Great Zhou Martial Immortal

Chapter 111 Deadly Ambushes from All Sides, Encircling and Approaching!

Cen Changqian clenched and unclenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. He stared intently at the young man before him, then suddenly slumped back onto the stone bench as if deflated, letting out a long sigh: "I'm getting old..."

It's become a burden.

He didn't say those words aloud, but everyone present understood what he meant.

Ouyang Tong and Di Renjie sighed and shook their heads. Although they were unwilling to admit they were getting old, at this moment, they truly had nothing to say. Human energy is limited, and not everyone can "use a pen to bring peace to the world and a horse to conquer it."

All three were inclined towards civil service; even though they possessed martial skills, they primarily focused on self-cultivation and character building.

Although Cen Changqian had experience leading troops, he relied on strategic planning rather than on actual combat...

Today, facing assassination attempts by treacherous villains, I, alone with only a few guards, will ultimately find it difficult to protect myself.

If we were to ask for help from others, we would find kind and righteous people to assist us. But this time we are facing the King of Wei of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the powerful Wu family. Asking for help now would only drag them down with us!

This is why the three of them got together and prepared to face this challenge head-on.

Not everyone has a keen political sense, especially those chivalrous figures in the martial arts world...

Lu Chenyuan's presence here, despite knowing the danger, was a way of doing his utmost to help, which moved the three elderly people and made them feel both touched and guilty.

“Cen Gong’s words are different.”

Lu Chenyuan shook his head: "This has nothing to do with age or youth, but rather with 'specialization.' Matters of the martial world should naturally be resolved by those in the martial world. The Twenty-Fourth Division and I are both considered half-martial world members, and we should do our part... To be honest, if it weren't for the Songshan incident and the 'Azure Netherworld Hundred Ghosts Painting,' I wouldn't have come. I've already said that..."

Lu Chenyuan smiled slightly: "...I never do business at a loss."

Cen Changqian stared at Lu Chenyuan for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Good! What a great idea to not do a losing business!"

The laughter made the candlelight in the hall flicker, but it couldn't hide the slight redness in the corners of her eyes.

The two were actually talking about two different things. Cen Changqian's original intention was that elders could not provide shelter from the wind and rain, but instead dragged down the younger generation. Lu Chenyuan changed the subject and only talked about background and martial arts skills, and his good intentions were self-evident.

Ouyang Tong admired it more and more, and suddenly took out a yellowed silk scroll from his sleeve and slowly unfurled it: "This is my most prized work in my life, 'Yujing Molu', which I will give to you today, young friend."

He lightly traced a line on the silk scroll with his fingertip, and the ink characters shimmered with golden light: "This is the Ouyang family's method of transforming characters into magic. Every stroke can be transformed into a sword, and every word can be formed into an array. It's a pity that it has more to do with cultivating the mind than killing power. Perhaps it can be of greater use in the hands of a young friend. Please accept it."

Ouyang Tong and his father Ouyang Xun were known as the "Big and Little Ouyangs," both renowned calligraphers and painters.

People only know that the Ouyang family father and son were masters of calligraphy, but they are unaware that there is another secret technique that integrates magic into calligraphy.

This is the book "Yujing Molu".

Lu Chenyuan had long heard that the "Jade Capital Ink Record" was similar to the "Flying White Sword Classic" cultivated by Shangguan Wan'er. It was both a sword technique and a sword formation, with every word exquisite and every sentence containing a hidden knife!

Lu Chenyuan didn't stand on ceremony and accepted the silk scroll with both hands, feeling as if it were a thousand pounds heavy in his hands.

Those seemingly ordinary characters, upon closer inspection, actually contain a hidden sword aura.

The characters “Yujing” in particular are written with the strokes of a crane soaring through the sky, and a faint, clear sound seems to linger around them.

Di Renjie then took out a sealed letter with sealing wax: "The person in this letter is my former student and subordinate. If he encounters danger, he will do his best to help him upon seeing this letter."

Cen Changqian sighed, took out a private seal, stamped it with the character "Cen", and pushed it in front of Lu Chenyuan.

The Cen family was not a traditional aristocratic family and did not have a long history, but Cen Changqian's uncle was Cen Wenben, a famous and incorruptible prime minister during the Zhenguan era. The Cen family had considerable resources, and with this seal, one could obtain the Cen family's assistance. Cen Changqian's five sons were mediocre, but his nephew Cen Xi was quite talented and a remarkable person who once served as prime minister in history.

