Chapter 71

For the past twenty years, Tongyou City has relied on Kou Chongxue's absolute strength to maintain a balance of power with the four major tribes in the borderlands between the two realms.

However, this balance is extremely fragile. Should anything happen to Kou Chongxue, the strength of the four major tribes could instantly tip the scales.

And now, this opportunity has finally arrived!

After the news of Kou Chongxue's severe injuries leaked and was largely confirmed, the Four Spirit Mountains decisively launched a major offensive against Tongyou Peak.

For the four major tribes of the Cangling Realm, this was nothing short of a heaven-sent opportunity!

While Shang Xia was momentarily distracted, Ran Bi Luo and Liu Qinglan, the two Wu Sha realm experts, had already circled around the protective array of Tongyou Peak nearly twice.

The strange, fluctuating sword whistles, which alternated between high and low, visible and invisible, strong and weak, became clear once again.

Shang Xia's烦躁感再次被引动，他甚至有一种恨不得冲出通幽峰，将手持那柄怪异短剑的四重天高手暴打一顿的冲动。

The agitation in his heart was once again triggered, and he even had an impulse to rush out of Tongyou Peak and beat up the Fourth Heaven expert holding the strange short sword.

The flow of yuan qi in his body accelerated again for no reason, showing a tendency to rampage through his meridians.

The Taiji diagram in his dantian slowly rotated, effortlessly dissolving the signs of losing control.

Shang Xia's rationality instantly returned, but he was secretly alarmed. Even though he had long recognized that the sword whistles were problematic, he had almost fallen for the trick just now without realizing it.

Is this the means of the Fourth Heaven?

The Fourth Heaven of martial arts is also known as the Wu Sha realm. Could it be that practitioners at this level all cultivate with a connection to sha qi?

And could this method of disrupting and amplifying a martial artist's emotions be an intangible application of sha qi?

Shang Xia continued to speculate, but a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

He had noticed that the Fourth Heaven expert fighting with Instructor Liu had been circling around Tongyou Peak.

This was certainly because Instructor Liu was being suppressed and had to use a hit-and-run strategy to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses.

However, wasn't the opponent also taking advantage of the situation, using the attacks on the protective array to gradually weaken it?

More importantly, Shang Xia had not forgotten that the Four Spirit Mountains had a connection with the Rose Society.

They had agreed that when the Four Spirit Mountains launched a major offensive, the spies of the Rose Society on Tongyou Peak would cut the twelve iron chains that served as important conduits for the protective array, clearing the way for the Four Spirit Mountains to break through the array!

Although Shang Xia was watching the battle from the Shang Tower, he was also paying attention to the surroundings.

He had already noticed that many other martial artists watching the battle were being affected by the strange sword whistles and had to focus on suppressing the agitation of their internal yuan qi.

In such a situation, if the spies of the Rose Society were to take action, the consequences would be unimaginable!

The more Shang Xia thought about it, the more alarmed he became. The Wu Sha realm expert from the Four Spirit Mountains might be using this method to urge the Rose Society's spies to act faster.

With this in mind, Shang Xia quickly walked towards the iron chain bridge connecting Tongyou Main Peak and Mingxiu Peak.

The Shang Tower was located in the center of the connection between the Mingxiu and Pinxin secondary peaks and the main peak.

Leaving the Shang Tower and walking to the right for a distance would lead to the connection between the Pinxin Peak, where the Shang family's main force was stationed, and the main peak.

Walking to the left would lead to the connection between Mingxiu Peak and the main peak.

Mingxiu Peak was originally overseen by the Liu family of Tongyou City, but due to Liu Jitang's exploration of the Zhu Clan's ruins, only a few members of the Liu family remained on Mingxiu Peak. The Tongyou Academy had to send additional personnel to guard it, further thinning the defensive forces of Tongyou Peak.

Currently, the two Wu Yi realm freelancers with considerable prestige on Tongyou Peak were in charge of guarding Mingxiu Peak.

These two freelancers were named Lü Yan and Ma Dengfeng, and it was said that neither of them was from Youzhou.

In fact, since the invasion of the outer realms over the past twenty years, most of Youzhou had become a borderland between the two realms. Which of the surviving Youzhou martial artists did not have a connection to the Tongyou Academy?

Therefore, most of the freelancers in the borderlands were not from Youzhou.

At this moment, Lü Yan and Ma Dengfeng, the two Wu Yi realm experts, were also watching the confrontation between the four Wu Sha realm experts outside the protective array.

Compared to other martial artists who were affected by Ran Bi Luo's sword whistles, they seemed more relaxed and even had the leisure to chat while watching the battle.

"Four Fourth Heaven experts facing off in pairs, such a scene is rare even in Jizhou. Even when a couple of Wu Sha realm seniors spar, how could it compare to the grandeur of today? What do you think, Brother Ma?"

Compared to Ma Dengfeng's calm demeanor, Lü Yan seemed more excited.

Ma Dengfeng smiled and said, "So, Brother Lü, you've seen Fourth Heaven experts spar in Jizhou before?"

Lü Yan smiled modestly and said, "It was a matter of chance. The cultivation levels of the sparring pair were not as high as those we see today, and the sparring was just a light touch. How could it compare to the intense battle and momentum we see now?"

