I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Apart from the dozen or so hall masters and protectors who originally belonged to the Tanzhou branch, the remaining hundred Nascent Soul experts were all unfamiliar faces.

Their murderous aura was stronger, and their eyes were colder; they were clearly assassins who had spent years walking the line between life and death.

These are elite "Dark Hall" assassins dispatched overnight by the headquarters of the Canal Gang.

To Qian Baichuan's left sat an old man wearing a gray robe with a gloomy face.

The old man had his eyes closed, and in his hands he was playing with two jet-black walnuts, the surfaces of which faintly crackled with lightning. The space within three feet of him seemed to be distorted, and even the wind would automatically avoid it.

This person was none other than Wang Hua, the deputy leader of the Cao Gang headquarters and a powerful expert in the early stage of the Void Refinement realm.

"Vice Chief Wang, I am truly ashamed to have troubled you to make this trip in person."

Qian Baichuan turned around and bowed deeply to Wang Hua, his tone tinged with fear.

Wang Hua didn't even lift his eyelids, continuing to play with the walnuts in his hand, his voice hoarse like the hooting of an owl: "Qian Baichuan, you really should be ashamed. You've managed the Tanzhou branch so badly that you couldn't even keep a batch of goods, and you were even captured alive by the Criminal Investigation Department."

The gang leader was furious. If it weren't for the enormous implications of these 300,000 jin of spirit salt, he would have already sent men to take your head.

Cold sweat beaded on Qian Baichuan's forehead as he nodded repeatedly: "Yes, it's my fault for not handling things properly, but that Zheng Yifei is really strange; I don't know where he got dozens of Nascent Soul experts from..."

"What's so special about a few dozen Nascent Soul cultivators?"

Wang Hua sneered and finally opened his eyes, a hint of disdain flashing in them: "In this Tianlong Dynasty, apart from the regular army of the imperial court and those few thousand-year-old families, who dares to compare their foundation with our Canal Gang?"

"The gang leader sent me with a hundred Nascent Soul cultivators from the Dark Hall this time, to teach that Zhu Zhenbang a lesson!"

Wang Hua stood up, walked to the cave entrance, looked at the river below, and said in a chilling tone: "The boss has ordered that this interception leave no survivors. Kill all the anti-smuggling team members, including the captain in charge, leave no one alive! Recover the goods and burn the ship."

As long as no survivors or evidence are left, even if Zhu Zhenbang knows that we did it, he can only swallow his anger and keep quiet.

If he dares to use the army without evidence, the officials in Kyoto will teach him a lesson about how to be a good official.

"The vice-leader is right!"

Qian Baichuan's spirits lifted, and a fierce glint appeared in his eyes: "I have already ambushed eight hundred crossbowmen on the mountainside on both sides of the river. They are using armor-piercing repeating crossbows with 'Spirit Transformation Powder' on their arrowheads."

Four ironclad warships loaded with kerosene were also positioned upstream and downstream of the river. Once their official ships entered Qingyu Mouth, they would be completely blocked from the front and back, unable to escape!

Wang Hua nodded and sat back down in his chair: "Go make the arrangements. Remember, be quick. I'm only responsible for keeping watch. I won't make a move unless the opponent shows up at the Void Refinement stage."

"If a hundred Nascent Soul cultivators and eight hundred archers can't take down a few wrecked ships, then all of you from the Tanzhou branch might as well jump into the river yourselves."

"Rest assured, Vice Leader, everything will be foolproof!"

Qian Baichuan said through gritted teeth.

He stepped out of the cave and made a gesture to the several hall masters behind him.

Hidden talismans were passed through the mountains and forests.

In the jagged rocks and thickets on both banks, eight hundred crossbowmen pushed aside the branches that provided cover and aimed their fully drawn armor-piercing crossbows at the river below.

The arrowhead of each crossbow bolt gleamed with a ghostly green poisonous light.

Amidst the thick fog rising and falling on the river, four massive ironclad warships silently untied their mooring lines, ready to intercept across the river at any moment.

A trap has been set, ready to be laid. All that's left is for the prey to fall into it.

A pale dawn broke on the horizon, and the mist on the river gradually dissipated.

"Splash—splash—"

The dull sound of oars echoed from the lower reaches of the Liuhua River.

Five official boats, each adorned with a lantern from the Judicial Commissioner's Office, lined up in a long, winding row and slowly entered the canyon of Qingyuzui.

