Hundred Longevity Ward

Sounds of battle and cries of killing came from wards both near and far throughout Ludong County. In the East Market, every shop had activated its arrays and was peering outside with the utmost caution, terrified that those attackers would break into the East Market and attack their own stores.

But as time passed bit by bit, the fighting and shouting in the distance continued without end, while the East Market remained peaceful. No attackers. No chaos.

The peace was somewhat eerie.

Liang Zhaohuang stood atop the roof of Five Talisman Hall, gazing toward several battlefields, and gradually began to feel that something was strange as well.

"This 'rebellion' attacking the county city seems a little like loud thunder but small raindrops?"

"Could this 'rebellion' be just to cover Zhu Yuqing's attack on the Sun Family?"

"Does she have that much power?"

At this moment, more and more people in the various shops of the East Market noticed that something was wrong.

Some bold cultivators had already opened their arrays and stepped out of their shops, looking toward the several battlefields from afar. Those who knew one another gathered together, discussing heatedly.

There were even risk-takers who each used their own methods to conceal their forms and traces, sneaking toward the closer battlefields, seemingly to investigate the situation.

However, most of the shops near the Liang Family's Five Talisman Hall were also opened by poor clans under the county city, and those present were all Qi Refining cultivators.

Their so-called methods of concealing form and hiding traces were, under Liang Zhaohuang's Spiritual Sense, "seen" with perfect clarity.

It was easy to imagine the danger of them rashly approaching the battlefield like this.

Since those attackers dared to attack several county magnate clans, there would naturally be no lack of Foundation Establishment cultivators fighting.

If these Qi Refining cultivators who were concealing their tracks and sneaking closer were even slightly careless, they would probably suffer calamity.

But Liang Zhaohuang had no interest in these fellows who did not fear death. At this moment, he was gazing toward Hundred Longevity Ward in the southwest of the county city, his face filled with unresolved confusion.

Hundred Longevity Ward in the southwest was where the Sun Family's clan land was located, and it was also the place where the fighting in the county city had first erupted.

Yet at this moment, as Liang Zhaohuang looked toward Hundred Longevity Ward from afar, he unexpectedly discovered that the direction was completely peaceful. It was not like the other wards, where rumbles of battle and explosions came from time to time.

Puzzled, Liang Zhaohuang activated the Five Elements Dharma Eye. As a result, he immediately saw that in the direction of Hundred Longevity Ward to the southwest, a vast amount of fire-element spiritual energy had gathered and was circulating regularly and slowly, like an enormous fiery cloud covering heaven and earth.

"What is going on?"

"Has the Sun Family been destroyed or not?"

Liang Zhaohuang's heart was filled with bafflement. After several turns of thought, he ultimately decided to take the risk and go have a look.

This chaos in the county city was full of doubts everywhere up to now, but at least there had been no sign of a Golden Core True Person making a move.

That meant that, at most, it was still fighting between Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Liang Zhaohuang was confident that when sneaking or fleeing for his life among those of the same rank, he would have no problem.

No longer hesitating, Liang Zhaohuang quietly opened the Five Talisman Hall's array, formed a hand seal, and his figure vanished into the dark night.

His time in Foundation Establishment had still been short, and he had not yet learned any spiritual arts for hiding tracks and concealing traces or sneaking. What he was using at this moment was still the spell Invisibility Spell.

However, unless a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the same rank deliberately used Spiritual Sense to investigate, they would not be able to discover Liang Zhaohuang under "invisibility."

As for second-rank spirit talismans for sneaking and hiding traces, Liang Zhaohuang did have two on him. These were already part of the accumulation of nearly a hundred years of the Liang Family's reserves, and they were all to be used at critical moments.

The East Market, where the Liang Family's Five Talisman Hall was located, lay in the southeast of Ludong County, directly opposite Hundred Longevity Ward where the Sun Family was located, making it the farthest distance away.

If Liang Zhaohuang wanted to reach Hundred Longevity Ward as quickly as possible, the best method was to cut diagonally through Golden Crown Ward, which lay in the middle of the "well" character layout.