Most importantly, he was originally a member of Princess Taiping's faction, and could be described as extremely loyal!
Lu Chenyuan solemnly accepted the three items, when suddenly he heard the sound of metal clashing outside the courtyard—an assassin had appeared!

Moreover, once it breaks out, it mobilizes all its forces from all directions!
In an instant, dozens of dark figures rushed towards the mansion from all directions like ghosts!
Under the moonlight, the gleaming blades slashed through the night sky, bringing with them a chilling atmosphere.

Lu Chenyuan looked on coldly, unmoved.

"Formation!"

Chi Mei uttered a soft shout, and twenty-four beautiful figures suddenly appeared, their movements perfectly synchronized as if they were one person.

Twenty-four pairs of delicate hands simultaneously formed hand seals, their true energy connecting to condense into twenty-four powerful flowers in the air—the plum blossoms were austere, the camellias vibrant, the narcissus pure and elegant… the various flower shadows rotated endlessly.

"We are of the same breath and share the same branches, let us stand together!"

Chi Mei pointed her long sword to the sky, and twenty-four streams of true energy resonated together. In an instant, the entire hall was enveloped in a huge array composed of phantom images of flowers—the Twenty-Four Flower Messenger Array was complete!
This formation follows the flower season cycle of "five days per pentad, three pentads per qi, six qi per hour, and four hours per year." It takes the "flower season cycle" as the foundation of the formation and, in conjunction with the "Same Qi and Connected Branches Technique," manifests the four phases of budding, blooming, withering, and extinction on the battlefield through the resonance of the true qi of the twenty-four flower envoys. It is exquisite in both offense and defense and extremely powerful!
Formation together.

The first three masked assassins to rush in were struck as if by lightning, flying backward and spitting out blood.

"Kill!" A command came from the shadows, and the remaining men in black attacked simultaneously.

Some threw out poisoned hidden weapons, some hurled chains and grappling hooks, and some even directly crashed into the wall of energy with their muscular bodies. In an instant, the sounds of hidden weapons piercing the air, the collision of true energy, and the clash of weapons filled the air.

Each of the twenty-four elements represents a flower, and at this moment, during the "Great Cold" season, the formation manifests three images: the somber fragrance of daphne, the secluded elegance of orchid, and the frigid chill of mountain ash!
"boom!"

As the shadow of the daphne flower swept by, the skin of the first person instantly cracked; the stamen of the orchid trembled slightly, and blue ice crystals seeped from the seven orifices of two people; the illusory image of the mountain alum enveloped, and another master of external cultivation shattered inch by inch like glass!

"Change!"

With a sudden turn of the Red Plum Sword, the Twenty-Four Steps abruptly changed.

Suddenly, a fierce wind arose in the formation, and countless petals transformed into sharp blades that swept in all directions.

"Puff puff!"

A sweeping wave of rose-colored sword energy cut three assassins in half at the waist, their upper bodies still tumbling in the air as their intestines spilled out; a burst of pear-blossom energy severed the right arms of five men wielding knives at shoulder level, their severed arms not yet hitting the ground before being shredded into mincemeat by subsequent sword energy; a raging camellia flame engulfed two men in black, instantly turning them into fireballs, screaming in agony as they crashed into their companions, triggering a chain reaction of self-immolation!
Just as the three masters of light-footed martial arts on the roof were about to leap, twenty-four sword energies suddenly shot into the sky, engulfing them like a meat grinder. Amidst the sounds of flesh and blood tearing apart, severed limbs, heads, and fragments of internal organs poured down like a torrential rain.

Just as the battle was reaching its climax, a strange, eerie song suddenly seeped in:
"The zither strings are broken, the mirror is shattered, the morning dew has dried, and the fragrant season is over."

Everyone looked up and saw a vermilion sedan chair appear out of thin air, slowly drifting down from the night sky.

The human skin skeleton embroidered on the sedan curtain wriggled eerily, emitting a strange "clucking" laugh.

This is precisely the "Blood Shadow Soul-Capturing Sound" of the extraordinary martial artist "White Bone Guanyin" under Wu Chengsi's command!
The sound waves pierced the eardrums like venomous snakes, and Lianhua and Xinghua, who were the weakest among the twenty-four performers, immediately lost focus.

