"Thank you, Senior Brother Ju." Zhu Kaifu quickly expressed his gratitude. To be honest, he wasn't really afraid that Mo Wuji's strength would surpass his. What he was worried about was Mo Wuji's identity as a student of Wentian Xuegong (Asking Heaven Learning Academy). As a rogue cultivator at the Yuandan Realm, if Wentian Xuegong (Asking Heaven Learning Academy) issued a mission against him, he wouldn't survive for more than a month.

"Come, everyone, let's enjoy this drink. This is the best wine of my Chengyu Kingdom..." Situ Qian finally relaxed and raised his glass.

"Your Majesty, urgent letter..." A woman walked over anxiously and handed Situ Qian a letter.

Seeing the red mark on the envelope, Situ Qian almost dropped his glass. A red mark on the envelope signified the most critical national news. Only for such a letter were his subordinates allowed to enter and deliver it to him without announcement.

"Understood, you may leave." Situ Qian quickly regained his composure. He thought, with Ju Qijian, an inner disciple of Wentian Xuegong (Asking Heaven Learning Academy), here, what was there to worry about?

Ju Qijian and Zhu Kaifu remained calm. To cultivators like them, the affairs of Chengyu Kingdom, no matter how important, were insignificant. Even if an army reached Raozhou, the capital of Chengyu Kingdom, it wouldn't matter to them.

Situ Qian opened the letter. When he saw the contents, his hand trembled, and he knocked over the glass of wine he had just placed on the table.

"Clang!" The glass shattered, and the scent of wine filled the air.

"Lord Situ, as the lord of a vassal state, you should be able to maintain your composure." Ju Qijian frowned.

In truth, he didn't care about the lord of a vassal state. He was here not because of Situ Qian's status, but because the Ju family was located within Situ Qian's territory. Situ Qian's lack of composure made him wonder if giving Situ Qian face was a mistake.

Situ Qian quickly handed the letter to Ju Qijian, his voice trembling, "Immortal Master Qijian... the remnants of the Mo family attacked Luoan, the capital of the Beiqin Prefecture, and slaughtered the entire Ju family in Luoan. Now the Beiqin Prefecture is once again surnamed Mo..."

"What?" Ju Qijian's eyebrows shot up, and he abruptly stood up, then slammed his palm on the table in front of him. The fine white jade table turned to dust beneath his blow. He didn't even glance at the letter Situ Qian had handed him.

"Mo, you just wait..." Ju Qijian said through gritted teeth, then stared at Situ Qian, "How long does it take for a letter to reach you from Luoan?"

With the Ju family destroyed, Ju Qijian no longer had any goodwill towards Situ Qian.

Facing Ju Qijian's aggressive demeanor, Situ Qian didn't dare to hesitate and quickly replied, "The letter was delivered by flying beast; it only takes half a day."

Ju Qijian said coldly, "It seems he hasn't left Luoan yet. I'll go to Luoan now. If he dares to leave, I will slaughter everyone in Luoan City."

"Ah..." Hearing that Ju Qijian was going to kill an entire city, Situ Qian's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't dare to object.

Zhu Kaifu, who had originally wanted to curry favor with Ju Qijian and go to Luoan with him, immediately shut his mouth when he heard Ju Qijian's intention to slaughter the people of Luoan.

He didn't want to follow Ju Qijian and risk death because of Ju Qijian’s foolish actions driven by rage. Although cultivators were revered in the mortal world, there would definitely be consequences for anyone who dared to massacre a city. Even if Ju Qijian was from Wentian Xuegong (Asking Heaven Learning Academy), he would not be in a good place after the massacre.

Seeing that Zhu Kaifu didn't offer to go to Luoan with Ju Qijian, Situ Qian secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was worried that both Ju Qijian and Zhu Kaifu would leave. If they both left, and Mo Wuji seized the opportunity to come over, he would be doomed.

A violent explosion erupted with a deafening "Boom!", shaking the entire ground. Ju Qijian, Situ Qian, and Zhu Kaifu hurriedly retreated to the side.

"Crash..." Countless building fragments and broken pieces of wood fell. A huge hole appeared in the magnificent lord's palace of the Chengyu Prefecture, and the palace swayed before collapsing completely.

Screams and cries for help echoed from the lord's residence, and many guards began to run out.

A young man dressed in blue linen stood on top of a huge pillar in front of the lord's residence, staring at Ju Qijian and the others. His hands were empty, and no one knew what he had used to destroy the lord's residence.

"Ju Qijian, it truly is a small world. I think you should have received the news, right? You were planning to go to Luoan City? Look, now you don't have to. I've already come." The young man stared at Ju Qijian with his hands behind his back, his tone tinged with mockery.

"Mo Wuji..." A dirt-covered Situ Qian blurted out. He was trembling, unsure whether from anger or fear.

Hearing the name Mo Wuji, Zhu Kaifu immediately knew who had arrived. Mo Wuji exuded no spiritual aura, but standing on top of that pillar, he gave Zhu Kaifu a feeling of unwillingness to fight him.

The blue-robed young man was none other than Mo Wuji, who had just come from Luoan. After hearing that Ju Qijian was here, he had rushed over immediately without hesitation. Only by killing Ju Qijian could he leave this place in peace.

