The next day, Zong Yan City.
Within the city lord mansion, there was a large courtyard surrounded by halls, the courtyard spanning a thousand zhang in radius, extremely spacious, entirely paved with special stone material, and in the central position, a sacrificial altar stood.
“Sizzle!” At this time, on the altar, a beam of light shone, followed immediately by three figures appearing on the altar.
Once the light converged, the faces of the three elders clearly appeared on the altar.
All three had white hair and long beards, clean faces, and vigorous spirits.
All three wore uniform white robes, the white robes emblazoned with markings resembling phoenix patterns.
“We have seen the three lords!” At this moment, the several guards stationed beside the altar hurriedly cupped their hands in salute.
Those who could afford to use the teleportation array were generally important figures, and whenever they saw them, they would courteously bow.
Moreover, this time, following the city lord’s instructions, if anyone emerged from the teleportation array in the near future, it was most likely to be elders from Spirit Phoenix Valley, hence they dared not slack off in the slightest, remaining vigilant in their duties.
Seeing the markings on the three’s white robes, they knew that the elders from Spirit Phoenix Valley had indeed arrived.
And upon arrival, there were three of them.
“We are elders from Spirit Phoenix Valley, summon your city lord to meet us.” Among the three elders, one spoke in a commanding tone.
“This subordinate will go and report immediately!” One of the guards nodded heavily, then immediately dashed outwards.
Not long after, a gaunt elder wearing a black crown arrived at extreme speed, entering the hall where the altar was located in the centre.
“Zong Yan City city lord, Jing Yun Kui, has seen Elder Helian, Elder Huangfu, and Elder Yuchi!” Seeing the three’s faces, Zong Yan City city lord Jing Yun Kui immediately performed a grand salute, respectfully bowing.
These three were named Helian Miao, Huangfu He, Yuchi Jiang; Jing Yun Kui had seen them all before, and to show respect, he pronounced all three’s double surnames.
At the same time, he was shocked in his heart: Spirit Phoenix Valley had actually directly dispatched three seventh-grade initial-level Spirit Controllers!
This lineup was quite substantial.
The combat power of three seventh-grade initial-level Spirit Controllers, even for a strong cultivator like him at fourth-level Martial Emperor realm, would absolutely be inescapable from their grasp.
Regarding Jing Yun Kui’s attitude, the three all nodded in satisfaction, with Helian Miao speaking: “City Lord Jing, the purpose of our visit this time is to capture a youth named Lin Xiao; I wonder if your city lord mansion has heard any news about this person?”
Having long guessed the purpose of the three, Jing Yun Kui first apologised to them: “Please forgive us three elders!”
“A nameless junior, it is normal for your city lord mansion not to know, City Lord Jing need not be like this.” Helian Miao waved his hand.
Indeed, a youth who relied on poison to assassinate Elder Xue Ling was nothing more; the assassination occurred at the Shangguan family countless li away, so it was normal for Zong Yan City to have received no news.
If they had not heard the Shangguan family report that Lin Xiao was highly likely to appear in Ling Xi City, they would not have come via the teleportation array in this direction.
“No.” Jing Yun Kui explained: “Just three days ago, Lin Xiao had come to Zong Yan City.”
“Oh?” All three revealed surprised expressions.
Jing Yun Kui continued: “That day, Lin Xiao was at the city gate and had a conflict with the nephew from Spirit Phoenix Valley, Xue Ling; after all, this subordinate had never heard of this person Lin Xiao, thus did not pay much attention.”
“Who would have expected, what strength this Lin Xiao had cultivated, with one move, he seized Nephew Zou Yun’s throat.”
“I hurriedly rushed over, first releasing my cultivation to seek peace with soft words, then using forceful threats, yet this fellow was impervious to both soft and hard approaches, immediately striking a fatal blow against Nephew Zou Yun on the spot.”
Hearing this, the three’s expressions immediately turned cold.
Lin Xiao had actually killed one of their Spirit Phoenix Valley’s geniuses as well?
At the city gate, right in front of a fourth-level Martial Emperor city lord?
