Chapter 206: Escaping the Siege
"Since you've come to the Poison Spider Merchant Guild, don't think about escaping."
Hua Qingshan let out a cold, sinister laugh. His true qi swelled throughout his body, a layer of purple energy appearing on his skin's surface. He spread his five fingers and struck out with a palm.
"Severing Pulse Heart-Crushing Palm!"
Zhang Ruochen's gaze sharpened as he activated the bloodline power within his body.
A saint-level blood array, nine meters in diameter, condensed beneath his feet, surging up as a crimson blood pillar that enveloped Zhang Ruochen at its center.
"Whoosh!"
The phantom images of nine blood swords manifested in nine directions around Zhang Ruochen's body, their tips pointing downward as they spun rapidly.
Zhang Ruochen pointed his fingertip, and the nine swords merged into one, attacking toward Hua Qingshan.
"Boom!"
The sword qi and palm imprint collided, the two forces clashing head-on.
Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen were sent flying backward by the powerful palm wind, smashing through railings, falling off the pavilion, and landing on the ground.
Hua Qingshan, too, was pierced through his palm by the fierce sword qi. If he hadn't activated his bloodline power in time to block the sword energy, his entire hand would have been crippled.
"Blood Coagulation Nine Swords!"
Hua Qingshan's eyes widened as he stared at his bloody palm, furious to the extreme. He chased after them, watching Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen trying to flee, and sneered, "The perimeter of this pavilion is covered with binding formation inscriptions. Entering the formation is easy, but leaving it is hard. You won't escape!"
Huang Yanchen naturally knew better than anyone how formidable the binding formation inscriptions were. Filled with worry, she warned, "Zhang Ruochen, the binding formation inscriptions are extremely powerful. If you try to force your way through, you'll likely be severely injured by the formation."
Hua Qingshan was certain Zhang Ruochen couldn't break the formation, so he wasn't worried about them escaping. He appeared calm and composed, smiling, "The princess is right. This binding formation inscription can only be broken by a Heavenly Extreme Realm expert. Kid, you managed to block my Severing Pulse Heart-Crushing Palm, so your talent is decent. If you're willing to submit to me and become my slave, I might consider sparing your life."
Zhang Ruochen held Huang Yanchen's slender waist with one hand and carried the Abyssal Ancient Sword in the other. He glanced sideways at Hua Qingshan and said, "Is there no other path?"
"Of course there is!"
Hua Qingshan chuckled, "Hand over Princess Yanchen, kneel on the ground and kowtow to me three times, then cripple your own cultivation. I might also spare your life."
"And what if I choose a third path?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"There is no third path." Hua Qingshan's face darkened, his tone cold and sharp.
"Then I'll show you a third path right now."
Zhang Ruochen activated his footwork and charged toward the binding formation inscriptions.
Huang Yanchen's expression changed. Her snow-white fingers tightly gripped Zhang Ruochen's chest as she said, "Have you lost your mind?"
"Trying to break through the binding formation inscriptions? He truly doesn't know his limits." Hua Qingshan sneered coldly, also believing Zhang Ruochen was courting death.
Just as Zhang Ruochen reached the front of the formation inscriptions, he suddenly swung his arm, and a "hissing" sound filled the air.
A crack, over a foot long, split open in the space ahead.
A fierce whirlwind automatically formed around the spatial rift, beginning to absorb everything nearby—air, stones, inscriptions...
In an instant, the spatial rift devoured a large area of formation inscriptions, creating a gap in the formation.
The spatial rift appeared for only a moment before immediately vanishing.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen had calculated with precision, never slowing his speed. He shot through the gap in the formation and escaped.
"What?!"
Hua Qingshan's expression changed. He couldn't understand what technique Zhang Ruochen had just used to create a crack in space.
"What kind of martial technique did he cultivate?"
Hua Qingshan was stunned for only a moment before reacting instantly. His body moved, turning into a streak of light as he shot through the formation gap, chasing after Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen heard the sound of wind breaking behind him and his heart tightened. "Such speed."
Hua Qingshan's speed was astonishingly fast, reaching one hundred sixty meters per second. In the blink of an eye, he had caught up to Zhang Ruochen.
Trying to escape from an expert of this level was nearly impossible.
With Zhang Ruochen's current martial cultivation, even using the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow, his maximum speed was only one hundred ten meters per second. The gap in speed was too great.
Urgent footsteps came from ahead. The guards of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild had been alerted and were rushing over. There were at least a hundred martial artists, completely surrounding Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen.
At least fifty guards drew pitch-black war bows, aiming armor-piercing arrows at Zhang Ruochen.
Another several dozen guards held long spears, blocking every exit from the Poison Spider Merchant Guild.
Standing at the front of the group of guards were two burly Earth Extreme Realm experts—the same two female attendants who had been guarding Huang Yanchen earlier.
"Kid, give up resisting! You can't escape. Even if you flee the Poison Spider Merchant Guild, you won't escape Earthfire City." Hua Qingshan laughed.
"Release the arrows!"
One of the Earth Extreme Realm female attendants, seeing Zhang Ruochen charging forward, immediately gave the order.
Several dozen armor-piercing arrows let out a whistling sound, like a rain of arrows flying toward Zhang Ruochen.
With the explosive power of armor-piercing arrows, even the protective true qi shield of an Earth Extreme Realm expert couldn't block them.
