Martial Peak

Xia Jing Wu stroked his beard and continued, “Yao Qing, don’t be impulsive. I don’t know what the strength of that young man is exactly, but since he can defeat Deacon Min with one palm, he is definitely not someone you can capture. Even if everyone in the Chamber of Commerce were to join forces, we likely would not be his opponent. If you really went to provoke him now, you will only bring shame upon yourself!”

Yao Qing thought about it for a moment and an embarrassed look appeared on his face as he knew it was true. The more he thought about it, the more he began to sweat.

Hua You Meng looked at Xia Jing Wu with a wry smile and said, “This method won’t work; please talk about the second one, Uncle Xia.”

Xia Jing Wu sighed, “I knew that President wouldn’t agree to this proposal.”

How could Xia Jing Wu not know what kind of temperament Hua You Meng possessed? As someone who was charitable and caring, even able to stand up for a stranger like Yang Kai outside the city gate, how could she be willing to turn him over to Purple Star City for punishment now? If she were to really do this, she would not be Hua You Meng anymore.

“Since we cannot capture and hand him over, we can only choose the second option to avoid this crisis,” Xia Jing Wu said before solemnly declaring. “President must bring some people here and leave the Chamber of Commerce quickly; this old master will stay behind and manage the fallout.”

Hua You Meng was surprised when she heard these words and said in amazement, “Uncle Xia, what are you…”

“Since the crime has already been committed, someone must naturally take responsibility. It is impossible for Purple Star City to simply let the matter drop. In fact, we should not have even entered the city just now and left directly; but at the time, all of us were in a daze so it couldn’t be helped. Now that we are already inside the walls though, I’m afraid that trying to leave will be as difficult as ascending to the Heavens. However, now is a time for decisive measures! This old man has been in the President’s care for many years and hopes that in the end he can serve the President one last time,” Xia Jing Wu stood up and straightened his short body, seemingly preparing himself to meet whatever end was to befall him.

“I’ll stay with Uncle Xia!” Yao Qing got up quickly.

“I will stay too!” Outside the door, the beautiful woman named Sister Hong walked in and said in a deep voice.

“You can’t!” Hua You Meng’s expression finally changed as she flatly rejected the idea.

“Hehe, you truly can’t. If you all stay, who can assist the President in the future? If that happens, our Five Paths Chamber of Commerce will really meet its end, so all of you must go. Bring as many of the Chamber of Commerce’s value assets with you as you can while this old man stays behind to bear the burden,” Xia Jing Wu smiled lightly, as if already indifferent to the prospects of life and death. “Not to mention, this old man has some friendship with a certain Sir in Purple Star City. If I can contact him, I may not lose my life.”

“No!” Hua You Meng shook her head vigorously and said, “If Purple Star City really wants to make an example of someone, it is absolutely impossible for me, as the President, to not be here. I am the one who should remain while the rest of you leave.”

The group immediately began to argue, no one able to convince anyone else about who should go and who should stay.

After a fruitless debate, Xia Jing Wu slapped his thigh anxiously, “President, time is running out. If you continue to argue with this old man anymore, none of us will be able to leave! Do you want this old man to kneel and beg you? Good, this old man will kneel and beg!”

Saying so, he actually kneeled down towards Hua You Meng.

“Uncle Xia!” Hua You Meng’s complexion changed drastically as her figure disappeared from the chair she sat on and arrived right in front of Xia Jing Wu.

Just when she was about to reach out to support Xia Jing Wu though, Xia Jing Wu suddenly raised his hand and tossed a fistful of powder towards Hua You Meng.

How could Hua You Meng imagine that Xia Jing Wu would do something like this to her at such a time? Before she was able to react, she had already breathed in some of the powder and in the next moment, her whole body went limp. Staring at Xia Jing Wu in a daze, she called out in shock, “Flower Petal Raindrops!”

“Uncle Xia, what are you doing!?” When Yao Qing saw that something was wrong, he roared and rushed towards Xia Jing Wu in anger.

“Stop!” The beautiful woman named Sister Hong quickly understood what was happening and warded off Yao Qing before supporting Hua You Meng in her arms.

“Uncle Xia… you…” Although Hua You Meng felt incredibly weak, she did not fall unconscious.

Xia Jing Wu chuckled wryly, “Since President recognizes this Flower Petal Raindrops, she must also know its effects. Even if the President has a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, you won’t be able to use your Saint Qi for at least an hour!”

Having said so, he then shouted abruptly, “Gao Hong, quickly take the President away from the Chamber of Commerce and find a safe place to hide in the city until things calm down. Once they do, find a way to leave Purple Star!”

The beautiful woman’s tender body shook and her eyes leaked tears as she stared at Xia Jing Wu for a moment before she nodded solemnly and said, “Uncle Xia may rest assured. Even if this Gao Hong must give her life, she will ensure the President is safe!”

“Yao Qing, Hai Tang, you go too!” Xia Jing Wu turned his head and looked at the other two in the room.

Yao Qing and the twenty-something-year-old woman heard this and nodded one after another.

Yao Qing, despite his rugged exterior, could not help crying at this moment, “Uncle Xia, you must take care.”

“Hoho, rest assured, this old man won’t die,” Xia Jing Wu smiled lightly before motioning to them to hurry.

Under his urging, Gao Hong picked up Hua You Meng while Yao Qing and Hai Tang quickly gathered up whatever they could get their hands on, preparing to leave the Five Paths Chamber of Commerce before disaster struck.

“Loyal and righteous, the people from this small chamber of commerce are quite interesting,” Yang Kai sat cross-legged in his pavilion and could not help raising his brow as he nodded in approval.

