Although the premeditated full-force strike of a Semi-Saint expert merely streaked past Huizhou County across the sky, the sun-eclipsing beam of light inevitably cast the crowd below into chaos.
Following a roar like an earth dragon turning over, the queue waiting beneath the gate tower instantly lost all semblance of order.
Ordinary commoners had no idea what was happening, but long-ingrained instinct told them that those towering city walls could offer them sanctuary.
Farmers carrying baskets of fresh vegetables fought desperately to push their way inside, only to be struck down by the caravan guards riding high-headed horses. Seasonal produce scattered across the ground. The caravan leader tried to bribe the sentries into letting them pass, but the chaotic throng swept him away, and endless curses echoed beneath the arched gate.
In this state of total disorder, the first death soon followed.
A scrawny old woman, crying out with blood running down her head, threw herself over her bamboo basket with all her might to protect the vegetables meant to support her household. Yet the surging crowd mercilessly knocked her down, trampling over her back and forth until she went completely still.
"Trespassers at the gate shall be executed!"
As the shout fell, a martial apprentice clad in City Defense Bureau robes swung his blade at the waists of several men trying to slip inside amid the commotion. Bolstered by cultivation, the edge cleaved straight through them, severing them in two!
The City Defense Bureau had drawn steel.
The gruesome sight and murderous aura momentarily cowed the chaotic crowd, but order lasted merely a few breaths.
A few breaths later, another earth-shattering tremor resonated from above.
This time, unlike the first distant rumble across the horizon, it struck right outside Huizhou City.
The mortals beneath the walls did not know what was happening; they only knew that the blast was immediately followed by a torrential gale.
A ferocious astral wind swept down from midair. The shockwave of the collision ripped across the ground, violently jolting those of frail constitutions into spitting blood!
Horses shrieked, people wailed, and unseen terror spread beneath the walls. The fragile order broke down once more as the mob surged toward the city with reckless abandon.
Pressed by a desperate wave of people fighting for survival, the dozens of low-rank martial apprentices from the City Defense Bureau could no longer hold the line.
A lucky few managed to flee inside, but far more were jammed beneath the archway of the gate tower by the rushing human tide, an ocean of weeping, screaming, and jostling.
Squeezed from the front, back, left, and right, they could barely breathe. Some tried to retreat, but there was nowhere to go; a sense of hopeless suffocation fell over everyone beneath the gate.
Right at that moment,
an even more despair-inducing sound rumbled through the air.
It was a low, heavy groaning.
Looking up at the sound, people saw the massive, ponderous city gate slowly descending toward the archway below.
The tunnel fell dead silent for an instant, followed by even more terrified, frantic uproar!
"Those... those bastards from the City Defense Bureau are dropping the gate!"
"Hurry... hurry! Get moving in front!"
"No, please! The gate is coming down!"
Rumble—
The City Defense Bureau officer in charge of the gate had seen demonic beasts and fought bandits, but what was unfolding before him defied anything in his experience.
An unknown peril had descended. For the safety of the entire county seat, and to keep the crisis from worsening, his only choice was to shut the city.
As the barrier ground inexorably downward, the panicked crowd suddenly noticed that the sky was also changing bit by bit.
One after another, emerald light screens shaped like lotus blossoms coalesced high above the city and linked together, forming a vast canopy that sheltered the entire county seat in a matter of breaths!
The city-protecting array had been activated!
Those who recognized the barrier let out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, most of the populace had never seen such a spectacle. Chaos and disorder swiftly spread from the gatehouse across the entire city.
***
When the clamorous shouting reached the courtyard, the kicked-up dust had not yet settled.
Compared to the pandemonium inside Huizhou County, the courtyard was eerily quiet.
Xu Yuan never expected to run into Li Junqing here—and certainly had not expected that while he was being targeted by an assassination above, this punk was down here having the time of his life.
Upon second thought, however, Xu Yuan understood. After all, the punk had said when he departed that he was going to experience the local "customs and culture."
As Xu Yuan's gaze swept over the woman beneath him, his eyes narrowed slightly.
