83: Who are you talking to me as?

Great Master Tie Jian's hand, which had been twirling prayer beads, completely froze, his eyes bursting with sharp light.

Wang Shidai, Flying on Water, Gao Xingkong, and others all turned pale with shock, their bodies leaning slightly forward, their gazes fixed intently on the white-haired, immortal-like figure.

Daoist Mu's smile completely vanished.

"Nonsense!" A voice like a thunderclap boomed, making the beams and pillars of Sanqing Hall hum.

The sound originated from the iron-tower-like giant next to Eagle Eye Lao Qi — Fei Shi Long Meng!

This Fei Shi Tusi, nine feet tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with muscles as gnarled as old tree roots, now had his hair and beard bristling, his eyes wide with fury, looking like an enraged Protector Vajra.

His large, fan-like hand rested on the hilt of the huge curved saber at his waist, his bell-like eyes glaring fixedly at Lu Jiuyuan:

"Daoist Mu is a revered elder of Wudang Mountain, highly virtuous and respected. How dare a madman like you slander him here!

What Netherworld Manor, what Old Handle of the Saber, I think you've gone mad, or perhaps you're being manipulated, deliberately trying to disrupt Wudang Mountain's grand ceremony!"

His voice was like a great bell, carrying a tyrannical Aura, attempting to quell the turbulent waves Lu Jiuyuan had stirred up with his imposing presence.

"By what authority are you speaking to me?" Lu Jiuyuan asked Long Meng calmly.

"Is it the Jianghu or the officialdom?"

Long Meng was momentarily choked by this understated question, then puffed out his chest, his voice like a great bell:

"People of the world discuss worldly affairs! What of the Jianghu? And what of officialdom?! Daoist Mu is highly virtuous and respected, how dare you..."

"If you speak to me as a Jianghu person, then let us resolve it with Jianghu methods.

If you speak to me as an official, then you must come here, kneel first, and only then will you be qualified to speak to me!"

The word 'kneel' struck Long Meng's heart like a heavy hammer, and also shattered the dead silence in the entire Sanqing Hall.

This was no longer Jianghu etiquette; this was the naked majesty of imperial power!

It was the monstrous privilege of 'as if the Emperor himself were present,' where officials below the fourth rank could be executed first and reported later, and one did not need to bow to officials!

Long Meng's bristling, bearded face instantly turned liver-red, his thick fingers gripping the hilt of the curved saber at his waist, his knuckles turning white and cracking with the force.

Kneel?

How could he, the dignified Fei Shi Tusi, a regional overlord, kneel before someone in such public view?

"This is Wudang Mountain, and everyone present is a Jianghu Senior. I am speaking to you as a Jianghu person!"

"A Jianghu person..." Lu Jiuyuan said faintly, "A general of the Netherworld Manor is naturally a Jianghu person!"

The word "general" left his lips, like a ladle of cold water poured into boiling oil!

Long Meng's bearded face, flushed with anger, instantly turned pale, and a trace of extremely well-hidden shock and panic flashed in his bell-like eyes!

He was the deepest mole Old Handle of the Saber had planted among Eagle Eye Lao Qi and the others, never truly exposed to anyone!

Neither Ye Lingfeng, nor Ye Xue, Ye Ling, or Hua Guafu knew his true identity, except for Old Handle of the Saber.

How did Lu Jiuyuan find out?!

This brief moment of shock was his last thought in this life.

"Zheng—!"

The unique, shrill sword cry of the Guhong Sword, like an icy wind from the Nine Netherworlds tearing through cloth, suddenly exploded!

Lu Jiuyuan moved!

There was no building of Aura, no warning.

His wrist merely lifted and thrust upwards with an extremely subtle movement!

Fast!

A speed beyond the limits of human perception!

A clear, solitary, and transcendent sword light, like a frigid lightning bolt cutting across the sky, suddenly illuminated in the warm spring sun, instantly engulfing all the shock and fear in Long Meng's eyes!

