Who is being conquered?

The crowd in the audience seats grew larger and larger. As the time ticked closer to 9:30, the mood of the crowd became increasingly excited. The entire venue felt like the calm before a storm, a moment of silence and stifling heat, waiting for a complete release.

"Guinaifen! Look! It's Guinaifen!"

The long-suppressed emotions exploded with this single scream. Instantly, overwhelming cheers and screams surged through the venue. Fanatics waved their glow sticks and light boards, shrieking with excitement and anticipation, welcoming their idol's appearance.

"Guinaifen! Guinaifen! Guinaifen!"

"Miss Guinaifen—! It's me—! Please marry me—!!"

"Miss Guinaifen, I love you so much! For you, I'll buy a thousand limited edition figures, and it still won't be enough—!"

Listening to the high-decibel screams around him, Bai Jun really wanted to stuff cotton balls in his ears. But blocking his hearing would affect his judgment, so he could only let out a brief sigh like an elderly person who couldn't keep up with trends, "This is so exaggerated. My ears feel like they're going to go deaf."

"What? What did you say, brother—?"

"N—Nothing—!"

Lost in the massive vortex of high-powered speakers, screams, and cheers, Bai Jun could only strain to raise his voice, speaking to Bo Ti'ou in a near shout.

Amidst the fervent excitement, Guinaifen's graceful figure appeared center stage under the spotlight.

Cute, beautiful, mature, pure – in an instant, all sorts of superlative adjectives flooded the audience's minds. Gazing at the blue-haired idol with a gentle smile under the spotlight, the venue fell into a brief moment of silence.

Even Bai Jun couldn't help but linger on her face for a moment longer.

Even under the multicolored lights, her beauty and charm were undiminished. No, perhaps the elaborate makeup before her appearance was the secret to maintaining her composure under the vibrant, colorful spotlights.

Bai Jun suddenly found his and Bo Ti'ou's earlier shortsightedness laughable. No wonder the stylists and makeup artists had been dissatisfied.

But soon, this thought vanished with the ethereal melody that began to play. It was completely different from the feeling of listening to a record on a CD player. A voice that could touch the soul gradually emerged, and the audience was captivated, lost in the enchanting song.

Even Bo Ti'ou, who was also on guard duty, couldn't help but nod and hum along to the melody. Bai Jun, however, wasn't lost in the moment like the others. Instead, he discerned something else within the song.

"This feeling... is it the power of Harmony?"

Influenced by Suihuang, Bai Jun was very sensitive to the aura of various Paths. In just a moment, he detected a harmonious melody within Guinaifen's singing. However, this power had no specific target; it simply conveyed positive emotions and the beautiful concept of hope to the listeners.

Even setting aside these observations, Guinaifen's singing voice was exceptionally beautiful on its own.

Bai Jun found a spot with a good view and sat down, listening to Guinaifen's song while quietly observing the situation on stage.

Amusingly, he spotted one or two familiar figures in the crowd: Qing Que, Su Shang, and Guinaifen... and Tingyun? Wasn't she quite busy with her work?

Due to his work requirements these past couple of days, Bai Jun hadn't brought his Jade Omen with him. Thinking back now, it was indeed a wise choice. Otherwise, all those calls would have been incredibly troublesome.

As Guinaifen's song reached its halfway point, Bai Jun noticed some individuals moving in certain areas. While such movement was normal, with everyone else engrossed in Guinaifen's song and staying in their seats, these individuals stood out as particularly out of place.

Their attire was extremely ordinary, and their appearances were within the range of average people. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing amiss. However, upon closer inspection, it was clear they were all carrying a dark green single-strap sports bag slung over their shoulders, and their expressions were unnervingly calm.

Especially when Bai Jun noticed one person's wrist, his relaxed demeanor instantly vanished. He sighed and slowly rose from his seat.

"What's up, brother?"

"...Work calls."

Bai Jun's sudden movement immediately drew Bo Ti'ou's attention. Upon hearing Bai Jun's words, he unhesitatingly loaded a bullet into his revolver and scanned the audience seats with sharp eyes. "What direction?"

He trusted Bai Jun's judgment. All he needed was a word, and Bo Ti'ou would immediately fire in the direction indicated.

Bai Jun shook his head rationally and gently pushed down Bo Ti'ou's raised revolver with his hand. "We can't shoot. It will cause panic among the people in the venue."