Under the gentle morning sunlight,
a stunning woman lay supine on the cold stone table. Her ornate red robe was half undone, offering a faint glimpse of the heaving swell of her chest and the lovely curve of her belly. The exposed, snow-white skin was flushed with a delicate pink under the light, and the lingering blush and amorous warmth across her features invited endless reverie...
"Ahem!"
A low cough suddenly broke the silence of the courtyard, pulling Xu Yuan's gaze from the gorgeous woman over to Li Junqing.
Their eyes locked for an instant.
Li Junqing grinned.
Xu Yuan smiled too, and then shifted his gaze straight back.
"..." Li Junqing.
What man could be better to look at than a woman?
Of course, Xu Yuan wasn't staring at this ravishing woman purely for her looks; it was mainly because she looked familiar.
Yes, familiar.
Though her clothes and appearance were different, through the scrutiny of his spiritual vision, she was likely that courtesan who had accompanied Li Junqing that night back in Guangyang Prefecture.
As the thought flashed by, Xu Yuan's scrutiny of her curvaceous figure deepened.
As the world's premier flying mount, the black eagle couldn't rival a Grandmaster in speed, but it excelled in endurance, capable of flying continuously for half a month.
Over extreme distances, even an Origin Realm expert might not reach a destination faster than a black eagle pavilion, yet this woman had arrived in Huizhou County at the exact same time they did.
In that case, was this woman Li Junqing's trump card?
No wonder Lou Ji had tossed him down here...
Amid the courtyard's strange silence, the woman who had been lying on the stone table suddenly vanished from Xu Yuan's sight. In the next instant, when she reappeared, she had already fastened her ornate red robe neatly.
The enchanting woman offered a graceful, composed curtsy to Xu Yuan a short distance away.
"Qianxi greets the Third Young Master."
Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow. Without answering her, he looked at Li Junqing, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
"And this is...?"
The awkwardness on Li Junqing's face dissolved into a hearty laugh. "My favorite confidante."
"Does that mean she's my sister-in-law?"
"You wouldn't be wrong to see it that way, Changtian."
"Then why did you offer to give her to me back in Guangyang Prefecture?"
"..." Li Junqing.
Silence fell. Qianxi's lowered, bright eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
It wasn't because of the Third Young Master's teasing remarks, but because a mere Soul Condensation cultivator could actually see through her disguise...
"No need to be surprised; Lou Ji told me."
Xu Yuan tossed out a believable lie off the cuff. Glancing at the woman, he asked Li Junqing point-blank, "Junqing, what's Qianxi's cultivation?"
Lou Ji had casually thrown him down here, presumably having noticed what was going on with Li Junqing.
This woman's cultivation had to be considerable.
Li Junqing didn't answer right away. Straightening his lavish robes, he said softly, "Qianxi, Changtian is asking you a question."
Qianxi curtsied slightly and spoke in a melodious voice, "Replying to Your Highness and the Third Young Master: Qianxi had the fortune of breaking through to the Transcendent Realm this past New Year's Eve."
Transcendent...
Xu Yuan's eyes instantly lit up.
Even with his dear older sister Lou Ji protecting him, the current situation had escalated into a life-or-death crisis for him.
Judging by the grave expression on Lou Ji's face when that black-dressed woman appeared, their assailant had to be a Semi-Saint as well.
Since the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion had sent a Semi-Saint, the odds that other experts accompanied her were practically one hundred percent.
Furthermore, that surprise beam attack had clearly been premeditated.
In other words, other experts had likely already infiltrated Huizhou County.
Having another Transcendent expert on his side right now was nothing short of delivering charcoal in a snowstorm.
As he pondered, Li Junqing pointed at Xu Yuan's disheveled clothes, frowning slightly as he asked with feigned ignorance, "Changtian, did you run into an assassination attempt?"
Xu Yuan gave a slight nod and pointed toward the fully deployed city-protecting array in the sky. "Lou Ji has already engaged the assassin."
"You got assassinated, so what are you doing here at my place?"
"..." Xu Yuan.
Seeing the amused glint in Li Junqing's eyes, Xu Yuan's eyelid twitched.
They stared at each other for several breaths.
