Afternoon.
The breeze was gentle and pleasant. Qingqiu, adorned in a luxurious green gown, stood at the bow of the spiritual boat, gazing at the distant mountains. This trip to the Medicine King Valley had not been in vain; the gains were considerable. Sun Tingxuan had agreed to sell half of the first batch of Zhenyuan Pills to the Lu family of Yunzhou. The remaining half had been pre-ordered by the major sects on the mountains. However, starting from the second batch, they would cooperate with Jubao Fang, as the conditions offered by Jubao Fang were too excellent. Qingqiu promised to sell at a premium of at least twenty percent, a premium that would be split equally with the Medicine King Valley.
If this deal went through, Jubao Fang would have a monopoly on Zhenyuan Pills, and then they would truly profit immensely.
...
Suddenly, a violent tremor reverberated from beneath the spiritual boat.
"What is it?"
Qingqiu clutched the bow of the boat, barely managing to steady herself. The protective formations of the spiritual boat glowed intensely, followed by a deafening boom from the hull. Simultaneously, an extremely powerful fist intent erupted. It was at least a Heavenly Origin realm martial artist. With the second punch, the boat's protective formations were shattered. Then came the continuous sound of crossbow bolts being fired, and more explosions resounded from the bottom of the boat.
"This is bad!"
A Nascent Soul realm attendant from Jubao Fang exclaimed in anger, "The spiritual boat is under attack! Madam, please leave the spiritual boat immediately and fly back to Snow Domain Heavenly Pond!"
"Is it the demon race!?"
Qingqiu gritted her teeth, spun around, and controlled a lotus-shaped magical artifact. Protected by several attendants, she left the spiritual boat and headed north. Looking back at the spiritual boat, she saw that its bottom was almost in tatters, revealing parts of the inscription patterns of the Mohist school's formations and mechanisms. Red crossbow bolts were embedded in the hull, each a refined magical artifact that continuously exploded, completely destroying the vessel.
Clearly, it wasn't the demon race. The demon race would never use Mohist artifacts to attack human spiritual boats, nor would they use crossbow bolts, which were prevalent in the human martial world.
"Still trying to escape?!"
A roar came from the jungle below, followed by a burst of powerful fist intent. A martial artist in black, his face covered, a Heavenly Origin realm cultivator, punched upwards. The immense fist force surged. Qingqiu, a Star River realm spirit cultivator, could not resist. The lotus artifact she controlled instantly exploded under the pressure of the formidable fist intent. The Heavenly Origin realm martial artist leaped up and sent a punch towards Qingqiu's chest, his killing intent chilling.
"Madam, hurry!"
A Nascent Soul realm attendant, though already spitting blood under the pressure of the fist force, still produced his lifebound artifact: a verdant green carving knife. This attendant was a very young scholar, from a poor family, with only this carving knife accompanying him through decades of simple life. This knife was his lifebound artifact. Its edge flashed with a cold glint, pointing directly at the Heavenly Origin realm martial artist!
"Madam!"
The young Nascent Soul cultivator roared, "Please inform the Chief Steward that I repay his years of acquaintance with my life!!"
"Seeking death!"
The masked black-clothed martial artist roared, his fist intent surging. His martial soul pulsated ceaselessly, and his fist intent surged like an unending tide, continuously shattering the aura realm condensed by the young Nascent Soul cultivator. Eventually, the carving knife also shattered. Then, with the power of a single punch, the young Nascent Soul cultivator's chest was met with the sound of cracking bones. With another punch, he dissolved into a spray of blood in the wind.
Qingqiu's heart was like a knife twist. She sped north, controlling the wind. With a wave of her hand, she took out a "Shrink the Ground into an Inch" Taoist talisman from her sleeve. The moment it ignited, her figure tore through space and leaped ten miles to the north. But just as her body emerged from a patch of clouds, a thunderous roar came from above. A masked martial artist, a Sea Stepping realm cultivator, had been hidden in the clouds and punched down from the sky!
Qingqiu hastily tilted her head back, waved her hands, and conjured a water manipulation spell in front of her to resist. But it was no match. She was, after all, a merchant and not skilled in combat. Even though she had cultivated to the Star River realm, it was only for maintaining her appearance and extending her lifespan. Her true combat strength was not much stronger than some Nascent Soul cultivators. The spell she cast was shattered by the opponent's punch in an instant.
"Still trying to resist?!"
The voice of the opponent was that of a young man.
The next moment, a strong fist intent swept over. Qingqiu let out a muffled groan, spat blood, and retreated. Her body plummeted diagonally into a forest. Then, another thunderous roar echoed from the sky. The previous Heavenly Origin realm martial artist had also arrived and ferociously punched down towards Qingqiu in the forest.
"Swish!"
Qingqiu summoned a magical treasure, a lifebound artifact Ruyi scepter. Within the Ruyi, there was the intent of a blue dragon. If it were not absolutely necessary, she would never have brought out such a supreme treasure. However, after a loud crash, the jade Ruyi indeed blocked the fierce punch, but the Heavenly Origin realm martial artist was too quick to recover his breath. The moment the Ruyi's spiritual energy was suppressed, his foot landed on Qingqiu's abdomen.
Amidst the resounding impact, Qingqiu was sent flying several miles again, her body falling backward in a straight line, landing in a lake. As Qingqiu's spiritual energy dissipated, she left a long trough in the water. Before she could even look up, she spat a mouthful of fresh blood into the lake. Several punches had already left her seriously wounded.
