Chapter Forty: The Sudden Upheaval

Little Yan’s deep and bewildered eyes opened, not understanding why she was so delighted.

“Master, I sense that the Underworld Domain is about to be breached. A swarm of little insects has flown in from outside, carrying a man with them.”

Qu Yi Qiu’s smile froze at her lips, her expression turning solemn. “Didn’t we already remove all the resources providing spiritual energy at the array’s core? Is the Defilement and Resentment Grand Array still running?”

Little Yan floated out from the sea of consciousness, hovering above the central core of the array. He closed his eyes lightly.

“The Defilement and Resentment Grand Array doesn’t depend solely on the resources in the treasury to operate; it’s also linked to the defensive formation protecting the treasury. To completely dismantle it, one would have to destroy the treasury’s defensive formation as well.”

Little Yan opened his eyes, a hint of confusion flickering within them.

The one who laid this array was even more skilled than he had imagined.

“So this is the spirit of a stabilized realm? Are we supposed to destroy the treasury of Qu Nan City?” Yao Zhimei, seeing Little Yan’s true form, was both fascinated and astonished.

Qu Yi Qiu’s brows knitted, her lips twitching. “With just the two of us, there’s no way we can break through the treasury’s defenses—unless it collapses on its own!”

A city’s treasury would have protective arrays strong enough to keep even Nascent Soul cultivators at bay. For two weaklings like them, any talk of destruction was pure fantasy.

To survive the defensive array without being immediately annihilated was already fortunate.

Yao Zhimei’s eyes lit up at these words. “Your Majesty, do you mean to have the defensive formation collapse from within, so it loses its power without leaving any trace behind?”

Qu Yi Qiu was taken aback.

She hadn’t expected her to interpret it that way.

But, in a sense, it did make sense.

Still, how could the two of them possibly damage the defensive array from the inside? As soon as they stepped into the treasury’s formation, they’d be reduced to dust!

“I understand! Your Majesty, I’ll infiltrate the enemy lines and destroy the array from the inside out, erasing all traces!” Yao Zhimei, brimming with excitement, spun around and charged straight for the treasury door.

“No—” Qu Yi Qiu shouted in alarm, hurriedly grabbing her to explain.

At that moment, a tremendous crash sounded from outside the door.

Bang! Bang!

The massive vermilion door of the treasury, weighing thousands of pounds, was struck so forcefully that a nearly imperceptible crack appeared.

Yao Zhimei stopped, poised just an inch from the door.

Astonished, she spread her spiritual sense outward, then quickly withdrew it.

“There are two immensely powerful forces clashing outside!”

Little Yan drifted over on his round, glossy eyes. “The treasury’s defensive array has been broken. Master, once you destroy the Defilement and Resentment Grand Array’s patterns, the Underworld Domain will be safe.”

Qu Yi Qiu paid no attention to the shocking news Yao Zhimei had just given her.

With a graceful motion of her hands, five-colored spiritual energy coiled around her fingertips as she struck the intricate array patterns at the center of the treasury. The bright glow of the patterns instantly dimmed.

Yao Zhimei exclaimed, “Your Majesty’s control of spiritual power is extraordinary!”

The array lines of the Defilement and Resentment Grand Array snapped, leaving the formation in ruins.

At that very moment.

In the Scarlet Leaf Gorge.

Two towering mountains suddenly trembled, then stilled, falling once more into calm as crimson leaves drifted down.

The man’s brows furrowed as he glanced down.

Beneath his ornate, jade-embellished boots, a faint light darted past, only to vanish completely as it neared the mountain’s base.

The swarm of insects surrounding him ceased to advance, hovering in confusion as they aimlessly scouted the area, no longer disciplined but flitting about like wild bees.

The man’s gaze dropped; a faint smile curved his lips. “What an intriguing opponent, to have actually broken my Defilement and Resentment Grand Array.”

“However, if you can so easily shatter my array, why hide in the shadows?”

