I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Su Chenyuan threw Liu's head on the ground.

Before the stench of blood had even dissipated from the plaza, a suffocating surge of spiritual energy erupted from the depths of the main peak.

"boom!"

The bluestone plaza trembled violently, and the array patterns on the ground shattered one after another.

The previously scattered clouds in the sky were forcibly gathered together by an invisible force, transforming into a giant spiritual energy handprint that crashed down towards the mountain gate.

Nascent Soul stage.

Before the spiritual energy hand seals were even finished, the protective qi of Li Jianfeng and the other fourteen Golden Core cultivators began to twist and deform, the circulation of their Golden Cores was hindered, and their bones emitted a grinding sound as they could not bear the burden.

"retreat!"

Su Chenyuan's expression changed drastically, and he roared.

He formed a hand seal, and the spiritual power of his perfected Golden Core surged forth without reservation, transforming into a cyan barrier above everyone.

"Click."

The cyan barrier couldn't even withstand the spiritual energy handprint for a moment before shattering. Su Chenyuan groaned, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

"Walk!"

Su Chenyuan roared again, covering everyone's retreat.

Just as the spiritual energy handprint was about to crush everyone...

A dark golden sword beam slashed diagonally upwards from the sky behind them.

"laugh--"

The sword's edge struck precisely at the center of the spiritual energy hand seal. A violent burst of spiritual energy exploded in mid-air, creating a hurricane that ripped off the roofs of the surrounding palaces.

"Zhou Hong, you dog of the Xuantian Sect, do you really think the Qingyun Sect has no one left?"

A deep voice echoed between heaven and earth.

The void twisted, and an old man in a gray robe stepped through the air.

His hair and beard were all white, and his face was withered, but his eyes shone with a chilling brilliance.

With his appearance, an even more powerful pressure than the previous handprint swept across the entire area.

Mid-stage Nascent Soul!

Su Chenyuan looked up abruptly, his eyes filled with disbelief: "Sect Leader Xu?"

The person who arrived was Xu Tianyang.

Inside the main hall of the main peak, the voice of Zhou Hong, a Nascent Soul elder of the Xuan Tian Sect, rang out, tinged with obvious astonishment: "Xu Tianyang? You actually broke through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage! This is impossible!"

Advancing through each minor realm in the Nascent Soul stage often requires decades or even centuries of arduous cultivation and a vast amount of resources. Xu Tianyang broke through to the Nascent Soul stage in just three or four years, yet he crossed the threshold of the early Nascent Soul stage, clearly indicating that he had encountered a very significant opportunity.

Xu Tianyang ignored Zhou Hong's shock. He glanced down at the square filled with corpses and looked at Su Chenyuan, Li Jianfeng, and the others.

"Elder Su, well done."

Xu Tianyang pointed to the main peak: "Continue killing, leave no one alive. Zhou Hong is mine."

Before he finished speaking, Xu Tianyang flashed and rushed directly towards the main peak.

The sky was instantly engulfed by dark golden sword energy and a blue spiritual energy storm, and the collision between the two Nascent Soul cultivators caused the entire Azure Cloud Mountain Range to tremble.

"The sect leader has ordered: Kill!"

Two figures sped from the direction Xu Tianyang had come from and landed steadily on the square.

One male and one female.

Xu Zhenghai, mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.

Xu Muyao has completed her Foundation Establishment.

Xu Zhenghai gripped a warhammer crackling with lightning, his gaze cold and sharp. Xu Muyao, dressed in a close-fitting outfit, held two swords.

"Senior Brother Xu!"

Li Jianfeng's spirits lifted.

"Enough with the nonsense, go into the main hall and kill Hu Lie!"

Xu Zhenghai swung his warhammer and led the charge toward the stone steps leading to the main peak.

Fifteen Golden Core cultivators, along with the Xu siblings, transformed into more than a dozen streaks of light and rushed straight towards the central headquarters of the Qingyun Sect.

The Paradise Garden is built on the mountainside where the spiritual energy is most abundant. It covers a vast area and has pavilions and towers scattered in a well-organized manner.

Inside the main hall, the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood.

Hu Pengfei leaned back on a soft couch covered with monster fur. He wore a loose silk robe and toyed with a white jade wine cup in his hand.

Below, eight scantily clad female cultivators knelt on the ground, trembling.

Hu Pengfei's gaze swept over the female cultivators, finally settling on a woman with her head down, dressed in coarse linen clothes.

"Raise your head."

Hu Pengfei pointed at her.

The woman did not move.

Hu Pengfei frowned, about to lash out.

"Thump—thump—thump—"

The piercing sound of the alarm bell suddenly pierced through the soundproofing array of the Paradise Garden.