In the wind, two masked martial artists descended through the air. Without a word, the Heavenly Origin realm martial artist's fierce palm strike descended from above, causing the lake water beneath Qingqiu to rapidly sink. Before this blow could land, Qingqiu found herself unable to move, locked by the opponent's fist intent, with no chance to escape.
"I never imagined..."
Qingqiu closed her eyes, never expecting to meet such an end. So many things remained undone, and she was to die so inexplicably?!
...
Tens of miles away.
On the northern bank of Deer Lake stood a Dragon King Temple, enshrining a statue of an old sword immortal, Han Buyu. At the very moment the fierce battle occurred in the south, the statue vibrated, and a golden Dharma form instantly emerged from it, transforming into a figure in a long robe, holding a sword, resembling the eleventh-realm Cloud Master Han Buyu. He frowned, let out a sigh. He, a deity, should not have interfered in the affairs of the human mountains. After all, deities did not meddle in mortal affairs. However, it so happened that the Madam Qingqiu of Jubao Fang was quite familiar with the Third Shopkeeper and was one of the esteemed guests of Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, holding the same status as Miss Xu Qingyi, the shopkeeper of the Thousand Machines Pavilion of the Mohist school. If Qingqiu were to die south of Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, the old shopkeeper of Jubao Fang would undoubtedly be furious and might even blame Snow Domain Heavenly Pond for its inaction. If Jubao Fang were to relocate, the Third Shopkeeper would lose a significant amount of tax revenue. If the Third Shopkeeper couldn't make money, where would Han Buyu go to drink free wine in the future?
Thinking of this, Han Buyu became furious!
I am an eleventh-realm Cloud Master officially appointed by heaven and earth. What do I have to fear from the rules of the human mountains? No matter how great the human emperor is, is he greater than heaven and earth? I won't bother with it anymore. This matter must be handled!
"Swish!"
The old sword immortal took a step and was already tens of miles away. His long sword suddenly thrust out, and a sharp sword qi whistled through the wind above Deer Lake. The palm strike that the Heavenly Origin realm martial artist was descending with landed squarely on the sword tip. In an instant, the Heavenly Origin realm martial artist was sent flying backward, while Han Buyu's figure only swayed slightly where he stood.
For a moment, Han Buyu was somewhat surprised. He thought the Heavenly Origin realm martial artist was very strong, but it turned out he was as flimsy as paper. He couldn't even defeat an eleventh-realm like himself?!
In fact, Han Buyu had no idea that Lin Zhao, with his "Thousand Riders Rolling Snow" and the line "It should be the drunken revelry of an immortal, scattering the white clouds," had opened Han Buyu's heart, inviting the celestial decree and causing Han Buyu to break through to become an eleventh-realm Cloud Master. In reality, his celestial decree was not just from heaven and earth but also carried the karma of Confucianism and military strategy. Not to mention Hu Qi, the Heavenly Origin realm cultivator before him, even an ordinary eleventh-realm sword immortal on the mountains would have to flee from Han Buyu. His eleventh-realm deity status was far stronger than ordinary deities, he just didn't know it himself.
"Scoundrel!"
Hu Qi roared and was about to throw a punch when he saw the eleventh-realm Cloud Master raise his sword towards the sky. Instantly, the tide of the entire Deer Lake boiled up. Water manipulation sword qi shot out from the lake with "poof, poof, poof" sounds, continuously striking towards Hu Qi and Lu Shaoyan in the air. As a result, these two martial artists kept punching to shatter the sword qi, but they still sustained numerous wounds, completely unable to match Han Buyu even when fighting two against one.
On this day, Han Buyu felt extraordinarily triumphant!
He was not only a Cloud Master but also the main deity enshrined in the Dragon King Temple by Deer Lake. He was not only a deity of wind and rain but also half the lord of Deer Lake! Although he was in Deer Lake, he could not reach the twelfth realm, but Han Buyu's combat power was already extremely close to the twelfth realm. A flash of sword light swept past, and countless sword qi surged from the lake, enveloping Hu Qi and Lu Shaoyan.
He began to hesitate whether to kill these two.
...
It was precisely in Han Buyu's moment of hesitation that Hu Qi suddenly grabbed Lu Shaoyan's shoulder. A verdant green ruler appeared in his hand. The ruler was crystal clear, with scales etched on its surface, exuding an extremely transcendent aura of a magical treasure.
Shrinking Ground Ruler, a Heavenly-grade magical treasure.
The next second, Hu Qi and Lu Shaoyan's bodies were enveloped by the ruler's radiance, traveling a hundred miles to the south and charging directly into the deep mountains and dense forest.
This venture, the Lu family business's operation, was a failure, but not entirely. The failure was in not being able to kill Qingqiu, and being thwarted by Han Buyu, the meddlesome wind and rain deity. The aspect that was not a failure was that on the wreckage of the Jubao Fang spiritual boat, there remained crossbow bolts engraved with the words "Medicine King Valley."
Although this was done intentionally, Lu Shaoyan and Shen Wu actually didn't care. As long as it sowed discord between Jubao Fang and Medicine King Valley, there was no need for the two to turn into sworn enemies.
...
Deer Lake.
"Old Sword Immortal Han..."
Qingqiu clutched her injured chest, her beautiful eyes filled with grievance. "Who were they? Why did they want to kill me?"
"I don't know..."
Han Buyu sighed. "I shouldn't have interfered in this matter, but I did it for the sake of the Third Shopkeeper. Let's go, I'll escort you back to Jubao Fang. Don't encounter any more danger. Your Jubao Fang should dispatch a cultivator of the Upper Five Realms to guard the Northern Region. In such a perilous place, what use are a few Nascent Soul attendants?"