Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 229: Arrogant and Despotic

The message also contained details about this Sima Ling from the House of Grue Hunters. Xu Qing looked it over quickly.

“Sima Ling is a chosen disciple from the House of Grue Hunters. His cultivation base is in the great circle of Foundation Establishment, with four life flames. He has no life lamp and no imperial-class technique. He cultivates the Nether-Sealing Grue Index.

“He’s vicious and ruthless, and has numerous grues sealed within him. He’s incredibly strong; he severely injured the third highness of the Third Peak in a duel, using vicious tactics. A few days ago, he fought the Third Peak’s grand highness to a draw, and scheduled a follow-up match tomorrow morning at dawn.

“Investigation has revealed that Sima Ling is the big customer that caused so many Night Dove agents to converge on Seven Blood Eyes.

“Sir, how shall we handle this situation?”

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as he coolly responded with a text message.

“Arrest them all, even if they resist. Bring them in alive or dead!”

“Sir, yes sir!”

In response to Xu Qing’s orders, all seven of the sect’s Violent Crimes Divisions sprang into action. Thousands of constables went out into the night and headed straight toward Harbor 79. Two of the divisions sent their directors in as leaders, specifically, the directors from the First Peak and the Third Peak. As for the director from the Third Peak, he was personally dissatisfied with this chosen from the House of Grue Hunters.

After issuing his orders, Xu Qing walked out of the cabin, collected up his dharmaskiff, and then flew up into the air toward Harbor 79.

The moon hung bright in the air, so even though it was night, Harbor 79 was well-illuminated. In one particular berth was a very large ship, fully 3,000 meters long, making it seem like some hulking beast. Numerous horse carts were lined up to deliver goods to the ship.

Standing on the shore was a young man in extravagant clothing, his hands clasped behind his back as he coldly looked at the big ship. He appeared to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. His eyes sparkled like stars, and his entire person exuded a gruish aura. In fact, the area around him seemed particularly strong with mutagen. What was more, his eyes didn’t match in terms of color. His left eye was red, while his right eye was azure. Because of the two different colors, anyone who looked at him would realize he was extraordinary. Especially noteworthy was that, if you looked closely into his eyes, you would find yourself looking into two hells, each of them burning with either red or azure flames. And within those flames were a haze of countless grues, screaming in agony as they burned. The sound wasn’t audible to the ear, but anyone who got close to him would feel their mind and heart trembling.

The young man looked icily arrogant as he stood there. He wasn’t hiding his identity in any way, as though he wasn’t worried at all that someone might see him. He apparently believed that, even if someone did see him, they wouldn’t do anything to him.

This person was Sima Ling, chosen from the House of Grue Hunters.

Standing in front of him were a few dozen people in black garments, who were all Night Dove operatives. All of them had extraordinary cultivation bases, but at the same time, they looked nervous. They kept looking around, and urging the cart-drivers to work faster.

Not too far away, atop a building, was an old man, also dressed in fine clothing, standing in the moonlight as he looked on, radiating the energy of a Gold Core cultivation base. His eyes were focused solely on Sima Ling. Obviously, he didn’t care about anyone else. He was, of course, Sima Ling’s dao protector during his time here in Seven Blood Eyes.

As the night wind blew, it stirred Sima Ling’s hair. In his hands, which were clasped behind his back, he held a string of black pearls that he fiddled with impatiently.

“This is it?” he said. “I expected more goods from Night Dove.”

The black-garbed man who seemed to be the leader smiled bitterly and said, “Your Highness Sima, there’s really nothing we could do. You demanded that we bring our goods to Seven Blood Eyes, except this sect is extremely displeased with us. Over the past few years, there have been several very violent crackdowns on us. The reality is that we brought much more with us, only to have about thirty percent of it confiscated by Seven Blood Eyes. Their Violent Crimes Division has been a real problem.”

“Violent Crimes Division?” Sima Ling said. He snorted coldly. As a chosen from the House of Grue Hunters, and a cultivator from the Revered Ancient mainland, he despised this backwater Seven Blood Eyes. That was especially true after he challenged the Third Peak’s highnesses, and found them to be very weak. This wasn’t his first time hearing of the Violent Crimes Division. He knew that the division had been causing problems for Night Dove, and that had him feeling very irritated.

“Your Highness Sima, I urge you... to cover your face, sir. The Violent Crimes Divisions here in Seven Blood Eyes are no joke. That’s especially true after the Seventh Peak’s Violent Crimes Division got a new director named Xu Qing. He doesn’t hesitate to shed blood, and is both brazen and bold....”

“Xu Qing?” Sima Ling said coolly. “He’s a nobody. If they show up here, they’ll find out what happens when a bunch of subsidiary sect disciples dare to interfere with the affairs of their superiors. That’s not to mention that this Xu... what’s his name? Xu Qing? He’s not even one of the highnesses from the Seventh Peak. Not even Huang Yikun from the Seventh Peak’s supervisory sect, the Dark Serenity Sect, would dare to stick his nose in my affairs! [1]

The black-garbed leader hesitated for a moment, and was about to say more when a piercing noise could be heard off in the distance. At the same time, a signal light shot up into the air and exploded, creating the words Violent Crimes! [2]

Simultaneously, figures rushed in from all directions, accompanied by a cold voice.

