Chaos Erupts

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Qin Li had no time to dodge. He could only make golden light bloom before him, trying to condense it into armor plates.

Before the golden armor could take shape, Meng Qingze's palm struck him. Amid a sound like rotten wood colliding, he staggered back several steps and slammed into a vermilion wooden pillar supporting Riverwave Hall.

The golden light on his chest vanished in an instant. His clothes drifted away like decayed butterflies, exposing a sinister, sickly green palm print.

Qin Li had initially been merely stunned and bewildered, but now fury surged within him. His eyes reddened as he swore to return that palm strike and make Meng Qingze suffer serious injuries as well.

As they exchanged fierce blows, Ren Youyang's other two guards turned their eyes, brimming with viciousness, toward Su Chongxiao.

Your Celestial Maiden Sect is not a sect of Great Zhao. What right do you have to compete for the Huai Fruit?

And you, Su Chongxiao—what right do you have to be so handsome, so exceptionally elegant, that every maid and female relative from the Zhen Estate encountered along the way could not take their eyes off you?

Kill! Kill! Kill!

One rushed toward Su Chongxiao like a gale, while the other seemed to merge with the shadows cast by sunlight through the window lattice, silently circling toward Su Chongxiao's flank.

You think you're worthy of attacking me? Su Chongxiao was both amused and irritated, a trace of baleful energy churning in his chest.

He sprang into the air in an instant and swept his sleeve.

Amid a whistling wind, Ren Youyang's guard charging head-on at Su Chongxiao suddenly seemed to have arrived in autumn:

The sun was not hot, scattering warmth as it summoned a soft, refreshing breeze. The scents of wheat and fruit drifted through the air, intoxicating the mind.

A day like this was made for lying on a rattan bed, drowsing away in utmost comfort.

Drowsiness immediately welled up in that guard. His entire body went weak, and all he wanted was to lie down right there and enjoy autumn's leisure.

The Autumn Lethargy Path of the Twelve Paths of Grand Void!

His movements slowed, and at once the sound of a whip cracking rang out across his body—snap, snap, snap—linking into a single overlapping burst.

The guard was lashed flying backward, his front covered in bloody whip marks. Some had broken his ribs, some sent soft force into his body, and some struck directly beside his ears, whipping him unconscious.

The Celestial Maiden Formless Whip—heard but never seen!

Su Chongxiao was still able to restrain the baleful energy in his heart. He had clearly held back in that strike; otherwise, with his abilities, six whips landing together would have killed the man without question.

"The Heart-Bewitching Chaos-Divine Art? The Overturned Boat Faction?" Su Chongxiao shifted his gaze outside.

Faced with such a sudden upheaval, Zhen Qianfan, seated at the head, also shot to his feet.

At some point, Zhen Quanwang beside him had gone red-eyed.

You old immortal, why aren't you dead yet?

I've been past thirty for years, yet in this estate, I can still only make decisions on trivial matters!

Once you die, I'll be the head of this family!

Zhen Quanwang thrust out a palm, as though carrying the force of ten million tons of water.

Specks of faint light suddenly lit up around Zhen Qianfan, like wavering reflections on water.

Almost simultaneously, sunlight dimmed within thirty feet. Layer upon layer of illusory waves seemed to gather into a deep sea, while Zhen Qianfan's black shadow abruptly expanded beneath his feet, like some colossal beast lurking on the ocean floor.

The farther Zhen Quanwang's palm advanced, the slower it became, until it finally stopped deep within the heavy "water waves."

"Hmph!" Zhen Qianfan swept his sleeve and sent this disappointing wretch flying, making him crash down hard enough to knock out teeth and leave blood streaming from the corners of his mouth.

Then he looked at Su Chongxiao with ferocious intent, stepped forward in a charge, and threw a punch.

Illusory water waves rippled, layer after layer adding to Zhen Qianfan's punch. Dampness swiftly spread across the floor of Riverwave Hall, and everyone within thirty or forty feet felt as though they were drowning, unable to breathe smoothly.

Seeing this, Su Qingli darted away from her original position with the swift rise of a rabbit and fall of a falcon, fleeing into a corner of the building. Her maid followed close behind.

