Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Great Immortal Fire Dragon
Yu Zhao had already thought of the possibility that Shopkeeper Qian and Wang You Cai might not be able to bring the portrait back. She just had not expected that even though she tried hard to avoid getting involved, in the end she would still be dragged into this mess.

She let out a soft sigh and set down her teacup.

The next moment, the sound of noisy footsteps and loud shouts suddenly rose outside.

More than twenty yamen runners burst into the inner court with blades in hand. Wang You Cai and Shopkeeper Qian were being escorted at the back of the group, their faces covered in bruises, with streaks of blood that had not yet dried.

A man dressed like a scholar stepped out from the group and shouted coldly: “Where did this troublemaker come from, daring to pose as an Immortal and cheat people? Confess at once!”

Hearing this, Wang You Cai’s bloodshot eyes widened. He stared at Yu Zhao with hope.

There was no way he was mistaken.

This was an Immortal.

[That old county lord… ptooey! That dog of a county magistrate actually said that he and Shopkeeper Qian had worked together to spread lies and confuse the people. He is clearly short-sighted, like a frog at the bottom of a well.]

[Just wait. The Immortal will soon bring down divine punishment and make that dog of a county magistrate and all his lackeys die miserably!]

Yu Zhao gave the middle-aged scholar a calm glance. Her gaze fell on his sleeve, and she could not help raising her eyebrows.

She had been wondering why he insisted that she was a fake Immortal. So he had been guided by a so-called expert.

“So you refuse to drink a toast and would rather drink a forfeit!” The middle-aged scholar gave a cold laugh. He pulled a pale yellow talisman from his sleeve and said: “Today I will show you what real immortal arts…”

Before he could finish the last word, the talisman in his hand was snatched away by an invisible force.

He watched with wide eyes as the talisman floated back and forth in the air and finally landed neatly between the fingers of the young woman standing opposite him.

The middle-aged scholar’s pupils trembled. He looked at Yu Zhao in terror.

Yu Zhao glanced at the talisman with a bored look.

It was a low-level fireball talisman.

Judging from the spirit power sealed inside, once torn, it could probably spit out three or four fist-sized fireballs.

The person who had made the talisman was likely around the Third Layer of Qi Refinement.

Yu Zhao flicked her fingers. The fireball talisman leaped up and turned into a cloud of ash. The ash fell right onto the middle-aged scholar’s face.

The scholar stared blankly for quite a while. Then it was like all his strength suddenly left him. His eyes went dull and he collapsed on the ground.

[Great Immortal Fire Dragon ruined me!]

[This is what real immortal arts are!]

Thump, thump, thump.

After seeing what had just happened, how could the yamen runners still not guess Yu Zhao’s identity? One after another, they threw their knives to the ground and begged for mercy.

A few of them were so terrified that they wet their pants on the spot.

Yu Zhao naturally did not bother with them. She was more curious about what kind of person the Qi Refining cultivator in the county yamen was.

She spread out her divine sense like a great net, quickly covering the entire small town.

Then she extended it even farther, past mountains, rivers, and villages, until it reached a bustling county city.

Yu Zhao smiled slightly.

[Found him.]

…

At the county yamen.

County Magistrate Jia stood at the door of the main hall, sticking his head out from time to time to look outside. His forehead was covered in sweat from anxiety.

“Lord Jia, please calm down.”

A middle-aged man with a gloomy face sat in the main seat on the left, idly playing with the string of beads on his wrist.

County Magistrate Jia forced a smile and said: “With Great Immortal Fire Dragon here, this humble official is naturally not worried.”

After speaking, he paused and said: “But then again, if that person really is an Immortal, what should we do?”

Wang You Cai and Shopkeeper Qian had spoken so firmly that County Magistrate Jia could not help being afraid.

Great Immortal Fire Dragon gave a mocking smile. “The spiritual energy in this place is thin. No Immortal would stay here.”

