Chapter 41: Losing the Initiative

“What are you still waiting for? Hurry up and get down there—the guy must be at the bottom of the river. If you waste my time, he’ll probably escape.”
Feng Xu clenched his teeth in silent fury. He had not expected Hong Xiuyu to be so unreasonable; at this moment, he was only trying to force the enemy out from beneath the river.
“I…”
“Oh dear, we admit our mistake, we admit it.” Under the oppressive force, the two disciples of the cultivation sect still attempted to resist, which only intensified their suffering.
In such circumstances, the Liu and Ni families had arranged a marriage alliance. Regardless of success or failure, as long as their clans remained, two members from Liu Dan’s generation would be chosen to marry, thus cementing the bond between the families, supporting and helping each other.
Bell looked to Mu Ziyun for help, but Mu Ziyun was still caught in the prolonged agony of the light projectile, the grayness lingering on his body, slowing the workings of his physiology.
Directly ahead, seven or eight black tiger fiends suddenly leapt into the air. After a chorus of roars, they charged toward Liu Dingtian, racing through the void.
As for that Z, if she insisted on staying, none of them could oppose her, nor could they drive her away. While she harbored no ill intent towards the group, she had previously killed four innocent people. With such a temperament, strange and unpredictable, the others were reluctant to interact with her.
He could feel the plane had veered off its original course, flying toward another destination.
Hayumi picked up her short blade and approached the tree hollow, extracting the two beasts inside, which had yet to grow sharp fangs or claws. No matter how fiercely they cried out, Hayumi remained unmoved.
At dusk, Lu Zhen brought Lin Lie to the front of the Wanghu Pavilion. By then, the broad courtyard outside was already filled with various carriages and sedans; as a guest arriving on foot, he seemed out of place.
“The True Lord is obscured. Perhaps you can deceive the heavens and gain the fortune of humanity. But when the True Lord appears, you’ll realize you were merely the supporting character paving the way for the real protagonist.” Chen Sinan murmured.
Curiously, the intense heat was only directed at foreign elements. The native environment and its original inhabitants were instead protected and nourished by it. Chen Dazhi observed a ginseng root beside the Mystic Spirit Vermillion Fruit; its head suggested it was at least a hundred years old.
Chen Feng remembered clearly that his phone had been taken by Fan Yaoyin under some pretext; she had used it to call her father. Otherwise, his father would never have been lured out. Of the siblings, it was Fan Yaoyin he hated most.
“What? Li Zhongqing stopped the Lady of Brocade from returning? Why is that?” Consort Rui asked in surprise, her arched brows sweeping dramatically into the hair at her forehead.
Vivian’s answer left Wan Qiyang speechless. If he’d known, he wouldn’t have asked, sparing himself the embarrassment.
Everyone’s hearts were convinced—not only because of Jin Ren and the ‘Yin-Yang’ summoning technique, but also because of Qin Yilong’s eyes. The matter of his divine pupils was widely rumored.
Wan Qiyang had specifically instructed that the door should not be opened unless a man was at home. If someone knocked, they were to speak through the closed door. Wan Qiyang had reinforced the courtyard gate with iron clasps; so long as it wasn’t opened from within, nothing would happen.
“You!” Zhang Shuixiang saw that Xiao Zijun, usually cold and aloof, was now clinging like sticky taffy, and doubts arose in his heart. He thought: Could my words and actions have aroused their suspicion?
In an instant, everyone in the room—aside from the old drunkard, Bai Hongsheng, and a few grand elders of the Tianyuan Sect—felt a wave of pressure, as if a massive stone pressed against their chests, making it difficult to breathe.
In other words, cities established before the second global evolution notification are not bound by the new rules; their lords retain authority to determine land tax categories and collection rates as before.