"Make your move!"
Li Wenqing sneered and slammed the table, his face full of murderous intent.
As soon as his voice faded, killing intents surged from within and outside the hall, an imposing aura like a tidal wave pressing down.
Ji Yuan and Qian Nishang's faces changed. They hadn't expected Li Wenqing to act so decisively, without any delay or prior warning!
Just as the two were about to act and capture Li Wenqing, who was only a table away, their opponent had already prepared. He took a step back, and his figure was engulfed by a shadow.
In an instant, his silhouette vanished from everyone's sight. No one knew where he went, presumably forcibly taken away by a cultivator using a secret technique.
"We fight to the death!"
Qian Nishang gritted her teeth and then shouted in a deep voice.
Her internal mana surged out, instantly condensing into fluttering butterflies outside her body. Though illusions formed from mana, they looked lifelike, as if imbued with life.
As her voice fell, dozens of butterflies shot out in all directions, their wingbeats sounding like thunder. When they converged, they generated strands of lightning out of thin air.
Seeing this, over ten people immediately retreated. Several martial artists even smashed through the walls, showing immense caution towards dozens of small butterflies!
"It's the Thunder Butterfly Technique!"
Someone immediately exclaimed, identifying the art.
It was understandable. Qian Nishang was one of the three leaders of Mingxin Pavilion. Although she rarely made a move, how could any faction lack intelligence on her?
*Boom!!!*
In an instant, the entire hall was filled with countless lightning bolts. The thunder butterflies exploded, releasing extremely violent power!
Within just a few breaths, with loud bangs, the entire hall collapsed. Over a dozen figures shot into the sky, their vital energy, mana, and protective energy surging.
However, it was at this very moment that a shadowy figure flickered in the darkness. Wherever it passed, screams of agony could be heard. In the blink of an eye, a figure plummeted from mid-air.
"How dare you act so recklessly!"
A shout rang out, and someone emerged from the shadows. With a leap, they moved through the air as swiftly as lightning.
It was a middle-aged man, his body radiating potent protective energy. He unleashed a fierce punch towards the shadowy figure.
Beneath the fist's shadow, thick blood essence surged, transforming into a tiger's head, which let out a roar that shook the heavens!
*Roar!!!*
Amidst the fist's shadow and the roar, the dark light enveloping the shadowy figure suddenly shattered, revealing a figure. It was the old woman who had been following Qian Nishang.
Her expression was stern. She tossed a short saber forward, then rapidly formed several hand seals. Streams of mana flowed into the saber.
The next breath, a white light shot up, and the sound of a blade humming reached everyone's ears!
With a deafening boom, the white light collided with the fist's shadow. The tiger's head, formed from blood essence, immediately collapsed and dissipated.
Gusts of energy swept down from mid-air, stirring up dust and fallen leaves.
Suddenly, the white light and the fist's shadow vanished simultaneously. The people who had shot into the sky from the ruins all landed back on the ground.
However, compared to a moment ago, only nine out of the thirteen representatives of various factions remained. The others had fallen to the ground, their life force extinguished.
A moment later, the old woman and the middle-aged man slowly descended from the sky. Their bodies vibrated with mana and protective energy, their auras reaching their peak.
"Nine families can break even, and seven can make a small profit."
Qian Nishang walked slowly, standing in front of the old woman, her gaze sweeping over the remaining nine factions.
As she spoke, a ripple went through the hearts of everyone present. Silently, they subtly widened the distance between themselves.
No one knew if someone would believe her words and turn on their neighbor, all for the sake of breaking even or making a small profit as Qian Nishang had said.
At the same time, figures emerged from the shadows. They were the reinforcements each faction had brought from the county town, a total of eighteen in number.
Most importantly, these eighteen individuals all possessed cultivation at the second realm, with three of them reaching the late stage!
Qian Nishang's expression remained unchanged, but it was impossible for her not to feel a stir in her heart. However, now was not the time to show any emotion.
"Shopkeeper Qian, it seems you've encountered some trouble."
Someone said with a half-smile, "Perhaps you should resolve your troubles before discussing other matters with us?"
With that, the speaker retreated. The other eight factions, seeing this, silently withdrew to a distance of over ten feet.
Thus, the people from the nine factions had all retreated to the distance, standing on the walls or rooftops, silently observing the scene.
Seeing this, Qian Nishang's lips curved into a smile. The biggest objective of the night had been achieved – the thirteen factions were divided. Now, all that remained was to deal with the remaining four families, and everything else would be easy.
She thought to herself, then looked at the members of the four families before her. A two-on-four situation wasn't entirely without a chance of victory.
Unlike Qian Nishang, whose situation was improving, the four families were filled with bitterness. Their charges had been killed. Even if they brought the killer's head back, they would face severe punishment.
The few exchanged glances. Although they belonged to different factions, they had met a few times and knew some of each other's backgrounds.
The next moment, as if reaching a consensus, these four individuals attacked simultaneously!
Three martial artists at the Bone-Muscle realm suddenly charged out, their feet shattering the ground tiles. Their figures became afterimages, and in an instant, they appeared before Qian Nishang.
While the one in the center attacked with both fists, the two on the sides drew their weapons, and a flurry of sword shadows rained down.
However, facing the close-quarters combat of the three martial artists, Qian Nishang not only showed no change in expression but didn't even retreat a step!
