Chapter 59

Princess Xinping waved at them, and the verbal clash between the two was temporarily suspended.

Xinping had crossed paths with Zhu Huan a few times. Since the latter owed her introduction for his entry into Chang'an's circles of power and prestige, he naturally could not ignore her now.

After a few polite pleasantries exchanged between the two, the princess turned her gaze toward Li Chengying, showing a keen interest in the minister's son who was attending a social gathering for the very first time.

Stories of how Li Chengying had encountered an immortal destiny and recovered without medicine had already circulated through the capital several times over.

Not just Princess Xinping, but ever since Li Chengying walked in, many people who had only heard his name cast numerous glances in his direction. Especially when he stood alongside Zhu Huan—one as gentle and warm as a spring breeze, the other as frosty and aloof as a transcendent master—they effortlessly drew the attention of many onlookers, particularly female guests.

Right at that moment, a young page boy approached them.

"Pardon me, might you be Master Zhu?"

"I am," Zhu Huan replied.

The page bowed hastily and said, "Master, the immortals from the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven wish to invite you over for a meeting."

Princess Xinping looked surprised. "Could it be Grand Preceptor Wan?"

The page answered, "It is the Preceptor's two junior fellow apprentices, Immortal Zhou and Immortal Liu."

Princess Xinping understood. Grand Preceptor Wan valued his own status and would never condescend to attend such a banquet, but dispatching his junior apprentices could be considered showing a fair amount of face.

Yet Zhu Huan did not move, instead asking with a faint chill in his tone, "Why must I go to them instead of them coming to me?"

Even the people at the Ci'en Temple merely assumed his cultivation was ordinary; no one could have imagined that this man was actually a cultivator at the Demonic Immortal realm.

Having lingered in the Bone-Reflecting realm for so many years, he only needed to let his face drop slightly to frighten the page boy into terrified silence.

Li Chengying suddenly turned his head, gazing toward a dimly lit corner of the courtyard.

Amidst the pervasive aura of wealth and prosperity filling the entire venue, he caught a scent of something entirely unusual.

That presence flitted and darted past, vanishing in a flash.

As if to confirm his intuition, a chorus of screams erupted from the other side of the garden a moment later!

Not just one cry, but more than a dozen.

At the same time, everyone on this side heard a resounding crash, instantly followed by a blinding flash of white light piercing the sky!

***

When Zhou Lanqing heard that someone actually dared to claim themselves a disciple of the Ten Thousand Plum Blossom Pond within the capital, he had let out several sneers.

The origins of the feud between the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven and the Ten Thousand Plum Blossom Pond were not entirely clear to most people.

However, almost no sects across the realm were unaware that the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven had nearly driven the Ten Thousand Plum Blossom Pond to extinction.

At the same time, many cultivators were well aware that the capital was the territory of the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven, and that their Junior Uncle Wan Renshan was revered as the Grand Preceptor, held in high esteem by both the emperor and the crown prince.

Now, that swaggering rogue cultivator surnamed Zhu had dared to brazenly state his affiliation, fraternizing with the powerful and elite throughout the capital while openly ignoring the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven.

Whether he was an impostor or genuinely hailed from the Ten Thousand Plum Blossom Pond, it was an audacious act of provocation.

With Wan Renshan's lofty status as Grand Preceptor, it was naturally impossible for him to lower himself by seeking the man out personally.

Thus, Zhou Lanqing and Liu Xisheng bore the unshirkable responsibility of taking on this task. Armed with invitations, they had come to attend the Sun family's evening banquet with the intent of catching the fellow surnamed Zhu right in public.

Whether they taught him a lesson or killed him outright, they would ensure he never again had the opportunity to swindle people under false pretenses.

Yet, before they even laid eyes on the man surnamed Zhu, they fell victim to a sneak attack right here at the banquet, under the gaze of everyone present.

Zhou Lanqing did not even see who had struck.

As he had just raised his wine cup, a burst of white light exploded before his eyes, dazzling like fireworks.

Sensing danger by instinct, Zhou Lanqing tried to retreat, but it was already too late.

A white tiger lunged forward, crashing squarely into his chest!

Struck by agonizing pain, he shrieked on the spot, coughed up a large mouthful of blood, and fell backward to the ground.

His junior brother, Liu Xisheng, had reacted somewhat faster.

The moment the white light erupted, Liu Xisheng had already leapt backward.

The fierce Qi of the pouncing white tiger made his skin prickle with pain, and numerous gasps instantly appeared on his body, but he managed to salvage his life.

