Schemes

The next day, the Spirit Butterfly Lineage's army appeared in Flying Spirit City and directly challenged its new city lord, Wu Xiao...

At the center of Flying Spirit City stood an enormous palace-the City Lord's Estate.

Only a few days earlier, the palace had acquired a new master. Yet before that new master could even settle into his seat, a new challenger had appeared, catching everyone by surprise.

"Who did you say had come?" On the throne in the great hall, a man with ice-blue hair and eyes stared at the soldier kneeling below him, his voice and expression fierce.

"They... they call themselves the Spirit Butterfly Lineage!" the soldier replied, his voice trembling slightly.

"The Spirit Butterfly Lineage? Why have I never heard of them?" Wu Xiao frowned deeply, confusion written all over his face.

The Spirit Butterfly Lineage had simply concealed themselves too well. For hundreds of years, no outsiders had discovered them...

Of course, one major reason was that Flying Spirit City's rulers changed far too frequently. In the Great Thousand World, only powerful forces earned the right to endure. The weak would eventually be replaced, and the weaker they were, the more likely that became.

Unless, like the Spirit Butterfly Lineage, they remained hidden from the world, preserving their family's continuity through seclusion.

Whether Wu Xiao had heard of the Spirit Butterfly Lineage or not, they had already brought the fight to his doorstep. He could not retreat into his shell now. Otherwise, he might as well stop being city lord and get out on his own.

Drawing a deep breath, Wu Xiao's expression turned solemn. "How have the others in the city responded? Has anyone come to support the City Lord's Estate?" he asked coldly.

The soldier fell silent. Only after a moment did he answer shakily, "No... none of the city's forces have made a move..."

Those words darkened Wu Xiao's face further.

Those bastards!

He cursed inwardly. They all spoke so sweetly when they were taking benefits from me. Only a few days have passed, and now that trouble has come, every last one of them has pulled their head into their shell?

This so-called Spirit Butterfly Lineage had swaggered into Flying Spirit City and even brought an army to his estate's doorstep. There was no way the city's other forces had failed to notice.

The only explanation was that those fellows intended to watch the tigers fight from the mountain, then support whichever side won!

"Assemble the army! I want to see just what this Spirit Butterfly Lineage can do that gives them the nerve to contend with me!"

Better to rely on himself than beg others. At his command, Wu Xiao's forces swiftly assembled. He then issued a challenge, preparing to face the Spirit Butterfly Lineage head-on outside the city.

Every force in Flying Spirit City could hardly have wished for anything better. After all, a battle inside the city would benefit none of them.

The Spirit Butterfly Lineage naturally had no reason to refuse, so both sides formed up on a plain twenty li outside Flying Spirit City.

When Heavenly Insect, the Spirit Butterfly matriarch, and the others appeared, everyone following the affair was stunned. Then they felt they had been made fools of.

A bunch of people who had not even reached the Supreme Realm actually had the gall to fight for the city lord's seat? Were they trying to toy with everyone?

But when they saw the enormous Black-Feathered Star Locust hovering above the Spirit Butterfly Lineage, they all fell as silent as cicadas in winter.

"The Black-Feathered Star Locust?! Isn't that City Lord Flying Locust's life-bound spirit insect? Why is it in the Spirit Butterfly Lineage's hands?"

Everyone was utterly baffled, but that did not stop fear of the Spirit Butterfly Lineage from taking root in their hearts.

Wu Xiao, too, was shaken when he saw the Black-Feathered Star Locust.

As one of Flying Locust's former deputy city lords, he naturally knew how powerful the Black-Feathered Star Locust was. Like Flying Locust himself, it possessed combat strength approaching that of a Fourth Grade Sovereign. That one Black-Feathered Star Locust alone could wipe them all out.

Among the surrounding crowd, Black Jade, commander of the Flying Spirit Army, had also come to watch the battle.

The moment he saw the Black-Feathered Star Locust, he understood that Flying Locust had indeed perished in the Spirit Butterfly Fairy's ruins-perhaps even at the hands of the Spirit Butterfly Lineage! But how was that possible? Judging solely by the strength the Spirit Butterfly Lineage currently displayed, how could they have harmed a Fourth Grade Sovereign like Flying Locust?

Instinctively, Black Jade thought of that man...

But he immediately shook his head and cast that absurd notion aside.

He admitted that the man was shrouded in mystery and that the growth of his strength was somewhat unbelievable, but there was absolutely no way he could have killed Flying Locust.

There must have been something inside the Spirit Butterfly Fairy's ruins that I didn't know about...

