A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 895: Unrest

"City Lord Qin just directed a question at this subordinate of mine, did he not? Is he wrong for answering? You're the one who should learn to keep your mouth shut unless you're spoken to!" Chen Yang countered as he gave Feng Wuchen a cold glare.

Feng Wuchen was even more infuriated upon hearing this, yet before he had a chance to say anything else, Qin Yuan raised a hand to silence him as he chuckled, "Stand down, Wuchen. Don't be rude. This subordinate of yours appears to have just as sharp a tongue as yours, City Lord Chen."

"Likewise," Chen Yang replied with a faint smile.

This entire time, Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged, but Feng Wuchen was glowering at him with intense killing intent in his eyes.

"It's disgusting that an honorless scoundrel like you dares to sit at the same table with us! Do you really think we wouldn't dare to kill you right here, right now?" Fu Jian suddenly roared in a furious voice.

"It seems like you don't like me very much, City Lord Fu. If you want to kill me, then come and give it a try," Chen Yang replied, completely unfazed by Fu Jian's threats.

All of the people from Green Goat City immediately rose to their feet to support him, while Fu Jian's subordinates stood up as well.

Qin Yuan didn't say anything, but he erupted into another violent coughing fit, while Feng Wuchen and the others all turned to the Green Goat City representatives with hostile looks of their own.

The atmosphere in the hall had suddenly become extremely tense, and a spark was all that was required for a full-blown scuffle to ensue.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting, everyone. Let's all settle down now."

A rotund gray-robed elderly man with a coarse beard made his way into the hall, then smiled as he continued, "All of us belong to Profound City, so we should be assisting one another rather than fighting among ourselves. Leave the fighting for when the martial gathering commences."

"Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Sun," Chen Yang greeted with a smile.

"Congratulations, City Lord Chen Yang," the gray-robed elderly man said as he extended a congratulatory salute, following which he and his entourage sat down across from Han Li and the others.

Up to this point, he was the only one of the three other city lords that was displaying any semblance of friendliness toward Chen Yang.

"This must be City Lord Sun Tu of White Rock City, right?" Han Li asked through voice transmission.

"That's right," Gu Qianxun replied. "He may look like a very benevolent and easygoing man, but his city is actually the most powerful one out of the four subsidiary cities. You see that man with the pig face behind him?"

Han Li looked past Sun Tu to discover a short and ugly young man standing behind him. Instead of sitting down, the young man was standing directly behind Sun Tu.

It was a bit of an exaggeration to say that he had the face of a pig, but he did have a pair of slightly upturned nostrils, and he had quite a round face, both of which made him slightly resemble a pig.

There was quite a large gap between his eyes, giving him a rather dazed appearance, and he was holding a greasy roasted scaled beast leg that he was gnawing on while also scrutinizing with his undivided attention.

"I see him. Is there something special about him?" Han Li asked.

"His name is Fang Chan. He may look harmless and perhaps even a little dumb, but as soon as he goes into battle, he immediately becomes a completely different person. Somehow, he's able to unleash an extremely special soundwave attack with his mouth and nose, and anyone that falls prey to that attack will go completely numb and powerless. I have first hand experience with that myself," Gu Qianxun introduced.

Han Li took another glance at Fang Chan as he committed what he had just been told to memory.

With Sun Tu stepping in as mediator, Chen Yang was naturally more than happy to de-escalate the conflict, and he sat down along with everyone else from Green Goat City.

Fu Jian and Qin Yuan exchanged a glance with each other before sitting down as well.

"When did you two arrive at Profound City?" Sun Tu asked as he turned to Fu Jian and Qin Yuan.

"Just two days ago," Qin Yuan replied with a smile.

"I arrived a few days earlier than him," Fu Jian replied as he closed his eyes again.

"I was delayed by some matters, so I only just arrived yesterday. Come to think of it, it's been a very long time since we last saw each other," Sun Tu said with a smile.

"Indeed, the last time we met was during the previous Five City Martial Gathering. Never did I think that that would be the last time I would ever see Fellow Daoist Du," Qin Yuan sighed.

"It was simply meant to be. Fellow Daoist Chen was able to climb to his current position thanks to his merits, so there's no need to feel sad for Fellow Daoist Du," Sun Tu said.

