The sky changes

At this moment, the vast Xuanwei City was engulfed in flames, and the sky was filled with lightning. Thunder could be seen for hundreds of miles around, turning half the sky into a sea of lightning.

"Kuang Liuting!" The old patriarch of the Niu Household, left alone in the sky, let out a shrill scream. The once kind-faced and smiling Daoist was now forced by his opponent to widen his eyes and straighten his beard and hair.

His opponent, a slender Daoist priest dressed in a plain-colored robe, did not respond to his words, but instead answered with a dazzling bolt of lightning.

With a deafening boom, the Niu Household patriarch felt a buzzing sound in his ears and his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly summoned his last defensive magic Law Artifact to shield himself.

With a "bang," the silver magic shield in front of him expanded against the wind, but it was quickly knocked back to its original shape by the lightning, and the silver light on the shield dimmed rapidly. The magic shield could no longer protect the entire body of the Niu Household patriarch. The black immortal robe he was wearing was only grazed by the lightning and instantly turned to ashes.

The old patriarch of the Niu Household looked increasingly grim, but he was decisive. He immediately stripped naked and used a secret Movement Method technique, abandoning his magic shield, and tried to change direction and run away.

Having lost its master, the silver magic shield only withstood the lightning for a brief moment before being shattered into pieces, scattering countless fragments of silver armor across the ground, which ironically provided some fortuitous opportunity for the low-level cultivators in Xuanwei City.

"Heh, do you think you can leave?!" A cold male voice came from behind the Niu Household patriarch.

Fang Yi the sound entered his ears, the patriarch of the Niu Household felt another surge of violent energy coming from behind him. Terrified, the hair on his body stood on end. With a sigh, he threw the object he was tightly clutching behind him.

"That's more like it! Your Dingnan Niu Household has been utterly wicked for centuries, accumulating so many valuable things. Don't be stingy with them!"

A blood-stained, Movement Method mirror appeared behind the Niu Household patriarch, completely blocking the several bolts of lightning that the gaunt Daoist had unleashed.

The latter merely made a joke, then withdrew his thunderous methods, his footwork moving with lightning speed, arriving in front of the mirror in a few steps, and gently tapping it with his right index finger.

The magic mirror seemed like lingering snow meeting the blazing sun, rapidly melting away between the Daoist's fingers. As drops of blood fell from the sky, a vast expanse of deathly energy evaporated, and amidst the rumbling thunder, the entire city, both immortals and mortals, could faintly hear mournful cries.

"You wicked scoundrel! No wonder the Evil Cultivator in Cloud Horn Prefecture are left unchecked. It seems you've also profited immensely from it! Your Niu Household deserves to be destroyed today!" The Daoist sighed softly and chased after the Niu Household patriarch.

The latter was terrified to see that the Daoist priest's life-saving technique had been so easily broken.

The Niu Household produced three generations of False Core cultivators in succession. They used countless Qi and Blood to refine this Turbid Blood Law Mirror, which was unparalleled in defense against False Core cultivators of the same level. They believed that it could even withstand ordinary Golden Core.

The person behind me is only at the Foundation Establishment Peak, how can he be so powerful?

"Could this be the nobles of the Immortal Dynasty?"

Before the Niu Household patriarch could think further, he was caught in a bolt of lightning in the slightest distraction. He immediately unleashed a blood wind to deflect the lightning.

The blood wind was clearly countered by lightning. Although powerful, it was annihilated by the lightning in a short time. The patriarch of the Niu Household then threw out another handful of blood lightning behind him, which barely blocked several incoming lightning bolts. The remaining lightning energy was also blocked by another blood wind, which gave him a slight chance to catch his breath.

"Kuang Liuting, we Niu Household don't want Xuanwei City anymore, no, no, Cloud Horn Prefecture. We'll return it all to the Immortal Dynasty. As long as we can relocate, please don't sever the lineage of the Dingnan Niu Household."

The patriarch of the Niu Household was terrified. It wasn't that he insisted on using the demonic methods he had secretly learned to fight the enemy, but rather that the various methods passed down in the Niu Household were no match for the Thunder Method of this thin Daoist. If he hadn't used demonic Technique Method, he would probably have been finished long ago.

"No, this Kuang Liuting is definitely a top-tier figure among the imperial family of the Immortal Dynasty. There's no reason for him to come to a border state like Cloud Horn Prefecture to specifically cause trouble for our Niu Household! Something must have happened above! And what about the Two Instruments Sect? Aren't they going to take charge?! When are they going to come to our Niu Household's rescue?!"

Seeing that his pleas for mercy were useless, he realized something was wrong. This time, the prince seemed to have no scruples and was clearly going to kill him!

"Has the Two Instruments Sect already tacitly approved of this, allowing them to destroy my Niu Household?" The Niu Household patriarch realized this, his face filled with terror, his heart filled with even more panic, and he made up his mind. He then ignited his Essence Blood and used a self-harming Secret Method.

A moment later, his escape speed more than doubled compared to before, and he vanished from the thin Daoist's sight in an instant, leaving only a blood-red tail trail in the air.

