Chapter 44: The Fall of Peach Blossom Spring
Chen Xuan stepped into the Southern Wilderness, climbed a small hill, and gazed into the distance.
"Rumble..."
The pursuit battle between top-tier mighty figures was shaking the heavens and the earth. Splashes of immortal light, thousands of feet long, illuminated the entire sky.
Clearly not planning to let off Green Deer Mountain and Hanging Temple easily, Lu Zhuan rode atop a hundred-meter-long black Flood Dragon, pursuing them closely in order to vent Yan Yushu's pent-up fury.
An aged white tortoise and a tiger-eyed figure from the Southern Wilderness pursued them in a tailing fashion, even attempting to drive out the Red Crow City forces represented by Lu Zhuan from this region, so as to monopolize the benefits of the falling Peach Blossom Spring.
"The mysterious cat has not entered the battlefield directly."
Chen Xuan muttered to himself. Through the power of the Heart Studio, he noticed that the Mysterious Cat Lady was waiting nearby. Many low-level Qi practitioners with bad luck had perished in the aftermath of the battles, leaving not even their bones behind, yet she remained utterly indifferent.
"Splash!"
At that moment, the sky suddenly grew dim.
Layer upon layer of dark clouds emerged above the dome of the firmament, pitch-black, as if thoroughly soaked by the darkest ink in the world.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Chen Xuan looked up at the sky. The boundless, continuous layers of black clouds truly existed in the world, and everyone could see them clearly.
Not just him—at this moment, all the Qi practitioners gathered near the Southern Wilderness were looking up at the sky. Even the top-tier mighty figures fighting in the distance gradually quieted down in momentum.
"The Peach Blossom Spring is about to descend..."
Chen Xuan speculated in his heart. The clouds billowed and stacked upon one another, resembling massive black mountains piled up in the sky. Suddenly, rain began to fall.
"Drip-drop!"
A drop of ink-like rainwater landed.
Chen Xuan swiftly shifted his body to evade the droplet, sensing something unusual as a strange power spread through the rain.
"Patter, patter, patter!"
A torrential downpour poured down, engulfing everything within his field of vision. The grass, the green mountains, and the earth were all polluted by the ink.
Hiding beneath a dense tree, Chen Xuan stared at the puddles in the depressions of the ground.
"I see the Peach Blossom Spring..."
Within the puddle, it was as though someone was holding a writing brush, sketching an ancient and tranquil picture.
A stream murmured, a fisherman was poling his boat, and in the distance, peach trees formed a forest with falling blossoms fluttering about, from which wisps of cooking smoke rose.
Farther away, footpaths crisscrossed between fields, mulberry and bamboo formed groves, and black and yellow puppies chased brightly feathered chickens amongst the fields. The houses were neatly arranged, exuding an atmosphere of supreme peace.
"The Peach Blossom Spring! Little demon, I am entering the Peach Blossom Spring!"
Nearby, a bipedal, entirely crimson fox-demon wore an expression of wild ecstasy and plunged headfirst into a small puddle, disappearing from sight.
"Wait for us!"
In the Southern Wilderness, ghosts and spirits that usually kept out of sight now poured out like a swarm of bees, joyfully leaping into the puddles.
Chen Xuan raised his head and looked toward the plains outside the Southern Wilderness. The ink-like color stained the earth, and throngs of human Qi practitioners were leaping into the small puddles accumulating on the ground.
"Then let us meet the destined ones within the Peach Blossom Spring!"
Chen Xuan lifted his foot and stepped into the nearest puddle. The tranquil village painting cracked apart beneath his foot, and his figure sank downward.
......
......
On the plains.
Wang Zhenyang, a grand master of the Dao Storehouse realm, was leading a batch of low-level Qi practitioners attached to his clan in a rapid retreat from the Southern Wilderness.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
The black, inky downpour fell in torrents, enveloping a region of several dozen miles.
Peaceful landscapes of the Peach Blossom Spring manifested across the earth, brimming with an ancient, scholarly charm.
"Stop!"
Wang Zhenyang and the others fled to the outermost fringe of the rain-shrouded area before daring to halt their steps. Then, he leaped down from his carriage.
"Splash!"
