Chapter 153: Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens

At this very moment.

Outside the Shenluo Concession.

The clamor of human voices stirred the clouds; thousands upon thousands of commoners gathered outside the Concession, converging into a vast tide that blocked every street and alleyway until not even a drop of water could pass through.

Most of these thousands of commoners were currently filled with righteous indignation, cursing and shouting something at the entrance of the Shenluo Alliance Concession.

In front of the main gate, a full several hundred Shenluo soldiers had set up spiked wooden stakes and mounted machine guns, waiting in grim readiness.

Standing before these Shenluo soldiers were the Consul Victor, the Holy See Platinum Holy Knight Williams, as well as a ragged Priest and several nuns.

"Hand over the murderer, hand over the murderer!"

"Abducting children to refine medicine with human remains—such acts that enrage both man and Heaven must be punished with the ultimate penalty!"

"Preaching on the surface while secretly molesting and defiling young boys; the foreign devils' church is full of nothing but beasts!"

"Hand over the beastly Priest of Wanghailou Church! Otherwise, there will be no peace in the Concession today!"

Facing the surging crowd and their shouts outside the Concession, the Priest and nuns all looked shaken, while Victor, acting as Consul, and Williams had faces ashen with rage.

Victor stepped forward, looked at the leader in the crowd, suddenly drew his pistol and fired several shots into the air, then shouted:

"You filthy yellow-skinned monkeys, how dare you burn down churches, beat and kill priests and nuns, and even storm the Concession! Do you know what kind of consequences this will have!"

"All of you, get back! If you dare to come any closer, you will be killed without mercy!"

The sound of gunfire and the sharp shouting echoed; the crowd surrounding the Concession fell silent for an instant, then erupted into an even angrier roar.

"Killed without mercy?"

At this moment, a figure stepped out from the crowd, their voice like a booming bell, shouting sharply:

"This is the land of Shenzhou! You foreign devils occupy our land, abuse the commoners and commit evil under the guise of preaching—you are the ones who truly deserve to die! And you still dare to threaten us with death?"

"I am standing right here today; let's see if you dare to fire!"

The man speaking was over fifty years old, with a burly and robust physique, and a rather conspicuous broadsword strapped to his back. He was none other than Cao Futian, the Deputy Leader of the Golden Blade Group who had once participated in the Lu Yuan martial arts arena at Haihe Square.

Seeing this man, the Platinum Holy Knight Williams had a cold expression:

"Who are you? Burning down the church and killing our clergy—could it be that you are the one who led this riot!?"

Cao Futian sneered:

"I do not change my name or surname; I am Cao Futian of the Golden Blade Group! You priests of the church have committed countless crimes, and with both human and material evidence present, our Golden Blade Group naturally must act on behalf of Heaven to eliminate the evil!"

"Your Mercy Church has witnesses testifying that the church priests adopted orphans under the banner of charity, but in reality, they used the organs of these children to refine medicine. Someone personally saw them burying the corpses of many children in the wilderness east of the river, with all the corpses' internal organs missing."

"As for the Priest Gao Hailou behind you, this beast is also a monster in human skin, using the name of preaching to brainwash those believers. Such conduct is worse than that of a beast; even being sliced into a thousand pieces would not appease the hatred in the hearts of the people of Jinjin! If you do not hand this man over today, my Golden Blade Group will certainly not let this matter rest!"

After his voice fell, the hundreds of burly men behind him, all carrying broadswords, also roared in unison:

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The Golden Blade Group had the secret support of the Jin Dynasty and often opposed the foreigners; the various Concessions were no strangers to them.

However, Williams, as the Chief Knight of the Holy See, was furious upon hearing this:

"You lowly people of the Jin Dynasty, our priests are noble men who listen to the teachings of the Lord of Heaven and take benevolence as their standard. How could they possibly do such filthy things? What 'refining medicine with humans'—do you think all noble Shenluo People are as barbaric, primitive, and bloody as you!?"

He only refuted the refining of medicine with human organs; as for the molestation of young boys, he did not even mention it.

Because the refining of medicine with organs was a forbidden realm involving black witchcraft, and no priest in the Holy See would do or dare to do such a thing.

As for the matter of young boys, it happened frequently in Shenluo and was not considered strange.

Of course, this matter still could not be brought to light, so it could only be avoided.

"You won't admit it?"

However, facing Williams's questioning, Cao Futian said coldly:

"I knew you foreign devils were shameless and would not admit it, so I brought the evidence!"

He waved his hand, and the members of the Golden Blade Group immediately carried out stretchers covered with white cloth that still emitted a foul stench, then placed them in the open space between the two sides and uncovered them one by one.

