# Chapter 249: Murderous Aura
"Master Liu, this is a cup of Qinglan wine brewed from the dew of Qinglan flowers. It contains the spiritual power of spirit crystals. Drinking it can enhance your cultivation."
Cloud Mushroom Girl sat beside Zhang Ruochen, wearing a moon-white thin gauze. Her two snow-white jade-like fingers pinched a white jade cup and delivered it to Zhang Ruochen's lips.
It had to be said that Cloud Mushroom Girl truly deserved to be the top courtesan of the Vermilion Bird Tower. She was indeed very beautiful. Although she could not compare to Huang Yanchen and Duanmu Xingling, she was already on par with Lin Ningsha.
Her chest was very full and plump, fair and tender, revealing a deep cleavage beneath the thin lace fabric. A seductive fragrance emanated from her body. Her starry eyes seemed as if they could drip water as she gazed affectionately at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen took the wine cup but did not drink the wine.
In the Black Market, it was better to be cautious.
Cloud Mushroom Girl looked somewhat disappointed and cast a resentful glance at Zhang Ruochen, feeling that he was far too unappreciative of her charms.
After waiting for a while, footsteps came from outside.
"Bang! Bang!"
Town Army Marquis, wearing a set of red-gold armor and carrying a large sword nearly two meters long at his waist, walked in from outside.
His physique was extremely robust, standing two meters and forty centimeters tall. His arms were as thick as buckets, his waist and abdomen were broad, his chest and back were like a fierce tiger's, and a powerful martial aura emanated from his body.
In front of Town Army Marquis, Elder Wei, Military Advisor Yun, and Vermilion Bird Tower Master all stepped back slightly. Their bodies and minds felt oppressed, as if the air in the entire private room had solidified, making it extremely difficult for them to breathe.
Town Army Marquis let out a loud laugh and walked toward Zhang Ruochen, saying, "So this is Minister of the Left's disciple, Master Liu Xin?"
"Greetings, Town Army Marquis."
Zhang Ruochen stood up and cupped his hands slightly.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen's calm and unhurried demeanor, which formed a stark contrast with Elder Wei and the others, Town Army Marquis squinted his eyes and praised, "As expected of the Minister of the Left's disciple, truly not comparable to ordinary martial artists."
While Town Army Marquis was sizing up Zhang Ruochen, Zhang Ruochen was also sizing him up.
Town Army Marquis was definitely a martial artist with extraordinary talent, possessing a powerful physique, thick bones, and vigorous energy. He likely had innate divine strength.
A figure like this was definitely a top-tier expert at the same realm.
Even though he was also at the initial stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, Town Army Marquis gave Zhang Ruochen a strong sense of oppression. This man was probably even stronger than Mu Qing by a margin.
As for Hua Minggong, who was even weaker, he was even less of a match for Town Army Marquis.
Moreover, behind Town Army Marquis followed six death warriors completely encased in black armor.
Each death warrior emitted a chilling cold aura, tightly guarding beside Town Army Marquis. It could be imagined that anyone wanting to approach Town Army Marquis would first have to get past them.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Town Army Marquis truly deserves to be the military commander of the southern border of the Four Directions Commandery. You have a wealth of talented subordinates. These six death warriors are all top-notch experts, truly enviable."
Town Army Marquis laughed loudly, "Master Liu, good eye. I have trained a total of ten death warriors, all of whom have cultivation levels above the Small Extreme Position of the Earth Extreme Realm. In the military, their status is second only to mine, and they are called the 'Ten Death God Generals.' Today, I only brought six of them. With the strength of these six, if they execute a combined attack formation, they can briefly contend with a martial myth of the Heavenly Extreme Realm."
"Impressive," Zhang Ruochen said.
With six Death God Generals guarding Town Army Marquis, the difficulty of killing him increased significantly.
Town Army Marquis smiled, "They are just ten Earth Extreme Realm death warriors. Compared to the death warriors of the Minister of the Left's residence, they are far inferior. Master Liu, since I have arrived, shouldn't you take out the token of the Minister of the Left's residence for me to verify? Only after confirming your identity can we continue discussing larger business."
