Chapter 232: Impossible

The robed elder’s face was grim as he immediately concealed himself and Lin Xuner, making not a sound, revealing not a trace of qi.

In the black night, the sound of hooves and rolling wheels came from the end of the great road.

The carriage appeared unadorned, yet seemed to harbor an invisible pressure.

When it drew within dozens of zhang of Bailian City, the guards within all sensed something, turning simultaneously toward the road outside, each heart trembling with inexplicable dread.

Fortunately, they recognized the carriage as coming from Bailian Peak, so they did not panic.

“Open the gate!”

The coachman drove the carriage to near the Bailian City gate and shouted urgently to the guards on the wall.

Hearing this, the gate commander still tried to ask a few questions—but the next instant, an invisible force engulfed him, instantly exploding him into a mist of blood.

Seeing this, the guards on the wall and the martial experts stationed there instantly changed expression, but before they could react, the carriage curtain stirred without wind.

From within the carriage, a figure wreathed in golden qi merely cast a glance—and instantly, the massive, tightly shut city gate of Bailian City exploded open, reduced to dust in an instant.

“It’s… the Peak Master!”

Someone cried out in terror, and immediately, the Bailian City guards knelt prostrate toward the carriage, shouting the Peak Master’s honorific title.

Yet the carriage clearly paid them no heed; under the coachman’s control, it surged straight through the shattered gate into the city.

Seeing this, the guards and martial experts raised their heads, about to exhale in relief—when the next instant, every person around felt a terrifying killing intent sweep over their bodies, fleeting and gone.

In an instant, atop Bailian City’s towering wall, beneath the blazing torches, dozens of guards and martial experts all burst open simultaneously, leaving only crimson clouds of blood and bone fragments slowly drifting down.

The coachman turned to look back—his face instantly turned ashen, eyes wide with terror, his whip trembling in his grip.

As soon as the carriage entered Bailian City, the overwhelming killing intent was no longer concealed.

Wherever the wheels rolled, the blue stone cracked; boundless gales erupted, lanterns hanging from shops and wind chimes on eaves shattered, roof tiles torn away by hurricane winds and swept into the sky.

Beneath this terrifying aura, the surrounding civilians trembled in fear, huddling inside their homes, daring not to make a sound.

Meanwhile, Li Muxian, seated atop the Baixiang Pavilion, glanced toward the direction of Bailian City’s gate, then raised an eyebrow:

“Quite a commotion. This person seems to resemble the Bailian Peak Master.”

As if sensing Li Muxian’s gaze, the carriage hurtling through the dark street suddenly shattered into pieces, the coachman and horses likewise reduced to fragments by the residual shockwave.

Then, a figure wreathed in golden qi stepped into the void, rising abruptly into the air above Bailian City, radiating boundless killing intent.

Zheng Yunfeng’s true face was obscured; golden qi coiled around him like golden dragons, making him glow brilliantly against the night.

At this moment, terrifying martial pressure emanated from his body, warping and trembling the night air; martial experts throughout the city were crushed beneath it, gasping for breath, while ordinary civilians collapsed to the ground, some even losing control of their bowels.

“Is it you?”

Zheng Yunfeng’s gaze pierced through the golden qi surrounding him, gazing from the sky above Bailian City toward Li Muxian atop the Baixiang Pavilion, his voice icy, brimming with murderous intent!

Li Muxian sat atop the pavilion’s ridge, yet said nothing—only gestured toward the opponent with a wave of his hand.

“Ignorant and fearless!”

Zheng Yunfeng’s murderous rage could no longer be contained.

The next instant, he vanished from above Bailian City, instantly becoming a blurred, dazzling golden streak that slashed across the night sky.

A golden thread of afterimage lingered above several streets of the city, arriving at the Baixiang Pavilion in the blink of an eye.

Zheng Yunfeng, wreathed in qi, looked down—and his gaze fell upon the scattered corpses of his son, his wife, and the Bailian Peak’s senior elders, lying together in the street’s ditch.

“Die!”

Zheng Yunfeng’s golden qi erupted instantly; heavenly qi churned chaotically, the clouds above Bailian City seeming on the verge of collapsing downward.

“Make the one behind you show himself!”

Zheng Yunfeng bellowed, his voice like thunder.

Though his heart burned with grief and fury, he did not immediately strike Li Muxian below.

Though the informant had firmly claimed Li Muxian killed his wife and two sons, Zheng Yunfeng still did not believe Li Muxian alone was responsible.