It could be seen that the stretchers were indeed covered with corpses of various sizes, rotting and stinking, about twenty or thirty in total;

Crucially, the chests and abdomens of these corpses had all been sliced open, and the internal organs inside had vanished. The sight was shocking and chilling!

"Do you see?"

Cao Futian pointed at the corpses on the ground, his voice icy:

"These corpses are all the work of the beastly priests of Mercy Hall. We also found many jars soaking human organs in the backyard of the church; it can be said that the evidence is ironclad!"

Seeing this scene, Victor and Williams's faces twitched, but they still held firm and did not yield:

"What a joke! Can you prove this was done by the priests of our Mercy Hall just by digging up a few corpses from who knows where!"

"As for the so-called jars soaking organs, who knows if your people deliberately framed us by burying them there? We do not acknowledge such evidence! This is pure slander and framing!"

"Taking a step back, the Shenluo People in the Jin Dynasty have diplomatic immunity. No matter how great the crime, it can only be handled by the Holy See. Even your government has no right to dispose of it, let alone you lowly commoners of the Jin Dynasty!"

Cao Futian said coldly:

"Very well, it doesn't matter if you don't admit it. In any case, that group of beastly things at Mercy Hall has already been burned to death by us, which counts as avenging these children. Now only this Gao Hailou of Wanghailou Church remains. He deceived believers and molested over ten young boys; he is equally deserving of death. Hand him over!"

Williams, however, could no longer endure it and shouted angrily:

"You dared to besiege the church, execute the priests and nuns of the Holy Church, and slander the Lord of Heaven! The depth of your sins means your souls should be cast into the burning hell to suffer eternal pain. I will take you, the leader, first and send you to the stake to serve as a warning to others!!"

Clang!

Before his voice had even faded, he took a step forward, and the silvery-white knight's longsword at his waist was unsheathed. The violent sword light vibrated and moved as if a dragon were swimming through water, flashing, splitting, and whistling. Countless sword lights crazily enveloped and strangled; the sharp, tide-like sword light, which seemed capable of cutting through even air and dust, was like a fierce storm, ferocious beyond compare!

However, at the same time.

Cao Futian also let out an angry roar and stepped forward. A blade light like a thunderclap exploded from his back, sweeping across all directions.

Clang!

Amidst a teeth-grinding, vibrating sound, the fierce, storm-like sword light that pierced everything was swept away in an instant.

The surging, tide-like sword light shattered. Cao Futian only felt a fierce, irresistible vibrating force traveling from the blade to the hilt and then to his palm, as if a mountain peak had crashed into his sword, forcing him to retreat a step violently. Clearly, the opponent's physical strength was a notch above his own.

"Hah!"

Amidst the Qi explosion, his blood-colored gaze was furious and fierce; his entire body's Qi and blood erupted, and he swung his blade to slaughter, accompanied by the sound of ghosts wailing and wolves howling.

The blade light twisted and vibrated, as if the air itself had been silently severed.

In particular, that fierce, all-slaughtering blade momentum, along with the ghost-wailing sound of the blade light surging up, clearly demonstrated the ferocity of this strike born of shock and anger.

And facing this counterattack.

Williams's eyes were cold and sharp; his sword light suddenly exploded and twisted. Amidst a swirling storm, a ferocious flood dragon coiled around his body. This instantaneous change in technique, the strangeness and swiftness of the strike, was inconceivable!

Clang! Sparks exploded!

The next instant, under their wild and fierce exchange, the golden-ringed broadsword that Cao Futian swung with both hands shook continuously. Then, the sword roar and sword light, like raging waves, covered all of his vision and hearing, rushing toward his face!

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—

The rapid clashing of metal rang out. Cao Futian hurriedly raised his blade to parry. He was like a small boat swept up by a violent storm, instantly sinking into the incomparably fierce sword light storm, falling into a disadvantage in an instant.

Clearly, although he was a Martial Arts Master of the Embrace Dan Realm, Cao Futian was a notch weaker than Williams in terms of strength.

After all, Cao Futian was already over fifty, while Williams looked somewhat younger, and he was the Chief Knight of the Heavenly Lord Holy Church's Order of Knights, arguably one of the best among the Platinum Holy Knights.

The blade light and sword shadows were heart-stopping; wind and thunder surged. Extremely unwilling, Cao Futian's face turned livid, and he shouted sharply:

"Die!"

Boom!

In an instant, his Qi and blood roared, blood energy surged wildly, and his eyebrows knit together into a dazzling, vivid red, as if they were about to drip blood.

As he stepped in a series of movements, the wind exploded; his blade light was like a dragon, like a long rainbow bursting forth from a sea of blood, as if it would split Williams, man and sword alike, in two.

