"This is impossible!" Jiao Lan's eyes widened as he roared with all his might, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Mei San, the star disciple of the Plum Blossom Valley Master, had lost. The Dao technique her opponent used was incredibly similar to the Burial Immortal Plum Technique. Was he also from Plum Blossom Valley?
"Impossible, Plum Blossom Valley has always only accepted female disciples. Who are you?!" a hoarse voice demanded from within the pile of stones.
Then, a woman with a graceful figure emerged, her white robes stained with blood, her face filled with shock. Mei San, the proud and pure woman from before, was nowhere to be seen. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, soaking her clothes. She had clearly expended a great deal of energy, yet she stood stubbornly, like a plum blossom refusing to yield but inevitably withering.
The crowd was stunned into silence. They had all witnessed the illusion. The Dao technique Zuo Mingqiu employed was strikingly similar to Mei San's Burial Immortal Plum Technique, differing only in the elements used.
"There is no such coincidental Dao technique in this world. Who are you?!" she questioned again, utterly shocked.
Zuo Mingqiu, of course, offered no answer. He adjusted his bamboo hat and looked at the proud woman before him, whose aura resembled Zhao Qingdong's but whose beauty surpassed hers. He spoke calmly, "Your people sought their own demise, so do not blame me."
"Since you took the first blow for her and then the second, I will not strike again. I hope you will not pester us further."
At this moment, Jiao Lan, carrying the fourth young lady Mei, ran to the side of the incredibly powerful Mei San, suppressing his inner tension and fear. "Immortal Mei San, oh no, Immortal Mei San, please rest assured. I have already alerted the guards of His Highness the Seventh Prince. They will be here to support us soon!"
"So her name is Li Zao," Xu Mu murmured from behind, his eyebrows slightly raised. He then reminded Zuo Mingqiu, "This woman is not simple. She might not be much weaker than Zhao Qingdong. You'd best be quick."
"Although the shopkeeper in Taocheng said that as long as we deliver the goods, Manager Qi Long will facilitate matters, we haven't even seen Qi Long's people yet. We don't know if he's near the teleportation array."
"If the Seventh Prince's men arrive now, we'll be in a lot of trouble."
"I know." Zuo Mingqiu, forcing down the urge to kill Jiao Lan, met Li Zao's gaze one last time before turning to follow Xu Mu. The two vanished down the mountain path in an instant.
Li Zao watched Zuo Mingqiu's disappearing back, her gaze slowly becoming distant. She hadn't seen the face beneath his hat, but those young yet ancient eyes, filled with an imposing aura, felt strangely familiar.
"Who exactly are you?" Li Zao couldn't help but take a step forward, wanting to chase after Zuo Mingqiu and get her answer. However, thinking of his distant gaze, she unexpectedly stopped herself.
Li Zao's white robe was tattered, exposing a large expanse of fair, jade-like skin on her back. Her slender, jade legs were also revealed, causing Jiao Lan to momentarily lose himself.
"Who were those two people?" Li Zao snorted coldly, took out a new piece of cloth, tied it around herself, and then asked Jiao Lan.
Jiao Lan swallowed hard and quickly replied, "To the Immortal, I do not know the origins of these two, but I can be certain they are not from Zhou."
Li Zao nodded. She looked at Mei Si, who was unconscious in Jiao Lan's arms, and her brow furrowed. "How did she provoke these two?"
Jiao Lan answered truthfully, "Those two brats were rude first and mentioned His Highness Zhou Yuan's name."
"Young Lady Mei Si overheard them and thus spoke a few words to them. The Seventh Prince's guards then surrounded them, demanding an explanation. I never expected these two to be so strong..." As Jiao Lan spoke, he was filled with regret. If he had known these two in black hats were so powerful, he would never have gotten involved. Now, Mei Si was unconscious, and he hadn't killed those two. In the future, he might face retaliation. If Mei Si were to get into trouble, he couldn't protect himself... Thinking this, Jiao Lan couldn't help but stamp his foot, tears welling up.
