Edited by RED

Two figures started darting around the main hall following Black Tortoise’s loud roar. However, it was very obvious that one of them were chasing, and the other running. Pained cries were heard from time to time, and judging from the voice, they belonged to the Ice-Armored Horned Dragon. Xu Qi, Xu Xiaomei, and Yi Qingqing became the bystanders, watching the situation play out.

Just like that, the two figures scuttled about in the hall for some time, and finally stopped after a good long while. The Ice-Armored Horned Dragon was hanging from the Black Tortoise’s hand, his head drooped. However, the latter’s angry look remained as he lifted the Ice-Armored Horned Dragon easily.

Xu Qi crossed his arms, watching the Ice-Armored Horned Dragon thoughtfully. He was no fool; the Black Tortoise grew angry the moment he laid eyes on the Ice-Armored Horned Dragon. Their relationship was obviously not as simple as the Ice-Armored Horned Dragon had put it. He had lied to Xu Qi.

“Alright, stop feigning death. I knew you were dishonest,” Xu Qi said to the dispirited Ice-Armored Horned Dragon.

The latter slowly raised his head, revealing his new appearance to Xu Qi. Xu Qi took two steps back involuntarily, feeling a chill on his back.

“Brother, who are you?” Xu Qi couldn’t help but ask.

At this moment, the Ice-Armored Horned Dragon’s handsome face was nowhere to be found. Bruises were all over his face. That’s right; everywhere was bruised. You couldn’t find a spot that was fine. Every strike had hurt his flesh, yet his bones and veins were uninjured.

Xu Qi looked toward the grinning Black Tortoise, as a drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead.

“Uncle, what happened between you and this guy?” Xu Qi asked, the corners of his lips pulled back in pained sympathy.

Black Tortoise smiled and pointed his finger at the Ice-Armored Horned Dragon, saying, “Let me warn you first: I have known this guy here for a very long time, and I have never heard a word of truth from his mouth before. This guy’s guts are incredible; he dares to fool anyone.”

“What do you mean by never a word of truth? I’ll have you know I’m male. That is true!” the Ice-Armored Horned Dragon mumbled.

“”Bah! Male, you say? Do you believe I’ll cut off that thing between your legs right now? I’ll leave you neither a male nor a female!” Black Tortoise retorted.

Hearing this, the Ice-Armored Horned Dragon couldn’t help but shrink his neck back, his head drooped down again, no longer daring to say a word. His hands covered his vital organ between his legs, afraid that Black Tortoise would really cripple him.

The Black Tortoise kicked him in annoyance on seeing this, pushing him aside. Unexpectedly, the Ice-Armored Horned Dragon ran back there, standing next to the Black Tortoise with his head bowed. This left Xu Qi feeling even more curious after witnessing this.

Xu Qi sent a gaze at Xu Xiaomei, who then tactfully pulled Yi Qingqing out of the hall, although the latter looked unwilling to leave.

At this moment, a thunderous roar rang out in the skies above Rivulet City. The voice rose from afar and grew increasingly louder, spreading out over the entire city.

“The Undying School has come to meet with the Xu Clan’s Xu Qi! Please grant us an audience outside the city!”

The voice was deep and forceful, and gave off an imposing air, nearly forcing people to listen to it attentively. However, it wasn’t as imposing to Xu Qi and the Black Tortoise.

“Haha, Xu Qi, that rascal’s enemies have come again. This is truly interesting!” Luo Tianming’s voice called out from outside even before his figure was in sight.

Upon entering the hall, Luo Tianming stuck out his tongue childishly at Xu Qi, and stood beside Yi Qingqing, looking at her with a loving gaze. Not a trace of of his carefree attitude from moments ago could be seen.

“Blackie scoundrel, I’ll give you a chance to make up for your sins. Today, if you were to kill the owner of that voice from before, I’ll forget about our grudges. How about it?” Black Tortoise offered.

The Ice-Armored Horned Dragon nodded vehemently at hearing this, not even bothering to ask about his opponent’s identity.

“Don’t be so quick to agree. I can tell that your strength isn’t that great right now,” Black Tortoise chuckled.

The Ice-Armored Horned Dragon straightened his attire vainly and let out a cold humph upon hearing this, before walking out of the main hall. He took to the skies and flew toward the direction of the voice.

Xu Qi exchanged glances with the Black Tortoise and quickly followed behind. Luo Tianming retracted his gaze from Yi Qingqing unwillingly and let out a sigh before giving chase as well.

Yi Qingqing wanted to tag along too, but was stopped by Xu Xiaomei.

“Stay here obediently if you don’t wish to add to Young Master’s troubles. Any other matters will have to wait until he is back,” Xu Xiaomei said and turned into a streak of golden light, flying out.

“Hmph, on what basis are you allowed to go, but not me!? I insist on going, too; I’ll see what you can do to me?!” Yi Qingqing muttered and ran outside.

