the city, someone sat with disheveled clothes, a strip of cloth tied over his mouth, terror shining from his eyes.

With nothing to do today, he might as well visit the pleasure quarters and listen to music.

Thinking of that famous saying from before, it was especially fitting now.

"Brother, may I ask where the best brothel in Cloud City is?" Jiang Ming stopped someone and asked.

The man looked at Jiang Ming strangely. "Brother, you look so young. You'd best stay away from such places of flowers and smoke."

Jiang Ming handed him a High-Grade Spirit Stone, and the man's eyes immediately lit up.

"You're too polite, brother. Leave this trifling matter to me, Cloud City's all-knowing guide." The man patted his chest and smiled.

"Cloud City has four great establishments: Jade Brocade Pavilion, Red Sleeve Pavilion, Jadeite House, and Drunken Fragrance Court. Each has its own merits!" The man raised his brows at Jiang Ming, wearing an expression that said they both understood.

"Among them, Red Sleeve Pavilion is famed for its dancing. Those dance moves, tsk, tsk, tsk... they are simply breathtakingly beautiful, enough to make one linger and forget to leave. Jadeite House, meanwhile, has exquisite surroundings, and the beauties within are pure and flawless, like immortals descending to the mortal world. As for Drunken Fragrance Pavilion, there's no need to say more—not only are its wine and dishes fragrant, but the people inside are even more fragrant, making one linger and forget to leave. The final one, Jade Brocade Pavilion, is rather conventional, but it has its own unique charm as well."

Hearing this, Jiang Ming looked at him strangely. "Pure and flawless? A brothel?"

"Haha, exactly so. The women of Jadeite House sell their talents, not their bodies!" The man laughed heartily.

Jiang Ming's eyes lit up, and his interest was instantly piqued. "Then I must go have a proper look."

He wanted to see what sort of thing was trying to be both a whore and a saint.