Li Junqing kept that curious expression, even blinking cheekily at Xu Yuan.
*Damn it, it's finally your turn to beg me. Think I won't fleece you dry?*
Xu Yuan stayed quiet for a moment, then smiled back. "Don't I need your help, Junqing?"
"Help?" Li Junqing raised an eyebrow, curiosity still plastered across his face. "What kind of help?"
Xu Yuan smacked his lips and nodded with a tight smile. "The assassins possess considerable cultivation. I'm afraid I'll need your confidante to step in and..."
"You need Qianxi to step in, huh..."
Li Junqing rubbed his chin with a frown, then suddenly asked, "What about my sister-in-law? Surely she wouldn't just sit by and do nothing?"
Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Sister-in-law?"
"That Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion."
"If she's your sister-in-law, what does that make your sister?"
"We keep those separate."
Li Junqing grinned cheerily. "You're my brother-in-law, and also my elder brother. Calling that Saintess sister-in-law isn't out of line."
"If your sister hears about this, you're due for a thrashing."
"You dare tell my sister?"
"..." Xu Yuan.
After a few moments of silence, Xu Yuan looked at the scoundrel with wide, helpless eyes. "Junqing, your sister-in-law left a while ago on business. Now that your brother-in-law and elder brother is being hunted down, you can't just leave me to die, can you?"
Li Junqing adopted a concerned look and nodded. "Changtian, of course I wouldn't leave you to die. But about that seven million taels of silver I lent you back in Beifeng City, you see..."
*Shit.*
Xu Yuan probed, "I recall it was five..."
"Sigh..."
Li Junqing sighed softly and looked up at the sky with a somber gaze. "Changtian, Qianxi is my true love. Asking her to protect you against experts of that caliber... what if she runs into danger?"
Watching this bastard put on an act, Xu Yuan took a deep breath and ground his teeth. "Li Junqing, aren't you afraid of being buried with me?"
Li Junqing replied without missing a beat, smiling, "Li Zhaoyuan might be bold, but he wouldn't dare breach the city just to kill you. I'm afraid I won't be joining you in the grave."
"..."
After a quiet moment, Xu Yuan asked expressionlessly, "I don't have enough ready silver or banknotes on hand. Can I pay in supplies?"
"Brother Changtian is truly straightforward!"
Li Junqing beamed, clasping his hands before stretching an open palm out toward Xu Yuan. "Anything works."
Xu Yuan reached into his robes, preparing to retrieve a Sumeru ring, but paused abruptly and asked out of nowhere, "By the way, Junqing, do you know which faction sent these assassins?"
"Hmm?"
Li Junqing gave a soft gasp of surprise and shook his head. "How would I know that?"
Xu Yuan stared into his eyes and gave a sly grin. "You don't know... do you want to?"
"..."
Silence fell, and Li Junqing's heart skipped a beat.
*Damn it.*
*This bastard is trying to drag me down with him again.*
With things escalated to this point, if he learned the assassins' identities, let alone a mere prince like him, even the Crown Prince would be silenced here.
At the thought, Li Junqing turned to walk away, but froze mid-step.
*No.*
He realized something.
From the moment Lou Ji threw Xu Changtian into his courtyard, he had already been dragged into the mud.
Whether he actually knew or not didn't matter. If Xu Yuan blurted out their identities when he ran into the assassins and added, *"I've already told the Third Prince who you are,"* he would definitely be put on the hit list.
*Damn it! Why is everyone in the Chancellor's Manor, young and old, such an underhanded schemer?!*
"..."
Sunlight still filled the courtyard, and the kicked-up dust had finally settled.
The three figures stood on the bluestone flagstones in silence. Li Junqing looked as if he had just swallowed a fly.
Calling Qianxi over had indeed been meant to keep this bastard Xu Changtian safe, so why did he feel so utterly miserable right now?
As his thoughts churned, Li Junqing caught sight of a small dark object flying toward him.
He caught it reflexively and opened his palm, revealing a Sumeru ring.
Li Junqing froze, looking up at the young man across from him.
Xu Yuan stood there, smiling warmly at him. "This is what you gave me back in Beifeng City. I never touched a bit of it. Now I'm returning it to you."
