“It’s you!” Ge You exclaimed in shock, staring incredulously at Yi Qing. Victims of the Winter Spirit Leaf poison could live for at most four months, yet he was still alive. Moreover, he seemed to show no signs of being poisoned. How was this possible! Ge You started to feel uneasy, but did not show it outwardly as there were people present.

　　Having recovered from their initial shock, the guests in the hall glared hostilely at the intruder in their midst.

　　“What insolence! You’re just a lowly immortal, how dare you act so disrespectfully in the presence of these exalted emperors?”

　　“Who are you? How dare you break into the Palace of War Cessation?”

　　“You’re just a lowly immortal. How dare you speak so arrogantly to His Majesty Ge You. I want to see what you are capable of.”

　　“Exalted Emperor Ge You, let me help you fix this impudent upstart.”

　　“Fellow Exalted Emperors…” Relieved at these words of support, Ge You regained his composure. Even if Yi Qing had discovered that the Winter Green Leaf had been tampered with, who would believe a lowly immortal like him. “Fellow Immortal, I believe there is some misunderstanding between us. Why don’t we discuss… Huh?”

　　Before Ge You could finish his sentence, Yi Qing had flashed his sword, directing a powerful stream of Sword Qi towards him. Overwhelmed by the Sword Qi, Ge You vacated his throne hastily. Turning around, he saw that a gaping hole had been struck right through the palace wall causing half the palace to collapse. Even the visiting emperors had to flee the palace on their swords.

　　Ge You widened his eyes in disbelief. The whole palace was constructed with special materials and had been protected by array formations; yet Yi Qing had destroyed half the palace with a blow of his sword. How could a mere exalted immortal possess such formidable sword Qi?

　　Ge You’s heart sank. He suddenly had an ominous feeling. “Fellow Immortal Yi Qing… let’s discuss this calmly, why are you… wait, wait, you!”

　　Before he could finish speaking, Yi Qing struck out his sword again, unleashing a stream of formidable sword Qi that once again enveloped the entire immortal palace. Ge You had no choice but to shut his mouth and focus all his attention on the battle at hand.

　　If there was one most important lesson that Yi Qing had learnt from being with Master for so many years, it was: Fight first, talk later. Beat the crap out of your enemy first!

　　To battle!

　　Within moments, sorcery beams flashed everywhere and the whole palace was filled with sword Qi. The visiting emperors, watching the pair battling it out, felt that they had a duty to help Ge You. They were his guests after all. So the seven immortals also joined in the fight. The sound of swords clashing grew even louder and the light from the sorcery beams became even more blinding.

　　——————

　　Three hours later, thousand of miles away.

　　Lonemoon was on his way to the capital. He had been flying nonstop since morning because he was afraid that a certain someone would act rashly and create a mess that even he could not settle. Feeling anxious and frustrated, he felt like cursing. Who would have thought that Yi Qing, who normally looked as stiff as a block of wood, could run so fast when agitated? No matter how hard Lonemoon tried, he could not catch up with him. Moreover, there was no transportation array that could take him to the capital. He had to fly there himself.

　　“Don’t worry so much, Fellow Immortal Lonemoon.” Xun Shu, who had been forced to tag along the past few days, said consolingly. “With Yi Qing’s high level of cultivation, it’s unlikely he’ll get into trouble.” Compared to Lonemoon, Xun Shu was much more relaxed. He had wanted to give that scumbag, Ge You a good thrashing for the longest time but hadn’t found a good enough excuse. Now that someone was willing to take over the job, he was more than happy to oblige..

　　“Let’s hope that’s the case!” said a worried-looking Lonemoon. He still had that sense of foreboding. Suddenly, something caught his attention. He discovered numerous immortals flying past them. Frowning, he muttered, “Huh? Why are there so many immortals leaving the city?” Moreover, all of them seemed to be in great haste, as if they were fleeing from something. And their numbers were increasing. They seemed to be streaming out from the capital city.

