Chapter 39: Enemy Attack

“Lu Yuanchun! You bastard!”

Seeing a gap torn open in the market's grand formation, Fairy Feixia’s eyes nearly split with rage, but her next action was the complete opposite of Lu Yuanchun’s.

“Junior Brother, let us join forces!”

With a flash of遁光 (escape light), Fairy Feixia landed directly inside the market, then turned to guard the gap in the formation with her life: “We absolutely cannot let the Shenwu Sect charge into the market...”

Hearing this, Lu Yang glanced at Fairy Feixia and found his opinion of her somewhat improved. After all, looking at her, her red lips were stained with blood and her aura was withered; she had clearly suffered significant injuries. If she had fled with Lu Yuanchun, there might have been a chance to escape, yet she chose to stay within the market.

*Could she be an internal mole?*

Adhering to the belief that there are no good people in the Saint Sect, Lu Yang immediately suspected Fairy Feixia, who in turn noticed his wary gaze.

“There is no escape!”

Fairy Feixia sighed helplessly, actually guessing Lu Yang's thoughts. She whispered, “The Shenwu Sect has been plotting this for a long time; fleeing is a dead end.”

“Staying to defend and wait for reinforcements is the only sliver of hope!”

Lu Yang remained skeptical. “Senior Sister understands this logic, so why wouldn't Senior Brother Lu know it? If that is the case, why did he flee?”

“Because the treasure is with him!”

At this, Fairy Feixia spoke with sudden exasperation, “The Shenwu Sect used that Xuanpin Taiyin Jade as bait to set an ambush. Lu Yuanchun, driven by greed, forcibly attempted to seize the treasure. Not only did he drag us into the trap, but he also disregarded Senior Brother Chen's life and abandoned us to flee alone!”

“So, he is a fugitive fleeing from his crimes?”

Lu Yang realized the truth. Clearly, Lu Yuanchun knew his actions were dishonorable; if he had stayed in the market, Fairy Feixia would have eventually settled the score with him.

That was why he had chosen such an extreme method.

In this light, it made sense that Fairy Feixia did not follow him. Had she done so, there was no guarantee he wouldn't have killed her to silence her.

“Demons, today is your day of death!”

A magnificent surge of blood qi illuminated the sky, appearing like rolling clouds of fire sweeping across the heavens, finally revealing a heavily armed, burly man. The leader possessed a ferocious expression.

“It is ‘Divine Fist’ Wu Zhichong!”

Fairy Feixia’s beautiful face turned solemn as she whispered, “This man is already at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, only one step away from Great Perfection. Junior Brother, be extremely careful.”

“Senior Brother Chen died because his physical body collapsed after taking a single punch from him...”

Before Fairy Feixia could finish, the man named Wu Zhichong was already flying toward them on a streak of light, his arm raised high above his head, pulled back like a drawn bow.

“Die!”

In the next second, a punch was unleashed!

A piercing sonic boom instantly echoed in all directions. The square fist print struck straight for the heart. In an instant, Lu Yang felt as if a mountain were crashing down upon him!

*Boom!*

At the critical moment, Fairy Feixia stepped forward. Her cloud-like sleeves fluttered, and clusters of pure, misty light clouds erupted from her, catching Wu Zhichong's punch.

In an instant, the colorful clouds and mists exploded outward, finally halting Wu Zhichong outside the market. However, the colorful mists lost most of their precious radiance because of it.

Seeing this, a flash of heartache crossed Fairy Feixia's eyes.

These colorful mists were her magic treasure, the "Sunset Mist Silk Cover," which she had painstakingly refined for many years, only to see it suffer repeated damage now.

Simultaneously, another streak of light descended from the sky.

Having revealed his form, it was none other than the recently escaped Lu Yuanchun. His face looked extremely grim, and he was actually followed by another cultivator.

“‘Mountain-Moving Daoist’ Duanmu Yuan...”

Fairy Feixia frowned deeply, recognizing the man intercepting Lu Yuanchun. He was another late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator from the Shenwu Sect, whose strength was in no way inferior to hers.

“Lu Yuanchun, come back if you want to live! Let us join forces!”

Fairy Feixia said in a heavy voice. Although the Shenwu Sect was coming on with great momentum, in her view, they still had three late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators on their side, meaning they weren't without a chance of victory.

Even if Lu Yang was merely an ordinary disciple without great divine abilities, he could still handle early or mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators. As long as she and Lu Yuanchun could hold off Wu Zhichong and the Mountain-Moving Daoist, allowing Lu Yang to free himself to deal with the other Shenwu Sect disciples, they might still have a chance to defend the market!

