At this moment, the three women on the top deck of the pleasure boat—Miss Chen Shuang, Fairy Qingqiu, and Miss Xiang Yi—were shaken by a furious roar that left their ears ringing and their heads spinning. They could barely stay on their feet and were unsteady as they stood. They also saw the grotesque and ferocious three-headed monster charging toward them.


    “Demons! Three demons!” The three women shivered, their legs turning weak from fear.


    Suddenly, a streak of light shot across the surface of the lake from afar. Miss Chen Shuang spotted it. Although the figure was blurry, she recognized it instantly.


    “Brother Yun!” Miss Chen Shuang felt her heart leap as she sensed that Brother Yun was racing toward them desperately. But the demons were too close.


    “There’s no time!” Qin Yun’s heart was filled with anxiety and grief.


    This wasn’t the first time he had encountered such a situation.


    On the battlefield along the northern border, he had watched comrades who had shared life and death with him fall into desperate situations. Helpless, he could only stand by and witness their deaths, unable to save them.


    “Xiao Shuang…” Qin Yun clenched his fists. He couldn’t bear to see Xiao Shuang meet the same fate as those lost brothers.


    At that very moment, a woman in a pale green robe, standing amidst the crowd on the riverbank, furrowed her brows slightly. “Demons?” A glint of sharpness flashed in her eyes. She stepped lightly over the crowd, and as she rose into the air, she extended her left hand. Her fingers were slender and fair, but her palm suddenly crackled with streaks of electricity, appearing out of thin air.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Thunder roared as the lightning in her palm split into three streaks, shooting toward the three demons at lightning speed.


    The dog demon wielding a large blade let out a miserable scream. Its body convulsed in midair before falling powerlessly to the ground. Under Qin Yun’s Dharma Eyes, the demon’s aura dispersed entirely, signaling its death.


    The wolf demon, struck by lightning, had its robes torn to shreds and its fur singed black. It fell into the river but remained alive, as its demonic aura persisted.


    The most massive of the three, the rhino demon, was struck by the lightning as well. Though its thick black hide crackled with residual sparks, it merely staggered and fell onto the water’s surface before regaining its footing and charging toward the pleasure boat once more. Under Qin Yun’s Dharma Eyes, it was clear that the rhino demon possessed the strongest demonic aura, and the lightning had only minimally affected it.


    Even so, Qin Yun felt a surge of relief.


    The rhino demon’s fall and subsequent recovery had bought him some time.


    “Palm Thunder?” Qin Yun silently expressed his gratitude and glanced toward the riverbank.


    There, a woman in a pale green robe stood on the railing, her robe fluttering in the wind.


    “She’s stunning.”


    Even Qin Yun, who had traveled extensively and met many people, was momentarily awestruck. This woman in green was among the top three most beautiful women he had ever seen. Coupled with the ethereal aura of a cultivator, she seemed to him the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Such a woman would undoubtedly attract a crowd wherever she went. However, as a cultivator, her presence seemed to elude the memories of ordinary people, who would perceive her as no different from a common woman.


    “Thunder is the command of heaven and earth. Among the myriad Daoist arts, thunder magic reigns supreme. This female Daoist… to wield Palm Thunder with such ease, splitting it into three strikes—impressive!” Qin Yun thought to himself.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Though his mind raced with thoughts, Qin Yun didn’t slow down, rushing straight toward the pleasure boat.


    The Flower Queen Selection was a grand event in Guangling County, drawing massive crowds. The security was tight, with the pleasure boat hosting the ten most famous courtesans being the focal point. Naturally, court-appointed military experts were stationed to guard it.


    “Demons sent by the Water God? Such audacity!”


    The corridors and decks on both sides of the pleasure boat were lined with skilled soldiers from the imperial army.


    If the demons had reached the pleasure boat unimpeded, it would have been troublesome. But with one demon dead, one injured, and the rhino demon momentarily delayed by the Palm Thunder, the soldiers were quick to mount a counterattack.


    “Shoot!”