These five ships are of medium size and have a very deep draft in order to carry 300,000 catties of spirit salt.

On the ship's deck, anti-smuggling officers, dressed in uniform black outfits and with embroidered spring knives at their waists, stood in two rows on either side.

Despite having sailed all night, these Nascent Soul stage cultivators showed no signs of fatigue. Instead, their eyes warily scanned the cliffs on both sides of the river.

On the main ship in the very center, Li Jianfeng stood at the bow, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his eyes blazing.

"Commander, Qingyuzui is just ahead."

A junior officer walked up to Li Jianfeng and said in a low voice, "This place is too dangerous. The current is swift and the boats are slow. If we're going to set up an ambush, this is the perfect spot."

"I know."

Li Jianfeng sneered. He had already received Zheng Yifei's secret order and knew that the Canal Gang was very likely to make a move here.

"Pass down the order: all brothers, activate your spiritual energy shields, prepare for battle! Those guarding the suspects in the lower deck, no matter what happens up there, hold the hatch at all costs! Anyone who dares to approach, kill them without mercy!"

"yes!"

Five official boats slowly entered the narrowest part of the canyon. The cliffs on both sides seemed to press down, blocking out the sky and the sun. The river roared deafeningly here.

Just as the first official ship had passed through the middle of the canyon.

"Ugh—!!!"

A piercing horn blast suddenly echoed above the cliff, shattering the tranquility of the morning.

Immediately afterwards, four massive ironclad warships suddenly emerged from the thick fog upstream and downstream of the river.

These four warships, without flying any flags and with thick iron rams covering their bows, sped across the river, completely blocking the retreat routes of the five official ships.

"Enemy attack! Form ranks!"

Li Jianfeng shouted and drew his Embroidered Spring Blade from his waist, the blade pointing straight at the cliff.

Almost at the same instant he drew his sword, a dense series of whooshing sounds suddenly erupted from the cliffs halfway up the mountains on both sides.

"Swish, swish, swish—!"

Eight hundred armor-piercing crossbows were fired simultaneously.

Black crossbow bolts rained down like a storm, obscuring the sky.

These crossbow bolts are specially made magical artifacts, and the "Spirit Transformation Powder" on the arrowheads can easily corrode the protective aura of those below the Nascent Soul stage.

"Royal!"

The anti-smuggling officers roared in unison.

Without the slightest panic, the crew members on the five ships quickly formed small defensive formations, grouping five to a group.

One hundred streams of Nascent Soul stage spiritual energy soared into the sky, converging above the five official ships to form a huge, semi-transparent spiritual energy shield.

"Clang, clang—bang, bang, bang!"

The dense barrage of crossbow bolts slammed into the spiritual energy shield, bursting into dazzling sparks and ear-piercing friction sounds.

The poison from the Spirit-Dissolving Powder sizzled on the light barrier, emitting wisps of green smoke.

However, the volley of eight hundred Golden Core stage archers, though impressive, was utterly ineffective against the defensive array set up by one hundred Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

The spiritual energy shield only rippled, without even a crack appearing.

"Damn it! The intelligence was wrong! These guys are all Nascent Soul cultivators!"

On the cliff, a gang leader in charge of commanding the archers watched with eyes wide with rage.

He originally thought that there were at most a dozen or so Nascent Soul cultivators in the anti-smuggling team, and the rest were either Core Formation cultivators or Golden Core cultivators. He thought that this volley of crossbow bolts would take away at least half of them.

As a result, not a single one of the opposing team members was injured.

"Cease fire! Nascent Soul cultivators, charge!"

Qian Baichuan roared in front of the cave.

He knew that crossbows were useless against Nascent Soul cultivators; he had to use equal strength to fight them head-on.

"kill!"

At Qian Baichuan's command, a terrifying, suffocating pressure suddenly erupted from the tops of the cliffs on both sides.

More than a hundred Nascent Soul stage experts leaped off the cliff, which was a hundred feet high, like black meteorites.

The auras of the Nascent Soul stage converged, forming a tangible spiritual energy storm.

The river water in the canyon was forced to swell to both sides by this immense pressure, revealing the hidden reefs at the bottom. A fierce wind howled, and the sky and earth changed color.

Among these hundred-plus people, there were sword cultivators, body cultivators, and magic cultivators.

They unleashed their signature magical treasures in mid-air, the multicolored light illuminating the dim canyon as if it were daytime.

A great war is about to break out!