The black rainwater immediately recoiled like venomous snakes, wriggling away from beneath his feet to reveal the color of grass and soil.
Wang Zhenyang raised an arm, pointing at the round-faced young girl in the crowd and several young disciples of the clan: "Ling'er, lead everyone into the Peach Blossom Spring. I will hold the fort for you here."
Wang Ling's expression tightened. She pointed at herself and said blankly, "Me? Grandfather, if City Lord Lu Zhuan and the others are truly driven away, even if I obtain the True Scriptures of the Immortals and relics of ancient sages from the Peach Blossom Spring, you won't be able to protect them, right?"
She voiced her concerns, pointing out that Wang Zhenyang's strength was insufficient to contend with the ghosts and spirits of the Southern Wilderness, and by then, all their efforts would likely end up serving as wedding garments for others.
Wang Zhenyang glared, raised a hand, and gave Wang Ling's head a fierce smack, scolding:
"Stop daydreaming! You'll be doing well just to scavenge some slightly valuable junk; what do supreme treasures have to do with you? Don't even think about it. Get in there quickly, harbor no greed, and above all, prioritize preserving your life."
Showing no mercy, he pointed out that people must know their own limitations. Although Wang Ling was a moderately famous genius, she was not yet qualified to acquire those immortal scriptures and sage relics.
The great opportunities within the Peach Blossom Spring had nothing to do with them; picking up whatever scraps remained would be enough... The Southern Wilderness was not so overbearing as to seize absolutely everything.
"Ah, fine."
Rubbing her head, Wang Ling hurriedly led her clansmen, along with the factions attached to the Wang family and people like the Chu family, to enter the Peach Blossom Spring together.
......
......
Elsewhere.
Amongst the Xie family's crowd.
"Miss Yushu, where did you wander off to just now? We searched everywhere and couldn't find you; we thought you were caught up in the battle..."
A group of crestfallen young elites instantly became as spirited as if injected with chicken blood upon seeing Yan Yushu appear, their eyes filled with joy.
Some even shed tears of relief over Yan Yushu's safe escape.
"Ah, I..."
On Yan Yushu's delicate face, where a faint blush had appeared, she immediately switched to a look of apologetic frailty, casually fabricating a perfunctory excuse.
Ever since parting ways with Chen Xuan earlier, she had walked all the way, taking the opportunity to drag the corpses of several Qi practitioners who had just died and whose vital energy had not yet dissipated into the Six Desires Heaven, ordering her entities to consume them.
She had originally intended to let nature take its course, but now that she had successfully established a connection with Chen Xuan, Yan Yushu threw caution to the wind and decided to exploit the Six Desires Heaven to the bitter end...
She had already been seen completely, her reputation completely lost anyway. The Six Desires Heaven's reputation was already poor to begin with—using it once was a transgression, and using it ten thousand times was still a transgression!
"Splash!"
Before long, the people here finished their preparations and, crowding around Yan Yushu, entered the Peach Blossom Spring one after another to seek their own fortuitous encounters.
......
......
Further away.
Beneath the mountain peaks, a white-clad woman with a black horse and a sword spoke coldly to a handsome young man with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes standing before her:
"Enter the Peach Blossom Spring, take what belongs to you, and do not act arbitrarily on other matters."
In a dark alcove, a figure draped in a black robe produced a letter, handed it cautiously to the person before them, and whispered:
"Deliver this letter to the hidden destined one within the Peach Blossom Spring, and he will give you certain items then... If he refuses to give them, kill him and take them yourself."
By the riverbank, a young man with a saber and sword hung at his waist had a piece of dogtail grass dangling from his mouth, his chin covered in stubble, wearing a thoroughly frivolous smile as he muttered:
"Heh, there are many of my kind here..."
"..."
At this very moment.
Countless figures hidden in the shadows were taking action, and even more factions revealed the tip of the iceberg.
......
......
"Splash!"
Streams murmured as Chen Xuan suddenly opened his eyes underwater and swam toward the surface.
A fishing boat rocked in the stream. An old man with a white beard, wearing a straw raincoat and holding a fishing net, slowly turned his ravine-creased, gloomy face around, his gaze dark.
"Plop!"
Just as Chen Xuan poked his head out of the water, a large fishing net descended from the sky.