47: Chapter 47 The Turbulent Times at Drunken Immortal Pavilion (Part 1)

Zhang Sanfeng walked into Zuixian Restaurant and found a seat in the furthest corner.

He ordered a pot of clear tea and a dish of peanuts, his fingertips absentmindedly stroking the rim of the cup.

At this moment, his cultivation had recovered to the Peak Grandmaster level, and the Qi around his body was restrained, calm as an ancient well without ripples.

The restaurant was already filled with Jianghu people who had heard the news, the noise of the crowd hiding murderous intent.

The Jiangnan Seven Freaks sat by the window; Ke Zhene leaned on his iron staff, his face livid.

Han Xiaoying gripped her short sword, her fingertips turning slightly white; she was clearly still feeling uneasy about yesterday's agreement, but remembering the new Sword Intent of the Yue Maiden she had comprehended gave her a boost of confidence.

Master Qiu Chuji sat alone diagonally opposite, drinking by himself; his Daoist robe fluttered without wind, his solitary and proud figure exuding a dignified righteousness.

The two parties confronted each other from across several tables, the air so heavy it felt like it could be wrung out like water.

"Master Qiu Chuji!" Finally, Ke Zhene slapped the table hard, his iron staff striking sparks from the brick floor.

"I will ask you one last time, did you kill my two sworn brothers, Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin?!"

Master Qiu Chuji put down his wine cup and snorted coldly: "I, Master Qiu Chuji, have spent my life slaying the treacherous and eliminating the evil; how could I slaughter the innocent?"

"The one who killed them was the Jin Kingdom traitor Duan Tiande! I came here today to find the orphans of the Guo and Yang families, to teach them martial arts so they can avenge their fathers!"

"Nonsense!" Han Baoju slammed the table and stood up.

"If you hadn't been chasing Duan Tiande the whole way, how would the Guo and Yang families have been ruined? Today, we, the Jiangnan Seven Freaks, will seek justice for our two sworn brothers!"

Before his words faded, Ke Zhene flipped his wrist, and three iron caltrops hissed through the air, flying straight at Master Qiu Chuji's face in a triangular formation.

The iron caltrops were coated with deadly poison, gleaming with a dark blue light under the sunlight.

"You don't know what's good for you!" Master Qiu Chuji rose to his full height, his long sword leaving its scabbard with the sound of a Dragon's roar.

The Quanzhen Sword Technique unfolded, the sword light like a streak of silk across the sky; with three crisp "ding" sounds, all three iron caltrops were knocked away, embedding three inches deep into a wooden pillar.

The duel at Zuixian Restaurant officially began.

Master Qiu Chuji's Quanzhen Sword Technique was vigorous and pure, every move carrying the righteous aura of the Dao, his Late Stage Innate cultivation fully displayed.

As the sword light crisscrossed, tables and chairs were smashed to pieces, wood chips flying everywhere.

But the Jiangnan Seven Freaks cooperated seamlessly: Ke Zhene's iron staff was vigorous, Zhu Cong's fan was tricky, Han Baoju's whip technique was agile, Nan Xiren's palm technique was heavy, Quan Jinfa's steelyard was strange, Zhang Asheng's fist technique was overbearing, and Han Xiaoying's sword technique was elegant.

The seven acted as one, both offensive and defensive, actually managing to hold off Master Qiu Chuji's onslaught.

Both sides fought back and forth, locked in an inseparable struggle.

The Jianghu people in the restaurant retreated one after another, clearing an open space, cheers rising one after another.

Zhang Sanfeng held his teacup, but his gaze went beyond the fighting crowd, landing on two waiters weaving between the wine tables.

These two were the very Disciples who had escaped from the Baituo Mountain stronghold yesterday.

They were carrying wine pots, but their eyes kept glancing toward the kitchen, their fingers unconsciously stroking their waists.

At the same time, he clearly perceived that under the foundation of Zuixian Restaurant, five hundred pounds of black gunpowder were buried, with the fuse extending from under the kitchen stove all the way to the depths of the foundation.

Just then, the situation on the field suddenly changed; Master Qiu Chuji forced Han Baoju back with a sword strike, then swept horizontally, the sword wind knocking a lamp off the table.

The oil lamp fell to the ground, and the shattered porcelain shards splashed sparks, which happened to land on a pile of dry grass at the kitchen entrance.

"Perfect!" The expressions of the two Baituo Mountain Disciples changed, and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in their eyes.

They looked at each other, drew fire-starters at the same time, and were about to throw them at the dry grass—

As long as the dry grass burned, it would instantly ignite the fuse of the explosives underground, and the entire Zuixian Restaurant would turn into a sea of fire.

[System Red Alert: Fatal threat detected! The explosive fuse will be ignited in three breaths! Explosion countdown: 15 breaths!]

The moment the System prompt sounded, Zhang Sanfeng moved.

His figure flickered, passing through the crowded crowd like a ghost, appearing at the kitchen entrance in an instant.

The whole process was extremely fast; everyone in the restaurant was focused on the duel, and no one noticed.