While the two of them were chatting with each other, the sound of heavy footsteps rang out from outside the hall, following which an ordinary-looking middle-aged man strode over the doorstep, accompanied by a man and a woman, both of whom were clad in suits of bone armor.

The man looked no different from the average farmer, and one could easily miss him in a crowd.

In contrast, the two armorclad figures behind him were both quite stunning in appearance, and their suits of bone armor also had extremely intricate and beautiful patterns engraved upon them.

Their accompaniment made the middle-aged man appear rather remarkable, and one couldn't help but guess at his identity.

As soon as the three of them entered the hall, all four of the city lords in the hall instantly rose to their feet, followed immediately by their entourages.

This reaction from everyone immediately tipped Han Li off to the middle-aged man's identity, and he hurriedly stood up as well.

"We pay our respects to City Lord E Kuai," everyone greeted in unison.

Han Li took a glance at Gu Qianxun, and he noticed that the latter's gaze was fixed on the handsome armorclad man standing behind E Kuai.

"You seem very interested in that man, Fellow Daoist Gu. Do you have feelings for him, or is there some bad blood between the two of you?" Han Li asked through voice transmission.

Gu Qianxun paid no heed to his jibe as she replied, "His name is Zhu Ziyuan, and he's using a strange ancient bodily refinement cultivation art that grants him unfathomable power. He's already come out on top in several past consecutive editions of the Five City Martial Gathering leading up to this one, yet I can tell that he's still yet to unleash his full power in any of his battles. You and I should pray that we don't get matched up against him."

E Kuai strode over to the main seat in the hall, and a warm smile appeared on his face as he gestured for everyone to sit down, but no one dared to oblige.

A resigned smile appeared on E Kaui's face, and only after he had taken a seat did everyone finally dare to sit down again.

"Welcome, fellow daoists. My apologies for not staging a more elaborate welcome for you all," E Kuai said, displaying no intentions of discussing the altercation that had just taken place in the hall.

"Not at all, City Lord E Kuai. Being in your presence alone is already more than enough of an elaborate welcome for us all," Sun Tu hurriedly said.

"The Five City Martial Gathering has always been a grand event for our five cities, and it's also an opportunity for the cities to display their powers and strengthen their bonds with one another, so I always look forward to this occasion," E Kuai said with a smile.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I can see that there are many new faces among you. That's a very encouraging sight. If there are too many old faces around, then that indicates that there's a dearth of talent beneath them, so I enjoy seeing new faces whenever the Five City Martial Gathering comes around," E Kuai said with a pleased smile, and his gaze lingered momentarily on Chen Yang and the others as he spoke.

Qin Yuan and Fu Jian's expressions remained unchanged, but internally, they were feeling quite disgruntled.

Wasn't E Kuai essentially encouraging Chen Yang's actions by saying something like this? Didn't this mean that if others wanted to take their place, then they would also be endorsed and supported by E Kuai himself?

Of course, they didn't dare to display any displeasure despite what they were thinking. E Kuai was by far the most powerful figure in Profound City, and no one dared to get on his bad side.

"Puppet City has been growing from strength to strength of late. Even though they haven't made any major moves against us, they're already beginning to gain the upper hand in some of the recent minor conflicts that have taken place between our two cities, so we have to be careful," E Kuai suddenly sighed.

"Indeed, City Lord E Kuai. The subsidiary city of Puppet City, Black Frost City, has been frequently making moves against our Excess Passage City of late. They've been sending hunting parties into our territory to hunt scaled beasts, and even though they've always reached upon confrontation, it still makes me feel quite uneasy that they're testing the waters like this," Fu Jian said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"We're in a similar situation as well. In fact, there have even been a few minor conflicts on our end, but we've managed to come out on top every single time," Sun Tu said with a pleased expression.

"Our Profound End City is quite far away from Puppet City, so things have been relatively more peaceful for us. However, we have caught some spies trying to infiltrate our cities, and prior to coming here, I had to take care of quite a powerful gladiator myself. He had been lurking in our arena for thousands of years, and he only revealed his trump card puppetry abilities after I had backed him into a corner," Qin Yuan said.

"It looks like there's some unrest brewing on the horizon," Sun Tu sighed. "Speaking of which, there's been a major change in Green Goat City of late, so it could be vulnerable to infiltration. Make sure to be on your guard, City Lord Chen Yang."

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