　　Xun Shu had also noticed the unceasing stream of immortals flying past him. Looking around him, he stopped a familiar-looking immortal and asked, “What happened?”

　　“Young Emperor Xun…!” exclaimed the immortal in surprise before coming to a halt. He saluted Xun Shu and explained, “There’s huge commotion in the capital. Someone broke into the Palace of War Cessation. There’s a battle going on there now. Everyone’s leaving the city to avoid the conflict.”

　　Xun Shu felt secretly pleased. It looked as if Yi Qing was beating up that scumbag Ge You now. Not bad! He had managed to break into the immortal palace in such a short time. He was indeed worthy to be a sword immortal.

　　However…

　　“Even if Ge You is fighting someone in the capital, you don’t all have to leave the city, do you?” After all, Shang Du was the capital city; it was protected by numerous array formations. Even if emperor-level immortals were fighting, it would be confined within the walls of the palace; the rest of the immortal city should not be affected. Why were these immortals running so far away?

　　“There’s more… than one Exalted Emperor involved!”

　　“What?” Before Xun Shu could recover from his surprise, they heard a thunderous boom.

　　Some unknown entity seemed to be moving straight towards them from thousands of miles away. Spreading out in every direction, it reverberated in their ears and brushed across their faces.

　　The two men instinctively set up an array formation using a hand seal to block off the tide of immortal force that threatened to overwhelm them. Turning pale, the immortal who had been stopped by Xun Shu turned around and flew off into the distance.

　　Xun Shu used his perception to probe this force and discovered it was actually Sword Qi.

　　To think it could reach them from such a long distance!

　　Activating his divine perception, Xun Shu saw that a kaleidoscope of colors had shrouded half the sky over the capital city. He could faintly detect about ten different types of Immortal Qi being emitted from the city. Apart from Yi Qing and Ge You, there were…

　　“What’s wrong?” Lonemoon asked, his expression darkening.

　　Xun Shu seemed deep in thought. Then suddenly recalling something, he lowered his head and started counting. Immediately, his face turned pale. “How could I forget, today is the day of the ‘Cessation of War’ immortals gathering. At present, apart from Ge You… there are also emperors from various countries. There are eight immortal emperors in total.”

　　“Shit! Why didn’t you say so earlier!” Lonemoon turned and flew as fast as he could towards the capital city.

　　However, despite upping his speed, it took him over ten minutes before he reached the capital. The scene that greeted him there left him in shock.

　　The once majestic immortal city was there no longer, in its place were a pile of ruins. There were broken walls everywhere, floating like meteor rocks in the air. Even the huge city gate was split in two; half of it floated in the air.

　　Sword Qi and immortal Qi wreaked damage everywhere; there was not even half an intact building left standing. The beams of sorcery light that they had seen earlier were also gone. Obviously, the battle had ended.

　　Where was Yi Qing?

　　Filled with worry, Lonemoon flew straight to Palace of War Cessation. Activating his divine perception, he finally found Yi Qing amid a pile of wreckage. He was standing on a collapsed wall, his previously white robes now completely red, his whole body covered in blood. Had Lonemoon not been familiar with Yi Qing’s aura, he would not have recognized that he was Yi Qing.

　　Gripping a flickering sword formed from condensed sword Qi, his feet atop top of a pile of something that looked like bloody meat, Yi Qing appeared to question someone in an icy tone.

　　Several bodies could be seen around the vicinity, some were tangled among the bushes, some were hanging on trees and others even had half of their heads smashed in by stones. Lonemoon found that the aura emanating from these bodies were so weak as to be undetectable except by activating his divine perception to the fullest.

　　Lonemoon: “…”

　　Xun Shu: “…”

　　Don’t tell me he has…. defeated them!

　　Σ(°△°|||)

　　One against eight! What was more, his opponents were all emperor immortal level expert fighters!

　　What kind of bloody freak are you!