Going to Immortal Cloud Pavilion to Seize Someone

Half a quarter-hour later.

Ian Song and Owen Carter walked out of the room together.

Yuna Zhou, waiting outside the door, instinctively looked over. When she saw her master, Owen Carter, restored to his middle-aged appearance standing behind Ian, disbelief flashed across her face. "Master... you! You...!"

"Yuna, your master’s injuries have already been healed by Young Master Song!" Owen Carter said with a smile.

"Ah! How... how is that possible!" Yuna Zhou was even more incredulous.

"What’s wrong?" Owen deliberately put on a stern face. "Don’t tell me you didn’t want your master to recover."

"No, Master, I’m just too happy!" Yuna Zhou waved her hands frantically, stumbling over her words.

It took a while for Yuna to fully calm down. When she looked at Ian Song, her gaze had changed. She stepped forward and bowed deeply to him. "Young Master, thank you for healing my master. From now on, I, Yuna Zhou, will obey your every command!"

Ian Song raised his hand. "Get up, rascal. You don’t need to thank me—I mainly saved your master because I value his forging talent!"

Hearing Ian’s nickname, Yuna Zhou couldn’t help but feel frustrated and quickly explained, "Young Master, actually... I’m not really a rascal!"

"Oh, is that so?" Ian Song said with a playful smile.

"Wait right here!"

Watching Yuna Zhou run off, Owen Carter's eyes filled with amusement. In his opinion, with Young Master Song's sharp eyes, how could he not notice that Yuna was deliberately hiding her true appearance?

Sure enough, not long after, Yuna Zhou reappeared. Her once-dark skin was now fair and jade-like. She’d always been pretty, but now that her disguise was gone, she looked every bit the peerless beauty.

Ian Song deliberately teased, "Where did this gorgeous beauty come from?"

"Young Master, you’re so annoying! Always teasing me!" Yuna Zhou stamped her foot, pouting, but Ian Song and Owen Carter just burst out laughing.

Suddenly, Ian Song’s expression turned serious. He said in a deep voice, "This isn’t a place to linger. Owen, Yuna, you need to leave here immediately and go to the Dualis Order in Taiyin Prefecture."

"Why isn’t it safe here?" Yuna Zhou blurted out.

After a slight hesitation, Ian Song said, "Earlier, I went to the Inner City and clashed with the little lord of the Duke of Qi Residence. That guy was way too arrogant, so I couldn’t stand it and killed him, along with two late Out-of-Body guards from the Duke of Qi Residence. I’m sure they’ll track me here soon, so you two need to leave as quickly as possible!"

Hearing that Ian Song had actually killed the little lord of the Duke of Qi Residence, both Owen Carter and Yuna Zhou were left gaping in shock.

After a moment, Yuna Zhou asked, "Young Master, aren’t you leaving too?"

"I still have things to take care of in the Tang Capital. Once I’m done here, I’ll head to the High Zhou Imperium!" Ian Song said. "Alright, you two need to go now. When you get to the Dualis Order, just find Vice Order Master Drake Wang and tell him I sent you. He’ll make sure you’re taken care of!"

"Young Master, why don’t I stay and help you instead!" Owen Carter said seriously.

Ian Song waved him off. "No need. You’re good at forging, but your combat ability is way too weak. If you stay here, you’ll just be a burden to me!"

Hearing this, Yuna Zhou protested, "My master is still an early Out-of-Body expert, you know!"

"Early Out-of-Body, but he couldn’t even block a single sword from me!" Ian Song said with a dismissive curl of his lip.

Yuna Zhou wanted to argue, but then remembered how Ian Song had killed a mid Out-of-Body white-robed youth with a single sword strike earlier, and she fell silent.

"In that case, Yuna and I will do as you say, Young Master!" Owen Carter added.

In the Tang Dynasty, there are three hereditary Dukes of the Realm: the Duke of Qi, the Duke of Wei, and the Duke of Yue.

The ancestors of all three ducal households rendered great service to the dynasty. Today, each Duke holds a court position, with Duke Jiang Kui’s rank the highest—he serves as Left Vice Minister of War, second only to the Minister of War.

The current Tang Emperor has three sons and five daughters.

Of these, the Sixth Prince stands out as the most accomplished and powerful. With the Tang Emperor set to abdicate in ten years, the three princes have been fighting ever more fiercely for the throne.

Among the three, the Sixth Prince has the strongest support. Not only is he highly intelligent, his cultivation is outstanding—he’s not even two hundred years old, yet he’s already reached late Divine Transformation.

The Second Prince and Fourth Prince are both at mid Divine Transformation, and each of them is over five hundred years old.

Now, Duke Jiang Kui has thrown his support behind the Sixth Prince, making his faction even stronger. The Sixth Prince has promised that once he becomes emperor, he’ll promote Duke Jiang Kui to Minister of War.

The Six Ministries’ Minister is already the most prestigious office in the entire empire.

Duke of Qi Residence, study.

Duke Jiang Kui’s face was as dark as water. His narrow eyes brimmed with murderous intent as he stared coldly at the old man kneeling before him. He gritted his teeth and asked, "You still haven’t found the culprit?"

"Forgive me, Your Grace! I’ve already sent most of the residence guards to search for that wretch’s whereabouts!" the old man stammered.

Colin Jiang snorted coldly, "Hmph! I’ll give you one hour—no matter what you have to do, you must find that little beast. Also, send someone to Immortal Cloud Pavilion and have Pavilion Mistress Bei hand over that woman called Cece. I want her buried alive with my son!"

Jiang Bao said, "My lord, this won’t be easy. Pavilion Mistress Bei is notorious for fiercely protecting her own, and she has the Second Prince backing her. She probably won’t hand anyone over!"

Colin Jiang’s eyes narrowed, a vicious light flashing in them. He snarled, "That’s not up to her! So what if she has the Second Prince? I’ve lost my son—don’t tell me my own child is worth less than some courtesan!"

"Yes, I’ll send someone right away!"

"No, you go in person!"

"Understood, I’ll go myself!"

This old man was the Duke of Qi Residence’s senior butler, Jiang Bao—a late Divine Transformation expert.

Leaving the study, Jiang Bao immediately summoned two late Out-of-Body guards and headed straight for Immortal Cloud Pavilion.

The three of them moved incredibly fast, arriving beneath the pavilion in just a few dozen breaths.

Striding inside, Jiang Bao called out, "Jiang Bao of the Duke of Qi Residence is here to pay a visit. Would Pavilion Mistress Bei please come out?"

"So it’s Senior Steward Jiang Bao—pardon my lack of a formal welcome!"

A palace-clad beauty appeared, followed by a man with a goatee.

Jiang Bao cupped his fists, "Greetings, Pavilion Mistress Bei. I’ve come on the Duke’s orders to take away Cece. Please make things easy and let me take her, so I can report back to the Duke."

Hearing this, the palace-clad beauty laughed lightly, her chest trembling with mirth. "Oh, Steward Jiang Bao, you’ve come to the wrong place—this isn’t the Duke of Qi Residence, it’s Immortal Cloud Pavilion. You want to take my people? Absolutely not!"

Jiang Bao’s eyes narrowed and his voice turned cold. "Pavilion Mistress Bei, is it really worth opposing the Duke of Qi Residence over a courtesan?"

"Hmph!"

Pavilion Mistress Bei’s face instantly turned cold. "I’m not the one opposing the Duke of Qi Residence—it’s your household that’s gone too far. If you want to take my people by force, forget it!"