Chapter 39: Enemy Attack
"Lu Yuanchun! You bastard!"
Upon seeing the grand formation of the market city pierced open, Fairy Feixia's eyes nearly burst with fury. Yet, contrary to Lu Yuanchun's actions, she made the opposite choice.
"Junior Brother, join forces with me!"
With a flash of escaping light, Fairy Feixia descended directly into the market city. She then turned and stood firm at the breach in the formation, declaring, "We absolutely cannot let the Divine Martial Gate charge into the market..."
Lü Yang glanced at Fairy Feixia, his impression of her shifting somewhat. Her lips were stained with blood, her aura feeble—clearly, she had suffered significant injuries. Had she followed Lu Yuanchun's lead and fled, she might have had a chance to escape. Yet, she chose to remain within the market.
Could she be a mole?
Adhering to the Saint Sect's principle that no one was truly good, Lü Yang immediately suspected Fairy Feixia. She noticed his wary gaze.
"There's no escape!"
Fairy Feixia sighed helplessly, seemingly guessing his thoughts, and whispered, "The Divine Martial Gate has planned this for a long time. Fleeing would only lead to certain death."
"Only by holding our ground and waiting for reinforcements do we stand a sliver of hope!"
Lü Yang remained skeptical. "Senior Sister understands this logic. How could Senior Brother Lu not know? If so, why did he flee?"
"Because the treasure jade is with him!"
At this, Fairy Feixia grew visibly furious. "The Divine Martial Gate used that Mysterious Female Taiyin Treasure Jade as bait to set an ambush. Yet Lu Yuanchun, greedy for the jade, forcibly seized it. Not only did he drag us into the trap, but he also disregarded Senior Brother Chen's life, abandoning us to flee alone!"
"So, he fled to avoid punishment?"
Lü Yang suddenly understood. Clearly, Lu Yuanchun knew his actions were dishonorable. Staying in the market would only invite Fairy Feixia's retribution sooner or later.
Hence, he chose such an extreme method.
Given this, Fairy Feixia's refusal to follow Lu Yuanchun made sense—doing so might have led to her being silenced permanently.
"Demons, today marks your end!"
A radiant surge of vital energy illuminated the sky like rolling flames, revealing a burly man clad in armor, his expression fierce.
"It's 'Divine Fist' Wu Zhichong!"
Fairy Feixia's delicate face turned solemn as she whispered, "He's already at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, just one step away from perfection. Junior Brother, be extremely careful."
"Senior Brother Chen took a single punch from him... and his body shattered instantly..."
Before Fairy Feixia could finish, Wu Zhichong had already charged forward on a beam of escaping light, his arm raised high as if drawing a bow.
"Die!"
The next moment, his fist struck!
A piercing explosion echoed in all directions as a square fist imprint shot forth like a dragon. In an instant, Lü Yang felt as if an entire mountain was crashing down upon him!
Boom!
At the critical moment, Fairy Feixia stepped forward, her sleeves billowing as streams of clear qi erupted like clouds, intercepting Wu Zhichong's punch.
Instantly, colorful clouds of mist burst apart, barely managing to block Wu Zhichong outside the market. Yet, the brilliance of the mist dimmed significantly.
Seeing this, Fairy Feixia's eyes flashed with sorrow.
This mist was her treasured artifact, the "Dwelling Mist Rosy Veil," painstakingly refined over many years. Now, it had suffered repeated damage.
Simultaneously, another beam of escaping light descended from the sky.
The figure that emerged was none other than Lu Yuanchun, who had just fled. His face was now twisted with fury, and behind him trailed another cultivator.
"'Mountain-Moving Daoist' Duanmu Yuan..."
Fairy Feixia frowned deeply, recognizing the man who had intercepted Lu Yuanchun—another late-stage Qi Refining cultivator from the Divine Martial Gate, no weaker than her in strength.
"Lu Yuanchun, if you want to live, return! Join forces with me!"
Fairy Feixia spoke gravely. Though the Divine Martial Gate's assault was fierce, she believed their side still had three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators—victory wasn't entirely out of reach.
Even if Lü Yang was merely an ordinary disciple without any divine abilities, he could still handle early and mid-stage Qi Refining opponents. If she and Lu Yuanchun could hold off Wu Zhichong and Mountain-Moving Daoist, freeing Lü Yang to deal with the other Divine Martial Gate disciples, they might still have a chance to defend the market!
