From the fake emperor to the concubine

"Shut up!" Huang Yifei slapped the old man across the face, sending him flying more than ten feet away, his fate unknown.

"Kill my grandfather with a single finger? With that mortal martial artist?!" Huang Yifei gasped for breath, his chest heaving violently.

"Senior brother!" The two junior brothers behind him also changed their expressions drastically upon hearing this. Huang Zhenyuan was a late Foundation Establishment cultivator; if he could kill him with a single finger, then the other party must at least be at the Golden Core stage.

"Senior brother, if it really is a Golden Core stage senior making a move, this matter is no small thing!" The tall, thin junior brother hurriedly stepped forward to persuade him. "The three of us are just outer sect disciples, we are no match for them. As long as we're alive, we can always fight again. Senior brother, we must return to the sect immediately and ask the inner sect elders for a decision!"

Huang Yifei stood there, his body trembling violently from extreme anger and fear.

He watched as his once invincible home was reduced to ruins, all his wealth and power vanished overnight. He went from a powerful young master who could dominate the village to a homeless dog.

“Hongyun City… Zheng Yi…”

Huang Yifei gritted his teeth as he read out the two names, each word like a bloody razor blade squeezed from between his teeth.

He suddenly turned around and, without saying a word, summoned his flying sword.

"Senior brother, aren't we going to seek revenge on them?" the round-faced junior brother asked cautiously.

"Revenge? Are the three of us going to our deaths?" A cold, venomous light flashed in Huang Yifei's eyes. The madness on his face had completely disappeared, replaced by an extremely terrifying calmness.

"That old beggar is lying. How could a city of refugees possibly cultivate a Golden Core cultivator? That guy surnamed Zheng must have used some underhanded and insidious magic weapon to ambush my grandfather." Huang Yifei's mind raced.

He would never admit that an ordinary person could take on a cultivation family single-handedly. He needed to find an excuse for himself, and more importantly, he needed to give the sect a reason to intervene.

"Junior brothers." Huang Yifei took a deep breath, turned to look at the two of them, and his tone became extremely sincere, even with a trace of sorrow. "My Huang family has suffered such a great calamity. As a son, I would be unworthy to live as a human if I did not avenge this! But my strength is weak, so I can only seek help from the sect."

"Don't worry, senior brother. We are all disciples of the Qingyun Sect. The sect will definitely not stand idly by while these evil heretics slaughter innocent families!" The two junior brothers quickly expressed their support.

“Alright.” Huang Yifei nodded, his eyes deep. “However, the sect elders are very busy. If it’s just a common family feud, they may not send out experts. So, when we return to the sect, I’ll ask my two junior brothers to cooperate with me.”

"Cooperate? How do we cooperate?"

Huang Yifei looked in the direction of Hongyun City, a cruel sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

“We’ll go back and report to my master that… Zheng Yi of Hongyun City colluded with the demonic cultivators of the Southern Frontier! They used an evil array to massacre the people of Baishi City! Moreover, they even unearthed an astonishing ancient treasure! My grandfather was ambushed by them using an array while trying to protect the treasure from falling into the hands of the demonic cultivators!”

The two junior brothers gasped. Colluding with demonic cultivators, possessing ancient treasures—either one of these two things would be enough to make the inner elders of the Qingyun Sect pounce like sharks smelling blood.

"Senior brother... what if the elders find out the truth..."

"Dead men tell no tales! My Huang family is wiped out, so what do they think the people of Hongyun City say is true?" A glint of madness flashed in Huang Yifei's eyes. "As long as I can use the sect's power to kill them all, I'll accept the punishment afterward!"

"Let's go! Back to the Qingyun Sect!"

A cyan sword light shot into the sky, carrying endless resentment and lies, tearing through the clouds above White Stone City and speeding towards the depths of the majestic Azure Cloud Mountains.

……

Qingyun Sect, Inner Sect.

Verdant peaks pierce the clouds, and cranes soar through the mist. Here, there is no worldly clamor, only a rich, almost liquid, spiritual atmosphere and the occasional melodious chimes.

Compared to the bloodshed of White Stone City and the lively atmosphere of Lucky City, this place is truly high above, looking down on all living beings.

Huang Yifei, an outer sect steward, stumbled and knelt outside a magnificent hall called "Chixiao Peak". His hair was disheveled, his clothes were rumpled, and he deliberately made himself look extremely disheveled on the way, with a large bruise on his forehead.

"Disciple Huang Yifei kowtows to Master! I beg Master to do justice for me!"

The tranquility of Chixiao Peak was shattered by a piercing cry.

The heavy doors of the main hall slowly opened.