The two Baituo Mountain Disciples had just thrown the fire-starters when they saw a moon-white figure blocking their path.

"It's you!" The leading Disciple was shocked and drew his blade to slash.

The other person faced the dry grass, wanting to ignite the sparks.

Zhang Sanfeng used his left hand to draw, executing the Taiji technique, Grasping the Sparrow's Tail.

The overbearing Taiji Force instantly enveloped the two; they felt an irresistible force, their bodies involuntarily flying into the air like kites with broken strings, crashing heavily into the wall, vomiting blood, and fainting.

At the same time, the three burning fire-starters and the sparks on the dry grass were extending toward the direction of the fuse.

Zhang Sanfeng drew a circle with his right hand, executing the Taiji Chaos Ring Technique.

Countless Taiji Qi vortices of varying sizes were generated in his palm, like invisible hands, precisely wrapping every single spark.

The sparks rotated and extinguished within the vortices, not even a wisp of smoke rising.

The fuse, which had already been scorched to the end by the sparks, was also precisely cut by a subtle Taiji Force, a wisp of blue smoke rising from the cut before it slowly extinguished.

The whole process took no more than two breaths; Zhang Sanfeng patted his sleeves, turned around, returned to his seat, and took a sip of tea as if nothing had happened.

It wasn't until the two Baituo Mountain Disciples slid down from the wall with a dull thud that anyone finally noticed the commotion here.

"What happened to those two waiters?"

"It looks like they were knocked away! Who did it?"

"Look! There are fire-starters and dry grass on the ground! And... is that a fuse?!"

A burst of exclamations erupted from the crowd; someone picked up the fuse on the ground and followed it to under the kitchen stove.

When they saw the thick hemp rope leading underground and the black gunpowder scattered nearby, everyone turned pale with fright.

"It's explosives! Someone buried explosives under the restaurant!"

"My god! We almost turned to ash just now!"

"Who saved us? Who made the move just now?"

Everyone's eyes scanned the restaurant, finally falling in unison on Zhang Sanfeng in the corner.

The entire Zuixian Restaurant went quiet instantly; even Master Qiu Chuji and the Jiangnan Seven Freaks stopped fighting, looking at him in shock.

Master Qiu Chuji's pupils shrank.

He had vaguely felt an extremely pure Dao rhyme flash by just now, but he hadn't expected the one who acted to be this wandering Daoist he had fought yesterday.

He could clearly feel that the aura Zhang Sanfeng was emitting now was far more powerful than when they fought yesterday; it was a kind of unfathomable Grandmaster pressure.

The Jiangnan Seven Freaks looked at each other in dismay; Han Xiaoying covered her mouth, her eyes full of disbelief—

She never expected that the Daoist Qingxu who had guided her Yue Maiden Sword Intent was actually a hidden Grandmaster!

Just as everyone was still in shock, a loud "boom" sounded, and the roof of Zuixian Restaurant was smashed open, leaving a large hole.

Two black shadows leapt down like bats, landing in the center of the hall.

"Hahahaha! What a lively duel!"

Chen Shuanglei wore a black cloak and a bronze mask on his face, his voice hoarse and harsh.

Zhang Sanfeng pondered to himself that this was the result of the world's disturbance again; Chen Xuanfeng had died at the hands of the Quanzhen Sect, and now another Chen Shuanglei had appeared; it seemed there were many internal and external connections between the worlds.

Mei Chaofeng stood beside Chen Shuanglei, her complexion withered, her nails black and shiny, and a thick Evil Qi lingering around her, making people shudder.

"Mei Chaofeng!" Master Qiu Chuji's face changed drastically, his long sword held across his chest, "How dare you come here!"

"Why wouldn't we dare?" Mei Chaofeng sneered.

"Master Qiu Chuji, Jiangnan Seven Freaks, you fight to the death, just letting us reap the benefits! Today, all of you must die here!"

Before the words faded, both of them attacked at the same time.

Chen Shuanglei's Nine Yin Skeleton Claw pounced straight at Ke Zhene, while Mei Chaofeng flashed towards Han Xiaoying.

They knew Han Xiaoying was the weakest among the Jiangnan Seven Freaks and wanted to kill one person first to intimidate the whole scene.

Han Xiaoying was shocked, but she didn't retreat in a panic like she used to.

Zhang Sanfeng's guidance from yesterday still echoed in her ears, and the essence of the Yue Maiden Sword Intent had long been engraved in her bones.

She took a deep breath, flicking her wrist; her short sword no longer thrust forward with reckless abandon but drew a rounded arc—this was "Yue Maiden Washes Silk," infused with the circular Taiji Force.

The tip of her sword lightly tapped the back of Mei Chaofeng's claw, borrowing the force to float back.

This sword strike was fast yet gentle, with reality and illusion intertwined, forcing Mei Chaofeng to withdraw her claw and change her move, a trace of surprise flashing in her heart: "Little girl, your sword technique has improved quite a bit!"

"Thank you for the compliment, Senior Mei Chaofeng!" Han Xiaoying steadied herself and danced her short sword again.

The battle between the two became increasingly intense.