“The Violent Crimes Division is here to arrest all Night Dove operatives and accomplices. Don’t even think of fleeing!”

The faces of the black-garbed men fell, and they backed up as Violent Crimes Division constables raced toward them. However, Sima Ling simply chuckled coldly and took a step forward.

“How impudent!”

The moment his foot landed, his four life flames burned to life, causing a terrifying aura to ripple out in all directions. The burning of his four life flames was like an entire world on fire, creating pressure so mighty it was almost tangible. Rumbling sounds echoed out everywhere, and the first wave of incoming Violent Crimes Division constables coughed up blood and were sent tumbling backward.

A massive tempest now raged on the shore, with Sima Ling at the center of it.

“Keep loading up the ship,” Sima Ling said, glaring contemptuously at the Violent Crimes Division constables who didn’t dare to get any closer.

There were Foundation Establishment cultivators among the constables, and there were two who stood out among them. One of them had the aura of the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect on him, and the other emanated the grue fluctuations of the House of Grue Hunters. Those two were the directors of the Violent Crimes Divisions from the First and Third Peaks. But not even they dared to get any closer, and simply stood, waiting. The cultivation techniques of Seven Blood Eyes were all derived from the techniques of the Seven Sect Coalition, but obviously existed on a different level.

“I really don’t understand why my sect was worried about rabble-rousers like this.” Sima Ling had always been an arrogant person, even back in his own sect. Now that he was in Seven Blood Eyes, he was even worse.

The surrounding Night Dove operatives were shaken. They were scared of the Violent Crimes Division, but seeing how easily the division had been cowed, they now breathed sighs of relief. They were now thinking that the Violent Crimes Division wasn’t that impressive after all; once a supervisory sect showed up, they had no choice but to bow their heads.

Stirring back into action, they sent cart after cart into the big ship. However, just as they were redoubling their efforts, a black streak appeared noiselessly off in the distance, moving like a lightning bolt.

Actually, in some ways, it was a lightning bolt.

Streaking forth, it pierced through the necks of one of the black-garbed Night Dove operatives. Before he could even scream, the black lightning bolt pierced through the necks of seven additional black-garbed men. As the black iron skewer zipped back and forth, its lightning symbols flared, creating something like a web of electricity that filled the area. As the screams rang out, the rest of the Night Dove operators looked around in shock.

Sima Ling’s eyebrows shot up. Ignoring the iron skewer, he looked off into the distance.

What he saw was someone speeding in his direction over the water, standing atop a bluegreen dragon. This person wore a violet daoist robe, and his black hair whipped behind him, revealing his fair face, with handsome features that would leave just about anyone breathless. He had cold, aloof eyes that were so calm and peaceful they almost looked bored. As his hair danced in the wind, he almost looked like an immortal. With him came a baleful aura that was so cold it caused Sima Ling’s hair to stand on end, and only enhanced the placid look in his eyes. It was like this person could crush anything and everything in his path, as easily as dried weeds.

Sima Ling’s eyes narrowed.

Meanwhile, all of the Violent Crimes Division constables who had been holding back at a safe distance dropped to their knees and kowtowed. It didn’t matter if they were from the Seventh Peak or not.

“Well met, Director!”

Their voices echoed like thunder. As for the constables from the Seventh Peak, their eyes shone with fervor, and they shouted even louder than the others. All of the Night Dove operatives in the area were shaken.

The directors from the First and Third Peaks all breathed sighs of relief as they clasped hands and bowed.

“I advise you not to stick your nose in my business,” Sima Ling said slowly, his eyes burning with displeasure.

Xu Qing didn’t even look at him. Turning to the other two directors, he coolly said, “Start arresting people.”

“Sir, yes sir!” Instantly, the surrounding constables rushed toward the Night Dove cultivators. Some of them also took the fighting right into the big ship.

Xu Qing’s arrival left the Night Dove operatives deeply shaken, and there were some who now just wanted to get away. Sadly for them, the Violent Crimes Division had the entire place locked down. In the blink of an eye, the sounds of fighting and killing filled the air.

“Feeling suicidal, Xu Qing?” Sima Ling growled, his eyes lighting up with killing intent. His cultivation base then surged, and he became like a lightning bolt that shot right toward Xu Qing, his hands reaching toward his eyes to pluck them out.

1. Huang Yikun. Huang is #7 on the list of 100 most common Chinese surnames, and it generally means “yellow,” although the character has broader meanings and implications. Yi means “one, solitary” and Kun is one of the eight trigrams, and though it has a lot of meaning, it is generally associated with yin things. To Madam Deathblade, this name sounds classy and impressive, like this person ‘has the world in their grasp.’ ☜historical

2. In the original text, it’s only a single Chinese character in the air, but the implication is that it’s identifying the Violent Crimes Division. ☜