"Of course!"
Zhang Ruochen reached his right hand into his sleeve, took out a token, and handed it to Town Army Marquis.
Town Army Marquis looked at the token, and suddenly his eyes widened: "The token of the Martial Market Academy... not good... he is from the Martial Market Academy..."
Zhang Ruochen let out a cold snort, infused true qi into the token, and struck it at a death warrior standing to Town Army Marquis's left.
The token, wrapped in true qi, shot out like a fireball, carrying immense impact force, directly sending that Earth Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position death warrior flying.
"Bang!"
That Earth Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position death warrior crashed through the wall, leaving a human-shaped hole, and flew out of the private room.
Before Town Army Marquis could react, a sharp broken sword had somehow appeared in Zhang Ruochen's hand. Channeling all his true qi, he slashed one sword strike toward Town Army Marquis's neck.
"Sizzle sizzle!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword was completely enveloped in spirit fire true qi, surging up with a ten-foot-long flame sword light.
It was as if Zhang Ruochen was holding a fire dragon in his hand. Even a great river seemed like it could be severed in two, let alone a person.
Town Army Marquis's expression changed drastically. It was too late to dodge, so he could only extend both arms to catch the descending sword strike.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword tore through the true qi between Town Army Marquis's hands and struck heavily against his neck.
"Boom!" The floorboards beneath Town Army Marquis's feet split apart, and his body fell to the ground floor, leaving a huge crater in the floor. The entire building shook violently, on the verge of collapse.
Zhang Ruochen could clearly sense that his sword strike had indeed broken through Town Army Marquis's armor, but it had definitely not killed him.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to pursue to the ground floor, Elder Wei, Military Advisor Yun, and Vermilion Bird Tower Master simultaneously attacked him.
"Boy, who exactly are you?"
"How dare you attempt to assassinate the Marquis? Accept your death!"
"Since he can produce the token of the Martial Market Bank, he should be a young expert from the Martial Market Bank. Let's capture him together," Vermilion Bird Tower Master said.
All three of them had cultivation at the Great Perfection of the Earth Extreme Realm. They surrounded Zhang Ruochen in the center, each unleashing their most powerful martial techniques.
"Heavenly Yin Palm Technique."
Elder Wei's entire meridian system turned green, like tattoo patterns on his skin. His hands condensed a thick layer of cold ice, and from Zhang Ruochen's left side, he struck out a chilling palm print.
"Blood Red Ribbon!"
Two blood-red long ribbons flew out from Vermilion Bird Tower Master's sleeves, extending over ten zhang, and wrapped around Zhang Ruochen's hands.
"Pfft!"
Zhang Ruochen's legs moved, and he charged directly in front of Elder Wei. A flash of sword light, and blood sprayed out.
Before Elder Wei's palm print could land on Zhang Ruochen, his head had already flown off.
"Shua shua!"
Zhang Ruochen struck out thirteen sword strikes in succession, transforming them into thirteen sword qi streams, severing the two red ribbons from Vermilion Bird Tower Master into pieces of cloth.
"What?"
Vermilion Bird Tower Master's face lost all color. She hadn't expected the opponent's strength to be so terrifying. She immediately retreated backward, trying to escape through the window.
A figure flashed, and Zhang Ruochen had already stood before the window.
"Heavenly Heart Pointing the Way!"
Zhang Ruochen swung his sword in a slash, dragging out a sword qi over ten meters long.
The sword qi extended from beneath Zhang Ruochen's feet all the way to Vermilion Bird Tower Master's front, leaving a long sword path on the ground.
Vermilion Bird Tower Master crossed her arms and blocked forward.
"Ah!"
She screamed, sent flying by the sword qi, scattering a patch of blood. Whether she was alive or dead was unknown.
That sword strike also split the entire building in two, with the ground cracking open straight to the bottom floor.
Zhang Ruochen did not bother to check whether Vermilion Bird Tower Master was alive or dead. Such minor characters, even if alive, posed no threat to him.