After all, the mission to guard Guinaifen was essentially to prevent anything that could affect Luofu's reputation and image during the concert. If firing caused panic and chaos, it would completely contradict the original purpose of the mission. Maintaining a stable situation until the end was the true objective.

No matter how unreliable he might seem on ordinary days, Bai Jun knew what was more important in critical moments.

"Go inform Helen, and then continue observing from here. I'll go deal with those guys first."

After mentally noting the approximate locations and appearances of those individuals, Bai Jun picked up the saber at his waist, preparing to handle the rats in the dark corners alone. But Bo Ti'ou suddenly clapped him on the shoulder.

"It's alright, brother. I expected this. Look—"

Bo Ti'ou took a completely black silencer from his pocket and calmly attached it to the barrel of his revolver. Though he didn't know its principle, seeing Bo Ti'ou's confident demeanor, like an experienced veteran of the Cloud Cavalry, Bai Jun couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

"Cultivator, what should we do?"

The voice coming from beside him made the recently appointed Tanga stroke his chin.

As a Cultivator, he had a harmless appearance. His features were ordinary, his height normal, and his build slender, making him someone who could easily disappear into a crowd. However, the crimson hilt of a sword peeking out from under his arm seemed to hint at extreme danger.

"Patience. In ten, no, five minutes, throw the solidified powder of the Vidyadhara Marrow that we tested last time at the stage and the audience seats. Create chaos, then immediately escape to the designated location. Do not engage in prolonged combat."

After being improved following the last test in Jiren Alley, the solidified powder of Vidyadhara Marrow could now drive individuals prone to the Mara-struck Body into a frenzy in a very short time. Even for those who were not from Xianzhou, the various toxic substances in the powder would be more than enough for them.

After formulating the plan, Tanga smugly glanced at the Cloud Cavalry soldiers stationed around the venue, marveling at their foolishness.

He hadn't expected this mission to be so easy. Perhaps Luofu simply didn't care about this concert. The Cloud Cavalry guards were all ordinary individuals, and the security check hadn't presented any trouble. Everything was unbelievably smooth and easy, which suited him perfectly.

As long as he could cause chaos during this concert, Luofu would surely be embroiled in public opinion. It would be best if he could kill that superstar. Then, under the pressure of public opinion and Penacony, Luofu's internal affairs would surely descend into disarray.

However, he received no response from the follower behind him. Tanga, who had fought his way through the sea of corpses of Zhuming, suddenly seemed to realize something, his pupils widening instantly as his fingers touched the hilt of the Crimson Thorn.

"Don't move, or I'll kill you immediately."

A pale hand rested on his shoulder, as casually as if they had known each other for a long time. However, the coldness in the tone made Tanga swallow hard, his body feeling as if it had plunged into an ice cellar.

The faint light barely allowed him to see the azure, cold pupils beside him. A tremendous pressure arose from within his heart, and at this moment, a terrifying thought suddenly surfaced in Tanga's mind.

I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die...

But he knew that the moment he looked away from the being he had to nervously keep watch over, the price would be immediate annihilation.

"This powder... hmm, so it was you who caused trouble in Jiren Alley last time, wasn't it?"

"────Hrk!?"

Before he could answer, Tanga's mouth was covered with an irresistible force. When his consciousness returned, he had already been dragged to an open space beneath the sports field and then violently slammed onto the ground.

The stone slab floor caved in with a resounding thud, sending debris scattering in all directions and creating shocking cracks.

The intense impact that shot from his back to his entire body nearly shattered Tanga's consciousness. He spat out a mouthful of blood and looked at his assailant with wide eyes.

"It-it's you!?"

Chapter 72: True Monarch Liujing (4k1)

Silver hair, blue eyes, a tall physique...

These familiar features immediately brought Tanga back to the silver-haired youth he had seen in Jiren Alley. Even though he had only glimpsed him from afar back then, Tanga could sense the terrifying power emanating from him. Now, up close, that suffocating feeling had become even more intense.

Tanga felt immense regret. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have accepted this mission from the leader. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up in such a desperate situation.

He knew very well that he stood no chance of escaping from the man before him.

But this didn't mean he would surrender meekly. On the contrary, a touch of crimson quietly seeped into his palm, and a surge of life force, like firewood, flooded into his body, mending all his previous injuries.