A gaunt old man in a red robe, with a sinister face, sat cross-legged on a futon in the center of the main hall. Several crimson flying swords hovered around him, radiating intense fire-attribute spiritual energy. This man was none other than Mo Ku, the Crimson Sky True Man, one of the inner elders of the Azure Cloud Sect.

"Yifei? Why aren't you in the outer sect's affairs hall? What kind of behavior is this, coming here to cry and whine like this?" Mo Ku didn't even open his eyes, his tone carrying a hint of impatience.

Huang Yifei scrambled into the main hall, kowtowed three times, and collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Master! My family... is completely wiped out! My entire family of over 1,300 people, including my grandfather who was at the Foundation Establishment stage, were slaughtered by a group of bandits who colluded with demonic cultivators!"

"Oh?" Mo Ku slightly opened his eyes. He didn't care about the life or death of secular families, but when he heard the words "demonic cultivator," his eyebrows twitched slightly.

Recently, demonic chaos has been rampant in the south, and sects are capturing demonic cultivators everywhere. This is indeed a sensitive topic.

Seeing that his master reacted, Huang Yifei quickly raised his head and continued to fabricate lies, tears streaming down his face.

"Those bandits came from a poor, remote place called Hongyun City. Their leader was named Zheng Yi, who somehow obtained a powerful demonic artifact that could absorb the life essence of living people! In order to refine that artifact, they went so far as to launch a beast horde attack on themselves and then frame their disciples' families. While my grandfather was in seclusion, they used a demonic array to seal off Baishi City, killing and robbing people, Master!"

While crying, Huang Yifei secretly observed Mo Ku's expression and threw out the biggest bait he had prepared.

"Before I escaped, I witnessed them digging up tens of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones and several warehouses full of top-grade spirit herbs from the ground of my Huang family's basement... Most importantly, the sword in Zheng Yi's hand could actually release purple-gold flames, instantly melting the Xuan Tie City Gate! That was definitely an ancient spiritual artifact that surpassed the level of a magic weapon!"

"A purplish-gold flame? A spiritual artifact surpassing even magic weapons? Tens of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones?"

This time, Mo Ku opened his eyes completely.

A gleam of extreme greed suddenly burst forth in those cloudy old eyes.

He suddenly flicked his sleeve, and a gentle yet irresistible spiritual force lifted Huang Yifei up.

"Is everything you said true?" Although Mo Ku's voice was calm, Huang Yifei could feel that the temperature in the hall had suddenly risen.

"This disciple swears on his very soul! If there is even a single lie, may I be struck by lightning!" Huang Yifei pointed to the sky and swore, but in his heart he was grinning madly.

Zheng Yi, Hongyun City. You took what belonged to the Huang family, and I will make you pay with your lives, interest on top of what you took!

Mo Ku stood up, and the several crimson flying swords in the hall emitted an excited buzzing sound.

"How dare they! These mere commoners dare to collude with the demonic path and harm the families of my Qingyun Sect disciples. I cannot stand idly by in this matter."

Mo Ku spoke with an air of righteous indignation, but his mind was already racing with calculations.

If it's true, that sword that can unleash purple-gold flames, along with those tens of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones, will definitely allow him to break through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage within a hundred years! This kind of windfall must not be known to the other elders in the sect.

"Yifei, go down and heal your wounds first. This matter concerns demonic cultivators, and I need to personally go to Hongyun City to meet that demon named Zheng Yi."

Mo Ku stepped out of the main hall, transforming into a crimson rainbow that soared into the sky.

"I want to see if his purple-gold flames can burn through my Crimson Sky Fiery Cloud Cover!"

Watching the red light disappear into the horizon, Huang Yifei stood outside the main hall, wiping away the tears on his face.

A sinister smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

When the crimson light tore through the clouds, the sky outside Hongyun City was just beginning to lighten.

The wind on the north gate city wall was harder than on the plains, making the flags flutter loudly. The newly replaced flags were dark gray with a simple gold sword pattern embroidered on them. They were not ostentatious, but in the morning light, they exuded a chilling solemnity that weighed heavily on people's hearts.

Guo Tianyou, wrapped in a worn wolfskin coat, stood behind the battlements, holding a rough earthenware bowl filled with freshly cooked meat porridge. He slurped up the steam and squinted as he looked south. A light frost had fallen the night before, covering the distant weeds with a pale, chilly layer, and the road was streaked with thin ice crystals that crunched softly under the horses' hooves.

"Commander, look over there." A sentry who had just finished his night watch raised his hand and pointed to the horizon.

Guo Tianyou placed the large bowl on the edge of the stack and looked in that direction.

