Monarch Of Time

Chapter 1058 Shadow over Iron Dawn (2)

The scent of fragrant plum leaves wafted through the air as a middle-aged man poured a steaming pot of tea at a nearby table, his movements slow and practiced.

Shun Long sat by the balcony, on the table right next to him, his gaze fixed casually on the Ma family estate in the distance.

He knew the way the Lunar Grave guild operated. They’d kill anyone and everyone as long as the price was right.

But that wasn’t how Shun Long did things.

It wasn’t that he saw himself as some righteous cultivator, upholding fairness and justice above all else. No, he simply refused to let others dictate his blade. Whether someone lived or died by his hand, that decision would be his alone.

Not the guild’s. Not the client’s. Not anyone else’s.

A moment later, the waiter arrived with his tea, a clear, steaming brew that carried a soft floral aroma, similar to the middle-aged man’s on the next table.

The waiter caught it with both hands, eyes lighting up for a brief moment before he heard the question that followed.

”What can you tell me about the patriarch of the Ma family?”

The man blinked. ”Ma Renwu?”

The name slipped out almost reflexively. But the moment it left his lips, the waiter stiffened. His posture straightened, and he lowered his gaze as if realizing he’d said something dangerous.

”I-I’m sorry. What I meant to say is... Patriarch Ma is... a peculiar person.” the waiter stammered. His hands trembled slightly as he tucked the spirit stone into his sleeve. ”You see, he doesn’t have the best reputation around here.”

He hesitated, then cast a glance toward the teahouse’s rear corridor, as if making sure no one was listening. After a moment, his voice dropped to a whisper.

”This isn’t exactly a secret, but the Ma family has been at odds with the Lei family for years, all because of Patriarch Ma’s actions. Apparently, the man’s tastes are a bit... weird.”

Shun Long didn’t respond. He simply watched the man, his expression unchanged.

The waiter swallowed and continued.

”Rumor has it, he assaulted the Lei family’s youngest son a few years ago and defiled him. They say the boy took his life the next morning in front of his whole family. Of course, there was no proof of the incident, no witnesses, no memory recording jades. Still, everyone already knew about Ma Renwu’s unusual... preferences, and since he’d already made a move towards the Lei’s youngest once before but was refused, it wasn’t that difficult to connect the dots.”

He glanced once more at the spirit stone he’d been given, then shook his head and added in

”Either way, I suggest senior to stay away. Apparently, the situation in the Ma family isn’t that good these days, so unless you have some urgent business with them, it’s best to avoid throwing yourself in the turmoil.”

The waiter bowed deeply once he finished speaking. Then, without waiting for a response, he turned and slipped away, vanishing into the back of the teahouse.

Shun Long remained silent as he watched the man disappear. His gaze drifted back towards the distant Ma family estate, his golden eyes narrowing momentarily.

He didn’t know if the rumor the waiter had told him was true, or if the man even had such preferences, but without verifying something, it wasn’t fair to condemn Ma Renwu. Unfortunately for the Ma family patriarch, Shun Long wasn’t looking for justice. He was only looking for a good fight. Whatever preferences the man had were none of his concern. Karma was bound to hit the man even if Shun Long didn’t do it.

A moment later, Shun Long took a few big gulps and finished his tea before vanishing from the teahouse.

...

The guards of the Ma family were only Spirit realm cultivators, so sneaking past them was basically child’s play.

A few breaths of time later, Shun Long had already infiltrated the estate and had completely enveloped it with his soul sense.

Almost immediately, he registered everything.

More than three hundred Nascent Soul cultivators were spread throughout the estate, most of them tucked away in meditation chambers or training halls. Among them, sixteen Dao King realm experts could be sensed sparring or guiding disciples, their auras steady but unremarkable.

And at the very heart of the estate, hidden in an underground chamber, Shun Long could feel it; The aura of an early rank 3 Dao Emperor!

Unsurprisingly, the Ma estate didn’t have any protective formations that blocked spatial skills like Shun Long’s blink or his space tears, so it was impossible to stop him from infiltrating the estate.

To begin with, formations like those were extremely rare and cost astronomical amounts of spirit stones. The higher the level of such a formation, the more it would cost to set it up. Even the formations in Amber Dawn that prevented teleportation throughout the city were only strong enough to restrict Dao King realm cultivators and those weaker than that.

If a Dao Emperor tried to do so, or anyone with an understanding of the Dao of Space that bordered the level of a Dao Emperor and the formation would be completely helpless against them. At most, it would only be able to alert the city guard about that person, but would be completely unable to restrict their actions.

Unfortunately, the Ma estate didn’t have any such formation. So, the moment Shun Long located Ma Renwu’s personal chambers, he just blinked and appeared directly inside the man’s room.

...

It was a dimly lit room built from reinforced crimson stone, the kind of stone that prevented any qi from leaking out during practice. Shun Long was already familiar with it, since Fu Li had insisted on using it for the entire building they’d built behind the shop. It was a common material but it was surprisingly effective.

And at the far end of the chamber, seated cross-legged atop a low platform, was a man in long black robes embroidered with a rising sun crest. His skin was pale, his lips thin, and a small cluster of jade medallions floated around him, rotating like stars in a clockwise motion.

”Who are you?!”

To his credit, Ma Renwu reacted almost instantly. His eyes snapped open, and he quickly shot up to his feet the moment he felt the unfamiliar presence in his room. A sharp wave of flame essence surged around him as he stepped back, his left hand already grabbing a thin silver sword from his spatial ring and holding it in front of his chest with both hands.

The Ma family patriarch just stared at the azure-robed old man who had just appeared inside his room, his eyes flaring in alarm.

But the old man didn’t speak.

His golden eyes simply studied the man in front of him—his posture, his essence, his expression. Weighing him. Then, the old man took out his own sword and waved it a couple of times, before he walked towards Ma Renwu.