168: stormed into the city lord's mansion

This army of vengeance, composed of Genius Cadets and top instructors, surged towards the City Lord's Mansion like a flood.

Just as the team rushed out of the Academy gates, a fully armed Feiyun Legion blocked their path. The commanding officer, Zhao Ting, sternly shouted, "Xiao Yunfeng! Are you crazy? Is this a rebellion?!"

"Old Zhao..." Xiao Yunfeng looked at his long-time close friend, his voice hoarse.

He quickly explained the truth in a few words, pointing in the direction of the Silk Merchant Guild: "Go see... Go see what the children we personally sent off have become in the end..."

Commander Zhao Ting's expression flickered between bright and dark: "Even if there really is a Guanyin Hall stronghold, it may not be related to the City Lord. Even if the City Lord is guilty, he should be judged by the Imperial Court, not by you all..."

"What about your younger brother?" Xiao Yunfeng suddenly interrupted him. "The Young Master of the Zhao family, chosen by an Immortal Master ten years ago, has he ever returned?" This sentence was like a sharp knife, piercing deeply into Zhao Ting's heart.

He remembered his younger brother's innocent and cheerful smile before his departure, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

After a long silence, Zhao Ting suddenly turned and loudly commanded his soldiers: "Feiyun Legion, heed my order! Immediately proceed outside the city for special training!" With that, he mounted his horse, and as he brushed past the rebel army, this iron-blooded general deliberately turned his head, pretending not to see the Killing Intent-filled squad.

"Kill—!"

Chu Yu's furious roar ignited the blood of everyone.

The team charged all the way to the vermilion gate of the City Lord's Mansion. Two personal guards blocked their way with halberds: "How dare you! This is..."

"Bang!"

Chu Yu's fist carried the force of wind and thunder. Before the personal guard could finish speaking, he flew backward like a broken rag, heavily crashing into the gilded gate, blood slowly flowing down the Pixiu relief on the door.

Deep within the City Lord's Mansion, a gilded beast-head censer emitted wisps of smoke.

City Lord Ge Hong, dressed in a dark purple brocade robe, leaned languidly on a zitan wood couch covered with sable fur.

A small, thin figure stood bowed before the couch; it was the Cihang Sect's outer Sect intelligence officer—the Blood Bat.

The Blood Bat's true form was a three-hundred-year-old red-eyed ghost bat. Although he had transformed into human form, his sharp face, overly large earlobes, and occasionally twitching nostrils still revealed non-human characteristics.

He wore a pitch-black cloak embroidered with dark red blood lotuses, and his voice was sharp and piercing:

"Reporting to the City Lord, all 'high-quality goods' for this 'Annual Sacrifice' have been screened. There are a total of thirty-seven individuals, all Martial Arts seeds with strong bones and abundant Qi and blood. Among them, there are three individuals with unique talents, whose heart essence and blood will greatly benefit the refining of the 'Blood Lotus Jade Marrow Pill'." The Blood Bat squeezed a fawning smile onto his ugly face, presenting a Jade Slip glowing with blood-red light with both hands. "The roster and bone root assessments are all here; please review them, Your Excellency."

Ge Hong didn't even bother to lift his eyelids; he merely extended two fingers to take the Jade Slip, scanned it with his eyes, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face: "Mm, Officer Blood Bat is efficient. The Cihang Sect is pressing hard, so this batch of goods must be transported before midnight tonight, through the underground blood river secret passage, to the 'Pudu Cihang' pleasure boat outside the city. Remember, be clean about it, don't let a few 'little bugs' escape like last time, forcing this City Lord to personally send people to 'clean up'."

"Rest assured, Your Excellency!" the Blood Bat shrieked, his pair of blood-red eyes darting around. "Those Cadets, I'm afraid they have already become pure medicinal ingredients in the alchemical cauldron..." He let out a low, sinister laugh, revealing his pale, sharp fangs.

Ge Hong nodded slightly, picked up a cup of blood-red liquid nearby, brought it to his nose, and gently sniffed, closing his eyes in intoxication: "Very good. Once this batch of goods is delivered, the Qi Cultivation Pills from above should arrive, helping you Breakthrough to Immortal Ascension in the near future. Also..." He changed the subject, his voice chilling a few degrees, "What's the status of the investigation into that Lu Chen? He disrupted this City Lord's 'Guanyin Hall' and ruined my important plans!"

