Chapter 894: Pretty Boy

Yi Liya's brows were tightly furrowed as he watched Han Li, Gu Qianxun, and Chen Yang walking along at the forefront, seemingly on very good terms with one another.

He had nothing to say about Chen Yang taking Du Qingyang's place as the city lord. Even though he was in seclusion during Chen Yang's rise to the top, it was clear to him what had to have happened, and the fact that Chen Yang was able to eliminate Du Qingyang clearly indicated that he was not to be messed with.

When it came to Gu Qianxun, he also had a great deal of respect for her. After all, it was undeniable that her powers were superior to his, and he had been defeated in all of the battles that had taken place between them up to this point.

However, Li Feiyu was someone that he had never heard of before, and he appeared to be quite weak, yet it was clear that he was on very good terms with the other two.

He had asked Tu Gang and Sun Binghe about this, but they weren't able to answer his questions about Han Li, either.

Han Li was completely oblivious to Yi Liya's scrutiny, and he began inspecting his surroundings as soon as he entered the city.

The layout of the city was very orderly and well-organized. All of the buildings were constructed from the same black stone material as the city walls, and even though they were all quite simplistic and monotonous in style, it was still quite a rare sight in a barren secret area like the Scalptia Spatial Domain.

The streets in the city were very wide, allowing even large scaled beasts to pass through with no problems, and they were also lined with shops.

Perhaps it was because it was close to nighttime, but there weren't many pedestrians on the streets in the city, so it was quite serene, with the peace only occasionally punctuated by a beastly roar or two.

As they were about to reach the center of the city, Han Li's eyes suddenly narrowed slightly as he spotted a rather interesting building.

It was an enormous round building with many black stone pillars standing around it, and its walls were packed with scaled beast star bones to an even higher degree of density than the city walls.

Outside the building was a spacious plaza, atop which stood a humanoid stone statue with blurry facial features that was hundreds of feet tall.

Han Li had seen a statue that was virtually identical to this one in Green Goat City, albeit quite a bit smaller, and he had asked Chen Yang about its origins, to which Chen Yang had replied that he didn't know.

After passing by this giant round building, it didn't take long before the group arrived at the city lord's manor.

The city lord's manors of Profound City and Green Goat City could hardly even be compared with one another.

Even though there was no vegetation around the city lord's manor of Profound City, it had been constructed like a beautiful garden.

All of the paths in the manor were paved with giant bluestone slabs, and these paths were lined with black statues depicting different humanoid and beastly figures, as well as some half-human, half-beast deities.

Littered around the paths were some stone palaces with all types of ornate designs engraved upon them, and they were already very similar in style to the palaces that Han Li had seen in the Devil Realm.

Han Li's group was led by Tong Song to a massive stone hall, where Tong Song smiled and said, "Please take a rest in here, City Lord Chen. City Lord E Kuai has already been informed of your arrival, and he'll be seeing you shortly."

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Tong," Chen Yang said.

Tong Song responded with a polite smile, then made an inviting hand gesture, and Chen Yang entered the hall with his entourage.

Inside the hall was a massive rectangular stone table that extended all the way from the wall at the very back of the hall.

The main seat in the hall, a wide and sturdy chair, remained unoccupied, while around a dozen other seats at the table were already occupied, and all of their occupants were currently chatting boisterously with one another.

Han Li swept his gaze over the people already present to discover that their leader seemed to be a short and stocky middle-aged man with a muscular physique. He was dressed in a thick beast hide cape, and he was currently resting with his eyes closed.

Right next to him was another brawny man with most of his body covered in a layer of pristine white bandages, leaving only half of his dark-skinned face exposed, and there was a hint of cold bloodlust in his only visible eye.

What was rather strange was that his bandaged arm was extraordinarily long and muscular, almost trailing all the way down onto the ground, while his unbandaged arm appeared much more normal in comparison.

As Han Li was observing these people, they also noticed the arrival of Chen Yang and his entourage, and the chatter instantly died down as they turned their attention to Han Li and the others.

"Long time no see, City Lord Fu, Fellow Daoist Duan," Chen Yang greeted with a smile.

The bandaged man merely took a glance at Chen Yang before giving a cold harrumph, while the muscular middle-aged man didn't even open his eyes, choosing to ignore Chen Yang altogether.

Chen Yang was completely unbothered by this, and he was just about to sit down across from the muscular middle-aged man and the others when the sound of a violent coughing fit suddenly rang out from outside the hall, following which a tall and thin middle-aged man with a sickle pale complexion made his way into the room.

Han Li noticed that he had a layer of gray scales growing near his throat, which would rustle slightly every time he coughed.

