The group of Highbeards looked at one another, unable to comprehend this decision. As a tribe that made a living as mercenaries, the Highbeards have always maintained a good relationship with the major powers and potential clients. The Southern Blue city lord attached great importance to mercenaries as he wasn’t very powerful himself. This was the best type of client for the Highbeards, so why would they start fighting him all of a sudden?

But no one voiced dissent regarding the Shieldmaiden’s decision and merely headed off to prepare.

At this moment, Bluemoon had already contacted several strongholds and was now quite confident in killing their way out even if the city lord were to field his army. Only at this point did she feel a bit calmer.

Qianye and Zhuji were just as leisurely as before, seemingly oblivious to her secret arrangements. Bluemoon clenched her teeth in anger, refusing to believe that the unfathomable Qianye hadn’t noticed her actions. Right now, she really had no idea what kind of game he was playing—was he really that confident, or had he been planning to use the Highbeards’ power all along?

At this moment, a relaxed Ji Rui was seated on a grand chair in the city lord manor, sipping tea while admiring the rare flora in his garden. In a corner of the courtyard, there was a small pond protected by an origin barrier. Amidst the dense array of ferns and algae, there was a single lotus flower at the center of this pool. It was as white as suet jade with faint purple threads weaving through its petals.

Covered in flashes of lightning and raging storms, the atmosphere inside this small secret realm was clearly different from the outside world.

Ji Rui’s burning gaze never left the small lotus all this time. It was at this moment that a hurried knock came from the courtyard gates. Ji Rui roared unhappily, “What is it? Can’t this wait until I wake up?”

The voice of Liu Yuanxi—head steward and vice-commander of the city guard—rang out from outside, “City Lord, an important character has appeared in the city. We need your instructions on how to deal with him.”

“Wait!” Ji Rui’s expression was unsightly. Although he hadn’t broken through to the divine champion realm, he was only a single step away. His words held enormous weight in Southern Blue and its surrounding regions. Apart from people like the Spider Emperor, Mask, and the Wolf King, who else could be more important than this lotus?

Ji Rui walked out of the garden with his teapot and closed the door behind him. “Now, tell me, what kind of important character is it?”

Liu Yuanxi lowered his voice to a whisper. “It’s Zhao Ye.”

“Who!?” Ji Rui couldn’t react for a moment.

“Zhao Ye, also known as Qianye, the one who crippled Stormwind Fury in the Black Grove. Hundreds of our brothers also died in his hands, and your logging camp...”

“Enough! He dares come here!?” Ji Rui cut Liu Xiyuan short with an unsightly expression. He had made steep investments in that logging camp, but Qianye burned it to the ground in the end. Not only did he fail to recoup his investments, but he also had to shoulder a large sum of compensation. The staff in the logging camp weren’t ordinary workers but mercenaries who had laid down their origin guns in favor of manual labor.

Ji Rui’s face was ashen. He raised his right hand like a blade. This was his habitual gesture—a downward slash would signify a kill-on-sight command.

Liu Xiyuan’s expression was full of killing intent as he waited for the City Lord to make his decision. But Ji Rui’s chubby hands froze midway and never came down. He looked up in curiosity, only to find the city lord’s face was twitching constantly. Sighing and clenching his teeth, the man’s expression fluctuated repeatedly, but that right hand still remained in place.

Suddenly noticing Liu Xiyuan’s gaze, Ji Rui drew his right hand back and pretended to wipe the sweat from his forehead. “Damned weather, it’s so hot.”

The weather was obviously gloomy and a spring chill hung in the air; there was no semblance of heat anywhere. However, Liu Xiyuan nodded repeatedly and said, “Yes, yes, it’s getting hot pretty early this year.”

Ji Rui took a sip of his tea. “That Qianye, is he disguised?”

Liu Xiyuan said awkwardly, “He’s wearing a mustache.”

Noticing Ji Rui’s expression turn even uglier, the man added, “And he also changed his clothes.”

What difference would this kind of disguise make!? Qianye’s attitude was simply too excessive. His cultivation wasn’t even that high. At least according to the numbers on paper, there were loads of people in Southern Blue who could do him in.

Ji Rui was a shrewd man. Despite his ugly expression, he still concluded, “So, he did disguise himself.”

“Yes, yes! How would he dare come into the city otherwise?”

Despite the authenticity, or the lack thereof, these words still had some positive affect. Ji Rui’s stance softened quite a bit as he said, “Since that’s the case, we’d better not alarm him just yet. Have you figured out what he’s here to do?”

“He went to several armament stores and bought airship components. But most of his purchases are second-hand goods. Oh, and he also placed an order for a kinetic sail, one of maximum size and grade.”

Ji Rui raised his brows, muttering, “He wants to build an airship?”

“But these components are far from enough.”

Ji Rui shook his head. “These sails are for large ships and long-distance vessels traversing the void. As I see it, what they really want are these sails.”

Liu Xiyuan said, “City Lord, what should we do then?”

Ji Rui said after some thought, “Send some people to keep an eye on him, but don’t provoke him. Understand?”

“Yes, But City Lord, the thirteenth young master has left the manor just now.”

