"Whatever it takes, keep the State Preceptor here. I intend to entertain him properly."
Ji Xia's icy voice echoed through Nanqing Street: "General Ji, Meng Gui, Yin Ding, An Ding, Hei Ding—the five of you, stop the State Preceptor. He hasn't yet tasted the strong liquor of Taicang. How can he leave?"
"As you command!" The group responded in unison, leaping to surround State Preceptor Zhou Qing, weapons at the ready.
Over eight hundred spectral soldiers formed a battle array, sealing off all exits of Nanqing Street. Archers from the Cangshou Army took positions on rooftops, arrows nocked and aimed, locking down every possible escape route for Qing Furen.
Ji Xia took two steps back and crouched by Jing Yu's door, addressing the stunned girl beside him: "Don't be stingy. Go pour a cup of tea for the State Preceptor."
Jing Yu, her face still wet with tears after hearing about the murdered children, nodded hastily and rushed inside. Moments later, she returned flustered, her expression helpless. "My lord, there's no tea in my home..."
Ji Xia's face darkened. "Then bring a cup of water."
He turned his gaze to the surrounded State Preceptor, his words dripping with malice: "The sight of State Preceptor Zhou Qing with no escape is far more satisfying than any tea."
Zhou Qing studied Ji Xia, then the spectral army, and suddenly understood. "You must be Ji Shang's son. I'd heard he sired a worthless fool, but today I see how wrong the world was."
"But what makes you think these people can stop me? The might of the Divine Ability Realm is beyond the dreams of ants like you!"
His figure blurred, vanishing into thin air.
Ji Qianqing's red hair billowed like a war goddess descended from the heavens. Spiritual energy surged from her, forming countless threads that spread through the air.
One thread trembled. Ji Qianqing smirked, and a colossal sword aura erupted, slashing toward it.
The sword aura tore through the air, forcing Zhou Qing to materialize. His hand, wreathed in black smoke, didn't strike at Ji Qianqing but instead aimed at Ji Xia, dozens of feet away.
A massive black hand materialized in the air, spiritual energy swirling around it. Where it passed, buildings crumbled, and the earth split apart.
Ji Xia sipped from his cup, unperturbed. Three spectral generals crossed their blades, ice forming along the steel, and slashed upward. The frigid energy coalesced into a giant ice blade that clashed with the black hand.
Meng Gui, his black robes fluttering, clenched his fist, and a dark flame ignited in his palm. He hurled it toward the ice blade, combining their forces against the black hand.
The flame scattered, but the hand's spiritual energy weakened. The ice blade cleaved downward, splitting the hand in two and dissipating it.
"Four experts at the Eighth Heavenly Layer! Taicang's foundations aren't weak!"
Qing Furen laughed wildly, black smoke billowing around him. "My Dark Dust Manifestation Art isn't suited for combat, but the Divine Ability Realm is the Divine Ability Realm. Even with four at the Eighth Layer and one at the Ninth, do you think you can stop me?"
Hundreds of spectral soldiers closed in, their spears radiating power, distorting the air.
Ji Qianqing leapt into the air, her spiritual energy seemingly endless as it poured into her sword. Her figure flickered, unleashing sword auras that sealed all escape routes.
The three spectral generals and Meng Gui attacked simultaneously—blades, ice, and dark flames converging!
Archers on the rooftops loosed their arrows, blue light flashing as the projectiles split the air. A single arrow might be negligible, but hundreds? Even a Divine Ability expert would struggle to survive.
Trapped, Qing Furen roared. The Dark Dust Manifestation Art surged, and a colossal, flattened specter emerged from the black smoke, shielding him.
The arrows struck. The specter's maw opened, swallowing those from the front, while its smoky body blocked the rest.
Ji Qianqing and the others attacked relentlessly—sword auras, ice blades, and dark flames mingling with the arrows, overwhelming the specter's defenses.
The specter wailed as its weakened side collapsed under the assault. A few stray arrows slipped through the dissipating smoke.
Qing Furen's fur stood on end. He summoned a black shield, but the hastily formed defense was too weak. One arrow pierced through, striking his shoulder!
A spray of blood. The Divine Ability expert, besieged by Taicang's forces, was wounded!
Qing Furen stared at his bleeding shoulder, his face contorted with rage. Before he could counterattack, Ji Qianqing's group struck again, forcing him off the rooftop.
"Unless you've reached the legendary Spirit Controlling Realm and can fly, you're grounded—and that means death!" Ji Qianqing's eyes gleamed with excitement. Today, they would slay a Divine Ability expert!
Even if he was newly ascended, even if his arts were ill-suited for battle, he was still a Divine Ability expert—a being beyond mortals. On the battlefield, one such expert could rival hundreds of elite soldiers.
But now, he was on the ground. And on the ground, hundreds of spectral soldiers awaited with spears.
Ji Xia handed his cup to Jing Yu, who refilled it. He watched Qing Furen's狼狈 (disheveled) state, his thoughts unreadable.
The moment Qing Furen landed, a dozen spears thrust toward him. With a swing of his hand, black smoke formed a massive blade, severing the spears—and the soldiers holding them—in half.
Before he could recover, the three spectral generals descended from above, while another wave of spears came from the sides.
Summoning his last reserves, Qing Furen manifested a smoky toad. Its tongue lashed out, binding two generals and dragging them into its maw.
The third general hacked at the toad, but Qing Furen's black blade forced him back.
Ji Qianqing seized the opening, her sword aura slicing through the toad's head. The creature dissipated, and the two generals tumbled out—headless!
"Kill me? You'll pay dearly!" Qing Furen's laughter echoed as he slaughtered wave after wave of spectral soldiers.
But under the combined assault of the remaining three experts and hundreds of soldiers, his spiritual energy dwindled.
"Can we capture him alive?" Ji Xia stood, frowning at the loss of two generals.
"My lord, Divine Ability experts are unpredictable. Capturing him risks—"
"Can you or not?" Ji Xia cut Meng Gui off.
"Yes!" Meng Gui produced a jade dagger. "His energy is nearly exhausted. This dagger will work."
He threw it, embedding it in Qing Furen's thigh. Numbness spread, seeping into his spiritual wheel, sealing it.
Bound and dragged before Ji Xia, Qing Furen knelt.
Ji Xia took a cup of water from Jing Yu and placed it before him.
"State Preceptor, Taicang lacks strong liquor. How about a cup of water before your execution?"