While Han Li was observing the man's throat, a figure suddenly shot out from behind him, abruptly appearing in front of Han Li as if by instantaneous teleportation before piercing a sword that was as thin as a willow leaf straight at Han Li's right eye.

Han Li reacted extremely quickly, raising his two fingers in which his Flower Branch domain had been refined to catch the tip of the sword.

The sword shuddered slightly before being withdrawn, and it was revealed that its wielder was an extremely handsome white-robed young man with a set of gentle and effeminate features, giving him a rather gender-neutral appearance.

"Keep staring at my father like that and I'll gouge your eyes out!" the young man threatened, and his voice was quite tender, further adding to his gender ambiguity.

"Come back, Wuchen. Why get so worked up over a lowly slave?" the pale-faced man said in an indifferent manner.

The white-robed young man immediately retreated respectfully to the pale-faced man's side, but he was still glowering at Han Li with a hostile look in his eyes.

"You've made yourself quite a troublesome enemy right off the bat, Fellow Daoist Li. You're going to have to be careful if you encounter him in the arena," Gu Qianxun remarked through voice transmission.

"Why do you say that?" Han Li asked.

"This man's name is Feng Wuchen, and he's the most powerful subordinate under Qin Yuan, the lord of Profound End City. His cultivation arts are focused primarily on the profound acupoints of his legs, granting him incredible speed and agility, and his willow leaf sword is also a perfect weapon for an assassin," Gu Qianxun introduced.

Han Li remained unfazed as he asked, "Who's the guy in the bandages?"

"His name is Duan Tong, and his cultivation arts place a heavy emphasis on the cultivation of his right arm. That's why his right arm is so disproportionately huge. The last time I saw him, his skin wasn't this dark, and he wasn't wearing these bandages, either," Gu Qianxun replied.

"In that case, he must've cultivated some other powerful abilities since you last met him," Han Li replied.

"He was once the number one subordinate under Fu Jian, the lord of Excess Passage City, but he seemed to have been stripped of that title after being defeated by me during the last martial gathering. It appears that he's back for revenge this time," Gu Qianxun mused.

While the two were conversing with each other, Qin Yuan had already led his entourage to sit down across from Fu Jian and the others, so Chen Yang could take a seat further down the table next to them.

Right at this moment, Fu Jian slowly opened his eyes as he scoffed, "To think that a traitorous scoundrel like yourself would dare to come here and take part in the Five City Martial Gathering. Are you aware of how the word 'shame' is spelt?"

All of his subordinates immediately burst into raucous laughter upon hearing this.

Chen Yang remained completely unbothered as he countered, "Oh? It sounds like you're very knowledgeable on this subject. Why don't you write down the word for me on a piece of rock or beast bone, and I'll make it a prized piece of my calligraphy collection."

Qin Yuan leaned back in his chair, resting his feet on the table in front of him as he mused, "During the last martial gathering, I warned Du Qingyang to be careful of you. I could see that you had a rebellious bone in you, but it seems like he didn't heed my advice."

"Maybe you should worry more about your own Profound End City rather than concerning yourself with the affairs of our Green Goat City. Your advice was taken onboard by Du Qingyang, but his tyrannical ways had already sparked much dissatisfaction among his subordinates, so my ascension to the top was as welcome as it was necessary," Chen Yang replied with a smile.

This was a blatant lie, yet Chen Yang was telling it without even skipping a beat, much to Han Li's amusement and dismay.

"What's the point in all of this bickering? The group that Du Qingyang brought with him last time at least looked half decent, what's this assortment of trash that you've brought with you last time? Ah, forgive me, I didn't mean to lump in Fellow Daoist Gu with the rest, of course," Fu Jian sneered.

The expressions of Toxic Dragon and the others darkened significantly upon hearing this, but in the face of an almighty city lord, they could only suffer in silence.

"If I'm not mistaken, that little pretty boy among you seems to be a human, right?" Qin Yuan asked as his gaze settled onto Han Li.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he turned to Qin Yuan as he replied, "I am indeed a human, but as for the term 'pretty boy', I think that would be much more appropriately used on your son... No, daughter? That doesn't seem right, either..."

Everyone present faltered slightly upon hearing this, and it seemed that many people were very surprised by his decision to provoke Qin Yuan and Feng Wuchen.

Due to some special reasons, Qin Yuan always had a very sickly appearance, but no one ever dared to mock him for it as his powers and status both commanded a great deal of respect.

Gu Qianxun's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, while a cold sneer appeared on Yi Liya's face.

Before Qin Yuan had a chance to say anything, a furious look appeared on Feng Wuchen's face as he yelled, "How dare you! A worthless piece of scum like yourself should know to keep his mouth shut when the city lords are talking!"