Chapter 235: Blood Spills Five Steps
The master of Qinghe Fort, named Zhao Jian, was considered a high-ranking figure within the Poison Spider Merchant Guild.
Standing on the city wall, he saw the densely packed soldiers outside the city and was filled with terror. He immediately rushed into the fort to report the news of the imperial army's attack to the injured Hua Minggong, who was recuperating.
Five days earlier, during the great battle at the Black Market headquarters, Hua Minggong had been wounded by two silver-robed elders from the Martial Market Academy. Even now, his injuries had not fully healed.
Upon hearing that Qinghe Fort was surrounded, Hua Minggong's face darkened. He muttered to himself, "Hmph! They came quickly enough. Did you see who is leading the siege on Qinghe Fort? Is it Wan Chengzhong? Or Zhang Tiangui?"
Zhao Jian shook his head. "Neither. It's the seventh-ranked figure in Yunwu Commandery, Jin Chihan."
"What? The Yunwu Commandery Prince thinks too little of me! He sent Jin Chihan to besiege Qinghe Fort? Haha!" Hua Minggong's heart relaxed, and he laughed. "How many troops did Jin Chihan bring?"
"At least ten thousand, all elites," Zhao Jian said.
Hua Minggong snorted coldly. "The goods stored in Qinghe Fort have mostly been moved. I was planning to leave today anyway. Since this is the case, I'll give the Yunwu Commandery Prince a parting gift before I go. He needs to learn that opposing the Black Market leads to no good end."
The Poison Spider Young Master walked in from outside, smiling. "Father is right. Jin Chihan coming to Qinghe Fort is nothing but a death wish. Zhao Jian, go open the gates of Qinghe Fort and let Jin Chihan in."
"Your subordinate obeys."
Seeing the confidence of Hua Minggong and the Poison Spider Young Master, the fear on Zhao Jian's face vanished, replaced by a cunning smile as he walked toward the top of the gate.
Standing atop the gate, Zhao Jian ordered a white flag raised and stared at the distant General Chihan. "General Chihan, we surrender! Please do not attack!"
"Open the gates immediately and let General Chihan enter the city."
"Boom!"
With the effort of twenty-four martial artists, the city gates slowly swung open.
Five miles away, General Chihan sneered. "Just a rabble, indeed. They surrender the moment we surround Qinghe Fort. Utterly worthless!"
Zhang Ruochen warned, "General, beware of a trap. Qinghe Fort must have defensive formations set up. If you enter the fort and the evil path martial artists activate the formations, it will be extremely disadvantageous for you."
General Chihan, being an experienced veteran, knew well the power of a city-protecting formation. He nodded. "Indeed, I must be cautious."
General Chihan glared at Zhao Jian standing on the gate and roared, "If you destroy the four formation towers on the wall, I will accept your surrender. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to launch a full assault."
Zhao Jian glanced at the distant Poison Spider Young Master.
The Poison Spider Young Master's lips curled into a sinister smile, and he nodded in agreement.
In the Poison Spider Young Master's view, even without using the defensive formation, wiping out Jin Chihan and his ten thousand troops would be a trivial matter.
Besides, Qinghe Fort could no longer be held. Destroying the defensive formation would also prevent it from falling into the hands of the Yunwu Commandery court. The cost of setting up a city-protecting formation was no small sum.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
With four thunderous crashes, the four formation towers on the outskirts of Qinghe Fort collapsed, turning into massive rubble.
Seeing the towers destroyed, General Chihan burst into laughter and waved his arm. "Red Lightning Battalion! Red Wind Battalion! Follow me into Qinghe Fort to wipe out those evil path martial artists!"
General Chihan took only two battalions, roughly four thousand men, and charged toward Qinghe Fort in a mighty surge.
Zhang Ruochen sat inside his carriage, frowning slightly, muttering to himself, "Those evil path martial artists in Qinghe Fort actually destroyed the four formation towers. Could it be that I was overthinking things?"
Just as General Chihan led his troops into Qinghe Fort, the city gates slammed shut with a thunderous boom.
"Haha! Jin Chihan, you fool! Did you really think we would surrender?" Zhao Jian laughed.
From all directions within Qinghe Fort, hundreds of evil path martial artists in purple robes emerged. They were all top-tier evil path experts, surrounding General Chihan and his four thousand soldiers in the center.
The Poison Spider Young Master and Hua Minggong walked out from the fort, standing atop a stone platform, smiling as they looked down at General Chihan below.
The Poison Spider Young Master grinned. "General Chihan, the Yunwu Commandery Prince sent you here to die. Why still fight for the imperial court? Why not join our Poison Spider Merchant Guild? With your strength, you would surely receive excellent treatment."
Seeing the Poison Spider Young Master and Hua Minggong, General Chihan's face turned ashen. He knew he had fallen into a trap.
Not just a trap set by the Poison Spider Young Master and Hua Minggong, but also a scheme by the Seventh Prince. Yet he could not understand why the Seventh Prince would want to harm him.
A Heavenly Extreme Realm martial arts myth could easily slaughter an army of ten thousand, let alone the fact that Hua Minggong was a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist, and the Poison Spider Young Master could match one in combat.
It seemed today would be a fight to the death.
But General Chihan did not surrender. Clenching his teeth, he raised his pitch-black wolf-tooth club and roared, "Brothers, kill!"
"Stubborn fool!"
The Poison Spider Young Master lost patience. He drew the curved blade from his waist, pouring all his true qi into it.