Tanga wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and slowly stood up from the ground. A strange, crimson sword blade appeared in his hand.

"Thrusting outward with a crimson heart, that's the sword of Han Guang..."

Bai Jun recognized the sword immediately, and he wasn't particularly surprised. He had seen this sword countless times in Huai Yan's handwritten notes.

Han Guang was Huai Yan's proudest disciple, and in a way, Bai Jun's senior brother whom he had never met. Unfortunately, driven by vanity and inspiration, he ultimately fell victim to his own creation. Many of his works also flowed out of Zhuming, and Crimson Thorn was one of the sword weapons he forged in his early years.

Three feet and three inches long, with a hilt but no guard or scabbard, the blade was not sharpened. Its body was the color of dull iron, covered in sharp thorns. Near the tip, a section resembling a red-hot molten iron spike protruded.

Its form was unlike ordinary swords; it resembled a wooden staff with a long spike extending from its end. The core encased within the metal blade was a bionic Jianmu sprout, designed to kill Abundance creatures that could rapidly heal wounds.

When the sword tip pierced the flesh of a long-lived species, Crimson Thorn would quickly drain the victim's vital energy, causing their body to wither rapidly. While it sounded miraculous, it was essentially injected with toxins specifically designed to inhibit the cellular activity of long-lived species...

Many of the treasures from the Forging Palace had designs that appeared mysterious on the surface but were quite ordinary once explained.

However, it was worth mentioning that Huai Yan's handwritten notes recorded that Crimson Thorn itself had the characteristic of storing life force. Its sharp thorns would relentlessly suck vital energy upon contact with living beings, converting it into pure life force stored within the blade. Tanga's rapid recovery from his injuries was likely due to this.

"How did you know... Are you also from Zhuming?"

Tanga heard Bai Jun's muttering and a look of surprise appeared on his face. The blacksmith of Crimson Thorn had long been dead, and the name of the weapon was not recorded in any of Zhuming's famous sword registries. He had painstakingly obtained it from others in Zhuming.

Being able to recognize Crimson Thorn at a glance was enough to show that the person before him was no ordinary individual... Could he also be from the Forging Palace?

Bai Jun did not answer his question, but instead, coldly drew the saber at his waist.

Seeing this, Tanga immediately took a forceful step forward, his body instantly vanishing from sight.

The oppressive aura disappeared along with his figure. Bai Jun calmly gripped the hilt of his saber, its blade flashing with a cold light as it sliced through the air in an arc.

Clang—!

The next moment, sparks flew from the seemingly empty air, and the pale blade precisely lodged itself against the gnarled, scarlet-covered spikes. At the same time, Tanga's figure reappeared, but he showed no panic. Instead, a bloodthirsty smile spread across his face.

As the blades clashed, Crimson Thorn unfurled in the air, its scarlet thorns, like thorny whips, swinging in a circle.

Eyes, kidneys, spine, heart – fierce and deadly attacks were launched from all angles, stabbing towards Bai Jun, who was locked in a stalemate.

Tanga was confident that Bai Jun would sustain some damage in this situation. Just one hit, and the thorns on Crimson Thorn would grow and latch onto him, piercing his body and stealing his vital energy.

He knew very well that he was no match for Bai Jun, so his goal wasn't to kill him, but to weaken him and find an opportunity to escape.

However, Bai Jun's expression remained cold. His actions hadn't even caused a flicker of change in his demeanor, which sent a jolt of alarm through Tanga. A deep, instinctual feeling told him something was wrong, but the arrow was already nocked and loosed; there was no turning back.

In Tanga's horrified gaze, the pale long saber suddenly gathered a fierce light. The pale patterns faded, replaced by a fiery red blade and a soaring, intense heat.

The terrifying temperature made Tanga instinctively want to retract Crimson Thorn, but the long saber, glowing with an otherworldly fire, unleashed a storm of blade light. As the tempest subsided, in an instant, all the thorns of Crimson Thorn were severed, and Tanga's hard-earned life force, accumulated over many years, vanished with the damage to Crimson Thorn.

Without time to lament, Tanga pulled back Crimson Thorn. Just as he thought he could escape, a fire-wielding long saber pierced through his body, pinning the cultivator to the wall and rendering him immobile.

The ground trembled violently, and the surrounding area was scorched and pitted by the chaotic, raging flames. His severely wounded body was pinned to the wall like a tattered rag. Tanga, who had miraculously survived, clutched his chest and coughed out large chunks of blood, his eyes filled with terror.

