"Lu Yuanchun! You bastard!"
Seeing the market's grand formation breached, Fairy Feixia's eyes blazed with fury. Yet, contrary to Lu Yuanchun's actions, she did the opposite.
"Junior Brother, let's join forces!"
In a flash of light, Fairy Feixia landed squarely within the market, then turned to stand guard at the breach in the formation. "We absolutely cannot let the Divine Martial Sect break through."
Hearing this, Lü Yang glanced at Fairy Feixia, his opinion of her shifting. Judging by her appearance—blood-stained lips and weakened aura—she had clearly suffered severe injuries. If she had fled with Lu Yuanchun, she might have escaped, but she chose to stay.
Could she be a traitor?
Adhering to the belief that there were no truly good people in the Holy Sect, Lü Yang immediately grew wary of Fairy Feixia, who noticed his suspicion.
"There's no escape!" Fairy Feixia sighed helplessly, guessing his thoughts. She whispered, "The Divine Martial Sect has been plotting this for a long time. Fleeing now would only mean certain death."
"Staying here and holding out for reinforcements is our only chance to survive!"
Lü Yang was still puzzled. "Senior Sister understands this, so how could Senior Brother Lu not? If that's the case, why did he try to run?"
"Because the precious jade is with him!" At this, Fairy Feixia's anger flared anew. "The Divine Martial Sect used that Mysterious Yin Taiyin Treasure Jade as bait to set up an ambush. But Lu Yuanchun coveted the jade, seized it by force, dragged us all into the trap, disregarded Senior Brother Chen's life, abandoned us, and fled!"
"So he fled out of fear of punishment?" Lü Yang suddenly understood. Clearly, Lu Yuanchun knew his actions were dishonorable. If he stayed, Fairy Feixia would eventually settle the score.
That explained his extreme choice.
It also made sense why Fairy Feixia didn't flee with him—doing so might have led to her being silenced.
"Demons, today is your day of reckoning!"
A surge of powerful energy lit up the sky like rolling flames, finally revealing a burly man in full armor, his expression fierce.
"It's 'Divine Fist' Wu Zhichong!" Fairy Feixia's pretty face turned grave as she whispered, "This man is already at the ninth level of Qi Refining, just one step from Great Perfection. Junior Brother, be careful."
"Senior Brother Chen was killed by a single punch from him—his body shattered instantly."
Before Fairy Feixia finished speaking, the burly Wu Zhichong arrived on his escape light, his arm raised high like a drawn bow.
"Die!"
In the next instant, he threw a punch!
A piercing explosion echoed in all directions. The square fist shot straight for Lü Yang's vitals. Instantly, Lü Yang felt as if a mountain were crushing down!
Boom!
At the critical moment, Fairy Feixia stepped forward, her sleeves fluttering as bursts of shimmering light erupted, intercepting Wu Zhichong's punch.
In a flash, the colorful clouds and mist exploded, finally stopping Wu Zhichong outside the market—but the radiant clouds lost most of their brilliance.
Seeing this, a pang of regret flashed in Fairy Feixia's eyes.
This cloud mist was one of her magical treasures, the "Seven Mists Net," painstakingly refined over many years. Now it had been repeatedly damaged.
Simultaneously, another streak of light descended from the sky.
It was none other than Lu Yuanchun, who had just fled. His face was deathly pale, with a cultivator hot on his heels.
"'Mountain-Moving Daoist' Duanmu Yuan!" Fairy Feixia frowned, recognizing the pursuer—another late-stage Qi Refining cultivator from the Divine Martial Sect, whose strength was no less than her own.
"Lu Yuanchun, come back if you want to live! Let's join forces!" Fairy Feixia said urgently. Though the Divine Martial Sect came with overwhelming force, she believed their side still had three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators—they weren't without a chance.
Even if Lü Yang was an ordinary disciple without special abilities, he could handle early and mid-stage Qi Refining foes. As long as she and Lu Yuanchun could hold off Wu Zhichong and the Mountain-Moving Daoist, giving Lü Yang time to deal with the other Divine Martial Sect disciples, they might still defend the market!
