Chapter 593: Market Upheaval, Lone Maiden Defends Against Invaders

"Quick, hide."

Qiu Dajun's hair stood on end; he had a premonition that today's upheaval would definitely be no small matter.

He hurriedly called for Cao Xuan'er to leave together, only to find the space beside him empty, with not a soul in sight, "..."

Ran away?

He was both surprised and angry, when suddenly a flash of cold light grazed his scalp.

"Slaying Color Formless Divine Sword!"

A warning rose in Qiu Dajun's heart; he curled into a ball on the spot and desperately rolled a hundred meters away. Touching his head, he found it bald—his hair had been shorn off at the roots.

Looking up, he saw that in the area where he had originally been standing, hundreds of Poison Martial Artists had their heads missing. Their headless corpses stood like wooden stakes, spraying blood like fountains in succession.

Too strong, too terrifying.

Although they were all Martial Masters, Kongque Laoliu, who had unleashed that sword strike just now, was already far above them.

Poison Martial Artists kept joining the battlefield, only to be slaughtered one after another. The air was filled with thick poison everywhere; some Poison Martial Artists with weak cultivation even fell to the ground, struggling as they melted and decomposed.

Yet Kongque Laoliu's breathing remained normal, and seven-colored light flickered behind his head, pulsing rhythmically like a blinking eye.

"Without seven colors, there is no fragrance; one color, one fragrance; seven colors produce seven fragrances."

"The Seven Fragrances are the supreme treasures that restrain all the world's virulent poisons. In the past, Baiqin Laoren had a secret technique called the Seven Fragrances Peacock Gall."

Without a doubt, after Kongque Laoliu learned the incomplete scrolls of Baiqin Laoren, he had relied on his own hard work and comprehension to master this ultimate technique.

No wonder he didn't hang out with the other six birds; it turned out the gap was too large, and he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to those small fry.

With every breath, light and color overflowed, and the surrounding poisonous gas and poisonous water had no effect on him at all.

Other Martial Masters already showed signs of failing and were taking Anti-Poison Pills one after another to counteract the increasingly potent poisonous atmosphere, yet only Kongque Laoliu continued to swing his sword as usual, slaughtering every living thing standing before him.

With one sword strike, poisonous insects were split in two.

With one sword strike, red lines appeared on the necks of the lunging Poison Martial Artists, and their heads behind their ears were sent flying by the pressure of the blood, blooming like fountains of gore.

Swish, swish, swish—for a time, the market was shrouded under his sword light.

The remaining Martial Masters were no slouches either; they scattered in all directions to hunt down Poison Martial Artists and interrogate them on the whereabouts of Wu Kui and Cao Xuan'er.

"Bad luck, such bad luck."

Qiu Dajun squeezed through the crowd, moving forward and then backward, pushed involuntarily like a wave.

He was so anxious that his forehead was covered in sweat; he wished he could squeeze out of the crowd and escape back to Lu Zhigang's territory immediately, but he simply couldn't.

He came to this market every day and had never encountered danger, yet today, the moment he brought Cao Xuan'er out, he ran into a raid.

Having lost Lu Zhigang's beauty, how could he dare to return empty-handed?

"Cao Xuan'er, where exactly are you?"

Cao Xuan'er's breathing gradually calmed; she curled up and hid in a collapsed ruin—this was a place she had specifically chosen.

If it were an intact building, it would inevitably be affected and collapse; conversely, ruins, having already collapsed from bombardment, formed a fragile yet stable structure, and the fleeing Poison Martial Artists had no time to spare to check if anyone was inside.

She had left Qiu Dajun's side during the chaos for the sake of waiting for someone.

Among the batch of Martial Masters who had broken in just now, there was a familiar face—a Cao family Martial Master. Years ago, the family had specifically arranged for him to leave home to study martial arts, making it convenient to act under the guise of an outsider.

Cao Xuan'er had a good memory; she had seen him once during an ancestral sacrifice and still kept it in her heart.

Meeting him this time, she was certain he was someone sent by the family to infiltrate the team to rescue her.

Before hiding in the ruins, she had deliberately left a secret signal used within the Cao family and waited quietly for him to arrive.

