The people that had arrived at the Cloud Margin Pavilion were none other than the group led by Linggu Haonan. They had just come from the Martial Hall Palace. They had failed to find Xiang Shaoyun at the Martial Hall Palace, and through the Soul Searching Technique, they found that Xiang Shaoyun had perished at the Golden River Valley.
They were all stunned by the news. Unwilling to accept that as the truth, they headed toward the Golden River Valley. They searched the entire Golden River Valley and had even smashed a way open to the underground cave. When they did that, a massive amount of vicious gold energy leaked out, giving them a fright.
They couldn't even find Xiang Shaoyun's corpse and thus couldn't be sure if he had really died. They had then decided to come to the Cloud Margin Pavilion instead, thinking of using the resources available to the Cloud Margin Pavilion as a local tyrant to search for Xiang Shaoyun. That would be much better than searching by themselves.
If they couldn't find Xiang Shaoyun here as well, they would be left with no choice but to return and report to the sect. Surprisingly, they sensed someone breaking through into the Dragon Ascension Realm the moment they arrived. And that was the start of tragedy for the newly advanced Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator. One ought to admit that Lightning Emperor was both lucky and extremely unlucky at the same time.
"I don't care who you are. Leave the Cloud Margin Pavilion immediately. Otherwise, don't blame us for what we are going to do next," said Yue Yuze toward the person lusting after Hua Cheng.
The person being spoken to was Yun Feng, a subordinate of Linggu Haonan. He was among the weakest in the group. Even as one of the weakest among them, he possessed a strength comparable to Hua Cheng. It was clear how powerful Linggu Haonan's group was. That was also why Yue Yuze had not dared to attack. He was afraid that doing so would attract calamity to the Cloud Margin Pavilion.
"Haha, what are you going to do? Bring it on. Do I look like I'm afraid?" Yun Feng howled with laughter.
"Don't push it too far," said Yue Yuze with a frown.
Before Yun Feng could say anything, Linggu Haonan commanded, "Yun Feng, stand down." He looked at Yue Yuze and said, "We are here to look for someone. Ask your disciples whether any of them have heard of the name Xiang Shaoyun."
Right after he said that, a slight trace of astonishment appeared on Hua Cheng's face, but she quickly hid it. She thought she did a good job hiding her shock, but Linggu Haonan had still noticed her change of expression.
"We have never heard of that name. You can leave now," Yue Yuze replied promptly.
"Haha, are you sure?" Linggu Haonan smiled. His gaze landed on Hua Cheng, and he said, "Beauty, do you know anything?"
Hua Cheng did not know why they were looking for Xiang Shaoyun, but her intuition was telling her they were harboring evil designs.
Thus, she replied with "I don't."
"Hehe, beauty, you are being dishonest here," said Linggu Haonan with a laugh before abruptly sending a palm downward. The palm attack looked extremely casual, but it had the might of a collapsing mountain.
Rumble!
An entire area of the outer pavilion was flattened by the palm, turning the people and buildings there into smithereens.
"Ahhhh!"
The lucky disciples who survived started crying out in panic. The sudden attack had frightened them badly and had killed about 300 people and destroyed an area of several hundred meters in size. It almost felt like a natural calamity had struck the pavilion instead of a palm strike. Instantly, the Cloud Margin Pavilion was filled with panic.
"Activate the defensive formation immediately!" Murong Qing, the previous generation pavilion master, commanded.
The elders quickly went to their stations and activated the formation. Instantly, a shining barrier of light covered the entire Cloud Margin Pavilion.
Linggu Haonan did not continue attacking. Rather, he looked at Hua Cheng and asked, "Beauty, do you really not know Xiang Shaoyun?"
"You fiends, I won't spare you for what you did!" Hua Cheng shouted furiously. A zither appeared in her hands, and her fingers started plucking at the strings.
Hua Cheng was known as the Zither Empress, and her weapon of choice was the zither. She played a crisp and sweet tune, the melody carrying with it an indescribable might that dazed Linggu Haonan and his men.
Hua Cheng then increased the speed at which she played the zither, her sound waves creating 18 weapons that shot toward Linggu Haonan's group. Each of the weapons were powerful enough to destroy mountains.
Just as the weapons were about to strike Linggu Haonan and his men, clarity suddenly returned to Linggu Haonan's eyes. He waved his hand, sending a curtain of light blasting forward.
Rumble! Rumble!
A series of explosions ensued, the force causing the entire area to shake.
"The dao of zither? Interesting. Unfortunately, you are still not strong enough," said Linggu Haonan with a faint smile before he looked back and commanded, "Zhu Jinxi, step forth. Seize that woman."
"Yes, commander!" answered Zhu Jinxi.
But before he could do anything, Yun Feng said, "Commander, let me deal with her."
"No. She already has some accomplishments in the dao of zither. Even if you can defeat her, it will take some time. I don't have the time to wait. You can deal with the others if you want," said Linggu Haonan.
"Yes, commander," replied Yun Feng, who did not dare to disobey his commander.
"The two pavilion masters and Elder Luo, please retreat for now. Let me deal with them," said Hua Cheng. She increased the speed she was playing the zither, sending a series of sound attacks toward her opponent. Her sound attacks, capable of dazing people and driving them crazy, seemed capable of penetrating everything, and they appeared to be everywhere.
"Die, woman!" Zhu Jinxi's cultivation level was a stage higher than Hua Cheng's. While resisting the sound attacks, he charged forward while protecting himself with an energy barrier that completely protected him against the sound attacks. He then swung his massive hammer at Hua Cheng.
Hua Cheng retreated while playing the zither, sending numerous weapons formed of sound waves toward the incoming hammer. But the hammer was too strong; her attacks were all smashed apart as it continued toward her.
Hua Cheng's face paled from fright. She had never expected that her opponent would be so powerful. After all, she was already one strong enough to battle those above her cultivation level. Even so, she was completely helpless before this person.
Just as Hua Cheng was about to fail avoiding the strike, a saber slash appeared from the horizon and flew straight at Zhu Jinxi. It was an extraordinary slash, so powerful all of Zhu Jinxi's hairs stood on end when it came.