Many people nearby failed to react in time and were similarly knocked down by the violent gale-force Qi, tumbling to the ground in a chaotic heap.

Screams rose and fell in succession.

***

"Senior Brother!"

It was only then that Liu Xisheng caught sight of Zhou Lanqing's horrific state.

The latter had a massive hole blasted through his chest, lying flat on his back with blood streaming from his seven orifices. He had died on the spot.

"Who?! Who did this? Get out here!"

Terrified and enraged, Liu Xisheng looked all around, but saw only panicked guests. Where was he to find the assailant?

Yet the threat had not vanished.

The next moment, someone shoved him violently from behind, sending him stumbling forward off balance!

After a single step, his surroundings plunged into abrupt darkness. Every candle and light at the evening banquet vanished, leaving it so dark he could not see his own hand in front of his face.

When he had accompanied his senior brothers to Limeng City previously, Liu Xisheng had only just stepped into the Lucid realm of martial cultivation, which was equivalent to the Sword Intent realm of sword cultivators.

Neither he nor Zhou Lanqing had dared to enter the Dahe Youxian Trials, ultimately reduced to wandering the outer city and suffering a humiliating lesson at the hands of Xie Chang'an.

Now, several years later, he still remained lingering at the initial stage of the Lucid realm without a single inch of progress. Faced with the predicament before him, he had no better solution; a thousand-gold-could-not-buy golden silk horsetail whisk was swept out by him in multiple directions, yet his spiritual power sank into the void like a stone in the ocean, failing to locate any enemy.

"Show yourself!"

He put up a bold front while drenched in cold sweat.

"What kind of skill is hiding head and tail? Get out here!"

A light chuckle sounded.

"Does the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven only raise a bunch of good-for-nothings who borrow the might of others to intimidate people?"

The voice was crystal clear, yet Liu Xisheng had no idea where it was coming from, turning his complexion pale.

"I originally didn't want you to die so painlessly, but the old ones won't come out until the young ones are beaten. I suppose I'll grant you this end."

Before the words had even faded, Liu Xisheng felt a gust of fierce Qi wash over his face—frigid and sticky, as if laden with an endless sea of blood. Contact with it made his entire body tremble, and his spiritual power was instantly sealed as tightly as a tightly corked bottle, unable to leak out even a sliver.

Liu Xisheng opened his mouth to cry out for help at the top of his lungs, but could only swallow a mouthful of fishy, iron-tasting reek, as though boundless blood were surging in, forcing him to gulp it down swallow by swallow.

***

A quarter-hour prior, Xie Chang'an was standing on the eastern side of the garden, listening to two noble matrons discuss those two recent tragic annihilation cases in the capital.

Everyone knew that those two households had been riding high on success and were both confidants of Duke Cheng of Zhou, Li Fuguo. How could their entire families suddenly commit suicide out of nowhere? There had to be a reason behind it, yet no matter how the investigators searched, they could find no trace of the culprit, leaving them no choice but to attribute it to bizarre and supernatural forces?

"If you ask me, could this matter have something to do with Empress Zhang? She has always opposed the crown prince's accession, and Li Fuguo is a supporter of the crown prince..."

"Shh, keep your voice down. The crown prince has immortals from the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven by his side, what can she possibly do?"

"There's more than one Southern Yue Grotto-heaven in the world. I heard from my nephew that there are plenty of such immortals. Just like in the imperial court nowadays, they have their respective factions. Who's to say an immortal who can't stand the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven hasn't defected to support the Empress..."

The two murmured in low tones, chatting with great relish, completely unaware that someone else was standing right beside them, listening openly.

Xie Chang'an intended to listen a bit longer—

When suddenly, sensing something, she abruptly raised her head!

A faint trace of demonic aura drifted past from not far away, immediately vanishing back into the crowd.

Xie Chang'an quickened her pace to follow, and halfway there, she happened to run into that flash of white light exploding before Zhou Lanqing.

By the time she reached the two men, Zhou Lanqing was already lying dead on the ground, while Liu Xisheng stood frozen in a daze, his mouth agape with a foolish expression. A barrier had already been cast around him; other people running past and shoving each other seemed neither to see him nor be able to enter.

However, Xie Chang'an was no ordinary person.

With a single stroke of her Consecration Brush, the barrier shattered.

The spiritual power intended to send Liu Xisheng to his doom poured forth unchecked.

With a flick of her sleeve, Xie Chang'an batted it right back!

A figure was forced into visibility by her pressure. A long spear pierced through the void, carrying an imposing aura of slaughter that surged forth wildly!