From the Xu Clan, the Twelve Constellation Guards, Wen Xiang, and the others from Luo Xiang House all ran in the voice’s direction. Even Xu Pingfan, whose strength was nothing exceptional, followed along quietly.

Unexpectedly, the twin sisters, Qian Yin and Qian Yun, remained in the Xu Clan.

---

A frail figure stood outside Rivulet City’s northern entrance, as his untied hair swayed along in the wind. His left temple had a tuft of white hair that was especially eye-catching. People had the impression of encountering a ghost in broad daylight after having a clear look at his appearance.

This person’s face seemed to be devoid of flesh. His wrinkled skin was clinging tightly to his facial bones, a classical case of only skin and bones. He was obviously an old man, his eyes deeply recessed into his eye sockets. The most important point was that this person’s eyes had no whites at all; they were fully black in color, chilling those who met them.

At this moment, several figures sped toward him from Rivulet City, and landed behind this rickety character almost simultaneously. All of them were half-kneeling on the ground. Among them, a youngster whose stature was extremely similar to the old man was kneeling closest to him.

“Why are you back so quickly?” a voice rang out from the thin elder’s mouth, but strangely enough, his lips didn’t move at all.

“Reporting in to School Master, we snuck into the city as ordered, but were met with ambushes by several cultivators whose strengths were pretty strong the moment we got close to the Xu Clan. We could only return first,” the youngster explained.

The attire of these people was immediately recognizable as that of the nation of Mirrorlink’s number one cultivation school, the Undying School. The elder was wearing the Undying School’s attire, too, and on his chest, there were close to a hundred shimmering blue gemstones, forming a picture of a monster. It looked as if the gemstones had grown on his clothes.

The elder slowly turned around after hearing the report, and the kneeling disciples hurriedly lowered their heads. The fear in their eyes was as clear as day in the moment they looked down.

The identity of this elder in front of them was not only fearsome to those kneeling in front of him. Even among the other top schools, there were only a handful of experts who had no fear of him. This elder was none other than the father of Bu Chenglin, the Young School Master who Xu Qi had crippled; and the current School Master of the Undying School, who had not appeared in front of outsiders for many years: Bu Wanggui!

As for the youngster who looked similar to Bu Wanggui in the eyes of outsiders, he was the most capable personal disciple of Bu Wanggui. There were many rumors of him floating around within the Undying School.

No one knew his name. All they knew was that Bu Wanggui gave him the nickname “Guisheng” when he took him in, and this in turn made him the only disciple in the Undying School who wasn’t surnamed Bu.

Opinions of Guisheng differed within the Undying School. He only obeyed Bu Wanggui’s orders, and he would even ignore the Elders when they tried to strike up a conversation with him. There were several occasions when he killed disciples who committed minor mistakes, but Bu Wanggui had never spoken a word about it. This led to rumors of Guisheng acting with unbridled arrogance due to his connections with the School Master. Not only that, Guisheng had, on many occasions, reprimanded Bu Wanggui’s son, Bu Chenglin, yet he wasn’t punished at all. As such, the other disciples no longer dared to speak about Guisheng behind his back. He was someone who even dared to lecture their Young School Master; naturally, they weren’t qualified to talk about him behind his back. It was an act akin to stealing from the king of hell, simply looking for death!

Guisheng’s cultivation soared while he stayed in the Undying School, and he would always complete his assigned missions. As time passed, his reputation in the Undying School grew, and now, he was someone whose prestige was second only to their First Elder. There was still one baffling matter; Bu Wanggui had never allowed this disciple of his to address him as “Master”. Guisheng was only allowed to refer to him as “School Master”, much like the others.

This time, the Undying School’s School Master had personally come to Rivulet City with his most capable disciple. Perhaps it was unthinkable for others. After all, there weren’t many matters that attracted Bu Wanggui’s personal attention within Mirrorlink’s borders.

Even so, only a handful of people knew that the Undying School had met with consecutive setbacks in the recent years. Several of their Elders had died, or gone missing. Even the Four Protectors sent to capture this brat from Rivulet City some time ago had gone missing. This made even Bu Wanggui, who remained calm in the face of trouble, feel uneasy. He immediately realized that they were likely held up by this brat from Rivulet City. Even now, he still harbored hopes of them being alive. He didn’t think Xu Qi’s gang could have killed them.

“Stand up and speak,” Bu Wanggui said evenly.

Cold sweat immediately poured out from Guisheng’s forehead on hearing this. He understood his School Master’s temper well; Bu Wanggui never liked to ask questions. He preferred them to elaborate on matters while they reported to him.

“School Master, I didn’t manage to find anything,” Guisheng replied, and knelt on the ground once more.

“Hmm, back off to the side for now,” Bu Wanggui said plainly, looking at Rivulet City in the distance.

The Undying School’s disciples felt as if they had been granted an amnesty on hearing this. They immediately stood up and moved aside. However, they soon realized that Guisheng was still kneeling on the ground.

Before they could understand what was happening, the gemstone design on Bu Wanggui’s chest shone upon them. When the light faded, only a few skeletons remained.