Long Meng's nine-foot-tall, iron-tower-like body trembled violently!

His massive hand, pressing on the hilt of the curved saber, didn't even have time to draw it an inch!

He only felt a slight cool touch at his throat, as if brushed by the softest willow leaf.

Then, boundless coldness and darkness, like a tide, instantly submerged his consciousness.

The last things remaining in his vision were Lu Jiuyuan's deep, cold eyes, and the Guhong Sword, which seemed to have never moved, shimmering with a cold silver light.

"Pfft!"

A point of crimson quietly bloomed in the center of Long Meng's thick neck, then rapidly expanded into a bottomless blood-hole!

Blood, like a long-suppressed geyser, shot out with scorching heat and a strong metallic scent, hissing as it formed a dazzling, fleeting red arc in the sunlight!

His massive body lost its support, and like a felled giant tree, it crashed heavily onto the hard, cold bluestone ground with a dull thud.

"Bang!"

Dust, mixed with the lingering blood mist, rose slightly.

The steel curved saber, finally, with the fall of his body, clattered to the ground, slipping from his waist and rolling in the dust, stained with its owner's warm blood.

In front of the entire Sanqing Hall, there was dead silence.

Even the mountain wind seemed to freeze at this moment.

One second ago, Fei Shi Tusi Long Meng was booming and aggressive; the next second, he was a corpse that had crashed to the ground.

The ghastly blood-hole in his throat silently spoke of the terror and Emotionless of Lu Jiuyuan's sword.

Too fast! Too ruthless! Too decisive!

From Lu Jiuyuan revealing the "general" identity to Long Meng's death and collapse, it was merely the time of a sentence, a raised hand, and a flash of light!

So fast that Daoist Shi Yan's thought of stopping him had just arisen, Great Master Tie Jian's fingers, which had been twirling prayer beads, were still suspended in mid-air, and the shock on the faces of Wang Shidai, Flying on Water, Gao Xingkong, and others had just solidified... everything was already settled.

Only the Guhong Sword, hanging diagonally, had a full drop of blood at its tip, reflecting an eerie red light in the sun, slowly gathering, elongating, and finally silently dripping onto the bluestone slab at Lu Jiuyuan's feet.

"Tap."

A soft sound, yet it was like a heavy hammer, striking hard at the heart of everyone present.

Lu Jiuyuan didn't even spare a glance at the corpse at his feet.

"Daoist Mu, what do you have to say?"

"Sword Devil! What are you doing? Killing Long Meng in front of all the heroes in the world, what do you take us for?

Where do you think this is? Do you think you can do whatever you want?" A burly elder shouted angrily.

Lu Jiuyuan moved!

The Guhong Sword transformed into a silver line that split light, thrusting directly at the burly elder who had just been the most vociferous, with a gaunt face and sinister eyes!

"Old Seven Chen, be careful!"

The burly elder reacted extremely quickly, his broadsword flashing out like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, intending to block!

However, it was too slow!

The trajectory of the Guhong Sword cut an incredible arc in the air, like a gazelle's horn, seemingly ignoring the distance of space. The sword tip trembled, having already bypassed the sword light, and precisely pricked the elder's glabella!

"Pfft!"

A soft sound, like a ripe watermelon being pierced.

The sinister look in the burly elder's eyes was instantly replaced by a gaping void. His body stiffened, and his soft sword clattered to the ground.

A red mark on his glabella rapidly spread, and blood mixed with brain matter slowly flowed down.

Lu Jiuyuan flicked his wrist, and the sword tip deftly lifted and sliced!

"Chila!"

A teeth-grinding sound of tearing leather rang out.

The skin at the elder's glabella, along with the entire forehead section, was actually lifted and torn open by the sharp-edged sword tip, as if peeling an orange!

A human skin mask, thin as a cicada's wing, stained with blood and mucus, was precisely flicked off by the tip of the Guhong Sword and landed on the bluestone floor.

Beneath the mask was a completely different face!