Achieving physical sainthood begins with the Iron Shirt technique!

The main hall of the city lord's mansion in the inner city of Xuanni City.

This normally opulent center of power was now completely silent. The space was so vast it felt suffocating, and even breathing was deliberately suppressed to a minimum.

The city lord of the immortal city knelt on the smooth white jade floor.

Larger drops of sweat trickled down his forehead. They slid past his nose and finally landed on the white jade brick surface with a crisp dripping sound.

His cloud-patterned brocade robe was already soaked through with cold sweat, clinging damply to his back.

The city lord knelt on the ground, his back bent into an exaggerated arc, not daring to look up at the main seat in the hall ahead. His face was filled with barely suppressed panic, and his body trembled uncontrollably from extreme fear.

In the main seat at the front of the main hall sat an outer sect elder dressed in a blue Taoist robe.

The elder leaned back in his large chair, toying with two shiny black iron walnuts in his right hand.

Fingers moved back and forth.

The two iron walnuts rubbed together, producing a piercing metallic scraping sound. This sound echoed back and forth in the empty hall, striking the city lord's eardrums again and again, making his scalp tingle.

Just then, the rubbing sound of the iron walnuts suddenly stopped.

The elder's five fingers suddenly clenched inward.

Azure true essence surged forth from between his fingers. The originally indestructible black iron walnut was instantly transformed into a pool of molten iron under the crushing force of this immense magic.

Molten iron dripped down the elder's fingers.

clack.

clack.

The molten iron struck the spirit beast hide carpet below, instantly burning through the thick carpet and scorching several blackened holes in the jade bricks beneath, sending up plumes of pungent blue smoke.

"The town's guardian stele is lost," the elder finally spoke.

The sound wasn't loud, but it carried the terrifying pressure unique to higher-level immortal sects, causing dirt and debris to fall from the beams of the city lord's mansion.

"A large section of the arrayed city wall in the inner city, which cost a fortune to build, has also collapsed."

The elder casually tossed the remaining molten iron in his hand onto the ground.

"Let me ask you, in two days it will be the great day when the Holy Maiden returns to her hometown and severs ties with the mortal world."

"At this crucial juncture, you've caused me such a huge mess?"

As soon as the elder finished speaking, the city lord's shoulders trembled violently.

My knees unconsciously shifted back half an inch on the floor.

He clenched his back teeth tightly, and soon tasted a faint metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

His mind was frantically calculating countermeasures. He absolutely could not reveal the truth about the Mud Alley Massacre. If the elders knew that a mortal who couldn't even sense spiritual energy had single-handedly uprooted a 30,000-jin Dao Stele, smashed a Foundation Establishment stage manager into a pile of minced meat, and even crashed down the Immortal-Mortal City Wall.

Once those words were spoken, the city lord knew that he would be thrown into the sect's furnace and burned to ashes the next day.

This concerns the dignity of cultivators, and also his own life. This matter must be covered up.

He had no choice but to make up an explanation.

"Elder, please calm down!" The city lord slammed his head against the white jade floor, making a dull thud.

He raised his face, which was full of panic and grievance.

"Today's calamity is no ordinary riot by mortals! It was caused by that Azure Water Qilin!"

The city lord shouted at the top of his lungs, trying his best to make his lie sound flawless.

"The Grand Elder's spirit beast suddenly went berserk for some unknown reason, wreaking havoc in the mud alley! The violent fluctuations of spiritual energy have even attracted the remnants of the Blood Demon Sect who were lurking outside the city!"

The elder raised an eyebrow but did not interrupt him.

Seeing this, the city lord quickly continued to loudly splash dirty water on the mortal.

"The mortal who caused trouble outside the city gate was named Lu Chen! But he had already been possessed by a demonic cultivator from the Blood Demon Sect!"

"This scoundrel is extremely cunning. He has been disguising himself as a cripple without spiritual roots, lurking in the outer city. Relying on demonic cultivation techniques, he not only killed the steward but also used extremely vicious methods to forcibly remove the Dao stele that suppresses the earth's veins!"

"I wanted to stop him with my life, but that evil magic was too strange, and the city wall was also destroyed by the demonic artifacts he brought..."

Upon hearing these words, the elder's face showed extreme disdain.

The arrogance of a cultivator meant he would never doubt the capabilities of a mortal. Since the Blood Demon Sect existed, everything else made perfect sense.

The elder stood up from his seat.

An immense pressure once again enveloped the entire hall.

"Remnants of the Blood Demon Sect?" The elder sneered, his words filled with contempt for the lower-level forces.

"These filthy parasites are utterly ignorant of their own limitations. The Holy Maiden is about to return to her hometown, and they dare to cause trouble at this time; they're simply courting death."

"Issue my decree," the elder said, raising his voice.