However, thinking that Lin Xiao had dared to poison Xue Ling right in front of two Spirit Controller families, and killed Zou Yun in front of a fourth-level Martial Emperor, then this was nothing remarkable; the other party was certainly capable of it.
It was just that Zou Yun’s fall meant Spirit Phoenix Valley had lost another genius, making it hard for them to accept all at once.
“I prepared to capture Lin Xiao and hand him over to Spirit Phoenix Valley for handling, yet this Lin Xiao used some unknown method, his speed even faster than mine; I pursued for several thousand li but could not catch up, so I had to return to the city and mobilise all the experts in the city to search, and in these three days, we have yet to find any trace of Lin Xiao.” Jing Yun Kui said full of apology.
Having one of their Spirit Phoenix Valley’s genius disciples killed right in front of him by a junior, the three were indeed somewhat displeased, but thinking of how Lin Xiao had dared to kill Xue Ling in front of a Spirit Controller family, they let it go.
Originally, they had some doubts about believing that a junior could have the chance to poison Xue Ling and then escape the pursuit of two major Spirit Controller families after killing him.
But now it seemed that the news was indeed accurate; Lin Xiao did have some ability and means of escape, which allowed him to be so audacious and reckless.
After a slight pause, Yuchi Jiang spoke: “It is this youth who is cunning, harbouring malicious intent and hiding his strength; this matter cannot be blamed on City Lord Jing.”
“But after all, it happened in my Zong Yan City, allowing a junior the chance to strike, I feel guilty in my heart!” Jing Yun Kui sighed with apology.
“It is this kid who is audaciously bold!” Helian Miao said: “City Lord, please come with us out of the hall and summon the people within the city.”
“Yes!” Jing Yun Kui nodded, leading the three towards the outside of the city lord mansion.
At this time, in an inn not too far from the gate of the city lord mansion.
Lin Xiao’s injuries had already completely recovered, and Lin Xiao could not help but breathe a long sigh of relief in his heart, saying: “The injuries have mostly recovered, it is also time to go and test that city lord’s strength.”
His gaze looked towards the distant city lord mansion gate.
Although he also wanted to take the opportunity to find Feng You Yu and control her while her strength was not yet powerful enough.
However, since Feng You Yu had not appeared, he had no way; this place was not suitable to linger, so he could only first enter the teleportation array.
After all, he also knew that Feng You Yu’s destination was Sheng Province; they had the same route, so there would still be a chance to meet.
And at this moment, Lin Xiao also saw that there were still quite a few pedestrians on the streets, one after another voices of discussion successively entering his ears.
“Have you heard? Several thousand li east of Zong Yan City, there are traces of battle, and those traces are huge; it is said they might have been caused by fifth- or sixth-level Martial Emperors or even stronger experts.”
“So that means, the Kun Xu Mountain Bandits must have appeared nearby? Otherwise, where would such powerful experts come from in this region?”
“Exactly, the Kun Xu Mountain Bandits have extremely terrifying experts; Ling Xi City is not too far from here, and with the secret realm upheaval in Ling Xi City, the people who went there were all robbed, so they would definitely pass by and rob outside Zong Yan City before leaving; just do not know what kind of expert went to clash with the Kun Xu Mountain Bandits.”
“Could it be the city lord?”
“Although the city lord is only at fourth-level Martial Emperor, no one has truly seen his real strength, so it is indeed possible, but the city lord mansion has denied it.”
“They denied it, but the defences have become even stricter; these few days, it is best not to leave the city.”
Hearing these voices, Lin Xiao was somewhat surprised; he had not expected that the commotion from their battle had been guessed by these people to be the Kun Xu Mountain Bandits appearing, with no one associating it with him.
But this was also normal, after all, he was just a youth; at that place, the commotion from him unleashing the Swallowing Heaven Gathering Spirit Finger explosion, and the large pit created when Nan Mu Ling killed the ninth-level Martial Emperor, roughly calculated, indicated the strength of fifth- or sixth-level Martial Emperors.
Such combat power would fundamentally not lead anyone to think of him.
Just as he was preparing to stand up and head to the city lord mansion, in Lin Xiao’s line of sight, the gate of the city lord mansion suddenly opened, and a group of people walked out from inside.
