My CEO Bai Fumei’s wife

The words "kill without mercy" caused an uproar among the onlookers. The cultivators who had been watching the commotion from afar began to rush towards the city wall, but the city gates had already been sealed, and no one could get out.

Lei Ming straightened his back. With the Emperor's decree issued, he was no longer fighting alone. All forces in Tian Shu City had to cooperate with him to annihilate the Blood Fiend. This was the ironclad rule of Martial Emperor City; disobeying the Emperor's decree was tantamount to treason.

"Blood Fiend, did you hear that? Emperor Li's decree is to kill without mercy. Surrender now and hand over all your magical treasures and spirit towers, and I can plead for your life before the Emperor."

The captain of Wanbaoge, who had been backing away, stood back. Once the imperial decree was issued, Wanbaoge's stance had to be consistent with that of Wudi City, otherwise the entire business would be doomed.

Qin Yu's gaze shifted from Lei Ming to the sky where the golden light had dissipated, then back to the present, and he put the Nine Dragon Sword back into his storage ring.

This action made everyone think he was about to surrender.

Lei Ming's lips curled into a smile. The Heavenly Thunder Sect's Demon-Slaying Team had finally turned the tide. The power of the Emperor's Decree was something no individual could contend with.

"Those who understand the times are wise. Hand over the spirit tower, release all the people imprisoned inside, and then surrender without resistance."

Qin Yu did not hand over the spirit tower; instead, he took out something else from his storage ring.

Qian Tongshen signed the IOU for 100,000 spirit crystals with his fingerprint.

No one understood why he would produce an IOU at this time.

"Are the people from Wanbaoge here? The imperial decree says that those who assist the Blood Fiends are guilty of the same crime. I have an IOU in my hand with the signature of the manager of Wanbaoge in Qingyun Prefecture. It is written in black and white with spiritual energy imprint, stating that Wanbaoge owes me 100,000 spirit crystals for security fees."

The captain's face turned green on the spot. The IOU had Qian Tongshen's spiritual power mark on it, and Qian Tongshen was the legal representative of Wanbaoge's Qingyun Prefecture branch. His signature represented Wanbaoge's position. The security fee of 100,000 spirit crystals meant that Wanbaoge had a business cooperation relationship with Xue Sha on a legal level.

Those who assist are equally guilty.

These four words backfired and hit Wanbaoge on its own head.

"This is a frame-up. Manager Qian was coerced into signing the document."

"Coercion? I even have a record of it on my photographic stone. Do you want to see how happy Manager Qian was when he signed it, all smiles?"

He didn't release the images from the recording stone, but the people at Wanbaoge didn't dare to gamble. They didn't know exactly what state Qian Tongshen was in when he was robbed. If the contents of the recording stone were made public, Wanbaoge's business partnership with Xue Sha would be confirmed. If the Emperor ordered an investigation, all of Wanbaoge's businesses in Wudi City would have to come to a standstill.

The captain's expression changed several times. He took three steps back and then made a decision that left Lei Ming dumbfounded.

"Wanbaoge will remain neutral in this matter and will not participate in the encirclement and suppression operation."

"What did you say? You dare disobey the Emperor's decree?"

“Wanbaoge did not disobey the Emperor’s decree. Wanbaoge is a party involved. According to the laws of Wudi City, parties with conflicting interests have the right to request recusal to avoid unfair enforcement of the law.”

This rhetoric is a life-saving tactic honed by Wanbaoge's legal team over three centuries. Under any circumstances, as long as Wanbaoge has an outstanding debt relationship with the other party, Wanbaoge can legally withdraw from the battlefield.

Qin Yu used an IOU to extricate Wanbaoge from the encirclement.

A dozen or so Wanbaoge guards followed their captain and turned to leave, walking even faster than they had come, disappearing into the alleyway within three breaths.

Lei Ming was so angry that he trembled all over. He pointed in the direction where Wanbaoge had disappeared and cursed three times. But after cursing, he found that only the people from Tianlei Sect were left around him, and three of them were still lying on the ground.

