Volume 1, Chapter 83 – The Azure Dragon Guards Have Arrived

Before the gates of the Ye family estate.

Ye Lingyun listened to the faint clamor of discussion coming from the distance. His face burned with humiliation, and his heart was filled with shame and anger, yet there was nothing he could do.

He could feel that the prestige the Ye family had accumulated over many years had suffered a severe blow because of this incident.

Just when everyone thought the Ye family had admitted defeat and that today’s matter would end there, a deep, thunderous rumble suddenly came from the distant horizon.

The sound did not come from a single direction. It converged from all sides with a perfectly synchronized, heart-stirring rhythm.

Then, beneath countless horrified gazes, a stream of figures resembling a black torrent appeared on the eastern horizon, tearing through the air at astonishing speed.

They were not riding a flying vessel. They were flying directly through the sky.

There were roughly ten of them, all clad in standard dark azure spirit armor engraved with dragon patterns. Their helmets covered their faces, revealing only pairs of cold, merciless eyes.

Runes flowed across their spirit armor, and their auras linked together as one, like four unsheathed swords cleaving through the sky.

Even more alarming were the auras emanating from their bodies.

The leader was unmistakably at the first layer of Tribulation Transcendence.

The members behind him were all between the middle and late stages of Mahayana.

Such a lineup was powerful enough to sweep through an entire territory even in the Eastern Region and strike fear into countless factions.

They were one of the most mysterious and powerful forces of the Qingxuan Imperial Dynasty: the Azure Dragon Guards.

They had clearly received the Ye family’s urgent message and had only just arrived.

The Azure Dragon Guards stopped in the air above the Ye estate, faintly forming a battle formation.

Vast killing intent mingled with an iron-blooded baleful aura and descended like a tangible force.

Many Ye family disciples below, already badly injured, found it even harder to breathe. Their faces turned deathly pale.

“The Azure Dragon Guards! The Azure Dragon Guards are here!”

“Heavens! An entire squad of Azure Dragon Guards!”

“That silver-haired woman is finished now! Whenever the Azure Dragon Guards act, they leave no survivors!”

“But that pressure just now…”

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“So what if she is powerful? The Azure Dragon Guards represent the Qingxuan Imperial Dynasty and Empress Qingxuan! Who would dare resist them?”

Another wave of uncontrollable cries and discussion rose among the cultivators watching from afar.

Many believed this sudden disturbance would probably end with the arrival of the Azure Dragon Guards.

After all, the fearsome reputation of the Azure Dragon Guards was simply too great in the Eastern Region.

When Ye Lingyun saw them arrive, his heart first relaxed, then immediately tightened again.

He hurriedly cupped his hands toward the Azure Dragon Guards and shouted:

“My lord! There may be some misunderstanding in this matter!”

His emotions were extremely conflicted.

He hoped the Azure Dragon Guards could intimidate Gu Han, yet he also feared that they would fail to recognize the depth of her strength.

If they truly began fighting and enraged this terrifying existence, they might bring utter destruction upon the Ye family.

Among the Azure Dragon Guards, the captain with the most profound aura and the fiercest dragon pattern on his helmet slowly stepped forward.

He did not remove his helmet. His cold gaze passed through the visor and first swept over the devastated Ye family estate.

The shattered clan-protecting grand formation, the injured elders, the unconscious guards…

Finally, his gaze landed on the silver-haired figure standing calmly in the center of the plaza, seemingly indifferent to the arrival of the Azure Dragon Guards.

“Family Head Ye.”

The Azure Dragon Guard captain’s voice came through his visor with a cold, metallic quality.

“Who dares attack a family under the Empress’s command within the Eastern Region?”

His words were direct and questioning. He had clearly already regarded Gu Han as an enemy who had challenged the authority of the Qingxuan Imperial Dynasty.

Ye Lingyun opened his mouth, but for a moment, he did not know how to explain.

Was he supposed to say that his family had sent someone to seize another person’s disciple by force, only for that person to be killed instead?

Or should he say that the person before them was someone the Ye family could not afford to offend?

“It was I.”

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Gu Han’s calm voice rang out, answering the question for Ye Lingyun.

She raised her eyes and calmly met the Azure Dragon Guard captain’s icy gaze.

“Gu Han of Yaochi Immortal Palace.”

“What do you intend to do?”

Those six simple words carried an indescribable composure and indifference.

Beneath his visor, the Azure Dragon Guard captain frowned almost imperceptibly.