"Alright! Let's fight to the death and buy me some time!"
As soon as he finished, Lu Yuanchun took a deep breath and directly burned his essence blood. Crimson light surged from his crown, his aura instantly skyrocketing severalfold.
Seeing this, Fairy Feixia finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This person is, after all, a disciple of the Heaven-Mending Peak Master, a Foundation Establishment expert. Perhaps he possesses some formidable secret technique. With my help, we should be able to defend the market.
Thinking this, Fairy Feixia held nothing back, activating her "Seven Mists Net" once more to buy time.
"Stop him!" Though Wu Zhichong didn't know Lu Yuanchun's abilities, he couldn't let him act unchecked. He immediately shot a streak of light toward Lu Yuanchun.
Seeing this, Fairy Feixia mustered her true energy, using all her strength to block another late-stage Qi Refining cultivator from the Divine Martial Sect—the Mountain-Moving Daoist Duanmu Yuan—while shouting to Lü Yang beside her, "Junior Brother Lü, act now! As long as we stop Wu Zhichong, we still have a chance to turn the tide!"
"Lü Yang? An ordinary disciple. What use is he even if he's reached late-stage Qi Refining?" Lu Yuanchun glanced at Lü Yang, sneering inwardly.
In his eyes, Lü Yang was a nobody who had advanced by sheer luck, utterly incomparable to a Foundation Establishment disciple like himself.
This thought strengthened his resolve.
Fairy Feixia believed there was still hope, but Lu Yuanchun thought otherwise—because she had overlooked a decisive factor.
The zombie horde!
Even if they held off the Divine Martial Sect, as long as the formation breach remained, they would be wiped out when the horde arrived!
Thus, in the next instant, Lu Yuanchun made his move.
"Behold my divine might!"
As he spoke, Fairy Feixia's spirits lifted. She watched as blood light condensed around Lu Yuanchun, manifesting a magnificent and ferocious demonic shadow.
She didn't expect Lu Yuanchun to kill Wu Zhichong outright—just severely wounding him would bring hope.
"Blood Shadow Escape Technique!"
With a flash of the demonic shadow, Lu Yuanchun's figure vanished, transforming into a streak of blood light that reappeared hundreds of meters away, rushing toward the outskirts of Skull Mountain.
For a moment, Fairy Feixia was dumbstruck.
She had clearly underestimated Lu Yuanchun's shamelessness, never imagining that his feigned cooperation was actually using her as a shield.
However, at that moment, the sky outside Skull Mountain suddenly darkened.
"Trying to leave? You're not going anywhere!" A cold laugh rang out as Lu Yuanchun's crimson escape light was severed mid-flight, forcing him back to Skull Mountain. From within came Lu Yuanchun's terrified scream:
"Qi Refining Great Perfection!?"
He had burned most of his life essence to execute this blood escape technique—no one at the late stage of Qi Refining could stop him, only those at Great Perfection!
"Heaven is destroying me..." Lu Yuanchun was filled with bitterness. He had finally seized the Mysterious Yin Jade; if he escaped, he would surely gain the favor of the Heaven-Mending Peak Master.
Especially now, with Zhao Xuhe abandoned by the Peak Master, this was his chance!
But now, everything was in vain.
Just then, Lu Yuanchun suddenly heard Lü Yang's voice: "Senior Brother Lu, return to the market."
"What's the use now?" Lu Yuanchun was utterly despondent, not even bothering to respond. In his eyes, he and Lü Yang were both doomed sooner or later.
The next second, Lü Yang—who had been silent until now—suddenly stepped forward. His sleeves fluttered as his fingers flickered, dozens of array patterns landing around the market, shattering the small array the Divine Martial Sect had used to breach the formation. Then, with a wave, he manipulated the grand array to snap shut.
Boom!
In an instant, countless array patterns emerged, transforming into a light curtain that enveloped the market. The formation had miraculously closed, restored to completeness!
"Ah?!" Lu Yuanchun's eyes widened in shock. Jolting awake, he quickly maneuvered his blood light to fly back, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Brother Lü, save me!!!"