Bai Xiaochun looked around at the flabbergasted crowd of cultivator clan members, and mused about how glorious the situation was. From the expression of utter shock on Hou Yunqing’s face, it seemed as if he had only just now realized the shocking identity of the person he had befriended. Although Bai Xiaochun found his behavior a bit servile, it still felt good receive such treatment.

Coughing dryly, he patted Hou Yunqing on the shoulder and said, “Alright, enough with the act. Your big bro Hou Yunfei told me about you a while ago.”

Hou Yunqing rose to his feet, looking a bit embarrassed. The truth was that because of his place in the Hou Clan, he had recognized Bai Xiaochun the instant he set foot in his shop. The Hou Clan had long since passed out information throughout the clan about Bai Xiaochun.

Hou Yunqing knew that his clan brother and sister were both on good terms with Bai Xiaochun, and he himself had hoped to somehow make friends with him, but had never been able to. When the chance suddenly arose to get close to an important person like Bai Xiaochun, he had to strike while the iron was hot. Of course, when flattering someone, the best thing was not to be too direct. That way, the target of the flattery would feel more comfortable, as would the flatterer.

And that was why things had played out the way they did on the way to the banquet.... Actually, Hou Yunqing had been prepared for the possibility that Bai Xiaochun would see through his ruse. In fact, Bai Xiaochun’s enigmatic smiles along the way caused Hou Yunqing to come to that very conclusion. However, that didn’t prevent him from continuing to lay on the flattery as thick as possible.

Bai Xiaochun looked at Du Lingfei, and she looked back at him. However, there was no time to sit around and reminisce. People from the cultivator clans immediately began to flock around Bai Xiaochun, offering formal greetings in extremely respectful tones, each one more enthusiastic than the one before.

When Du Lingfei saw so many people jumping at the chance to meet Bai Xiaochun, and how he stood there proudly with his hands clasped behind his back, she couldn’t help but smile and think back to everything that had happened when they were being chased by the Luochen Clan.

Mixed emotions soon swirled within her eyes, and she sighed. However, even in the middle of her sigh, her expression suddenly flickered, and she walked over to stand next to Bai Xiaochun.

The moment she stepped forward, Bai Xiaochun sensed something, and looked up. There in the air not too far away, three beams of light were approaching at breakneck speed.

Three cultivators came into view, two men and a woman. All of them were bursting with killing intent, and shockingly, all of them were Foundation Establishment cultivators.

“Prepare to die, Bai Xiaochun!” As they closed in on the area, they fell into a triangular formation, and then unleashed a powerful attack that not only erupted with extermination power, but also contained a noxious black mist.

A black cloud formed, within which could be seen a flying sword, a drum, and a battle-axe. All three of them were powerful magical items that were aimed directly at Bai Xiaochun.

The surrounding cultivators from the various clans were shocked, and began to tremble in fear. When they sensed three Foundation Establishment cultivation bases, they cried out in alarm.

“Foundation Establishment!!”

Bai Xiaochun’s expression flickered. His hair stood up on end as a sensation of deadly crisis swept over him. His eyes went wide, and his pupils constricted as he mentally recalled the Fallen Sword World, and his flight from the Luochen Clan. The feeling of proud complacency from moments before had been replaced by veins of steel.

“You people... want to kill me?” His eyes began to shine brightly. It would have been possible to simply dodge the attack unleashed by these three assassins, but there were countless innocent bystanders present, as well as Du Lingfei. Furthermore, everyone around him was in Qi Condensation, whereas the three assassins were...

Foundation Establishment experts!!

They were only in the Mortal-Dao Foundation Establishment stage, but their cultivation bases appeared to be near the great circle of early Foundation Establishment!

Bai Xiaochun’s eyes were already bloodshot as he stood there in front of Du Lingfei, and he looked just like he had when facing the Luochen Clan. He didn’t dodge, nor did he flee. He raised his right hand, and blinding golden light emanated from his entire body. The power of nine spiritual seas and Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment erupted out, causing Bai Xiaochun to seem much larger than he actually was!

All of a sudden, a huge illusory palm materialized in front of him, golden in color, which shot forward to block the incoming attack!

Shockingly, he was single-handedly blocking the combined attack of three Mortal-Dao Foundation Establishment cultivators!

Du Lingfei stood there in a daze, looking at Bai Xiaochun’s back. It was almost like the world around her had vanished, and she was once again being chased by the Luochen Clan.

She seemed conflicted, and it was in that moment that her right hand, which was inside of her sleeve, suddenly turned a bit blurry. A moment later, it was back to normal, looking fair and fine like usual.