"When did Cloud Horn Prefecture become your Niu Household's territory?! You audacious scoundrel!" The lean Daoist priest was enraged by the words of the Niu Household patriarch. He raised his eyebrows slightly, his eyes revealing disgust.

The Daoist priest remained calm upon seeing the Niu Household patriarch flee in a bloody aura; his disgust only intensified. He then softly uttered the word "edict."

In an instant, the lightning in his hand transformed into swallows, and countless golden Thunder Swallow flew out through the clouds and colorful clouds, as if to cover the entire sky, and quickly covered the direction in which the Niu Household patriarch was fleeing.

The old patriarch of the Niu Household had not yet been able to put his mind at ease. He felt his cultivation and blood energy rapidly draining away. Before he could even feel the joy of escaping death, he heard the noisy chirping of swallows again.

Before he could even feel surprised, the endless Thunder Swallow that had been surging close were already crashing head-on into his blood-red escape light.

The crackling sound of blood-red light and lightning colliding in the air was continuous, and the two flashed incessantly within the thunderclouds.

For every Thunder Swallow annihilated by the blood-red escape light of the Niu Household patriarch, the blood vapor formed from his own Essence Blood would be weakened by a thin layer.

But only a few breaths passed, and Thunder Swallow continued to rush in one after another, while the escape light of the Niu Household patriarch was already as thin as paper.

The patriarch of the Niu Household had already pinned his last hope of survival on this Blood Escape Technique, but now the surging Thunder Swallow were about to engulf him, and even breathing was a luxury. How could he possibly survive?

Despair returned to his face. He didn't want to sit and wait for death, but now that all his methods had been thwarted, how could he possibly survive?!

"May the Two Instruments Sect send someone to save my family? My ancestors were related to them, and my family served as their shepherd."

The last thin layer of bloody light was scraped away, and the shriveled body of the Niu Household patriarch, which was no longer human, was charred by one Thunder Swallow after another, but the life force within his False Core expert body was still bursting forth tenaciously.

Pieces of fresh flesh stubbornly grew out, only to be cruelly scalded into charcoal by the swarming Thunder Swallow.

The patriarch of the Niu Household felt endless pain at this moment, but he still endured it and did not completely give up hope of living.

"The Two Instruments Sect, will they come to save me?"

"Great Wei Immortal Dynasty! Two Instruments Sect! Birds of a feather! Kuang Household, you will not take this world back! You will not take it back!" After the Niu Household patriarch cried out in despair, a large number of Thunder Swallow pressed down on his charcoal-colored corpse, and the thunder and fire slowly spread around this False Core expert, burning him completely into ashes.

The slender Daoist coldly watched as the Niu Household patriarch finished speaking, his expression unchanged. A Thunder Swallow gently carried the Niu Household patriarch's Storage Bag and placed it in the slender Daoist's hand.

"I knew your Niu Household had some real skill, daring to test your abilities against me. A mere False Core cultivator, having only grasped a few insignificant blood techniques, thinks you're Golden Core? Inferior people are always inferior, unworthy of respect."

As the lightning in the sky gradually subsided and the sounds of fighting in the city completely quieted down, an old cultivator with white hair and beard arrived at the side of the thin Daoist priest on a flying sword and greeted him with a deep bow.

"Your humble servant Huo Bing reports: I have met with the Earl of Nan'an. The Niu Household cultivators, along with their direct descendants and in-laws, totaling 1,823 people, have all been fitted with spirit shackles. They await only the Earl's command to be exiled to Liangxi and Haibei."

Upon seeing the lean Daoist, Huo Bing recalled the tragic state of the Niu Household's ancestor, and his expression became one of fear and trepidation. However, he quickly dismissed these thoughts and bowed deeply to the lean Daoist.

"Governor Huo is here. This fellow has caused you a lot of trouble over the years, hasn't he? Today, I'll settle your score." The lean Daoist said with a light laugh, glancing at Huo Bing with a sarcastic tone.

He thought to himself, "Those who waver and act insincerely are utterly disgusting. Fine, since we need capable people right now, let's observe their performance first."

"Thank you, Lord Xie." Huo Bing's eyes were respectful upon hearing this, not daring to be negligent in the slightest. Having witnessed the Dingnan Niu Household once dominated Cloud Horn Prefecture, being destroyed in an instant, he was filled with many emotions.

As for changing allegiance, bah! Huo Bing was originally the appointed Shannan Circuit General Administration Office, but the Immortal Dynasty's power in Cloud Horn Prefecture was weak, while the Niu Household was powerful, which forced him to compromise and acknowledge the enemy as his father.

Now that the Immortal Dynasty has finally sent a high-ranking official to Cloud Horn Prefecture Immortal Dynasty, it is like a long-awaited rain after a drought, and the dawn has finally broken!

Since the founding emperor was trapped in the High Antiquity forbidden land, how many years has it been since the Immortal Dynasty established new noble positions with actual fiefdoms?

Not to mention that it was carved out of a piece of land from Shannan Circuit, a territory that had been controlled by several major sects for many years!