As for the palace of the Chengyu Prefecture, it was naturally destroyed by his Tianji (Heaven's Secret) Staff. Back when he had almost been killed by Situ Qian in this palace, he had thought of returning one day to destroy it, and today he had finally vented his anger.

He didn't want to expose the Tianji (Heaven's Secret) Staff here, so he had put it away after destroying the lord's palace.

"Mo, today I'll see who can help you..." Ju Qijian drew his longsword, creating a sword flower, and directly cut off the pillar Mo Wuji was standing on.

Mo Wuji had already landed far away. Without saying a word, he fled towards the outskirts of Raozhou City. With Ju Qijian's pride, he would definitely chase after him.

He didn't want to fight in Raozhou City. First, a battle between the two of them would undoubtedly result in the deaths of many innocent people. Second, his Tianji (Heaven's Secret) Staff couldn't be exposed in Raozhou, because once it was exposed, everyone would know that he was Rogue Cultivator 2705. Now that he had another enemy in the Yulin Lei Clan, he didn't want people to know too soon that he was Rogue Cultivator 2705.

As expected, as soon as Mo Wuji left the city, Ju Qijian followed without hesitation.

Zhu Kaifu remained calm, not following Ju Qijian. Although he was a rogue cultivator with far inferior talent compared to Ju Qijian, he had experienced far more. The moment he saw Mo Wuji, he felt a sense of dread. Even though Mo Wuji emanated no spiritual aura, he didn't believe that Mo Wuji was only at the Zhuling Realm.

Was this Zhuling Realm cultivator mad to dare to lure Ju Qijian out of the city?

Seeing Situ Qian's changing expression, Zhu Kaifu suddenly said, "Your Majesty, there's no need to worry. Senior Brother Ju is an inner expert from Wentian Xuegong (Asking Heaven Learning Academy). Killing a mere outer disciple is an easy task. I will stay here to protect Your Majesty and will never allow that person to take advantage of the situation."

Situ Qian's expression finally improved somewhat. "Then I thank the National Protector Master."

Zhu Kaifu smiled slightly. He was determined that if Ju Qijian didn't return within half an hour, he would immediately leave the Chengyu Prefecture and go as far as possible.

Based on his experience and judgment, if Mo Wuji was truly weak, Ju Qijian could definitely kill him within half an hour. If Ju Qijian couldn't kill Mo Wuji in half an hour, it meant that Mo Wuji's strength was on par with Ju Qijian's.

Whether Mo Wuji's strength was on par with Ju Qijian, regardless of who won or lost, he didn't want to get involved in this mess and would simply leave as far as possible. He stayed here as a National Protector Master only for the sake of worldly riches and some meager cultivation resources. Situ Qian was not worth risking his life for.

...

Outside Raozhou City was a desolate forest. Mo Wuji stopped. On Earth, he was ambushed and when he woke up, he appeared on a mound here.

The mound still seemed to be there, but Yan'er, who stood behind the mound and called him Your Majesty and cared for him, was gone.

"Have you chosen this place as your burial ground?" Ju Qijian landed not far from Mo Wuji, his voice icy.

Mo Wuji stared at Ju Qijian calmly and said, "This is a burial ground, but not for me, for you. When I left here, I thought that something needed to be buried here. Today, it finally will be."

"Haha..." Ju Qijian laughed wildly, then his aura soared, and a crushing pressure swept towards Mo Wuji.

Feeling this powerful aura, Mo Wuji frowned. "I didn't expect you to have entered the Di Realm and reached the Yuandan First Layer."

The longsword behind Ju Qijian formed an arc in the air and landed in his hand. "You guessed right. Are you surprised? Or scared? I guess you lured me here, thinking that you have already advanced to the Tuofan Realm? As a mortal with trash spiritual roots, you actually advanced to the Tuofan Realm. Not bad."

"You don't need to tell me, I will find out myself..." As he spoke, the longsword in Ju Qijian's hand transformed into a curtain of swords, enveloping Mo Wuji.

Ju Qijian seemed to sublimate in the sword curtain and ascended into the air. "After you die, I will find a scapegoat for you. He is also the National Protector Master of a vassal state, so you don't have to worry about having no one to accompany you on the road to the Yellow Springs..."

After Zhu Kaifu didn't follow, Ju Qijian developed a killing intent towards him. Zhu Kaifu's petty tricks were nothing in front of him. A mere Yuandan Realm cultivator was nothing in the eyes of an inner disciple of Wentian Xuegong (Asking Heaven Learning Academy) like him.

"Sword skills? I know them too." Mo Wuji flicked his hand. Although he held no longsword, streams of sword light shot out from his hands. These sword lights hit Ju Qijian's sword curtain, tearing the once-complete sword curtain to shreds, causing it to dissipate directly.

"What kind of sword skill is this?" Ju Qijian was shocked as he looked at Mo Wuji's empty hands. His sword curtain was already a sword skill; the sword curtain was just an appearance. He didn't expect his sword skill to be broken by Mo Wuji's bare hands before it could fully unleash its power.

No, Ju Qijian immediately remembered something else. Mo Wuji had just advanced to the Tuofan Realm and was only at the Tuofan First Layer. Even if he had a sword skill specifically designed to counter him, he shouldn't be able to use it in front of him.

(The third update is here, please support with monthly tickets!!!)