    Several of the soldiers armed themselves with crossbows—these were the imperial court’s standard-issue Demon-Slaying Crossbows. Possessing one privately was a crime punishable by death.


    Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!


    Twelve crossbows fired simultaneously. Most of the bolts were aimed at the rhino demon, with a few targeting the injured wolf demon that had emerged from the water again.


    Thud, thud, thud…


    The wolf demon’s body was pierced by three bolts, its aura dissipating as it fell back into the river, dead.


    The remaining bolts struck the rhino demon. The distance was short, and the Demon-Slaying Crossbows fired at an incredible speed. The rhino demon made no attempt to dodge—or perhaps it simply didn’t care.


    Thud, thud, thud…


    The bolts embedded themselves in the rhino demon’s hide, but only managed to penetrate a finger’s depth into its thick skin, drawing no blood. They were completely ineffective.


    “What? It can resist the Demon-Slaying Crossbows? Why would such a powerful demon willingly throw its life away?” The soldiers were stunned. The Demon-Slaying Crossbows were lethal weapons, effective even against the lieutenants of the Water God’s forces. Only a handful of demons under the Water God’s command could withstand them. Why would such a formidable demon be sent on a suicide mission? Even if forced, such a demon would likely flee Guangling County rather than face certain death.


    After all, demons feared death as much as anyone else.


    “Take this!” The leader of the soldiers on the pleasure boat pulled out a black crossbow—an exceedingly rare Star-Chasing Crossbow, worth a hundred times more than a Demon-Slaying Crossbow. The bolt was inscribed with countless runes, and when the trigger was pulled, the runes activated, turning the bolt into a fiery meteor.


    The rhino demon only managed to twist its body slightly before the fiery meteor pierced its chest, leaving a gaping hole.


    “Die!” The towering rhino demon, even with a hole in its chest, remained full of vitality as it charged onto the pleasure boat.


    “It’s here! That terrifying demon is on the boat!”


    Inside the cabins of the pleasure boat, servants and maids huddled together with fear-stricken faces. Among them were the other seven famous courtesans, including Mistress Rumeng. They had been too stunned to react initially but were now trembling in terror as the monstrous figure loomed closer.


    “Am I going to die here?” Mistress Rumeng’s heart was filled with dread.


    “Don’t try to block it head-on!”


    “Hold it off!” The soldiers were panicked. The rhino demon’s resilience—shrugging off Demon-Slaying Crossbows and surviving a direct hit from the Star-Chasing Crossbow—left even their most skilled fighter, a ninth-level Qi Refinement cultivator, feeling hopeless.


    From her vantage point on the riverbank railing, the woman in the pale green robe prepared to unleash another Palm Thunder. However, noticing Qin Yun’s streaking figure, she hesitated and withdrew her hand. “So fast. Did he use some kind of movement technique?” A cultivator who had opened their Daoist Gate wouldn’t normally possess such speed before reaching the innate stage. It had to be a special technique.


    Qin Yun didn’t understand such techniques, but he carried a Talisman of Swift Travel with him!


    “Are we going to die here?” The soldiers on the pleasure boat were trembling. “Why would such a powerful demon willingly sacrifice itself?”


    Perhaps this demon could kill everyone on the boat, but it wouldn’t escape the massive reinforcements gathering around the area. Its death was certain. The soldiers couldn’t fathom its motives.


    “I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!” Mistress Rumeng was trembling, and the other courtesans were equally terrified.


    At that moment, Qin Yun arrived! From nearly a hundred feet away, his figure streaked toward the boat like a ray of light. The moment he landed on the deck, he unsheathed his sword.


    Swish—


    A dazzling arc of sword light cut through the air, tracing a curved trajectory and slicing through the rhino demon’s waist.


    The scene was one that the soldiers, the servants, the courtesans, and the onlookers on the riverbank would never forget for the rest of their lives. The sword light lingered in the air, leaving a shimmering trail that gradually faded.


    The rhino demon, which had been roaring and prepared to wreak havoc, suddenly froze. Its bull-like eyes widened in shock before its body split in two at the waist, and blood gushed forth.