The Blood Bat quickly bowed, a hint of solemnity appearing on his face: "Reporting, Your Excellency, I was just about to report on this! That Lu Chen... is very strange. On the surface, he's just an ordinary Transcendent Martial Artist, but when this subordinate used the Sect's secret technique, 'Blood Eye Truth Peeking Art,' to observe him from afar, it was like a clay ox entering the sea; I couldn't see anything clearly. Instead... instead, my consciousness was almost injured by an invisible Dragon intent! This person carries a great secret and is no ordinary individual!"

Ge Hong snorted coldly: "What does his secret matter! Anyone who dares to stir up trouble in Feiyun City and ruin the Cihang Sect's good deeds has only one path: to become 'medicinal material'! You personally go and capture this Lu Chen for me to refine into medicine..."

Before he finished speaking, a thunderous boom suddenly echoed from outside the hall—"Boom!!"

Immediately after, a storm of shouts, clashing weapons, and shrill screams swept through the entire City Lord's Mansion!

"What's going on?!" Ge Hong abruptly sat up from the couch, his face changing drastically.

The Blood Bat's blood-red eyes suddenly constricted, and his large bat ears rapidly twitched, capturing the chaotic sound waves in the air.

His high-pitched voice carried a hint of imperceptible fear:

"Your Excellency! This is bad! It's... it's people from the Martial Arts Academy! Xiao Yunfeng, that old scoundrel, is leading them. Damn it, why is Chu Yu here too? He shouldn't be here, he should be underground!! He's incited all the Genius Cadets from the Academy! Their numbers... over a hundred! They've already broken through the front courtyard guards and are heading straight for the inner mansion!"

Ge Hong's head was about to explode. Zhao Ting?! The tens of thousands of Feiyun Legion soldiers?!

Useless, a bunch of useless people!

How could they let these people fight their way here?

Ge Hong's face contorted in rage as he smashed the table, purple sandalwood splinters mixing with tea splashing everywhere.

The shouts of battle outside the hall had already reached the central courtyard, and even the ground was trembling slightly.

The Blood Bat cowered in the shadow of a corridor pillar, half of his pale face exposed from beneath his cloak: "C-City Lord, they've reached the second gate!" His sharp voice trembled.

Ge Hong suddenly smiled sinisterly, his withered fingers clamping onto the Blood Bat's shoulder: "You and everyone in the intelligence group—hold them off for this City Lord!"

The Blood Bat looked shocked: "Ah? Me? Hold them off?"

Ge Hong: "What? Are you scared!"

"This subordinate... obeys!" The Blood Bat gritted his teeth and let out a piercing shriek. Hundreds of dark figures darted out from the eaves, cracks in the ground, and ponds—all ghost bat demons lurking in the city.

They were originally responsible for surveillance and communication, but now they were forced to form a flesh-and-blood defense line.

"Buzz—"

Hundreds of ghost bats simultaneously vibrated their throat sacs, and visible sound waves swept through the front courtyard like a tsunami.

The bluestone floor tiles cracked inch by inch, and the rockeries and potted landscapes instantly turned to dust.

The Cadets at the very front suddenly clutched their ears and screamed, blood oozing from between their fingers.

"Golden Scales Open!" Lu Chen's robes billowed, and golden light in the shape of Dragon scales appeared around his body, yet he was still pushed back step by step by the sound waves.

Only Chu Yu went against the current, each step leaving a bloody footprint on the ground.

Blood tears streamed from his tearing eyes, yet he roared to the heavens: "I! Am! An! Enemy! Of! Ten! Thousand! Men!"

Each word exploded like thunder, actually tearing a gap in the sound wave torrent.

"Boom!"

A punch imbued with kingly dominance slammed into the core of the sound waves, which shattered like glazed glass.

The ghost bats fled in terror.

Lu Chen threw the dragon fiend spear, piercing through dozens of ghost bats.

Seeing that the tide had turned, the Blood Bat was naturally not foolish enough to sacrifice himself and grew a pair of blood bat wings, preparing to fly away.

Suddenly, three fireballs fell from the sky.

It was Zhang Xuan's Burning Heaven Art!!

After half a year, Zhang Xuan could actually release three fireballs now, terrifying indeed!!

The Blood Bat was burned alive!!