7: Chapter 7 A Decisive Strike, A Mighty Dragon Crosses the River

The inner city of Zhenhai Immortal City was a completely different world from the outer market.

The outer area was the domain of Loose Cultivators and minor forces—noisy, chaotic, and filled with the mundane atmosphere of low-level Cultivators. The inner city, however, was where various backed forces entrenched themselves, featuring wide streets, towering buildings, and a noticeably higher concentration of Spiritual Qi in the air.

Yet beneath the prosperity, a scent of corruption lingered in the air.

Lu Changyuan walked through the main street of the inner city, accompanied by Leng Feng, Lu Hu, and four personal guards.

They had been walking for less than half an hour when trouble found them.

Ahead, a group of Cultivators dressed in immortal city guard uniforms blocked their path. Leading them was a bearded giant with a Late Stage Qi Refining cultivation. A bronze plaque of an immortal city guard hung from his waist, but the quality of the bronze and the texture of his robe silently spoke of one thing—this was a local thug skimming off the top under the guise of a guard.

The giant sized up Lu Changyuan's group, his gaze lingering on the medium-sized spirit boat docked at the Pier for a moment, before cracking an ill-intentioned smile. "Fellow Daoists, you look very unfamiliar. Are you newly arrived trailblazers?"

Lu Changyuan did not stop and continued walking forward.

The giant stepped sideways, blocking his path. "The inner city has rules. Entering foreign Cultivators must pay a security fee—ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones per person. The spirit boat is charged separately. Yours looks quite large, so that's an extra fifty."

His subordinates behind him burst into laughter, their hands already resting on the Magical Artifacts at their waists.

"Furthermore," the giant licked his lips, his gaze growing increasingly brazen, "those Mortals on your boat look decent as well. Zhenhai Immortal City has been short on manual laborers lately. Leave three hundred of them behind, and I'll make the call to waive the change for you."

Leng Feng's hand was already on his sword hilt, his eyes as cold as ice.

Lu Changyuan stopped in his tracks.

He looked at the giant for a moment, his expression completely unchanged.

"Kill."

Just a single word.

Only then did he turn his head to look at Lu Hu beside him.

Understanding the command, Lu Hu took a step forward.

"Wait," the giant said, his tone hardening as he saw this. "What do you think you're doing? This is Zhenhai Immortal City, not your—"

His words were cut short by a sharp flash of a blade.

Lu Hu struck incredibly fast, so fast that the giant did not even have time to react. A single clean, swift slash sliced both the man and the Magical Artifact at his waist in two.

The scent of blood diffused through the air.

The surrounding pedestrians instantly fell silent as cicadas in winter, quickly parting to both sides and leaving a wide open space on the street.

The giant's subordinates froze on the spot. Then, some turned and fled, while others drew their Magical Artifacts with trembling hands, not daring to take a single step forward.

Lu Changyuan walked past the fallen giant with a normal expression, as if he had merely stepped over a stumbling block.

The news spread rapidly.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a Golden Core Stage aura surged from the depths of the immortal city, landing in front of Lu Changyuan's group. It materialized into a middle-aged Cultivator dressed in luxurious robes, his face livid and his eyes filled with uncontrollable rage.

"Who dares to commit murder in the streets of this city without authorization?!"

This was the vice city lord of the immortal city, an Early Stage Golden Core, and one of the actual administrators of Zhenhai Immortal City.

Lu Changyuan stopped in front of him. Without a word, he simply took a jade token from his sleeve and tossed it over.

The vice city lord caught it instinctively and looked down.

Purplish-gold, with the Lu family's seal engraving—the proof of identity for a direct descendant.

The moment he saw the jade token clearly, his face underwent an almost theatrical change—the livid color drained rapidly, replaced by a deathly pale, followed by cold sweat.

"The Lu... Lu family..." His voice dropped. "A distinguished guest of the Lu family..."

"Your subordinates," Lu Changyuan said calmly, "were extorting protection fees from passing Cultivators in the streets of the inner city. My young master's guards dealt with them according to the rules. Is there a problem?"

The vice city lord's hand trembled slightly as he held the jade token. He took a deep breath, then bowed, his tone shifting from overbearing to almost flatteringly submissive. "What the distinguished guest of the Lu family says is absolutely correct. It is this lower official's lack of discipline that has caused you grievance. Those people should have been dealt with long ago. You have rid this city of a pest, and this lower official is deeply grateful."

He looked up, squeezing out a smile. "I wonder what the distinguished guest requires for this trip? This lower official will fully cooperate. Furthermore, I have already ordered the best inn in the city to clear out their top rooms. Please, honored guest, move to—"

As if suddenly remembering something, he quickly took out a jade box from his sleeve and offered it with both hands. "This is Snow Bud Spiritual Tea, newly acquired by the City Lord's Mansion. It is excellent for calming the nerves. If the distinguished guest does not mind, please accept it as this lower official's apology."

"No need," Lu Changyuan said, taking back the jade token. "I have my own place to stay."

He stepped forward, walking past the vice city lord.

Lu Hu followed, the four guards followed, and Leng Feng was the last to walk past. As he passed the vice city lord, he glanced sideways at him. His gaze was calm, yet it made the vice city lord shudder involuntarily.

The silhouettes of the group disappeared around the corner of the street.

The vice city lord stood in place, staring at the bloodstains on the ground. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he was inwardly alarmed: Why has a fierce dragon from the Lu family of Yunzhou suddenly come to the Star Sea? The weather is about to change.

He turned around almost instantly and barked at the late-arriving city guards behind him, "What are you still standing there for? Drag the corpse away and wash the ground clean! Pass down my order: starting today, if anyone dares to use the name of the immortal city to reach out to the Lu family's fleet, this seat will personally chop off their hand!"

Several city guards hastily complied, rushing forward to clean up the mess, moving so quickly as if fearing they would be implicated if they were even a breath too slow.

Meanwhile, the Loose Cultivators on both sides of the street, who had previously only dared to shrink their necks and watch the commotion, now looked toward the direction where Lu Changyuan's group had departed with completely changed eyes.

Some felt awe, some felt envy, and some truly understood for the first time what it meant to be a direct descendant of a top-tier clan from the Middle Land.

Yet Lu Changyuan did not seem to take this disturbance to heart at all.

He continued forward along the main street of the inner city, and no one dared to block him again. Various figures who had been loitering at street corners, restaurants, and stalls moved aside of their own accord from far away, not even daring to let their gazes linger for half a breath.

It was not until the shadows of the two century-old spiritual trees in front of Cousin-Uncle Lu Tianming's residence fell upon them that Leng Feng spoke in a low voice, "Young Lord, after this strike, the entire Zhenhai Immortal City will remember us."

"Remembering us is enough," Lu Changyuan said calmly. "To establish a foothold in the Star Sea, the worst thing is for no one to take you seriously."

With that, he stepped through the shadows cast by the spiritual trees, never turning back to look at the long street silenced by that single strike. As that step fell, his name truly began to spread throughout Zhenhai Immortal City.

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