Ji Rui was shocked. “What’s he up to again?”

“He left with the City Guard after hearing that the little girl has appeared in the city. None of our subordinates could stop him.”

“Bang!” Ji Rui’s teapot fell to the floor and its contents splashed in all directions. A large part of his robes was stained, but he couldn’t care about that at the moment. He said in a rage, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? Send people to bring that little bastard back, knock him out if he dares to resist. No, you should go personally, now!”

“But Madam He…”

Ji Rui’s expression sank. “Go!!!”

Liu Xiyuan left quickly without further words.

A gloomy Ji Rui waved his sleeve with a cold snort and strode toward the main building. Southern Blue was neither big nor small—it would be all too easy for his son to find someone in the city. Heck, he might even be standing in front of Qianye by now. It was likely too late no matter how fast Liu Xiyuan went.

“Humph! These disloyal fellows are really trying my hand,” Ji Rui muttered to himself as he passed through the corridors and into the meeting hall.

His followers approached and proceeded to wait respectfully for his command. But Ji Rui merely sat down in a large chair and said not a single word. Everyone exchanged glances, but who would dare to ask the city lord?

At this moment, in front of the largest weaponry store in the city, Qianye was looking up at the signboard and down at the young master who was blocking the way.

This store, called the Nightcloud Pavilion, was a shop mainly dealing in warship equipment and was also the largest arms dealer in the city. The scale of this store was just as grand as its name, standing five stories tall and occupying half a street block.

There were numerous members of the staff and guards standing cautiously nearby, but the young master paid no attention to them. He stared fixedly at Qianye, stealing an occasional glance at little Zhuji who was sitting on his shoulder.

Finally, he said through clenched teeth, “Who would’ve thought? You actually have the guts to come to Southern Blue!”

Qianye was observing the airship parked on the roof of Nightcloud Pavilion. Recalling his gaze, he said with a smile, “What? Was Southern Blue sealed off?”

The burly guards behind the young master were furious, muttering incoherently about teaching Qianye a lesson. But the young man stopped them, while he himself walked over. “Who are you trying to fool with this kind of disguise? Anyone but the blind knows it’s you.”

Qianye’s smile was unchanged. “You’re right, anyone but the blind will know it’s me.”

There was something off with these words. Additionally, Qianye’s reaction was quite different from what the thirteenth young master had expected. He scanned Zhuji after a moment of distraction, and his heart was set ablaze, almost like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

The young master’s mouth curved downward in an expression of mockery as he took one more step toward Qianye. “Even despite that, you dare to come here!? Do you know who I am?”

Qianye said with a smile, “Of course I don’t know who you are, but I think I’m about to find out very soon. What I’m sure of, though, is that you don’t know who I am.”

The young master suddenly flipped out. He pointed a finger at Qianye’s face and screamed, “Why would this daddy here need to f*cking know who you are!?”

At this moment, one of his personal guards pulled him back and whispered, “Young Master, let’s go back first.”

The thirteenth young master could hardly believe his ears. “Go back? Why must I? This fellow killed so many of our people. Cutting him down will be a great contribution!”

The guard was nearly in tears. “Young Master, think about it. He’s killed so many people…”

The thirteenth young master was even more furious. Seeing that this guard was so timid, he decided to find someone more useful. He glanced left and right, but none of his guards were willing to step forward.

Actually, everyone understood the guard captain’s meaning. The other party had managed to kill his way through a torrent of mercenaries back in the Black Grove, and even a powerful corps like Stormwind Fury had to disband after returning from this battle. Over two thousand soldiers lost their lives that day, so how were they supposed to kill Qianye with less than twenty men? It was still light out, definitely not a time for dreaming.

The thirteenth young master came to an immediate realization, but he was still unresigned. “Why aren’t you reporting this matter to the city lord?”

The guards felt even more helpless. How could the lord not know when even the thirteenth young master had received this news? Qianye had been swaggering around the city all this time, which meant that he wasn’t afraid of provoking the city lord.

The guard wanted to dissuade further when Little Zhuji said, “Now I remember, he’s the one who came with his men and asked me to sleep with him!”

The entire street fell into a deep silence.

The wind stopped blowing and the temperature fell sharply as though winter had come all of a sudden. Everyone at the scene couldn’t help but shiver.

Qianye looked into the thirteenth young master’s eyes for the first time, his gaze filled with incisive frostiness. “So it’s you, what a coincidence. I wanted to look for you at the city lord’s manor, but who would’ve thought I’d bump into you here? See? Now I know who you are.”

The thirteenth young master had wanted to say something, but a bone-piercing chill poured out from his heart and froze his entire body, stopping him from uttering a word. Only at this point did he truly understand what killing intent meant.

In his state of terror, he could not even flinch a muscle. All he could do was watch as Qianye whipped out East Peak.

“Spare his life!!!” A loud cry arrived from afar, shaking half the city and showcasing the depth of the speaker’s origin power. Liu Yuanxi had arrived at the critical juncture.

Qianye’s expression remained constant as East Peak shook ever so slightly. The thirteenth young master erupted in a miserable scream as he fell backward with blood gushing out of his legs.

Qianye turned about with a radiant smile. “Life spared.”