She had said she knew a little martial arts, and she truly only knew a little. It was fine to use transformations and illusions to toy with a Strange Being, but in a battle involving Martial Grandmasters, she was nothing but fancy fists and embroidered kicks. She would be completely useless, so she might as well hide farther away and avoid distracting Second Uncle.

Having just crouched in a corner far from the battlefield, Su Qingli discovered someone else hiding beside her:

Ren Youyang, whose feathered robes and tall crown were both crooked and disheveled.

"What a coincidence." Su Qingli's lips twitched as she greeted this direct disciple of the True Spirit Sect, entirely unsurprised by the performance of someone listed on the Orchid Honor Roll.

Ren Youyang replied rather awkwardly:

"Miss Su, the fact that we were less affected shows that we are both broad-minded people who cherish flowers and spare grass, unable to bear harming others. It truly is quite a coincidence."

"Generally speaking, the higher one's martial arts, the more lives one has taken. Some vicious intent is bound to accumulate. Only someone with martial arts as weak as mine would have no thoughts of hurting others." With a touch of baleful energy, Su Qingli bickered with Ren Youyang while turning her gaze toward her Second Uncle.

Facing Zhen Qianfan's strike, Su Chongxiao tapped the ground with his foot and retreated sharply, sleeves billowing. The sound of whip tips splitting the air continually rang out between them, only to be swallowed by the rippling water energy and blocked by Zhen Qianfan's fists.

As Zhen Qianfan saw himself drawing ever closer, joy suddenly filled his heart. It was as if he had already slain his powerful foe, obtained the thing he had long dreamed of, and finally completed his foundation.

He broke through again and again, endlessly breaking through—entering the Celestial Being realm, ascending the Spirit Platform, and finding a way to shatter the Severance of Heaven and Earth and enter the heavenly realm.

His smile grew more pronounced. His entire body became light and floating, rising higher and higher, higher and higher. The heavenly realm was already in sight.

He relaxed completely, and a slender, fair hand suddenly appeared before his eyes.

That hand descended from the "heavenly realm" and pressed toward the crown of his head.

The Ascension Path of the Twelve Paths of Grand Void!

As the hand reached his head, an intense sense of danger erupted within Zhen Qianfan.

Before he could think further, the pitch-black shadow beside his feet, transformed into a colossal beast, shot inward and upward, merging with him as one.

With a crashing sound, Zhen Qianfan suddenly thrust a single palm upward.

That palm was like a gigantic fish leaping from the deep sea, carrying the ferocity to Overturn Rivers and Seas. It churned the surrounding illusory water energy into a violent vortex.

The dim vortex, centered on Zhen Qianfan's palm, drew in Su Chongxiao's ascending palm strike, and the two collided.

Boom!

Water exploded, raining chaotically downward throughout the hall, while upward it transformed into a soaring fountain and smashed through the roof.

Seeing this, Zhen Quanwang, whom his father had knocked awake, felt that remaining in Riverwave Hall was also extremely dangerous. He hurriedly scrambled toward the rear of the hall, fleeing outside the building.

At the same time, Dai Shen of the Overturned Boat Faction, wearing a bamboo hat, and Ma Hanjiang of the Small Boat Gang crossed over the Attendants, guards, and servants who had already begun slaughtering one another and arrived at the main entrance.

Dai Shen's bright red lips, bearing the texture of a bird's beak, split into a grin. Seizing the chance when Su Chongxiao had been sent flipping upward by Zhen Qianfan's palm to dissipate the force, while Zhen Qianfan's feet were sunk into the damp ground and he could not move for the moment, he stained his right palm, shaped like a tiger claw, blood-red and drove each sharp talon straight at Zhen Qianfan's forehead.

Zhen Qianfan remained calm in the face of danger and drew in a fierce breath.

It was like a giant whale drawing in water, instantly absorbing all the surrounding illusory water energy into his body.

An instant later, unable to thrust another palm upward in time, Zhen Qianfan clenched his fist and struck the air.

