"Senior Brother Shen, you really are ingenious! Looks like we donât even need to get involved. Lin Changâsheng dared to make trouble in Celestial Emperor Cityâheâs as good as dead!"
"Of course! There are six Mahayana experts holding down this city, and the Emperor himself is a Tribulation Crossing Stage cultivator. Lin Changâsheng is absolutely doomed this time."
"That guyâs got some guts though. Pulling a stunt like this inside the city? I doubt heâll make it back to the sect alive!"
"If Lin Changâsheng gets obliterated, it has nothing to do with us!"
.....
The few Immortal Palace disciples following Shen Yu jumped to mock him, one after the other.
None of them dared cause such a commotion in Celestial Emperor City. They hadnât expected Lin Changâsheng to dare kill so brazenlyâlooks like heâd need ten lives to survive this time.
"Actually, Iâve got a third option. Not sure if youâll agree though?"
Lin Changâsheng said calmly.
Truth was, he wasnât afraid if it really came down to a fight.
But a scenario where both sides ended up wounded wasnât what Lin Changâsheng wanted to see.
After all, he didnât really have any direct beef with the Celestial Emperor Cityâs royal family.
"Letâs hear it!"
Huang Peng was a little surprisedâthis kid had the nerve to bargain with him?
"I wonder, if I offered 30,000 Immortal Crystals, would that be enough to cover the damages to the Imperial City? As the saying goes, more friends means more options. If you insist on killing me, it wonât do you much good. Besides, youâll be making an enemy of the Immortal Palaceâwouldnât that be a lose-lose?"
Lin Changâsheng spoke his mind, and his words made Huang Peng hesitate a moment.
Thirty thousand Immortal Crystals was no small sum.
But then again, if this kid could offer that much, it probably meant his storage bag still held a lot more.
If he killed Lin Changâsheng, he just might get even more out of it.
"What a jokeâif everyone could just pay up with Immortal Crystals after making a mess, what would become of my cityâs imperial authority? Any last words? Spit them out now so you can die with a clear head!"
Huang Pengâs gaze turned cold again.
As far as he was concerned, Lin Changâsheng had to be loaded with treasures. Killing him would reap far more than thirty thousand Immortal Crystals.
That Divine Thunder Bow alone made Huang Peng green with envy.
It was an Upper Grade Celestial Spirit Treasure!
"If you want to kill me, youâd better make sure youâve got the skill to do it!"
Seeing the other side wouldnât listen to reason, Lin Changâsheng dropped the pleasantries, ready to go all in.
The onlookers all gaped in shock at Lin Changâshengâs words.
A cultivator at the Integration Stage facing off against a Mahayana expert, and he still sounded this sure of himself?
Did he have some trump card no one had seen yet?
"Youâre looking to die!"
Huang Peng barked, and surging Primordial Power gathered at his palmâhe was all set to strike.
"Stopâ"
Just as Huang Peng was about to make his move and Lin Changâsheng was ready to summon Xiaonan, a voice thundered across the sky from afar.
Both men immediately paused.
A white-haired, white-bearded elder streaked through the sky, landing right between Lin Changâsheng and Huang Peng.
"His Majesty has ordered Lin Changâsheng to be brought to the Great Hall for an audience!"
The white-haired elder announced.
That caught both Lin Changâsheng and Huang Peng off guard.
Huang Peng was shockedâhad this incident really drawn the Emperorâs attention?
Was Lin Changâsheng really that famous?
Lin Changâsheng, on the other hand, was stunned that the Lord of Celestial Emperor City wanted to meet himâthe thing was, he didnât even know the guy, did he?
But since he was already here, he might as well see what this Emperor wanted.
"Immortal Master, wait!"
Just as Lin Changâsheng was about to go along, Mo Mingyuan called out.
"Youâve done us such a huge favor today. Iâll sign that Blood Contract for you right nowâif you ever need anything, come find me in Jasper Pool City, and Iâll do whatever I can to help!"
Mo Mingyuan made his stance clear.
If it hadnât been for Lin Changâsheng, they probably wouldnât have made it out alive.
Those Celestial Orchid Sect bastards really were shameless.
Right after, Lin Changâsheng took out the black task scroll. Mo Mingyuan sliced open his finger and let a drop of blood soak into the page. A flash of blood-red light shone, and the task was complete.
Mo Yao glanced at Lin Changâsheng, wanting to say something, but in the end, she kept quiet.
