Chapter 143: After My Flowers Bloom, All Other Flowers Shall Perish!

The aura rising within the city was chilling, oppressive, and utterly terrifying. The immense pressure made it feel as though a heavy stone were pressing down on one's chest, leaving people not only breathless but overcome with a sense of panic.

Song Mu, who was in the midst of composing poetry, could clearly sense that the newcomer harbored ill intentions.

Sure enough, a figure suddenly materialized on a rooftop somewhere within the city. He was flushed with a vibrant glow and dressed in bright red official robes, yet the energy surging from his hands was plumes of billowing black Qi.

As the black Qi billowed with increasing ferocity, the aura radiating from his body steadily grew stronger.

Song Mu's pupils constricted slightly, a mixture of shock and anger welling up within him.

It was none other than Ke Jijin! But this time, he was an immensely powerful Jinshi scholar!

Song Mu instantly recalled the terrifying presence Ke Jijin had emitted the previous night. Yet wasn't he merely at the cultivation level of a Tung-Jinshi?

Could it be that he had concealed his true strength?

A turbulent storm of emotions churned within Song Mu's heart. He raised his head to look at Tao Fengming suspended in mid-air. Tao Fengming had already fixed his gaze upon the demonic cult Jinshi slowly rising from the city below, and without a single word of nonsense, the ball of literary power in his hand abruptly shifted form.

The very next instant, this literary Qi transformed into countless blades and swords, hurtling wildly toward the adversary with ferocious speed!

The towering momentum, matched with this grand and majestic spectacle, sent shockwaves through Song Mu's soul.

"So you are the Jinshi who came to the prefecture capital yesterday! Splendid, I never expected you to dare turn back and counterattack. But do not think that relying on your single strength will allow you to turn the tide!"

A series of grim laughs echoed from the sky above, the voice devoid of any human emotion, while his figure shifted at dazzling speed in that exact moment.

He actually passed straight through Tao Fengming's myriad swords unscathed!

Seeing this development, Song Mu's heart tightened instantly. He quickly looked over at Tao Fengming, only to find that Tao Fengming's figure had vanished abruptly at that very split second.

The next moment, the two figures clashed fiercely somewhere deep within the city, their movements moving at a speed so blinding that Song Mu could not even capture them with his naked eyes.

The thunderous cracking sounds produced by the collision of their literary powers echoed incessantly, and the entire sky above the city had now transformed into an entirely different realm.

Due to the activation of the city-defense grand array, the giant eagles had been forced to retreat considerably, yet Ke Jijin refused to leave.

Tao Fengming was locked in a ferocious, evenly matched battle with his opponent, and yet, not a single Jinshi within the city came out to assist.

Song Mu was consumed by acute anxiety, but commotion erupted once more upon the city wall before him. The people infected by demonic taint surged forward in a swarm, leaving Song Mu with no choice but to hurriedly resume writing his poetry.

While Song Mu's writing brush flew across the paper without pause, the battle in the sky grew increasingly intense.

As Song Mu observed the situation, a surge of anxious frustration gripped his heart. This was clearly a city that boasted eight Jinshi scholars; why was it that not even a single Jinshi had emerged to help by now?

Even as these thoughts raced through his mind, a figure suddenly plummeted toward his location at breakneck speed. The rate at which the figure descended from the heavens was terrifyingly fast, and within mere moments, it appeared above the city wall. Yet, failing to control its momentum, the figure tumbled directly downward from a height of several meters.

Song Mu and a few soldiers rushed forward immediately to pull the person up, and to his utter astonishment, Song Mu recognized the elderly Jinshi who had cursed and berated his master yesterday.

The man's complexion was deathly pale, and fresh blood spilled from the corners of his mouth.

"Lord Gu, how are you holding up?" A squad leader asked with a panicked expression as he hurried over to prop the old man up, but the elder offered no response whatsoever.

Song Mu hurriedly stepped in to take over, examining the old man's condition.

The aura emanating from the elderly man's body was currently in a state of extreme instability, and his overall condition was perilous in the extreme!

A short while later, the old man slowly regained consciousness. Upon seeing Song Mu by his side, he burst into a fit of violent coughing.

Song Mu hurriedly patted his back while asking urgently, "My Lord, what on earth has happened to you?"

After coughing for a while, the old man finally managed to catch his breath, though his expression remained etched with agony. He fished a few pills from his tunic and swallowed them, which seemed to bring him some relief. Squinting his eyes to look at Song Mu as if suddenly remembering something, he spoke in a breathless rush:

"Send for reinforcements from the other prefectures immediately! We have encountered a demonic cult Jinshi!"

"That Ke Jijin... he became a fallen scholar a long time ago... cough, cough..."

Shock and dread crept into Song Mu's expression, while the elder continued speaking.

"All seven Jinshi of the prefectural yamen have fallen victim to his schemes. The Prefect's life and death remain unknown to this hour. The poison this wretch used is the 'Month-Fade Powder'—how vicious."