"..." Li Junqing.
Gripping the Sumeru ring, Li Junqing parted his lips, but found no words.
*Damn it, why am I actually feeling a little touched by this bastard's gesture...*
Taking a deep breath, Li Junqing slipped the Sumeru ring into his robes and rubbed his temples. "Fine, fine, fine. Qianxi, you follow Changtian for now. Obey his orders and keep him safe."
Qianxi immediately curtsied. "Yes. Qianxi will do her utmost."
Li Junqing looked back at Xu Yuan, giving him a deep, penetrating stare. "Xu Changtian, I'm lending Qianxi to you for now. You owe me a favor for this."
He paused for a beat, his tone turning somber. "And Changtian, Qianxi is my beloved. Her safety matters too."
"..."
Xu Yuan's expression didn't waver, but a chill ran through his heart.
He had anticipated that Li Junqing would have a trump card and could summon high-level experts for aid—after all, managing an enormous commercial entity like the Imperial Commerce Guild meant he would have been wasting his life if he had zero connections.
Yet Xu Yuan had truly never imagined his trump card would be one of his romantic confidantes—and a completely obedient Transcendent Realm confidante at that.
Such a relationship was far too intimate.
For a prince who didn't even dare break through to third-rank Grandmaster just to avoid rousing the Crown Prince's suspicion, was having such an expert by his side normal?
Not in the slightest.
Even for heirs of top factions, Transcendent experts were hardly common, let alone one who followed every command.
Thoughts raced through his mind in an instant, and Xu Yuan understood what Li Junqing meant.
This Transcendent woman named Qianxi was likely someone the Crown Prince had planted at his side.
Li Junqing wanted to use this opportunity to eliminate his "beloved."
After a brief pause, a smile curved on Xu Yuan's lips. "Don't worry. I don't have the chance to make any inappropriate moves on your beloved right now anyway."
Li Junqing rolled his eyes. "With your cultivation, you couldn't take her innocence even if you tried."
Xu Yuan gave the Flesh Integration Realm prince an odd look, sizing him up. "So you've just been all thunder and no rain this entire time too?"
"Too?"
Li Junqing caught the keyword. He swept an arrogant glance over Xu Yuan, shook his head, and smiled cryptically. "Qianxi isn't like my elder sister. She's a gentle, accommodating woman."
"Accommodating?"
"She relaxes on her own."
"..." Xu Yuan.
Li Junqing waved his hand dismissively. "What are you still standing around here for?"
Xu Yuan chuckled wryly. "In such a hurry to kick me out?"
Li Junqing scoffed in exasperation. "The one they want to assassinate is you, not me. If we get cornered in this courtyard in a bit, I'll have Qianxi protect me first."
Xu Yuan gave a quiet chuckle, then solemnly cupped his hands. "Junqing, I'll remember this favor. I'll repay it when the opportunity arises."
"Save it. Just don't drag me down with you next time something happens."
Li Junqing waved with a grin. As he spoke, he pointed to the crater Xu Yuan had smashed into the courtyard. "Clean up that pit before you leave. I don't want those assassins torturing me for your whereabouts because of it."
With that, he turned and walked straight toward the stone-tiled house in the courtyard, leaving Xu Yuan with a swaggering, dramatic view of his back.
Watching the door close, only Xu Yuan and Qianxi were left in the courtyard.
Qianxi bowed respectfully and reminded him, "Third Young Master, where shall we head now?"
A bloody gleam flickered in Xu Yuan's eyes as he said softly, "We go to the black eagle pavilion first."
Qianxi did not question his motive, merely saying, "The black eagle pavilion is at the Exotic Beast Bureau's stable, quite some distance from here. Would you like this servant to carry you over?"
Xu Yuan was not surprised that she knew where the black eagle pavilion was located. He shook his head. "The assassins have likely already infiltrated the city. Traveling through the air carries too much risk."
A thoughtful look crossed Qianxi's lovely eyes. "Earlier, Chief Lou shielded you with her qi aura. Until you landed in the courtyard, this servant couldn't sense your presence at all. The assassins likely don't know your location either."
