Chapter 454: Chapter 300: The Lady Shows Her Might, the Green Snake Suffers, There Are Always Greater People, Seeking the Essence Treasure_3

She was truly unaware that Wen Caishang’s Silkworm Technique protected her body, and she was skilled in various paths. Although the path of poison was not her specialty, she had considerable mastery in it.

Wen Caishang took a sip of tea and said, "You are still deceiving me. Since you dare not speak, let me speak. If I’m not mistaken, you and my young man are enemies, aren’t you?"

Hao Qingshe’s heart thumped as if pricked by a needle. Feeling deep fear, this woman had inexplicably sought her out and inexplicably knew everything. Her face turned pale as she said, "Y-yes, I am indeed his enemy."

Wen Caishang said, "That’s correct." She then asked, "Why did you become enemies?"

Hao Qingshe replied truthfully, "There... there was no particular reason we became enemies. I purely..." Wen Caishang nodded and said, "The Jianghu is vast, with many strange individuals. Becoming enemies with someone is not necessarily due to a conflict of interest; sometimes, people simply take a dislike to you at a glance and harbor resentment. I taught him this principle."

Hao Qingshe asked, "I humiliated him. Aren’t you angry with me?"

Wen Caishang thought, "Though he is at fault in many ways, if others dare to humiliate him, I am naturally displeased. But this little scoundrel is cunning and wants to evade my pursuit. If he doesn’t suffer some humiliation, how would he know who treats him best?" She said, "Enmity and resentment in the Jianghu, where is there room for anger? With your skills, humiliating him is more than enough. He was also driven to desperation by you, only then did he recall my presence afterward."

She then said, "After all, it means... he still remembers me."

Hao Qingshe knew that there was no further need to ask. She had already lost an arm and was no match for this woman. Although the woman said she was not angry, her temperament was certainly not kind and tolerant, and she would definitely toy with Hao. It seemed her life was difficult to preserve.

For now, she could only take advantage of the news of the young man’s death to disturb the woman’s mind, then seize the opportunity to quickly escape. Her life or death depended on this gamble. Hao Qingshe said, "Don’t you want to know what the outcome was when your young man opposed me?"

Wen Caishang said, "Go ahead and tell me."

Hao Qingshe said, "He is already dead, struck by my Yin Demon Devouring Heart Palm!" Wen Caishang showed no change in expression, her lips forming a slightly contemptuous smile, as she said, "Though you have cultivation, you cannot match my young man."

Hao Qingshe was stunned. It was entirely different from what she had imagined. She thought, "She loves her young man so much; upon hearing of his death, how can she be so calm? Could it be that she doesn’t believe my words? Let me continue to provoke her." Trying to remain calm, she smiled faintly and said, "I indeed am not your opponent, but your young man is not my opponent either. If you can easily kill me, why can’t I easily kill him?"

Wen Caishang said, "Arguing with you is meaningless."

"You’re nearly dead because of him, yet you’re unaware."

After saying so, she sighed deeply and continued, "Ah, I feel so conflicted now. I want to kill you, but I don’t want to follow his wishes, yet you humiliated him, and I am truly angry. My young man, how do you dare humiliate him? You hurt him, and my heart aches deeply. But he has wronged me like this, why should I be angry for him? Yet I am still so angry."

Hao Qingshe saw Wen Caishang was not provoked at all. She knew her fate was entirely in the other’s hands, with no hope left. Powerlessly, she sat slumped, listening to her soft and gentle words, as if being flayed alive.

Wen Caishang said, "Thinking it over, take one strike from me. If you survive, then you’ll live; if you don’t, then you’ll die here."

Hao Qingshe said, "Senior, please proceed."

In the next moment, with a crackling sound, the deserted inn collapsed loudly. Hao Qingshe’s figure flew out, enveloped in strong Inner Qi, carving a deep trench into the ground. Where she passed, grass and trees were ground to powder by the emanated Inner Qi.

With a ’thud,’ Hao Qingshe’s body struck a large tree. The tree split with the impact, the trunk tilting, leaves turning from yellow to green, then green to yellow, finally falling in a ’rustle,’ transforming into a dead tree.

This was the "Four Seasons Eternal Palm." Infused with insights from the cycles of the seasons, the Palm Qi was enduring and difficult to dissipate, with endless pushing force. Hao Qingshe’s momentum couldn’t be stopped, feeling her end was near. Her body was like a light boat, the palm force like a raging wave, pushing her far away. Along the way, colliding with trunks, stones, ground...none could stop her momentum.

In that instant, she flew out over a hundred feet. This pushing force, although causing Hao Qingshe to suffer external injuries, skin broken, blood flowing, bones fractured and muscles torn, was not in a fatal area.

Four Seasons Eternal Palm...

The Palm Qi seemed to evolve with the alternation of seasons. With Wen Caishang’s high cultivation and profound Martial Arts Mastery, the Palm Qi contained the transformation of the four seasons, endlessly circulating. If she unleashed the palm into the void, the Inner Qi could linger for several months. All because her Martial Arts evolution had reached extremely profound levels.

Hao Qingshe, struck by this palm, felt within moments as if she had passed through spring and summer, endured autumn and winter...sometimes cold and hot, sometimes restless and melancholic. From the "Yin Yang Immortal Lovers Sword," Wen Caishang comprehended the principles of Yin and Yang. It subtly resonated with the Four Seasons Eternal Palm, forming a school of thought. The Palm Force carried a sense of the overlap of time, the alternation of day and night.

