Chapter 111: The Ambush at the Street Corner!

Fei Zheng appeared on Musical Instrument Street in Divine Fortune City at midnight, drunkenly leading two women toward the mansion where the beast-hunting sailboat was docked.

Oil lamps lit up the streets of the eastern district, making it convenient for the nobles living there to move about.

Fei Zheng looked up at the pitch-black night sky and lamented inwardly,

My days of living like this are numbered.

He was in the late stage of the Marrow Cleansing Realm and was only a step away from the Innate Realm. Once this mission was completed and he returned to the Blood Moon Sect, he would go into seclusion to break through.

For the past few days, he had been wantonly indulging himself in Divine Fortune City as a way to relax.

He aimed to gain Elder Jiu Yuan's favor by presenting him with the pair of sisters and breaking through to the Innate Realm.

After that, he would qualify to participate in the Blood Moon Sect's operations to hunt high-ranking Vicious Beasts.

Although the lower world is comfortable, it's not conducive to my cultivation progress. I mustn't get too caught up in it,

he thought to himself.

As he walked, Fei Zheng noticed that the closer he got to the beast-hunting sailboat, the quieter Musical Instrument Street became. However, he paid it no mind.

With the Formless Sailboat docked in the mansion, the nobles living nearby often stopped their families from going out as much as possible.

They did this for two reasons. First, to avoid accidentally offending them, and second, to prevent the Blood Moon Sect members from taking a fancy to the noble family's beautiful women and demanding them.

If that happened, even the City Lord, Shangguan Dong, would not stop them and instead did everything to satisfy their demands. As a result, the nobles would not be able to do anything.

Due to similar past incidents, the nobles living in the eastern district were now extremely careful to keep any beautiful female family members as far away from them as possible.

Fei Zheng was well aware of this.

Seeing the towering beast-hunting sailboat come into view, he could not help but sigh.

"The lower world is so wonderful. I hope the catastrophe in the Ouyang Clan's fragmented lands doesn't spread further. I don't want to leave Divine Fortune City. Even after breaking through to the Innate Realm, I want to come back and have some fun."

Hearing this, the two seductive women accompanying him looked at him in confusion.

"Hehe, you two beauties don't need to know what I'm talking about." Fei Zheng mockingly pinched their cheeks.

He then thought regretfully,

Unlike those sisters, these ordinary women don't understand cultivation. If I didn't need to please Jiu Yuan, I would've kept them for myself...

In the middle of inwardly grumbling, Fei Zheng abruptly stopped to glance at a corner of Musical Instrument Street in surprise.

A young man stood at the street corner, calmly staring at him.

This boy, I feel like I've seen him somewhere...

Fei Zheng could not recall the boy in his drunken stupor. Not to mention, he had also only seen Pang Jian briefly behind Meng Qiulan.

Even if he did remember, it would not matter much to him.

This was Divine Fortune City, under the control of the Shangguan Clan, and he was a member of the Blood Moon Sect from the Third World.

In the lower world, the cultivators of the seven major clans and the Shadow Specter Sect did not dare provoke someone like him.

Therefore, he continued forward with the two women.

The two heavily made-up women walking with Fei Zheng peered curiously at the boy standing on the street corner.

In the buildings on either side of the street, Meng Qiulan, Zhao Ling, and Wu Yi squinted their eyes, peering out from a half-open window at Fei Zheng on the street below.

Fan Liang stood beside them.

Although he wanted to take a closer look, there was not enough space by the window, so he resigned himself to anxiously rubbing his hands together to ease his nerves.

The four of them were silent.

Meng Qiulan, Zhao Ling, and Wu Yi had all taken pills to suppress their blood essence in advance so that the Blood Moon Sect's Eye of Imprint would not detect them.

On the building on the other side of the street, a white jade porcelain bottle sat by a slightly open window.

The stopper had been removed and faint traces of blood-colored mist quietly seeped out.

Luo Hongyan, still sitting atop the Crystal Snow Lotus, peered through the transparent white porcelain at the street below.

Her beautiful lips curled into a charming smile. "Late stage of the Marrow Cleansing Realm."

She knew Pang Jian's true combat strength well.

With bones tempered by the essence of the Celestial Phoenix, Pang Jian undoubtedly had the most solid foundation in the Marrow Cleansing Realm. The divine strength his muscles and bones could unleash was incomparable to the Marrow Cleansing Realm cultivators of the lower world.

His Startling Slaughter Spear was also at least a high-grade spirit weapon.

Moreover, the Earth Blaze Technique also seemed to have a unique power when in his hands, to the point of killing the Demon Sect's Yuan Lengshan and forcing the Sword Pavilion's Qi Qingsong to sever his arm.

Pang Jian was superior to any Marrow Cleansing Realm cultivator, whether in terms of cultivation realm, spirit artifacts, or techniques!

In Eight Trigrams City, he had once competed with strong individuals from the Demon Sect, the Sword Pavilion, and the Black Valley Sect. That event had given him immense confidence.

This was why Luo Hongyan readily agreed when Pang Jian asked her to hold the line.

Her role was to deal with anything unexpected that could emerge from the beast-hunting sailboat.

