Thunder Strike of Calamity

The top floor of Fanlou had already descended into a chaotic bloodbath.

Saber lights cleaved from the eastern corridor to the western, while sword shadows swept from the southern eaves to the northern.

The night wind was slashed into millions of fragments, each carrying the piercing shriek of clashing metal.

Gu Chengyin still leaned against the railing.

Before him stood a defensive line forged of blades and flesh.

It was fully three layers deep.

The first line of defense was Chen Busha.

The Sky-Piercing Halberd in his hands seemed to come alive.

The halberd's tip flickered like dragon's breath; a horizontal sweep brought up a mist of blood, and a straight thrust pierced through two men in black.

His strides were not large, yet every step shattered a bluestone brick, and every step plowed a bloody trench through the crowd of assassins.

Any man in black who attempted to bypass him and lunge at Gu Chengyin could not survive even three exchanges.

The second line of defense consisted of the experts from various families and departments within the patrol team.

Chen Busha had not come alone.

Gu Chengyin watched as the figures from the patrol team surged out from all corners of Fanlou.

From the stairwell, from behind the pillars, from the depths of the draperies, and vaulting in from the outer side of the top floor's flying eaves.

There were even those who, like Chen Busha, relied on pure physical strength to forcefully leap all the way up.

The third line of defense was the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Six female officials surrounded Gu Chengyin, forming an airtight human wall.

They had only one duty: to protect Gu Chengyin.

Any blade that slipped through, any stray hidden weapon, and any desperate dying strike were all blocked by them.

Their weapons were flexible swords hidden in their sleeves. Their moves lacked aggressive killing intent, consisting only of endless, flowing deflections, entanglements, and disarmaments.

Standing within these heavy lines of defense, not even the hem of Gu Chengyin's clothes was ruffled by the night wind.

He watched the slaughter before him, his expression as calm as if he were watching a play.

A saber's gleam swept past three zhang in front of him, slicing off half of a flying eave.

Gu Chengyin didn't even blink.

A sword shadow pierced the lower abdomen of a man in black two zhang to his left, splashing blood onto the pillar.

He casually watched the unwillingness in the eyes of the man in black as he fell.

An expert from a noble family was forced back by the combined attacks of two men in black, stumbling backward until he was three feet away from the Internal Affairs Bureau's human wall.

Gu Chengyin raised his hand and gently patted the expert on the shoulder.

Boosted by the touch, intense fighting spirit erupted in the expert's eyes, and he instantly charged back into the fray.

After watching for a while longer, Gu Chengyin withdrew his gaze and looked toward the prosperous Luodu.

With his current status and position, personally engaging in killing would be too degrading.

Those in high positions never needed to dirty their own hands.

They only needed to stay alive.

As long as he was alive, the sacrifices of these experts would hold meaning.

As long as he was alive, tonight would serve as the ledger for future reckonings.

Gu Chengyin lowered his eyes and looked at himself.

Spotlessly clean.

Not a single drop of blood had stained him.

He was like an outsider, yet simultaneously the very core of this storm.

Just then, a new figure appeared amidst the killing field on the top floor.

Gu Chengyin paused, immediately standing up from the railing.

This was the first time tonight he had actively changed his posture.

The female officials of the Internal Affairs Bureau shifted their defensive formation, firmly protecting Gu Chengyin in the center.

Then, passing through the gaps in the flashing blades and sword shadows, through the night wind woven with blood and fire.

He proactively stepped forward to meet her.

Special Envoy Jiang.

Gu Chengyin's voice carried three parts surprise and seven parts delight.

Why are you here?

The newcomer was none other than Jiang Jianli.

She was dressed in a martial outfit, not her casual clothes, but a tight-fitting suit designed for ease of movement.

Her hair was pinned high, held only by a single white jade hairpin, its tip exuding a gentle glow in the night.

Fine beads of sweat dotted her temples, and the stray hairs by her ears were dampened by the night wind, sticking to her cheeks.