She knew she could never measure up to a genius like Lin Changâsheng.
No wonder heâd barely spoken to her the whole trip. With his talent, why would he ever be interested in her?
All she could do was silently watch Lin Changâsheng, keeping her feelings buried deep inside.
After stowing away the corpses of Zheng Yao and Liao Renping into his storage bag, Lin Changâsheng followed the white-haired elder away.
Hou Shaojie and Zhao ShuangâEr went with him too.
Lin Changâsheng had originally wanted them to stay, but they insisted they were worried about his safety and refused to leave him.
He couldnât talk them out of it, so he let them tag along.
With the white-haired elder and Huang Peng leading the way, they soared through the sky for a bit until a grand Imperial Palace Hall came into view ahead.
Landing before the palace, the elder and Huang Peng brought Lin Changâsheng inside, hurrying straight for the Great Hall.
The Imperial Palace Hall was absolutely vast and extravagant.
The city walls looked entirely cast from gold, glittering as they caught the light, and the ground was paved with smooth blue stone tiles.
Stationed outside the walls were several Integration Stage cultivators guarding the entrance.
That alone showed how powerful Celestial Emperor City wasâevery guard was at least at the Integration Stage.
Because of their escorts, Lin Changâsheng entered the palace without a hitch.
After passing through several halls and long corridors, Lin Changâsheng arrived outside a chamber topped by a dragons-and-phoenixes tiled roof.
"Your Majesty, Lin Changâsheng is here!"
The white-haired elder announced outside the door.
Soon, the door was opened by two gorgeous, gracefully built palace maids.
Hou Shaojieâs eyes lit up at the sight of the two maids.
To be fair, the maidsâ outfits didnât use much fabricâhalf their... features were on display.
"Like what you see?"
Zhao ShuangâEr teased, seeing Hou Shaojieâs eyes about to pop out of his head.
"Ahemâahem, I mean, this place really is fancy! Look, gold all over! Even the roof!"
Hou Shaojie awkwardly shifted his gaze.
But the hall really was dazzling, gold everywhere you lookedâthe floor, pillars, chairs, even the roof, all made of gold. It was a sight of pure extravagance.
Lin Changâsheng, though, wasnât interested in the gold ornaments.
After all, those are just mortal trinkets. Cultivators are all about Immortal Crystals.
Immortal Crystals were way more precious than gold.
Entering the Great Hall, they found four men already standing there, all on the older sideâsome in their sixties or seventies, some maybe their forties or fifties.
Each one radiated powerful waves of Primordial Power.
It was obvious: everyone standing down here was at the Mahayana Stage.
"All six Mahayana experts of Celestial Emperor City, gathered together?"
Lin Changâsheng thought to himself.
If these people turned out hostile, this could get brutal.
Looking past the Mahayana cultivators, Lin Changâsheng set his gaze on the middle-aged man seated up above.
This man wore a golden robe and a Dragon Crown, rocked a pair of goatee whiskers, and had an imposing air that screamed âsovereign of the worldâ.
With just a brush of Divine Sense, Lin Changâsheng felt like he was a drop in the ocean, swallowed up in an instant.
No doubt about it: the Dragon Crown man on the throne had to be at the Tribulation Crossing Stageâfar beyond anything Lin Changâsheng could handle now.
"So, youâre Lin Changâsheng?"
From his seat, the Dragon Crown Emperor gave Lin Changâsheng a glance, a curious look in his eyes.
Heâd wanted to meet the Celestial Pride Listâs top genius for a whileâa youth this young reaching the Integration Stage meant his future was limitless.
Despite looking only thirty-five or thirty-six, the Dragon Crown Emperor was actually over five thousand years old.
His cultivation had grown over centuries and millennia, bit by bit.
But Lin Changâsheng was a peerless talent, not even thirty yet.
Thirty years is no time at all for powerhouses like them.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Lin Changâsheng replied, "May I ask why Your Majesty wishes to see me?"
"You really donât know? By our cityâs rules, youâd be dead ten times over by now. But, seeing your extraordinary talent, itâd be a shame for you to die like this. If you agree to one condition, weâll let this go. How about it?"
Wu Hao spoke slowly.
With talent like Lin Changâshengâs, building an alliance with him could only be a win for them.
If they killed him now, not only would they gain nothing, theyâd make the Immortal Palace an enemy. That obviously wouldnât be worth it.