201: Chapter 201 Offensive

In the main hall of the valley, the guests and host had been seated for barely the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before the atmosphere slid from superficial pleasantries to the edge of a cliff.

Patriarch Situ Lie took another sip from his teacup, wearing the eager smile of a hospitable host, and asked what business had brought the few Peak Masters to grace him with their presence.

Peak Master Chen Zhenshan of Chixia Peak slammed the teacup he hadn't touched from the very beginning onto the table with a sharp 'clang'.

He didn't mince words, stating directly, "There is poison in the tea."

Patriarch Situ Lie's smile froze on his face instantly.

Sect Leader Zhao Tiejian of the Iron Sword Sect, who had already gulped down two large mouthfuls of tea, stood up abruptly upon hearing this; his chair was knocked back several feet, scraping a shrill, screeching sound against the bluestone floor.

His bronze-colored face first showed disbelief, which then surged into a fit of rage; he drew the door-sized, broad-edged heavy sword from his waist, and the Internal Energy on the sword blade exploded with a roar, wrapped in a layer of scorching golden-red Sword Qi as he cursed, "Poison? You dare harm me! I'll split you in two with one sword strike!"

Before his words had even faded, the heavy sword had already been swung.

A streak of sword light like a bolt of silk split the air, descending upon Patriarch Situ Lie with an overwhelming Aura.

Patriarch Situ Lie had no time to explain—in fact, he had absolutely no idea how to explain it at this moment.

He hadn't put the poison in the tea, but he knew who had.

Unable to defend himself, he leaned back in a panic, and he and his chair toppled to the ground together.

The sword light of the heavy sword sliced past the tip of his nose, splitting both the grand chair behind him and the bluestone screen behind the chair in two.

Wood chips and stone fragments flew everywhere, and several young members of the Situ Family in the hall were forced back several steps by the aftermath of the Sword Qi, their faces turning pale.

Sect Leader Zhao Tiejian missed his strike and was about to swing a second time when he suddenly swayed twice; the color drained from his face as if it had been sucked away by something, and a layer of black energy crawled from his neck up to his cheeks.

He looked down at his slightly trembling hand, his lips moving as if to say something, then he fell straight backward, crashing heavily onto the ground.

The heavy sword clattered from his hand onto the bluestone bricks, and the golden-red sword glow on its blade flickered twice before extinguishing.

Peak Master Gu Yunshen of Moxia Peak had not spoken the entire time.

He stood up, walked over to Sect Leader Zhao Tiejian without haste, and crouched down; he pulled a jade-green Medicinal Pill from his sleeve, stuffed it into his mouth, and gently nudged his jaw to make him swallow the medicine.

Then he stood up and said to Patriarch Situ Lie, "Clan Chief Situ, do you have anything else to say now?"

Patriarch Situ Lie stood there, his hands trembling slightly.

He knew his plan this time had gone completely wrong—the person from the Demon Sect called Demon Scorpion had poisoned the tea, but only managed to poison Sect Leader Zhao Tiejian; the others hadn't even touched their teacups.

He closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time.

When he opened them again, the trace of hesitation and struggle in his eyes was gone, replaced by the fierce determination of someone forced into a dead end who has no choice but to bite back.

"I didn't want it to be this way. You forced me into this. Men! Kill them, leave none alive!"

The hidden guards behind the screens on both sides of the main hall, in the depths of the curtains in the back hall, and on the courtyard walls outside the hall all moved at once.

Dozens of beast tamers from the Situ Family swarmed out from everywhere, deer-skin bags filled with Blood Pact talisman stones hanging from their waists, and they simultaneously let out sharp beast-taming whistles.

Beast roars erupted one after another from the depths of the valley—first low growls, then the heavy sound of hooves and the muffled thud of sharp claws digging into the ground, followed immediately by over a dozen massive shadows darting out from the dense forest at the bottom of the valley.