The inscriptions on the blade were fully activated, sending up a blade light two zhang high as he slashed toward the army.
"Whoosh!"
With a single slash, dozens of soldiers were cut in half. Blood splattered like a downpour, staining the ground crimson.
Against an expert of the Poison Spider Young Master's level, human wave tactics were useless. Even an army of one hundred thousand could not stop his steps.
As the Poison Spider Young Master struck, Zhao Jian leaped down from the city wall, striking out with his palm, sending over a dozen soldiers flying.
Zhao Jian, the master of Qinghe Fort, had reached the Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection in martial arts. Charging into the army, no one could withstand even one of his moves.
In moments, corpses littered the ground.
He charged straight at General Chihan, engaging him in battle.
The Poison Spider Young Master looked at the thousands of soldiers before him, a cruel smile on his face. "A bunch of ants trying to besiege Qinghe Fort? What a joke..."
Suddenly, a piercing, long howl rang out from outside the city, echoing throughout Qinghe Fort.
The Poison Spider Young Master squinted, looking toward the city gates. "Could there be another expert in the army?"
"Boom!"
The gates of Qinghe Fort, forged from refined iron and half a meter thick, were shattered by a powerful sword qi, breaking into pieces.
The fragments of the gate, controlled by a surge of true qi, flew rapidly toward the evil path martial artists.
"Bang! Bang!"
Seventeen evil path martial artists had their bodies pierced, flying backward as blood sprayed from their wounds. They died on the spot.
Zhang Ruochen, holding the Abyssal Ancient Sword, walked in from outside the gate. He fixed his gaze on the distant Poison Spider Young Master. "Hua Qingshan, we meet again."
The moment the gates closed, Zhang Ruochen sensed something was wrong and immediately gave chase.
Outside the city, the army's war cries and drumbeats rose. The remaining six thousand soldiers formed formations and charged toward Qinghe Fort.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen enter the gate, the Poison Spider Young Master was momentarily startled, then burst into laughter. "Zhang Ruochen, there's a road to heaven you refuse to take, and no door to hell you won't barge through!"
"Is that so?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "That depends on whose heaven and whose hell we're talking about."
The Poison Spider Young Master snorted coldly, his eyes darkening. "Today, you won't escape!"
He stomped his foot, leaping over thirty meters into the air, then descended rapidly, using the momentum to slash his blade at Zhang Ruochen's head.
The bright blade light stretched over ten meters, like a radiant moon falling from the sky.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen merely shifted his body and vanished from his spot.
"What?" The Poison Spider Young Master was startled, not expecting Zhang Ruochen to be so fast.
"Boom!"
The Poison Spider Young Master's blade struck the ground, causing a violent tremor. A long blade mark appeared, a hundred meters long and three meters deep.
This single strike displayed a destructive power that seemed beyond what a martial artist could unleash, shocking everyone present.
"Your speed is too slow!"
Zhang Ruochen's voice sounded behind the Poison Spider Young Master.
The Poison Spider Young Master's face changed. He tried to turn and strike with his blade to defend, but Zhang Ruochen had already struck him in the back with a palm.
"Bang!"
The powerful palm strike sent the Poison Spider Young Master lurching forward like a dog pouncing on food. He crashed to the ground, rolling over ten zhang away and smashing through a wall.
The Poison Spider Young Master scrambled up from the rubble, landing back on his feet. He tore off his tattered outer robe, revealing a set of silver armor.
Thanks to this armor, he had only suffered minor injuries from Zhang Ruochen's palm strike.
The armor on his body was called the Snake Scale Silver Armor, a sixth-rank True Martial Treasure, entirely composed of silver scales linked together without a single gap.
"Zhang Ruochen, I underestimated you. No wonder you dared to fight me—your cultivation has broken through."
The Poison Spider Young Master stared at Zhang Ruochen, a faint green light appearing in his pupils. Soon, his eyes turned completely green, looking eerily sinister.
Soul-Stealing Eye.
This was a spirit-rank mid-grade martial technique, typically only cultivatable by Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists. Although the Poison Spider Young Master had practiced the Soul-Stealing Eye, he had not mastered it to perfection.
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power was far too strong. An imperfect Soul-Stealing Eye could not harm him.
Zhang Ruochen completely ignored the Poison Spider Young Master's Soul-Stealing Eye. He stepped forward with his movement technique, closing in on the Poison Spider Young Master, and slashed down with his sword.
"Heart-Moon Full."
Although the Heart-Moon Sword Technique was only a spirit-rank low-grade sword art, Zhang Ruochen had already reached the state of Sword Heart Illumination, elevating the technique to the realm of transformation.
Transformation was a state beyond perfection.
Once a martial technique reached the transformation realm, its power multiplied.
Even a spirit-rank low-grade sword technique could unleash the power of a spirit-rank mid-grade one.
The Poison Spider Young Master never expected his Soul-Stealing Eye to fail. In his haste, he could only slash his blade to block Zhang Ruochen.
But Zhang Ruochen's swordsmanship was far too exquisite for him to defend against.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword twisted slightly, bypassing the curved blade in the Poison Spider Young Master's hand, and struck him in the waist.
"Pfft!"
The Poison Spider Young Master was cut in two. Even his Snake Scale Silver Armor could not withstand the sharpness of the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
A top-tier young evil path expert fell, blood spilling five steps, dying beneath Zhang Ruochen's sword.