The blade swept down beside Liu Wuxie, but in that fleeting instant, Liu Wuxie twisted his stance and drove his right fist forward, unleashing the Divine Eternal Fist with explosive force.

Although he couldn't summon the River of Eternity, the punch still erupted with a terrifying impact that struck directly beneath the leader's armpit. In terms of combat instinct and battle awareness, no one present even came close to Liu Wuxie.

The leader was blasted backward and smashed heavily to the ground. The sudden reversal stunned everyone on the battlefield, including the six men trapped within the encirclement. Their faces were filled with confusion as they stared blankly at Liu Wuxie.

"You're courting death!"

Five experts broke away from the formation and surrounded Liu Wuxie.

Their leader hadn't died from the strike. He staggered back to his feet, roared furiously, and charged at Liu Wuxie again with his blade raised high.

"Lend me a weapon!" Liu Wuxie shouted toward the six men.

"Take mine!" The young man reacted without hesitation and tossed his blade toward Liu Wuxie, willingly leaving himself unarmed.

Liu Wuxie caught the blade with one hand and casually tested its weight. The weapon felt reasonably balanced in his grip.

After breaking through to the eighth-level Heavenly Immortal Realm, Liu Wuxie's strength had transformed yet again. Ever since arriving in the celestial realm, the laws within his body had undergone tremendous refinement. He drew a bizarre arc through the air with the blade, creating movements so profound that no one could follow them. None of the surrounding cultivators had ever seen anyone wield a blade with such strange and unpredictable movements.

"Young Master, that's the Crimson Cloud Blade!" the trapped cultivators cried out in shock. They immediately recognized the blade art Liu Wuxie had just displayed. At a single glance, they could tell that Liu Wuxie's mastery of the technique surpassed their young master's by hundreds of times.

Liu Wuxie didn't possess the highest cultivation among those present, but when it came to blade techniques, he utterly crushed everyone on the battlefield.

The leader's expression changed dramatically as he stared at the incoming blade ray, completely unable to determine how to defend against it.

"Attack together and kill him!" The remaining eighteen pursuers abandoned their previous target and charged at Liu Wuxie simultaneously. The two ninth-level High Immortals attacked from both flanks while the heavenly immortals coordinated support attacks from the sides.

Liu Wuxie sneered. "Garbage. Do you really think you can defeat me with numbers?"

He stepped forward with the Seven Dipper Steps, weaving effortlessly through every incoming attack. Blade rays erupted around him in rapid succession, and before anyone could react, six heavenly immortals collapsed with their throats slit open. Liu Wuxie had killed them all within a single exchange.

The horrifying display instantly shattered the attackers' momentum. Their movements faltered, and hesitation crept into their eyes.

"What terrifying blade arts!" The six trapped cultivators retreated to the side, staring at Liu Wuxie with burning admiration.

The leader looked at the six corpses scattered across the ground and involuntarily shivered. Fear crept into his heart, forcing him to retreat a step instinctively.

However, Liu Wuxie had already begun his slaughter. He had no intention of leaving anyone alive. If even one person escaped, his identity could eventually leak out.

The leader joined forces with the other high immortal, and the two attacked Liu Wuxie from opposite sides.

"Twin-Dragon Blade!"

Even while facing two ninth-level High Immortals at once, Liu Wuxie remained completely composed.

"Young Master, be careful!" the young man who had lent Liu Wuxie the blade shouted anxiously.

The instant the attack descended from above, Liu Wuxie vanished from sight entirely. In the next moment, he appeared directly among the group of heavenly immortals. He intended to eliminate the weaker enemies first. Once he entered the formation, he resembled a tiger rampaging through a flock of sheep. Blade light flashed wildly, and in only a few breaths, every heavenly immortal collapsed dead, leaving behind only the two ninth-level High Immortals.

To Liu Wuxie, heavenly immortals were no different from ants.

The six cultivators from the Peace and Stability Merchant Association sucked in cold breaths as they watched the massacre unfold before their eyes. Fear rose uncontrollably in their hearts. If Liu Wuxie had been their enemy instead, they couldn't even imagine how horrifying the outcome would've been.

