Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Brother, If I May Ask, How’s the Battle Outside Going?

“Here, let’s have a drink. Great Xia’s days will be numbered after today, but you need not fear. Guhe and Yizhou have always been our friends, so you won’t be affected by this massacre. Any businesses you have a stake in won’t be affected either!”

While the soldiers outside were fighting a tragic battle, one of the manors in Great Xia’s capital was brilliantly lit with the aroma of alcohol wafting in the air. A Longdu scholar merrily stood up and raised his wine cup.

Joining him were powerful merchants from Guhe and Yizhou in the capital, such as Long Huixin. The crowd exchanged looks before toasting with bright smiles.

Long Huixin downed her wine before asking, “How does Longdu intend to deal with the Fang Manor?”

“The Fang Manor is our very first assassination target. Even Great Xia’s emperor is ranked behind them. One of our experts paid the Fang Manor a visit shortly after the attack began,” the Longdu scholar replied gleefully.

Long Huixin’s eyes lit up, but that was quickly replaced by a frown. “No matter what, Fang Chen is still a Ki Manifestation martial artist. It’s unlikely that your expert is a match for him.”

“Hahaha!” The Longdu scholar burst into laughter. Seeing the confused looks around him, he cheerily explained, “Fang Chen is trapped on the Jade Fairy Boat. He doesn’t have the energy to care about anything else.”

“You trapped Fang Chen?!”

The crowd was bewildered.

Long Huixin found this matter hard to believe. “How is that possible?”

“What’s impossible about it? With our Marquess Xianyu personally making a move here, Fang Chen need not dream of pulling anything. Marquess Xianyu has reached Ki Manifestation level five years ago, and he has further made a breakthrough to mid Ki Manifestation level since,” the Longdu scholar replied with a smile.

“Ahh…”

The crowd gasped in shock. A hint of fear could be seen reflected in their eyes.

The fact that Longdu had hidden this crucial information didn’t bode well for Guhe and Yizhou. The stronger Longdu was, the greater the imbalance among them.

Just then, there was a commotion outside. All of the Longdu scholars laughed.

“Our cavalrymen must have reached the inner city. Let’s head out to take a look.”

The group made their way to the entrance of the manor, only to see a long procession of deflated Longdu cavalrymen marching in chains, escorted by the Valiant Defenders.

All of them were stunned.

I thought Longdu’s cavalrymen had breached the inner city’s defenses? Why are they being held as prisoners instead? Furthermore, there’s a lot of them, numbering in the hundreds!

Long Huixin and the others were bewildered. The smiles on the Longdu scholars stiffened up.

Shortly after, they saw a group of people transporting a number of charred corpses.

Unable to withhold their curiosity, one of the Longdu’s scholars stopped one of the Valiant Defenders and asked, “Brother, if I may ask, how is the battle outside going?”

The Valiant Defender replied without even turning over, “Don’t worry, the situation has stabilized. The Longdu cavalrymen won’t be able to breach our defenses.”

What?! The situation has stabilized?

That worsened the complexions of the Longdu scholars. One of them glanced at the charred corpses and asked, “What’s with those charred corpses?”

“The charred corpses? It’s a quite funny story, actually. Longdu’s Marquess Xianyu thought he could trap our War God Fang on the Jade Fairy Boat just because he’s a Ki Manifestation martial artist, but he and his pinnacle Ki Control martial artists ended up getting burned to crisps by Windcloud Sword Xu Ge. Xu Ge appears to have learned War God Fang’s Purple Lightning Palm, and its prowess is truly terrifying,” the Valiant Defender replied.

“What?!” The Longdu scholars were stupefied. Their faces turned pale, and their bodies wobbled on the spot. They nearly lost their balance and fell to the floor.

Marquess Xianyu is dead? And the one who killed him isn’t Fang Chen but one of his subordinates? This…

Long Huixin and the others instinctively took two steps back to distance themselves from the Longdu scholars. The Valiant Defender also belatedly realized the identities of those who had just asked him questions. He raised his hand and gestured for the others to halt for a moment.

“Say, the lot of you are from Longdu, right?” Niu Jue asked with a cold smile.

“This…” The Longdu scholars were in despair.

“Men, capture those bastards and bring them back to the barracks for interrogation!” Niu Jue ordered.

A group of Valiant Defenders rushed forth and tied them up before bringing them along.

Niu Jue then turned his sights toward Long Huixin and the others. “As for the rest of you…”

“We’re from Guhe.”

“And we’re from Yizhou. We have no ties with Longdu. We are unaware of the attack!”

Both sides desperately distanced themselves from Longdu.

“I see. You need to proceed carefully. There are Longdu’s remnants lingering in the capital, so you need to tread carefully. It’s be terrible if they put a wedge between our countries’ good ties,” Niu Jue said with a concerned voice. “Why don’t you stay at our barracks for the time being? It’d be safe over there.”

“No no no, that’s too courteous of you…”

“You’re being too kind. We can take care of your safety. We appreciate your goodwill.”

Those from Yizhou and Guhe frantically shook their heads.

The Valiant Defenders’ barracks was no different from hell. Anyone who was brought there had at least a layer of skin torn away from them. There was no way they would want to pay a visit to the barracks at a critical juncture like this.

“Ah… You must be careful then. Try to avoid contact with those from Longdu as far as possible. Make sure to inform our barracks if you find any of their whereabouts,” Niu Jue instructed before he returned to the formation to continue escorting the Longdu cavalrymen back.

Those from Guhe and Yizhou heaved a sigh of relief.

Long Huixin looked pale. “Do you think… the Valiant Defender’s chiliarch is telling the truth? Could Fang Chen have a Ki Manifestation subordinate too?”

“When Greenpine Country’s Celestial Xiao entered the capital, I heard one of her Ki Control subordinates was turned to a crisp by a single palm…” one of the Yizhou scholars replied with a fearful voice.

They might be scholars, but they were also martial artists, albeit only at Ki Condensation. They knew what martial artists were usually capable of, which was why they remained skeptical about Fang Chen having burned a person to crisp with a palm strike.

But now… they had no choice but to believe it.

Fang Chen was much, much stronger than they could have imagined!

“How did Great Xia end up getting so badly oppressed by Greenpine if even Fang Chen’s subordinates were this powerful?” Long Huixin frowned.

“Perhaps… feigning weakness? Longdu is a good example. They underestimated Great Xia and suffered severe losses as a result…”

Even Marquess Xianyu had died; Longdu cavalrymen stomping Great Xia’s capital had become nothing more than a joke. Longdu had made a misstep this time, and they were going to pay an astronomical price for it.

Losing their martial artists was just the appetizer!

Feeling wary about Great Xia, Long Huixin and the others made up their minds to immediately inform Guhe and Yizhou about what they had seen here as soon as this matter was over.

An hour later, the situation at the four city gates finally stabilized as more soldiers were deployed over. Seeing that, Xu Ge and the others silently retreated from the battlefield.

Their young master had told them to retreat once Great Xia was in safe hands.

“Is the Blood Spirit Cult really not behind this?” Fang Chen murmured in the sky. He had combed the capital, but he hadn’t found any traces of Blood Spirit Cultists. This suggested that Longdu’s abrupt invasion might have been propelled by other powers or factors.

“Zhou Xiu’s identity… appears to be an important piece.”