Chapter 230: Reactions from All Sides

Not long after, a carriage rolled out from Hundred Refinements Peak.

Seeing this scene, the disciples of the peak all knelt prostrate on the ground, silently sending the carriage off.

Everyone had never seen the Peak Lord so furious and filled with killing intent; this was the first time.

Each person felt only a fear rising from the depths of their hearts; they did not know who had provoked the Peak Lord, but at this moment they understood clearly: since the Peak Lord had personally taken action, the other party's fate was already sealed.

After the carriage completely vanished from sight, the disciples of Hundred Refinements Peak kneeling in various places slowly raised their heads.

Suddenly, everyone's peripheral vision shifted, and they all hurriedly gazed into the distance.

They saw only a dazzling silver light rising from the darkness in the direction of Hundred Refinements City at some unknown time!

At the same time, the coachman driving the carriage for Zheng Yunfeng also raised his head, looking toward the direction of Hundred Refinements City.

Immediately, he carefully called out:

"Peak Lord."

In the next moment, the carriage curtain moved without wind; Zheng Yunfeng, wrapped in a sphere of golden true qi, directed his gaze past the coachman's body toward that streak of silver firelight on the horizon ahead.

Then, his cold voice drifted out, wavering and fluctuating in weight, as if suppressing an anger that was hard to restrain:

"Even Old Wu has met with disaster; this seat must see just who you are."

Luo Shen Peak, the Ninth Peak, Yulan Peak.

The entire Shanfeng resembled a giant jade tablet carved by heavenly craftsmanship; its summit surface was covered with a layer of dark ice, and upon that dark ice sat a palace of green jade.

Inside the palace, Yulan Peak's Peak Lord, Especially Yumianjiao, sat seated among nine ice mirrors, wearing a snow-white long skirt, her face beautiful, her true age unreadable.

The ice mirrors reflected Especially Yumianjiao's figure while continuously absorbing the true qi of heaven and earth from the surroundings.

Threads of dark ice true qi swirled throughout the entire palace, making the nine figures in the mirrors appear both real and false, both void and substantial, impossible to see clearly.

Just then, the figure of Especially Yumianjiao in one of the dark ice mirror surfaces suddenly trembled, then flew out from the mirror surface, heading toward outside the green jade palace.

Soon, the indistinct mirror-image figure of Especially Yumianjiao stopped before an old woman standing in front of the green jade palace.

She hovered in mid-air and asked in an icy voice:

"What business brings you to this seat?"

Hearing this, the old woman dressed in green robes immediately bowed deeply and, keeping her head lowered, said:

"Just now, a messenger from Hundred Refinements Peak came to report, saying that an extremely powerful expert has arrived in Hundred Refinements City, causing Hundred Refinements Peak to face the calamity of peak destruction."

Especially Yumianjiao's mirror-image figure twisted and swayed in the night sky; her expression momentarily became utterly indifferent as she said:

"This seat just met with Senior Brother Zheng; how could there be any talk of calamity for Hundred Refinements Peak? This person must be spreading false news; simply execute him."

Speaking thus, Especially Yumianjiao suddenly seemed to remember something and said:

"This seat did hear that one of Senior Brother Zheng's sons was killed, but even so, this does not count as any calamity for Hundred Refinements Peak at all."

Hearing this, the old woman in green robes' eyes shifted, and she said:

"Peak Lord, the messenger from Hundred Refinements Peak also mentioned that the expert has already killed two of Peak Lord Zheng's children and the First Lady."

"Moreover, not only that; the expert even sent nine people to provoke the various peaks of Luo Shen Peak, claiming that Peak Lord Zheng is already dead and ordering the various peaks to go seek revenge."

Upon hearing these words, Especially Yumianjiao's mirror-image figure immediately let out a cold shout:

"Arrogant!"

Just then, her gaze suddenly shifted, and she abruptly raised her head to look toward the direction of Hundred Refinements Peak in the dark night.

Then, she saw a streak of silver firelight rising into the night sky, quite conspicuous in the darkness.

Seeing this, Especially Yumianjiao's mirror-image figure immediately frowned, her expression clearly showing something unusual.

After a moment, she turned her head to look at the old woman before her and said:

"You just said that Senior Brother Zheng's two children and the First Lady met with disaster; judging from the signal sent out now, this matter is likely true."

The old woman immediately raised her head and asked:

"Then what should we do next?"

Especially Yumianjiao's mirror-image figure pondered for a while before slowly speaking:

"According to reason, seeing this signal and receiving the message, we should intervene to help, but now Yulan Peak must deal with the offensive of the Great Li Tianjin Guard, so we should not be distracted."

Speaking thus, she waved her hand and said:

"Furthermore, this seat is certain that Senior Brother Zheng can resolve this easily. In that case, send an elder from the sect to go once, to explain the situation to Hundred Refinements Peak, so that Senior Brother Zheng does not misunderstand this seat's inaction and an unnecessary rift arises between us."

