I run a casino in the immortal realm.

"kill!"

More than a hundred Nascent Soul stage cultivators swooped down from the cliff, their multicolored magical artifacts leaving long trails in the dim canyon.

The massive fluctuations of spiritual energy caused the river below to churn violently as if boiling, with water vapor billowing into the air.

These elite members of the Grand Canal Gang's secret service were all killers who had survived countless battles. They didn't waste words; their attacks were always the most lethal.

Facing the terrifying pressure pressing down from above, Li Jianfeng, standing at the bow of the main ship, did not flinch in the slightest.

He drew his embroidered spring knife with a sudden burst, the blade pointing straight to the sky, and a roar echoed across the river: "Prepare to meet the enemy!"

"boom!"

Without any hesitation, they pushed off the deck with both feet and shot into the sky like arrows.

A full hundred Nascent Soul stage auras were released without reservation, colliding fiercely with the spiritual energy storm pressing down from above.

A deafening roar erupted in mid-air, and a violent surge of spiritual energy swept outwards, uprooting the trees on both sides of the cliffs.

The two collided with a loud crash in mid-air, fifty feet above the river surface.

This is not a one-on-one sparring match, but a life-or-death struggle.

Although the number of Nascent Soul experts in the Canal Gang was slightly larger and they were ruthless, the members of the anti-smuggling team were all top cultivators from the Southern Wilderness.

Not only are they individually formidable fighters, but after several months of practice, their small-scale battle formations of five have become highly proficient.

A swordsman from the Caobang wielded a crimson flying sword, which transformed into a sword beam several dozen feet long, heading straight for Li Jianfeng's face.

Li Jianfeng neither dodged nor evaded, gripping the Embroidered Spring Blade with both hands. His spiritual power surged wildly into the blade, and he unleashed a powerful cleaving strike to meet Li Jianfeng's attack head-on.

The blade's edge and sword energy collided in mid-air. The sword cultivator felt an overwhelming force coming from the flying sword, and his tiger's mouth instantly split open.

Before he could retreat, two anti-smuggling officers beside Li Jianfeng had already surrounded him from both sides, blocking his escape route with two long knives.

"puff!"

A fine head flew into the sky, and blood rained down onto the river.

The entire canyon was filled with the roar of colliding magical artifacts and the screams of dying cultivators.

At the top of the cliff, in front of the cave, Qian Baichuan stared intently at the battle unfolding in mid-air.

He originally thought that the more than one hundred elite members of the Dark Hall could break the anti-smuggling team's formation in one fell swoop, but reality slapped him hard in the face.

The anti-smuggling team not only did not collapse, but also gained the upper hand through their tacit cooperation.

"Where did these monsters come from?!"

Qian Baichuan gritted his teeth, his face turning ashen.

However, he did not lose his mind. He noticed that all one hundred Nascent Soul cultivators of the anti-smuggling team had taken to the air to meet the enemy, and the five official ships below, which were filled with spiritual salt, were now empty except for the boatmen.

He was an extremely cautious person, and although he felt this was an excellent opportunity, he still kept a backup plan.

"Send orders to the Water Ghost Camp and the four hundred archers on the left bank: board the ships immediately!"

Qian Baichuan turned to the messenger beside him and said, "The remaining four hundred archers on the right bank shall remain in place and continue to guard the surroundings in case the Ministry of Justice sends reinforcements."

"yes!"

As soon as the order was given, the four hundred archers hidden among the rocks on the left bank immediately threw down their crossbows, drew their short knives, and quickly slid down the ropes hanging from the cliff to the river.

At the same time, dozens of water ghosts from the canal gang, dressed in water armor, emerged from the river. They held barbed grappling hooks and threw them forcefully at the side of the official boat.

"Clang! Clang!"

The grappling hooks gripped the ship's side tightly, and four hundred crossbowmen and dozens of water ghosts climbed the ropes as quickly as ants onto the decks of the five official ships.

"Hurry! Take care of everyone in the cabin, then sail straight over there!"

A leader of the shipping gang jumped onto the main deck of the ship and loudly called to his men.

However, just as he finished speaking, the iron door leading to the lower deck of the main ship suddenly emitted a teeth-grinding scraping sound.

"Squeak—"

The iron door was kicked open from the inside and slammed heavily against the bulkhead.

The leader of the group paused for a moment, then turned to look. From the dimly lit passageway, a man dressed in black, with a cold and stern face, slowly emerged.

The man was holding a long, narrow knife upside down in his hand, water still dripping from the blade.

It was a night owl.

"You scumbags think you can steal a ship?"

The owl's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly across the decks of all five ships.

Before the incense master could react, one after another, black figures filed out of the cabin door behind Night Owl.

Ten, twenty, fifty... a full one hundred fully armed anti-smuggling officers silently appeared on the decks of five official ships.

When the hundred people released their auras at the same time, the leader of the incense suddenly twitched in his calf and collapsed onto the deck.

"Transformation... Transformation into a Divine Realm... All of them are Transformation into a Divine Realm!"

The more than four hundred members of the Cao Gang who had just boarded the deck were all frozen in place.

They originally thought it would be an easy battle to seize the ships, but who would have thought that these five seemingly empty official ships actually housed a hundred experts at the Nascent Soul stage!

"Kill them all, leave no one alive."

The owl coldly uttered five words.

Before he finished speaking, he had already transformed into a blur and rushed into the crowd.

The short knife in his hand flashed with a fierce light, instantly slicing open the throats of three archers.

This was a one-sided massacre with no suspense whatsoever.

One hundred Nascent Soul cultivators dealing with four hundred archers and water ghosts, whose highest level was no more than Golden Core, was easier than crushing a swarm of ants.

The anti-smuggling officers didn't even bother to use any special weapons; they simply relied on their physical speed and strength to carry out a ruthless harvest on the deck.

Blood instantly stained the deck red, flowing into the Liuhua River through the drain holes and turning that section of the river completely dark red.

Limbs and severed parts flew everywhere, and screams and pleas for mercy filled the air.

But the anti-smuggling officers showed no mercy, mechanically wielding their embroidered spring knives, each strike taking a life.

In the time it takes to drink a bowl of tea, the battle on the deck was completely over. Of the more than four hundred members of the Canal Gang who boarded the ship, not one of them managed to jump into the river alive; they all became cold corpses.

At the top of the cliff, Qian Baichuan looked down at the scene on the deck below that resembled a hellish landscape, and was struck dumb, his mind going completely blank.

"How is this possible... how can there be a hundred Nascent Soul cultivators on the ship?"

Qian Baichuan's voice was trembling.

Two hundred Nascent Soul cultivators! How could the Criminal Investigation Department possibly produce two hundred Nascent Soul cultivators?!

Wang Hua, who was sitting in the cave, couldn't sit still any longer. He suddenly stood up and crushed the two walnuts in his hand into powder.

"waste!"

Wang Hua cursed angrily, his face extremely gloomy. The more than one hundred Nascent Soul cultivators in the Dark Hall were already tied up in mid-air. If the one hundred Nascent Soul cultivators on the ship were also freed up to join the aerial battle, the Canal Gang would definitely not last a day.

"It seems I have no choice but to take action myself."

Wang Hua snorted coldly, and his gray robe fluttered without wind, instantly unleashing a terrifying pressure belonging to a Void Refinement stage expert.

The moment this oppressive force was unleashed, the surrounding air instantly froze. The cultivators fighting in mid-air both felt a tightness in their chests, and their movements involuntarily slowed down by half a beat.