[You can stay in the county yamen and freeload food and drink, so who knows if other Immortals might not have the same idea as you.]

Great Immortal Fire Dragon seemed to see straight through County Magistrate Jia’s thoughts. His face darkened as he said: “With me sitting in the county yamen, what are you afraid of?”

County Magistrate Jia thought it over and felt that this also made sense. If that person was not an Immortal, then fine. If they were, they should not come to him, but should deal with Great Immortal Fire Dragon instead.

With Great Immortal Fire Dragon’s high-grade talismans, the other party probably would not dare act rashly.

Thinking this way finally settled his nervous heart a little.

Just as he was about to sit down in the seat below Great Immortal Fire Dragon, an invisible pressure dropped from the sky and instantly crushed his plump body flat onto the floor.

County Magistrate Jia’s mind went blank for a moment. When he finally reacted, he struggled to lift his head, wanting to look to Great Immortal Fire Dragon for help.

But when he finally managed to turn his head to the side, he almost bit his tongue in fright.

Great Immortal Fire Dragon was lying on the ground in full prostration just like him, his face dark as pig liver, the veins on it bulging like a web of cords.

County Magistrate Jia’s heart gave a violent tremble.

Great Immortal Fire Dragon’s situation looked even worse than his.

County Magistrate Jia had passed the imperial examinations and become the parent official of this region. He was not a complete fool.

He immediately realized that things were not developing the way he had imagined, or, in other words, not the way Great Immortal Fire Dragon had predicted.

The other party was not only a genuine Immortal, but also one stronger than Great Immortal Fire Dragon. This time, they had really been like an old man hanging himself on his birthday, tired of living.

County Magistrate Jia cried out in his heart.

[Great Immortal Fire Dragon, you have really gotten me killed this time!]

“Senior… please… please hear me out…” Great Immortal Fire Dragon forced the words out one broken piece at a time.

Right now, he was no less upset than County Magistrate Jia.

He could strut around in front of these mortals who had no spiritual roots, but in the cultivation world he was just an ant.

His spiritual roots were poor, his comprehension was poor, and even his luck was poor. Any unreasonable cultivator he met could stomp him to death with one foot.

That was why he had run off to this remote county where the spiritual energy was scarce. He wanted to live out his days being admired and fawned over.

Who would have thought that even though he had stayed far away from places where cultivators moved about, he would still be so unlucky as to run into a solid iron wall.

Great Immortal Fire Dragon could only hope that the other party would see how sincerely he was admitting his mistakes and spare his life.

At this moment, he felt the pressure on his neck lighten a little.

He quickly shouted: “Senior, Senior, this junior did not know that it was you who wanted that painting. I truly meant no offense! I beg Senior to forgive this junior’s ignorance. This junior is willing to offer his entire fortune in thanks for Senior’s mercy!”

County Magistrate Jia had already formed a rough idea about the unseen Immortal. Now, after hearing Great Immortal Fire Dragon’s fawning plea for mercy, he felt that his evaluation of that Immortal had still been too low.

The more he thought about it, the more afraid he became. Sweat dripped from him, soon forming a human-shaped outline on the floor under his body.

“Where is the painting?”

A cool, clear woman’s voice sounded next to Great Immortal Fire Dragon’s ear.

Great Immortal Fire Dragon finally let out a long breath. Since the other party was willing to ask questions, she was probably not someone who killed at the slightest thing.

Half his little life was as good as saved.

As for the other half, as long as he behaved well, he should be able to keep that too.

“The painting is in my storage pouch.”

Great Immortal Fire Dragon had been thinking that after the senior took back her pressure, he would open the storage pouch with his divine sense, take out the painting, and offer it to her with both hands.

But the other party did not need him to use divine sense to open the storage pouch at all. She simply erased the divine sense mark he had left on it.

The instant his connection to the storage pouch was cut off, Great Immortal Fire Dragon was completely stunned.

[Could it be that he had provoked… a Foundation Establishment cultivator?]