She simply raised her hand and pointed forward. Thunder butterflies materialized, and before the fist shadows and sword shadows could land, they exploded in mid-air, transforming into shimmering lightning.
These lightning bolts intertwined, forming a curtain that blocked in front of her, parrying all attacks from the three martial artists.
At the same time, Qian Nishang formed a hand seal, her red lips parted slightly, and a stream of light flew out of her mouth, revealing a jade hammer no more than an inch in size.
She tapped it with her fingertip, and the jade hammer immediately grew several times larger. The hammerhead, the size of a head, pierced through the lightning and heavily struck the chest of the central martial artist.
Instantly, countless lightning bolts erupted. His body, like a kite with a broken string, was smashed back nearly ten feet. Lightning flickered around him, and a burnt smell emanated from his body.
"You dare to engage me in close combat?"
Qian Nishang sneered, slapping her waist pouch. Thunder butterflies flew out.
These thunder butterflies were slightly different. With a flash of their wings, lightning appeared. Though only a dozen or so, each possessed the aura of the late Enlightenment realm.
"Spirit beast Thunderlight Butterflies!"
The two martial artists' faces changed. After a low cry, they immediately tried to retreat.
However, the lightning that had formed a curtain earlier, under Qian Nishang's manipulation of her techniques, condensed into ropes as thick as a child's arm, instantly entangling them.
Despite their protective energy and their strong physiques, even though they weren't purely martial artists, they still felt a tingling sensation in their bodies from the lightning.
Under this sensation, their movements slowed considerably, and even their thoughts seemed to lag.
In just a moment, over a dozen Thunderlight Butterflies swooped down and landed on the two. Their sharp proboscises extended, piercing deep into their muscles.
"Mere spirit insects..."
Several feet away, the cultivator at the second realm snorted. After a few breaths, he had completed the spell he was preparing.
However, before he could finish speaking, his words got stuck in his throat.
A sharp pain erupted in his chest. He instinctively looked down and saw a short saber piercing through him, blood dripping from its gleaming tip.
The prepared spell dissipated, and the mana he had condensed instantly collapsed. As the short saber twisted in his chest, a surge of mana extinguished all his life force.
*Puff!*
The old woman drew her saber, flicked off the blood, and as she turned, the cultivator's corpse fell to the ground.
She glanced at the group of people in the distance, pondering that if they were all of this strength, perhaps they wouldn't need to make any concessions. Killing them one by one might not be difficult.
However, the old woman also knew that such thoughts were just wishful thinking. If they truly acted on them, let alone the impact and consequences, even if these people were less experienced in combat, they couldn't be resisted if they attacked together.
The saying that many ants could bite an elephant to death was not just a saying.
Not to mention that the attackers were all at the same second realm cultivation as her!
"Alright, the trouble is resolved. We can continue our discussion."
A moment later, Qian Nishang walked over slowly. She gazed at the people more than ten feet away, with over a dozen Thunderlight Butterflies fluttering around her, their wings creating countless flashes of lightning.
She suddenly raised her hand, looking at the jade hammer in her palm, which had returned to its original inch-long size. She then smiled and said, "Or perhaps, someone wants to fight another round?"
Her words echoed for a long time, but no one responded. Beams of sight fell upon the corpses behind her, and a moment of silence ensued.
No one had expected that what started as a passive observation would turn them into participants.
According to their calculations, even if Qian Nishang was powerful, with her peak second-realm cultivation and the assistance of the old woman, also at the second realm, facing four cultivators and martial artists at the same realm should not result in an easy victory.
Yes, from the beginning, these people did not believe that four individuals at the early second realm could defeat Qian Nishang, who was just a step away from the third realm.
But they never imagined that these four would lose so decisively, falling in less than ten breaths.
If their masters knew that they had trained such incompetent individuals, they would likely be enraged to the point of coughing up blood.
But regardless of the outcome, the fact remained, and no amount of words could change it.
"How does Shopkeeper Qian wish to discuss?"
Someone standing on a rooftop asked in a flat tone.
Given the current situation, they could no longer remain silent or refuse cooperation with Qian Nishang. Otherwise, if they were to fight to the bitter end, not only would more of them die, but they would likely end up with nothing.
After all, if their patrons were gone, no one could say for sure whether the people belonging to the Qian family in the city would simply act recklessly, leaving no one with any benefit.
After a long silence, someone finally responded, stepping forward with their escorts, standing a few feet in front of Qian Nishang.
Seeing this, the other eight factions also leaped down from the roofs and walls, standing silently several feet away.
Qian Nishang chuckled inwardly. Even now, these people were still unwilling to back down, their faces sullen, each unwilling to speak first and thus weaken their own position.
However, after the hall's collapse and the elimination of four factions, these people had long lost any pretense of dominance, yet they were still unaware of it.
"What to do, with the remaining nine factions, we can only guarantee not to lose money!"
Qian Nishang chuckled inwardly, then feigned a troubled expression, "At least seven factions are needed to make a small profit!"
As she spoke, everyone's hearts tightened. Subconsciously, they widened the distance between themselves and the other factions.
Though it was only a few dozen feet, a distance that a second-realm cultivator could cover in an instant, it still brought them a modicum of relief.
However, they were unaware that their subconscious actions meant that the rhythm of the night had now quietly fallen into Qian Nishang's hands.