Just as Zhang Ruochen seemed about to be pierced by a thousand arrows, all the arrows flying toward him suddenly changed direction. After circling around Zhang Ruochen, they flew back toward Hua Qingshan, who was chasing behind him.
Hua Qingshan watched the arrows change direction, his eyes narrowing. "That kid is indeed strange. Could he possess the power to control space?"
The several dozen armor-piercing arrows held Hua Qingshan back for a single breath's time.
In that single breath, Zhang Ruochen charged into the group of guards, sending over a dozen of them flying.
"Courting death!" A female attendant with Earth Extreme Realm cultivation attacked Zhang Ruochen.
Her arms were thicker than Zhang Ruochen's thighs, and her palms emitted a silver light, as if her body were forged from silver.
With a palm strike, the force directly formed a gale, like a dark cloud pressing down toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
"Pfft!"
Zhang Ruochen swung his sword, cleaving through the palm technique.
The sword qi split open the head of the Earth Extreme Realm female attendant, leaving a blood line.
The female attendant froze in place, losing all life force. With a thud, she collapsed to the ground.
Zhang Ruochen took out a thunder bead, infused it with true qi, and tossed it into the group of guards.
"Boom!"
The thunder bead exploded. Bolts of lightning surged out from the bead, striking several dozen martial artists, leaving them charred black, their clothes tattered, and collapsing stiffly to the ground.
When the lightning light faded, Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen had vanished.
"They can't escape. Chase them immediately."
Hua Qingshan's face darkened. Following the residual aura left by Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen, he was the first to give chase. Moments later, he rushed out of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild.
But as soon as he exited, Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen's auras disappeared.
Hua Qingshan stopped and looked around, but he couldn't find any trace of Zhang Ruochen or Huang Yanchen. "How is this possible?"
"Young master, no one is here."
"Young master, it's as if they vanished into thin air, disappearing without a trace."
...
The martial artists of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild all returned to report to Hua Qingshan.
Hua Qingshan clenched his fists, his voice cold and deep. "They can't have escaped Earthfire City. Starting now, seal off Earthfire City. Only allow entry, no exit. Don't let a single fly out."
Huang Yanchen was the princess of the Thousand Water Commandery. She could be exchanged for a large amount of cultivation resources by the Poison Spider Merchant Guild—truly a rare commodity.
Now that she had been rescued, it was a huge loss for the Poison Spider Merchant Guild.
If he couldn't retrieve Huang Yanchen, Hua Qingshan would face severe punishment from the guild's higher-ups.
Hua Qingshan said, "Dispatch everyone. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find those two."
Hua Qingshan didn't notice that, just a few dozen zhang away, a palm-sized black cat with a crystal hanging around its neck was strolling leisurely into the distance.
After escaping the Poison Spider Merchant Guild, Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen had immediately entered the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal. Then, Zhang Ruochen sent Xiao Hei out, letting him carry the Time-Space Crystal away.
Xiao Hei was just a cat; no one would pay attention to him.
"Xiao Hei, head to the city gate as fast as possible. Try to escape Earthfire City before they seal it." Zhang Ruochen infused his voice with true qi and transmitted it out of the Time-Space Crystal to Xiao Hei.
Xiao Hei looked at the distant city gate closing. Layers of formation inscriptions emerged, completely covering the gate. "I'm afraid it's too late. We can't escape."
Not far from Xiao Hei, in a small alley, the short, thin Chang Qiqi was hiding. He also watched the distant city gate closing and muttered a curse under his breath, "This is bad."
"Meow!"
A black cat stood at Chang Qiqi's feet, stretching its large head to stare at the distant gate, letting out a sigh.
Chang Qiqi's eyes lit up. He reached out and grabbed the little black cat on the ground, kneading its belly as he laughed, "Finding a cat in Earthfire City? That's strange!"
Chang Qiqi squeezed it a couple more times. It was soft and warm.
Xiao Hei's eyes widened, very displeased with Chang Qiqi's random kneading. No matter how he looked at it, the guy's movements seemed perverted.
"It looks like I'll have to hide in the Vermilion Bird Tower first and hope the academy's experts arrive soon." Chang Qiqi stuffed Xiao Hei into his pocket, lowered his body, and turned into a blur as he headed toward a bustling area of Earthfire City.
Inside the Time-Space Crystal, Huang Yanchen curiously looked around. She was certain this was not the inner space of a space bracelet, because the inner space of a space bracelet couldn't be this stable, nor could it have such dense spiritual energy.
This could only mean that Zhang Ruochen possessed a true space treasure, and they were now inside it.
"Zhang Ruochen, who exactly are you?" Huang Yanchen suppressed her injuries, her sapphire-blue eyes fixed tightly on the young man standing before her, filled with doubt.
Huang Yanchen thought she already knew Zhang Ruochen well, but seeing him fight Hua Qingshan today, she realized that everything she had seen before was just the tip of the iceberg.
How many more secrets was he hiding?
Zhang Ruochen took off the metal mask on his face, revealing a handsome, refined face. He took out a jade bottle, poured out a healing pill, and handed it to Huang Yanchen. "Focus on healing first!"
"I'm not injured... ugh... tell me first... who you really are. Did you deliberately try to get close to me?" Huang Yanchen's mouth overflowed with blood again, but she remained stubborn. She pushed Zhang Ruochen's hand away, biting her lip, her eyes fixed straight on him.
A mere prince of a lower commandery—how could he possess so many incredible methods? He could even control space.
She absolutely refused to believe that Zhang Ruochen had no other identity.