“...Fine! Then we shall fight to the death to buy me time!”

As the words fell, Lu Yuanchun took a deep breath and actually began to burn his essence blood. Bloody light erupted from the crown of his head, and his aura instantly surged several times over.

Seeing this, Fairy Feixia finally breathed a sigh of relief.

*He is, after all, a disciple of the Heaven-Mending Peak Master, a Foundation Establishment disciple. He might have some powerful trump cards. With my assistance, we should be able to hold the market...*

Thinking this, Fairy Feixia did not hold back, once again summoning the "Sunset Mist Silk Cover" in an attempt to buy time.

“Interrupt him!”

Although Wu Zhichong did not know Lu Yuanchun's specific divine abilities, he could not allow him to manifest them. He immediately surged forward on a streak of light toward Lu Yuanchun.

Seeing this, Fairy Feixia exerted her true qi to her limit, using every trick in her arsenal to block the other late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, the Mountain-Moving Daoist Duanmu Yuan, while shouting to Lu Yang beside her, “Junior Brother Lu, act now! As long as we stop Wu Zhichong, we still have a chance to turn the tide...”

“Lu Yang? An ordinary disciple... what use is it even if he breaks through to the late stage?”

Lu Yuanchun glanced at Lu Yang, sneering inwardly.

In his eyes, Lu Yang was nothing more than a nobody, a small character who had stumbled into the late stage by sheer luck, incomparable to a Foundation Establishment disciple like himself.

With this thought, his resolve hardened.

Fairy Feixia believed there was still a chance, but Lu Yuanchun did not. To him, Fairy Feixia was clearly ignoring a decisive factor.

That factor was the corpse tide!

Even if they could truly hold off the Shenwu Sect members, as long as the gap in the formation remained, once the corpse tide arrived, they would still face total annihilation!

Therefore, in the next second, Lu Yuanchun made his move.

“Witness my divine might!”

As he spoke, Fairy Feixia’s spirit surged. She watched as the bloody light surrounding Lu Yuanchun condensed, manifesting a colossal and ferocious demonic shadow.

She didn't expect Lu Yuanchun to kill Wu Zhichong directly; as long as he heavily wounded him, there would be hope...

“Blood Shadow Heaven-Escaping Great Method!”

The demonic shadow flashed, and Lu Yuanchun's figure vanished instantly, transforming into a streak of blood light that appeared hundreds of meters away, racing toward the outskirts of Skeleton Mountain.

For a moment, Fairy Feixia was stunned.

She had clearly underestimated Lu Yuanchun's shamelessness. She had never imagined that his feigned cooperation was actually using her as a human shield.

However, at that moment, the sky outside Skeleton Mountain suddenly darkened.

“Want to leave? Stay instead!”

With a cold laugh, the blood-colored light Lu Yuanchun had transformed into was suddenly severed at the waist, forcing him back toward Skeleton Mountain. From within, Lu Yuanchun's terrified screams rang out

“Great Perfection of Qi Refinement!?”

The blood escape technique he had used by burning most of his essence blood could absolutely not be stopped by anyone in the late stage of Qi Refinement. The only one who could stop it was someone at the Great Perfection stage!

“Heaven wants me dead...”

Lu Yuanchun's heart was filled with resentment. He had finally managed to snatch the Xuanpin Taiyin Jade; as long as he escaped, he would surely gain the favor of the Heaven-Mending Peak Master.

Especially now, with Zhao Xuhe having been abandoned by the Peak Master, this was his chance!

But now, everything was for naught.

Just then, Lu Yang's voice suddenly reached Lu Yuanchun's ears: “Senior Brother Lu, return to the market first...”

“At this point, what use is it?”

Lu Yuanchun was utterly despondent, lacking even the interest to respond to Lu Yang. In his view, there was no difference between Lu Yang dying now or dying later.

In the next second, however, the previously silent Lu Yang suddenly took a step forward. His wide sleeves fluttered, and his fingers flicked rapidly. In an instant, he scattered dozens of formation runes across the perimeter of the market, breaking the miniature sub-formations that were keeping the Shenwu Sect's gap open, and then he manipulated the formation to snap shut.

*Boom!*

In an instant, dense formation runes emerged, transforming into a curtain of light that enveloped the inside and outside of the market. The grand formation had simply closed itself, restoring its integrity!

“...Huh?”

Lu Yuanchun's eyes widened instantly. Then, with a jolt of terror, he hurriedly manipulated his blood light to fly back, screaming at the top of his lungs

“Brother Lu, save me!!!”