"Your skills, you yellow-skinned monkey, are nothing more than this!"

Facing such a vicious offensive, Williams laughed aloud, silver light gleaming in his eyes, and struck with his sword in an incomparably tyrannical and ferocious manner.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

As blade and sword struck, it was as if they had collided and vibrated hundreds of times in an instant.

Cold light flashed rapidly, sparks burst, and the ground shook.

Between the two of them, the visible, all-shattering terrifying sharp Qi splashed in all directions like a tide. The shattered ground was suddenly cut as if by countless invisible blades, appearing with streaks of blade and sword marks. The commoners around the open space retreated in panic.

Even Cao Futian himself retreated step by step under Williams's fierce attack, his declining momentum becoming increasingly obvious.

Seeing that he had failed to take down Cao Futian for so long, Williams also grew ruthless in his heart. Suddenly, a roaring sound erupted from within his body; his chest swelled, his throat rolled, and he exploded with a strange syllable from his mouth:

"Duo!"

With the sound, a visible white mist shot out like an arrow, heading straight for his face. Cao Futian, who was in the midst of a fierce struggle, was suddenly startled and turned his head to dodge.

Yet this very dodge immediately left his defense with a flaw. A sword light as sharp and violent as a thunderbolt stabbed and flicked; Cao Futian's golden-ringed broadsword was fiercely shaken upward, leaving his center wide open!

Williams wore a ferocious grin, closing in with lightning speed, his shoulder thrusting and slamming into him.

An expert at the Embrace Dan level, when erupting with power, could possess the strength of ten thousand catties. Having received this blow, Cao Futian's breastbone immediately emitted a cracking sound, and he retreated wildly while vomiting blood.

Yet at this moment, Williams, refusing to let him off, pressed his advantage. With a wild laugh, he stepped forward, his violent Sword Technique changing again, transforming into a beam of light, rushing fiercely toward Cao Futian's throat!

Oh no!

My life is at an end!

In this instant, their gazes met. Watching helplessly as a bone-chilling sharpness was about to pierce his throat, Cao Futian, vomiting blood, had blood-red eyes, his eyes splitting with rage and unwillingness.

Even the members of the Golden Blade Group present, and even the ordinary commoners, subconsciously let out screams, never expecting the battle situation to reach this point in an instant!

And the next moment.

Just as Williams's sword tip was about to pierce Cao Futian's throat, a figure, along with a peerless sharpness that could not be described in words, suddenly appeared like a shooting star or lightning, like an immortal flying from beyond the heavens, appearing between the two.

Zing—!

A clear, resonant clashing sound, just like a thunderbolt exploding in the sky. Williams, who had been pursuing with a ferocious grin, felt a pain in his eyes, and then the incomparably sharp knight's longsword in his hand shattered inch by inch. At the same time, a sword light that could not be described in words enveloped him, causing a sense of immense terror to rise in his heart instantly!

"Ah!"

After all, being a Chief Platinum Holy Knight who had experienced a hundred battles, Williams immediately let out a wild scream, abandoning his sword and retreating wildly as if he had seen a ghost, looking incomparably wretched.

Yet even though he had retreated fast enough, the impact of the sharp Qi that shredded his longsword still caused bloody gashes to burst open on his arms and body; one step later and he would have been dead without a whole corpse!

And the next moment.

The surrounding crowd finally saw the figure that had suddenly appeared. After a moment of shock, they all let out joyful and excited shouts:

"It's Pavilion Master Lu!"

"Pavilion Master Lu is here!"

Cao Futian, having survived the ordeal and avoided the fate of having his throat pierced by Williams, also staggered to a halt, looking at the newcomer with an excited tone:

"Pavilion Master Lu, why have you come!?"

Under the gaze of the masses, Lu Yuan, who had appeared out of thin air, stood holding his sword, looking like an immortal banished from heaven, and smiled calmly:

"With such a big thing happening, I naturally had to come and see."

As his voice fell, although no one had seen how he appeared, the thousands in the crowd were still jubilant, sending out rolling waves of cheers.

Who was Lu Yuan?

He was a Martial Arts Grandmaster now on par with the martial titan Wu Yixian, a legend who had risen like a comet after defeating the grandmasters of the Sha'e and Rizhao nations.

With such a figure appearing here to support them, could these foreign devils still be arrogant?

And compared to the joyful excitement of the thousands in the crowd.

On the side of the Shenluo Concession, whether it was the wretchedly defeated Williams or Victor and the rest of the Shenluo People, their expressions changed several times, filled with extreme wariness.

Williams, covered in blood, had an extremely ugly expression and shouted with a stern, harsh voice:

"Lu Yuan, what do you want to do!"

(End of chapter)