Their hand seals paused slightly, and the entire formation immediately became sluggish. The originally smooth-flowing Flower Spirit True Qi suddenly became viscous, and the petals and blades that were flying in the formation were even suspended in the air for a moment!
"hiss--"

The ground suddenly cracked open, and a crimson king serpent as thick as a water bucket burst out of the ground!

This monstrous creature's scales gleamed with a metallic sheen and shimmered with an eerie red light under the moonlight. With a sweep of its tail, it struck the dazed chinaberry and apricot blossoms with immense force!

"Danger!"

Cen Changqian and Ouyang Tong were in the protective formation and were about to help when suddenly a clear and melodious sword cry pierced the night sky.

The goddess, clad in rat armor, descended from the sky like a meteor. Her Heavenly Punishment Sword transformed into a blazing white light, piercing the scales of the Crimson King Serpent as easily as cutting tofu, pinning its tail firmly to the ground!
"Roar--"

The Crimson King Serpent let out a shrill roar, its head suddenly turning back, its fangs flashing with cold light, aiming straight for the Queen's throat.

A cold glint flashed in Lu Chenyuan's eyes, and the Flying View Sword was drawn on its own, transforming into a streak of light that precisely pierced the Crimson King Serpent's right eye, causing blood to gush out! The serpent's body convulsed violently, its roars growing increasingly shrill, but its struggles grew weaker and weaker!
"Hong'er!"

The second extraordinary person appeared. "Snake Granny" screamed and rushed out of the shadows. Her snakeskin cloak moved without wind, and her withered hands glowed with an eerie green light. She threw out a sky full of poisonous sand. Wherever the poisonous mist passed, the grass and trees withered instantly, and the bluestone ground was eroded with honeycomb-like holes!
Lu Chenyuan raised his hand and flicked his fingers, lightly tapping the table. With a loud thud, a sound as resounding as a great bell exploded from the table, and the surrounding天地元气 (heaven and earth energy) responded instantly!
Visible ripples of sound swept out, causing the chanting of the White Bone Guanyin to pause.

The sound of the zither is profound!

To break through sound with sound, to awaken the deaf and enlighten the blind.

The White Bone Guanyin was startled. Lianhua and Xinghua regained their senses from the sonic attack. They quickly returned to their positions, changed their hand seals, and the formation instantly resumed operation. A wave of energy roared out, dispersing the poisonous mist and forcing the Snake Granny back several steps.

"cut!"

Chi Mei seized the opportunity and simultaneously unleashed twenty-four bursts of energy at the pinned Crimson King Serpent.

With a deafening roar, the infamous beast was cleaved into several pieces!
"You...you're asking for it!!!"

The Snake Granny stared, her eyes wide with rage, looking like a madwoman, her body writhing in venomous mist.

The White Bone Guanyin flew out of the sedan chair, her figure flickering like a ghost. Suddenly, her fingernails grew three inches longer, gleaming with a cold, eerie blue light. It was none other than the Soul-Searching Claw, which had been quenched with deadly poison!
At the same time, the remaining four masters attacked simultaneously—

The Hundred Poison Rat King, his body hunched over, slammed his rat-headed staff heavily into the ground. Instantly, strange rustling sounds came from the ground, and countless gray-haired rats swarmed out of the hole that the Crimson King Serpent had crawled out of. The sound was overwhelming, covering the entire courtyard in the blink of an eye. These rats had blood-red eyes and venomous teeth, and they would bite anyone they saw. They spread outwards like a tide.

Bloodhand Butcher grinned savagely as he thrust his spear forward, the tip of the Taotie Spear churning with blood and fury, aiming straight for Chi Mei's throat.

The Dream Master gently waved his folding fan, and a mesmerizing illusion appeared on the fan's surface, captivating the mind and spirit.

The Corrupt Poison Lord's black robes billowed, and the poisoned sword hidden in his sleeve silently pierced the weakest point of the Twenty-Four Formation!
—Killing intent from all sides, closing in!

Lu Chenyuan frowned and glanced outside the mansion. Despite the commotion, the Imperial Guards patrolling the city seemed oblivious.

This is a bit too blatant...

(End of this chapter)