After traveling for six or seven days, Yu Tianheng and his group finally arrived at a place several dozen miles Suotuo City.
As the morning light streamed down, Yu Tianheng stroked the Earl's edict in his arms.
A caravan of over a hundred carriages lined up behind them, while the Soul Power fluctuations of two hundred Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan Soul Master surged like an undercurrent, their auras of Soul Master at the third ring or higher faintly visible in the morning mist.
These are all elite Soul Master from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
In addition, there is a team of three hundred people. These people are not Soul Master, and they don't even have Martial Soul, but they have cultivated Martial Dao and their realms are all above the Bone Refining Realm, comparable to Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. Their combat power should not be underestimated.
Some of these people were elite students of the Blue Lightning Martial Arts Hall, while others were soldiers from the Heaven Dou Empire's army. They had been personally trained by Mu Qing for a period of time and were extremely loyal to Yu Tianheng.
When Yu Tianheng took up his post in Suotuo City, he brought them with him.
The autumn wind whipped up the yellow sand on the official road, and the team of three hundred warriors surged forward like a black iron torrent.
At the very front of the procession, a woman sat atop the jet-black Snow-Treading Steed. She wore a tight-fitting black outfit, with a long sword adorned with ancient vine patterns hanging at her waist. A silver mask covered the lower half of her face, revealing only a pair of amber vertical pupils that gleamed with a wild and sharp light.
Yu Linglong reached out and brushed her snow-white cat ears, her fingertips inadvertently tracing the pale pink scar on her neck—a mark left by the branding iron at the Heaven Dou Auction House.
She was being auctioned off as a rare slave and was about to become a plaything for the powerful and wealthy when Yu Tianheng saved her. From then on, she had a name, Yu Linglong, a place to live, and the opportunity to change her fate.
"Whoosh--" Yu Linglong let out a soft shout, her longsword was drawn three inches from its sheath, and the chilling sword aura immediately startled the warhorse into neighing.
This longsword, bestowed upon her by Yu Tianheng himself, has been tempered into a unique sharpness in her hands.
For several years, Yu Linglong diligently practiced the Martial Dao arts and swordsmanship passed down to her by Yu Tianheng, starting from the most basic horse stance, and forcibly refined the chaotic bloodline power in her body into powerful True Qi.
Yu Linglong herself was quite talented, and Yu Tianheng also provided her with a large amount of cultivation resources and elixirs.
Therefore, Yu Linglong's strength improved rapidly.
Now, her aura is restrained yet profound, and her strength at the Organ Refining Realm Seventh Stage is enough to make half of the martial artists in the team look up to her in the dust.
"Miss Linglong, Suotuo City is just ten miles ahead!" A warrior's shout came from behind. Yu Linglong narrowed her eyes, gazing at the towering city walls in the distance, her ears twitching slightly as she caught the subtle movements in the wind. She sheathed her longsword with a backhand motion, her movements fluid and natural, as if it were an instinct honed through countless trials.
"Stay vigilant. Suotuo City is a melting pot of all sorts of people. Our master's purpose in going there is to take control of the Suotuo City, which will inevitably infringe on the interests of some within the city, and they will likely take action. We must be on high alert."
Yu Linglong's clear, cool voice echoed through the ranks, and the three hundred warriors behind her simultaneously tightened their reins, their synchronized movements demonstrating the team's strict discipline.
She stroked the black horse's mane, a subtle smile playing on her lips. From a slave at the auction house to a capable martial artist, Yu Linglong had long since resolved to use her sword to protect the person who changed her destiny, and everything he cherished.
The procession continued to move forward slowly.
They soon arrived at the Suotuo City.
The majestic city gates of Suotuo City opened wide. Hammond, the city lord appointed by the Balak Kingdom, dressed in a long robe woven with silver thread, led the nobles of Suotuo City, large and small, to await the arrival of Yu Tianheng.
Behind him stood a burly man with his arms crossed, radiating a chilling aura; he was a Seven-Ring Soul Sage.
A powerhouse of this caliber is not to be underestimated even on the entire continent, let alone in the small Suotuo City.
With his strength, he was capable of thriving in both empires, so there was no need for him to come with Hammond to welcome Yu Tianheng.
Clearly, he was there to cause trouble, intending to give Yu Tianheng, the newly appointed Imperial Earl, a hard time in front of all the nobles of Suotuo City, so that he would behave Earl and not interfere with the military and political power of Suotuo City.
Yu Tianheng's carriage stopped ten meters in front of the city gate. He then stepped off the carriage with Dugu Yan and led the personal guards sent to him by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan slowly toward the city gate.
He wore a light blue robe embroidered with the totem of Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, and Thunder flickered around him.
Lord Hammond strode forward, his face beaming with smiles. "Welcome Earl Excellency! The entire Suotuo City has prepared a welcoming feast and eagerly awaits your arrival!"
Yu Tianheng nodded slightly, but his gaze was drawn to the burly man behind the city lord.
A provocative smirk appeared on the burly man's lips as his seven Soul Ring suddenly lit up. The terrifying combination of yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, and black was particularly eye-catching. An invisible pressure seemed to condense in the air, and the taxi drivers and guards around him involuntarily took a step back.
"I've heard that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has produced a remarkable genius who won the Soul Master Tournament and is hailed as the number one young Soul Master?" The burly man's deep voice rang out, filled with contempt. "Today, I'll see just how much this newly appointed Earl really is!"
Before he finished speaking, the burly man's aura surged, and his seventh jet-black Soul Ring suddenly lit up, unleashing a torrent of powerful Soul Power.
He roared, " Martial Soul Possession!" In an instant, his body began to expand wildly, the surface of his body glowed with golden light, his arm muscles bulged like the roots of an ancient tree, a pair of sharp bear ears grew on his head, and a phantom of Vajra Giant Bear, several meters tall and exuding a terrifying aura, appeared behind him.
"Take this!" The burly man's Third Soul Ring shone brightly as he strode forward, causing the ground to explode with spiderweb-like cracks.
With a deafening roar, his right palm was instantly covered by a thick layer of golden armor, and a huge palm print appeared in his palm, carrying a world-destroying power, and slammed down on Yu Tianheng's head.
The howling wind shook the surrounding rubble into the air, sending it hurtling towards Yu Tianheng.
This person was clearly Seven-Ring Soul Sage, yet he didn't use Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill, only a thousand-year-level Third Soul Skill. It seems he only intended to give Yu Tianheng a warning, to make him suffer a bit, and to make him stop being so arrogant and settle down to be a lazy Earl, rather than trying to kill him.
After all, Yu Tianheng was Earl personally appointed by Xue Ye of the Heaven Dou Empire, as everyone knows. If he were killed as soon as he took office, the trouble would be immense.
Faced with this overwhelming palm strike.
Yu Tianheng remained calm and fearless, with blue-purple lightning surging wildly around him, making him appear as if Thunder God had descended to earth.