“Could it be that he, too, has a dual identity?”

A sharp glint flashed in the man’s eyes as he swept his gaze around.

With a sudden flick of his sleeve, he gathered all the insects back into his pouch and departed without a backward glance.

He had built his Defilement and Resentment Grand Array on the foundation of Qu Nan City’s treasury defenses. Anyone able to destroy such a formation so quickly must be at least at the Nascent Soul stage.

The longer he stayed here, the more likely he would be caught.

Perhaps, the days of silence before had been nothing but a ruse, bait to lure him out!

As this possibility occurred to Huo Tangsheng, a sinister glint flashed through his eyes. Without hesitation, he tore open a seventh-grade escape talisman, suppressed his aura with a secret technique, donned a mask to conceal his true face, and fled north at top speed.

Inside the treasury, Qu Yi Qiu remained oblivious to all this.

It was Little Yan, instead, who, relying on his lingering connection to the Underworld Domain, sensed Huo Tangsheng’s fleeing silhouette.

He said nothing, but the look he gave Qu Yi Qiu was tinged with newfound respect.

Jin Ergou’s choice was indeed not mistaken.

Yao Zhimei stood agape with shock. So this was what the “let the defensive array collapse on its own” really meant! What a masterful use of borrowed force to break the array!

As a disciple of the Celestial Calculation Sect, Your Majesty must have long since seen through the demonic cultivator’s machinations!

“Let’s go. We need to leave here immediately.” Qu Yi Qiu, unaware of the wild ideas running through her companions’ heads, hurriedly gathered them close and crushed a ten-thousand-mile escape talisman, fleeing at once.

They had barely gone when, in the blink of an eye, a mountain-splitting giant axe came crashing from outside the treasury, reducing the massive door to dust.

In an instant, the vast treasury was left unguarded and exposed.

“You scoundrel Qian Jiangfan, do you intend to start an all-out war between the righteous and demonic sects?” Cheng Changsheng’s face was thunderous as he rushed to block Qian Jiangfan from entering the treasury.

Qian Jiangfan beckoned, the giant axe spinning to his side, and laughed boisterously, “Why put your life on the line for a dog’s errand? It’s only a treasury.”

“Or is it, as rumors say, that you, the City Lord of Qu Nan, have been helping yourself to the city’s treasures? Is that why you’re so desperate to keep me out?”

Cheng Changsheng’s anger flared. “Don’t speak such nonsense! In my tenure, I have been diligent and conscientious. I may not boast great achievements, but I have managed this city for over a century, pouring my heart and soul into it!”

“The people of Qu Nan are like my own children; the city’s treasury is the Celestial Calculation Sect’s treasury! I, Cheng Changsheng, would never touch a single coin!”

His impassioned words stirred the hearts of all present, whether disciples from other sects or those of his own, all gazing at him with admiration.

Qian Jiangfan felt the weight of their gazes and applauded with a laugh. “Well said, very well said! Since you claim not to have touched the treasury, then all these goods must be handed over to my Supreme Sage Sect!”

With that, his expression darkened. The giant axe behind him suddenly swelled, splitting into three, each shrouded in a mist of blood.

Cheng Changsheng, chest held high, had hardly basked in the admiring stares before Qian Jiangfan’s killing intent surged. Three massive axes shot toward him.

In midair, the axes merged with the blood mist. Three pairs of bloodthirsty eyes formed within the fog, and a wave of murderous blade energy swept forth, aimed straight for his head.

Cheng Changsheng’s face changed at once, as if he could already see himself cleaved in two.

In a panic, he crushed the life-saving talisman hidden in his palm, but even so, he was not quick enough. The blade energy from the three axes sliced off his left ear, blew a hole in his left side, and tore flesh from his left thigh.

Surviving by a hair’s breadth, Cheng Changsheng fled north without a backward glance, heedless of the lower-ranked disciples still locked in battle behind him.