At that thought, Black Jade suddenly remembered that the people challenging Wu Xiao called themselves the Spirit Butterfly Lineage. What connection did they have to the Spirit Butterfly Fairy?

He looked at Heavenly Insect, then at Demon Butterfly. He had personally seen both of them in those ruins. With that, all the questions in his heart seemed to have found a reasonable explanation.

And once he reached that conclusion, Black Jade suddenly realized he no longer had any confidence in Wu Xiao...

"Looks like I need to prepare early..." His eyes shifted, and a shrewd look utterly at odds with his usual honest appearance surfaced on Black Jade's face.

He beckoned over his personal guard, whispered an instruction into the guard's ear, then sent him away at once.

He himself turned his attention back to the battlefield.

At that moment, Wu Xiao stepped forward with a gloomy expression. Looking at the opposing group, most of whom were women gathered like a flock of orioles and swallows, he felt deeply displeased.

"The Spirit Butterfly Lineage, is it? Which of you wishes to challenge me for the position of Flying Spirit City's lord? Step forward and let me see you..."

As he finished speaking, his gaze swept across them before finally settling on Heavenly Insect.

There was no helping it. The two people with the highest cultivation on the other side were Heavenly Insect and the Spirit Butterfly matriarch. Between them, everyone instinctively focused on Heavenly Insect, the man.

Though he looked a little young, the faint, razor-sharp aura surrounding him could not be concealed. It even gave Wu Xiao a slight sense of danger.

Yet, to his surprise, Heavenly Insect did not even bother to glance at him after he spoke. Instead, Demon Butterfly, standing beside Heavenly Insect, took a few steps forward. "I do!"

In that instant, Wu Xiao felt they were deliberately humiliating him.

They had two Heaven Transformation Realm cultivators standing there, and that man genuinely gave him a faint sense of danger. What did they mean by sending out a woman in the Heaven Fusion Realm instead?

"You? What gives you the right?" Wu Xiao demanded, laughing in anger.

Demon Butterfly paid no heed to his attitude. She smiled faintly, radiating captivating charm.

She extended a finger from her fair, delicate hand and lightly pointed at the enormous Black-Feathered Star Locust overhead. "It does," she said softly.

Wu Xiao's eyes widened, disbelief covering his face.

"You're the owner of this Black-Feathered Star Locust?"

Demon Butterfly stood there prettily and nodded with ladylike grace.

Apart from the Spirit Butterfly Lineage, everyone present looked shocked. Clearly, none of them had expected the Black-Feathered Star Locust's new owner to be a mere Heaven Fusion Realm cultivator.

What a joke! How could a Heaven Fusion Realm Spirit Insect Master control a Supreme Realm spirit insect? The backlash alone would be more than a mere Heaven Fusion Realm cultivator could bear! Wu Xiao raged inwardly.

Yet he could hardly believe this woman would dare deceive him in such a setting. If she did, she would be the first to die once the battle began!

"Very well!" Wu Xiao forcibly restrained his anger and said coldly, "I don't care what tricks you're playing. If you want to take the city lord's seat from me, show me what you can do!"

At that, Heavenly Insect chuckled, stepped forward, and said with a smile, "Excellent. That's precisely what we intend to do."

"But, Deputy City Lord Wu Xiao, would you prefer a contest with rules or an all-out battle?"

Wu Xiao frowned. That address of "deputy city lord" grated terribly on his ears!

"What contest, what battle? There's only one way to become Flying Spirit City's lord-kill me!"

"But do you have the strength?"

Heavenly Insect chuckled and shook his head. "So that's how you see things, Deputy City Lord Wu Xiao..."

"If you insist that our sides fight it out, we certainly won't back down. I simply wonder how many people the winning side will have left after a battle on such a scale... By then, I'm afraid Flying Spirit City will belong to neither us nor you..."

At those words, not only did Wu Xiao's face turn utterly dark, but the leaders of the surrounding forces also began cursing inwardly.

With that said, whether Wu Xiao believed Heavenly Insect or not, he could no longer consider throwing all his forces into a fight to the death against the Spirit Insect Lineage.

And those watching from the sidelines with schemes of their own abruptly lost the opportunity they had been hoping for.

"Then what do you propose?" After pondering for a moment, Wu Xiao raised his head and looked at Heavenly Insect, asking in a low voice.

"Why don't we each send out three people and decide it by the best of three?" Heavenly Insect suggested.

"Are you sure?" Wu Xiao looked over in surprise. No matter how he considered it, that proposal favored his own side, didn't it?

