Ouyang Shengxiang was an unmarried girl of fifteen years old and lacked a firm grasp of the matters between men and women. Mortified, she didnât know what to do when suddenly presented with this kind of view.
âWho is your dear?!â Her eyes spat fire, but she didnât dare look in Lu Yunâs direction.
âHow is father-in-law?â Lu Yun approached merrily. Lanâer and Lu Xuan followed him alertlyâOuyang Shengxiang had just sent an initial foundation establishment cultivator flying with one kick!
âWho, whoâs your father-in-law?!â Ouyang Shengxiang angrily stomped her foot, then grew snappish when she thought of how her father had just died yesterday.
âYour dad is my father-in-law, of course,â Lu Yun chortled.
âIâll kill you!â Ouyang Shengxiang couldnât keep herself in check anymore and raised her hand, shooting out a watery ripple of sword light from her fingertips. It beelined toward Lu Yun.
Turquoise light flashed by and blocked the sword light. Lu Xuan stood stiffly upright with enormous killing intent emanating from his body. He leveled a cold glare at Ouyang Shengxiang.
âSword mastery? Ouyang Shengxiangâs only three levels of qi refinement, how can she deploy qi through a sword?â Lu Yun jumped with surprise. Only when cultivators reached foundation establishment could they begin to master a sword. Those below that level couldnât fully utilize one.
Although Lu Yun practiced the Nine Chapters of Dao and possessed unquestionably strong Hongmeng qi, his own cultivation was only eighth level qi refinement. He was unable to deploy qi out of a sword.
âTurquoise Willow!â Ouyang Shengxiangâs expression turned chilly when she saw the sword light.
âWho are you and how dare you bully Miss Xiang!â rang a furious roar as the slums boiled over with activity. Nearly eight hundred people waving clubs or blunt instruments flooded out of nowhere, surrounding Lu Yun and his people. The ones closer to Ouyang Shengxiang clustered protectively around her.
âGet out of the northern quadrant if youâre going to bully Miss Shengxiang!â
âThatâs right, get out of here! Youâre not welcome here!â
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The strongest of them was sixth or seventh level qi refinement. Ambient qi in the northern quadrant was very lacking due to a dearth of resources, so ascending to seventh level qi refinement here was quite an accomplishment.
Most people hovered around first or second level qi refinement.
âHey, take a closer look, alright? Sheâs the one who struck first, Iâm the victim here,â Lu Yun protested with resignation as he faced a menacing crowd of cultivators.
âWe donât care if you struck first or Miss Xiang did. Whoever is an enemy of Miss Xiang is nothing good! The northern quadrant doesnât welcome you!â A teenager waving a kitchen knife glared hotly at him.
I wonder what sheâs done to win over all of the residents. Lu Yun smiled. âOh, is that so?â
He took out a vermilion command token from his storage ring, one etched with a vermilion bird ready to take off in flight.
âI am the commander of the Vermilion Bird troops in Darklake Empire and am here on secret orders to investigate the deaths of the Ouyang and Yuwen patriarchs. Are all of you co-conspirators to keep me here?â Lu Yun drawled as he held the command token high.
Lu Tianling commanded four major troops of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. The Azure Dragons were valiant and skilled in battle, the domineering White Tigers acted as shock troops, the Black Tortoises were unparalleled in defending cities, and the Vermilion Birds were once their strongest member!
Not only were the Vermilion Birds first among the four troops, they were the foremost battle force of Darklake. However, they were fully lost in battle at the battle of Tiger Suppression Pass twenty years ago.
Although theyâd been eliminated, their designation remained. Lu Tianling had given the command token to Lu Yun after the boyâs birth, hoping that he could inherit the Vermilion Birds and return them to glory.
Sadly, Lu Yun had been unsalvageable trash before and the Vermilion Bird was never reformed. Up till now, the troop listed only Lu Yun on its rolls. Its command token, however, contained immense authority. It represented the strongest of the empireâLu Tianling!
But who were those in front of him? The lowest of the low in the world of cultivation. Lu Tianling and the four great troops were too far removed from them. Itâd been twenty years since the Vermilion Birds were wiped outâthey were less important than a piece of lower rank spirit stone to these people.
Although Lu Yun was dressed opulently and carried himself with an uncommon air, the cultivators didnât have the capacity to consider those details as their Miss Xiang was being bullied.
âAlright back off now, back off now. What are you people doing crowding around here?? Are you trying to raise a rebellion?â A stern voice came from the sky, followed shortly by a ray of sword light. A middle-aged man in black stood in the air and surveilled the crowd below.
âMaster YuâŠâ The cultivators paled to see the man.