As she spoke, Qianxi's glamorous face showed not the slightest trace of embarrassment, as though she hadn't been the center of the intimate encounter Xu Yuan had walked in on moments ago.
Xu Yuan gave a slight nod.
Li Junqing probably didn't have a voyeurism fetish; had he known of Xu Yuan's arrival, he would have stopped what he was doing.
At that point, Qianxi's tone shifted, and she lowered her voice. "However, your cultivation is too weak, Young Master. A single sweep of intent-soul from those assassins would easily pinpoint your location..."
Xu Yuan smiled faintly and replied with certainty, "They haven't found me yet."
His spiritual vision had not detected any probing qi signatures.
As he spoke, Xu Yuan retrieved the willow ghost blade Tianyan had brought him from his Sumeru ring.
The moment the ghost blade appeared, an ominous aura flooded the courtyard, and mad, chaotic emotions surged up in Qianxi's heart.
Qianxi's gaze focused sharply as she instantly suppressed the negative emotions, though a trace of wariness lingered in her eyes.
With her cultivation and perception, she couldn't see through the blade; instead, she was actually influenced by it.
Did the Chancellor's Manor really entrust such a terrifying treasure to a mere Soul Condensation cultivator?
Just as she was marveling, she saw the Chancellor's Third Young Master trace a flourish of blade-light through the air.
And then—
*Squelch.*
He reversed his grip and plunged the ghost blade straight into his flank.
Qianxi froze.
Why was the Third Young Master suddenly engaging in self-harm out of nowhere?
Moreover, given the sinister power of such a weapon, even a slight scratch could doom someone at his Soul Condensation cultivation to damnation...
*Buzz—*
An invisible pulse of qi rippled from the ghost blade. Xu Yuan's face turned pale as a surging wave of freezing, sinister chill seeped through the blade into his body.
Even though their energies shared the same origin, he could barely withstand the qi of this willow ghost blade at his current level.
Yet to conceal himself, this was his only option.
Under Qianxi's astonished gaze, the qi aura on Xu Yuan's body faded away bit by bit, until it vanished entirely.
Qianxi blinked her beautiful eyes, her voluptuous red lips parting slightly. "This is..."
His face pale, Xu Yuan stored the willow ghost blade back into his Sumeru ring. Circulating his technique to stop the bleeding, he whispered, "Paired with a secret technique, this ghost blade suppresses a living person's life force to resemble a withered skeleton, rendering it undetectable to outside qi senses."
"A secret technique?"
Qianxi glanced sideways.
She couldn't comprehend how someone in the Soul Condensation Realm could employ methods of this caliber.
Xu Yuan had no intention of explaining it to her, tossing out a casual excuse: "Chancellor's Manor secrets."
This secret technique was something he had devised himself during the illusion to evade pursuit by Tianye and the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion.
That he could use it at his current cultivation was largely thanks to the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art devouring a portion of the saint-grade yin source; otherwise, the moment the ghost blade pierced his flesh, he would have dropped dead on the spot.
Seeing this, Qianxi did not press further. "Qianxi overstepped."
Xu Yuan waved his hand dismissively. Heading toward the courtyard gate, he asked, "You managed to follow us all the way to Huizhou County without Lou Ji noticing. I assume I don't need to worry about your breath-concealment techniques?"
Qianxi smiled faintly, following at an unhurried pace behind him. "Please rest assured on that front, Third Young Master. This servant has ample confidence in her concealment arts. It is just..."
She paused briefly, asking with slight confusion, "Since you possess such a method, Young Master, why not find a hidden chamber to hole up in? The assassins shouldn't be able to find you."
Xu Yuan let out a soft laugh and glanced up at the sky blanketed by the city-protecting array.
"They might indeed fail to find me."
"Then why...?"
"Because they can simply slaughter the city."
Leaving the courtyard and slipping out of the alley, Qianxi silently commandeered a carriage. Leaving a dozen or so taels of broken silver with the knocked-out victim, she drove Xu Yuan toward the Exotic Beast Bureau.
The carriage was the lowliest variety used by commoners.
A plain pony, an ordinary apricot-wood frame, and worn wheels that rattled and jolted even over a smooth official thoroughfare.