However, after thinking it over, Liang Zhaohuang still decided to take a detour to Hundred Longevity Ward, unwilling to cut diagonally through Jin Guan Ward at this time.

Jin Guan Ward was the place where all kinds of government offices in the county city were located, including the county yamen, the armory, the archives, the granary, the Altar of Heaven, the Earth Temple, and so on. It could be said to be a vital place of the county city.

The core of the great array that guarded the county city was even located among the government offices of Jin Guan Ward.

It could be said that under normal circumstances, Jin Guan Ward should have been the most heavily defended place in the county city, and also the safest.

But as soon as Liang Zhaohuang recalled the city-protection array that had already opened earlier suddenly contracting back, he felt that Jin Guan Ward in the dark night was like a giant beast with its maw wide open, crouching in the darkness.

He would rather take a detour and sneak around than pass through Jin Guan Ward at this time.

There were two possible detour routes. One was to head south first, passing through Medicine Fragrance Ward and Fine Grain Ward, then turn west, pass through Water Cloud Ward, and then he could reach Hundred Longevity Ward in the southwest corner.

On this route, among the three wards he would pass through, county magnate clans were entrenched in all of them. In other words, there were attackers assaulting and fighting there at this moment, making it quite dangerous.

The other route was to head west first and then south, which could likewise reach Hundred Longevity Ward. Of the three wards along this path, only Golden Sand Ward in the northwest corner had a county magnate clan and was a battlefield.

Therefore, Liang Zhaohuang only pondered briefly before choosing the second route.

Starting from the East Market, he snuck along the way, passing through wards, crossing rivers, and traversing markets. At this moment, aside from the places where several county magnate clans and the county yamen were located, where there was fighting and slaughter, the rest of the county city was completely quiet, with almost no figures to be seen.

On such a chaotic and unclear night, most people were still hiding at home and did not dare to come out casually.

Liang Zhaohuang snuck through the night. His Spiritual Sense would occasionally notice some Qi Refining cultivators secretly coming and going, sneaking toward various battlefields to investigate the situation, but these people could not discover him at all.

Apart from this, there were not even Foundation Establishment cultivators moving about outside, as if they had all been drawn to the several battlefields.

He smoothly snuck all the way into Hundred Longevity Ward.

The most eye-catching thing in Hundred Longevity Ward was a tall mountain occupying nearly half of the ward. It was also the clan land of the Sun Family of the "Hundred Beasts," known as Beast Soul Mountain.

The Sun Family had established themselves on Beast Soul Mountain, and there were even some demonic beasts tamed and raised within the mountain.

However, at this moment, when Liang Zhaohuang snuck into Hundred Longevity Ward and looked in the direction of Beast Soul Mountain, what entered his sight was a scarlet light barrier, like a fiery cloud shrouding the place, sealing the entire Beast Soul Mountain within.

No wonder he had not seen any battle movements in Hundred Longevity Ward from the East Market, and what the Five Elements Dharma Eye saw was only fire-element spiritual energy gathered like clouds.

All the sounds of battle had been completely sealed off by that crimson curtain of light!

"This..." Liang Zhaohuang could not help freezing in shock. He did not believe for a second that this was the protective grand array of the "Hundred Beasts" Sun Family. The Sun Family had risen through beast-taming, and essentially none of their methods could be separated from demonic beasts. "So this should be Zhu Yuqing's doing!"

"Zhu Yuqing is trying to cut the weeds and dig up the roots, not letting a single member of the Sun Family escape!"

A chill crept through Liang Zhaohuang's heart. This was absolutely a ruthless woman; it was better to provoke her as little as possible.

His eyes shifted, and Liang Zhaohuang's figure once again vanished into the black night as he carefully circled toward the eastern side of Beast Soul Mountain.

He had studied the "log" jade slip left behind by the Black Wind Bandits for three days. Although he had not gained much information about the interior of the Sun Family's Beast Soul Mountain, he had still gained something.

For instance, one piece of information mentioned that on the eastern side of the Sun Family's Beast Soul Mountain, there was a hidden path leading straight into the mountain and up to Beast Soul Hall at the summit, passing several important Sun Family locations along the way.