Yu Qianhua was latter foundation establishment and part of the city guard. He was in charge of the northern quadrant, so naturally needed to pay a visit when nearly eight hundred cultivators congregated on the same spot.
âHoi, so itâs Master Yu Qianhua! I was wondering why I hadnât seen you in a while, so youâve come to the northern quadrant!â Lu Yun put away the command token when he saw the man and tilted his head back. âGet your ass down here, this young master isnât used to talking to people standing over me.â
âUmâŠâ The cultivators wanted to faint when they heard Lu Yun loftily address Master Yu Qianhua. Yu Qianhua and the city guard of this quadrant were their gods and the goal of all of the denizens.
If they were able to establish their foundations, they would be able to join the city guard and become someone like him. That would bring honor to their families, but their idol, their goal in life, was currently being hollered at by someone else!
Yu Qianhua was about to erupt with anger when he took a closer look at the speaker. He quickly changed his expression and landed on the ground.
âSo the august young master Lu has come to visit⊠I have failed to welcome you properly, please forgive me.â Yu Qianhua bowed repeatedly while cursing inwardly. What was this spoiled brat doing here?? He wouldnât have come if heâd known that Lu Yun was here!
Being less than fifty years old, yet having already reached latter foundation establishment, Yu Qianhua counted among the upper echelon of talent in Darklake. Unfortunately, he came from a humble background and lacked a patron. Although heâd joined the city guards, he was assigned to a place like the northern quadrant.
Ambient qi was so sparse \ that cultivators progressed slowly when they were based in the area. But since his duties lay here, Yu Qianhua didnât dare leave.
âI remember you were in charge of the southern quadrant and you were a captain there. What are you doing here?â Lu Yun asked with every semblance of confusion.
Yu Qianhua looked at the young man and hesitated before responding, âThe Ouyang young masterâOuyang Shengheâbroke through to latter foundation establishment. Heâs joined the city guards for training and has become captain of the southern quadrant. Qianhua was reassigned to the northern quadrant due to lack of skill.â
âOuyang Shenghe huhâŠâ Lu Yun turned back to look at Ouyang Shengxiang. She and her brother  had plotted against Lu Yun to beat him up. Events of the day were still fresh in his mind.
âHmph!â Ouyang Shengxiang snorted coldly to see Lu Yun look at her. âWhat does it have to do with my older brother that youâve been reassigned to the northern quadrant? Itâs your own fault for slacking on your duties and nothing to do with my brother.â
âYour brother?â Yu Qianhua blinked before realizing that the renowned benefactor of the northern quadrant was the young miss of the Ouyang Clan!
The cultivators around them exchanged glances of disbelief with each other. How noble was the young miss of the Ouyang Clan? Yet here she was, helping impoverished cultivators!
No wonder the two noble scions had been at odds with each other as soon as they met. It was no secret that the Ouyangs and Lus did not get along.
âWhat do you know, Ouyang Shengxiang?â Lu Yun snorted and showed the girl no face. âYu Qianhua comes from purely civilian roots and established his foundation at twenty years old. He joined the Black Devils, a troop that set foot on the battlefield no less than twenty times. He accomplished innumerable achievements and is latter foundation establishment at forty-five years old. His abilities are nothing that your brother can measure up to!â
The Black Devils were a star troop that answered to the imperial family. They rivaled the four troops under Lu Tianlingâs command.
âHmph, foundation establishment at forty-five years old? Heâs just trash and not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as my brother,â Ouyang Shengxiang sniffed dismissively.
âHahahaha!â Lu Yun roared with laughter. âFoundation establishment at forty-five years old? You come from a major family, Ouyang Shengxiang, and have rich resources to draw on. You have absolutely no idea about the hardships of the poor!â
He swept a look around the surroundings. âMaster Yu comes from a purely civilian background and had no spirit stones to use. He utilized the qi of heaven and earth to slowly make his way to foundation establishment at twenty years old. He traded accomplishments in battle for cultivation resources to reach his current heights. It is a long and difficult process that a coddled noble miss like you knows nothing about!
âTo be blunt, if Ouyang Shenghe and Yu Qianhua were to fight each other, Ouyang Shenghe would be terminated in less than three moves!
âHmph, Master Yu has rendered great service to the empire and shouldâve had a promising future after making captain. But your useless flop of a brother has destroyed his future!â
City guards were as good as exiled after they were sent to the northern quadrant. If no fortuitous opportunity came to them, they would stay here until they retired.
Off to the side, Yu Qianhua trembled. Lu Yun clearly sensed goodwill flow from him, a surge on par with what heâd felt from He Wuheng during the second time.