Chapter 30

Hancheng Xianfang.

Deep night, all around was pitch black.

Chen Zhao, Liu Chen, and Su Muxuan stood before the private room.

This place was a six-story pavilion.

Red lanterns hung high, rouge perfumed the air, and flutes and lutes occasionally drifted with song and dance; paper windows revealed silhouettes of graceful figures, stirring wild imaginings.

Yuhua Lou was no brothel; the immortal maidens were mostly cultivators from all over, some slender, some plump, each with her own beauty, most selling art, not bodies.

Chen Zhao pulled out the portrait.

Three targets came into view — three sisters.

The three women were rising stars, having corrupted countless men and women to reach Qi Refining fourth level.

But they were golden eggs, so even though their Evil Cultivator identities were exposed, Yuhua Lou dared not make a fuss, fearing damage to its reputation.

To avoid alerting the prey, Chen Zhao's trio could only use conventional channels.

Leave Xin Tong and the others to set up an Array and block escape routes.

This mission was surprisingly smooth — Fang Zijing had neither laid ambushes nor ordered the three to act.

This puzzled Chen Zhao greatly.

He could only proceed step by step, slowly pushing open the door.

This was the eldest sister's room.

Red curtains warmed the chamber, scattered with gold leaf across the floor.

A beauty lay sprawled on the ground, fully clothed, only exposing a pair of long, pale white legs.

But her skin was coated in buttery oil, gold flakes clinging to her skin; sheer gauze wrapped her body, leaving just enough to stir the imagination.

The beauty was icy and aloof, yet carried a soul-melting allure — as if a slight touch would strip away her disguise.

It left one parched and breathless.

Chen Zhao had momentarily felt stirred, but snapped back to clarity instantly.

What an incredible seduction technique!

Even Su Wanyao had never given him this feeling!

He stepped forward with hands behind his back, a Gold Blade Talisman flashing into his palm — yet the beauty remained oblivious.

The next moment.

A thunderous crash echoed — seemingly from the adjacent room.

Chen Zhao's gaze turned cold; he instantly knew Su Muxuan had deliberately alerted the prey, and hurled the talisman.

A ten-zhang blade of light seemed to split the room in two; gauze curtains tore apart, and the Gold Blade struck straight for the beauty's lower back.

Yet strangely —

The beauty flicked her hand seal, and crimson runes surfaced across her body, absorbing the blow outright.

Clang!

The beauty flew backward, and the Gold Blade Talisman — meant to cripple Zhao Dehai — only scraped her skin!

"This Evil Technique is truly formidable! No wonder everyone says, if you meet an Evil Cultivator at the same level, run while you can."

Chen Zhao frowned, shattered the red railing, and leapt after her.

He looked down the stairs.

Inside an Array, fire snakes writhed and gold blades scattered — each strike equal to a full-power Qi Refining sixth-level blow.

The other two Evil Cultivators were trapped within.

Only two breaths passed.

A beautiful head flew into the air, its cut surface smooth as a mirror.

"A Formation Master at full strength..."

Chen Zhao was secretly stunned.

The Gold Blade Talisman was a first-rank mid-grade item — yet it couldn't match two strikes from the Array!

Meanwhile,

The second sister was surrounded by Liu Su, yet still had room to maneuver, forming hand seals to attack the Array.

Fortunately, the Array held firm — this villain's death was merely a matter of time.

Chen Zhao's mind calmed.

He activated the Wind-Riding Art and instantly blocked the eldest sister's path.

The Qingfeng Blade shot forth like an arrow — but the beauty blocked it with her palm, then used her movement technique to flee toward the city's edge.

A cold glint flashed in Chen Zhao's eyes.

If the Evil Cultivator escaped, the four of them would be framed, accused of colluding with Evil Cultivators — and be utterly destroyed.

And if they chased her beyond the city, Fang Zijing could openly send men to ambush them.

"I'll help you!"

Xin Tong cried out, activating the Array and striking toward the beauty.

At this critical instant,

Sudden change erupted.

The beauty turned back with a smile — her icy aloofness vanished, replaced by overwhelming allure.

Chen Zhao instantly felt scorching heat, his internal Qi spiraling into chaos.

He bit his tongue.

Swallowed a Qingxin Pill beneath his tongue, suppressing the signs of deviant Qi.

But the array's attack veered an inch off-course, barely slicing through the beauty's silk robe, revealing half her fragrant shoulder.

He turned his head to look.

Not just Liu Chen—even Su Wanyao felt a tingling numbness, her breathing growing heavier.

But.

Su Muxuan's eyes burned crimson, his face glazed with obsession.

And He Chengdao pulled out several array flags, channeling spiritual energy into them.