Yet at a time like this, Xu Yuan had no leisure to fuss over comfort; the most ordinary carriage on the streets was precisely what would draw the least attention.
As they rolled along, the chaos and clamor in the streets persisted, though low-rank martial apprentices had begun trying to restore order, far more than when the panic first broke out.
They were not government constables, but martial apprentices wearing the livery of local gentry retainers.
Presumably, Xiao Bai had made her move on that end.
To a "country girl" like Xiao Bai from a destitute region, this affluent seat of Huizhou County would become her territory in the future; whether people or goods, everything was a precious resource that needed to be preserved.
Apart from the chaotic mortals on the ground, the clash of titans between Lou Ji and the black-dressed woman was still underway.
However, across all of Huizhou County, no one besides those few assassins and Qianxi could witness the combat—Xu Yuan included.
All they could perceive were the unsettling detonations repeatedly rattling the sky, along with the ripples endlessly spreading across the emerald canopy of the city-protecting array...
Were it not for this array, the sheer aftershocks of the battle between Lou Ji and that black-dressed woman would have flattened Huizhou County a dozen times over.
Pondering this, Xu Yuan looked up at the sky, then down at his hands, letting out a low sigh.
If only he still possessed his cultivation from the illusion, or his former aberrant ghost form, the situation before him would never have come to this...
"Brat, what are you heading to the black eagle pavilion for?"
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice ringing in his mind. "It shouldn't be safe there."
"Of course I know it's not safe."
Snapping back to the present, Xu Yuan glanced at the Blood God Stone pendant hanging against his chest and replied with a smile through voice transmission, "But the most dangerous place is often the safest, isn't it?"
Luo Xiran gave a soft snort, her tone exasperated. "Hmph, don't feed me nonsense."
Xu Yuan fell silent for a moment as the figure of that black-dressed woman surfaced in his mind.
"Alright. The truth is, that woman in black felt somewhat familiar to me."
"Familiar?"
Luo Xiran asked in mild disbelief, "She wore a mask, and you could recognize her?"
"No, it's the charged beam technique she used. It reminded me of an old acquaintance."
"An old acquaintance?"
"Yeah."
Xu Yuan answered softly, thinking to himself that it was an acquaintance he knew from his past life playing *Cangyuan*.
Luo Xiran's voice took on an odd tinge. "How old are you to have 'old acquaintances'? You should know how perilous this journey is. If you run headlong into those assassins, not even this seat and that girl combined could protect you."
Xu Yuan let out a long breath and replied through voice transmission with a light chuckle:
"If they fail to find me, they'll just resort to slaughtering the city indiscriminately anyway. Rather than waiting around, I might as well do what I can right now."
Luo Xiran fell quiet for a few moments, then sighed, "I hope you know what you're doing."
Xu Yuan chuckled under his breath. "Don't worry, I—"
"Third Young Master, something happened at the Exotic Beast Bureau!"
Before he could finish, Qianxi's crisp voice, laced with confusion, pierced into the carriage.
Xu Yuan frowned and instinctively pulled back the curtain to look in the direction of the Exotic Beast Bureau.
As if confirming Qianxi's warning, a brilliant white light abruptly erupted across the sky in the distance.
Then—
A mushroom cloud of blazing flame billowed upward, its shockwave flattening several surrounding city blocks in an instant!
A torrential heat wave rolled outward. Under the impact, the emerald canopy of the city-protecting array dimmed noticeably in a flash, and even Xu Yuan, several li away, could faintly feel the stifling temperature.
Staring blankly at the sudden magical bombardment, Xu Yuan's first thought was that the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion had gone mad.
Ordinarily, using wide-scale destructive arts to purge a city could indeed force him out—after all, he would have to resist if a blast landed directly on his head. But that was supposed to be a desperate, last-ditch measure. Why were they butchering the city right off the bat without even looking for him...?
While Xu Yuan was still gripped by shock and bewilderment,
an aged, raspy voice filled with madness rang out across the entirety of Huizhou County:
"Die! All of you must die!! Ahaha... Hahahahaha—!!!!"
Chapter 426