Hearing this, the old woman in green robes nodded slightly, immediately agreed, and said:

"Peak Lord's thoughts are thorough and your words are most correct; this old one will go handle this matter at once."

Having spoken, she did not linger, immediately took her leave, turned, and departed.

Especially Yumianjiao's mirror-image figure continued to look toward the direction of Hundred Refinements Peak and murmured to herself:

"Daring to strike at Luo Shen Peak, the attacker very likely comes from the Great Li Tianjin Guard; could this matter be Fu Qiwen's scheme?"

At the same time, Luo Shen Peak, the Eighth Peak, Zhan Yue Peak.

In the night, the Shanfeng's rocks were jagged, its entire body crimson like blood; the whole mountain shape resembled a severed giant blade thrust straight into the earth.

The peak top had no clouds or mist, yet invisible, unseen sharp edges subtly swirled around; even from a great distance, one felt an extremely chilling and terrifying sharpness.

At this time, a high-flying night owl spread its wings and flew over Zhan Yue Peak, but halfway there it instantly shattered into four pieces, dissolving into a cloud of blood mist in the night sky.

On the mid-slope of Zhan Yue Peak, inside an extremely luxurious courtyard.

A beautiful woman, no older than thirty, wearing a thin skirt of silver-threaded brocade, lay slanted upon a soft couch.

Beside her stood a lean, handsome man with his upper body bare, gently massaging her brow.

"Lady, the Peak Lord is truly a martial arts fanatic beyond comprehension; he can leave you, such a pitifully beautiful treasure, to guard an empty room alone, not favoring you even once for two consecutive years; this is truly a waste of heavenly resources."

The lean man squinted his eyes and spoke in a lowered voice, his gaze constantly drifting over the beauty's bosom.

Hearing this, the beautiful woman's face flushed red; she pouted her red lips and blew a puff of warm breath toward the muscular man, smiling as she said:

"That old thing is already so old his body has long since failed; how can he compare to you, a young lad?"

Upon hearing these words, the muscular man grinned proudly and reached out to touch the other's body.

However, just at that moment, a clearly urgent voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard:

"Lady Ni, someone from Hundred Refinement Peak has been sent to deliver a message, saying the Peak Lord of Hundred Refinement Peak has died and our peak needs to send help."

Upon hearing these words, the two people in the room were both stunned; Lady Ni quickly sat up, pulled her thin robe closer, and signaled the muscular man to hide and make no sound.

Then, she opened the door, walked out into the courtyard, and said to the visitor:

"Where did this news come from? Even if I am the least knowledgeable woman, I know how a dignified Peak Lord of Fallen God Peak could possibly die so easily?"

The visitor stole a glance at the beautiful woman before her and hurriedly said:

"Reporting to the Lady, this news was brought by an expert from Hundred Refinement Peak, who is currently still staying within the peak."

Hearing this, Lady Ni frowned and placed her hands on her hips, saying:

"Before, they said that young man Yuwen Feng was dead; now they say the Peak Lord of Hundred Refinement Peak is dead. Does this not mean Hundred Refinement Peak is already gone?"

The visitor's eyes immediately brightened, and he promptly flattered her, saying:

"The Lady's judgment is truly as accurate as prophecy; the people of Hundred Refinement Peak said the same, stating that Hundred Refinement Peak is finished and asking us of Zhan Yue Peak to send someone to take revenge."

Speaking thus, the visitor continued with a sorrowful expression on his face, saying:

"But within our peak, including the Peak Lord, all experts of Elder rank and above are currently in seclusion on the mountain cultivating; even the death of Young Master Yuwen we have no time to attend to, let alone send any powerful experts to help in Hundred Refinement City."

Hearing these words, Lady Ni nodded lightly, seeming to agree greatly with the other's words; then she yawned and waved her hand, saying:

"Then go tell those people of Hundred Refinement Peak that we of Zhan Yue Peak are powerless regarding this matter and tell them to seek help from other peaks."

Then, glancing with the corner of her eye at the room in the courtyard, she said impatiently:

"The hour is already this late; this Lady needs to rest. Go send that person away; if there is any other matter, handle it yourself and do not come here again."

Having spoken, Lady Ni no longer paid attention to the other, turned around, and entered the courtyard while twisting her waist.

And at this time, in the direction of Hundred Refinement City, a silver firelight rose just within the darkness of night.

But she obviously did not care about this at all, merely closing the door tightly with a "creak."

Seeing this, the visitor said nothing more, immediately turned and left; and not long after, a sound of licentiousness came from the room in the courtyard.

At the same time, the other six peaks of Fallen God Peak also successively received messages from the disciples of Hundred Refinement Peak.

Although the attitudes of the various peaks differed, not a single peak held such a bizarre attitude as Zhan Yue Peak.

Among them, apart from the three peaks that needed to directly deal with the attacks of the Great Li Tianjin Guard, they merely sent Elders to support Hundred Refinement Peak and, incidentally, to investigate the true situation.

The remaining two peaks, upon learning the news, both immediately and proactively sent several Elder-level martial arts experts to assist.