Xie Chang'an's disguise was broken, but she did not summon her Remaining Heaven Sword; she merely raised the hand holding the Consecration Brush.

Too fast to cover ears, the tip of the brush met the tip of the spear. The opponent shuddered slightly, his expression changing drastically!

Through this single exchange, the adversary knew instantly that he was no match for Xie Chang'an.

Decisive on the spot, the man turned and retreated!

Knowing he could not win, he even resorted to shifting forms and exchanging shadows, his figure flickering elusively until he was already several zhang away in the blink of an eye.

Yet the presence behind him did not wane at all, doggedly trailing him step for step without halting even half a pace.

However far he ran, she followed; however fast he ran, she matched his speed.

He could not let her keep tailing him!

Clenching his teeth, he stopped and whirled around.

The long spear surged like towering ocean waves, whipping up the bricks and stones on the ground with monstrous Qi as they smashed together toward the approaching figure!

The red-robed maiden opposite him did not move an inch. All the bricks, stones, and fierce Qi came to an abrupt halt three inches in front of her, suspended motionless in mid-air.

At that moment, a cat's yowl rang out as a pitch-black shadow lunged toward the red-robed woman's back!

"Xiao Qiao, stop!" he shouted sternly.

Yet it was a step too late. Just as the cat demon lunged onto the woman's back, it was flicked away, crashing heavily onto the ground!

The red-robed woman flicked her sleeve in reverse, and all the bricks, stones, and Qi were reflected back along their original path, smashing down toward his head.

The man had been prepared and dodged away by leaping aside, though his clothes were inevitably torn, leaving him looking somewhat disheveled.

Once he landed, he immediately cried out, "You and I are not enemies, nor are you affiliated with the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven! Why must you meddle in this business!"

"State your name and origins."

Xie Chang'an looked at him.

The opponent wore coarse cloth garments, his appearance disheveled with his hair half-loose.

He looked much more like a craftsman than a cultivator.

She could not tell which sect he hailed from, and it seemed no sect disciples would dress in such a manner.

While she locked her gaze onto him, he was similarly observing her.

A peerless beauty in red, with a cultivation level superior to his own and an unfathomable background.

Yet she was definitely not from the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven, nor did she resemble any hired help brought in by them.

He could sense that the moment they landed, she had already erected a talismanic barrier around the area, cutting off his retreat and ensuring their fight would not disturb others or draw onlookers.

Spring breeze bringing life, moistening things silently without a sound.

With methods like these, her cultivation was at least at the Martial Heart realm.

Yet this female also seemed shrouded in an extra layer of unfathomable mystery.

Despite both being Martial Heart realm cultivators, he found himself completely unable to read her true depth.

"I am Li Hentian, a disciple of the Ten Thousand Plum Blossom Pond."

Within a few breaths, he chose to reveal his affiliation.

Xie Chang'an raised an eyebrow slightly.

She and Zhu Huan had been impersonating this very sect to swagger around the capital, yet she had not expected to genuinely run into a disciple of the Ten Thousand Plum Blossom Pond right here.

Outwardly, she maintained a calm and chilly demeanor.

"The Ten Thousand Plum Blossom Pond was destroyed by the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven. How do you prove what you say is true?"

Li Hentian said apathetically, "Just as you said, what value is there in impersonating a nearly eradicated sect? When the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven destroyed our sect, I happened to be traveling abroad and escaped the disaster, only to return and find my sect overthrown and my family ruined."

Xie Chang'an replied, "So you want to kill people from the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven for revenge? Zhou Lanqing and Liu Xisheng are merely minor, low-level juniors in the sect. Killing them achieves nothing beyond venting your anger."

Li Hentian asked, "Are you trying to stop me just to curry favor with the people of the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven?"

Xie Chang'an answered, "I have no ties whatsoever to the Southern Yue Grotto-heaven, but I am searching for an item related to them. I cannot let you kill someone in front of me."

"Don't believe her!"

The cat demon darted out from the darkness, landing at Li Hentian's side.

Its breathing was heavy, clearly heavily injured.

"She is the one who tried to kill me outside the Ci'en Temple that night! They've been impersonating the Ten Thousand Plum Blossom Pond out there precisely to lure us out into the open!"

The cat demon glared fiercely at her, its dark green pupils filled with lingering hatred.

Half of its tail had been severed by Xie Chang'an and had yet to grow back, and now it had been flung aside once more. If looks could kill, Xie Chang'an would have died seventeen or eighteen times over by now.

"If I truly wanted to kill you, you would already be a dead cat by now."

Xie Chang'an said indifferently. Her tone was arrogant, but she was merely stating a fact.