Hum!

The array vanished like spring wind melting snow, instantly dissolving!

Chen Zhao cursed under his breath.

These two didn't cultivate any resistance at all—they pretended to be bewitched, actually aiding the Evil Cultivator's escape!

And they specifically brought array-breaking flags to target the array!

Seeing He Chengdao block Xin Tong and the others, Chen Zhao had no choice but to pursue the Evil Cultivator alone.

He activated the Wind-Riding Art, but unexpectedly, Su Muxuan chased after him.

A tiny arrow pierced through the wind toward him; Chen Zhao dodged hastily, but the arrow was too agile—he couldn't evade it, and had to summon the Golden Light Shield.

In less than a breath.

The Golden Light Shield was already covered in dense cracks.

"Mid-grade Dharma Treasure..."

Chen Zhao's gaze turned icy as he turned back to Su Muxuan.

He saw the man's cruel grin—no more pretense.

Though the street was empty, the Market was filled with cultivators; if they couldn't kill him in one strike, they'd draw attention.

But Chen Zhao had no way to counter them.

Kill them, and he'd be branded as murdering fellow sect members; spare them, and they'd keep harassing him.

Chen Zhao knew this well.

He pulled an object from his Storage Bag and hid it in his left sleeve.

At the same time, electric arcs flickered across the Qingfeng Blade.

Thunder rumbled.

Lightning swept across the street, shattering and flinging up stone slabs.

The beauty's eyes sharpened, and she immediately felt double the pressure.

She activated her Evil Technique, summoning a blood-red shield an inch thick behind her.

In the blink of an eye.

The Qingfeng Blade flashed to the shield's surface; purple-black lightning crashed down with a thunderous boom—but couldn't penetrate an inch.

Meanwhile, the spiritual arrow struck from the side, aiming to shatter the blade.

A metallic clang echoed through the night; the Qingfeng Blade flew sideways and embedded itself in the street wall, debris scattering.

Seeing this, the beauty exhaled in relief and dismissed the shield.

The Wind-Riding Art was a technique capable of escaping from a Tier-One Intermediate beast's claws; if she didn't flee at full speed, she'd be intercepted.

Just then.

A warmth suddenly appeared at the back of her skull—a never-before-felt numbness surged from her soles straight to her spiritual core.

Comfortable.

So comfortable she wanted to sleep.

The moment her eyes closed, her lovely face exploded violently, wreathed in pale purple lightning.

Yin Thunder—silent.

Su Muxuan's eyes widened.

He saw only a fleeting shadow pass by—he didn't know where it came from, and Chen Zhao's Dharma Treasure had already been blasted away.

What a cunning technique!

"Didn't expect this Evil Cultivator to be so weak,"

he sneered,

"good thing we had a backup plan—you're all going to die!"

His hand gestures changed.

Pretending the bewitching spell still held, he summoned three fire snakes to block Chen Zhao's path.

This technique wasn't lethal, but contact caused injury and had binding effects.

He meant to bind him and drag him outside the city to kill!

Chen Zhao frowned.

This man had a tiny arrow and binding spells—he was truly troublesome.

Perhaps the Evil Cultivator's Storage Bag held something useful.

"Senior Brother, we have no grudge against each other—let me offer this Storage Bag as a gift. Could you spare me?"

Chen Zhao picked up the Storage Bag with his right hand, dodging and retreating.

The opponent chuckled.

"That depends on whether I'm satisfied."

He took the Storage Bag and immediately tried to open it.

This happened often among cultivators, and besides, Chen Zhao hadn't even looked inside—there couldn't be a trick.

But after the faint fragrance reached his nose, the spiritual energy within his body immediately became agitated.

The prohibition was by no means comparable to seduction arts; even after Su Muxuan swallowed a Qingxin Pill, his cultivation level temporarily dropped by a minor realm!

His speed had already been slightly faster than Chen Zhao's; once his realm declined, he could no longer hold him back at all.

Seizing this opportunity.

Chen Zhao unleashed the Wind-Riding Art to its full potential and fled urgently toward the mountain gate.

The mission was completed successfully; returning to the mountain now was the safest choice.

As for the opponent's hidden move.

It was likely that ambushes had been stationed along the road from the Market to the mountain gate.

Or perhaps Murong De had already been bribed by them.

This man had a huge demand for pills and a unique cultivation art; he might serve as a surprise tactic.

But even so,

Chen Zhao and the others might not be able to defeat them, but they could still fight their way back to the mountain with injuries.

Yet as he turned the corner,

A torrent of demonic energy surged up from the Market!

And at the same time,

Su Muxuan gave a sinister smile, holding in his hand a First-grade Mid-tier Array Disk.