The Great Sun recklessly poured out its scorching brilliance, baking the clouds until they roiled endlessly. Soon, two more Great Suns erged from the camp, ascending toward the Celestial Vault to et it.
"May I ask, Fellow Daoist, what brings you here?"
"Please, Fellow Daoist, restrain your might! We fear it will incite the blood fiend qi in the Immortal Pit to rampage!"
From the clouds, that brilliant Great Sun spoke with a voice like thunder, still making no effort to restrain its aura. The sound caused the Junior Cultivators at the Jade Tower level below to suffer from intense pain in their ears.
The few Cultivators who were not even Grandmasters were shaken so badly they couldn't stand, and they began to cough up blood!
"All who are uninvolved, retreat!"
The Celestial Human blocking the sky continued to speak in a domineering voice:
"Chu Shuangtian, co out!"
The imnse voice vibrated, its sound waves booming, provoking the blood fiend qi in the nearby Immortal Pit to dart about wildly. The faces of the few Cultivators exploring within paled. Fortunately, they hadn't ventured deep and managed to escape by a hair's breadth.
One of the Celestial Humans in the camp cried out in alarm and anger:
"Fellow Daoist, please restrain yourself..."
"Insolent!" The incredibly domineering old Celestial Human flipped his palm, suppressing the two Celestial Humans from the camp with a single hand. He had, astonishingly, already climbed to the Ninth Level of the Divine Ladder!
In a small building not far away, Chu Shuangtian and the others, having just finished digesting the Peaches of Immortality, rushed outside. They all paled as they gazed up at the ferocious Great Sun in the sky.
"This..."
Chu Shuangtian's heart pounded in his chest. He glanced at the Immortal Pit, which was on the verge of erupting. 'If this continues,' he thought, 'the blood fiend qi will likely surge out. Ninety percent of the Cultivators in the camp will die!'
He gritted his teeth and unleashed his Spiritual Radiance, which ford a dim, small sun. He, too, ascended toward the sky, calling out in a loud voice:
"Senior, I am here! I implore you, Senior, withdraw your aura, lest the Immortal Pit erupt and claim innocent lives!"
"So you're Chu Shuangtian?" The old Celestial Human, still suppressing the two camp Celestial Humans with one hand, grinned. "Oh? You've stepped into the Climbing the Divine Ladder stage as well? Not too bad... By order of the Young Master, I am here to take your head!"
As he spoke, while still suppressing the two Celestial Humans with one hand, he thrust out his other hand domineeringly, pressing down toward Chu Shuangtian. Locked down by the terrifying aura, Chu Shuangtian found himself unable to even resist, frozen in place!
'The gap between the Ninth and First Layer of the Celestial Human realm is just too vast...'
Many Cultivators in the camp paled. So sighed, while others couldn't bear to watch and turned their heads away. Elder Chu had saved many of their lives in the Immortal Pit; many were indebted to him.
However, in the next instant, a calm voice spoke.
"Halt."
The old Celestial Human's palm froze in midair. Elder Chu, who had already given in to despair, turned his head in joyful surprise and saw the youth who had yet to leave.
The old Celestial Human violently retracted his hand and stared in shock and uncertainty at the one who had spoken. His heart leaped. 'One word to halt my actions... An Earth Immortal?!'
His scalp tingled with fear, and he hurriedly bowed from the waist.
"I was unaware of an Immortal's presence. I have caused offense. I beg the Immortal's forgiveness..."
'An Immortal??'
Many of the nearby Cultivators jumped in fright, especially the Martial Masters and Grandmasters who had just walked out of the tavern. They all recognized Lu Xuan, and hearing him addressed as an Immortal, their hearts nearly stopped beating.
Lu Xuan made no visible movent. With his eyelids lowered, he spoke placidly:
"Your conduct constitutes several cris. When judged together, they are worthy of execution. You shall face heavenly punishnt."
The law of Reasonable Words manifested. Before the astonished gazes of everyone in the camp, the white clouds in the Celestial Vault turned black!
The black clouds trembled and ground against each other, birthing a bolt of deep purple Great Thunder that washed over the stunned old Celestial Human. His heart pounded wildly as he spared no effort to unleash his Spiritual Radiance, resembling a rampaging Great Sun.
He employed a hundred different techniques, attempting to shatter the heavenly thunder that descended upon command, but to no avail. The lightning enveloped him, and with a great roar, his body collapsed!
The camp fell deathly silent.