"...Fine! Then let's fight desperately to buy me time!"
With those words, Lu Yuanchun took a deep breath and abruptly burned his vital blood. A surge of crimson light erupted from his crown, instantly multiplying his aura severalfold.
Seeing this, Fairy Feixia finally relaxed slightly.
'As a disciple of the Mending Heaven Peak Master, a Foundation Establishment expert, he must have some formidable techniques. With my assistance, we should be able to hold the market...'
Thinking this, Fairy Feixia held nothing back, summoning the "Dwelling Mist Rosy Veil" once more to buy time.
"Stop him!"
Though Wu Zhichong didn't know Lu Yuanchun's divine abilities, he wouldn't allow him to act freely. Immediately, he soared on a beam of escaping light, charging toward Lu Yuanchun.
Fairy Feixia, while forcefully gathering her true qi to intercept Mountain-Moving Daoist Duanmu Yuan, shouted to Lü Yang beside her, "Junior Brother Lü, strike now! If we can stop Wu Zhichong, we still have a chance to turn this around..."
"Lü Yang? A mere ordinary disciple... What use is he even if he's broken through to late-stage Qi Refining?"
Lu Yuanchun sneered inwardly as he glanced at Lü Yang.
In his eyes, Lü Yang was nothing but a nobody, a minor figure who had stumbled into late-stage Qi Refining by sheer luck—utterly incomparable to a Foundation Establishment disciple like himself.
This only solidified his resolve.
While Fairy Feixia saw hope, Lu Yuanchun did not. In his view, she had overlooked one decisive factor:
The corpse tide!
Even if they could repel the Divine Martial Gate cultivators, as long as the breach in the formation remained, the approaching corpse tide would still annihilate them all!
Thus, the next moment, Lu Yuanchun acted.
"Witness my divine might!"
Hearing this, Fairy Feixia's spirits lifted. She watched as the crimson light around Lu Yuanchun coalesced into a towering, ferocious demonic shadow.
She didn't expect Lu Yuanchun to kill Wu Zhichong outright—merely severely wounding him would suffice...
"Blood Shadow Heaven-Escaping Grand Art!"
With a flash, the demonic shadow vanished as Lu Yuanchun transformed into a streak of blood-red light, darting hundreds of meters away toward the outskirts of Skeleton Mountain.
For a moment, Fairy Feixia was stunned.
She had underestimated Lu Yuanchun's shamelessness. Never had she imagined he would feign cooperation only to use her as a shield.
Yet, at that very moment, the sky outside Skeleton Mountain abruptly darkened.
"Trying to leave? Stay!"
A cold laugh rang out as Lu Yuanchun's blood-red escaping light was severed mid-flight, forcing him back to Skeleton Mountain. A terrified scream erupted from within:
"Qi Refining Perfection!?"
The blood escape technique he had executed by burning most of his vital blood—no late-stage Qi Refining cultivator could intercept it. Only someone at Qi Refining Perfection could!
"Heaven seeks my doom..."
Lu Yuanchun's heart brimmed with resentment. He had finally seized the Mysterious Female Taiyin Treasure Jade. Had he escaped, he would have undoubtedly earned the Mending Heaven Peak Master's favor.
Especially now that Zhao Xuhe had been abandoned by the Peak Master—this was his chance!
Yet now, all was lost.
Just then, Lü Yang's voice reached Lu Yuanchun's ears: "Senior Brother Lu, return to the market first..."
"What's the use now?"
Lu Yuanchun was utterly despondent, lacking even the will to respond. In his eyes, Lü Yang and he were merely choosing between dying sooner or later...
The next moment, however, Lü Yang—who had remained silent until now—suddenly stepped forward. His sleeves billowed as his fingers flickered, instantly casting dozens of formation runes around the market.
He dismantled the Divine Martial Gate's miniature formation fixing the breach, then manipulated the grand formation to abruptly seal shut.
Boom!
In an instant, dense arrays of runes emerged, forming a radiant curtain that enveloped the market inside and out. The grand formation had been restored to wholeness!
"...What?"
Lu Yuanchun's eyes widened in shock before he shuddered and hastily steered his blood-red light back, crying out, "Brother Lü, save me!!!"