Therefore, even if the person in front of him was just a minor nobleman who didn't even rank among the elites of the Immortal Dynasty, it was still someone like him who dared not offend.

Moreover, the Shannan Circuit General Administration Office had already issued an official letter stating that this Earl was from a close branch of the imperial clan and was within five degrees of kinship with the current emperor.

In the eyes of these nobles, what was he, a poor border governor from a remote region, only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage? He was probably not even as good as a dog.

"Please go find Sima Fei later and tell him not to send them to Haibei Road. Escort them to Liangxi Circuit. Backer Mountain Sect has sent a letter to the Chancellery in an emergency, claiming that Nascent Soul demon has launched a beast tide that is ravaging the prefectures and counties. Upon Chancellor Gui news, Prime Minister Gui has already issued a document to all the provinces, saying that Backer Mountain Sect alone is unable to withstand the beast tide, so all provinces should gather the refugees and send them to Liangxi. With a great battle imminent, they are in good need."

Furthermore, don't forget to manage the mortals of the Niu Household. Issue a decree from the state government strictly forbidding them from relocating; they must all be sold off. Then spread the word that after these people change hands in the state, the Immortal Dynasty will not inquire about their use or their lives. You should carefully count and collect the proceeds from the sale, and use them as public funds for the state.

Huo Bing simply nodded, secretly praising the Earl's ruthless methods.

"Xuanwei City is still a bit poor and dilapidated. I'll go to Han City later and talk to the Yue Household about it. It would probably be better if the prefectural government were moved there." The Earl of Nan'an said to Huo Bing in a warm tone, but the latter, thinking of the Niu Household patriarch who had already vanished into thin air, could easily guess that this man's way of reasoning must be somewhat unconventional.

Huo Bing then mustered his courage and reminded him, "Lord, the Han City Yue Household are descendants of the founding patriarch of the Two Instruments Sect. I'm afraid that's not a good idea."

He was interrupted halfway through his sentence by the Earl of Nan'an, whose temperament was not as relaxed as his Daoist robe.

"I know all this! The Dingnan Niu Household is also a descendant of the founding patriarch of the Cloud Water Sect next door! That's why they refuse to submit to the king's rule, refuse to pay taxes, and arbitrarily control the common people of the Immortal Dynasty. Their actions are too numerous to count! They have audacity beyond measure, almost tantamount to rebellion! For hundreds of years, no one has been able to stop them! What does it matter if they are descendants of the Golden Core cultivator! I am a descendant of the Great Ancestor of Great Wei!"

"I misspoke, please forgive my rudeness, Lord." Huo Bing bowed his head in apology, but thought to himself, "This Lord has quite the temper. In the current Great Wei Immortal Dynasty, apart from the capital region and a few scattered prefectures, what places do you members of the imperial family have any real say in?"

"Alright, I know that the country has faced many difficulties these past years. Although you are called governors, you have suffered oppression from these powerful clans and families, which has made you a bit weak-willed. Well, you have had it tough too. Don't worry, with me here, there's nothing to worry about. Just do your job well." The Earl of Nan'an patted Huo Bing on the shoulder.

The latter quickly smiled apologetically, thinking to himself that there wasn't much new about nobles from the capital; this gentleman seemed to be used to making empty promises.

"Go and take stock of the Niu Household's properties in Xuanwei City, and then take ten percent for yourself." After saying this, the Earl of Nan'an threw the Niu Household patriarch's Storage Bag at Huo Bing's feet without even glancing at it again.

He then headed towards Han City alone, leaving the governor standing there trying to suppress his laughter.

"It seems I misspoke in my heart earlier. As expected of a nobleman from the capital, there's something different about them."

Several hours later, the gaunt Daoist glanced at the tall city wall of Han City before him. His narrow eyes narrowed slightly, and in the next moment, he leaped into the air. With a casual wave of his hand, the defensive formation reinforced by the restrictions was shattered.

One by one, the blue stone slabs, hardened as iron by the divine fire, fell from the sky, causing the garrison soldiers and passersby on both sides of the gate to flee in terror, resulting in a commotion.

The slender Daoist stood on his toes, lightly touching the air with his foot, and stood firmly on the city wall. Ignoring the fearful looks of the surrounding cultivators, he formed a Daoist finger and stomped his foot.

With a crash, large chunks of the city wall fell to the ground, raising clouds of dust, and many low-level cultivators and mortals were killed or injured.

This fortified city of Cloud Horn Prefecture, a city that even False Core expert would find difficult to conquer, was shattered like a bubble by this visitor from the capital.

"Where is Yue Lin? Come out and see me!" The entire city wall was reduced to a mere foot in radius around the lean Daoist priest, his wide sleeves billowing in the wind as he raised his voice in a shout.

Its sound reverberated throughout the universe, its lingering echoes so powerful that it seemed to make all living beings in the entire city tremble.

After the sound, the city fell eerily silent again, as if waiting for its true master to arrive.

Thank you to the three gentlemen, Nankanle, Book Friend 2019121072412926, and Aixiaoshuojiaxh, for their Extended Net Moon.

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(The indefinite integral needs to be added to C, bro, you guessed the plot right, awesome!)