The Black Bear stood fully two zhang tall, its giant paws slamming into the ground, making the bluestone bricks jump in unison.

A tiger and a lion pounced side-by-side, blood foam from taming still hanging from their fangs.

Further away, there were several thick-skinned, one-horned rhinoceroses and a genuine giant elephant, its long trunk swinging as it swept and broke stone pillars along the way in half.

Each Blood-Bound Beast was at least at the Fourth-Grade Peak, and among them, the Black Bear and the giant elephant were even existences at the Fifth-Grade Transformation Realm level.

The Elders of the various families all changed color.

Peak Master Chen Zhenshan ripped off his outer robe, revealing the crimson martial attire underneath, his voice booming like a bell: "So you really are in collusion with the Demon Sect. Since that is the case, you cannot be left alive!"

He was the first to rush up, fully activating Chixia Peak's fire-element Cultivation Technique. Scorching flames rose on both his palms as he struck the chest of the leading Black Bear, forcing the two-zhang-tall behemoth to slide back more than a zhang.

Sect Leader Zhao Tiejian climbed up from the ground.

He spat out a mouthful of black blood, wiped the corner of his mouth, and thanked Peak Master Gu Yunshen.

Peak Master Gu Yunshen only said indifferently, "Don't blame me for not warning you"—if no one had been poisoned, Patriarch Situ Lie wouldn't have revealed his true colors so quickly.

Sect Leader Zhao Tiejian's old face darkened, but he couldn't afford to quibble over whether he had been used as bait.

The poison in his body had been neutralized by Peak Master Gu Yunshen's antidote, and his Internal Energy was surging through his Meridians once again.

He bent down to pick up the heavy sword, locked his eyes on Patriarch Situ Lie who was commanding the Vicious Beasts, and charged over with a roar.

Before he arrived, his sword arrived first. The heavy sword, wrapped in fury, split a grey wolf that pounced at him, and without slowing its momentum, it went straight for Patriarch Situ Lie's head.

Patriarch Situ Lie had also drawn the scimitar from his waist to meet him.

The two weapons clashed fiercely, sparks flying everywhere, shaking the sandalwood tables in the hall until they all split apart.

At the same time, everyone in the main hall attacked simultaneously.

The Elders from the Zhao Family, Li Family, Iron Sword Sect, and Wanbao Chamber of Commerce each unleashed their unique skills. The clash of sword light, blade shadows, palm winds, and claw energy against the Blood-Bound Beasts surging in from all directions instantly turned the entire Situ Family main hall into a slaughterhouse.

But while Peak Master Chen Zhenshan and Sect Leader Zhao Tiejian were formidable, the others might not necessarily be able to withstand the siege of so many Blood-Bound Beasts.

Several one-horned rhinoceroses charged over side-by-side, forcing the guest Elder of the Wanbao Chamber of Commerce to retreat repeatedly.

Above, several Blood-Bound predatory birds dove down, their sharp claws reaching for the crown of the head of that Elder from the Li Family.

Amidst this chaotic battle, Peak Master Gu Yunshen stood in the center of the main hall the entire time, not participating in the slaughter.

He took a signal firework from his sleeve and pulled the fuse.

A blinding silver light flew out from the hall door, pierced through the broken eaves, and shot straight into the sky, exploding at a height of several hundred zhang to form a huge, silver-white sword emblem that lingered in the night sky for a long time.

Outside the valley, in the dense forest.

Peak Master Su Hanyan had been lying in wait behind that ancient pine tree for nearly half an hour. When that silver-white sword emblem exploded above the valley, she stood up abruptly.

The last trace of doubt on her face dissipated along with that sword light.

She drew the long sword at her waist with a backhand motion, the sword blade gleaming with a biting, clear light under the moonlight, and waved it forcefully toward the thousand-strong troop waiting in battle formation behind her.

"Peak Master Moxia has sent the signal—act! Attack!"