Chapter 86: The Three Great Beauties, Gongsun Huaiyu
Chapter 86 – The Three Great Beauties, Gongsun Huaiyu
“Boom!”
Without a shred of hesitation, the moment Magu’s voice echoed, Jiang Ping spun on his heel and thrust out a devastating palm strike.
The tyrannical shockwave sheared through the inner courtyard, violently snapping ancient trees in half.
Simultaneously, the gathered prodigies fanned out, sealing off every conceivable escape route for Magu.
Mei Yongsi fixed his gaze upon the disguised Magu, his tone perfectly placid.
“Lady Gongsun, the Thousand Mountains Sword Sect was wiped from the face of the earth three centuries ago.”
“The intelligence gathered by my Langya Pavilion has never erred. Impersonating a fallen descendant to infiltrate the Kunlun Holy Land was scarcely a wise endeavor.”
Even as her ruse was laid bare, Magu’s visage remained entirely devoid of emotion.
“Truly worthy of the Qilin Talent. With so many Heaven’s Chosens gathered in one place, your hand must be guiding the board, correct?”
“It is a profound pity that the slaughter orchestrated three years ago failed to claim your life.”
Hearing ‘Magu’ speak with such brazen insolence, Jiang Ping’s voice dropped to a freezing register. “Brother Mei, why waste your breath on her?”
“Since she dared to trespass upon the Kunlun Holy Land, we shall ensure she leaves only as a corpse!”
“Wait!”
Just as Jiang Ping surged with killing intent, Magu suddenly called out, halting the crowd.
“What? Do you have any last words?”
“Not last words. I merely wish to invite you all to scrutinize your own internal states.”
“Although you realized my identity was a sham long ago, have you truly failed to notice the rot festering within your own meridians?”
The moment those words left her lips, a sudden, heavy vertigo swept through the minds of the gathered cultivators.
Faced with this insidious trap, the Yaoguang Saint Son furrowed his brows; blinding, pure radiance erupted from his flesh as he violently propelled himself backward out of the inner courtyard.
Without a second thought, Jiang Ping and the remaining prodigies mirrored his retreat, abandoning the perimeter.
Staring down at the hideous disguise of ‘Magu’, the Yaoguang Saint Son announced, “This is Gongsun Huaiyu’s Sleep-Inducing Gu.”
“Any soul tainted by its dust will fall into an absolute slumber within thirty breaths. However, such a Gu worm has stringent limitations.”
“So long as one maintains clarity of mind and severs contact with the Gu’s domain, the threat is neutralized.”
As he spoke, the Yaoguang Saint Son paused, his gaze slowly shifting to the limp form of Chen Changsheng, currently dangling in Magu’s grasp.
“It seems her true quarry today was never us.”
“Hehehe!”
“Astute as always, Yaoguang Saint Son. You’ve pierced right through the veil of my plot.”
“This matron happens to be lacking a consort for her mountain keep. I shall be taking this pretty little plaything with me.”
With a flick of her wrist, Magu produced a white jade Formation dais.
Dense, esoteric Formation lines erupted from the jade, bleeding out to engrave themselves upon the very air.
Seeing this, Ye Hensheng’s eyes widened. “She is severing the void! Butcher her!”
Instantly, seven Peerless prodigies unleashed their divine arts in unison, intent on crushing Gongsun Huaiyu before the array could activate.
“Boom!”
“Pfft!”
Gongsun Huaiyu spat a mouthful of black blood as she was sent hurtling backward, yet the Formation’s laws had already locked into place. A blinding pillar of spatial light engulfed both her and the unconscious Chen Changsheng.
Clutching a grisly hole in her shoulder—a parting gift from the Yaoguang Saint Son’s radiant strike—Gongsun Huaiyu merely laughed.
“You struck this frail woman so ruthlessly, little brothers. I will engrave this grudge into my Dao.”
With a final taunting lilt to her voice, Gongsun Huaiyu and Chen Changsheng dissolved into the spatial tear, vanishing without a trace.
Sensing the violent fluctuations from afar, Wuli delivered a crushing blow to drive Jiang Feng back.
“The winds have turned! Scatter!”
“Wuli, I will slaughter you!”
Boiling, unadulterated fury flooded Jiang Feng’s mind. The Peerless prodigy he had been on the verge of recruiting had been snatched right out from beneath his nose.
“Tsk, tsk!”
“Control your temper, Daoist. Your Kunlun Holy Land is bloated with talents. Me plucking one or two from your ranks is but a minor slight.”
Mid-sentence, Wuli channeled his Qi into the spatial teleportation Formation he had carved out well in advance.
Witnessing Wuli’s silhouette blur, Jiang Feng ruthlessly cleaved the void apart with his blade and threw himself headlong into the spatial rift.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The ferocity of their clash made the very fabric of space groan in agony. After what felt like an eternity, Jiang Feng stumbled backward out of the spatial rift, his aura ragged and chaotic.