Without even glancing at the storm of blood and gore around her, her eyes carefully scanned Gu Chengyin from head to toe.

After confirming that Gu Chengyin was uninjured, Jiang Jianli finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, reassured:

Thank goodness you're alright.

Otherwise, Yun'er would definitely fight me, her own mother, to the death.

Hearing this, Gu Chengyin raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled:

What could possibly happen to me?

Jiang Jianli glanced at the surrounding slaughter, then withdrew her gaze, looking toward the gradually fading lightning scar on the dome.

Don't blame me for arriving late. I went to study the formation of this spiritual energy barrier.

Gu Chengyin wasn't surprised. Spiritual energy formations were highly complex entities.

Generally, only immortal cultivation sects would specialize in studying them.

He immediately asked:

Do you mean that I can get out now?

Jiang Jianli shook her head and said:

There is a way to dismantle the formation, but it's quite troublesome.

My senior martial brother is working on it right now.

I came in to see if I could help Lord Jingzhe.

Gu Chengyin blinked, asking with some curiosity:

Little Aunt?

Jiang Jianli nodded, raising her hand to point at a certain direction on the dome and explained:

This formation was jointly constructed by the spiritual energy of those three Golden Core cultivators.

Gu Chengyin followed her gaze, only to see three faint, subtle ripples of spiritual energy there, interweaving like silk threads into a intricate pattern.

So as long as we force any one of them to release their spiritual energy,

The spiritual energy formation will collapse on its own.

After listening, Gu Chengyin nodded thoughtfully.

He looked up at the night sky.

High above the nine heavens, a golden stream of light was still entangled in battle with three black shadows.

Looking from here, one could only see the occasional lightning that tore through the night sky and hear the faint, distant rumbling.

That rumbling was becoming more and more dense.

Gu Chengyin withdrew his gaze and looked at Jiang Jianli.

Little Aunt is very powerful. She doesn't need help, we just need to wait patiently.

Hearing this, Jiang Jianli was stunned instead, saying in surprise:

Although Lord Jingzhe is very strong, those are three Golden Core cultivators.

Gu Chengyin understood what Jiang Jianli meant.

Any Golden Core cultivator was an existence capable of suppressing an entire region.

And Lin Qingyan was currently fighting one against three.

Under normal circumstances, just being able to hold her ground without falling into a disadvantage would already be extraordinary.

But today's Lin Qingyan just so happened to be a Lin Qingyan who had been boosted by Gu Chengyin's breathing technique.

Her combat power far exceeded her peak.

Just as Gu Chengyin was about to open his mouth to explain to Jiang Jianli.

Above in the night sky, a streak of golden lightning pierced through the heavens.

This bolt of lightning was far fiercer than the previous one.

It struck straight down from the highest point of the dome, tearing the night sky in half.

The lightning was thicker than ten arm-spans, glowing with golden radiance amidst blinding white, like heavenly punishment descending upon the world, like the wrath of a deity.

And in its deepest core, a figure was slowly ascending.

It was not a black shadow.

It was golden.

It was Lin Qingyan.

Her eyes were tightly shut, her entire body enveloped in blazing white arcs of electricity. Her hairpiece had fallen away, letting her long dark hair whip wildly in the wind.

She held her arms out horizontally, palms facing upwards, looking just like a Goddess of Thunder.

Meanwhile, those three black shadows were fleeing madly in three different directions at breakneck speeds.

The sounds of slaughter on the top floor of Fanlou abruptly ceased; whether it was the patrol experts or the men in black.

Everyone subconsciously stopped their hands, looking up at that lightning that tore through the night sky.

It was too dazzling.

So dazzling that the three thousand silk lanterns of Fanlou paled into insignificance before this radiance.

So dazzling that every street, every alley, and every corner of Luodu was illuminated as brightly as day.

In the next second, Lin Qingyan opened her eyes, staring fixedly at the three black shadows fleeing in panic.

Like passing judgment, she shouted coldly:

Three origins return to one! Sword pierces the demons!

A spark of righteous aura! Thunder strikes the wicked!