Chapter 20

Yinning's early experiences made it very difficult for her to develop strong emotions towards people outside the Peony Palace.

Always enclosed in her own world, she appeared like a high mountain flower, hard to approach.

However, no matter how indifferent her nature, she was still a sixteen-year-old girl in the bloom of youth.

In the face of life and death, her heart, which had always been as still as an ancient well, rippled for the second time in her life.

Although the black-clothed man did not intend to take her life, in this world, women had little human rights. Once in the hands of a villain, even if they survived, it was no different from death, let alone for a beautiful and charming girl like her.

At that moment, what came to her mind was not her own life or death, but the safety of her junior sister behind her.

Her master and fellow disciples were the only people she cared about in this world, and the only ones she was willing to give her life to protect.

Heaven, are you going to take everything away from me again?

If I had practiced harder in the past...

She blamed herself bitterly, and a crystal tear slowly slid down her cheek.

Watching the black-clothed man's right palm draw closer, the ice maiden looked so fragile and helpless...

In the next moment, Yinning, who had already given up hope, suddenly widened her eyes.

She was surprised to see the black-clothed man's palm suddenly change direction and strike his own chest heavily.

"Spit!"

The black-clothed man spat a mouthful of blood onto his mask, his whole body staggered back two steps, trembling with pain, almost falling to the ground.

Then, Yinning saw Zhong Wen's smiling face appear before her.

Her heart, which had already fallen to the bottom, was suddenly lifted by this turn of events. Looking at Zhong Wen's kind and gentle face, she was almost entranced.

"Be careful!"

Not having time to adjust her emotions, she saw several figures approaching Zhong Wen from behind and quickly warned him.

"Don't cry, girls should smile more." Zhong Wen extended his right hand, gently wiping away Yinning's tears, speaking in a tone reminiscent of a Taiwanese drama, "Crying too much isn't good for your looks."

After saying this, Zhong Wen turned gracefully, and without any visible effort, he simply waved his hand.

Among the thirteen cultivators attacking Zhong Wen, one black-clothed man's fist suddenly struck another's nose; another's kick hit the buttocks of the person in front; the person in front's long sword somehow cut the shoulder of the person beside him; the black-clothed man whose shoulder was cut struck the abdomen of the person behind with an elbow; and the person behind's headbutt collided passionately with the head of the person in front...

"Ouch!" "Ah!" "Damn!" "Shit!"

The thirteen people were all injured and fell to the ground, the courtyard filled with cries of pain.

Yinning, watching the absurd scene before her, was speechless, and the little girl behind her laughed uncontrollably.

The originally tragic scene instantly became incredibly funny.

The battle in the center of the courtyard was vastly different. Another Earth Wheel expert fought to the death, and was shattered into pieces by Shangguan Junyi's palm, blood and flesh flying everywhere.

By this point, four out of the five Earth Wheel cultivators who entered the front courtyard were gone. However, the sacrifice of two Earth Wheel experts once again hindered her attempt to come to Yinning's aid.

A hint of anger appeared on Shangguan Junyi's beautiful face. If the Peony Palace disciples were captured in front of her, even if it couldn't be used to threaten her, it would be a matter of face for this Heaven Wheel expert.

After forcibly eliminating the two black-clothed men, she was about to help Yinning when she saw the scene of the thirteen black-clothed men fighting each other and falling to the ground.

"Ha ha!" The scene was so absurd that Shangguan Junyi couldn't help but laugh. She covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes sizing up Zhong Wen, and exclaimed, "Little brother Zhong Wen, your skills are truly endless, constantly surprising me."

"Just average, third in the world," Zhong Wen said modestly.

Shangguan Junyi smiled at his joke.

The situation was settled, and she turned her gaze to the black-clothed leader standing in the center of the courtyard, her eyes instantly turning cold: "Do you still want to struggle?"

Under Shangguan Junyi's gaze, the black-clothed leader felt a chill all over his body, as if he had fallen into an ice pit: "Sir, you are not from the Peony Palace, why must you get involved in this mess?"

Shangguan Junyi's tone was cold: "Do I need to explain my actions to you?"

"You have a point." The black-clothed leader suddenly tore off the black mask covering his face, revealing a pale square face. He was actually Dantai Jin's most capable subordinate, the Earth Wheel expert Qi Da, who had accompanied Mr. Jin up the mountain. "I am Dantai family's Qi Da, willing to serve you and leave the Dantai family. I hope you will accept me."

After saying this, Qi Da knelt straight in front of Shangguan Junyi.

