Evan Chu glanced at the middle-aged man and laughed, "With tricks like yours, you just want to show off in front of the City Lord and earn his favor, right? I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed."
"Young Master, let me deal with this clown. You just watch from the sidelines," said the Emerald Immortal Empress.
The middle-aged man’s attack quickly reached Evan Chu, but Evan dodged with a swift flash. The Emerald Immortal Empress struck out with a powerful palm—dealing with this man was effortless for her. Her blow sent him flying dozens of meters away.
She herself only took one step back—the difference in strength was massive. The middle-aged man spat out black blood in midair and collapsed, unable to get up for quite a while. After a few breaths, he was already dead; Jade’s palm strike had shattered his internal organs, even killing his Demon Infant.
To kill a Demon Emperor at the early stage in one blow shocked everyone present. Normally, only a late-stage Demon Emperor could pull that off. The City Lord and Elder Hale gave Jade and Evan Chu another look, reevaluating their strength.
“Pathetic. Trash like that dares to show off? I’ll say it again—if you don’t want to die, leave now. Otherwise, you’ll end up just like him. I have important business with the City Lord,” Evan Chu said.
“You’re far too arrogant, boy. Killing people here—do you not respect me at all? Since you’ve come, you’re not leaving. Elder Hale, kill these two!” the City Lord said angrily.
“Don’t worry, City Lord. These two are just late-stage Demon Emperor level—I can capture them easily. Just watch: today, these fools will learn that the City Lord’s Mansion isn’t a place where outsiders run wild,” Elder Hale said.
“Damn old man, you sure talk a lot. I was going to let you live, but you refuse to give me face and think I’m joking. Fine, don’t blame me for being ruthless,” Evan Chu said, his tone growing cold. Against these stubborn fools, only heavy-handed methods would work.
“Young Master, let me handle this. That old guy isn’t weak—you should conserve your strength. Leave the City Lord to you later,” Jade said, and as she spoke, a long sword appeared in her hand.
"Old man, I’m not some ruthless killer by nature. But if we fight here, your City Lord’s Mansion could be destroyed in an instant. I think it’s better to pick a more suitable place—unless you’re sure you can kill me in one blow, then go ahead and save yourself the trouble," Jade said.
Seeing how confident Jade and Evan Chu were, Elder Hale was secretly shocked. He didn’t dare guarantee he could kill her in one strike—experts of this level would unleash tremendous destructive power, and the City Lord’s Mansion really could be destroyed.
He didn’t dare act rashly and glanced at the City Lord, hoping to hear his opinion. If the City Lord said it was fine to fight here, then even if the mansion was destroyed, it wouldn’t matter much to him.
"Elder Hale, this is no trivial matter. You’d better do as she says," the City Lord said.
Immediately, Jade and Elder Hale flew up into the sky. "Little girl, come with me. Today, I’ll see just how strong you are, daring to talk big at the City Lord’s Mansion," Elder Hale said.
After Jade and Elder Hale flew into the sky, Evan Chu and the City Lord also followed, along with several other top experts from the mansion—all of them were extremely powerful.
Elder Hale flew ahead quickly. After a few teleporting moves, they arrived at a massive lake. "Right here. This is Emeraldwave Lake, spanning several thousand meters. No matter how strong you are, you won’t damage anything else. This lake will be your burial ground," he declared.
"Old man, you sure are confident. Enough talk—let’s fight!" Jade said, and her long sword flashed out, forming a dense sword-net in front of her, crashing toward Elder Hale with thunderous force.
"Good!" Elder Hale shouted, a long sword appearing in his hand as he struck out at Jade. Both unleashed enormous power—their attacks distorted the surrounding space, as if the sky itself was collapsing.
The lake’s surface, originally calm, instantly erupted with surging waves—giant waves tens of meters high spread in all directions, looking utterly terrifying.
Their first attacks collided—Elder Hale’s sword-qi struck Jade’s sword-net, shattering it into dozens of powerful sword-qi strands that swept back at him.
The sudden change startled Elder Hale. Although his sword-qi kept attacking Jade, it was clearly much weaker than hers. A sense of dread crept into his heart—he might actually be injured in the very first exchange.
That would be a huge humiliation—if he got injured, how could he keep his place in the City Lord’s Mansion? Gritting his teeth, he instantly pulled out a black shield from his storage ring. The shield was only palm-sized, but in his hand, it flared with white light and expanded to two meters tall, completely protecting his body.
This shield was Elder Hale’s secret treasure, a top-grade magic weapon known to very few. He would never use it unless his life was truly at risk—and now was the time.
Jade’s sword-qi slammed into the shield with crackling explosions. Elder Hale was unharmed, but the shield was covered in cracks—her attack had effectively destroyed it.
It was an extremely precious magic weapon, and Elder Hale was heartsick at its loss. He hadn’t expected this beautiful girl’s attack power to be so terrifying—it was simply unbelievable.
Jade had no defensive artifacts and could only pull her sword back to guard, hastily forming two more sword-nets in front of her. But these were cast too quickly and much weaker—Elder Hale’s sword-qi tore straight through them.
Even so, they canceled out most of his attack; by the time the remnants hit her, they were much weaker—though still powerful, since Elder Hale was a half-god-level expert whose attacks weren’t to be taken lightly.
Jade was blasted back dozens of meters, several deep, bone-revealing wounds opening up on her body, fresh blood flowing...