Chapter 250: Shock
Even though Garrison Marquis was already severely injured, he still burst forth with a speed of two hundred and forty meters per second, instantly leaving Zhang Ruochen behind as he charged toward the city gate of the Black Market.
The greatest advantage of a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist was their speed.
If he hadn’t been startled by the spatial rift Zhang Ruochen had unleashed, Garrison Marquis would still have had the strength to fight, and wouldn’t have ended up fleeing so disgracefully.
A Heavenly Extreme Realm martial arts myth, chased off by a young martial artist—it was too shameful!
“Once I escape back to the military camp, I’ll definitely dispatch a large army to hack that bastard into pieces,” Garrison Marquis thought, still clinging to hope. As long as he made it back to camp, the initiative would be in his hands.
Han Qiu stood atop the Black Market’s city wall, holding a white jade ancient sword in both hands, her body standing straight. She stared at Garrison Marquis, who looked like a beaten dog, and said coldly, “Garrison Marquis, where do you think you’re running?”
Garrison Marquis abruptly stopped, looked up at Han Qiu, cursed his bad luck, and said, “And who are you?”
“You don’t need to know who I am. But you’ve colluded with the Poison Spider Chamber of Commerce—only you know how many shady deals you’ve made. Today, I’m going to cut off your head and take it back to Yuntai Sect Manor,” Han Qiu said.
“You’re from Yuntai Sect Manor?”
Garrison Marquis’s heart sank to the bottom. How had Yuntai Sect Manor gotten involved too?
“No matter what, I’ll deal with her first.”
A murderous gleam flashed in his eyes. He stomped his feet, shattering the stone slabs on the ground, and soared dozens of feet into the air, striking a palm toward Han Qiu.
She was just a young martial artist—how strong could she be?
Garrison Marquis didn’t believe his luck was so bad that he’d run into two top-tier young experts in a row.
Han Qiu’s lips curled into a smile. Like a flash of lightning, she thrust her sword, unleashing a brilliant sword light, as if a thousand swords were striking at once.
Garrison Marquis’s pupils dilated as he saw the incoming sword light. His heart leaped—he knew he had underestimated her.
He immediately withdrew his palm strike, drew the greatsword from his waist, and slashed it forward.
Garrison Marquis was forced to act hastily, while Han Qiu struck with full momentum.
The two swords clashed, sending sparks flying.
Han Qiu’s arm trembled, and the white jade ancient sword transformed into a series of afterimages, creating thirty-six sword light shadows that rained down toward Garrison Marquis.
Han Qiu’s swordsmanship was already extremely advanced, having reached the peak of the “Sword Follows the Heart” realm. How could a severely injured Garrison Marquis stand a chance against her?
“Bang! Bang!”
The sounds of sword strikes fell like raindrops, continuously landing on Garrison Marquis.
“Pfft!”
Garrison Marquis spat out a mouthful of blood, plummeting from midair and landing heavily on the ground.
His armor was dented and battered from the sword strikes, now tattered and torn.
Zhang Ruochen caught up and stood behind Garrison Marquis, a hint of confusion in his eyes as he glanced at Han Qiu, who was standing atop the city wall.
Han Qiu stood proudly above, a smile on her face. “Friend, Garrison Marquis’s head belongs to me. Don’t fight me for it.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Who’s your friend?”
Han Qiu chuckled. “If I hadn’t helped you destroy the Black Market’s city-protecting formation, could you have walked out of the Vermilion Bird Tower so safely? I did you such a big favor—doesn’t that make me your friend?”
“So it was you who acted. No wonder the Black Market’s city-protecting grand formation never activated for so long.”
Zhang Ruochen added, “Fine! I’ll let you have it. If you can’t kill him, I’ll step in.”
“Thank you.” Han Qiu gave a slight bow to Zhang Ruochen.
Garrison Marquis, standing between the two, was already boiling with rage. He was a marquis commanding three hundred thousand troops, a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial arts myth, yet he had been driven to such a miserable state by two young martial artists.
Garrison Marquis gritted his teeth and said, “You two brats are too despicable! Do you really think a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial arts myth is someone you can just kill whenever you want?”
Han Qiu said, “If you were at full strength, killing you might have been somewhat difficult. But in your current state, killing you is a piece of cake.”
“How arrogant,” Garrison Marquis said, glaring. “Who exactly are you?”
Zhang Ruochen laughed. “Garrison Marquis, you don’t even recognize her? She is the daughter of the Yuntai Sect Manor’s master. By seniority, she should call you ‘Uncle Master.’”
Garrison Marquis had once been a disciple of Yuntai Sect Manor.
Garrison Marquis’s face stiffened as he finally realized the truth.
“Swish!”
Han Qiu flew down from the top of the city wall, and strands of black true qi surged from her body, like ink, enveloping a space of a hundred zhang.
“Bang! Bang!”
Within the pitch-black space, the sounds of clashing war swords rang out.
Zhang Ruochen retreated a hundred zhang away, watching the rolling black mist, and muttered to himself, “This must be the Dark Domain.”
The Dark Domain, to some extent, was also a kind of celestial phenomenon.
Han Qiu’s cultivation wasn’t strong enough yet, so she could only form the Dark Domain within a hundred zhang radius.
If her martial cultivation reached the Half-Saint realm, she could even alter heaven and earth, blotting out the sky and covering the sun, instantly turning a region from day to night.
After a moment, the black true qi gradually contracted and re-entered Han Qiu’s body.
Zhang Ruochen looked over and saw only a headless corpse on the ground.
Garrison Marquis’s head had already been severed by Han Qiu and placed into a box.