All of this takes some time to describe, but actually happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint. As soon as Bai Xiaochun let loose his counterattack, massive rumbling sounds echoed out, and black cloud unleashed by the three assassins was crushed as if by an enormous mountain.

As the boom echoed out, the ground beneath Bai Xiaochun’s feet cracked and crumbled. Everyone within about thirty meters of him staggered, and some of them coughed up blood. However, none were killed.

Being directly protected by Bai Xiaochun, Du Lingfei wasn’t hurt at all. However, all of the tables, the decorative rocks, and the pine trees in the area were completely destroyed.

The black cloud collapsed, and the flying sword, the drum and the battle-axe were sent spinning off to the side.

The three assassins were clearly shocked that Bai Xiaochun had blocked their attack with a single palm strike. Just as they were about to unleash another attack, Bai Xiaochun’s voice echoed out, filled with rage, “You people are courting death!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, he shot through the air toward the group of three.

One of the men tried to fall back, but was too slow. With the help of his wings, Bai Xiaochun appeared in front of him at almost the same moment that he took off, two fingers lashing out with the power of the Throat Crushing Grasp. Instantly, his fingers were on the man’s neck.

A cracking sound rang out, and the man’s eyes went wide. Blood sprayed out of his torn throat as Bai Xiaochun tossed him off to the side to block the other two from retrieving the flying sword and the battle-axe.

A boom echoed out as the man’s corpse exploded into bits, sending blood and gore flying out in all directions. At the same time, Bai Xiaochun turned, piercing through the cloud of gore, his expression matchlessly vicious.

The murderous aura which was now exploding out from him had appeared before thanks to the Luochen Clan, and had also been seen when he slaughtered countless enemies in the Fallen Sword Abyss. He... was out to kill!

The surviving man and woman were both Foundation Establishment cultivators, but at the moment, their scalps were tingling in fear. The power on display by Bai Xiaochun completely exceeded their expectations.

“So this is Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment....” Exchanging a bitter glance, they turned to flee. Since they couldn’t kill Bai Xiaochun, then the only thing they had a mind left to do was get away. However, there was no way Bai Xiaochun would let that happen.

Almost at the exact moment that they took to flight, Bai Xiaochun, his eyes even more bloodshot than before, sped into motion. The full power of his Foundation Establishment cultivation base erupted, along with the Waterswamp Kingdom. The sky went dark, and a shocking pressure descended, causing the two fleeing assassins to cry out in alarm.

Then, Bai Xiaochun’s wings flapped, and he left after images behind as he sped toward the man. The man’s face fell as he tried to defend himself, but there was no way he could move faster than a fist strike unleashed by someone who had broken through the first shackle of mortality.

That fist exploded like thunder, slamming into the man’s chest and unleashing unspeakable force. His eyes exploded, and then his organs, his bones, his flesh, and his blood all burst out in chunks in all directions.

The last assassin was the woman. Screaming in terror, she tried to flee, and even managed to get about 300 meters away. But then, Bai Xiaochun turned and waved his right index finger through the air.

“Violet Qi... Cauldron Summoning!”

Boundless violet qi swirled in the air above the woman, rapidly transforming into an enormous violet cauldron.

Then, Bai Xiaochun clenched his hand into a fist!

The violet cauldron shattered, creating a huge explosion that instantly overwhelmed the woman.

In the blink of an eye, she was killed in body and soul!

Silence reigned. Everyone in the area was staring in shock and awe at Bai Xiaochun. Although they all had heard that Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment was powerful, none of them could ever have imagined that not only would the Foundation Establishment assassins be unable to defeat him, but that he would kill them as easily as turning over his hand!

Even as everyone stood there gasping, Du Lingfei’s expression turned very grim, and she said, “How did those three get in here? I can’t believe the Eastwood City’s grand spell formation isn’t active. Immediately investigate the records to see which clan is responsible. As the official emissary to this city, I demand an explanation for this matter!

“The cultivator clans will conduct a thorough search of the entire city: interrogate anyone who seems suspicious. It’s likely that those three aren’t the only assassins here!”

Around the same time, numerous beams of light appeared up above. Now that the cultivator clans knew that Bai Xiaochun was in the city, the patriarchs and other leaders were all showing up.

When the patriarchs saw the bloody scene down below, their expressions flickered. Then they heard Du Lingfei’s words, and their own killing intent began to roil. One of the patriarchs suddenly looked sick as he realized that his clan had been responsible for maintaining the spell formation for the past few months.

“Fellow Daoist Bai, Goddess Du: the Li Clan will definitely investigate this matter to the bitter end. Let the sun and moon bear witness to the fact that we are faithful and true to the Spirit Stream Sect!!”