The man was too young—too young to be taken seriously.

What restrained him from killing Li Muxian on the spot was that he detected no other martial experts nearby.

In Zheng Yunfeng’s view, the hidden expert must be the true culprit.

At this moment, Li Muxian looked up at Zheng Yunfeng above the Baixiang Pavilion and suddenly spoke:

“Show me your skill with one strike.”

At these words, Zheng Yunfeng’s golden qi paused slightly—then burst into a laugh of furious rage.

The next instant, Zheng Yunfeng said nothing more, merely slowly raised his fist. Before he even struck, the space within ten zhang collapsed into a vortex, golden qi crackling like fissures along the vortex’s edge.

Instantly, thunder cracked in the sky; the fist’s intent stirred heaven and earth, as if pulling the night sky downward, then engulfing the entire area—dozens of zhang wide, including the Baixiang Pavilion—in its descent.

Where the fist’s edge passed, it seemed as if a golden dragon descended; space wrinkled as if devoured by a monstrous beast, a hundred zhang transformed into a violent whirlpool, golden heavenly light dripping from the fist’s core, each beam ending in a blurred mountain silhouette, heavier than peaks, weaving into a vast net in the air.

If this punch landed, everything within the vicinity—including the entire Baixiang Pavilion—would unquestionably be reduced to dust.

Yet the next instant, Zheng Yunfeng suddenly froze, his eyes filled with shock.

The mountainous net formed by his fist’s intent had halted abruptly above the Baixiang Pavilion’s roof; the golden qi vortex in the night sky, no matter how hard he pushed, could not descend further—as if blocked by an unbreakable force.

“So you finally show yourself!”

Zheng Yunfeng instantly unleashed a second punch.

Instantly, a terrifying fist intent—capable of suppressing heaven and earth, invincible and unyielding—shot skyward; a Badao golden light, like a blazing sun, pierced through the night above Bailian City, projecting a colossal golden pillar into the heavens.

Simultaneously, the heavenly qi of the entire Bailian City seemed to vanish in an instant, sucked entirely into the space between Zheng Yunfeng’s two fists.

At this moment, the supreme fist intent of the Great Li martial world, the vast and mighty heavenly qi, all converged upon Li Muxian’s head atop the Baixiang Pavilion.

If Zheng Yunfeng’s two punches landed, the entire district around the Baixiang Pavilion would unquestionably be reduced to ruins, the ground sinking three chi deep!

…

Outside Bailian City, in the mountain forest, the robed elder and Lin Xuner hid quietly behind a rock.

The old man and the child both stared wide-eyed, fixed on the blinding, terrifying golden pillar rising from within Bailian City.

The golden pillar was even more conspicuous than the earlier silver flame, but more importantly, it carried the martial pressure and terrifying fist intent.

Though far from the center of the golden pillar, the two still felt the scattered fist intent’s aura shake them.

“The gap between heavenly experts is this vast? Even as heavenly experts, I’ve never seen you, Grandpa, this powerful.”

Lin Xuner’s dark eyes reflected the towering golden pillar; her small face filled with shock, she couldn’t help exclaiming.

The robed elder glanced at his granddaughter from the corner of his eye, sighed, and said:

“I’ve told you before: even a minor realm gap between heavenly experts is like a celestial abyss. If I had Zheng Yunfeng’s martial cultivation, I’d have slaughtered the entire Bailian Peak long ago—why hide here?”

As he spoke, his gaze suddenly narrowed:

“Zheng Yunfeng unleashed everything—no restraint at all. Against such a terrifying strike, I wonder how Li Young Master will respond? Can he even withstand these two punches?”

Hearing this, Lin Xuner furrowed her slender brows, thinking:

“He managed to kill Bailian Peak’s senior elder—his martial strength may not match Zheng Yunfeng’s, but escaping him shouldn’t be difficult, right?”

The robed elder slowly shook his head, his gaze locked on Bailian City:

“Hard to say. But Li Young Master must have revealed himself and acted by now!”

…

A caravan traveling from Luoshen Peak’s main peak toward Bailian Peak sped along the mountain path.

Inside the carriage sat Luoshen Peak’s eldest disciple, the designated successor to the Luoshen Peak sect leader, accompanied by three senior martial experts of the peak.

When the golden pillar erupted from Bailian City, every horse and carriage on the path halted instantly, stopped by invisible qi.

The three Luoshen Peak elders simultaneously gazed skyward; the carriage curtain drew back, revealing a young man clad in pale moon-white robes.