"Immediately assemble all the law enforcement teams in the city. Call up all the idle outer disciples."

"Enter Broken Immortal Mountain tonight. Conduct a thorough search!"

"Since the Blood Demon Sect wants to play games, then let them know the rules of the Azure Sky Sword Sect. Daring to touch the city-guarding Dao Stele, I'll make their entire sect pay with their lives!"

Upon hearing these words, the city lord finally felt relieved.

He quickly kowtowed to the ground again.

"Yes, sir! We will certainly capture that remnant of the Blood Demon and bring him to justice!"

The city lord received the order, got up from the ground, hunched over, and walked backwards out of the main hall step by step.

Cross the high threshold.

The heavy wooden doors of the main hall slowly closed in front of him.

The city lord stood in the corridor, the terrifying pressure around him gone.

His previous respect and fear vanished instantly.

He raised his sleeve and fiercely wiped his forehead several times, removing all the sticky cold sweat.

The fat on his face was squeezed together tightly by fear and malice, making his features completely distorted.

He turned his head and waved to the guards standing in the distance.

A trusted commander quickly ran forward and knelt on one knee.

"What are your orders, sir?"

The city lord lowered his voice and leaned close to the commander's ear.

"Go and gather the enforcement team and outer disciples, and head into Broken Immortal Mountain."

The commander nodded, ready to receive the order and carry it out.

The city lord grabbed the commander by the collar and pulled him in front of him.

"Listen carefully," the city lord said, his tone revealing undisguised murderous intent.

"Once we get into the mountains, all we need to do is find that kid named Lu Chen."

"No taking them alive."

"Kill him on the spot. Chop the body into pieces, burn it completely, and then grind the bones to ashes!"

"I want him to disappear completely from the Great Wilderness and Nine Provinces, not even a single word from him!"

The city lord was determined to silence him. As long as Lu Chen was dead, it would be an ironclad case with no way to prove anything, and the story of the Blood Demon Sect's possession would be permanently established, so no one could find out that the city wall was destroyed by a mortal.

The trusted commander looked troubled upon hearing this.

He turned to look at the sky outside. It was completely dark outside, and not a single star could be seen in the wilderness.

"Lord of the city..." The commander swallowed hard, his voice tinged with apprehension.

"At night, the outskirts of Broken Immortal Mountain are teeming with groups of high-level demonic beasts."

"Moreover, the forest is perpetually filled with highly poisonous miasma. Once night falls, the demonic aura intensifies."

"We're sending out those outer disciples and ordinary law enforcement teams tonight. Their vision will be obstructed, and they could easily be ambushed by the monster horde if we're not careful."

"If this results in too many casualties, and the higher-ups investigate, I can't bear the responsibility..."

The commander hadn't finished speaking.

The city lord was furious.

He raised his right foot, clad in a cloud-patterned boot, and kicked the commander hard in the chest.

boom.

Caught off guard, the commander was kicked so hard that he tumbled several times before crashing heavily onto the stone slabs of the corridor, his sternum cracking with a sharp sound.

The city lord strode forward, looking down at the commander who was huddled on the ground.

"Casualties? I don't care how many die!"

The city lord pointed towards the collapsed inner city and cursed loudly, revealing the cold-blooded nature of the immortal sects who disregarded human life.

"What do the worthless lives of those lowly disciples matter!"

"They're all dead, and all of them combined aren't worth as much as a single white jade brick from my inner city wall!"

"The sect usually provides them with spirit stones to sustain them, just so they can be sent to sacrifice their lives at times like this!"

"Go and issue the order immediately! Anyone who dares to disobey and refuse to enter the mountains will be executed on the spot for treason!"

The commander clutched his chest, which had been kicked hard, and scrambled to his feet, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Understood! I'll take care of it right away!"

The commander turned around, covered in dust, and ran wildly out of the city lord's mansion.

In less than half an hour.

Outside the city lord's mansion, on the spacious white jade square, the piercing sound of horns completely shattered the silence of the night.

Numerous array patterns lit up on the ground, dispelling the surrounding darkness.

Dozens of small spirit boats were activated one by one.

An icy blue halo emanated from the hull of the spirit boat, illuminating the fully armed law enforcement team members and outer disciples around it, whose expressions were tense.

Under such intense pressure, not a single person dared to utter a single complaint.

The high-ranking deacons leading the group stood at the bow of the ship, waving the battle flags in their hands vigorously.

Dozens of small spirit boats took off simultaneously.

The engine roared, creating a strong current of spiritual energy that made the flags on the square flutter.

The spirit boats all changed direction in mid-air.

A magnificent flight formation pierced the night sky.

Dozens of dazzling trails pointed directly to the edge of the dark and deep Broken Immortal Mountain forest outside Xuanni City. A massive search network targeting the wilderness had been fully deployed.