In the far distance, a single crimson light first shone like a needle tip, then stretched into a long line in the blink of an eye. The crimson line did not touch the ground, but trailed a fiery tail in mid-air, followed by two small, bluish-white streaks of light.

Guo Tianyou's lips gradually parted into a grin, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth.

"coming."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the guards nearby immediately tightened.

"People from the Huang family?"

"Eighty percent." Guo Tianyou shoveled the last mouthful of porridge into his stomach, wiped his mouth, and said, "They run faster than carrier pigeons. The master said a few days ago that the outer sect steward from Baishi City would return to the mountain gate sooner or later and recruit people."

He turned and shouted, "Go, ring the morning bell, don't make a fuss. Follow the usual procedures. Put the crossbowmen on the wall, half of the heavy armored battalion guards the north gate, and the other half guards the inner barbican. Where's Zhao Sanhuai?"

"Chief Zhao just finished patrolling the South Gate half an hour ago and has just returned to the barracks to take a nap."

"Drag him up for me." Guo Tianyou sneered. "Just tell him that a celestial being has delivered himself to our door. Make him more alert, so he doesn't yawn before he's even properly drawn his knife."

The sentry responded and quickly ran down the city wall.

Soon, heavy, muffled bells rang out throughout the city, one after another, causing frost to fall from the eaves.

This bell wasn't the urgent alarm of wartime, but the morning bell that Hongyun City had now established. When the people pushed open their doors and came out, they subconsciously looked up at the city wall. Seeing that the soldiers were moving quickly but not running around in panic, they felt a little more at ease.

Outside the city, the crimson light drew ever closer.

The two streaks of azure and white light were slightly slower, always lagging behind the crimson light by about ten feet. They were clearly accompanying disciples who dared not overstep their bounds. When they approached within five miles of the city, the crimson light suddenly paused and hovered in the air.

The light dissipated, revealing three figures.

Leading the group was an elderly man in a red robe, thin and with high cheekbones and slanted eyebrows. Despite standing on a flying sword, not a single corner of his robe was ruffled by the wind, clearly indicating his abundant spiritual power, far surpassing that of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators. Behind him were two young men, one with a round face and the other tall and thin, both wearing a mixed-style robe from the Qingyun Sect's inner and outer sects, each with a magic sword at their waist. They still looked somewhat sleepy, but upon seeing the city ahead, their expressions gradually became more suspicious.

"Elder Mo, is that Hongyun City?" the round-faced disciple asked in a low voice. "It looks... a little different from what Senior Brother Huang described."

Mo Ku did not speak immediately, but lowered his eyes and looked down.

The city wasn't large, far smaller than the major cities under the sect's jurisdiction, let alone the Qingyun Sect's mountain gate. Yet, the city walls were extremely solid; the dark, heavy rock formations looked as if single slabs of mountain stone had been directly piled up. The outer walls had little decoration, only layers of rough, weathered marks from wind and rain. Outside the city gate was a chevaux-de-frise ditch, behind which were antler-shaped stakes. Further in, there was a section of ground-compacted clearing, devoid of any grass, clearly a deliberately cleared firing line.

What made Mo Ku frown the most was the defense on the city wall.

There was no panic.

There was no noise.

Squads of armored soldiers scaled the wall along the ramparts, their movements swift yet steady. Once in position, they returned to their posts. Crossbowmen crouched behind the crenellations, while heavily armored soldiers stood close to the wall, spears in hand, shields lining the walls like layers of greyish-white rock. Their armor was not the fine, shiny iron armor commonly found in sect-run military uniforms, but a strange type of heavy armor with a bone-like texture, its edges inlaid with dark red leather—clearly not ordinary armor even from afar.

"Didn't Senior Brother Huang say that this is just a dilapidated city where refugees gather?" The tall, thin disciple squinted. "This is guarded far too well."

Mo Ku snorted coldly, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes.

Huang Yifei cried miserably the whole way, spouting increasingly fantastical tales. He talked about evil cultivators, precious treasures, and a city full of bandits. But this Hongyun City didn't look like a rabble at all. At least, the soldiers on the city walls weren't just hastily assembled.

He didn't rush to land, but instead gently extended his divine sense forward.

The next moment, his pupils contracted slightly.

Within the city walls, there was a faint flow of energy from array patterns. The energy was deeply concealed, mostly hidden by the black rocks and the smoke and fire of the city. If he hadn't been close enough, he almost wouldn't have noticed it.

“Formation…” Mo Ku uttered two words in a low voice.

"Elder?" The round-faced disciple leaned closer. "What have you discovered?"

"Shut up." (End of Chapter)