Yu Hua Heavenly Realm still looked the same. The mansion of the Immortal Monarch stood loftily next to the square where the teleportation formation was located, with its carved balusters, marble steps, jade walls, and golden roof tiles that shone magnificently under the bright sunlight. Such a grand and majestic sight was not something that the buildings in Great Yu could compare with.
The tense atmosphere in Pangu Continent had not affected Yu Hua Heavenly Realm. Immortals and itinerant cultivators still walked leisurely along the streets; some cultivators with lesser cultivation base sat listlessly at the edges of the square, each having a piece of cloth spread on the ground before them with items placed on top. They were selling items that were not worth much. A few Heaven Immortals were strolling amongst these sellers with serious expressions, hoping that they could come across some rare treasure selling being sold for a cheap price.
Holding Princess Zhang Le's hand, Wu Qi nodded with emotion as he looked at these immortals and itinerant cultivators.
Staying on Pangu Continent felt oppressive, extremely oppressive. In the face of the terrible pressure of Great Yu Dynasty, immortals lived like rabbits under the butcher's knife, feeling precarious at all times. Even someone as arrogant as Reverend Yao Yue had only dared to establish his base in Hai Province, a remote province, rather than opening an immortal market in an important place like Zhong Province.
But, it was a totally different situation in the outer heavenly realms. No matter who, the immortals walking on the streets or the itinerant cultivators selling at the edges of the square, they all portrayed a leisurely, almost lazy manner which went deep into their bones. If the immortals and itinerant cultivators living in Pangu Continent were wolves struggling for survival, those who lived in outer heavenly realms were raised and trained pugs. They were not at all as fierce as their fellow immortals and cultivators in Pangu Continent.
Holding hands, Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le made their way to the teleportation formation that led to another heavenly realm. He was going to pay Patriarch Yuan Hua a visit before going to Yan Dan and the others. Years ago, that old fellow had sent Daoist Min and Daoist Chi to kill him with a Primordial Gold Talisman, with which they nearly succeeded. They had also forced Princess Zhang Le to marry his grandson. How could Wu Qi let him off the hook so easily?
He could not think of any reason to justify the continued existence of Patriarch Yuan Hua, and even the entire Yuan Hua Sect!
Using a teleportation formation, it would only take a little time to travel from Yu Hua Heavenly Realm to Puluo Heavenly Realm, where Yuan Hua Sect was situated. Thus it would not delay his real business here. He could also take the opportunity to visit Minor Heavenly Circle Realm and have a look at the Myriad Immortals Planet. Since Yuan Hua Sect had severed their ties with him, maybe Patriarch Jiang Yun had already offered the planet to them. He wondered what they had turned the planet into.
But, no matter what Yuan Hua Sect had done to Myriad Immortals Planet, even if all the resources on the planet had been looted, Wu Qi would make them spit out everything they had swallowed, right down to the last piece of lower-grade energy stone! He had the power to do so now.
The thought of Patriarch Yuan Hua sending someone to kill him filled Wu Qi's heart with killing intent. Thinking that, the end of his brows jutted upward like two sharp blades, and even Princess Zhang Le could feel his boiling rage. She turned to give him a gentle smile and said in a soft voice, "Are you thinking of Patriarch Yuan Hua? Well, he will have to pay for what he had done to me!"
She chuckled while her eyes flashed like stars. "We must interrogate his immortal soul with torture and find out where all of his descendants are. Then, we'll send his daughters and granddaughters to Great Yan's Courtesans Division to serve as military prostitutes. As for his sons and grandsons..."
After considering for a moment, she snorted coldly and said, "The imperial palace on Myriad Immortals Planet still lacks some eunuchs to clean the latrines. We'll castrate them and then send them to Myriad Immortals Planet to guard the palace!"
Wu Qi shuddered, and he gave Princess Zhang Le a glance without uttering a word. 'The education she received since young is completely different from mine. So, there is no reason for me to judge her with my own moral viewpoint...' he thought. Besides, he found that what she suggested could really vent his spleen. 'Let's do as she said then.'
As he was nodding slowly and about to agree to her suggestion, Princess Zhang Le suddenly clapped and laughed. "I can tell that the unruly Yuan Hua was a handsome man when he was young. Maybe we can find a few beautiful girls among his granddaughters. I need a few serving ladies to serve me. My husband, you should also pick a couple of them and take them as your concubines."
Wu Qi was struck dumb, then he heard Princess Zhang Le say again, "Anyhow, they are the unruly Yuan Hua's descendants. If you are happy with them, make them stay for a few more days. If they gave birth to some children, I'll adopt them, then sell their mothers to brothels, so we can earn some money to raise the children!"
Wu Qi felt his face cramping at this point. Laughing dryly, he said, "Zi Xuan, you've got quite a few tricks!"
The princess squinted with a proud smile. She straightened herself up, raised her delicate chin, and said triumphantly, "Of course! The wet nurses in the palace had taught me a lot since I was little, so I know how to handle domestic affairs!"