As for the main peak, Fallen God Peak, it treated this matter with the utmost caution, not only employing interrogation methods to ask the expert from Hundred Refinement Peak who delivered the message to clarify the entire sequence of events.

After seeing the signal from Hundred Refinement City, it directly dispatched the main peak's Zhang Sect's direct eldest disciple to go to Hundred Refinement Peak.

At the same time, it also sent a message to the Peak Lord of the Fifth Peak, Ouyang Beiqi Ming Qi, ordering him to personally go to Zheng Yunfeng to inquire about the situation within.

According to reason, upon learning that the expert from Hundred Refinement Peak who came to deliver the message was coerced by Li Musheng, Fallen God Peak would have had no need to make such a huge fuss over this matter.

After all, since Zheng Yunfeng has not yet acted, this matter cannot be considered urgent.

As for why they acted this way, it was naturally because the Great Li Tianjin Guard is currently attacking Fallen God Peak.

And Fallen God Peak, fearing that there might be schemes and calculations by the Tianjin Guard within, therefore responded with even greater caution to avoid misjudgment.

In a forest about seventy-odd li outside the Yuxing City region of Fallen God Peak, Commander Fu Qiwen, leading a group of Tianjin Guard experts, had already quietly arrived under the cover of night.

Fu Qiwen knew the power and influence of Fallen God Peak in Lanzhou and was equally clear that there must be spies of the other side within the Great Li Tianjin Guard.

This matter is actually unavoidable, just as there are also spies of the Tianjin Guard within Fallen God Peak.

Regarding the conflict between the two colossal entities, the Great Li Tianjin Guard and Fallen God Peak, many things are mutually understood, making it fundamentally difficult to achieve complete secrecy.

However, in Fu Qiwen's view, even if the other side knows the Tianjin Guard's attack route, it actually does not matter.

On the battlefield, things are inherently illusory and real; it is difficult to completely trust all intelligence, and he does not believe that Fallen God Peak would truly dare to place all their experts on the defense of the Four Peaks, leaving the other peaks empty.

Within the forest, inside a large tent lit by an oil lamp, almost all the high-ranking members of the Tianjin Guard were present.

"Continue marching in one shi; we must capture Yuxing City before dawn, after which we will not stop, striving to capture Yuxing Peak in the shortest possible time."

Fu Qiwen spoke while pointing at the map under the dim yellow light; around him were nearly forty martial arts experts of the Tianjin Guard, including Hu Rui'an.

However, apart from Fu Qiwen and Hu Rui'an, the rest of the crowd all subtly frowned, their expressions obviously somewhat heavy.

In their view, capturing Yuxing City was not a big problem, but facing Yuxing Peak they had no confidence, even under the personal leadership of Commander Fu Qiwen.

After all, judging from the intelligence currently known, among these Tianjin Guard experts, the number of people whose martial arts cultivation reached the Heaven-and-Mortal Realm was not even half that of Yuxing Peak.

And in the campaigns against Jianghu sects, the victory or defeat between Heaven-and-Mortal Realm experts often determined the outcome of a battle.

Fu Qiwen saw the thoughts within everyone's hearts; regarding this, he said nothing more.

He was very clear that under the current situation, more words were useless.

As the mastermind leading this attack on Yuxing Peak, he only needed to use results to answer all questions.

Next, after instructing on some specific matters regarding the attack on Yuxing City, Fu Qiwen led the people out of the tent one after another.

Not long after, they would break camp and continue forward.

"My lord seems very confident about capturing Yuxing Peak, but it is said that the Peak Lord of that Yuxing Peak is invincible in defense within Fallen God Peak."

Hu Rui'an followed beside Fu Qiwen, walking along the mountain path, and glanced at the other under the cover of night as he asked.

Hearing this, Fu Qiwen waved his hand and said:

"The choices I make naturally have my reasons; otherwise, do you think why I would personally act to attack Yuxing Peak?"

Hu Rui'an's expression moved slightly; he naturally understood the ability of this Commander my lord before him.

But facing the Fallen God Peak, he still felt a certain unease.

However, seeing the other party so confident now, he felt much more at ease in his heart.

Thinking of this, Hu Rui'an silently shook his head in his heart:

"After thinking it over and over, I still feel safest by the Prince's side; it seems that as long as the Prince is here, there is nothing to fear."

After leaving Li Musheng, this feeling of his grew even stronger.

Of course, he felt it might also be that there were not many dangers on their journey together at that time, nor had they faced the pressure of a terrifying existence like the Fallen God Peak, which is why he developed such a mindset.

At this moment, a sound suddenly arose from the forest ahead.

Fu Qiwen and Hu Rui'an both slowly stopped and looked, seeing Murong Xiaya searching for something in the darkness.

Seeing this, Hu Rui'an immediately spoke out and asked:

"Miss Murong, did you lose something?"

Hearing this, Murong Xiaya turned her head to look back, then sighed and said:

"The big black cat the Prince entrusted to us is gone. We clearly saw it sleeping during the day, but we do not know when it got lost."

(End of this chapter)