Crimson Thorn's blade was damaged, and it was damaged with exquisite precision, not completely destroying the blade itself, but causing the loss of all the precious life force he had painstakingly accumulated over the years. Furthermore, there was no one nearby for him to draw life force from, making it impossible for him to even recover his injuries now.

Teammates? Where are my teammates? Help!

He had no time to dwell on it. The wound in his chest was constantly being seared by the flames, and the bone-chilling pain surged like a tide, almost making him pass out.

"Unbelievable... How could you know the abilities of Crimson Thorn so well? And even the Cloud Cavalry of Luofu wouldn't possess power at your level... Who exactly are you!?"

Blood filled his lungs, causing him to cough up more blood. Amidst the agonizing pain of the burning flames, Tanga's consciousness began to blur. He suddenly recalled some legendary tales he had accidentally heard in Zhuming.

In just three years, from a swordsman with no foundation to sweeping through Flame Wheel Eight Leaves overnight, and then easily obtaining the title of Hundred Refinements Master, a dream for countless craftsmen...

It sounded like something no one would believe even in a novel, but Tanga, as if possessed, roared with all his might, "You... you couldn't be... the chief of Zhuming's Flame Wheel Eight Leaves, True Monarch Liujing?"

"The Flame Wheel Eight Leaves are ranked solely by age, I am not the chief, and don't call me by such an embarrassing title." Bai Jun pinched his chin with slender fingers, his attitude towards the question quite dismissive.

"Heh heh, I originally thought the old storyteller was just spouting nonsense, but I didn't expect it to be true..." After getting his answer, his breathing grew weaker, but a wry smile couldn't be wiped from his face. Yet, in the end, it turned into a sigh of relief, "Well, it's not a disgrace to die by your hand."

"I controlled my strength well. You won't die in such a short time. Go to Yōqiú Prison to atone for your sins." The only response was a light, airy sentence. Bai Jun slowly walked to the wall, preparing to disarm Crimson Thorn.

Knowing the cruel methods Xianzhou used against heretics better than anyone, Tanga would rather die here than become a captive.

He madly clenched the blade of Crimson Thorn in his palm. With a piercing scream, his life force was drained by Crimson Thorn. His arm withered like a dead branch, and his hollow eye sockets glowed red, like a vampire's.

These actions were too crazy and too swift. Even though Bai Jun immediately took Crimson Thorn away, it was ultimately a step too late.

"Tsk, this lunatic... I should have shot through his limbs with Heavenly Flame first."

Bai Jun, already full of resentment from the Jiren Alley incident, was furious upon seeing this. If he had known, he wouldn't have held back to spare the man's life. It would have been better to let him vent his anger than to die so pathetically.

Bai Jun showed a helpless and disappointed expression, then looked down at Crimson Thorn, who was silent in his arms.

"Brother, I'm done over there. How's it going on your end... Ugh, what is this thing?"

After dealing with the other followers of the Medicine King's Legacy, Pontio, hearing the loud noise from this direction, rushed over quickly. He saw the shriveled corpse nailed to the wall at a glance. Such a gruesome scene was somewhat unsettling.

He swallowed and tentatively asked, "Brother, did you do this?"

"What are you talking about? I don't have that kind of sick taste..."

Bai Jun sighed, pulled the long saber nailed to the wall, and ignored the corpse that fell to the ground. Instead, he cleanly smashed the body of Crimson Thorn, taking only its hilt to be sent to Zhuming later.

The demonic sword would drive those around it mad. To avoid any unexpected incidents along the way, Bai Jun had to smash it; it was the safest and most reliable method.

"Thank you both so much! If it weren't for your help, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Backstage at the concert, Guinaifen, who had just finished a two-hour performance, rushed over as soon as she heard about it. Without even taking off her makeup, she bowed her head to Bai Jun and Pontio with an apologetic expression.

"Haha, don't be like that, superstar. In this operation, I was just following brother's orders. As for thanks, you should thank him. Right, brother?"

"Don't listen to him. This was just part of our duty. Besides, your security team provided a lot of help, so there's no need to be concerned."

Pontio laughed heartily and put his arm around the shoulders of the true hero. Bai Jun rolled his eyes, playfully nudged Pontio away with his elbow, and gave Guinaifen a sheepish smile.