Han Qiu put the box into her bundle, slung it over her back, glanced at Zhang Ruochen, and said with a bright smile, “Friend, let’s go! Travel together!”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Do you know where I’m going?”
“Aren’t you heading to Heavenly Demon Martial City?” Han Qiu said confidently.
“Sorry, we’re not going the same way.” Zhang Ruochen executed the perfected Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow, stepping on the void and riding the wind. With just one step, he ascended the Black Market’s city wall.
With a second step, Zhang Ruochen flew off.
“Damn it, trying to hide from me.”
Han Qiu had gone to so much trouble just to show goodwill to Zhang Ruochen and prove that Yuntai Sect Manor had nothing to do with this.
But she hadn’t expected him to be so unappreciative.
Han Qiu naturally wouldn’t let Zhang Ruochen get away, so she activated the “Step on Clouds, Chase the Moon” movement technique and immediately gave chase.
After Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu left, a massive earthquake shook the martial arts world of Big Stone City. Shocking news spread from the Black Market.
“It’s said that two martial arts myths stormed the Black Market, slaughtering wildly. Even the Poison Spider Chamber of Commerce’s Elder Wei and the Vermilion Bird Tower’s master died at their hands.”
“What are Elder Wei and the Vermilion Bird Tower’s master? Don’t you know that even Garrison Marquis was killed, and his head was chopped off?”
“Who could be so terrifying?”
Soon after, more news reached Big Stone City.
“The Poison Spider Chamber of Commerce’s Hua Minggong, the Poison Spider Young Master, and Mu Qing were killed in Lin’an County by the Ninth Prince of Yunwu Commandery.”
When this news spread to Big Stone City, it caused another uproar.
Everyone knew that Hua Minggong and Mu Qing were Heavenly Extreme Realm martial arts myths, and the Poison Spider Young Master was a young expert close to entering the “Earth Ranking.” No one had expected them all to be killed on the same day.
One shocking piece of news after another spread from Big Stone City, sent separately to the palaces of the surrounding commanderies and the headquarters of the Poison Spider Chamber of Commerce.
After receiving the news, the King of the Four Directions Commandery’s face turned pale, and beads of cold sweat as big as beans appeared on his forehead. “Is it really someone from the Martial Market Academy who killed Garrison Marquis?”
A martial artist in a black robe knelt in the center of the hall, presenting a token from the Martial Market Academy.
“This is the token left by that mysterious young man!”
The King of the Four Directions Commandery took the token. On one side were cast the four golden characters “Martial Market Academy,” and on the other side were engraved three characters: “Zhang Ruochen.”
“Bang!”
The King of the Four Directions Commandery threw the token away and said fiercely, “It’s this Zhang Ruochen again… No… Zhang Ruochen was only at the Mysterious Extreme Realm a year ago—how could he kill Garrison Marquis?”
The black-robed martial artist said cautiously, “It’s said that another expert from Yuntai Sect Manor killed Garrison Marquis. But before that, Zhang Ruochen had already severely wounded him.”
“Yuntai Sect Manor has gotten involved too!” The King of the Four Directions Commandery’s vision went dark, and he nearly fainted.
Fortunately, the king’s cultivation was deep. He forced himself to stay alert, sat up straight, and tried to remain calm.
“Report!”
Another black-robed martial artist entered the hall and presented a piece of intelligence.
After reading the contents, the King of the Four Directions Commandery crushed the letter into pieces and roared, “Zhang Ruochen, Zhang Ruochen, it’s always this Zhang Ruochen. If I had known, I should have acted personally and killed him a year ago.”
Beside the king stood an old man in a purple crown.
The old man’s face was solemn as he asked, “Your Majesty, what happened?”
The King of the Four Directions Commandery said, “Hua Minggong, the Poison Spider Young Master, and Mu Qing were killed by Zhang Ruochen in Lin’an County. Lin’an County is only a few hundred miles from Big Stone City. Zhang Ruochen must have discovered something and rushed to Big Stone City… Damn it! Mu Qing had a ledger recording the transactions between the royal clan and the Poison Spider Chamber of Commerce. It must have fallen into Zhang Ruochen’s hands.”
“If that ledger is sent to Heavenly Demon Martial City, the Four Directions Commandery will surely face sanctions, and Yuntai Sect Manor will never let us off.”
The old man in the purple crown’s face also changed drastically. “We must recover that ledger at all costs, or both the Four Directions Commandery and the Poison Spider Chamber of Commerce will face annihilation.”
The King of the Four Directions Commandery took a deep breath, his eyes shifting constantly. “It’s too late to chase him now. There’s only one option: immediately send a message to Huo Jingcheng and have him intercept Zhang Ruochen and that Yuntai Sect Manor expert.”
The old man in the purple crown nodded. “Huo Jingcheng is a top expert of the royal clan and also an elder of Yuntai Sect Manor. He’s the best choice for the interception. To be safe, I’ll set out for Heavenly Demon Martial City now to prevent them from escaping.”
The King of the Four Directions Commandery breathed a slight sigh of relief. “With Elder Ling personally heading to Heavenly Demon Martial City, even if Zhang Ruochen and that Yuntai Sect Manor expert have heaven-defying abilities, they won’t survive. Now we just hope it’s not too late.”
The old man in the purple crown said, “Your Majesty, rest assured. Not only will we act, but the Poison Spider Chamber of Commerce will also dispatch a large number of experts to intercept and kill them. As long as the ledger hasn’t been delivered to Heavenly Demon Martial City, I’m confident I can retrieve it.”
With that, the old man in the purple crown walked out, mounted a fourth-rank barbarian bird, and flew toward the direction of Heavenly Demon Ridge.