Eliminating Town Army Marquis was the real priority.
Zhang Ruochen jumped down to the ground floor and saw a three-meter-wide pit on the ground with some fresh blood, but no trace of Town Army Marquis.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen looked up sharply and saw six martial experts standing above.
They held jade stones in their hands, infusing true qi into them, activating the formation inscriptions within the jade stones, preparing to set up a combined attack formation.
Five of them were wrapped in thick iron armor—the five Death God Generals who had been beside Town Army Marquis.
The other person was Military Advisor Yun, Yun Zhonghai.
In the martial world, all six of them were considered top-tier experts.
"Hua—"
The combined attack formation took shape. From the jade stones in the six people's hands, beams of light shot out, connecting together to form a spherical formation cage, trapping Zhang Ruochen at the center of the formation.
Town Army Marquis walked out, his tiger-like eyes staring coldly at Zhang Ruochen within the formation, and said, "Boy, who exactly are you?"
Zhang Ruochen's earlier sword strike had broken through Town Army Marquis's armor, leaving a deep bloody gash on his neck.
Even his collarbone had been severed. Town Army Marquis had suffered considerable injuries, suppressing them only through his profound martial cultivation.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the disheveled Town Army Marquis, showing no fear, and smiled, "What use would it be even if I told you? You're a dead man walking."
"I'm a dead man walking? Haha!"
Town Army Marquis burst into laughter and said, "You still haven't recognized the situation, have you? I've already sent people to activate the city-protecting grand formation of the Black Market. Even if you escape the combined attack formation, you'll still die."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze sharpened. Although the combined attack formation posed some threat to him, it wasn't much trouble.
However, once the city-protecting grand formation was activated, it would be nearly impossible for Zhang Ruochen to kill Town Army Marquis.
"Yun Zhonghai, five Death God Generals, hear my command: capture this brat. Don't kill him yet—I want him alive," Town Army Marquis said angrily.
"Rumble!"
Under the urging of the six experts, the combined attack formation spun rapidly.
Formation inscriptions surged out from the jade stones, transforming into strands of lightning. The lightning twisted together, forming six thick bolts of electric light, all surging toward Zhang Ruochen simultaneously.
"Break for me!"
Zhang Ruochen swung his arm, sending out a three-foot-long spatial rift flying toward Yun Zhonghai's direction.
"Space... is splitting..."
Yun Zhonghai was greatly alarmed. Just as he was about to flee, he felt a terrifying suction force coming from the spatial rift, pulling him inside.
The spatial rift closed, and Yun Zhonghai had vanished without a trace.
With Yun Zhonghai gone, the combined attack formation naturally collapsed on its own.
"What... what just happened?" Town Army Marquis stared intently at the spot where Yun Zhonghai had disappeared.
Space had actually split open with a rift, swallowing a martial expert at the Great Perfection of the Earth Extreme Realm.
Town Army Marquis's heart was filled with shock. If he himself had been struck by that spatial rift, his fate would likely have been no better than Yun Zhonghai's.
"Why hasn't the city-protecting grand formation been activated yet?"
"This brat is too strange. Let's leave first," Town Army Marquis thought, fear rising in his heart. Moreover, he was severely injured and dared not stay any longer.
He immediately executed his movement technique and fled from the Vermilion Bird Tower.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Zhang Ruochen leaped up, intending to pursue, but suddenly the five Death God Generals charged out, drawing five war blades and slashing at Zhang Ruochen simultaneously.
"Shua shua!"
Zhang Ruochen stepped with his footwork, his body transforming into nine phantom images, executing nine sword techniques in succession.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen rushed out from the gaps between the five Death God Generals, turning into a blurry afterimage as he chased after Town Army Marquis.
After Zhang Ruochen left, the five Death God Generals all fell to the ground simultaneously, each with a faint bloody mark on their necks, their breath gone.
In an instant, he had killed five powerful Earth Extreme Realm experts. The sword technique he displayed frightened the courtesans in the Vermilion Bird Tower so much that they dared not move a single muscle.