"Thank you senior brother, I won’t forget your words," Qingyi said.
Juechen’s words came as no surprise to him.
There were always people wanting what was his, the curse of being too ’talented’.
Luckily, he had ways of defending himself.
Many commoners without powerful sponsors died long before they could blossom because they showed more than they should have and aroused the greed of those who should have been their brothers and protectors.
It was a truly pitiful world.
The rest of the journey was conducted in silence.
The Ice Flower City was no more than fifty kilometers from the village, so it didn’t take them long.
Soon they saw high gray stone walls, their snow-covered towers guarded by experts from the Foundation Realm and Golden Core Realm.
"Who’s coming?" One of the guards asked.
His high-quality armor and the symbol of a dragon on his chest revealed that he belonged to some noble house, probably a military officer.
"I am Juechen, a disciple of the leader of the Ascending Dragon Sect. We have been sent on a mission, your Lord should already be aware of it," Juechen declared, revealing his disciple token.
The officer studied the token from afar, his eyes focusing on the unconscious man on Juechen’s shoulders.
"Who is that? Why does he exude demonic energy?" The officer questioned.
"That information only concerns your lord. Open the gates," Juechen replied, a hint of irritation appearing in his voice.
The guard hesitated, but after a short moment, he finally gave in, ordering his men to allow the group to enter.
"I’ll escort you to the lord’s mansion," said the officer, jumping down from the wall and walking alongside them.
"This place looks dead..." Qingyi commented as they entered the city.
The streets were empty, with no carriages, pedestrians or vendors, just one or two lost souls watching them suspiciously.
"People are terrified of the recent attacks by unorthodox cultivators, and the guard has already suffered a lot of damage in ambushes.
We simply don’t have enough personnel to cover the entire city," the officer explained, unable to hide his frown.
"Do you have any idea how many unorthodox cultivators there are?" Huntao entered the conversation.
The officer shook his head. "No, they’ve mainly been attacking isolated groups of guards, never fighting directly.
I’d guess a few hundred at least. We’ve been waiting for weeks for reinforcements from the capital, but so far, nothing."
"I see..."
The group continued through the wide streets of the city, finally arriving at the lord’s residence.
It was a mansion whose luxury lagged far behind the exuberant residences of the capital’s elite, but it still had a charm of its own in its icy blue walls.
"Greetings young master Juechen," the servant bowed respectfully. "Lord Zhou is waiting for you. Please follow me, let’s not allow the food to get cold."
" Good, I was starving! Hahaha!" Juechen laughed as he threw the demonic cultivator to the ground.
"Throw him in the dungeon and make sure he has no way of killing himself. He’ll still have to say a lot to us."
"As you wish, young master." The servant nodded and two guards approached, grabbing the demon cultivator and taking him away.
They entered the lord’s mansion, walking through long corridors covered in portraits of ancient Zhou family heroes.
"Did you know that lightning cultivators are most often used as torturers, Junior Brother Qingyi? If you have the stomach for such things, your help would be most welcome."
"Causing pain to one of these unorthodox bastards will be a pleasure, Senior Brother Juechen," Qingyi smiled.
He had already used his skills against humans who deserved much less.
Soon, they arrived at a large, dark dining room.
It was empty, except for an old, moribund man, his aura of the peak of the Iron Body Realm already slowly fading.
’He must be at least four hundred years old...’ Qingyi sighed mentally.
Cultivators of the Iron Body Realm usually lived to be four hundred and fifty, but only began to lose their youth after three hundred and fifty, becoming old at four hundred.
To be in such a state, that man must have been just one step away from death.
Apart from Tang Yundu and Ruxue, it was the first time he had met someone that old.
"Young Master Juechen?" The man raised his aged face, stroking his gray, brittle beard.
"Lord Zhou, we heard about your problem with unorthodox cultivators. The sect has sent us to deal with him,"
Juechen took a chair at the table covered in delicacies, signaling for Qingyi, Ruhu and Huntao to sit down too.
"Ah... these bastards have been terrorizing our lands for millennia! But things are different now, they’re more organized, more prepared."
Lord Zhou settled into his chair, pouring himself a glass of wine before waving his hand.
"Eat up, young men. No guest of mine will be left with an empty stomach."
"Thank you Lord Zhou," Juechen also poured himself a glass of wine and grabbed a roasted chicken thigh, stuffing it into his mouth without any decorum.
"Things have been changing in the central region of the kingdom too, we believe it’s the work of the demonic cult," Juechen said.
Lord Zhou’s gaze changed.
"Demonic cult?" He suddenly stood up, his eyes shining with murderous intent. "Those pigs dare try to hurt my people-"
Lord Zhou’s words were interrupted by a deep, bloody cough as he fell to his knees.
"My lord!" The servant held Lord Zhou. "Remember what the doctor said, you mustn’t use your Qi recklessly!"
Raising his face, the servant looked at Juechen and his group.
"Lord Zhou needs to rest. Please eat at will, I’ll take you to your quarters shortly."
The rest of the meal was silent.
The group decided that they would spend the night there and then go after information about the demon cult’s hideout.
It wasn’t long before Qingyi found himself lying on a large bed in a luxurious room, his eyes focused on the snow falling outside.
It had been a long time since he had taken the time to watch such mundane things.
"What are you thinking about?" Ruxue spoke, her voluptuous, naked body appearing next to his bed.
Without asking permission, she climbed onto the bed, her plump, perfectly round ass taking over Qingyi’s lap and as she leaned over him, her huge, soft breasts enveloped his face in a warm, pleasant embrace.
"Not much..." He sighed, his hands wrapping around her delicate waist, pulling her against him and sinking even deeper into those pale, warm and soft mountains