Hu Pengfei's hand trembled, and the white jade wine cup fell to the ground and shattered.

"What's going on!"

Hu Pengfei suddenly sat up straight.

From the shadows in the corner of the main hall, an old man in black emerged. This was Hu Lie's personal protector for Hu Pengfei, a cultivator at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

"Young Master, someone is attacking the mountain gate; the sect's protective formation has been broken."

The old man in black had a solemn expression, and he had already gripped the magic weapon tightly in his hand.

Hu Pengfei's face turned ashen, and he jumped off the soft couch.

"Who? Who dares to attack the Qingyun Sect? Where are the elders of the Xuantian Sect?"

He spoke incoherently and strode quickly to the array control panel in the center of the main hall.

"I don't know, but it's a big commotion; even Elder Zhou Hong has made a move."

The old man in black looked towards the gate: "Young Master, I'll go check the situation. You stay here and don't move."

"Hurry! Have the Enforcement Hall men guard the Paradise Garden to the death!"

Hu Pengfei shouted.

The old man in black nodded, turned around, and rushed out of the main hall.

As the old man's figure disappeared, Hu Pengfei slammed his hand on the control panel.

"Buzz—"

The defensive formation of the Paradise Garden was fully activated, and a dark red light shield completely sealed off the entire hall.

The formation was activated, and Hu Pengfei breathed a sigh of relief.

He pulled out a blood-red talisman from his storage bag and clutched it tightly in his hand.

With a fourth-tier Blood Escape Talisman, he could instantly crush the talisman and teleport thousands of miles away should the situation turn against him.

"A bunch of useless trash, they can't even guard the mountain gate."

Hu Pengfei gritted his teeth and turned to look at the female cultivators kneeling on the ground: "What are you looking at! Get out of here and go to the back hall!"

The nuns felt as if they had been granted a pardon and scrambled to run towards the back hall.

Only the woman in coarse linen clothes remained kneeling in place.

Are you deaf?

Hu Pengfei was agitated and raised his foot to kick.

The woman moved.

She didn't get up, she just raised her head.

It was a face covered in dust, but its eyes were icy cold.

Hu Pengfei met those eyes, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Su..."

Hu Pengfei only managed to utter one word.

The woman's figure vanished instantly.

There were no fluctuations of spiritual energy, no glow from magical artifacts. It was pure physical explosive power.

Hu Pengfei felt a blur before his eyes, and his neck was gripped tightly by a cold hand.

The immense force instantly cut off his breath, lifting him into the air, rendering the Blood Escape Talisman useless.

Hu Pengfei desperately tried to pry the hand off with both hands, while his legs kicked wildly in mid-air.

He tried to mobilize his Foundation Establishment stage spiritual power to resist, but an extremely domineering cyan spiritual power directly rushed into his meridians and shattered his dantian.

Jindan period!

Hu Pengfei's eyes widened, his eyeballs bulging as he suffocated, filled with terror.

The dust on Su Wanqing's face fell in a flurry, revealing her originally beautiful face.

She looked at Hu Pengfei, her grip tightening little by little.

"Young Master Hu, it's been a long time."

Su Wanqing's voice was calm and expressionless.

Hu Pengfei opened his mouth, making a strange "clucking" sound from his throat, and the Blood Escape Talisman slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

He couldn't understand how a Golden Core cultivator could sneak into the Paradise Garden without making a sound.

Why did this killing god suddenly attack as soon as his protector left?

"Don't be in such a hurry to die."

Su Wanqing flicked her left hand, sending a burst of spiritual energy to Hu Pengfei's chest, protecting his heart meridian, and at the same time loosening the fingers that were stuck in his throat.

As air rushed back into his lungs, Hu Pengfei coughed violently, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"Su...Su Wanqing...you dare to kill my...my grandfather...Xuantian Sect..."

Hu Pengfei threatened intermittently, his voice trembling.

Su Wanqing ignored his nonsense. She picked up Hu Pengfei with one hand and turned to walk towards the array control panel.

"Bang!"

She slammed Hu Pengfei's head heavily onto the control panel, and blood instantly stained the array patterns.

"Activate the formation and let the people outside in."

Su Wanqing drew the long sword from her back, the blade pressed against Hu Pengfei's carotid artery.

"No... we can't open it..."

Hu Pengfei wailed. Once the formation was activated, he truly had no way out.

"laugh."

With a light stroke of the sword.

Blood flowed down the blade.

"Open, or die now."

Su Wanqing slightly turned her wrist.

Hu Pengfei felt the stinging pain in his neck, and his mental defenses completely collapsed.

He reached out with trembling hands and pressed them against the core crystal of the control panel.

The dark red light shield flickered twice and slowly dissipated.