The two disheveled Celestial Humans stared at Lu Xuan in bewildernt. The faces of the other Cultivators in the camp filled with reverence. Chu Shuangtian was the first to recover, and he quickly offered a respectful bow.
Lu Xuan rely gave him a nod. Then, alongside Zhu Wuneng, he stepped forward. Using the Shrinking Inches technique, his first step took him onto the clouds, and with his second, he vanished completely, leaving the countless Cultivators in the camp to stare at one another in blank dismay.
"We respectfully send off the Upper Immortal!"
Chu Shuangtian, Chen Xue, and the others called out in unison.
...
「East Sea City, City Hall.」
"Have the Publicity Departnt get the red carpet ready! I want it rolled out all the way from the airport to City Hall... Dozens of miles? So what if it's dozens of miles? Roll it out!"
"Also, tell those guys in the Inspection Group to back off for a bit. Reinstate Ji Bochang and have him lead the Inspectorate to maintain order in the city!"
"What? Ji Bochang doesn't want to be reinstated? He wants to resign?"
The new mayor, who had only recently taken office, flew into a rage.
"The nerve of him! In that case, tell the Inspection Group to keep investigating. I refuse to believe they can't dig up sothing on him!"
With that, he took a deep breath and hurriedly added:
"Forget about that bastard Ji Bochang for now. Soone go take charge of the Inspectorate's affairs. You absolutely must maintain order in the city! The Grand Speaker is suddenly coming for an inspection, and the eyes of the world will be on us. We can't afford any mistakes!"
"Lord Gu, the letter from Shengjing says it's a 'visit'!"
"'Visit?'" The old man was slightly taken aback, but quickly dismissed it. "Whatever it is, just be prepared... Right, have the welcoming citizens morized their lines?"
"Everything is in order. Many dia outlets have already flown in ahead of ti, and we're hosting them now. The necessary 'red envelopes' have also been distributed... In short, all we're waiting for now is the Grand Speaker."
"Good, that's good..." The old man exhaled, his face alight with excitent. 'The Grand Speaker is suddenly coming for an inspection... ah, no, a visit. As long as the reception goes well and he rembers , tsk tsk...'
He licked his lips. 'A teoric rise is just around the corner! It's just around the corner!'
The chief secretary to his side flipped through so files and suddenly asked:
"By the way, Lord Gu, it seems the Inspection Group really can't find any obvious dirt on Ji Bochang. And now that he's asking to resign, perhaps... we should just drop it?"
"Drop it? We can't just drop it!"
The old man waved his hand impatiently.
"Reporting was one thing, but now I'm giving him a chance to be temporarily reinstated to manage the situation, and he refuses? He's shalessly rejecting my goodwill!"
He paused, then continued:
"Go tell my nephew to keep digging. Dig deep. If there are no faults to be found, then he'll have to create one!"
"Understood. I'll pay another visit to the Inspection Group then." The chief secretary agreed readily and respectfully excused himself.
Once outside the office, he shook his head in pity.
'That Ji Bochang... I really don't know how he made it this far. He has absolutely no political sense. To report Lord Gu to the Inspection Group without even figuring out the situation...'
'Tch. And the head of the Inspection Group this ti is Lord Gu's own nephew!'
'Now he's being given a chance to redeem himself, and he's still ungrateful...'
The chief secretary clicked his tongue in amazent. Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about it, put on a smile, and headed toward the Inspection Group's offices.
「anwhile, in the forr shantytown, now the Lower City Center.」
A dilapidated wooden shack stood amidst a cluster of small modern houses, looking utterly out of place. From the house next door ca the sounds of scolding and a chase.
A mont later, a disheveled Butcher Zheng burst out the door. He shouted over his shoulder as he ran:
"You old hag, that's enough! It's not like I'm scared of you..."
"Get back here!" Sister Zheng yelled at the top of her lungs, brandishing a frying pan. "Either you co back now, or you can stay out of this house for good!"
"You think I'll co back just because you say so? Don't I have my pride?"
"My house, my rules!"
"Tch!" Butcher Zheng scoffed, his face full of disdain, yet his legs seed to move on their own, obediently carrying him back toward the house.
From not far away, a stifled laugh could be heard.
"What's so funny?" Butcher Zheng, seeming provoked, snapped huffily. "You really think I'm scared of that old hag? I'm just..."
As he spoke, he subconsciously glanced to the side and froze.
"Lu the Kid!"
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