"They mentioned the Third Prince?" Li Zao was slightly taken aback. Although she had only met Zhou Yuan twice, she had thoroughly investigated him in private, including his cultivation techniques, favored weapons, treasures, living habits, likes, and dislikes. Plum Blossom Valley Master Mei Xiao had instructed her to memorize them all. This was because she might be sent to Zhou Yuan as a chess piece for Plum Blossom Valley to curry favor with the royal family. However, Zhou Yuan had not yet given his response. Whether she would be sent away was still uncertain.
These thoughts filled Li Zao with immense humiliation. She instinctively clenched her fists, her sharp nails digging into her flesh, drawing blood.
"Make way, make way, you old fogies!!!" A roar echoed from the depths of the Sword Pavilion. The four-realm elder by the Seventh Prince's side, Commander An, was charging forward in a frenzy. He then landed on the ground with a thud.
"Boom!" The elder's aura was terrifying, shattering the stone slabs of the mountain path and causing the qi circulation of many surrounding cultivators to falter.
"Where are those two brats?!" The elder scanned the surroundings and then, without hesitation, asked Li Zao, his eyes bloodshot. Hearing his tone, Li Zao was naturally unwilling to answer. However, the elder's eyes were like those of a lion or tiger, filled with a rage as if he had seen his sworn enemy, inspiring fear. Reluctantly, she replied, "They're gone."
"Gone?" Commander An's eyes widened, and he pointed at Li Zao. "Those two brats killed five of my Prince's guards, and you just let them go!"
"Li Zao, don't think that just because you're marrying into the Third Prince's household, you can do as you please. Let me tell you, even if you marry Zhou Yuan, you'll only be a concubine! His Highness the Seventh Prince is a thousand times more noble than you are!" The elder, Commander An, a personal guard of the Seventh Prince, said furiously to Li Zao.
The elder's eyes were bloodshot, and his body trembled with anger. The treasure sword at his waist repeatedly clashed against its scabbard, emitting crisp, muffled sounds. He wouldn't be this enraged by the deaths of five ordinary guards, not even if they were all at the third stage. The Great Zhou Dynasty lacked for nothing when it came to cultivators; if some were lost, more could be recruited. What made him so furious, even causing him to lose his composure, was that the five killed by Xu Mu were all promising talents he had personally nurtured in the imperial city. They practiced supreme cultivation techniques and were fed the finest medicinal elixirs, like his own disciples. And the reason he treated those five with such care was because the Seventh Prince valued them and wanted to groom them into trusted personal guards, entrusting their training to him at great expense. But now, they were all dead. Killed by the two hooded youths he had met once in Taocheng, who had stolen their inn rooms. Years of hard work had gone to waste. How could he not be furious?
Li Zao, the third-ranked female disciple of Plum Blossom Valley, gazed silently at the elder. The plum blossom petal on her brow flickered faintly. The illusory collapsed snow mountain behind her began to reform. A profound and terrifying aura permeated the space, and everyone felt an bone-chilling cold. Li Zao was angered. She didn't know why Commander An, a guardian from the Great Zhou army, was so furious, but for whatever reason, she could not tolerate such humiliation. Therefore, she intended to fight the elder. Even if she couldn't win, she would fight. Because her martial aunt had arrived. Amidst the dense crowd, a white-robed woman appeared, her face indistinct. Her aura was restrained, and her cultivation level undetectable. A tender plum blossom was pinned to her hair ornament. Seeing the woman, Li Zao's heart settled. The illusory image behind her coalesced. She looked at the enraged Commander An and gently shook the plum tree on the snow mountain's peak, saying calmly, "Li Zao could not keep those two because of her own weakness. I ask Commander An to please point out the shortcomings in my techniques." As the maiden spoke, the snow mountain behind her unleashed an avalanche, and billions of snow-plum blossoms surged down, crushing towards Commander An.