"Lord Gu, the military camp in the city has suffered the same fate. Once the poison took effect, everyone was left completely unconscious. And then there are countless commoners who have also been infected by the demonic taint," the nearby squad leader said, his voice dripping with utter despair.

Song Mu raised his head to gaze at Ke Jijin, who was still locked in fierce combat with Tao Fengming in the skies above.

So that was why this city had been breached so swiftly, without even managing to execute basic defensive measures or retaliatory actions—they had all been incapacitated by Ke Jijin's poison.

A fallen scholar lurking in the guise of an official had used his identity as a shield to poison everyone into helplessness in the blink of an eye.

Month-Fade Powder—Song Mu had never heard of it, but anything capable of striking down Jinshi scholars was proof enough of its terrifying potency!

A single man had managed to paralyze an entire city.

While Song Mu was stunned by the man's horrific scheme, his primary concern remained Tao Fengming.

Could his master possibly defeat that monster?

High above, the clash between the two figures grew even more violent, locked in an intense stalemate where neither could gain the upper hand.

Realizing that the chaotic situation in Shaozhou Prefecture had not yet been fully contained, Ke Jijin showed not the slightest trace of panic, nor did he exhibit even a shred of intention to retreat.

Suddenly, a burst of wild, unbridled laughter rang out.

"Ha, ha! Mere prefectural academy instructor—though you possess some tricks, you still lack the true mettle!"

The fellow mocked loudly while his hand movements shifted abruptly in the next instant.

A moment later, numerous strands of blood-red threads were seen slithering outward from his fingertips.

Upon witnessing this, Song Mu sprang to his feet, instantly comprehending what the enemy was attempting to do.

It was the exact same phenomenon that had once occurred in Shiyang County! These demonic cult scoundrels used these unknown blood threads to drain the flesh, blood, and cultivation of those corroded by the demonic taint!

Sure enough, in the next moment, these blood threads shot out in all directions toward various parts of the city. The crystalline threads formed a web resembling the most horrific spider's web, enshrouding the entire city below!

This fellow was vastly more formidable than the one back in Shiyang County!

Trembling inwardly, Song Mu wore a look of intense anxiety as he shifted his gaze to Tao Fengming, only to see his master's figure suddenly shift into motion.

"I fought battles across three thousand miles of land, / A single sword once held off a million troops."

A poem by Wang Wei, *The Old General's Ballad*, escaped Tao Fengming's lips, followed by waves of brilliant radiance that rippled outward, sweeping across the surroundings in every direction.

The brilliant light severed those blood threads in an instant!

"Splendid!"

Song Mu clenched his fists tightly, unable to suppress a cry of approval. Meanwhile, Ke Jijin seemed to realize something was amiss, and the movements of his hands shifted once more.

It was a scroll unlike anything Song Mu had ever laid eyes on. The scroll was entirely blood-red, with what appeared to be flames dancing across its surface, unfurling rapidly as it fluttered in his hands.

Simultaneously, Tao Fengming sensed an ominous premonition and rapidly retreated through the air. The elderly Gu surnamed elder standing beside Song Mu also widened his eyes in horror, letting out a sharp cry of dismay.

"The Hundred Flowers Massacre Scroll!"

Song Mu turned his head. The old man had managed to stand up with the support of several soldiers, his face painted with absolute shock and fury.

"That damned monster! He actually brought the demonic cult's Hundred Flowers Massacre Scroll here!"

"How on earth did he master Huang Chao's evil scriptures?!"

A sudden realization struck Song Mu, causing his eyes to widen in shock as well. In this world, there had also existed the failed imperial scholar Huang Chao, who had stirred up boundless blood and terror in the early years of the Wen Dynasty.

Having repeatedly failed the imperial examinations and despairing of ever breaking through in his cultivation, he had turned his back on humanity to embrace the demonic cult, becoming a fallen scholar.

Huang Chao was blessed with supreme intelligence and a profound mastery of literature. Within a mere decade, he leaped from the status of a Juren scholar to a cultivator at the Hanlin realm, becoming one of the most terrifying fallen scholars of that era.

The poem he composed, *On Chrysanthemums After Failing the Examinations*, had once shaken the literary veins of the Great Wen Dynasty, plunging the era into a tempest of instability.

"When autumn comes to the eighth day of the ninth moon, / Once my flowers bloom, a hundred flowers shall perish."
"The soaring fragrance pierces through Chang'an, / And the entire city is clad in golden armor!"

With this single poem, Huang Chao had condensed an evil scripture for the demonic cult, and that scripture recorded only a single method: how to forge the Hundred Flowers Massacre Scroll.

It was a peculiar and exclusive realm unique to the demonic cult, requiring no spiritual will to activate—only the user's towering demonic Qi and overwhelming murderous intent!

And right now, that wretch actually possessed such a horrifying demonic artifact!

Song Mu's soul trembled violently, while the enemy's hearty, uninhibited laughter echoed from the heavens above.

"Junior, allow me to broaden your horizons today. You and the commoners of this entire city shall together enter my Hundred Flowers Massacre Scroll!"