Chapter 971

At dawn, clouds churned across the sky.

Lu Ran and the others set off toward the Forbidden City, escorted by He Yingcai.

He had specifically contacted Ji Ye Dao and learned that He Qi had rushed back overnight to Wu Jifeng, awaiting an audience with the peak master—Lu Ran couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

After all, they were about to face Jingting Mountain!

He didn’t know whether Wu Jifeng’s Peak Master Tu would permit it.

“Ugh.” Lu Ran rubbed his forehead, then massaged his temples.

He hadn’t slept well last night.

Don’t misunderstand—Lu Ran hadn’t done anything wrong; he’d just been startled awake by a sudden sound before falling asleep.

High above, gods and demons were fighting again.

The earth-shaking noise had no rhythm—each burst came without warning, continuing intermittently for hours, leaving Lu Ran thoroughly drained.

【Master!】

【Hmm?】Lu Ran frowned, 【What is it, Eying?】

Yan Shuangzi: 【There’s activity here—someone’s fighting. I’m to your left front!】

【Huh?】Lu Ran immediately turned his head. Thick mountain forest obscured everything; he strained his ears but heard nothing.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Ruyi’s concerned voice came from his side.

“Eying says there’s fighting over there.” Lu Ran spoke as he activated the Eyes of the Dead Realm.

Immediately, his pupils contracted slightly.

Lu Ran hadn’t expected much—but he saw a wraith slowly rising into the sky far off.

The woman was in a spectral state, yet still clung to her living habits: she covered her eyes with both hands, as if weeping.

“Everyone, there’s fighting to the south.” Lu Ran spoke at once, signaling the group to change direction.

Jiang Ruyi furrowed her brow.

Since departure, Lu Ran had not yet activated the Evil Art: Mirror Flower and Moon; they’d traveled no more than twenty kilometers from Yan Yu Lake.

Near the Qian Zhou Alliance’s main base, no evil demons lurked.

If there was combat,

was it between humans?

Jiang Ruyi’s heart tightened—could it be Jingting Mountain’s army advancing?

【There’s crackling electricity and battle cries…】Yan Shuangzi’s voice paused, then resumed, 【Master, there are Dongting believers here.】

【Protect yourself—keep your distance from the battle!】Lu Ran’s face darkened as he led the group forward swiftly.

Yan Shuangzi differed from Lu Ran—she possessed only the Evil Dog Art.

And Dongting’s Divine Art: Thunderclap Roar was the perfect counter to the Evil Dog clan!

Even a powerful evil dog could be paralyzed by the sound of natural thunder.

Dongting believers’ Thunderclap Roar carried a dazing effect!

Yan Shuangzi obeyed instantly, no longer attempting to approach the battle. She heard shouts and the whistling of blades slicing through air.

“Jingting Mountain!!”

A red-robed man over fifty, his eyes faintly red, cradled a woman pierced through the chest.

Her eyes remained wide open, vacant, her face frozen in terror.

“Kneel and surrender—all of you!” A woman gripped a halberd, her phoenix eyes blazing, the tip pointed at the clustered Jianlian believers. “I’ll spare your lives!”

Eighteen Jianlian disciples formed a circle, holding lotus-petal shields.

Petals of lotus blossoms extended outward from them, blooming in all directions.

Jianlian Divine Art: Lotus Bud!

Anyone stepping on a lotus would be instantly trapped as the petals snapped shut.

The Jianlian disciples sought to alter the battlefield, restricting enemy movement.

But they’d encountered Dongting!

These believers moved far too quickly—the Lotus Bud struggled to catch them.

Yet even with minimal effect, the Jianlian believers had no other choice.

At the center of the circle, surrounded by the eighteen disciples, knelt the red-robed man, clutching the corpse.

“Aaaah!!”

His eyes burned crimson as he roared in grief and fury.

A terrifying pressure unique to a Sea Realm cultivator shook the surrounding Jianlian disciples into trembling.

“Pei Island Master, I’ll say it again!” The halberd-wielding woman’s eyes were like knives. “Kneel and surrender—I’ll spare your life.”

As her authoritative voice rang out, waves of overwhelming pressure surged forward like tidal waves.

The Jianlian disciples, already trembling, now truly wanted to abandon resistance.

Combat between Sea Realm masters was beyond the reach of mere River Realm cultivators like them.

Not even the ten River Realm Dongting believers—let alone the master—offered them a good chance of victory.

Even with numerical superiority on Jianlian’s side!

Dongting,

was terrifyingly strong—leaving the Jianlian disciples utterly hopeless.

“Fang Lingfeng!” The Pei Island Master glared at her. “Are you declaring war on the Qian Zhou Alliance?!”

“Who are you trying to scare?” Fang Lingfeng sneered. “Or have you grown old and senile, forgotten we’ve already been at war?”

“When you slaughtered our Elder Liu, weren’t you the first to strike?”

The more she spoke, the fiercer Fang Lingfeng’s aura became.

“You! Despicable!! It was you who—” The Island Master gritted his teeth.

But before he finished, she cut him off.

“True.” Fang Lingfeng raised an eyebrow, her phoenix eyes laced with mockery. “If you weren’t senile, you wouldn’t dare venture out to gather Sacred Spirit Qi.”