The opposing side might possess a Supreme Realm Black-Feathered Star Locust, but a Spirit Insect Master's combat strength depended on how well the master and spirit insect worked together.

Even if a mere Heaven Fusion Realm woman had forcibly controlled a Supreme Realm spirit insect through some strange method, she could never coordinate with it as smoothly as a normal Spirit Insect Master, much less command it as naturally as her own limbs.

In Wu Xiao's view, it would already be impressive if that woman could order the Black-Feathered Star Locust to fight. Coordination was out of the question!

That meant his side already had one victory secured. For the remaining matches, he had Heaven-reaching Realm Spirit Insect Masters and even masters at the level of the three minor tribulations of the Sovereign. How could a group whose strongest members were merely in the Heaven Transformation Realm compare?

As for that strange boy who gave him a sense of danger, Wu Xiao was not worried. So what if he let the boy win one match? Wouldn't he still win the contest two matches to one?

"Fine, best of three it is!" Wu Xiao agreed readily.

Clearly, he did not know that in Heavenly Insect's previous life, there was an idiom called "Tian Ji's horse race." Or perhaps he was simply so confident in himself and his subordinates that he had not thought that far.

When Wu Xiao confidently sent out the Spirit Insect Master at the Spiritual Energy Tribulation stage whose strength was second only to his own, he saw the woman who had so boldly declared her intention to fight him for the city lord's seat step out from the opposing side...

And beside that woman followed a Supreme Realm Black-Feathered Star Locust.

In an instant, not only did Wu Xiao's face darken, but the elderly Spirit Insect Master's face also turned black as ink.

What a joke!

How was facing a Supreme Realm spirit insect any different from seeking death?

"What do you mean by this? Are you deliberately toying with me?!" Wu Xiao barked coldly at Heavenly Insect.

Heavenly Insect chuckled softly, looking puzzled. "Why do you say that, Deputy City Lord Wu? Didn't you personally agree to this contest just now? Why are you trying to go back on your word?"

By then, the surrounding crowd had also grasped Heavenly Insect's scheme. He had arranged for his side's strongest fighter, the Black-Feathered Star Locust, to avoid the opposing side's strongest fighter, Wu Xiao. That way, even if his side was destined to lose one match, the Black-Feathered Star Locust could bring the score level...

Thus, with Wu Xiao and the Black-Feathered Star Locust out of the picture, the third match would become the true life-or-death battle deciding the outcome. It would come down to the depth of each side's reserves.

Drawing a deep breath, Wu Xiao quickly understood all this. Anger lodged in his chest, and he wanted to punch this little bastard who dared scheme against him straight to death.

Very good, very good! Boy, I'll remember you. Don't give me an opening, or I'll slaughter you!

Having inwardly sentenced Heavenly Insect to death, Wu Xiao turned his gloomy face toward his subordinate, whose expression was full of grievance and misery. "Enough. You don't need to fight. Just concede!"

What else could he do? Was he really supposed to make the man fight a Supreme Realm spirit insect? That would be sending him straight to his death. If Wu Xiao dared issue such an order, his subordinates would likely lose heart, and his eventual defeat would be even more complete.

Hearing Wu Xiao's words, the Spirit Insect Master at the Spiritual Energy Tribulation stage visibly sighed in relief, then immediately turned and retreated into the ranks.

Seeing this, Heavenly Insect smiled faintly. "Are you conceding, Deputy City Lord Wu? Then the first match is ours."

Wu Xiao's face was ashen as he shouted coldly, "So what if you won one match? I'll fight the next one myself. Does anyone in your Spirit Butterfly Lineage dare face me?!"

The Spirit Butterfly matriarch and her daughter, Demon Butterfly, both acted as though they had heard nothing, leaving everything to Heavenly Insect.

Wu Xiao felt helpless, but he could hardly pick a quarrel with a group of weak women. If word got out, he would be the one losing face.

In the end, the helpless Wu Xiao could only turn his gaze toward Heavenly Insect, who conceded without hesitation. He did not even select an opponent for Wu Xiao...

With no other choice, Wu Xiao sent out his side's third contestant. To Heavenly Insect's surprise, this was another expert at the Spiritual Energy Tribulation stage-and a complete stranger about whom he knew nothing. That gave him a small shock.

It seems Wu Xiao still has a few useful people under him... Heavenly Insect sighed inwardly. Then a faint trace of killing intent rose from the depths of his heart.

In that case, I can't let this man leave alive. Otherwise, something unpredictable could happen afterward!