At this point, Lü Yan seemed to have a thought and sighed, "They say that after the fall of most of Youzhou twenty years ago, the Youzhou martial artists have long been in decline, and the Tongyou Academy is merely struggling to survive. But after years in the borderlands, we know that these are shallow and ignorant views. Compared to other regions, the number of Youzhou martial artists, who are now confined to Tongyou City, is indeed pitifully small, but their success rate and individual combat power, honed in blood and fire, far surpass those of martial artists from other regions."

Ma Dengfeng also sighed, "Yes, they have grown too quickly, faster than anyone expected!"

Lü Yan did not notice the unease in his companion's tone and continued, "The news of Mountain Master Kou's severe injuries has leaked, and the Four Spirit Mountains will not miss this opportunity. Only two Fourth Heaven experts have appeared so far, but more will surely follow. I wonder what the Tongyou Academy has planned. In fact, the sudden advancement of Instructor Liu Qinglan to the Fourth Heaven is already surprising enough."

Ma Dengfeng looked at him strangely and said, "Brother Lü, aren't you worried that Tongyou Peak might not hold? Even with Liu Qinglan as an unexpected factor, the Four Spirit Mountains still have more Fourth Heaven experts."

Lü Yan replied without turning his head, "What's there to worry about? Even if Mountain Master Kou is severely injured, the Tongyou City side still has Deputy Mountain Masters Shang Bo and Yun Jing, who are Fourth Heaven experts and have not yet acted. With this protective array, as long as we all work together to defend, we should be able to hold Tongyou Peak, even if we can't defeat the enemy."

Ma Dengfeng laughed, "Brother Lü, you're being too optimistic. Have you forgotten that if Shang Bo and Yun Jing enter the borderlands again, Tongyou City will be left empty?"

Lü Yan was even more puzzled, "So what if it's empty? Can the Cangling martial artists really cross the borderlands to attack Tongyou City?"

Ma Dengfeng suddenly realized that there was a gap in information between them. Lü Yan did not know the role of the Rose Society in this major battle, and the Tongyou Academy's higher-ups clearly did not want more people to know about the existence of the Rose Society.

As for why he knew these things...

Ma Dengfeng sighed and whispered in Lü Yan's ear, "Ignorance is bliss!"

Lü Yan turned his head, his eyes filled with anger and confusion, and asked, "Brother Ma, what do you mean by that?"

Ma Dengfeng smiled and said, "What I mean is... you go to hell!"

Ma Dengfeng's originally gentle expression suddenly turned vicious, and he struck Lü Yan's chest before Lü Yan could react.

At such close range and with a sudden attack, Lü Yan never expected his friend to betray him. Even though his martial will allowed him to instinctively counterattack, he could not withstand Ma Dengfeng's long-planned strike.

Lü Yan's chest caved in by two inches, and blood spurted from his mouth and nose as he flew through the air.

"Why... why?"

Lü Yan, lying on the ground with a deathly pale face, still managed to ask with the last of his strength as Ma Dengfeng approached.

Ma Dengfeng paused and said with a serious expression, "I'm sorry, Brother Lü! My name is Sima Dengfeng!"

Lü Yan weakly raised his arm and pointed at him, "You... remnant of the five surnames..."

Sima Dengfeng, now known by his true name, smiled and said, "So, Brother Lü, you know about the remnants of the five surnames. But it seems you don't know about the Rose Society, otherwise you wouldn't think that Shang Bo and Yun Jing would dare to leave Tongyou City to reinforce Tongyou Peak after Kou Chongxue's injuries."

Lü Yan seemed to want to say more, but he spat out large amounts of blood.

Sima Dengfeng actually showed a hint of sadness and said, "Farewell, Brother Lü!"

With that, he flicked his right index finger, sending a thread of yuan qi towards Lü Yan's forehead.

Just as Lü Yan resigned himself to his fate and closed his eyes to await death, a metallic sound rang out, followed by Sima Dengfeng's angry roar.

Lü Yan opened his eyes and saw a slender figure holding a long, thin sword attacking Sima Dengfeng.

Each strike of the thin sword left three marks in the air, resembling plum blossoms.

Each plum blossom mark contained a thread of martial will and could remain in the air for some time.

When the thin sword was wielded at its fastest, three new plum blossom marks would appear before the previous ones dissipated, and as the previous marks were about to fade, three more would appear...

In this way, the attacker could maintain nine plum blossom marks around Sima Dengfeng, forcing him to be cautious and gradually putting him on the defensive.

"Who are you?"

Sima Dengfeng, forced to defend himself, shouted loudly.

"I am Mu Jianyin from the Worldly Affairs Department of the Tongyou Academy!"

The female swordsman's voice was cold, as if to ensure he died with a clear understanding.

As she spoke, the nine plum blossom marks burst into nine streams of plum blossom sword qi, along with the thin, fast sword, attacking Sima Dengfeng from all directions...

"Ahh—, Old Jin, what are you doing..."

A voice filled with disbelief and pain suddenly came from the iron chain bridge connecting Mingxiu Peak to the main peak.

"Clang—"

"Clatter—"

This was followed by a loud metallic clash, and the iron chain bridge between Mingxiu Peak and the main peak began to shake violently.

Someone was cutting the chains!

Mu Jianyin's heart sank, and she involuntarily looked towards the source of the sound on the other side of the iron chain bridge.

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I forgot to upload today, sorry. This is the first update, and the second will be at 7:30 PM.

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