"Ah!"

After a few screams, the broken remains of Poison Martial Artists fell like raindrops all around.

The smell of blood and the sweet, fishy scent of poison converged into a very complex environmental atmosphere. The Cao family Martial Master walked over slowly, "Miss Xuan'er, come out!"

Cao Xuan'er's heart stirred; just as she was about to crawl out of the ruins, she realized there was no one around him—he had come alone.

A bad feeling rose in her heart; in theory, when it came to saving people, the more hands, the better.

Under normal circumstances, once the Cao family Martial Master learned of her whereabouts, he should have gathered companions to come and rescue her together.

Now that only one person had come, there was likely some upheaval.

"Miss Xuan'er, don't hide; I can hear your breathing."

The Cao family Martial Master lifted his hand and swept it; a wild wind rose, blowing away a large section of the ruins, and Cao Xuan'er appeared before him.

"You..."

Cao Xuan'er saw the blue veins bulging on his hands and his face twisted with a hint of ferocity—it was not the look of someone saving a person—and she took a few steps back, "Are you here to save me?"

"."

The Cao family Martial Master was stunned, looking at her with a complex gaze, "Miss Xuan'er, don't blame me."

He raised his hand and brandished his weapon, unleashing a killing blow that pierced straight through Cao Xuan'er's delicate body.

Cao Xuan'er's eyes widened; the person she thought had come to save her was actually here to kill her. What had happened to the world? The ruins behind her were pierced through with a hole the size of a water vat, and through the hole, one could see the sky.

"What?"

The Cao family Martial Master was suddenly shocked; the Cao Xuan'er before him was actually unscathed?

Cao Xuan'er's fair, tender palms were crossed, and the stance she struck was none other than the most orthodox Cao family fist technique, the Defense-Against-Invaders Circular Art.

This was an extreme defensive fist technique that abandoned all means of attack and escape to transfer the damage received onto the body itself.

The Cao family Martial Master was a Primary Martial Master, yet his full-force killing blow had not harmed Cao Xuan'er in the slightest.

Besides this defensive fist technique being powerful...

"You actually practiced fist techniques in secret, and even reached the level of a Primary Martial Master?"

The Cao family Martial Master was incredibly shocked. Cao Xuan'er had always maintained the image of a refined young lady, weak and unable to even truss a chicken. Even when she was deliberately abducted by Wu Kui, she hadn't resisted at all; the world believed she was just an ordinary, weak woman.

"Small uses need not be hidden; only great uses need to be hidden. Hide one's strength for a thousand days, to startle with a single cry."

Cao Xuan'er said in a deep voice, "In my boudoir, I had plenty of time and would not waste it. I practiced fist techniques and martial arts behind the maids' backs. You must know, I also have the blood of the Cao family in me."

"By the age of sixteen, I was already a Primary Martial Master, but I knew that a woman rarely has the chance to fight, and when encountering trouble, self-preservation comes first, so I practiced nothing else but the Anti-Bandit Form Ring Art."

"Wu Kui killed my maids and attendants; I knew I could not defeat him, so I endured and did not strike back, allowing myself to be captured."

"Trapped in the enemy's lair and fearing humiliation, I lived in ignominy, waiting only for my family to come and rescue me, to take me home."

"Yet, you all failed me; Cao Xuan'er's first strike in this world was actually against her own kin."

"Anti-Bandit, Anti-Bandit—the bandits I defend against are actually my own Cao clansmen."

The Cao family martial master heard her speak, his heart recovering from the shock, "You can defend but cannot attack; in less than an hour, I will exhaust your Qi, blood, and energy, and I will still be able to beat you to death to preserve the family's reputation."

"You are wrong; it is you who have ventured deep into enemy territory alone now, not me."

Cao Xuan'er spoke up, "Master, the time has come, show yourself!"

The air fell into silence, and the Cao family martial master laughed mockingly, "So you were a slut at heart; how long has it been since you left home, and you have already debased yourself to acknowledge some master?"

"Unless your master is Du Taiyue, no one can stop me from killing you!"

A calm voice rang out, "Is that so?"

(End of this chapter)