"Elder Lei, Wanbaoge has run away. Now there are only a dozen or so people left in your Tianlei Sect. Do you want me to help you count how many are still standing?" Lei Ming's Adam's apple bobbed. He began to reassess the situation. Although the imperial decree had arrived, the person who was to carry it out had not yet arrived. Emperor Li could not come to Tianshu City in person to capture a rogue cultivator in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. He would send his subordinates, which would take at least half a day.

Only the people from the Heavenly Thunder Sect were present during this half-day, and the remaining combat power of the Heavenly Thunder Sect was not even enough to fill Qin Yu's teeth.

"Do you think you can leave Tian Shu City just by tearing up an IOU? The Emperor's decree covers three states; you'll be hunted down no matter where you go."

"Who said I was going to run away? I've always been here. It's just that you can't catch me."

Qin Yu took a step forward, and the Thunder Sect disciples behind Lei Ming collectively took two steps back. The two-step difference made Lei Ming the one at the very front, standing alone in front of Qin Yu.

"Elder Lei, I paid a toll of two thousand spirit crystals at the checkpoint outside the city. Will you refund that money?"

"You want two thousand spirit crystals too? You robbed Qian Tong Shen of ten thousand spirit crystals, and you want two thousand from me?"

“Ten thousand is ten thousand, two thousand is two thousand. I believe in reciprocity. You took my money outside the city and then threatened to dig out the demon cores of my men. This debt has not been settled yet.”

Lei Ming suddenly realized something: from the checkpoint outside the city until now, Qin Yu's actions were not random. He paid two thousand spirit crystals to leave his aura so that the tracking lightning spirit could follow him. He was followed so that Lei Ming could bring people to Tingyu Pavilion. He went to Tingyu Pavilion so that someone could act as a lightning rod during his tribulation. He was undergoing the tribulation to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. He was breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage so that he could go to Meng Hanbing's secluded courtyard to save people.

From beginning to end, he was just a pawn in Qin Yu's plan.

He was tricked, tricked from the very first moment he saw Qin Yu.

"You planned this from the very beginning."

"What did I plan? I just wanted to quietly buy two items in Tian Shu City. It was you who insisted on causing me trouble."

These words nearly made Lei Ming bite his tongue off. What did it mean to buy auction items quietly? It meant to steal the genuine items and leave the fakes behind, to switch the auction items in the back warehouse of Wanbaoge, and to bring about a cataclysmic disaster in the city and raze half a street to the ground.

Qin Yu ignored Lei Ming and turned to walk towards the other end of the alley. He did not draw his Nine Dragons Sword and walked at a leisurely pace, as if he were strolling through the streets rather than trying to break through.

"Stop! The imperial decree hasn't been revoked yet; you can't leave."

The sound of thunder caught up, but his feet couldn't keep up.

Qin Yu threw out a sentence without turning his head.

"The Emperor's decree says to kill without mercy, so come and kill me then, I'm waiting."

This statement blocked Lei Ming's last escape route. Killing without exception was an authorization given to him, but the premise of the authorization was that he had the ability to carry it out. For him, a Nascent Soul cultivator who had been half-dead by the Heaven-Defying Tribulation, to kill a Nascent Soul cultivator who had just survived the tribulation and was at the height of his power, was no different from suicide.

Lei Ming stood there watching Qin Yu's figure disappear into the alleyway, his fists clenching and unclenching repeatedly, finally squeezing out a single word through gritted teeth.

"withdraw."

The people from the Thunder God Sect retreated, but in an even more disarray than those from the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. Three disciples who had been struck unconscious by lightning were dragged by their companions toward the Thunder God Sect's headquarters, leaving trails of blood along the way.

After crossing three streets, Qin Yu stopped in a dark alley and released the Nine Ghost Pagoda from his sleeve. Ye Qingxue and Kui Wu came out one after the other.

"My lord, the woman with the golden soul is in bad shape. The environment of the spirit tower can only suppress the rate at which her soul dissipates, but it cannot cure the problem. She is missing one soul and one spirit, like a person missing two legs, unable to even stand steadily." (End of this chapter)