Chapter 258: Imprisoned (2)

Elsewhere, Li Junwu watched the two wastrels hurrying toward her. Before either of them could speak, surprise flickered through her beautiful eyes.

“Where’s Changtian?” Gong Yuanzeng answered curiously,

“He’s still over there. Junwu, Changtian said he already explained everything to you—”

“Are you two idiots?!” Li Junwu stamped her foot and glared at them.

“You left Changtian there by himself?”

Wang Chengping chuckled. “Relax. The aura coming off Changtian is almost at Grandmaster level. That savage is no match for him. He already cut off both his arms.”

Li Junwu drew a deep breath. “Those wolf pups can regrow severed limbs. But Changtian isn’t the one I’m worried about.”

Wang Chengping froze for a moment before asking hesitantly, “Wait… You’re not saying Changtian plans to kill the Darchai prince outright, are you?”

The three of them fell silent.

That was absolutely the sort of thing Xu Yuan would do.

They were screwed…

Now that the bastard had cultivation, his nerve was growing by the day.

In the past, the worst he would do was beat up a few young masters from sects or noble clans. Now he was apparently willing to murder a diplomatic envoy whose death could affect an entire war.

Li Junwu bit her lip, anger surfacing across her coldly beautiful face. “He’s been like this since we were children. The moment something happens, he tries to shoulder it all by himself. Does he seriously think he can handle something like this alone?!”

“Enough talking. Let’s get over there.”

With that, the three of them raced toward the battlefield where Xu Yuan and Nalar Veyr were fighting.

Before they could arrive, however, an enraged roar thundered across the sky. “ALL OF YOU, STOP!!!”

It was an Origin Awakener cultivator.

The battle had been raging for less than half an hour, yet an expert from the Imperial Capital’s City Defense Office had already arrived.

A violent gale swept through the area, instantly blowing away the dust raised by the collapse of the Clear Jade Pavilion and revealing the shattered ruins beneath.

Naturally, the sudden disruption also affected Xu Yuan and Nalar Veyr.

Because the Great Desert followed a different cultivation system, Nalar Veyr’s strength fell somewhere between fourth rank and third rank. He was therefore far from slow when fleeing.

Xu Yuan did not intervene personally. Instead, he handed control of his body directly to the Sage's remnant soul. Since he had never cultivated Luo Daofan’s skills, the old man could not control his body as smoothly as he had controlled Qin Mo’s.

But that made no difference whatsoever.

From the moment the battle began, it had been a completely one-sided crushing.

The gulf between them was as vast as a mountain.

The Darchai prince, Nalar Veyr, had no hope of escaping.

By the time the City Defense Office expert arrived, Luo Daofan had already unleashed three ghostly sword phantoms, each piercing Nalar Veyr’s heart from a different angle.

“I’ll leave the rest to you?” Luo Daofan asked lazily.

“Mhm.”

The three sword phantoms merged back into one.

Xu Yuan gripped the hilt of the blade buried in Nalar Veyr’s heart and asked, “Now then, Your Highness. Any last words?”

“Who… are you?” Blood trickled from the corner of Nalar Veyr’s mouth.

“I think you’ve already guessed.” Xu Yuan smiled as he slowly twisted the Qingyu Sword inside his chest. “My father is Xu Yinhe.”

Pain twisted Nalar Veyr’s face. His arms had already transformed completely into those of a wolf, and his clawed hands closed around Clear Whisper’s hilt. “You… You planned to kill me from the very beginning?”

Xu Yuan gently shook his head, continuing to apply pressure with his hand. “No. Had you not ordered that dog of yours to throw a rockery at me, I would have happily sat back and enjoyed the show. But after seeing your wolf transformation, I suddenly remembered something, Nalar Veyr.”

Nalar Veyr coughed up a mouthful of blood. The spray flew toward Xu Yuan, only to splatter against an invisible barrier before reaching him. “Wh-what?”

Xu Yuan sent him a private voice transmission. “I remembered that a young bitch is currently fighting a pack of old dogs over a golden bone.”

“You… you…” Nalar Veyr froze. His breathing suddenly quickened. Then he abruptly began to laugh. “You seem to know something. But you shouldn’t have talked so much.”

“XU CHANGTIAN! STOP THIS INSTANT!” A vast pressure crashed down from above, intending to blast Xu Yuan away.

Xu Yuan did not even glance at the newcomer. He simply dispersed the Sage’s soul power surrounding him.

The approaching second rank expert’s eyes nearly split with rage when he saw this. He hurriedly forced the descending power to change direction.

