From any normal personâs perspective, choosing to wage a decisive battle is not feasible. It benefits no one and risks offending all the elite forces in Xuanwu State.
However, Xiahou Jinlun is not a normal person.
Yu He knew too well that this man was a madman, always acting unexpectedly. Caution was necessary.
"You guys just wait, Iâll go rest now. Kuangyun Cityâs array system isnât so easily broken, I reckon they wouldnât dare act rashly."
Laughing coldly, Ye Lanzhi floated away leisurely, seemingly at ease, causing Ai Wenqian to frown.
Yu He and Mo Changqing remained on the city wall, on the alert for any movement from the enemy.
Night fell.
There was a sudden rumble in the distance.
"No good, the City Protection Array at the North Gate has been breached!"
Yu He was the first to open his eyes, and upon seeing the disturbance at the rear, his pupils contracted sharply.
Whoosh.
He and Mo Changqing rushed out immediately.
The people on the city wall were shocked to hear that the array had been broken, and they all followed their leaders, flying off. Some were worried, some were shouting, and some had eyes flickering in uncertainty.
Many people had already died on the cityâs main street, all high-level martial artists from Kuangyun Cityâs patrol team.
"Iâve put up with you for too long, tonight Iâm going to have a killing spree."
A man with a mess of hair, missing his left ear, laughed wildly. Each swing of his Azure Dragon halberd cut down dozens of masters in the Spiritual-Passage Realm, blood splattering everywhere.
Yan Wuwei, one of the five leaders from Kuanghai City, from the super elite force, Tianyan Sect.
On the other side, a woman exuded lingering fragrance, danced lightly. The moment Kuangyun Cityâs martial artists came within sixty feet of her, before they could even form a formation, they fell unconscious.
Zhang Jingyi, one of the five leaders from Kuanghai City, from the super elite force, Spring Night Hell.
"Is there nobody left in Kuangyun City?"
The third person was a man with a knife, his hair loose. He raised his sword and slashed, separating the long street in two and killing hundreds of martial artists.
His name is Yuan Qiusheng, also one of the five leaders.
In the middle, Xiahou Jinlun, dressed in black with gold trim, had an amused expression on his face, as if he was enjoying this play.
Only when he saw some people starting to form an Array, did he occasionally flick his fingers, causing blood clouds to burst in the air.
The army of Kuanghai City was too far from Kuangyun City, so the covert actions of the four leaders were unknown to all.
By the time Yu He and Mo Changqing arrived, there were numerous bodies piled up on the ground, and the smell of blood saturated the air over the long street.
"Xiahou Jinlun, youâve gone too far!"
Yu Heâs voice was surprisingly low.
"Really? Itâs just a few people dying. The cheapest thing in the Martial World is a life. If Brother Yu pities them, why not exchange your life for theirs."
Xiahou Jinlun laughed.
"How did you break the City Protection Array at the North Gate?"
"Guess."
Mo Changqing couldnât bear it anymore, she snapped, "Why waste words with them, kill them straight away."
A golden blade light cut through the air, aiming for Xiahou Jinlunâs forehead. But the golden blade light was shattered half-way by another, even more massive blade light.
"Woman, your opponent is me."
Yuan Qiusheng, who was still killing, saw his prey and rushed to Mo Changqing, swinging his long knife eighteen times, each as fast as lightning.
Clang clang clang.
The two blade masters clashed.
At this moment, two hexagonal darts with blue glow suddenly shot out from the darkness, spinning towards Yan Wuweiâs throat.
"Ye Lanzhi, sneaking around, I knew it was you."
With a sweep of the Azure Dragon halberd, Yan Wuwei stepped forward three times, instantly covering three hundred meters, and brought his halberd down with force.
Clang...
Ripples appeared in the void and a figure retreated dozens of meters. It was none other than the complicit Ye Lanzhi.
"Your hidden weapons canât harm me, Azure Dragon Emerging from the Sea!"
His muscular arms tightened, Yan Wuwei roared, the halberd moving from bottom to top, creating a wild, green dragon shadow. The force was so strong that the severed limbs on the ground exploded.
"Really?"
Ye Lanzhiâs body turned pitch black as if sunlight could go through him. The green dragon shadow hadnât even touched him when it disintegrated. He appeared behind Yan Wuwei and threw out three willow leaf blades.
Yan Wuwei seemed to have eyes on the back of his head, he swung his halberd horizontally and turned to rush toward Ye Lanzhi.
"Yu He, itâs been five years since we fought. I hope you wonât disappoint me."
A vigorous and masculine force rose from Xiahou Jinlun, making him seem like a bright sun, too blinding to look directly at.
Under this influence, Ye Lanzhi, who was in a heated battle, showed a drastic change in expression. The hindrance slowed down his Yin intent and nearly got him slashed by Yan Wuwei.
The Yang essence.
Perhaps coincidently, Xiahou Jinlunâs comprehension was the Yang essence, opposite to Ye Lanzhiâs, and he was clearly more proficient with it than Ye Lanzhi.
At the crucial moment, a layer of cloud unfurled in time, covering up all the masculinity and brilliance, and also hiding Xiahou Jinlun.
In the cloud, Yu He seemed to be the master, wherever his body moved, the clouds would roll, obey his command, and compress towards Xiahou Jinlun from all directions.