Shangguan Junyi was taken aback: "From the actions of those two earlier, you should be a Dantai family-trained assassin. As the leader of the assassins, you would betray so easily?"

"Assassins are also human. If we can survive, no one wants to die." Qi Da smiled bitterly: "But if I betrayed Dantai Jin before, he would send people to hunt me down to the ends of the earth."

"Do you not fear that now?" Shangguan Junyi looked at him with a half-smile.

"Seeing your strength, I have a new plan. As long as I kill all the subordinates I brought here, no one will know I betrayed the Dantai family. With your incredible abilities, no one can escape this Qingfeng Mountain." Qi Da spoke confidently, "When Dantai Jin learns that the people he sent to raid the Peony Palace are all dead, he will only think they were all killed. I know many secrets of Dantai Jin and can secretly help you deal with the Dantai family."

"A small Dantai family, if I wanted to, I could destroy it with a wave of my hand. Do I need your help?" Shangguan Junyi sneered, "But considering how hard you've worked to reach this level, I can give you one chance."

"Please, sir, instruct me."

"Kill the fourteen subordinates in this courtyard, the seven in the back courtyard, and the one outside the courtyard. If you can do it, I will consider sparing your life." Shangguan Junyi said calmly.

Outside the courtyard?

Qi Da was taken aback; he had not left any backup outside the courtyard.

"Complying with your orders, sir." He bowed, then stood up, gripped his long sword, and slowly walked towards the fourteen subordinates in the courtyard.

"Qi Da, you dare to betray! Young Master will never let you off!" A black-clothed man on the ground shouted.

Shangguan Junyi made no move, just watching quietly. With the absolute strength of a Heaven Wheel expert, she was not worried about Qi Da playing any tricks. Without the restraint of other Earth Wheel experts, she had full confidence to crush the black-clothed leader in an instant.

Qi Da, already injured from the previous fight, walked slowly, his back slightly hunched.

As he passed by Shangguan Junyi, Qi Da nodded to her again, showing respect. Clearly, he had adapted well to his new identity.

Just as Qi Da lifted his head, Zhong Wen, with his sharp eyes, noticed a sinister smile on his face and a small black sphere in his hand.

"Big Sister Shangguan, be careful!"

Zhong Wen quickly warned.

Without turning her head, Shangguan Junyi casually waved her hand, a violent vortex of spiritual energy surging from her palm, effortlessly severing Qi Da's head from his body. The head flew high and shot into the forest outside the courtyard gate.

At the same time, the black sphere in Qi Da's hand burst into a blinding light, then exploded with a loud "Boom." The explosion was deafening, and a powerful shockwave swept out from the black sphere, a torrent of spiritual energy roaring in all directions. The intense light and shockwave instantly enveloped the headless Qi Da and Shangguan Junyi...

***

Shangguan Mingyue felt very embarrassed.

As Liu Qiqi had predicted, the other party indeed intended to enter the library to steal cultivation techniques and spiritual skills.

So the two of them naturally met the seven people in front of the library.

"Liu Qiqi, you hold off those six people, I'll take care of this Earth Wheel expert." Shangguan Mingyue, though modest in words, did not intend to wait for Shangguan Junyi's help. She was confident and planned to resolve the battle alone.

We are all at the Earth Wheel level. Even though I'm only at the first level, my high-grade cultivation techniques and spiritual skills are not to be underestimated.

She clearly did not think the other party's cultivation techniques and spiritual skills could match hers.

As soon as the fight began, Shangguan Mingyue was stunned.

Liu Qiqi, fighting six people, wielded her long sword with incredible skill, using the "Light Splitting Sword Technique" to take down two opponents immediately, firmly taking the upper hand.

But Shangguan Mingyue was being completely overwhelmed, nearly injured several times, in a precarious situation.

As the eldest daughter of the Shangguan family, pampered by Shangguan Tong, she had never had the opportunity to fight for her life. When others sparred with her, they often held back, fearing they might accidentally injure her and incur the wrath of the Shangguan family. Over time, she had developed an unrealistic view of her combat abilities.

Moreover, her opponent was not an ordinary person but a Dantai family assassin, the second-in-command under Dantai Jin, an Earth Wheel expert at the sixth level: Qi Er.

Each family's assassins were trained in hellish conditions, emerging from mountains of blood and steel, killing machines. Even in equal-level battles, assassins often had the upper hand due to their skilled combat techniques and fearless spirit, let alone against a delicate young lady like Shangguan Mingyue.