BOOM! Just before the immense force struck Xu Yuan, it swerved sharply and smashed into the Sleeping Dragon River beside the Clear Jade Pavilion, sending a towering wave surging into the air.

Only after the attack had passed did the Sage’s soul power flood back into Xu Yuan’s body.

His hand tightened around Clear Whisper. Then he flicked the blade upward.

Under Nalar Veyr’s stunned gaze, his head flew from his shoulders.

Xu Yuan watched it rise with calm eyes and gave a soft laugh. “Honestly, what made you think anyone from the City Defense Office would dare attack me?”

“You bastard!” A voice filled with equal parts fury and disbelief rang out behind him.

A tower-like figure appeared at Xu Yuan’s back.

Xu Yuan slowly looked over his shoulder, then raised both hands in an exaggerated gesture of surrender. “Commander Tang. Two years apart, and your temper is still as explosive as ever.”

Commander Tang’s knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists, glaring at the wastrel before him. “That man was the sixth prince of the Great Desert’s royal court! His Majesty personally invited him here, and you simply killed him?!”

Xu Yuan carefully rearranged his expression. He stared at the massive man, his eyes gradually widening in disbelief, then opened his mouth. “Huh?”

Commander Tang raised a hand.

With a thunderous boom, the air beside Xu Yuan exploded. The resulting shockwave nearly knocked him off his feet now that the Sage’s soul power had receded. “Xu Changtian, do you truly believe that no one dares kill you?!”

“Of course there is. He dared.” Xu Yuan took a step back and pointed at Nalar Veyr’s severed head. Then, with shameless exaggeration, he continued, “One of his third rank Grandmasters threw a boulder dozens of feet across at me, a mere Iron Body cultivator. If my man hadn’t reacted quickly and blocked it for me, Commander Tang probably wouldn’t be looking at me right now.”

Commander Tang’s tower-like body trembled with rage. “Xu Changtian, I will investigate this matter thoroughly.”

Xu Yuan nodded with a smile. “So, will you be escorting me back to my estate again tonight, Commander Tang?”

“Back to your estate?” A woman’s sharp voice rang out from the sky. “Xu Changtian, after causing this much destruction, you can come spend some time in the Imperial Prison!”

Xu Yuan looked up. A woman dressed in the Secret Investigation Bureau’s scarlet qilin uniform descended from above and landed slowly before him. A cold gleam shone in her phoenix eyes as she stared him down.

The Secret Investigation Bureau handled crimes involving Great Flame Empire’s cultivators. Given the scale of tonight’s destruction, this matter naturally fell under its jurisdiction as well.

Xu Yuan studied the woman before him and discovered yet another familiar face. She was the cherished prodigy of the Imperial Capital’s Intelligence Bureau, a genius who had risen from common roots.

She was upright to a fault and had always wanted to arrest a wastrel like him. Unfortunately for her, she had never managed to make the charges stick.

Memories of their past encounters surfaced in Xu Yuan’s mind, and he smiled. “Xu Mengxi. Two years apart, and you’ve already reached the third rank.”

Xu Mengxi gave him a cold glance. “Stop grinning like an idiot.”

Xu Yuan spread his hands. “Since when does a polite greeting count as grinning like an idiot?”

Xu Mengxi reached into the storage pouch behind her and withdrew a pair of bracelet-like iron cuffs. “Shut up. You’ll have plenty of time to talk once we reach the Imperial Prison.”

Xu Yuan sighed. “Mengxi, we share the same surname, at least. Why do you try to arrest me every single time we meet?”

Xu Mengxi placed a hand on the blade at her waist and stared at him.

Xu Yuan glanced at Commander Tang beside him.

Commander Tang stared back coldly.

Xu Yuan then looked up at the sky.

The Secret Investigation Bureau had also sent a second rank Origin Awakener. Besides him, another six or seven experts from the City Defense Bureau and the Intelligence Bureau hovered overhead.

The seven guards who had been fighting in the sky had already been subdued.

Tonight’s disturbance truly had grown far too large.

Xu Yuan held out his hands. The iron cuffs snapped shut around his wrists, and the source qi within his body immediately stagnated.

These things could inhibit the circulation of source qi to a certain extent, and they were extremely expensive to manufacture.

“Move.” Xu Mengxi swept him with another cold glance. “You killed a foreign envoy without authorization. Xu Changtian, you’ve caused a disaster this time.”

Xu Yuan studied her for a moment before turning his head and smiling at her. “It won’t matter. Xu Mengxi, care to make a wager? In a few days, the Chief Warden of your Imperial Prison will personally escort me back out.”