Talking and laughing, the two made their way to the teleportation formation that led to Yu Hua Heavenly Realm. But, as they approached the formation, suddenly two spears appeared before Wu Qi's face with their sharp tips pointing at his nose. "Capture these two spies!" they heard a loud cry.
Startled, Wu Qi reflexively reached out one hand to push Princess Zhang Le behind him, then looked to the front.
The men with the spears were two soldiers in soft leather armors, looking brave and strong. Judging by the faint purple mist that rose from their bodies, they appeared to have practiced the body tempering technique taught in Great Yu's armies. But, their cultivation base was not strong, which was only equivalent to the Nascent Soul realm. In Pangu Continent, such soldiers were servants who washed underwear in the armies.
But, it was a different situation in outer heavenly realms. Here, soldiers with overall strength equivalent to Nascent Soul realm were the main force in the army, and those with overall strength equivalent to Heaven Immortal realm were generals. After all, unlike the Pangu Continent, the mysterious purple mist that the human warriors used to cultivate with was extremely rare here. Therefore, even if they had excellent innate talent, there was no way they could improve their overall strength too quickly.
As the two soldiers stopped Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le from going further, other armed soldiers were slowly closing in from all directions. The man who accused them of being spies was a junior officer. He was clad in a bronze armor, with a sword hanging down his waist and a bronze medallion on his belt. The medallion showed that he was only the lowest-rank officer, a ninth-grade lieutenant, and only commanded a small team of thirty to fifty soldiers.
Wu Qi grunted coldly and shouted, "Spies? What kind of spies are we?"
They were at Yu Hua Heavenly Realm, and it was Heavenly Lord San Yu's territory. Although Great Yu Dynasty did have an administrative center here, which was under the charge of Marquis Jian, Yu Zong, and his army, it merely served as a symbol of Great Yu's presence. All this while, outer heavenly realms had remained as Heaven's territories. Here, Heavenly Lord San Yu was the true despot, and since when could the human soldiers capture people right in front of his house?
Wu Qi stared at this lesser lieutenant puzzled. But, the man only kept leering at Princess Zhang Le's beautiful face with his pair of triangular eyes, and saliva seemed to nearly drip off the corner of his mouth. He sneered when he heard Wu Qi's question. "What spies? You are the spies from that Myriad Immortal Alliance! By the imperial edict of the Human Emperor, we are authorized to capture any spies who attempt to gather military intelligence of Great Yu armies!"
The lieutenant reached out one hand to grab Wu Qi's collar. "Do not resist, Daoist, or you'll bring death to yourself!"
He allowed the lieutenant to grab his collar, and turned to look at Princess Zhang Le, then smiled and said, "It seems that you are the cause of the trouble, eh?"
The princess frowned, and suddenly her pretty face was veiled behind a faint layer of gleam, amidst which, one could see the flashing of lightning and hear the rumbling of thunder. It was a sign that would only appear when an immortal had just broken through the bottleneck, stepping into the new realm while not yet properly controlling the immortal energy in their body, causing a conflict between the Heavenly dao and themselves. Only immortals above the realm of Gold Immortal would have such sign.
Heaven Immortals only studied the most basic Heavenly Dao and how to use them, but Gold Immortals would have entered a new realm where they began to study how to distort and change the Laws of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, only the immortal energy of the Gold Immortals could conflict with the Heaven and Earth, causing such signs.
Unfortunately, the lieutenant was only a frog living at the bottom of a well, so he had no knowledge of such a thing. He gave Princess Zhang Le, whose face had become hazy, a surprised look, then said with a grin, "Tie this female cultivator up and send her to the Marquis's mansion. His Excellency will personally interrogate her and find out what schemes they have!"
Yu Zong would personally interrogate Princess Zhang Le? Wu Qi finally figured out their intention. Grinning coldly, he said, "Has Yu Zong instruct you to kidnap common girls?"
He looked back over his shoulder at the mansion with its doors closed. A few immortal officials were hovering in mid-air, gesticulating while looking at his direction. But apparently, they showed no intention of interfering, and just frowned while muttering something with each other.
A sudden understanding came to him. It was likely that the imperial edict of the Great Celestial Emperor had spread throughout all the outer heavenly realms. With the lieutenant accusing him and Princess Zhang Le of being spies from Myriad Immortal Alliance, even Heavenly Lord San Yu dared not to interfere in the matter, as it was against the imperial edict.
He sighed, then shook his head and said, "How did Yu Zong become so obscene? He is actually kidnapping common girls?"
The lieutenant burst into a great rage. As he reached out one hand to slap Wu Qi in the face, he growled, "How presumptuous! Marquis Jian's name is not a b*stard like you can..."
Before Wu Qi could strike, Princess Zhang Le had already landed a powerful kick at the spot three inches below the man's navel. The air rang with a thunderclap as the lieutenant howled and flew tumbling back with both hands holding that thing between his legs. Black smoke accompanied by the smell of charred meat rose from his lower body.
The surrounding soldiers were greatly frightened. One after another, they drew their weapons and pressed in toward Wu Qi and the princess.