"He's becoming more mature and composed, and much less reckless than before," She smiled proudly. "I hope there's enough beast blood and meat on the beast-hunting sailboat to satisfy our future cultivation needs.

"I've wronged him lately, taking all the beast's blood for my own use."

***

"Huh!" Fei Zheng frowned, eyes filled with surprise.

As he passed the boy at the street corner, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the previously empty-handed boy now holding a shining silver spear.

Fei Zheng snorted coldly, preparing to speak, but the boy with the spear charged at him, swift as a hunting leopard.

A barrage of spear thrusts erupted like blazing meteors and thunderous booms broke the silence of the night!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Blazing, radiant fireballs erupted one after another, engulfing the area where Fei Zheng stood, lighting up the sky above him in a dazzling display!

Fei Zheng instantly channeled his strength, causing a surge of immense vitality in his blood.

"Ugh!" He grunted, eyes filled with horror. "The wine was poisoned!"

When he mobilized the immense vitality in his blood, the dormant poison activated, causing his body to turn sluggish and his strength to falter.

With the fiery meteors about to explode above his head, Fei Zheng did not hesitate. He grabbed the two women accompanying him and lifted them above his head to shield himself.

Boom! Boom!

The two women were reduced to bloody pulps.

Meanwhile, Fei Zheng finally managed to gather some of his blood essence.

Like a blood-red phantom, he escaped from the area targeted by the Explosive Dance technique.

There's someone in the lower world who actually dares to ambush me?!

Fei Zheng's face was full of disbelief.

Boom!

Rumble!

More fiery meteors exploded where Fei Zheng landed.

Fei Zheng was caught in the fiery explosion and could not dodge it in time. With no other women to shield him this time, the flames of the Earth Blaze Technique hit their mark, causing his skin to char and crack.

Pang Jian stood behind the barrage of fiery meteors with a cold expression, unaffected by Fei Zheng's fury.

His spiritual power surged like lightning toward the spear in his hand through his palm and was amplified by each array it passed through!

"You're going to die here," Pang Jian calmly declared, drawing close enough to send a chill down Fei Zheng's spine.

Now fully sober, Fei Zheng only needed one look at Pang Jian's cold, steady eyes to realize the bloodthirsty young man had undoubtedly experienced life-and-death battles.

Only such a person would not fear his status or his cultivation level.

"Damn it, where is everyone?" he roared in the direction of the beast-hunting sailboat.

As he did, a cloud of bloody mist silently spread around Fei Zheng, floating toward the fiery meteors.

Fei Zheng moved like a blood-red phantom in the narrow space as he nimbly dodged the silver spear thrusts.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The windows of the second and third floors of the beast-hunting sailboat were thrown open and the Blood Moon Sect members soon spotted Fei Zheng.

They rushed out one after another!

Fei Zheng's angry shout had also startled Bai Zhi on the second floor.

She had been aimlessly pacing by the window, and at Fei Zheng's shout, instinctively looked out. Her eyes landed on Fei Zheng, then on Pang Jian with the spear.

"Sister, it's Hong Jian!" Bai Zhi shouted in surprise. She banged on the window, crying frantically, "It's Hong Jian! Sister, Hong Jian has come to save us!"

Bai Wei had been eating a pastry when this unfolded. She choked on her food in her rush to the window and peered out at Musical Instrument Street with Bai Zhi.

"It's Hong Jian! It's actually him!" Bai Wei's eyes welled up with tears. Feeling both moved and worried, she said, "Damn it, why did he come? How could he be so reckless?"

Only Pang Jian was there on the long street, chasing Fei Zheng with a gleaming silver spear. No other Shadow Specter Sect members were in sight.

"This kid!" Zhao Ling snapped a wooden board at the window, her bright eyes flashing with a terrifying light as she stared at Pang Jian below. "He actually, he actually—"

"Don't be hasty!" Wu Yi warned.

Fan Liang rushed over. "Hall Masters, what's happening down there?"

"Fan Liang, get ready!" Meng Qiulan turned to him, no longer watching the battle on the street. Her eyes burned with a terrifying blaze. "At my command, prepare the cannons. We're going to attack the Blood Moon Sect!"

Her voice trembled.

"Ah!" Fan Liang shouted in surprise, "Hall Master, does that mean Fei Zheng is dead?"

They agreed to attack the sailboat once their toughest opponent, Fei Zheng, had been killed.

If Fei Zheng did not die, they would quietly retreat.

"Pang Jian has a chance to kill Fei Zheng!" Zhao Ling shouted excitedly. "If there's an opportunity or any chance of success, we should go all out!"

"Fan Liang, fire the cannon!" Meng Qiulan ordered loudly.

"Got it!"

Boom!

A cannon fire shot into the sky, glaring brightly against the night!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Many small cannons in the courtyards surrounding the beast-hunting sailboat fired streaks of poison powder at the sailboat.

Masked members of the Shadow Specter Sect in the Meridian Opening Realm then jumped out of windows before charging toward the beast-hunting sailboat.

"Zhao Ling! Go and help Hong Tai kill Fei Zheng! Wu Yi and I will intercept the incoming Marrow Cleansing Realm cultivators!" Meng Qiulan shouted.

"Got it!"