Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

Chapter 550 You are Chen Mu? One sword strike kills!

Han Yueshan stood still, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned slightly white from the force.

But he still didn't react; he just took a deep breath, and although the smile on his face was stiff, it never disappeared.

He dared not retaliate.

The three people in front of me are from Yunzhou.

Yunzhou's influence in the imperial court is deeply entrenched, with several powerful figures at the Nascent Soul stage as their backers.

Zhou Dehai, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Granaries, was clearly much more friendly towards Yunzhou than towards Huangzhou. The fact that the three of them dared to mock Zhou Dehai so brazenly showed that they were fearless.

If he were to impulsively clash with the people of Yunzhou, regardless of whether he could win or not, the mere fact that he offended Zhou Dehai would be enough to cause Huangzhou to completely lose its foothold in the imperial court.

Chen Fan stood behind Han Yueshan, his expression calm, but his gaze swept lightly over the three of them.

The middle-aged cultivator leading Yunzhou was named Zhou Yuanhua, a peak mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, ranking second among the Nascent Soul candidates from Yunzhou.

Seeing that Han Yueshan was swallowing his anger and dared not talk back, his smug look grew even stronger, and his gaze shifted to Chen Fan.

"So you're Chen Mu?" Zhou Yuanhua sized Chen Fan up and down, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "I heard you won several matches in the Desolate State Grand Competition and even killed Duan Heng from the Yellow Sand Sect? It's one thing to show off in a small place like the Desolate State, but to be so arrogant in the Imperial City. I heard you caused quite a stir when you broke through to the Core Formation stage? Ha, you're just at the early Core Formation stage. In our Yun State, you wouldn't even qualify for the arena."

He raised his chin and said in a condescending tone, "How about it? Want to spar with me right now? I'll give you three moves. If you can even touch a corner of my clothes within those three moves, you win."

The female cultivator in the late Core Formation stage covered her mouth and laughed, "Senior Brother Zhou, don't make him cry. It's not easy for the Desolate State to produce such a capable fighter. If you cripple him, there won't be any left."

Another male cultivator in the late Core Formation stage stood up and said to Zhou Yuanhua, "Senior Brother Zhou, why do you need to personally deal with a piece of trash in the early Core Formation stage? Let me handle it."

He turned around, beckoned to Chen Fan with a finger, and a provocative smile played on his lips.

"Hey Chen, come out here. Let me see just how much this self-proclaimed number one genius of the desolate state really is. Don't worry, I'll only use seventy percent of my power; I won't kill you."

Han Yueshan frowned slightly, about to speak to stop him, but Chen Fan had already stepped out from behind him.

He looked at the male cultivator in the late stage of Core Formation, his face still calm as still water, but something seemed to flicker slightly in his eyes.

He didn't draw his sword, but simply stood there with his hands behind his back, and said calmly, "Come."

The male cultivator snorted coldly, leaped up from his seat, and pounced on Chen Fan like a large bird.

He used a subtle and yin-like palm technique, his palms flying back and forth, creating gusts of yin wind, and his palms faintly glowed with a dark light, clearly indicating that he had used poison.

He poured his late-stage Core Formation stage spiritual power into his palms without reservation, and the air hissed as the palm wind passed through it.

If this palm strike lands squarely, an ordinary early-stage Core Formation cultivator would be crippled if not killed.

He said he was only using 70% of his strength, but in reality he was using his full power.

He wanted to teach this bumpkin from the desolate state a lesson and let him know his place.

Chen Fan stood still until the dark palm print was right in front of his chest before raising his right hand.

His movements were not fast, but he grasped the hilt of the eleventh sword at his waist with perfect precision.

The next moment, a gray-white sword light flashed and disappeared in the side hall, like a shooting star streaking across the night sky, so fast that no one could blink.

The male cultivator from Yunzhou abruptly stopped.

He stared wide-eyed, his mouth slightly open, as if he wanted to say something, but only managed to utter a hoarse hoarse sound.

He looked down at his body, but saw nothing!

A thin line of blood ran down from his brow, across his nose, through his lips, through his throat, and across his chest.

His entire body, from head to toe, was cleaved in two by a single sword strike.

The two halves of the body fell to the left and right respectively, splattering blood all over the floor and staining the carpet in the side hall crimson.

A strong, pungent smell of blood filled the air, mingling with the sandalwood incense that had been burning in the side hall, creating an eerie atmosphere.

The female cultivator in the late stage of Core Formation sat blankly in the chair, the smile still on her lips, but she was as stiff as a stone statue.

A moment later, she let out a sharp scream, sprang up from the chair, stumbled back several steps and crashed into the wall, her whole body trembling like a leaf.

Zhou Yuanhua suddenly stood up, his disdain and contempt vanishing completely, replaced by shock and disbelief.

He stared intently at Chen Fan, his eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty.

He was at the late stage of Core Formation, a perfected state, and was killed with a single sword strike.

The power of that sword strike was definitely not something a person in the early stage of Core Formation could unleash.

The sharpness of the intent contained in that sword strike sent chills down his spine, even for someone at the peak of the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm.

"You..." Zhou Yuanhua opened his mouth, but found that he didn't know what to say.

Chen Fan had already sheathed his sword and stood there with his hands behind his back.

Blood dripped from the scabbard onto the carpet beside the corpse, making a soft pattering sound.

His clean, beardless face remained expressionless, as if he had just killed not a living Core Formation cultivator, but a fly blocking his way.

He raised his head, his gaze falling on Zhou Yuanhua's face, his expression calm as still water: "Not even a touch of his clothes within three moves? Is this the promise of a Nascent Soul cultivator from Yunzhou?"

Zhou Yuanhua's face turned pale and then red, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, but he hesitated to make a move.

Zhou Dehai, who was in the main seat, finally put down his teacup.

He glanced at the corpse on the ground, then at Chen Fan, who stood with his hands behind his back. A hint of surprise flashed in his cloudy old eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

He picked up his teacup and took another sip, then said leisurely, "Young cultivators these days are getting more and more impatient. It's one thing to decide life and death on the arena, but to draw swords and spears in my own residence is utterly disgraceful."

Han Yueshan snapped out of his shock and quickly stepped forward, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect to Zhou Dehai, saying, "Lord Zhou, please calm your anger. This whole affair was caused by the Yunzhou cultivators who provoked us first..."

"Alright." Zhou Dehai waved his hand to interrupt him, his tone surprisingly devoid of anger, instead carrying a hint of amusement.

"Young people are hot-blooded and impulsive, which is understandable. However, since someone has died, I cannot pretend I didn't see it. It's getting late, Lord Han, please come another day."

He added, "We'll discuss the matter of approving the rewards another day."

We'll discuss this in detail another day.

These six words carried more weight in Han Yueshan's ears than all the polite words spoken by the officials before him combined.

He gave Zhou Dehai a deep look, then cupped his hands in a respectful gesture: "Yes, this humble official takes his leave."

Chen Fan followed Han Yueshan out of the side hall.

As he passed by Zhou Yuanhua, he paused slightly, but didn't even spare the other person a glance.

The footsteps were steady and calm, gradually fading into the deathly silent side hall.

Zhou Yuanhua stood there, his face ashen, but he didn't try to stop them. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he didn't dare.

He wasn't confident he could catch that sword strike.