"You filthy beggar, die!" The two high immortals from the White Tiger Merchant Association exploded with rage after witnessing the deaths of their companions. Their blade rays shot toward Liu Wuxie from both sides simultaneously.

"Young Master, I'll assist you!" The young man from the Peace and Stability Merchant Association stepped forward without hesitation and intercepted one of the opponents.

Although Liu Wuxie's hair was messy and dirt covered his face, his features were still vaguely visible. He looked roughly the same age as the young man, yet his terrifying combat strength naturally earned respect.

The moment the battlefield turned into two-on-two combat, the pressure on Liu Wuxie disappeared almost entirely. Using nothing but ordinary martial techniques, he steadily suppressed the leader until the latter could barely resist anymore.

The martial techniques from Liu Wuxie's previous life remained sealed deep within his memories, and he had practically forgotten them on purpose. Unless necessary, he would never unseal them. He feared that in a moment of desperation, he might accidentally unleash an immortal art from his previous life, exposing his identity.

"Die!" Liu Wuxie suddenly twisted the blade diagonally along an extremely tricky trajectory and slit the leader's throat before the man could even react.

The remaining high immortal turned deathly pale. Terror overwhelmed him to the point where his soul nearly fled his body. He no longer dared to fight and turned to escape.

However, before he could flee, a blade shot through the air and pierced directly through his back. He stiffened before collapsing lifelessly to the ground. At that moment, every pursuer from the White Tiger Merchant Association had died.

Only then did the six men from the Peace and Stability Merchant Association finally recover from their shock. They hurried forward and bowed deeply toward Liu Wuxie.

"Young Master, thank you for saving us. May I ask how we should address you?" the young man asked respectfully while cupping his fists. He clearly intended to repay Liu Wuxie in the future if given the chance.

"Wu Xie," Liu Wuxie replied calmly, deliberately using a false name to conceal his identity.

"Thank you, Young Master Wu. My name is Chen An. With your abilities, how did you end up in such a miserable state..." Chen An stopped midway through the sentence, but the meaning was already obvious. Someone with Liu Wuxie's strength should have easily found a stable position in any merchant association.

Although such treatment wouldn't compare to the status of true experts, it would at least guarantee food and shelter.

"To be honest, my clan declined, and I eventually wandered here after losing everything," Liu Wuxie replied casually, fabricating a believable story. The only reason he had intervened earlier was that he heard a familiar name.

"Young Master Wu, since you currently have nowhere to go, would you be willing to join the Peace and Stability Merchant Association? We happen to be lacking manpower right now," Chen An asked excitedly. His eyes brightened the moment he heard Liu Wuxie had become a wandering cultivator after his clan's downfall.

"In that case, I'll have to thank Young Master Chen for taking me in," Liu Wuxie replied with a faint smile while cupping his fists.

He had intentionally said those words to verify whether this Peace and Stability Merchant Association was truly the same one he had established years ago. If it were, then he would have the opportunity to reunite with an old friend. If not, he could leave later. In any case, he had just arrived in the celestial realm and currently had nowhere to settle down.

And so, Liu Wuxie continued traveling alongside the escort group. Through Chen An, he learned that they were transporting goods to Fourfold City. The city lord had personally ordered a batch of immortal beasts.

Many immortal beasts needed to be raised from a young age to suppress their savage nature. Inside the boxes were three rare immortal beasts.

The Peace and Stability Merchant Association had been responsible for escorting them. Unfortunately, the White Tiger Merchant Association had ambushed them midway through the journey. If Liu Wuxie had not arrived in time, the enemy would have slaughtered the entire escort.

It didn't take long for Liu Wuxie to grasp the overall situation. When the group passed by a stream, Liu Wuxie cleaned himself thoroughly and changed into a fresh set of clothes provided by Chen An. Fortunately, the clothes fit him reasonably well.

