Airboat stopped outside Central City.
Two deacons went straight to the sect's foothold and waited for the Immortal Ascension a.s.sembly to begin.
Li Ran led Aqin into the city.
Looking at the bustling and magnificent imperial capital, Aqin's eyes widened.
In the past ten years, her main activity location had been limited to the area of Snowfall Peak. Even the number of visits to Central City was pitifully few.
When had she ever seen such a huge city-state?
She looked around like a curious baby, but her small hand tightly grabbed Li Ran's sleeve.
The changes in her memories were too great, and the dense crowd made her nervous.
Li Ran grabbed her hand and asked, "What, are you afraid? With the presence of Holy Son."
Aqin shook her head with a red face. "It’s rare for me to see so many people…"
Li Ran smiled and said, "Relax. The ones who should be nervous are them."
"Eh?" Hearing this, Aqin was stunned for a moment before looking at the surrounding people.
Eyes of the bystanders dodged, and their expressions were tense. Some of them were filled with admiration, while others were filled with panic.
When they met, they automatically moved to both sides. No matter how crowded the streets were, the two people's sides were still empty.
Before, in Central City, her appearance could always attract all sorts of gazes. However, in the Imperial capital, no one dared to look her in the eye.
Aqin whispered, "Lord Holy Son, they seem to be quite afraid of you?"
Rather than being afraid, it was more like reverence.
Forget about his ident.i.ty and strength, just what he had done. Which one of them wasn't shocking to the world?
In Central City, regardless of whether you were a commoner, a high official, or a descendant of a clan, who didn’t know Sheng Zi Li?
Who didn't know Holy Son Li?
Li Ran shook his head. "If they’re afraid, then let them be afraid. This way, we'll be saved a lot of trouble."
It was better than just having a few annoying flies.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he swept his gaze across the bustling crowd.
"There are many more cultivators than usual."
Due to the Immortal Ascension a.s.sembly, various sects and powers had poured into Central City one after another, and all of them were cultivators with swords and sabers.
As the Righteous Path and Devil Dao gathered, the atmosphere became much more solemn than usual.
At this moment, the sun was shining in the sky. It was already ten in the afternoon.
There was a restaurant right in front of them. Li Ran said, "Let's go eat something first. Let's go home after we finish eating."
Aqin nodded obediently. "I'll listen to you."
Two of them raised their legs and walked forward.
……
Drunken Wind Pavilion.
At this moment, atmosphere of the originally bustling restaurant was icy, cold and murderous.
In the main hall, two groups were confronting each other.
On one side was the azure-robed swords woman with a small golden sword embroidered on her collar. Clearly, she was the swords woman of the Myriad Sword Pavilion.
Leading girl was naturally Yue Jianli.
Across from her sat a man with a gloomy aura. His face was as pale as paper under his black robe.
Behind him stood several black-robed men with cold expressions emitting waves of decay and oppression.
"Ji Xingyun, what do you mean? You want to fight here?"
Ji Xingyun sneered. "Yue Jianli, you should know what you've done. Are you still playing dumb with me?"
Yue Jianli frowned.
Ji Xingyun was a successor of the Yin Corpse Dao. He was only in his early twenties, but because he had been dealing with corpse Qi for many years, his appearance seemed to be fifty years old.
Although the Myriad Sword Pavilion and Yin Corpse Dao weren't going against each other, they had no enmity.
She said impatiently, "Speak quickly if you have something to say. Don't beat around the bush."
Ji Xingyun's smile grew more and more sinister. "Chief Yue really has forgotten everything. Since that's the case, I'll make it clear. My sect has an inner disciple called Yu Ye. Does Chief Yue have any impression of him?"
"Yu Ye?" Yue Jianli's heart jumped.
So it was this matter.
Ji Xingyun continued, "Back in the Grand Myriad Mountains, someone saw Deacon Yu fight with you, and then you returned to Southern Central City. Deacon Yu has never been heard from since then. Is that true?"
"Yes." Yue Jianli nodded.
Ji Xingyun asked, "Then what happened to him?"
Yue Jianli said indifferently, "I killed him."
Ji Xingyun was slightly taken aback.
He had guessed that Yu Ye was already dead, but he had not expected that Yue Janli would be so straight forward that he would not even try to hide it.
His long and narrow eyes narrowed slightly. "Chief Yue doesn't intend to give an explanation?"
"Of course." Yue Jianli pushed out her long sword with his thumb, revealing an inch of cold light.
Sharp sword intent that wasn't forged instantly surged out, and it surged violently in the entire hall, causing one's back to feel a chill.
Her eyes were ice-cold and resolute. "I've given this explanation. Can you take it?"
Ji Xingyun frowned. "You broke the pill?"
This was clearly an aura only at the Nascent Soul realm.
She didn't expect that in just a few days, she had already broken through the pill and become a baby.
Yue Jianli raised an eyebrow. "What… You don't dare to accept it?"
Ji Xingyun's lips twitched as he shook his head. "As expected of a genius, but unfortunately, you’re still too young… Yu Rui!"
A man behind him responded. A rotten and deathly silent aura spread, instantly wiping out the sword Qi.
Under the black robe, his face was old. A dense red light flickered in his eyes.
Yue Jianli's pupils constricted. "Heavenly Tribulation realm?"
Restaurant fell silent for a moment.
A series of whispers rang out among the cultivators on the second floor.
"Isn't this the Heavenly Tribulation realm?"
"This aura definitely exceeds that of a Nascent Soul realm, but I'm not sure which realm it is."
"This Yu Rui is Yu Ye's brother, a peak-stage Heavenly Tribulation cultivator!"
"His brother! This Ji Xingyun is here to partic.i.p.ate in the Immortal Ascension a.s.sembly, and he even brought a peak-stage Heavenly Tribulation?"
"Yue Janli only brought a few Golden Core Executors!"
"Ji Xingyun obviously came prepared. I heard that he's planning to step on Yue Jianli and Lin Langyue!"
……
Although there were quite a few Righteous cultivators among them, they all hesitated.
They were here to recruit people. Most of the people they brought with them were Golden Core and Nascent Souls. What were they going to fight against the peak of Heavenly Tribulation?
Moreover, the Yin Corpse Dao was a top-tier sect, and it was not easy to provoke.
No one was willing to stand out.
In the main hall, Yu Rui's voice was sinister. "Is my little brother really dead?"
Yue Jianli nodded. "His soul is gone. He can’t be resurrected anymore."
Whoosh!
A gust of dark wind rose from the ground, and the entire restaurant felt as if it had fallen into an icy pit!
Yu Rui gritted his teeth. "At that time, you were only a Golden Core. It's impossible that you killed him. Hand him over!"
"You don't believe me? Why don't I kill you too so that you can ask him?"
Yue Jianli circulated the Heaven Burning Incantation within her body, and the blazing sword light resisted the Yin wind.
Difference in cultivation between the two was extremely great, but that didn't mean that she was afraid of the other party. Even if she wasn't a match, she still had to bite!
At this critical moment, a lazy voice sounded from the door. "Waiter, find me a private room… Where's the waiter?"
Yue Jianli's body trembled as she suddenly turned around!