A snake-shaped flying ship shot through the sky, carrying two hundred elites of Scouting Office in addition to the necessary personnel. Clad in heavy armors, the warriors of Scouting Office, who had also practiced the True Body of Heaven and Earth Scripture, patrolled in columns across the deck, their vigilant eyes watching over the surrounding airspace at all times.
Wu Qi and Yu He had struck a fortune after wiping out Mount Moon Gazing. Using the money, the new Prefecture Overseer was expanding his mansion, and had bought himself many beautiful serving ladies. But, Wu Qi had purchased three large and nine small flying ships for the Military Court, which greatly improved their overall strength.
This ship they were flying with was one of the three large ships he had purchased. It measured slightly over one mile long, and could carry two thousand armed soldiers to war. He had used it to bring himself around. With the two hundred warriors keeping the ship safe on the deck, Wu Qi was sitting inside of a cabin and carefully refining the pearl that he had seized from Reverend Yao Yue.
A wisp of Divine Flame of Order gushed out of his palm, slowly burning the pearl that exuded a faint energy and glinted softly like the moon. It was a natural spirit item. Reverend Yao Yue had found it in the body of a big clam under the deep ocean. The clam had the ability to absorb the energy of the moon and stars, and so did this pearl. Furthermore, it could turn the energy into a variety of divine abilities to attack enemies.
Wu Qi planned to fuse this pearl with his new weapon. Although the pearl was extraordinary, it had too many impurities in his opinion. The reason he used the Divine Flame of Order to refine it was to remove everything but the purest energy essence.
Over the last three months, as he was busy migrating one million people and building Dong Hai County, he did not have much spare time to refine the pearl. After spending only two hours a day, he managed to remove over ninety percent of the impurities from the pearl. What was left now was its core, silvery green in color and about the size of a human head.
Ningbo City rose from the horizon ahead as the flying ship streaked across the sky. A warrior came before the cabin and gave the door a light knock. Wu Qi opened his eyes, withdrew the flame, and swallowed the pearl. Using his own energy, he slowly nourished the pearl to strengthen the connection between them.
Soon afterward, the flying ship landed on the square in front of the Military Court with a faint noise.
Deep pits and ditches were dug out all around the Military Court, and a large number of people were busy hacking and chiseling huge rocks, using them to build new palaces. After recruiting ten thousand new soldiers and purchasing twelve flying ships, the original three palaces of the Military Court could no longer meet the needs. Therefore, Wu Qi had allocated a huge sum of money to expand the Military Court to thirty-six palaces, and was planning to build a military camp in a nearby area to accommodate the new soldiers.
While the Military Court was undergoing expansion, Yu He was also expanding his Prefecture Overseer Mansion. The construction of two major projects at the same time involved many complicated issues. For one, the city had run out of space. Yu He was planning to build another city wall outside the current one, which would measure forty miles in both width and length when it was completed. In the future, the original city area would be used only by the officials of Hai Province, and all the common people would be moved to the new city area.
The annihilation of Mount Moon Gazing had brought Wu Qi and Yu He massive resources and wealth, and Ningbo City was experiencing a tremendous transformation with the money. With this as the background, not only Wu Qi, even Yu He would not agree to Myriad Immortal Alliance's request to unconditionally release Reverend Yao Yue, his clan members, and disciples. If they were to agree, should they also return all his belongings? They had spent quite a lot of his money, and they would never pay it back with their own money!
Wu Qi stepped off the flying ship with two hundred heavily armored warriors of the Scouting Office. Huang Liang, who had received the news of his return long ago, had come out with dozens of soldiers, and was bowing unctuously as he greeted Wu Qi. "Welcome back, Your Excellency! I've heard that the emissary of the Myriad Immortal Alliance is a rude man, and today, he even created a great scene in the Prefecture Overseer Mansion! Even His Excellency Prefecture Overseer has suffered a little!"
Wu Qi snorted coldly, then patted Huang Liang's shoulder and said, "You don't have to worry about this. I want you to take charge of the expansion of the Military Court. It will be a great achievement of your career if you do it well! The emissary from the Myriad Immortal Alliance? Hmph!"
Huang Liang felt his body instantly lightened by a few kilograms. With a big smile on his face, he bowed and said, "Rest assured, Your Excellency, I'll make sure these people work as hard as they can! Hehe… The expansion will certainly be done beautifully!"
Wu Qi gave him an approving nod and another slap on the shoulder. Then, after glancing at the messy construction site for a brief moment, he strode towards the Prefecture Overseer Mansion along with two hundred warriors. The emissary of Myriad Immortal Alliance had made a great scene, and Yu He had suffered a little? The news aroused his interest. He could not help but wonder what the true background of Myriad Immortal Alliance was, and what had given them the courage to confront Great Yu's officials with such a strong attitude!
The street to the Prefecture Overseer Mansion was emptied, and the shops along it had their doors tightly shut. Wu Qi could sense that the air was filled with fear and tension. When he had almost reached the mansion, he found that the streets around the building were blockaded by Yu He's private guards. Three thousand soldiers and one thousand Oracles had surrounded the mansion, and together with Yu He's snake-shaped flying ship, three large flying ships the Prefecture Overseer Mansion had recently purchased hovered right above the mansion. The hulls down under the ships were wide open, exposing the powerful weapons mounted on the ships.
