Chapter 2165.2: Shengxiang

Ouyang Shengxiang was an unmarried girl of fifteen years old and lacked a firm grasp of the matters between men and women. Mortified, she didn’t know what to do when suddenly presented with this kind of view.

“Who is your dear?!” Her eyes spat fire, but she didn’t dare look in Lu Yun’s direction.

“How is father-in-law?” Lu Yun approached merrily. Lan’er and Lu Xuan followed him alertly—Ouyang Shengxiang had just sent an initial foundation establishment cultivator flying with one kick!

“Who, who’s your father-in-law?!” Ouyang Shengxiang angrily stomped her foot, then grew snappish when she thought of how her father had just died yesterday.

“Your dad is my father-in-law, of course,” Lu Yun chortled.

“I’ll kill you!” Ouyang Shengxiang couldn’t keep herself in check anymore and raised her hand, shooting out a watery ripple of sword light from her fingertips. It beelined toward Lu Yun.

Clang!

Turquoise light flashed by and blocked the sword light. Lu Xuan stood stiffly upright with enormous killing intent emanating from his body. He leveled a cold glare at Ouyang Shengxiang.

“Sword mastery? Ouyang Shengxiang’s only three levels of qi refinement, how can she deploy qi through a sword?” Lu Yun jumped with surprise. Only when cultivators reached foundation establishment could they begin to master a sword. Those below that level couldn’t fully utilize one.

Although Lu Yun practiced the Nine Chapters of Dao and possessed unquestionably strong Hongmeng qi, his own cultivation was only eighth level qi refinement. He was unable to deploy qi out of a sword.

“Turquoise Willow!” Ouyang Shengxiang’s expression turned chilly when she saw the sword light.

“Who are you and how dare you bully Miss Xiang!” rang a furious roar as the slums boiled over with activity. Nearly eight hundred people waving clubs or blunt instruments flooded out of nowhere, surrounding Lu Yun and his people. The ones closer to Ouyang Shengxiang clustered protectively around her.

“Get out of the northern quadrant if you’re going to bully Miss Shengxiang!”

“That’s right, get out of here! You’re not welcome here!”

The strongest of them was sixth or seventh level qi refinement. Ambient qi in the northern quadrant was very lacking due to a dearth of resources, so ascending to seventh level qi refinement here was quite an accomplishment.

Most people hovered around first or second level qi refinement.

“Hey, take a closer look, alright? She’s the one who struck first, I’m the victim here,” Lu Yun protested with resignation as he faced a menacing crowd of cultivators.

“We don’t care if you struck first or Miss Xiang did. Whoever is an enemy of Miss Xiang is nothing good! The northern quadrant doesn’t welcome you!” A teenager waving a kitchen knife glared hotly at him.

I wonder what she’s done to win over all of the residents. Lu Yun smiled. “Oh, is that so?”

He took out a vermilion command token from his storage ring, one etched with a vermilion bird ready to take off in flight.

“I am the commander of the Vermilion Bird troops in Darklake Empire and am here on secret orders to investigate the deaths of the Ouyang and Yuwen patriarchs. Are all of you co-conspirators to keep me here?” Lu Yun drawled as he held the command token high.

Lu Tianling commanded four major troops of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. The Azure Dragons were valiant and skilled in battle, the domineering White Tigers acted as shock troops, the Black Tortoises were unparalleled in defending cities, and the Vermilion Birds were once their strongest member!

Not only were the Vermilion Birds first among the four troops, they were the foremost battle force of Darklake. However, they were fully lost in battle at the battle of Tiger Suppression Pass twenty years ago.

Although they’d been eliminated, their designation remained. Lu Tianling had given the command token to Lu Yun after the boy’s birth, hoping that he could inherit the Vermilion Birds and return them to glory.

Sadly, Lu Yun had been unsalvageable trash before and the Vermilion Bird was never reformed. Up till now, the troop listed only Lu Yun on its rolls. Its command token, however, contained immense authority. It represented the strongest of the empire—Lu Tianling!

But who were those in front of him? The lowest of the low in the world of cultivation. Lu Tianling and the four great troops were too far removed from them. It’d been twenty years since the Vermilion Birds were wiped out—they were less important than a piece of lower rank spirit stone to these people.

Although Lu Yun was dressed opulently and carried himself with an uncommon air, the cultivators didn’t have the capacity to consider those details as their Miss Xiang was being bullied.

“Alright back off now, back off now. What are you people doing crowding around here?? Are you trying to raise a rebellion?” A stern voice came from the sky, followed shortly by a ray of sword light. A middle-aged man in black stood in the air and surveilled the crowd below.

