Chapter 1170: Enemy Attack

Wang Qingshan’s face showed a thoughtful expression. It seemed things had been unsettled recently, and they needed to be careful.

“Seventh Uncle, something significant might be happening here; we must be extra careful,” Wang Tianwen said with a solemn expression, transmitting his voice.

“Let’s go! Everyone, be careful,” Wang Qingshan urged, still feeling uneasy. They found an inn and settled in.

After settling their clansmen, Wang Qingshan, Wang Tianwen, and Wang Qiuming began to stroll through the streets.

Scholars were ubiquitous, from young to old, male and female. They would bow respectfully when greeting friends. Besides cultivators, Wang Qingshan noticed many mortals casually conversing with cultivators, a sight rarely seen elsewhere.

Although Wang Tianwen had explained this earlier, Wang Qingshan and Wang Qiuming still found it peculiar when they witnessed it firsthand.

The shops offered a wide variety of goods, including monster materials and metallic ores. However, bookstores were particularly numerous, selling poetry, calligraphy, and paintings.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they arrived at a five-story pavilion.

This was Songfeng Pavilion, a teahouse where many cultivators gathered to drink tea and chat.

The main hall was packed. Mortals and cultivators mingled, sipping tea and discussing state affairs.

The second and third floors were also full, but a few empty tables remained on the fourth floor.

Wang Qingshan and the two others found an empty table and sat down. They ordered a pot of spirit tea and three plates of pastries, then began to drink tea while listening to the casual conversations around them.

Their discussions revolved around either the politics of Yunhai State or poetry, calligraphy, and painting. Some even composed poems on the spot.

“Recently, the public order in Yunzhou has deteriorated. I heard another small merchant convoy was robbed.”

“Didn’t the Governor send people to apprehend them? I think it won’t be long before the evil cultivators are caught and brought to justice.”

“I doubt it. Every year, countless merchant convoys pass through Yunhai State. This is an irresistible temptation for evil cultivators. Catch one, and another will appear; they’re endless. It would be better to levy heavy taxes and have the government escort goods to designated locations.”

“Levy heavy taxes? We might as well escort our goods ourselves. Perhaps these ‘evil cultivators’ are actually supported by the government—a case of a thief crying ‘stop thief’!”

A dismissive female voice suddenly rang out. A beautiful young woman in a green dress emerged from a private room, followed by several Foundation Establishment cultivators. Their clothes were adorned with a red raven emblem.

“The Shen family of Fire Raven Island?” Wang Qingshan was slightly surprised. The Shen family, one of the Ten Great Immortal Cultivation Families of the South Sea, had the fire raven as their family crest. Could these cultivators be from the Shen family of Fire Raven Island?

“That’s a malicious slander! How could the imperial court do such a thing? If you don’t want to pay heavy taxes, you can certainly escort your goods yourselves. But don’t blame the court if something goes wrong,” retorted a scholarly young man in a blue robe.

“Exactly. If you don’t want to pay heavy taxes, you can take other routes. Otherwise, if your goods are robbed, don’t blame the imperial court. The court belongs to the people of Great Qin, not to you outsiders; it has no obligation to protect your safety.”

“Hmph, if you’re so formidable, then cultivators from your Great Qin Dynasty shouldn’t go to the South Sea Immortal Cultivation Realm,” the green-dressed girl retorted indignantly before quickly departing, her Shen family members hurrying to follow.

“These outsiders are just stubborn. I think the court should indeed levy heavy taxes on them.”

“If we levy heavy taxes on them, they can also levy heavy taxes on us.”

Wang Qingshan’s face showed a thoughtful expression as he listened to their conversation.

Scholars enjoyed discussing state affairs, but it was unclear if they could genuinely influence the policies of the Great Qin Dynasty.

“Seventh Uncle,” Wang Tianwen explained via voice transmission, “scholars often discuss state affairs, but their attitudes often reflect the stance of certain powers. These people are merely pawns. The situation in the Great Qin Dynasty is somewhat unique, mainly because the imperial family’s ascension was not entirely legitimate.”

Wang Qingshan nodded. He wasn’t concerned about the fate of the Great Qin Dynasty.

Less than half an hour later, Wang Qingshan and the two others left the teahouse and ambled along the street.

Wang Tianwen bought a batch of calligraphy and paintings, and Wang Qiuming acquired some artifact refining materials. Wang Qingshan, however, found nothing that caught his eye.

After strolling around the market, they returned to their lodging to meditate and recover.

Early the next morning, Wang Qingshan and his group left the market and flew northwest.

They were heading for Tongguan Market, which housed a direct large-scale teleportation array to the Great Yan Dynasty. The distance from Yunhai Market to Tongguan Market was over a million li, quite far.

Along the way, they saw many cultivators patrolling in groups, seemingly searching for someone.

Over half a month later, at dusk, a green flying boat approached from the distant horizon. Soon, it hovered above a vast, verdant mountain range stretching for tens of thousands of li, with ancient towering trees below. Wang Qingshan and his group stood on the flying boat.

“At our current speed, we’ll reach Tongguan Market in less than three days,” Wang Tianwen said with a smile. Once they arrived at Tongguan Market, they could directly teleport to the Great Yan Dynasty, where their status as members of the Myriad Immortals Division would grant them much convenience.

“What’s hiding stealthily down there? Get out!” Wang Qingshan’s expression turned cold. With a flick of his right hand downwards, a flash of green light appeared, and a sharp sword energy over ten zhang long shot out, cleaving towards a certain point in the void below.

A black light suddenly shot out from the dense forest, meeting the sharp sword energy.

Boom! The sword energy was shattered by the black light, which then shot straight towards them.

Wang Qiuming let out a soft snort. With a flip of his hand, a golden flash appeared, revealing a palm-sized golden disc. After countless runes emerged on its surface, the golden disc rapidly expanded and transformed into a streak of golden light, soaring forward to meet the incoming attack.

The black light collided with the golden light and instantly recoiled. The black light was, in fact, a gleaming black flying dagger, exuding an oppressive eerie aura.

A cacophony of wailing sounds arose, accompanied by gusts of chilling wind that whipped into a gale. The sky abruptly darkened, and countless black lights materialized out of nowhere, forming a gigantic, grotesque ghost face with bared fangs.

The ghost face opened its gaping maw and lunged at Wang Qingshan and the others. Simultaneously, several streaks of spiritual light shot towards Wang Qingshan’s group from different directions.

“Careful, enemy attack!” Wang Qingshan warned, his gaze turning cold.

Wang Tianwen conjured a shimmering silver jade brush. He waved it in the void, and profound silver runes shot out one after another. All the silver runes converged, forming a silvery-white light barrier that enveloped them.

Wang Qingshan raised his right hand, and a misty green flying sword appeared. With a gentle flick, the sword hummed loudly, and a thirty-zhang-long green sword light shot out, cleaving towards the gigantic ghost face.

With a miserable shriek, the gigantic ghost face was sliced in two by the green sword light, dissolving into specks of black light that vanished.

Wang Qiuming then conjured three more golden discs. With a flick of his incantation, the four gigantic golden discs began to circle them, flying erratically and spinning rapidly.