Terrifying killing intent loomed over Lu Yun, targeting him and him alone. The man had nothing in his eyes but the young governor. Forward without pause, no rest until Lu Yun laid dead at his feet!

The attack had come without warning, but it failed to catch Lu Yun off guard.

Although the first man played his role well, his expression of gratitude didn’t come with any goodwill, a clear indicator that he was lying and up to no good. The second voice of strident mockery was clearly intended to distract Lu Yun, allowing his accomplice to launch a fatal attack!

Heart calm as still water, he didn’t fall for their trick. As soon as the man had bowed to him, the governor’s mystical force surged. Violet sword brilliance shot to the heavens and crushed the two sword slashes.

“Vast Dragon Seaturner! I’ve heard about this wondrous technique, but didn’t expect to have the fortune to see it myself.” The attacker straightened his back and moved again. “This technique will be extinct after today! Die!”

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!

Eight figures rushed out of the crowd. The now nine immortals arranged themselves in a mighty sword formation around Lu Yun, unleashing their cultivation to the limit. Nine august immortals! Real ones, who hadn’t sealed their cultivation!

Immortals with sealed cultivation would be heavily surveilled by the Nephrite court after entering Cloudwater Township. They wouldn’t have a chance to attack Lu Yun. Hence, this group had plainly slipped in another way. There was an unstoppable presence and keen edge to the nine august immortals. They were clearly rare geniuses, rivaling peerless immortals with their cultivations sealed.

“Don’t!” snapped Lu Yun upon noticing that Qing Han was coming to help him. “Protect yourself!”

However, the imperial envoy ignored his words and thrust out his palm. A violet-gold hand imprint slammed into the formation of nine immortals, which shook with a loud boom as the immortals within stumbled. The controlled patterns of sword energy inside grew erratic.

Noting that his attack had been effective, Qing Han thrust out another strike without hesitation.

Bam!

This time, it broke through the formation. Qing Han’s face paled, his breath quickening. That palm had been Empress Myrtlestar’s technique, and two strikes had been sufficient to exhaust all of his energy.

“Slow Lu Yun down. I’ll deal with the other one!” One of the immortals came after Qing Han.

“What is this?!” Qing Han growled. “Where are the Cloudwater guards? Why haven’t any of them shown up yet?!”

Cultivators in the area had scattered, giving a wide berth to the raging battle. Meanwhile, the town remained perfectly silent, defending guards nowhere to be seen.

“Die!” The man charging at Qing Han seemed perfectly ordinary; no one would’ve given him a second glance in a crowd. But at this moment, his raging killing intent had turned him into a well-honed weapon.

The grim specter of death approached Qing Han. He didn’t even have a chance to activate the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals.

I’m going to die...

Despair flickered through his eyes, but he broke into a smile when he saw Lu Yun break free from the sword formation.

Thud!

Something round flew out from behind Qing Han and crashed into the august immortal’s head. The immortal screamed a ghastly scream and flew backward, along with something… very strange. A round thing that remained attached to his nose.

“Bastard! How dare you hurt Sir Qing Han?! This grand steward will bite your nose off! Bite bite bite!” It was a human head, one garbling insults with its teeth around the immortal’s nose.

How does he talk with a nose between his teeth? Blindsided by surprise, Qing Han’s mind gravitated toward contemplation of this crucial question.

Ge Long!

Lu Yun refining his nascent spirit had benefited not only his four envoys, but also Ge Long. The steward wasn’t an immortal, but his physical strength had greatly improved. The head he was accustomed to throwing around was now a treasure that rivaled any immortal-grade weapon.

The immortal screamed as his nose was bitten clean off.

“Pah!” Ge Long spat the nose out while his body rushed forward to catch his head. He postured before Qing Han like the young man’s personal guard. “You want to hurt Sir Qing Han? Try this grand steward on for size!”

Now the grand steward of the governor’s manor, his status was much higher than it previously was. Plus, he was loyal to a fault when it came to Lu Yun.

“What the hell are you?!” The august immortal covered his nose with a hand and goggled at Ge Long with horror. What manner of freak used his own head as a weapon?!

“What am I?” Ge Long cackled, his smile eerie. “You speak to Grand Steward Ge Long of the Dusk Governor’s Manor!”

A faint crimson figure manifested beside Lu Yun: one of Yueshen’s bloodcorpses that she’d sent out from the Gates of the Abyss. Tremendous light radiated from the bloodcorpse and pinned down the nine august immortals, as if towering mountains had sat down on the would-be assailants.

“How dare anyone attempt to assassinate the Dusk governor in Cloudwater?! Guards! Kill them all!” an angry voice exploded from deep within the village as a barrage of piercing sword energy rained down on the nine august immortals.

“Anyone who dares kill them now,” boomed Lu Yun, his clothes tattered from the previous sword qi, “will see me slaughter their entire clan!”

Terrifying energy surged as bam! the bloodcorpse swiped at the sky and scattered all of the incoming sword energy. 

Roar!!

The bloodcorpse’s shriek carried a tremendous distance as it flared the power of an arcane immortal. A thick mist of blood lashed out as well, painting the entire area in crimson.

“C’mon, kill one in front of me, why don’t you!” Lu Yun straightened and scanned the town.

“You misunderstand, Your Excellency. This official is merely worried about you, that is all.” The furious voice had calmed down. “Since Your Excellency misunderstands that I am trying to cover their tracks, I will stay out of this.”

“Do as you will.”

The guards in Cloudwater were in charge of the transportation formation. Unlike the Dusk Phalanx, they served the Nephrite Court, rather than Dusk Province.

Hum.

Sword energy surged from Lu Yun’s hand, executing eight of the nine immortals on the ground before they could react.

“Tell me, who sent you?” He approached the man in black that’d gone after Qing Han, eyes blazing with hellfire as he unleashed tremendous pressure from his consciousness. The august immortal’s eyes grew unfocused from the influence of the bloodcorpse’s crimson light.

“Feng Yin of the Feng Clan.”

Swoosh!

A flash of violet light sliced the immortal’s head clean off.

“Feng Yin of the Feng Clan?” Lu Yun’s lips twisted into a vicious smile. “I’ll remember this.”

“Cloudwater’s warden is a member of the Feng Clan as well,” Qing Han interjected.