Her attitude was far too calm.

So calm that it was somewhat abnormal.

With his discernment, he could naturally tell that the Ye family’s miserable condition below was not something an ordinary cultivator could have caused.

The Ye family’s clan-protecting grand formation had been shattered, while Ye Lingyun and the others had severely weakened auras. Accomplishing this required absolute, overwhelming strength.

At the very least, he himself could not do it.

But the Azure Dragon Guards represented the Qingxuan Imperial Dynasty and Empress Qingxuan.

No one in the Eastern Region had ever dared display such an attitude before the Azure Dragon Guards.

“Gu Han…”

The Azure Dragon Guard captain repeated the name and rapidly searched his memory, but found nothing.

Since when had the Southern Region produced such a person?

“No matter who you are, injuring a family under the Empress’s command in the Eastern Region, breaking their formation, and harming their clansmen constitutes disrespect toward the Qingxuan Imperial Dynasty.”

His voice grew even colder.

“According to imperial law, you must be arrested and interrogated, then handed over to the Punishment Hall for judgment.”

“Will you surrender peacefully, or must we act?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the auras of all ten Azure Dragon Guards condensed at once.

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Ten powerful auras, like ten volcanoes gathering force before an eruption, rose simultaneously.

The air seemed to solidify as a murderous atmosphere filled heaven and earth.

Ye Ling’er clenched her fists nervously and instinctively took half a step forward.

A-Yao also gripped Gu Han’s hand tightly. There was some fear on her little face.

Even so, she tried her best to widen her eyes and make a fierce expression at the “dark, scary people” in the sky.

Gu Han gently patted the back of A-Yao’s hand, signaling for her not to worry.

Then she calmly swept her gaze over the ten Azure Dragon Guards before finally looking back at their leader.

“Arrest me? Hand me over to the Punishment Hall?”

As though she had heard the funniest joke in the world, she gently shook her head.

“With nothing but you worthless rabble?”

The words “worthless rabble” were like the sharpest needle, instantly piercing through the Azure Dragon Guards’ cold and murderous exterior.

The auras of all ten Azure Dragon Guards faltered at once.

Immediately afterward, towering rage and killing intent surged into the sky.

They were the most elite force of the Qingxuan Imperial Dynasty. They traveled in the Empress’s name and oversaw the Eastern Region.

When had they ever suffered such humiliation?

“Arrogant!”

“You are courting death!”

The ten Azure Dragon Guards could not help shouting furiously as the spiritual power around them fluctuated violently.

A brilliant cold light also flared in the captain’s eyes.

He knew the other party might be very powerful, but her contempt for the Azure Dragon Guards and the Qingxuan Imperial Dynasty had already crossed the line.

“Form the array! Take her down!”

He no longer hesitated and gave the order coldly.

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“Roar!”

The nine Azure Dragon Guards behind him released a low roar in perfect unison.

Their voices sounded like a giant dragon awakening.

Nine surges of vast spiritual power soared into the sky, intertwining and merging in the air.

In the blink of an eye, an enormous formation diagram appeared, covering the entire sky above the Ye estate.

At the center of the diagram, the vivid phantom of a massive azure dragon condensed into being, its scales gleaming and claws spread wide.

Its dragon eyes opened in fury, and overwhelming dragon might surged forth.

Azure Dragon Battle Formation: Nine Revolutions Coiling Dragon Formation.

This formation was one of the Azure Dragon Guards’ most powerful combined battle formations.

The nine members occupied nine different positions and manifested the form of an azure dragon. It combined offense and defense into one and possessed boundless power.

They had once used this battle formation to trap and kill a mighty demonic cultivator at the second layer of Tribulation Transcendence.

Now the formation was complete, and the azure dragon had manifested.

The enormous azure dragon phantom looked down upon the tiny figures of Gu Han and the other two below.

Its maw opened in a silent roar, and with the will to destroy everything, it slowly reached down with one massive claw.

Wherever the dragon claw passed, space twisted and groaned under the unbearable strain.

The terrifying pressure left many of the watching cultivators below feeling suffocated, forcing them to retreat one after another.

Ye Lingyun and the others turned even paler, inwardly groaning in misery.

They had thought the matter was already over, only for the Azure Dragon Guards to interfere.

It was over.

The Azure Dragon Guards were truly serious now.

If Palace Master Gu retaliated, then regardless of the outcome, the Ye family would be trapped between both sides and blamed by everyone.