“We’ve been waiting for you. Only you dared bring men out. How loyal you are to the Jianlian Lord?”

Pei Island Master: “Fang Lingfeng”

Fang Lingfeng spoke coldly: “Old man, trying to buy time? I’ll count to three!”

“If you don’t surrender, I’ll send you to meet your Jianlian Lord!”

“One!” Fang Lingfeng gave him no chance to speak.

As she counted, she strode forward, halberd gleaming with cold light.

With each step, her killing intent intensified, terrifying energy surging and whipping her long hair.

Like a god of slaughter!

Ten Dongting disciples formed a perimeter, standing at a distance.

Only Fang Lingfeng advanced alone toward the Jianlian disciples.

Yet this single woman crushed the eighteen Jianlian disciples into trembling, nearly robbing them of the will to resist.

“Two!” Fang Lingfeng barked. Lightning crackled around her feet, hissing.

This posture perfectly embodied Dongting’s arrogance and brutality!

“Gulp.”

Swallowing sounds and fearful throaty gasps followed one after another.

The Jianlian believers turned pale, their legs growing weaker.

Sometimes, death isn’t the most terrifying thing.

The fear, helplessness, and despair before death are what shatter the mind.

Thud!

One Jianlian disciple collapsed to his knees, staring at the ground, sweat pouring down his face.

“Get up!” The Island Master snapped back to himself, roaring. “Get the hell up!!”

Thud!

His roar did nothing to improve the situation—a second Jianlian female disciple knelt, head bowed.

Her face was deathly pale, eyes filled with terror, muttering softly:

“No chance… we’ll die, really die…”

When people thought of Jianlian, they usually thought of four words: soft outside, hard inside.

Yet under absolute martial intimidation, Fang Lingfeng’s relentless advance crushed the Jianlian disciples’ hardened hearts to dust.

“Hah.” Fang Lingfeng suddenly sneered, looking down at the pitiful ants with contempt.

She didn’t count “three.”

That sneer caused several more Jianlian disciples to abandon resistance entirely, trembling as they fell to their knees.

“You—” The Island Master’s voice broke off as his heart lurched.

He quickly turned northward, hope rising in his chest.

Because a woman’s voice called from afar: “Hey!”

“Who?” Fang Lingfeng, savoring the pleasure of tormenting her enemies, was abruptly interrupted—her face darkened.

This place wasn’t far from Qian Zhou Alliance.

Could another squad be out searching for Sacred Spirit Qi?

Hmm. That’s fine too!

They’re nothing but followers of Bihe, Chenghua, Jianlian, and Tianluan—what if the enemy outnumbered us tenfold?

Our Dongting sect can face three against one!

“Who’s there?”

“Stop!” Two Dongting disciples shouted from the northern edge of the battle.

“Shut up.” A woman’s voice came again, brimming with boundless pressure.

“Huh?”

“Ugh.” This time, it was the two Dongting disciples who felt dread.

A woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a bulky raincoat walked forward, gripping a massive mountain-splitting axe.

In a daze, the Dongting disciples seemed to see their own hall master, Fang Lingfeng.

This raincoat-wearing woman also had phoenix eyes.

Her slightly narrowed phoenix gaze swept past the two lowly soldiers and locked onto Fang Lingfeng’s eyes.

Fang Lingfeng’s eyes narrowed!

The Divine Lord Dongting and the Divine Lord Xihuang are both second-rank deities, both belonging to the “Four Directions’ Military Might” lineage.

Most Dongting disciples are arrogant and haughty.

Most Xihuang disciples are tyrannical and brutal.

One leans toward pride, the other toward recklessness—but both are unmistakably of the same swaggering, overbearing type!

Today, the disciples of these two military lords had finally clashed.

“Those of Jingting Mountain are at work—unrelated parties, leave at once!” Fang Lingfeng said in a deep voice.

One must admit, the Dongting disciples of the Sea Realm truly are brazen!

Even facing such a powerful figure, Fang Lingfeng’s words of warning carried an air of condescension.

Gao Yunyan’s feet stirred up yellow sand as she looked at the man in the crimson robe: “Who are you?”

Pei Island Master hurriedly said: “We’re the Thousand Boats Alliance! Our alliance is nearby—please, friend, save us!”

Fang Lingfeng cut in with a sharp shout: “Unrelated parties, leave at once! Or don’t blame Jingting Mountain for being uncivil!”

“Aaaah!!”

The sudden scream startled Fang Lingfeng.

She whirled around.

From behind a large tree in the southern woods, another tall figure emerged—wearing a green raincoat and a blue hat.

She held a broken blade, its tip piercing through the chest of a Dongting believer; jagged edges dripped blood.

Everyone: !!!

When did this person arrive?

And how did they get behind the tree?

“Thud!”

The corpse on the blade was flung to the ground.

The woman’s slender fingers lifted the brim of her hat slightly, revealing piercing eyes.

This woman’s gaze was not even a match for Fang Lingfeng’s.

It was even sharper!

Deng Yuxiang’s lips curled slightly as she looked at Fang Lingfeng, startled and furious: “Now, are we related?”

(End of Chapter)