From inside the ships, hundreds of crystal pillars were pointing to somewhere in the mansion, all flashing with bright light and exuding powerful energy fluctuations.
The guards of the Prefecture Overseer Mansion bowed and offered greetings when they saw Wu Qi and his men. He pressed on without saying a word, and ordered the two hundred warriors to say outside before he entered the door. These warriors of the Scouting Office had only begun the cultivation of True Body of Heaven and Earth Scripture not long ago, and the strongest among them only possessed an overall strength close to a Heaven Immortal. It was for their own safety that he ordered them to stay outside. Once he was forced to fight the emissary, Wu Qi did not wish to lose this small group of loyal subordinates he had.
The atmosphere in the Prefecture Overseer Mansion was tensed, and there was no sign of maids or servants. It was only when he came to the great hall did he see Yu Mi and a few other members of Yu Clan, who were standing in front of the door with thirty heavily armored captains and a few Moon Oracles. They heaved a sigh of relief when they saw Wu Qi, as if they had suddenly found their backing. Pointing at the great hall, Yu Mi whispered to Wu Qi, "Be careful, General Tan Lang. These people from Myriad Immortal Alliance are very aggressive!"
Wu Qi nodded. In the face of Yu Mi, he pulled out a bone talisman and crushed it. A faintly discernible fluctuation of energy wrapped around him as he strode into the great hall. Yu Mi gave him an approving nod. The bone talisman he had crushed was a powerful talisman specially designed to defend against soul attacks. He was well-protected even before entering the door, and in Yu Mi's opinion, this was how a capable general should have behaved.
The atmosphere inside the great hall was so tensed that if felt like the air was almost frozen. Yu He stood with his hands behind his back under the pillar of fire at the far end of the hall, surrounded by the officials of Ningbo City, all looking at the three black-clothed Daoists standing in the center of the hall with dark faces. Upon seeing Wu Qi, Yu He's face relaxed, and his lips curved into a faint smile.
Before Wu Qi could say a word, one of the Daoists suddenly shouted, "You have only ten minutes left! Hand over fellow Daoist Yao Yue and his clan members now, or don't blame us for being ruthless! You are merely a ninth-grade province. With your overall strength, Myriad Immortal Alliance can wipe out everything here with just a flick of a finger!"
Yu He rolled his eyes and smiled arrogantly. "You have repeated that three times! What would the Myriad Immortal Alliance do if we insisted for Reverend Yao Yue to be executed in accordance with the law of Great Yu? Wiping out Hai Province? Is Myriad Immortal Alliance really not afraid of getting into trouble?"
The tone of the black-clothed Daoist became even more grim, "Getting into trouble? With the lousy overall strength of Hai Province? Haha!"
Yu He was about to speak when Wu Qi strode behind the three Daoists. Cultivators had very sensitive divine sense. As soon as Wu Qi entered the great hall, they had already discovered him. However, they deliberately ignored him, and were waiting for an opportunity to show off their might. When Wu Qi had just arrived behind one of them, the Daoist immediately bellowed, "Get out, you fool!"
With a backhanded slap, a green thunderbolt shot out of the Daoist's sleeve. The hall rang with a thunderous boom as the thunderbolt smote Wu Qi in the chest. Although it was only a palm-thunder, an ordinary spell that came with wood elemental energy, it was capable of hurting one's body with explosion while paralyzed the meridians, taking away one's ability to move.
The thunderbolt exploded, but it did not move Wu Qi's body at all. Reaching out one hand, Wu Qi grabbed the Daoist's neck, lifted his body that weighed only about forty kilograms, and smashed him hard onto the ground. A crisp cracking sound echoed out as the Daoist's immortal body broke to pieces. His immortal soul turned into a beam of golden light that flew out of the broken body and looked startlingly at Wu Qi.
"Y-yo-you!" All three Daoists, including the one who had his body destroyed, were stunned. Looking in horror at the bloody mess on the ground, they shivered backward for several steps in unison. They were twelfth tier Heaven Immortals, and none of the officials in the great hall, including Yu He, were their match. However, Wu Qi had just killed one of them as if he was just a baby!
Wu Qi stared at the three Immortals, his face calm as usual, as he spoke coolly, "That evil Daoist Yao Yue is in my hands, and so are his clan members. Three months later, the ninth day of the month is a greatly inauspicious day, and the world will be filled with murderous aura. I'll offer him and his clan members as sacrifices to the ghosts and deities on that day. I hope you will attend the ceremony!"
The Daoist looked down at the shattered body, then stared at Wu Qi and sneered with clenched teeth, "You have just invited a great calamity for Hai Province!"
Wu Qi responded in a deep voice, "Give it a try then. If Myriad Immortal Alliance really has the guts, you are welcome to slaughter the entire Hai Province! Let's see if the Human Emperor of Great Yu will brush aside this matter and let you commit all manner of evil!"
Three Daoists had their expressions changed drastically. Their leader, the one whose immortal body was shattered, sneered and transformed into a beam of light, speeding away from the place.
As the other two quickly followed suit, one of them snapped, "Just you wait! Myriad Immortal Alliance will not let this matter drop!"
Wu Qi and Yu He glanced at each other and laughed in unison. "We'll wait!"