Although he was some distance away, the argument between the Five Paths Chamber of Commerce members could not evade his senses. Among these people, Hua You Meng was the strongest at the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, while the cultivations of the others were mixed. With Yang Kai’s Second-Order Origin King strength, if he wanted to spy on them, none of them would be able to notice much less stop him.

“En, the situation is somewhat different from what I had expected,” Yang Kai rubbed his forehead as he muttered to himself. His original intention was to sneak into Purple Star City quietly, then steal what he needed from Purple Star’s Treasure Vault under the guidance of Zi Dong and be done with it.

With his current methods and powerful cultivation, Yang Kai was certain he could accomplish this without anyone noticing. Even if he was discovered, Yang Kai was confident he could escape any siege.

However, the incident at the city gate had destroyed all those plans.

Yang Kai knew that beating Purple Star’s people in Purple Star City would create complications for him, and although he did not need to fear such minor problems, the people from Five Paths Chamber of Commerce were certainly going to suffer.

So, when Hua You Meng unconsciously invited him to Five Paths Chamber of Commerce after entering the city, Yang Kai happily agreed.

She had stuck her neck out to help him and was suffering this disaster because of him, so Yang Kai could not just ignore her.

Yang Kai also knew that the Five Paths Chamber of Commerce members thinking they could escape now was nothing more than a naive dream.

“They’re here!” Yang Kai frowned as his Divine Sense picked up a large number of cultivators approaching the chamber of commerce. After these cultivators entered the building, they immediately began using force, causing all the cultivators who had come here shopping to flee in panic while the employees were knocked to the ground as they cried out in pain.

Before Gao Hong and the others, who had just run out into the backyard, had time to escape, a number of extremely powerful auras suppressed them in place.

The man who seemed to be the leader of this group of masters then shouted angrily, “Injuring my Purple Star City’s guards then trying to flee? Your Five Paths Chamber of Commerce is absolutely lawless!”

As soon as these words fell, this man punched forward.

Gao Hong was the first to bear the brunt of this assault, causing her pretty face to pale as she hurriedly shielded Hua You Meng who she was holding, exposing her back to the attack.

Yao Qing and Hai Tang also screamed as they hurriedly summoned their artifacts to resolve the fierce attack.

*Hong long long…*

After a loud bang, most of the backyard of the Five Paths Chamber of Commerce was destroyed while Gao Hong, Yao Qing, and Hai Tang were all sent flying. Coughing up blood mid-air, all of them crashed to the ground looking pale and bloodless.

*Hualala…*

Countless armoured cultivators flooded in from the back door, each of them holding a spear in their hands as they quickly sealed off the backyard.

A burly figure stepped forward to the front of this group next, his hands folded behind his back and a cold, indifferent expression adorning his face.

“Senior Bai!” Xia Jing Wu, who rushed out after hearing the ruckus, could not stop his heart from sinking as he saw who the leader of this group was and hurried forward to greet him.

He recognized at a glance that this man was a Vice Commander of the Purple Star City Guard, Bai Zheng Chu.

Purple Star City’s Guard was led by Commander Lu Tian Feng, an Origin King Realm master, and directly beneath him were eight Vice Commanders, all of whom were peak Origin Realm cultivators. The Guard managed the peace of the city and was responsible for handling various disputes.

Bai Zheng Chu was one of these eight Vice Commanders and would never show up for trivial matters. This time, because Deacon Min had been injured, he had come to Five Paths Chamber of Commerce.

When this man arrived, Xia Jing Wu realized the situation had become far more dangerous.

According to rumours, Bai Zheng Chu was the most ruthless of the eight Vice Commanders, a man who killed others like flies and destroyed any business he targeted. Over the years, he had served as a Vice Commander, even if a hundred businesses were not demolished at his hands, there were at least eight. Not only had those businesses been forced to close down, all the personnel who worked there had also had their lives destroyed if not lost completely.

Xia Jing Wu could not help trembling as he felt that this time Five Paths Chamber of Commerce was truly doomed.

“Scram!” Bai Zheng Chu did not even look at Xia Jing Wu and just yelled angrily, his voice containing a force that slammed into the old man’s body and made him collapse to the ground, seemingly suffering some internal injuries.

In the backyard, everyone from Five Paths Chamber of Commerce wore an ashen expression as despair flashed across their eyes. The menacing glares of the Purple Star City Guard all made them shiver in fear.

Bai Zheng Chu turned his head around for a moment before coldly snorting, “Five Paths Chamber of Commerce, haha. There’s no need for it to continue to exist.”

As soon as this statement came out, everyone’s expressions changed wildly. Bai Zheng Chu’s words were tantamount to condemning the chamber of commerce to death.

Hua You Meng, who was still being held by Gao Hong, said weakly, “Senior Bai, this matter is all just a misunderstanding. Can you… let this Mistress explain it to you.”

Bai Zheng Chu turned his attention to Hua You Meng and simply snorted once more, “There’s no need to explain, Five Paths Chamber of Commerce will be disbanded from today and all its staff will be sent to Purple Star Frozen Prison.”

“Purple Star Frozen Prison!” Gao Hong exclaimed.

The Frozen Prison was an ominous existence in Purple Star City. Officially it was a place used to detain prisoners, but no one who entered ever left alive.

Entering there was no better than being executed on the spot.

“You two aren’t bad though,” Bai Zheng Chu reached out and drew Hua You Meng and Gao Hong to him before declaring lightly. “Good, if you spend some quality time with us brothers here, you can avoid suffering in the Frozen Prison.”

His tone was indifferent, but his words were no less terrifying.

Gao Hong and Hua You Meng both went pale as the guards who had gathered around them laughed lewdly. Obviously, this was not the first time they had done this.