His ancient bronze sword was slick with fresh blood, and his magnificent robes had been shredded by the turbulent spatial currents.
“The villain has suffered a grievous blow by my hand. The Kunlun Holy Land and the Seventy-Two Wolf Smokes are henceforth locked in an irreconcilable blood feud!”
Having declared his killing intent to the heavens, a thin line of blood leaked from the corner of Jiang Feng’s lips before his figure entirely vanished into thin air.
“Brother Ye, set your mind at ease. The Kunlun Holy Land will spare no effort in guaranteeing Brother Chen’s safe return.”
“If those curs dare to touch a single hair on his head, I will use the skulls of the Seventy-Two Wolf Smokes to build his memorial.”
Jiang Ping consoled Ye Hensheng and his companion, his expression dark as a thunderhead.
Hearing this, Ye Hensheng returned a few anxious pleasantries, perfectly playing the part of a deeply concerned comrade.
Naturally, following such a brazen assault, the mood for the stone auction had thoroughly shattered. Soon, everyone dispersed to their respective sanctuaries.
Once absolutely certain they were free of prying eyes, Su Tian furrowed his brow. “Brother Ye, Chen Changsheng and the Seventy-Two…”
Before Su Tian could complete the dangerous inquiry, Ye Hensheng raised a hand, silencing him instantly.
“Brother Su, as things stand, we are entirely consumed by dread regarding Chen Changsheng’s safety. Correct?”
Meeting Ye Hensheng’s pointed gaze, Su Tian immediately grasped the unspoken truth lingering in the air.
Outsiders remained ignorant of Chen Changsheng’s true nature, but they were both painfully aware.
Chen Changsheng possessed deep ties to the Seventy-Two Wolf Smokes. It defied all logic for them to single him out as a victim.
Furthermore, with Chen Changsheng’s cunning and intimate knowledge of their factions, how could he possibly be abducted so cleanly by Gongsun Huaiyu?
To the blind masses, it appeared to be a meticulously laid trap by Gongsun Huaiyu, succeeding only through Chen Changsheng’s tragic arrogance.
Yet in the eyes of Su Tian and Ye Hensheng, the ones privy to the inner workings of this game, the entire sequence of events reeked of falsehood.
Parsing through the layered schemes, Su Tian let out a breathless sigh. “So, this is the reality of the cultivation world.”
“A single misstep shatters the bones and grinds the soul to dust. Sometimes, words are entirely unnecessary; a fleeting glance is enough to damn a man to the abyss.”
Having reached an understanding, Su Tian and Ye Hensheng retreated into the Eastern Wasteland guest compound.
From this moment forth, he and Ye Hensheng had to perfectly don the masks of panic-stricken friends.
Should their performance falter and expose a sliver of the truth, the ensuing retribution would be agonizing.
……
Within a nameless, damp cave.
“Swish!”
“Thud!”
The severely wounded Gongsun Huaiyu crashed heavily against the unforgiving stone floor.
“Ah! The agony is peeling my soul apart!”
Desperately swallowing a high-grade healing Pill, Gongsun Huaiyu continued to wail, clutching her bleeding shoulder.
To face the combined wrath of seven Peerless prodigies and emerge drawing breath was an indisputable testament to Gongsun Huaiyu’s monstrous foundation.
Were it any ordinary cultivator, their flesh would have been rendered into a bloody mist on the spot.
As the medicinal efficacy of the Pill stabilized her ruptured meridians, Gongsun Huaiyu limped toward the unconscious Chen Changsheng.
“Slurp!”
Licking a trail of drool from the corner of her lips, Gongsun Huaiyu cackled. “Dragging you out of that viper’s nest was worth every broken bone.”
“Tossing out four million pieces of God Source without batting an eye… you are a legendary, unprecedented fat sheep.”
“Let this elder sister see what heaven-defying fortunes you’re hiding on your person.”
Just as her trembling fingers reached toward Chen Changsheng’s robes, a vise-like grip snapped around her wrist, locking it in place.
“Little girl, half your lifeblood has drained away, yet your heart still lusts after wealth.”
“Do you truly harbor no regard for your own life?”
Staring into the cold, profoundly lucid eyes of the supposedly unconscious Chen Changsheng, Gongsun Huaiyu felt a chill pierce her spine.
Thrown into absolute panic, she forcefully channeled her remaining Qi, thrusting her free palm directly at his chest.
Yet, even at her absolute peak, Gongsun Huaiyu was no match for a monster like Chen Changsheng, let alone in her current ravaged state.
In fewer than three exchanges, her assault was dismantled, and Gongsun Huaiyu found herself utterly subdued beneath Chen Changsheng’s cold grip.