A violent roar of water erupted. Streams of illusory water surged from the point where Zhen Qianfan's fist collided with empty air, as though a riverbank had burst.

This caused the waterfall outside the hall, cascading from the artificial mountain, to slap diagonally into the building. The surging torrent shoved Dai Shen back more than ten feet, preventing him from succeeding.

Ren Youyang's guards and Su Chongxiao's attendants were all flung away by it.

Ma Hanjiang of the Small Boat Gang did not join in surrounding Zhen Qianfan. His mind held only the thought of making blood flow like a river through the Zhen Estate.

He saw Zhen Quanwang's fleeing back, murder rushing to his head. A tortoiseshell emerged over his body as he sprinted after him.

In a corner near the main entrance, Su Qingli, crouching quietly, said to Ren Youyang:

"This place is quite dangerous. It's easy to get caught in the fallout, so I'm planning to find somewhere else to hide."

Without waiting for Ren Youyang's response, she braced herself with one hand after speaking, crashed through the wooden window, and landed lightly in the corridor outside Riverwave Hall. With graceful movements—now rising and falling, now running along eaves and walls, now swaying nimbly—she moved away from this place filled with mutual slaughter.

Her maid followed using the same movement technique.

After fleeing for a while, Su Qingli saw Ren Youyang charging through one killing ground after another like a wild dog. Ahead of him, a group of estate guards were in the midst of infighting, making it difficult to get around them.

With a sigh, the young woman turned back, grabbed Ren Youyang by the shoulder, and carried him with her as she kicked off a wooden pillar, leaped onto the roof, crossed patch after patch of black tiles, and jumped down on the other side.

Lotus Pond Courtyard.

Having sent Cuihe away to handle other tasks, Qin Nuangsheng had followed Liu Yuzao's instructions and changed into plain maidservant's clothing, rearranging her hair into twin looped buns.

"Later, smear some ash on your face and pretend you fell while escaping the Zhen Estate." Qi Xiaoxiang, using the alias Liu Yuzao, gave her a few pointers.

Before Qin Nuangsheng could speak again, she nodded lightly.

"Once the chaos begins, flee outside the Zhen Estate. Go to the Li Family Steamed Bun Shop on Guangsheng Street and say you want three plain steamed buns: one with donkey meat filling, one with venison filling, and one with fruit filling. Someone will receive you there and arrange for you to leave Dingjiang Prefecture.

"You've performed very well these past two years. The Sect Master is very satisfied. Once this is done, would you like to take a sum of silver and live freely from then on, or choose an ultimate art and practice martial arts?"

Qin Nuangsheng was quite surprised.

"I'm already twenty-two. Can I still practice martial arts?"

"I only began Aperture Refinement at twenty-four. Didn't you also practice body tempering and qi cultivation in the Zhen Family?" Qi Xiaoxiang said in a cool voice.

Qin Nuangsheng was instantly overjoyed and performed a formal bow.

"Please thank the Sect Master on my behalf!"

Qi Xiaoxiang returned to her taciturn state and waited patiently.

After an unknown amount of time, a boom sounded somewhere within the Zhen Estate. The shouts of fighting and the clash of blades also faintly carried over.

Qi Xiaoxiang nodded at Qin Nuangsheng, then walked out of Lotus Pond Courtyard on her own and took a contraption resembling fireworks from her robe.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three flares—red, yellow, and green—shot into the air and burst into splendid flowers.

Inside the county office, Qiu Chen, using the alias Ding Shengyi, handled documents as usual, seemingly unaware that certain colleagues were watching him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He looked up through the window and saw fireworks blooming in the sky.

A constable who had pretended to come over for a chat suddenly felt his head swelling. Long, whisker-like tendrils seemed to extend from his nose, mouth, and ears.

His vision went black. Drawing his saber, he violently slashed at another constable nearby.

Several others in the clerks' room also suddenly erupted into action.

At the docks.

The moment Ding Daniu saw the red, yellow, and green fireworks bloom in the sky, his face split into a broad smile.

He suddenly spun around and drove a fist directly into the foreman's face.

Bang!

The foreman's entire face caved in, and his body flew more than ten feet away.