Chen Wentian flew in aimless circles, going nowhere in particular. He waited for his anger to dissipate but it was futile effort. Meeting the shangyang bird left a bad taste in his mouth.
It made him feel a certain way that he had almost forgotten about. It reminded him of those geniuses, young masters, and princes who stole all the pretty girls and beautiful women. He hated that feeling back then and he still hated it now.
"Fuck your granny… aren't you just a soggy rain chicken? Why don't you jump into a pot and turn yourself into chicken soup? Damn it!"
He cursed some more but that only left him more vexed than ever.
If his disciples saw him like this, they would all be surprised. In front of them, he was kind, generous, and easy-going, the perfect master. He was good to his disciples but he wasn't a good person. He had slain countless enemies. The number of souls he had extinguished until now was as numerous as grains of sand in the ocean. He killed people without blinking an eye.
"Whatever, enough with the distractions," He muttered as a target appeared in his mind, a place for him to vent his frustrations.
He was here to help Long Yifei with the bandit fighting operation. So, he should go and fight some bandits. He didn't need an army of mortal cultivators or help from other immortals. He could do it himself.
He flew south for a while until he reached the vicinity of Three Clouds City. He activated his shadow fox powers and landed on the ground without triggering the various detection arrays for immortals. After dashing through the forest, he hid himself beneath a horse-drawn carriage that was returning to the city. It had just evacuated some wealthy residents to towns further north and was returning for a fresh batch.
Using this method, he smoothly entered Three Clouds City without being detected. Once inside the walls, he took advantage of the shadows between buildings and reached the lord's castle. He paused before entering to take stock of the situation.
To his surprise, he found four immortal auras instead of three. If there were only the three cloud siblings, then who was the fourth one? He was intrigued when he realized that this fourth aura was somewhat familiar.
He scouted the interior of the lord's castle and understood the situation. The fourth one was the fatty from the Four Evils of the Black Forest, the same group of bandits that attacked Thousand Flower City not long ago. They had run away so quickly after his counterattack. He had not been able to find their whereabouts. Now, they had come back to find trouble for him again.
Chen Wentian grinned in the darkness. Four bandit Spirit Lords, four potential targets, he decided who to kill first. He still had to hide his Spirit King Realm abilities for the moment. But he could cause enough chaos without it. Sneak attacks were his specialty.
"Alright, I'll deal with you first."
He slid through the ceiling and headed for the quarters of the old granny, Immortal Green Cloud Yun Duling. Her poison was slightly troublesome to deal with during their first meeting. It was best to get rid of her before the others.
The interior of Yun Duling's room was large. It was filled with crystal bottles of poison that lined huge shelves. A strange smell hung in the air, a mixture of countless substances throughout the years. It was more of a medicine room than anything else.
Chen Wentian briefly appreciated the immortal's dedication to their Dao as he slid toward the hunched figure sitting at a desk near the window.
But before he crossed half the distance, Yun Duling suddenly stood up and sniffed the air.
"Who's there?" She asked.
Green clouds billowed, emerging from all corners of the room.
Chen Wentian cursed and held his breath. He had been a little careless… or this granny was a little more competent than average.
His body took physical shape and blue flames erupted. Everything around him started to burn, including all the poisonous clouds. He leaped towards Yun Duling who had already crashed through the open window.
Alarms sounded and emergency talismans flew everywhere.
"It's you!" Yun Duling's eyes widened in shock as a huge blue fireball descended toward her.
She gathered all of her spiritual energy and formed a barrier of poisonous clouds. But that could barely hold back the attack. She was forced back a hundred meters in the air and had to dodge to the side.
More fireballs flew past her, setting her clothes on fire and burning half her face.
"Ahhh!" She screamed in pain.
"Green Sis!"
"You dare?"
The other two cloud siblings arrived and attacked Chen Wentian from two sides. Blue waves of water swept through the sky along with blasts of crimson flames. Chen Wentian dodged them all with a burst of speed and chased after Yun Duling's half-charred figure.
Right then, a large blur flashed past, grabbing Yun Duling and rushing away. It was that fatty... Immortal Dashing Mountain Liu Zhangrou.
"So fast?" Chen Wentian asked no one in particular.
Even if he used his Spirit King Realm power, he probably still couldn't catch up. That fast fatty was simply too fast!
Helpless, he turned to the two cloud brothers left behind. He was determined to not leave this city empty-handed. He extended his palms and two pillars of blue flames erupted, one towards Yun Haiqiao and one toward Yun Huoxiao.
The two men tried to fight back with their elemental arts but the incoming blue flames were too hot, too ferocious. Yun Huoxiao's red flames were engulfed completely while Yun Haiqiao's blue water evaporated faster than he could produce it.
"Not good! Run!" Yun Haiqiao shouted.
He produced a thick cloud of steam and fled in a random direction.
Chen Wentian ignored him and focused on the last one. Yun Huoxiao had been badly burned in their first battle. Although he had taken plenty of healing medicine, he was far from his peak condition. Chen Wentian knew this and focused his flames on him.
Yun Huoxiao found blue flames above him, behind him, and to either side. All around him, blue flames raged unimpeded.
"You… Aargh… don't… ahhh!" He howled helplessly as blue flames filled his field of view entirely.
Chen Wentian increased the heat, burning Yun Huoxiao and a large swath of Three Clouds City beneath in a rapidly spreading inferno.
"Brother Red!! Ahhhh! I'll kill you!" A furious shout echoed from far away, growing steadily dimmer, "I'll kill you for Brother Red!"
Chen Wentian glanced in that direction and saw the huge fatty Liu Zhangrou dragging Yun Haiqiao away toward the north. He let them go. He knew they would meet again. For now, killing one bandit immortal was good enough.
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