The battle ignited the moment Feng Jiu’er leaped into the air.
Chen Hong was not to be outdone — she surged upward as well, locking with Feng Jiu’er in close combat.
Both women possessed formidable inner force. Their figures — one in black, one in white — crossed and overlapped in flashing streaks, making it nearly impossible for anyone outside the circle of battle to intervene.
Feng Jiu’er had already made a rough assessment of Chen Hong’s martial skill.
Just as Hua-jie had said — this woman practiced dark arts.
Even knowing that her own inner force surpassed Chen Hong’s, Feng Jiu’er could not bring her down in a short amount of time.
And the longer the fight dragged on, the more unfavorable it became for their side.
The grove concealed a considerable number of guards, and many more were still on their way.
If they could not subdue the people here within a short time, then with several thousand guards arriving, things would only become far more difficult.
On Long Yi’s end, the traps along both sides of the mountain pass had been mostly cleared.
But Feng Jiu’er knew that after Long Yi and his forces entered, there was still a battle awaiting them in the grove near the mouth of the pass.
The enemy’s numbers there were not vastly greater than their own, but the mouth of the pass was narrow — it would still take time for their brothers to come through.
With three thousand guards blocking the way in addition, it would be no less than a quarter of an hour before Long Yi could arrive.
So within that quarter of an hour, their several dozen fighters had to hold out against three thousand guards in the grove.
Fortunately, those guards were spread out in smaller groups.
As things stood, with them converging in batches of two or three hundred at a time, their several dozen fighters could still hold out for a while.
Tang Xiaohua saw that she could not enter the battle circle between Feng Jiu’er and Chen Hong, and immediately changed direction, joining Yue Jianfei in turning their attack on Lei Shenbao.
Lei Shenbao alone would not be too difficult to deal with — but the moment Lei Shenbao was in danger, his ten personal bodyguards would assuredly appear without delay.
At this moment, the ten bodyguards had formed a ring, placing Lei Shenbao behind them.
Yue Jianfei, Tang Xiaohua, and Qiao Mu — three people — had each taken a different position and stood before these bodyguards of Lei Shenbao.
The three of them each tried different approaches, attempting to break through the formation formed by the ten.
Yet every time they moved to strike, the opponents seemed to anticipate it, and with a deft, coordinated effort, they repelled whoever drew near.
Jian Yi and Yu Jingfeng held their positions close to Feng Jiu’er. Every guard who approached was swept aside effortlessly by the two of them.
With Miss Jiu’er in her current situation, Yu Jingfeng did not dare rush in recklessly.
Two top-tier fighters were locked in a duel — whether or not he could even enter was one thing, but what Yu Jingfeng feared most was that if he went in, he might accidentally injure Feng Jiu’er.
All the same, Miss Jiu’er’s inner force was certainly greater than that of the woman in black.
But what technique was that woman using? So strange, so wickedly unpredictable? Could Miss Jiu’er defend against it, move by move?
Yu Jingfeng’s attention had barely wavered when two bodies came hurtling toward him.
Jian Yi swept a glance at him that said “I’ll leave this to you,” and in a single leap, managed to break through into the battle circle between Feng Jiu’er and Chen Hong.
Yu Jingfeng snapped back to alertness at once, sent the bodies Jian Yi had thrown his way flying with a sweep of sword energy, and drew his sword to deal with those drawing near.
After Jian Yi entered the circle, Feng Jiu’er was “forced” out of it.
She was chiefly worried that the inner force she still could not fully control might accidentally injure Jian Yi.
Feng Jiu’er emerged from the battle circle and landed steadily on the ground.
The circle of combat — wreathed in black energy and silver light — grew fiercer with each passing moment, gradually shifting off to one side.
Chen Hong knew she was outmatched and wanted to retreat, but Jian Yi gave her no opportunity, pressing forward with speed.
Feng Jiu’er glanced back at her brothers surrounded by guards, then looked once more at the battle circle.
“Jian Yi — do not pursue a desperate foe!”
With those words, she turned and moved toward her brothers.
Eliminating Chen Hong — she would find a way. At the very least, just now had served as a probe of that woman’s fighting technique.