If not for Qi Er's intention to capture her alive, Shangguan Mingyue would have already become a beautiful corpse.

"Rip!"

Qi Er's hand grazed Shangguan Mingyue's right arm, tearing off a piece of her sleeve, revealing a segment of her smooth, white arm.

Shangguan Mingyue narrowly avoided the attack but was still grazed by the edge of the palm, feeling her arm go numb and barely able to lift it.

"Smells good!" Qi Er brought the torn piece of cloth to his nose, a lecherous look on his face.

As an assassin, Qi Er was not a hasty person. He had already seen that Shangguan Mingyue was a novice in combat, possessing high-grade spiritual skills but unable to use them effectively.

So he deliberately made an indecent move, trying to anger Shangguan Mingyue and make her reveal a weakness.

"Pervert, take this!" Shangguan Mingyue, indeed, became furious, raising her right palm and channeling all her spiritual energy to strike him forcefully.

He took the bait!

Qi Er had been waiting for this moment. He pretended to be overpowered, but in reality, he was secretly gathering strength in his right hand, planning to use his left hand to neutralize Shangguan Mingyue's palm strike, then transform his right hand into a blade to cut her left neck, knocking her out and capturing her alive.

Unexpectedly, Shangguan Mingyue, who appeared to be charging forward, suddenly shifted her steps, changing her palm strike to target a Human Wheel cultivator who was fighting Liu Qiqi.

Qi Er thought he had Shangguan Mingyue under his control, but the young lady, though young, had been in business for nearly a decade, and was extremely shrewd. After a few exchanges, she realized she was no match for her opponent. Seeing Qi Er's trick, she decided to play along, pretending to be angry.

The Human Wheel cultivator, already struggling under Liu Qiqi's dazzling sword techniques, was caught off guard by the surprise attack from behind. He was hit hard on the back by the full force of an Earth Wheel expert.

"Ah!"

With a piercing scream, he collapsed, his fate unknown.

"Retreat!" Shangguan Mingyue quickly called out to Liu Qiqi.

Liu Qiqi, quick to react, immediately realized the dire situation. Her wrist flicked, creating three sword shadows that attacked three opponents.

The four Human Wheel cultivators, already no match for Liu Qiqi, were now even more flustered and disorganized after one of their own was taken out by Shangguan Mingyue.

The two women took this opportunity to flee, quickly disappearing through the half-moon archway in the wall.

"Chase them!"

Always hunting, but now being hunted!

Qi Er narrowed his eyes, looking in the direction Shangguan Mingyue and Liu Qiqi had fled, his gaze cold and sharp.

Taking advantage of their familiarity with the terrain, Liu Qiqi led Shangguan Mingyue through the Peony Palace, turning left and right. Although Qi Er was faster, he could not catch up immediately.

Seeing they were about to reach the front courtyard where Shangguan Junyi was, the two women felt a sense of relief, knowing they had escaped danger.

"Boom!"

At that moment, a massive explosion came from the front courtyard, making their eardrums throb.

"Aunt!"

Shangguan Mingyue's face changed, and she quickly rushed down the path to the front courtyard...

***

In the medicinal fields at the foot of Qingfeng Mountain.

"What are you two doing back?" Wang San asked Li Lai and Zhang Quan, who had just returned from Fufeng City.

"I wanted to stay at 'Cuiyi Garden' for another half day, but this Zhang Quan insisted it was a special time and we should be low-key, so he dragged me back." Li Lai's tone was irritable, clearly unhappy with Zhang Quan's excessive caution.

"Has Lord Qi already gone up?" Zhang Quan ignored him and asked Wang San.

Wang San nodded: "He's been up for a while. If nothing goes wrong, those girls are probably already captured."

"Speaking of which, those two Peony Palace disciples are really beautiful." Thinking of Liu Qiqi and Yinning, Li Lai swallowed hard, "If I could sleep with such a woman, I'd die happy."

"Snap out of it. Those two disciples are off-limits unless you want to face the wrath of a Heaven Wheel expert." Zhang Quan frowned, "And it's time you changed your lecherous ways, or you'll end up in trouble one day."

"Enough, do you really think you're the boss? Always nagging." Li Lai was impatient, "Don't think I don't know, you're just jealous because the boss gave that widow to me."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Zhang Quan was angry, "I'm worried you're neglecting your duties by spending all your time at Cuiyi Garden."

"Alright, alright, let's stop arguing." Wang San, seeing the two about to quarrel, quickly intervened, "Zhang, you know Li's nature; he's not easy to change. And Li, you should be grateful for the favors you've received