Volume 1, Chapter 33: The Man in Red

Qin Junyan looked at Luo Yao. “Do you mean the people involved will be made public as well? If so, I cannot agree.” Becoming a public figure had been his own choice, but he did not want that to affect Luo Yao. She always took his interests into consideration, so how could he not do the same for her?

Still, asking the question so directly had been somewhat rash. She was willing to pay more, but once money became involved, the nature of things would change, making the matter rather troublesome.

The Wang and Xie families in particular were ancient clans with nearly a thousand years of history. Naturally, they treasured and guarded the reputations their respective families had built in Jiangning.

Sword in the Wind and Sand, meanwhile, had fallen into Zhang Rang’s trap and was surrounded by more than a dozen ferocious generals from the Han army.

Liu Lang was just about to deal with Haozi as well when Haozi, lying on the ground, began speaking in broken, halting breaths.

As a shamanic oracle, he knew full well that this world contained many mysterious powers ordinary people would never encounter in their lifetimes. The most direct example was the witchcraft possessed by his own clan—a kind of wish-force formed from will and thought.

“Brother Xiu, Ah Xin still hasn’t woken up. You must be even more worried than I am! I believe Mr. Liu is a capable man. He’ll definitely be able to wake Ah Xin.” Xia Tie tried to persuade Lin Xiu, though in doing so he had also revealed something of Lin Xiu’s “background.”

These things absolutely could not be told to Luo Yao. If he did, she would certainly give him the cold shoulder for quite some time.

Later, he thought that as far as the body was concerned, applying sunscreen spray would be enough, so long as the essentials were taken care of.

Regular customers always received complimentary dishes, while new customers were often given a small discount. None of it cost much, but it made people feel welcome, and his teahouse flourished with lively business.

“Your servant pays his respects to Your Majesty…” Wei Dongxue knelt and performed the grand prostration. His formal bearing alone revealed the depth of his loyalty.

But Rong Wanhua had no intention of asking about it. Once she married into the family, she would naturally learn everything about the prince’s household. There was no need to rush into it now.

Anyone who saw this scene would have assumed that Chen Xiao had suffered a cultivation deviation or was on the verge of death. Chen Xiao himself, however, felt no such panic.

What was more, after the Gu-Refining Pool, no one knew how far that dense swarm of armored insects extended. Based on this, Captain Song estimated that the man would need at least a year to accomplish such a feat.

Even if that fellow’s enormous ruler was a spirit weapon, with his own strength as a Second-Rank Imperial Spirit, he could crush the man effortlessly using only his origin imperial energy. Thus, the black-clad man paid him no heed and drove an utterly unadorned fist viciously toward the Azure Flame Ruler.

Yet it still was not over, because Ancestor Chunqiu’s greatest specialty was alchemy, and what he had always most enjoyed refining was poison.

The blue flames surged like enormous waves, ceaselessly crashing against the crimson-gold flames. They writhed like a colossal dragon in the sea, their struggle so fierce that it surpassed even Xiao Yan’s expectations.

She gave a dry little laugh, her expression revealing disapproval of the things Xiao Yan had done in his youth.

“Lord Zhao, this brute has been bullying the weak by relying on his strength!” Zuo Feng pointed at the burly man and condemned his crimes with righteous indignation.

Apart from the occasional appearance of demons in the streets, the people of the Tianxuan Kingdom continued to live their lives in orderly fashion. Perhaps, to them, whether to submit to the demon race was a matter for those in power. All they needed was to live their own lives well.

“Captain, we didn’t have time to replace our equipment… It’s still the original set.” Li Yang’s hands busied themselves with the machinery.

Every cell in his body contracted tightly. Only he, after hearing her say that her name was Swan, had continued calling her that.

After pushing Li Yang outside, Liu Yifei slammed the door shut. But when she recalled the kiss just now, she could not help blushing, her heart filling with shy embarrassment.

Thunder rolled across the heavens. Astonishingly, six different-colored bolts of lightning occupied six directions in the highest sky. Thunderclouds spread across a radius of a million miles, while vast waves of heavenly might surged forth and the thunder’s roar continued without end, deafening all who heard it.

This was what Li Yang had demanded. If the two pots of orchids were put up for auction, each would certainly fetch more than one hundred thirty million. To prevent the organizers from scheming, he had therefore raised the compensation by another twenty million per pot.

Lei was stunned as he listened. He bent down and picked up the telephone at his feet, glancing at it. There was indeed no signal. It seemed the other party had prepared quite thoroughly—even Lei felt compelled to admire them a little.

Every puppet relied on a fragment of remnant soul within its soul-force crystal to control its movements. The moment that remnant soul was extinguished, the puppet immediately became a lifeless object possessing only an empty shell.

“Everything except the lighting has yet to be installed. The wiring has already been laid, though, so we’re only waiting for the equipment. The elevator has already been put into service.” Park Sang-ji walked to the elevator entrance and explained.

This time, Southern Tianzhu’s losses were beyond comparison. Although the Xia army had formed only a small part of the forces that launched the joint attack with Pandia, it had taken the leading role both in capturing the city and in the plundering that followed.

After all, Xu Qixiu and I are merely old acquaintances. As for the weight each of us carries… he must be the one to judge how it should be balanced.

A storm of arrows flew forth—truly a rain of arrows. Three thousand archers, together with twenty mounted repeating crossbows, sent such a dense volley that it nearly blotted out the sun.

Zes walked in step by step, looking at the officers who were still hacking at one another with raised swords, then at the patches of blood covering the ground. That matters had descended into such chaos was well within his expectations. After all, most people had their own limits, and once those limits were crossed, they would truly explode.