The Peace and Stability Merchant Association operated from Moon Reverence City, and Fourfold City governed the entire region. Fourfold City occupied a massive territory, whereas Moon Reverence City was much smaller. Ordinary people required two full days to travel between the two cities. A profound immortal, however, could make the trip in only four hours.

By dusk, the group of seven finally arrived beneath Fourfold City's towering walls.

"Let's head inside!" Chen An called out as he led everyone toward the city gates. Every entrant had to pay two immortal stones as an entrance fee.

At the moment, Liu Wuxie possessed absolutely nothing. Forget immortal stones, he couldn't even find a single needle on his body.

Chen An paid 14 immortal stones in total and successfully brought everyone into Fourfold City.

The city bustled with prosperity. Even at this hour, the streets remained crowded with people. Like Chen An's group, many cultivators had arrived in Fourfold City to trade.

The Fleeting Cloud Celestial Realm was divided into numerous regions, and a place like Fourfold City could only be considered an ordinary city by celestial realm standards. Immortal Emperors had long since seized the truly central territories and ruled over their own domains. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Under normal circumstances, the cargo should've arrived during the afternoon. However, the ambush from the White Tiger Merchant Association had delayed them considerably. Because of that, Chen An feared the City Lord Mansion would make things difficult for them, so he immediately escorted the goods over.

Once they explained the purpose of their visit, the steward opened a side gate and let them in.

"Take the cargo to the rear courtyard and collect your payment from the finance office," the steward instructed. Since this wasn't the Peace and Stability Merchant Association's first transaction with the City Lord Mansion, they already understood the process clearly.

Before entering, Chen An discreetly slipped a small pouch into the steward's sleeve. Although no one else noticed the exchange, it naturally didn't escape Liu Wuxie's notice.

Because Chen An understood how to handle people properly, the steward frequently entrusted him with important deliveries.

"Many thanks, Steward!" Chen An bowed respectfully, smiling with a flattering expression.

Once the steward departed, Chen An's demeanor immediately returned to normal, in stark contrast to the humble attitude he had displayed moments earlier. But in the celestial realm, those standing at the bottom had no choice but to act tactfully if they wished to survive.

After the escort delivered the cargo to the rear courtyard, everyone finally sighed in relief. Although they had lost four companions during the journey, the successful delivery still meant they would receive substantial compensation. Even after compensating the families of the deceased guards, they would still retain a decent profit.

The group followed a corridor toward the finance office.

As he walked, Liu Wuxie quietly observed the surroundings. Judging from the scale and construction of the manor, Fourfold City's city lord clearly possessed considerable status. At the very least, the city lord had to be a divine immortal.

In the celestial realm, cultivators advanced through realms such as Heavenly Immortal, High Immortal, True Immortal, Spirit Immortal, Profound Immortal, Origin Immortal, Divine Immortal, and many others. Upon reaching the Divine Immortal Realm, a cultivator would finally gain genuine influence in the celestial realm.

Take Fourfold City's city lord for an example. He was a ninth-level Divine Immortal. Even so, divine immortals held authority only within ordinary territories. In the true core regions, they merely qualified to stand at the threshold.

Just as the group rounded a corner in the corridor, several figures suddenly appeared ahead. A woman marched toward them furiously while the two maids behind her lowered their heads nervously, not even daring to breathe loudly.

"Quick, lower your heads!" Chen An hurriedly dragged Liu Wuxie to the side and cleared the path. The other guards reacted instantly as well. Clearly accustomed to this situation, they all retreated respectfully and lowered their heads.

This was the rear courtyard of the City Lord Mansion. They couldn't even afford to offend the mansion's guard commander.

The woman's expression was ice-cold, and an overwhelming chill emanated from her. She completely ignored the Peace and Stability Merchant Association's group as she walked past them.

Only after she passed by did Chen An and the others finally relax slightly and raise their heads again. But just as they thought the matter had ended, the woman suddenly stopped and turned around.

Her sharp gaze instantly locked on Liu Wuxie.

The moment their eyes met, Liu Wuxie's heart sank heavily.