Chapter 717: Chunuan City

"That guy… is he going to intercept the Heaven Alliance Lord?!"

Yang Diandian's mind raced with thoughts as she rushed to Dou Hongyi's side.

As Dou Hongyi shuddered in fright, Yang Diandian grabbed him by the collar.

"Dou Hongyi, what the hell is going on? Did you bring the Nuomian Gui? What about Ye Qianbei? What the hell did you do?!"

I want to know what's going on too!

Dou Hongyi wrenched free from Yang Diandian's grip, face flushed with anger.

I just took the military junior to interrogate him, and turns out the military junior *was* the Nuomian Gui—I barely escaped with my life.

I crawled back here half-dead, thought I could use Tian Wangchuan to buy time, only to get kicked away—and now I've come running to beg real power for help, and here comes Ye Qianbei.

But at this moment, Dou Hongyi had already seen Fang Yue leap down to intercept Tian Wangchuan.

Do these two ancestors have some kind of grudge?

I just stepped away for a moment—how did the Martial Duel turn into this chaos?

After a brief exchange, they finally understood what had roughly happened.

Seeing the Nuomian Gui no longer chasing him, but instead pursuing Fang Yue and the other two, Dou Hongyi let out a huge sigh of relief.

Ye Qianbei didn't even acknowledge him, but just by showing up, he instantly drew all the fire.

"No wonder Ye Qianbei—he quietly gets things done!"

With his worries eased, Dou Hongyi teamed up with Yang Diandian to coordinate resistance against the anomalies and evacuate civilians.

Both held official Government positions, and no one else with higher status had stepped forward on the scene.

People quickly gathered around them—let alone Lan Shan and Qing Si.

The convergence of Xian-level power soon formed a formidable force, barely holding back the anomalies' assault rhythm.

Though the scene remained chaotic, with scattered fighters battling alone and unarmed civilians fleeing in all directions, at least organized resistance had begun.

"Lord Red Clothes!"

Yang Hongxia, escorted by Mang Liuzi and others, rushed frantically to Dou Hongyi's side, begging for protection.

Dou Hongyi had no time for her—but when Yang Hongxia mentioned Ye Qianbei, he froze, then let her into the protective circle, listing her as a protected individual.

Mang Liuzi and the others thus piggybacked on the favor, gaining a brief safe haven in the chaos.

Yang Hongxia's emotions had ridden a rollercoaster.

From Fang Yue's rampage through the Martial Duel, climbing to fourth place, then defeating and killing Tai Yuema.

At that moment, Yang Hongxia trembled all over with excitement.

She saw the glorious future of Dayang Caravan looming bright—then Fang Yue did something that nearly scared her into urinating herself.

He literally stepped on the ice sculpture stairs and charged straight at the Heaven Alliance Lord!

This was fucking terrifying!

Yang Hongxia went from trembling with excitement to trembling in paralysis in mere seconds.

Her eyes went black—she nearly fainted from fright.

Then the situation spiraled completely out of control; what shocked her most was that Ye Qianbei's power was so terrifying—he crushed Luo Yijie and Wang Zhengzhi, the second and third-ranked of the Heaven Alliance, and even smashed Tian Wangchuan to the ground, forcing him to flee in disgrace.

This wasn't the Guest I recruited—this was a war god!

Had the anomalies not appeared, Dayang Caravan would've either ascended to rule Chunuan City—or been executed on the spot.

In short, it was rebellion—winner takes all.

Even now, the situation hasn't changed much.

The only difference is whether Fang Yue can chop off Tian Wangchuan's head and unify Chunuan City.

If he fails, Dayang Caravan will die with him.

Yang Hongxia's hands shook as she felt the pointing fingers and hostile stares around her, head bowed, not daring to look anyone in the eye.

Clearly, everyone blamed Fang Yue for tonight's disaster.

They dared not provoke Fang Yue, so they vented their anger on Yang Hongxia.

Of course, if Fang Yue seizes Chunuan City, the tide will turn one hundred and eighty degrees!

"Miss, watch out!"

Suddenly, Mang Liuzi roared and yanked Yang Hongxia aside.

A clang rang out as a sword deflected an attack.

Watching the sharp iron shard fly backward, its midair form twisting into a giant eye, Yang Hongxia froze.

Anomaly?

The sheer number of anomalies and the ferocity of battle had begun to breach the outer perimeter, striking those inside.

No—more accurately, as more people joined the fray, the outermost defenders were growing increasingly overwhelmed.

Yang Hongxia immediately realized: if this continued, this "ship" would capsize.

There were only so many who could fight these anomalies, while the number of people needing protection was enormous—nearly seventy to eighty percent of Chunuan City's population!

Clearly, even Dou Hongyi and Yang Diandian, having absorbed Heaven Alliance members, were stretched beyond their limits.

"The array! Have the Heaven Alliance Lord activate the city's array to fight them!"

Yang Hongxia instantly thought of a solution and told Mang Liuzi to warn Dou Hongyi.

But Dou Hongyi shook his head.

"Tian Wangchuan can barely save himself—fronted by Ye Qianbei hunting his life, rearward surrounded and ambushed by the Nuomian Gui—whether he survives at all is doubtful."

"Then what do we do?" Yang Diandian couldn't help asking.

"Wait for the outcome over there—if Ye Qianbei wins, have him use the token to activate the array! Low-level anomalies can be handled by the array; high-level ones can be suppressed by it—giving us a chance to counterattack!"

Though Dou Hongyi looked weak and incompetent, the fact he held this position meant he had real ability—he analyzed the situation with sharp clarity.

"Are we just going to sit and watch the tigers fight? That's Tian Wangchuan! Shouldn't we be joining forces to deal with the Nuomian Gui, then letting the two of them negotiate peace, activate the array, and handle the strange things inside the city?" Yang Diandian said, somewhat unconvinced.

But Dou Hongyi glanced at Yang Diandian as if looking at an idiot and said, "Then go help over there. I don't need you here."

"You—!"

Yang Diandian snorted, said nothing, moved away from Dou Hongyi, seeming to have been angered, and put a few more ounces of effort into killing the strange creatures.

"Dou Hongyi means we still have to wait for that side to decide a winner before we can spare the hands to help us?"

"Exactly! And… that battlefield over there isn't at a level we can intervene in either."

On this point, Dou Hongyi had every right to speak.

Whether it was the Nuomian Gui, whose methods of attack were bizarre and unfathomable, or Tian Wangchuan, who had stood above the heavens for so many years, or Senior Ye, who had once been a Rain-rank expert.

Any one of the three was an existence standing at the pinnacle of Chunuan City—there was simply no room for ants like them to intervene!

(End of chapter)