“Master Yu…” The cultivators paled to see the man.

Yu Qianhua was latter foundation establishment and part of the city guard. He was in charge of the northern quadrant, so naturally needed to pay a visit when nearly eight hundred cultivators congregated on the same spot.

“Hoi, so it’s Master Yu Qianhua! I was wondering why I hadn’t seen you in a while, so you’ve come to the northern quadrant!” Lu Yun put away the command token when he saw the man and tilted his head back. “Get your ass down here, this young master isn’t used to talking to people standing over me.”

“Um…” The cultivators wanted to faint when they heard Lu Yun loftily address Master Yu Qianhua. Yu Qianhua and the city guard of this quadrant were their gods and the goal of all of the denizens.

If they were able to establish their foundations, they would be able to join the city guard and become someone like him. That would bring honor to their families, but their idol, their goal in life, was currently being hollered at by someone else!

Yu Qianhua was about to erupt with anger when he took a closer look at the speaker. He quickly changed his expression and landed on the ground.

“So the august young master Lu has come to visit… I have failed to welcome you properly, please forgive me.” Yu Qianhua bowed repeatedly while cursing inwardly. What was this spoiled brat doing here?? He wouldn’t have come if he’d known that Lu Yun was here!

Being less than fifty years old, yet having already reached latter foundation establishment, Yu Qianhua counted among the upper echelon of talent in Darklake. Unfortunately, he came from a humble background and lacked a patron. Although he’d joined the city guards, he was assigned to a place like the northern quadrant.

Ambient qi was so sparse \ that cultivators progressed slowly when they were based in the area. But since his duties lay here, Yu Qianhua didn’t dare leave.

“I remember you were in charge of the southern quadrant and you were a captain there. What are you doing here?” Lu Yun asked with every semblance of confusion.

Yu Qianhua looked at the young man and hesitated before responding, “The Ouyang young master—Ouyang Shenghe—broke through to latter foundation establishment. He’s joined the city guards for training and has become captain of the southern quadrant. Qianhua was reassigned to the northern quadrant due to lack of skill.”

“Ouyang Shenghe huh…” Lu Yun turned back to look at Ouyang Shengxiang. She and her brother had plotted against Lu Yun to beat him up. Events of the day were still fresh in his mind.

“Hmph!” Ouyang Shengxiang snorted coldly to see Lu Yun look at her. “What does it have to do with my older brother that you’ve been reassigned to the northern quadrant? It’s your own fault for slacking on your duties and nothing to do with my brother.”

“Your brother?” Yu Qianhua blinked before realizing that the renowned benefactor of the northern quadrant was the young miss of the Ouyang Clan!

The cultivators around them exchanged glances of disbelief with each other. How noble was the young miss of the Ouyang Clan? Yet here she was, helping impoverished cultivators!

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

No wonder the two noble scions had been at odds with each other as soon as they met. It was no secret that the Ouyangs and Lus did not get along.

“What do you know, Ouyang Shengxiang?” Lu Yun snorted and showed the girl no face. “Yu Qianhua comes from purely civilian roots and established his foundation at twenty years old. He joined the Black Devils, a troop that set foot on the battlefield no less than twenty times. He accomplished innumerable achievements and is latter foundation establishment at forty-five years old. His abilities are nothing that your brother can measure up to!”

The Black Devils were a star troop that answered to the imperial family. They rivaled the four troops under Lu Tianling’s command.

“Hmph, foundation establishment at forty-five years old? He’s just trash and not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as my brother,” Ouyang Shengxiang sniffed dismissively.

“Hahahaha!” Lu Yun roared with laughter. “Foundation establishment at forty-five years old? You come from a major family, Ouyang Shengxiang, and have rich resources to draw on. You have absolutely no idea about the hardships of the poor!”

He swept a look around the surroundings. “Master Yu comes from a purely civilian background and had no spirit stones to use. He utilized the qi of heaven and earth to slowly make his way to foundation establishment at twenty years old. He traded accomplishments in battle for cultivation resources to reach his current heights. It is a long and difficult process that a coddled noble miss like you knows nothing about!

“To be blunt, if Ouyang Shenghe and Yu Qianhua were to fight each other, Ouyang Shenghe would be terminated in less than three moves!

“Hmph, Master Yu has rendered great service to the empire and should’ve had a promising future after making captain. But your useless flop of a brother has destroyed his future!”

City guards were as good as exiled after they were sent to the northern quadrant. If no fortuitous opportunity came to them, they would stay here until they retired.

Off to the side, Yu Qianhua trembled. Lu Yun clearly sensed goodwill flow from him, a surge on par with what he’d felt from He Wuheng during the second time.