"Passing clouds and smoke!"
With a slap from Yu Heâs palm, the white clouds had just entered Xiahou Jinlunâs eyes in the previous moment, but in the next moment, they were already before him. The clouds seemed soft, but they were formed by countless palm forces, possessing terrible destructive power.
"A petty trick, hardly worth mentioning."
With his palms full of masculinity obliterating the cloud forces, Xiahou Jinlun spoke derisively, and then his body shuddered as countless threads of golden light charged out, incessantly piercing through the clouds.
The clouds would dissipate and then reform, continuously. At some point, a channel of cloud caught the rhythm of the golden light, snaked in through the gaps, and suddenly pierced Xiahou Jinlunâs body.
A the same time, Xiahou Jinlun followed the direction of the cloud and reached out with one hand. From the disintegrating cloud came a groan.
"He really is a madman."
Yu He appeared, with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
He clearly could have avoided that attack just now, but he chose mutual damage instead.
A faint fragrance suddenly entered his nose.
"Weâve been waiting for you."
Yu He spun around to grab, and with a bang, the two figures parted almost instantly after merging.
The woman opposite him was indeed Zhang Jingyi from the Spring Night Hell. She laughed and said, "Senior Brother Yu is severely injured at this moment, wonder if you can withstand the joint efforts of Xiahou and me?"
"You can try."
"What if I join in too?"
One person walked into the cloud. Her tall figure, clear contour, and nearly milky white skin all radiated an exotic beauty.
It turned out to be the Ai WenXiangâs lover, Bai Xixi.
"Is it her?"
From afar, the entire Ai Family widened their eyes. Ai Wenhong clenched the handles of his wheelchair and shouted, "It was you, wasnât it? It was you who poisoned Brother!"
Bai Xixi nodded, "Thatâs right. For this plan, I have been lurking around Ai WenXiang for three years, using all kinds of means to seduce him. Fortunately, hard work pays off."
Yu He squinted his eyes, "Since youâre a traitor, does this mean that you were the one who opened the cityâs defense array at the north gate?"
The City Protection Array, each of the four leaders controlled one direction, and Ai WenXiang was in control of the north gate.
"Exactly."
Bai Xixi smiled proudly, "I gave myself to him for three years, allowing him to taste all the sweetness. I finally managed to pry open his mouth recently and learn about all the confidential matters of Kuangyun City."
With every word she spoke, the faces of the experts in the distance grew darker. Especially the Ai Family disciples, they were filled with murderous intent, wishing they could slay this woman with their own hands.
But they couldnât.
Because Bai Xixi was also a master, and the aura she deliberately exposed was no weaker than the other leaders!
Xiahou Jinlun took a deep breath and began to laugh heartily.
Ever since he became the head of Kuanghai City, he had been planning for this day. He wanted to accomplish a brilliant feat that no disciple of the numerous sects in Xuanwu State had ever achieved - a direct assault on the citadel!
The reason why he brought the army of Kuanghai City was not to wage a decisive battle, but to let everyone in Kuangyun City and Kuanghai City see his supreme tactics!
Today, he would use the corpses of Yu He, Mo Changqing, and Ye Lanzhi to achieve his incomparable grand plan.
As for reprisals afterwards and conflicts between the two cities, as long as it was within control, no one could interfere and no retaliations were allowed.
He wasnât slaughtering a city, just killing the three leaders and a handful of disciples. Was he supposed to fear a rebellion from the three top-tier forces?
Before they noticed, Xiahou Jinlun, Zhang Jingyi, Bai Xixi, Yan Wuwei, and Yuan Qiusheng had surrounded the three leaders of Kuangyun City.
Five against three, they had the clear advantage.
"Weâll fight them to the end."
"These five people dare to run amok on our territory, theyâre dreaming."
As Kuangyun City was too big, the large wave of disciples only arrived from afar now. Most of them had a Xuan Qi realm cultivation, but the sheer number of them would completely force Xiahou Jinlun and his group to flee from the north gate.
But Yu He didnât give the order. His face, as still as water, bizarrely revealed a faint smile, "Youâre a bit late."
"Not late, I think itâs just right."
A familiar voice echoed through the crowd.
Bai Xixi trembled and lost color. She watched with disbelief as the sturdy young man who flew up to her. She exclaimed, "You, werenât you poisoned?"
Ai WenXiang shook his head, "Xixi, youâre too confident. From the moment I met you, I never trusted you. The so-called poisoning was just a farce that Yu He and I put on for you. If I werenât poisoned, how would Xiahou Jinlun dare to come?"
Bai Xixiâs face paled.
She suddenly remembered that after Ai WenXiang had fallen, someone immediately rushed up to hold him. She was too confident at the time and had not personally checked Ai WenXiangâs physical condition.
It was all a trap!
Yan Wuwei waved the Azure Dragon Halberd and roared, "What a despicable guy! But even if you arenât poisoned, how can four against five work in your favor?"
"He he he..."
Ye Lanzhi laughed eerily and said, "Have you forgotten? When the four of us come together, we can control the City Protection Array."
As soon as his voice fell, an enormous, unimaginably overpowering force suddenly erupted above Kuangyun City, and then enveloped the nine people in the field.