Chapter 62: Ambushed

After explaining everything to Xu Qingxue, Xu Ziyan left her residence and returned to her own room. She sat inside for a while, then heard footsteps outside. She stood up, opened the door, and went out. She saw the New Disciples passing by her door quietly.

Seeing their actions, Xu Ziyan immediately understood why they were doing this, and she couldn’t help feeling touched.

When the disciples saw Xu Ziyan coming out of her room, they quickly gathered around her. They asked with enthusiasm and respect:

“Sister Ziyan, how did your Closed-Door Cultivation go?”

“Sister Ziyan, did you make a breakthrough?”

“Sister Ziyan, what is your current Cultivation Level?”

“Haha,” Xu Ziyan looked at their eager faces and said gently, “I was lucky to break through again. Now I am at the Eleventh Layer of Houtian!”

“Wow! Sister Ziyan is amazing!”

“Yes, it hasn’t been long since she entered the Outer Hall, and she has already reached the Eleventh Layer of Houtian!”

“Right, it’s been less than ten days since her last breakthrough!”

“Sister Ziyan, you are truly a genius!”

“Sister Ziyan, Boss Ziyan, we will follow you from now on!”

They chattered noisily, crowding around Xu Ziyan with words of praise. Even someone as experienced as Xu Ziyan felt a bit embarrassed by their flattery. She quickly waved her hand and said:

“Alright, aren’t you all hungry? I’m going to eat now!”

“Yes! Let’s eat!”

“Let’s follow the boss to eat!”

“Hahaha…”

The journey was filled with laughter and joy, as if it were not just Xu Ziyan who had broken through, but all of them together.

Xu Ziyan walked ahead, feeling both amused and exasperated, like a gang leader in an old movie. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept by, blowing the snow on the ground into the air on both sides. From within the snow, a figure shot toward her like lightning. The shadow of a fist rapidly enlarged before her eyes.

At that moment, Xu Ziyan was surrounded by people. She could have dodged easily, but if she did, the New Disciples around her would get hurt. From the force of that punch, she could tell that the person who threw it had a Cultivation Level of at least the Eleventh Layer of Houtian.

Xu Ziyan disliked this kind of sneak attack without warning. So she gathered all the power of her Eleventh Layer of Houtian and struck back forcefully with her own punch.

A dull thud sounded as the attacker was sent flying backward by Xu Ziyan’s punch. The person slid through the air for a distance, stumbled upon landing, and took a few more unsteady steps back.

The snow around them was stirred up by the force of the collision between Xu Ziyan and the other person. When the snow settled, the opponent’s figure was finally revealed.

Xu Ziyan looked closely and saw a woman in white standing opposite her, like a white lotus glistening with dew. However, her beautiful face was as cold as ice, and her bright eyes glared at Xu Ziyan with disdain.

Xu Ziyan was stunned. She vaguely remembered that this woman had once fought alongside Xu Dongxue, the Gang Leader of the Plum Blossom Gang who died in Tongyou Valley, to hold off the Monster Beasts. Now she was looking at Xu Ziyan with such contempt—what was the reason?

A commotion arose ahead as over two hundred people ran over from a distance. Leading them was Xu Hualing, who had fought with Xu Ziyan before. When Xu Hualing and the others arrived behind the woman who had just exchanged blows with Xu Ziyan, they all glared at Xu Ziyan with anger and disdain.

Xu Ziyan’s good mood from the morning was completely ruined by that punch and the more than two hundred pairs of disdainful eyes. She grew angry. Looking over the shoulder of the woman she had just fought, she stared coldly at Xu Hualing and said:

“Xu Hualing, give me an explanation!”

Before Xu Hualing could respond, the woman from earlier started shouting insults: “You despicable, shameless scoundrel! What explanation do you deserve?”

After saying that, she lunged forward again, throwing a flurry of punches that enveloped Xu Ziyan. Although she was a woman, her moves were powerful and aggressive, filling the entire space.

Xu Ziyan could not retreat because behind her were the weak New Disciples. She had no choice but to shout:

“Step back!”

Her feet planted firmly on the ground, she did not dodge or avoid. Her jade-like hands moved up and down, blocking all of the woman’s attacks.

Xu Ziyan did not know why they were picking a fight with her, and she felt frustrated. She did not want to fight for no reason. Once she saw that the New Disciples behind her had moved away, she suddenly clenched her fists and unleashed the full force of her Eleventh Layer of Houtian, sending the woman flying back. Then she yelled sharply:

“Who are you? What is this about? If you don’t speak, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

“What can you do even if you are ruthless?”

The woman’s face turned red, whether from exhaustion or anger. She swayed and appeared in front of Xu Ziyan again. Her graceful figure now moved like a fierce leopard. She curled her fingers like hooks and clawed at Xu Ziyan.

Xu Ziyan grew furious. At first, she had held back because she didn’t know the situation. But after repeatedly asking questions, she only received even more desperate attacks from the other side. Finally, she stopped asking. She thought to herself that with someone so unreasonable, she would have to teach her a harsh lesson first before they could talk properly.

Xu Ziyan bent the fingers of her left hand and flicked them repeatedly against the woman’s onslaught, hitting her wrist meridians each time. The woman felt her arms go numb and weak, and they dropped powerlessly to her sides. While flicking with her left hand, Xu Ziyan raised the index finger of her right hand and thrust it like an arrow toward the woman’s throat. It was so fast that it created a sharp whistling sound through the air.

Her fingertip stopped right at the woman’s throat. The force of the attack made the woman’s throat sting with pain. Her eyes instinctively narrowed, showing fear.

Xu Ziyan shouted coldly: “Why did you attack me?”

“Let go of our Gang Leader!”

Seeing the woman subdued by Xu Ziyan, Xu Hualing and the more than two hundred people grew anxious. They yelled and charged at Xu Ziyan. Xu Ziyan’s eyebrows furrowed, and the anger she had been suppressing finally erupted. She moved her finger down and pressed a point on the woman’s chest, making her lose the ability to move. Then she kicked the woman in the abdomen, sending her body flying rapidly backward and crashing into the oncoming members of the Plum Blossom Gang, knocking them down.

Following the flying body of the Plum Blossom Gang’s Gang Leader, Xu Ziyan’s figure drifted out like smoke…