The young man’s face was unremarkable, yet extremely youthful—barely in his early twenties—holding a black-wood fan with silver trim, gazing in the same direction as the elders.

“Your Young Master, it appears the Peak Master Zheng has acted.”

One of the elders, slightly stout, bowed and reported. The young man’s expression remained calm; he spoke softly:

“Only someone of considerable martial strength could force him to unleash his full power.”

“Yet such a master appearing in Bailian City suggests something is amiss—he’s likely from the Great Li imperial court.”

Hearing this, the three elders’ faces darkened; according to their intelligence, the Commandant Fu Qiwén had planned a four-pronged assault on Luoshen Peak.

Yet they never expected him to secretly dispatch experts to strike Bailian Peak—these imperial hounds were truly treacherous.

“No matter. Peak Master Zheng will surely capture him. He’s merely handing over the life of a top imperial expert.”

One Luoshen Peak elder’s gaze gleamed with coldness as he stared at the golden pillar in the sky.

The Luoshen Peak heir remained silent, quietly watching the horizon in the night, observing what would come next.

…

Meanwhile, the golden pillar rising from Bailian City was seen by all factions near Luoshen Peak’s territory.

The Tianjin Guards, stealthily approaching Yuxing Peak, clearly saw this sight in the darkness; each halted, startled, raising their heads to stare.

Though too distant to feel Zheng Yunfeng’s fist intent, the dazzling golden light formed by terrifying heavenly qi was so awe-inspiring it filled them with shock.

“Don’t stop! Keep moving!”

A command came from behind; the Tianjin Guards dared not linger, continuing their march while still gazing skyward.

“Zheng Yunfeng has acted.”

On horseback, Fu Qiwén’s face was grim; if Hu Rui’an’s words were true, the Eighth Imperial Prince had likely just clashed with him.

Hu Rui’an, beside him, had also seen it; he quickly spoke:

“My lord, you’ll see now—I believe the Prince’s fist cultivation is no less than Zheng Yunfeng’s.”

Hearing this, Fu Qiwén glanced at him, frowned slightly, then fixed his gaze on the horizon.

He wanted to see for himself just how powerful the Eighth Imperial Prince truly was.

Meanwhile, the large black cat, who had been swiftly leading Li Tang and the others, suddenly stopped upon seeing the golden pillar rise from Bailian City.

Seeing this, Lin Tang and the other three, who had been merely pressing forward with heads down, also hurriedly stopped.

Then, everyone turned their gazes along the black cat’s line of sight—but the next moment, all their expressions changed.

“Such terrifying heavenly and earthly qi—could it be the Peak Lord of Luoshen Peak acting?”

The old man Wu Yong frowned, his gaze shifting uncertainly; at that moment, the black cat ahead meowed a few times, then simply sat down and refused to move further.

Seeing this, the scholar Sui Zhen showed a look of shock and doubt, turning to Lin Tang and Lin Yueru to ask:

“What’s wrong with it?”

Hearing this, Lin Tang’s eyes flickered; he glanced at the black cat and shook his head:

“Little sister says it’s already too late—we won’t get to see the show!”

…

Baixiang Pavilion.

Li Muxian sat atop the rooftop, watching the fist intent and heavenly and earthly qi pour down upon him like a bursting river.

Yet he merely shook his head slowly and said:

“No good. Too weak.”

The moment he spoke, the entire heavens and earth around Baixiang Pavilion fell utterly still.

The golden qi surging skyward froze; the vast, overwhelming heavenly and earthly qi instantly turned to stagnant water.

Zheng Yunfeng’s fists hung suspended in midair, the terrifying fist intent as heavy as towering mountains and colossal peaks.

Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not press those fists— Ningjuletazishenquandaozhenyideshuangquan —even half an inch toward Baixiang Pavilion below.

Zheng Yunfeng’s pupils slowly widened; in his gaze, the young man seated atop the rooftop now gently raised a finger and pointed it toward his forehead.

Instantly, his mind flooded with images of his wife and two sons’ skulls pierced through by bloodied holes.

He desperately tried to open his mouth—but before his lips could part, his life force vanished in an instant.

The skyward fist intent and qi exploded into ruin; the golden pillar that had surged upward collapsed at once, dissolving into golden winds that swept outward across the skies of Bailian City.

Instantly, the entire sky above Bailian City blazed bright—then plunged back into darkness and silence.

(End of Chapter)