For the moment, what mattered most was her brothers’ lives.
Seeing Feng Jiu’er leave the battle circle, Yu Jingfeng felt a wave of relief wash through him.
He moved to Feng Jiu’er’s side and fought alongside her, the hand gripping his sword filled with renewed strength.
Yu Jingfeng had not forgotten — his duty was to protect Feng Jiu’er, and at all times, he had to keep her safe.
On Lei Shenbao’s side, Yue Jianfei, Tang Xiaohua, and Qiao Mu each launched several rounds of attack without success. The three of them gravitated together without any need to discuss it.
Seeing this, the ten bodyguards immediately grew guarded.
Yue Jianfei, Tang Xiaohua, and Qiao Mu — the three of them huddled together, speaking in low voices that none could make out.
The bodyguards waited and waited, yet still saw no move from the opposite side.
But then, in the instant when all three raised their eyes at once, they leaped into the air together.
The three of them arrived above Lei Shenbao, and Tang Xiaohua, silver spear in hand, drove downward from directly above the center point.
Qiao Mu and Yue Jianfei simultaneously extended their palms, sending a burst of true energy into Tang Xiaohua.
With a thunderous crack, the ten-person formation was broken.
All ten bodyguards, Lei Shenbao included, were unable to withstand the force that came crashing down from above and were scattered across the ground.
The three landed together. Yue Jianfei pressed the tip of his long sword against Lei Shenbao’s throat.
Tang Xiaohua and Qiao Mu each took five bodyguards. In the time it took a stick of incense to burn, they had dealt with all of them.
“And I thought there might actually be someone formidable.” Qiao Mu stood holding her silver spear to the left of Yue Jianfei and Lei Shenbao.
“A complete waste of this lady’s time!” Tang Xiaohua stood holding her own silver spear to their right.
At the outset, even Tang Xiaohua had not thought in the direction of formations — which was precisely why so much time had been wasted.
It seemed she had been out in the world too little for too long, living too comfortably — even her old specialty, the one technique she once excelled at, had been all but forgotten.
“Stand down!” Qiao Mu glanced at Yue Jianfei, then fixed her gaze on those still fighting.
“Keep at it, and do not blame me for showing no mercy.”
The moment those words fell, Qiao Mu drew out a short blade and with swift precision, drove it into Lei Shenbao’s shoulder.
Lei Shenbao let out a low cry and called out in a heavy voice, “Stand down!”
To think he had been brought under Yue Jianfei’s control — how was this possible?
These two women and Yue Jianfei had actually killed the ten personal bodyguards he had spent ten years carefully cultivating?
It was not that Lei Shenbao had underestimated Yue Jianfei’s abilities — he simply had not anticipated that Qiao Mu and Tang Xiaohua would be this formidable.
One whose inner force was considerable but who was still young in years; one a woman of over twenty years who had barely set foot outside her doors in all that time.
“Stand down!” The pain in Lei Shenbao’s shoulder made him cry out loudly.
His voice, carrying the force of his inner energy, resounded through nearly the entire grove.
Yet just as his voice rang out, a series of sharp cracking sounds came from within Lei Shenbao’s clothing — something within it detonated.
Feng Jiu’er turned her head just in time to witness this.
“Careful — it’s poison mist! Everyone hold your breath immediately!”
In the single moment that Yue Jianfei was caught off guard, Lei Shenbao suddenly leaped upward and landed in the treetops.
White particles rained down through the air, and Lei Shenbao sent out a palm blast — and in the ensuing chaos, he fled.
Feng Jiu’er had intended to give chase, but seeing the white particles dispersed by the strange wind and scattered in every direction, she could not bring herself to leave her brothers unattended.
“Yu Jingfeng — come here and take the medicine.” She drew out a vial.
Feng Jiu’er, Yu Jingfeng, and Qiao Mu distributed the antidote to the brothers present in the grove.
Knowing well that Lei Shenbao was a skilled user of poisons, Feng Jiu’er had prepared a considerable supply of medicine capable of countering a wide range of toxins.
She did not know whether it would be potent enough to suppress whatever poison Lei Shenbao had deployed — but it was far better than having nothing at all.