Having suffered a massive loss, Cang Mingzi didn't dare meet Meng Kuang's moves head-on again. If he took another strike or two, he would definitely go bankrupt.
Cang Mingzi dodged and weaved, trying to find an opportunity to snatch the immortal peach from Lu Yang's grasp.
Yet when it came to experience in snatching things, how could Cang Mingzi compare to Meng Kuang? The moment Cang Mingzi twitched a finger, Meng Kuang knew what he wanted to do and sealed off his path in advance.
With his movements anticipated and not daring to meet the broadsword head-on, Cang Mingzi fell into a disadvantage for the moment.
In the middle of the river, although Meng Potian had cultivated for less than two thousand years—less than the elders of the Dao Seeking Sect—his talent for cultivation and combat was superb. One could catch a glimpse of this from Meng Jingzhou. At the Body Integration stage, as long as he didn't encounter freaks like half-step Tribulation Transcendence cultivators, no one was a match for Meng Potian.
The ones fighting on the Second Prince's side were all masked, hiding their identities; otherwise, if word got out, they would be finished.
"Kong Yuan, even you, the Chief Clerk of the Grand Commander's Office, have taken action?"
Meng Potian deduced the other party's identity after a brief clash. He frequently made enemies and inevitably got ambushed and hit from behind by masked assailants, but fortunately, with his extraordinary cultivation, he never suffered serious harm.
Having been ambushed by masked people so many times, he naturally developed a knack for guessing his opponents' identities.
"Nonsense! Who is Kong Yuan? I don't know him!" Kong Yuan denied flatly. He could under no circumstances admit it.
Meng Potian sent Kong Yuan flying with a kick all the way to the other side of the river. Kong Yuan spat out a mouthful of blood, and the mask over his face came off.
Kong Yuan tumbled across the ground a couple of times, rolling right to the feet of a group of spectators. They were watching the battle and hadn't expected someone to come flying over to them.
*Damn it!* Kong Yuan inwardly cursed. He absolutely could not let anyone see his face!
"Die!"
With Body Integration experts clashing on both sides, it was normal for bystanders to get caught in the crossfire.
To his shock, one of the group squatted down and punched Kong Yuan right in the face, completely dazing him.
"The public security in this Imperial City really isn't up to par," Mu Baiyi clicked his tongue and gave Kong Yuan another punch.
Their Nine Nether Cult and Shining Sun Cult had come to the Imperial City to inspect the business environment. They had only been here a few days, and already they ran into a free-for-all among Body Integration cultivators, not to mention a Body Integration cultivator trying to kill them.
Kong Yuan hadn't stopped to think: could people daring to watch a battle at a time like this really be ordinary commoners?
"Who's next?"
"Me! My turn!"
Higher-ups from the two demonic cults volunteered one after another. Opportunities to take revenge on imperial officials didn't come by very often.
With Body Integration experts clashing on both sides, casualties were only natural.
"Lu Yang, you brat, hurry up and go!"
Although Cang Mingzi was suppressed by Meng Kuang, it would be difficult for Meng Kuang to bring Cang Mingzi down in short order. The most pressing matter right now was to deliver the immortal peach to the Imperial Palace as quickly as possible.
Meng Kuang grabbed Lu Yang by the collar, rotated his wrist a couple of times, and hurled Lu Yang straight across the river to the northern city, where the Imperial Palace was located.
Lu Yang tumbled head over heels across the ground after being thrown. Once he stabilized himself, he brought out the Sword Cleansing Pool and flew toward the Imperial Palace.
Seeing how chaotic the Imperial City had become, the higher-ups of the two demonic cults figured it would be much more amusing to follow Lu Yang, the epicenter of the chaos. Letting the unconscious Kong Yuan off for the moment, they stealthily trailed after him.
After flying through nearly half the northern city, Lu Yang suddenly felt a stir from his Invincible Nascent Soul—it wanted to flee! He kicked hard in a hurry and leaped aside.
*Boom!*
A pillar of fire crashed down, striking right onto the Sword Cleansing Pool. If Lu Yang had taken that blow, he would undoubtedly have perished.
"Oh? A mere Nascent Soul junior, yet you managed to dodge a strike from this venerable one? It seems the Dao Seeking Sect values you greatly, even bestowing life-saving treasures upon you."
From the soaring flames, a figure slowly stepped out. The man was handsome as jade and clad in black robes, looking like a young master from some secluded clan, with a flippant smile playing at the corners of his lips.
"Who are you?!" Lu Yang looked vigilantly at the figure amidst the fire.
"Me? You may call me Young Master Yu."