Hao Qingshe found it difficult to dissolve the Palm Power. Moreover, with every passing cycle of spring, summer, autumn, and winter in her body, her Qi-Blood weakened a layer, like aging a year, wasting a year of life.

She was greatly shocked, and as she flew backwards, the Palm Qi gradually merged into her body. A Martial Artist aims to make their body one with heaven and earth, and as the Palm Qi fused into her body, Hao Qingshe’s internal world was thrown into chaos. How could she possibly endure this?

Even if she could barely survive, her lifespan would be drastically reduced, and she would age rapidly, living each day as if it were a year.

The situation was extremely dire. She immediately activated her Poison Skill, seeking to resolve the issue. Fortunately, although Wen Caishang’s ’Four Seasons Overlapping Palm’ was profound in mastery, the move ’Four Seasons Crossing’ was only recently comprehended and not fully mastered. If she wanted to kill Hao Qingshe, she could easily deploy numerous Palm Techniques or Sword Techniques to make her die instantly or painfully. However, due to her uncertainty about whether to kill her or not, or rather... her anger at Hao Qingshe’s humiliation of her beloved, and her reluctance to fully honor his wishes, her emotions conflicted, leading her to use this palm technique instead.

Life or death, she herself did not know.

All that was heard was a "crack".

Hao Qingshe flew backwards for several miles, smashing into a boulder, and her entire skeletal structure showed cracks. Her internal organs, muscles, and flesh were all severely damaged. The Palm Qi reluctantly ceased, and the transformation of the seasons gradually stopped. She was critically injured, on the verge of death, but she had indeed barely survived.

This place was several miles away from the inn.

It was not brute force that propelled her; Wen Caishang’s pure physical power was still inferior to Li Xian’s. It was purely the depth of her Inner Qi and Martial Arts Mastery that, once externalized, continued to evolve and transform, propelling Hao Qingshe several miles away. This showed that Wen Caishang hadn’t held back, and indeed harbored some intent to kill.

Hao Qingshe lay on the ground, panting heavily, examining her body’s condition internally. The severe injuries she sustained caused the poisonous entities nurtured within her to be affected by the Palm Qi, killing them all. Suddenly, she smelled a fragrant breeze approaching, and in her vision appeared a pair of white boots. She looked up.

Wen Caishang stood before her. Her hands were placed in front of her abdomen, her braided hair fluttering, her posture still graceful.

She said, "You have some capability; since you’re not dead, then live on."

Hao Qingshe felt as if she had been granted amnesty, not daring to hold a grudge, and said, "Thank you, elder, for sparing my life," watching her receding figure, who moved as gracefully as a startled swan and as elegantly as a swimming dragon, until she disappeared from sight, and only then did she breathe a deep sigh of relief. For the first time in her life, she tasted the feeling of there always being someone better, someone beyond the skies.

...

...

Xiaotuan, puzzled, asked, "Madam, weren’t we supposed to capture him? Why not ask about his whereabouts?" The "him" referred to Li Xian.

Wen Caishang remained silent. She thought to herself, "That cunning fox of a kid is getting harder to catch. My Silkworm Thread Tracking has already been seen through by him. Otherwise, he would never appear in Hao Qingshe’s hair. Even if I asked about his whereabouts, it would surely lead to nothing fruitful; what’s the use of asking?" Her beautiful eyes showed slight anger.

She rolled up her sleeves and looked at the "Sword Brand". Their hearts were connected; if Li Xian had already met his demise, she would have felt it. That’s why, at the moment she encountered ’Hao Qingshe,’ she had her suspicions.

Returning to the inn.

This place was in the wilderness, and the inn was built of timber. It suddenly collapsed, and the guests inside were all startled awake, confused and dazed, with some having their heads broken and bleeding. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured.

Everyone was filled with righteous fury, greatly angered, and sought compensation from the shopkeeper. The inn’s shopkeeper wanted to cry without tears, being the one suffering the greatest loss, his face turning a liver shade of blue, unwilling to compensate.

Wen Caishang walked gracefully, and immediately everyone looked her way. They were all dazzled, showing enraptured expressions, with someone foolishly saying, "Ah, Moon Fairy has descended to the mortal world." Wen Caishang said softly, "I acted a bit heavy-handed and damaged the inn, disturbing your rest. I sincerely apologize. Xiaotuan, fetch a few gold ingots to hand over to the shopkeeper as compensation."

Her tone held no remorse, yet her etiquette was impeccable.

Upon hearing her say "damaged the inn," everyone felt a sudden jolt in their hearts. No one dared to rashly hold her accountable.

Wen Caishang returned to her carriage. Lying sideways as she sat, her gaze wandering. This "Xiaotuan" was someone she encountered by chance, a girl with skillful hands and a clever mind, used by Wen Caishang in practicing the "Silkworm Robe Mismatched Jade Technique."

Recently, the matter of relocating the estate had been 70% arranged. Other major affairs were also progressing steadily. She handled matters skillfully, weighing benefits, controlling hearts, all with ease. Everything planned and desired proceeded as anticipated.

"This cunning kid’s level of craftiness far exceeded my expectations. But even if I don’t know his whereabouts, I still have a way to capture him."

...