Chapter Sixty-Four: Peach Blossom Village

The sudden shadow, carrying an unknown terror and hidden sharpness, made even Iron Tower feel a sting deep in his heart.

Seeing this, Zhao Jian quickly shut his eyes and raised a hand to shield his throat.

The clash of metal resounded across the blood-stained wilderness, a shock so violent it nearly made one retch.

Clang!

When the martial artists turned to look, Zhao Sikong already had his hands withdrawn into his sleeves. In the lingering glow of the setting sun, his hands, shrouded in chaotic shadow, evoked an inexplicable coldness—one could almost sense a weapon concealed within.

Zhao Jian, meanwhile, was grimacing in pain. His eyelids were marked with harsh white scratches, and the hand he’d used to block his throat bore a clear indentation, as if struck by something heavy. The flesh wouldn’t recover anytime soon, clearly injured, though not seriously.

Were there other Divine Martial artists present, they would surely be astonished. The Iron Tower Dragon Elephant physique of the Fierce Sky General was famed for withstanding the barrage of heavy machine gun fire without harm—an absurd resilience, described as monstrous even among martial artists.

Yet Zhao Sikong’s single blow had managed to injure Zhao Jian.

This was proof that the Shadow Sky General’s mental realm was something even Zhao Jian could not fully withstand.

“Your loose tongue will get you killed one day,” Zhao Sikong admonished the fool, then turned to bow respectfully to Lan Yi.

“I acted without permission in your presence, Immortal Master. Please punish me.”

Lan Yi waved his hand dismissively.

“He called you a pansy. Beating him up is nothing. Martial artists should have spirit.”

“Thank you, Immortal Master,” Zhao Sikong breathed a sigh of relief.

“Immortal Master, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have called him a pansy behind his back,” Zhao Jian protested stubbornly.

Lan Yi’s gaze deepened as he glanced at Zhao Jian. Instantly, the previously defiant Zhao Jian stood straight, eyes forward. Even with the physique of a Fierce Sky General, he had no wish to suffer a bolt of thunder, or worse, the terrifying Daoist technique Palm Thunder—a force not easily withstood by innate energy alone.

Lan Yi, who could keep these dragon-tiger-like martial artists in check, did so not through virtue, but through force a hundred times more deadly than theirs.

“Speak. You rushed over—what’s happened?” Lan Yi gestured for Zhao Sikong to continue.

By arrangement, Zhao Sikong should currently be screening the prisoners.

“A letter arrived from Jinling. Miss Yun Huaqi was supposed to send a scheduled contact from Peach Blossom Village today, but the messenger is missing. We’ve dispatched someone to investigate Peach Blossom Village, and the matter you instructed is beginning to take shape.”

The rat’s nest is stirring already? Lan Yi’s brow arched.

It seemed that place was even more active than he’d expected. As soon as traces of innate energy appeared, it sprang into action. Judging by most cases in artificial divine realms, Yun Huaqi and her group must have been swept into some special event. With the coverage of spiritual energy revival still incomplete across the planet, Lan Yi reckoned he could handle it.

The tribute—pearls—should be water-related.

He wondered what kind of rat’s nest it was. Generally, unless it was an escaped specialty from a collapsed artificial divine realm, a spiritual cultivator should be able to clear it out.

If not, he could shut it down completely.

“Go fetch Xiao Hongzhuan,” Lan Yi ordered Zhao Sikong. This fellow’s ‘Blue Wave’ should prove useful.

“As you wish.” Zhao Sikong bowed slightly, his figure swiftly swallowed by shadow. With a whoosh, he blended into a patch of darkness beyond the reach of the sunset, disappearing in a few breaths.

Just as Zhao Jian was about to relax, Lan Yi shot him a deathly glare, and he immediately stood at attention.

When Xiao Hongzhuan was brought over, his expression was grim.

As someone who lived in a peaceful region and enjoyed a calm environment, the bloodiest scene he'd ever faced was perhaps the slaughter of livestock—battlefield experience was utterly foreign.

A battlefield meant professional, human-on-human killing.

On the front lines, death in all its forms was commonplace among one's own kind, and most casualties, more or less, involved oneself. Ordinary people, let alone professional soldiers, were not immune to mental strain.

Xiao Hongzhuan hovered at the edge of such strain.

Yet, upon seeing Lan Yi, his psychological troubles mysteriously eased.

Perhaps, compared to mental anguish, unless one was truly insane, anyone would prefer to contemplate the spectacle of Lan Yi losing his mind. That was no mere rivers of blood—who knew what torments Lan Yi could devise that made death seem a mercy.

“Prepare yourself. You’re coming with me to Peach Blossom Village,” Lan Yi said bluntly.

“Alright.” Xiao Hongzhuan nodded.

This young man from the main world, after enduring trials of blood and fire, spoke with less of his former levity and more of a mature, reliable steadiness.

“Boss, do you need me to bring the Golden Man?” Xiao Hongzhuan inquired.

“No need. The Golden Man is too cumbersome. Just use your ‘Blue Wave’ when the time comes,” Lan Yi explained casually. With a gesture, he invoked ‘Azure Bloom’ to generate a strong magnetic field. A sword from the ring behind him flew out, transforming into a more suitable form for riding.

Xiao Hongzhuan’s already pale face grew paler as memories of unpleasant airborne travel surfaced.

He would have to ride this cursed thing again.

There was no alternative—Lan Yi was already showing him favor. He couldn’t very well ask Lan Yi to carry him through the air.

“Let’s go. If you perform well, when I head to Dongyang later, I might consider bringing you along,” Lan Yi offered a subtle, tempting reward.

Xiao Hongzhuan’s eyes lit up.

It was an offer no Starlit Han native of the main world could refuse—even if Dongyang was only an artificial divine realm.

“Boss, say no more! I’ll go through fire and water!” Xiao Hongzhuan thumped his chest. His name, red and special, was given by his grandfather.

Xiao Hongzhuan cared little for gentleness, reflection, or peace—he just wanted to vent the anger all Starlit Han people should feel!

Held firmly in check.

Though Old Devil Lan often resolved issues with brute force, he preferred safer, more convenient methods when possible—especially with cultivators from river civilizations. So long as the goal was achieved, means and tools were secondary; interest remained the eternal refrain.

Without delay, they set off.

Lan Yi launched forward with Xiao Hongzhuan.

With the ‘Earth Fiend’ destiny cluster, Lan Yi’s floating speed was much faster—even carrying another, he could fly like a rainbow. Xiao Hongzhuan had to repeatedly call upon his ‘Blue Wave’ for cushioning, lest he be injured just from being carried.

They would first head to Jinling.

Without coordinates or landmarks, flying aimlessly at night would only lead them astray.