Lu Yang's pupils contracted slightly. "The General Yu who wiped out the remnants of Great Qian's army, completely annihilated the Great Qian Dynasty, was undefeated in a hundred battles, suffered defeat only at the hands of the Nightmare Supreme and Wu Yao in his entire life, and subsequently submitted to Wu Yao?!"
Who was the Nightmare Supreme? A mighty Supreme who had counted Wu Yao and the founding Imperial Preceptor among his rivals and had nearly seized the world! Losing to the Nightmare Supreme was by no means a disgrace; it could even serve as capital to achieve fame in later generations.
Furthermore, since he merely suffered defeat at the Nightmare Supreme's hands without dying, it indicated this General Yu was exceedingly likely a half-immortal as well!
"You junior actually have some knowledge. When you die later, I'll go a bit lighter on you," General Yu laughed. In his eyes, Lu Yang was already a dead man.
"How dare a half-immortal of Great Yu appear in the Imperial City? Aren't you afraid the Jiang family's Old Ancestor will intervene?!"
If the Second Prince seizing the peach still counted as internal strife and wasn't worth the Jiang family Old Ancestor intervening, then a Great Yu half-immortal making a move in the Imperial City was definitely worth the Old Ancestor stepping in!
Was General Yu not afraid of death?
"Oh? It seems you really do know quite a bit." General Yu truly looked at Lu Yang in a new light. Knowing such a secret as the Jiang family's Old Ancestor being an immortal showed that Lu Yang's status was indeed as high as external rumors claimed—the designated next Sect Master of the Dao Seeking Sect.
Yet so what? The Dao Seeking Sect was not worth putting in his eyes.
General Yu looked at Lu Yang with a half-smile. Perhaps regarding Lu Yang as a dead man, he was willing to speak a bit more with him. "Yu Prefecture is some distance from the Imperial City; word hasn't arrived here yet.
"We deliberately exposed our traces in Yu Prefecture to entice your Great Xia Imperial Court into dispatching the Luoshui Guards to reinforce them.
"Yet your Great Xia never could have anticipated that we also arranged a half-immortal in Yu Prefecture. He intervened and sealed off nearly half of Yu Prefecture. The Luoshui Guards, the Yu Prefecture army, key officials such as the provincial governor of Yu Prefecture, and billions of Yu Prefecture commoners are all trapped there."
Lu Yang's pupils contracted sharply. *How can there be yet another Great Yu half-immortal?!*
Lu Yang knew all too well the terrors of a half-immortal. Although they possessed only one more rudimentary Dao fruit than the Tribulation Transcendence stage, that single difference was an overwhelming advantage.
Taking the Second Imperial Preceptor as an example, if he unleashed his rudimentary Karma Dao fruit, Tribulation Transcendence cultivators possessed no ability to fight back before him whatsoever!
Among the entrapped cultivators, there was none who could defeat a half-immortal.
To smoothly resolve Yu Prefecture's crisis, an immortal had to take action!
Sure enough, General Yu added, "Jiang Ping'an has already departed for Yu Prefecture to resolve it. Without half a day, he won't be able to return."
In the past, whenever Lu Yang encountered half-immortals within the borders of Great Xia, Jiang Ping'an was originally the one who was supposed to intervene. It was just that every time Lu Yang was around, the half-immortals were smoothly dealt with, leaving no turn for Jiang Ping'an to step in.
And this time, Lu Yang wasn't in Yu Prefecture.
The Great Yu cultivators had premeditated this day for a long time.
"Enough. Why am I saying so much to a dead man?" General Yu said lazily. Countless clusters of purple fire emerged behind him, their terrifying heat warping even the void.
His goal was not to snatch the immortal peach, but to destroy it, letting Emperor Xia die of old age on his sickbed!
Countless purple fireballs flew toward Lu Yang, setting even the ground ablaze. General Yu acted with prudence; if struck by these fireballs, even a Body Integration expert would die, let alone a mere Nascent Soul!
Suddenly, a bizarre demonic wind swept in from all directions, emanating the stench of decay and death, blowing out the terrifying purple fireballs.
"This immortal peach is something my Heavenly Court has set its sights on. Let's see who dares touch it!"
"Who goes there?!" General Yu jerked his head up, only to be met by a dazzling swathe of blinding white. Focusing his gaze, he saw a colossal white Qiongqi flapping its bone wings, its resplendent golden tiger eyes strikingly conspicuous amidst the sea of pure white.
"One of the Heavenly Court's Four Sovereigns, the Great Emperor of Abundant Wealth of the Northern Pole."
Chapter 945