Chapter 704: What Does the Ximen Clan Count For
Chapter 704: What Does the Ximen Clan Count For
The acupoints at Xiao Chen’s feet opened, and he moved in a flash. In the time it took for a spark to fly, he sent out a side kick.
The strong winds were as sharp as blades, and thunder roared ferociously. The winds cried out, and his kick landed on Ximen Jian’s face.
Ximen Jian flew back with a loud ‘bang.’ An immense force exploded forth from Xiao Chen’s foot, cracking Ximen Jian’s lower jaw, and he spat out broken teeth and blood.
Xiao Chen remained in motion. As he stood on the Azure Dragon image, the acupoints on his left foot opened.
Great force spewing out from the acupoints, Xiao Chen moved in a flash, arriving at Ximen Jian’s side in an instant. He was so fast that others could not even see his afterimages.
Then Xiao Chen sent out another kick, planting his foot on Ximen Jian’s chest and stomping on him relentlessly.
Nine hundred tons of force poured out, breaking several of Ximen Jian’s ribs. His internal organs ruptured under the impact.
This blow felt so painful that Ximen Jian screamed. Xiao Chen’s attacks had pushed him into the marsh, resulting in him choking on in several mouthfuls of marsh water.
From the time Xiao Chen attacked up to now, merely two blinks of time had passed. The early-stage Superior Grade Martial Monarch Ximen Jian had not even managed to see what Xiao Chen did.
When Ximen Jian decided to attack, he had not expected his opponent to forestall him by seizing the initiative.
Ximen Jian had not expected Xiao Chen to ignore defense and get so close to him.
As for Xiao Chen, since he had attacked first, if he failed to take down Ximen Jian, he would never be able to forgive himself.
The cultivators that rushed over to watch all felt dizzy; they were so shocked that they thought something was wrong with their eyes.
On the other side, the expression of the tall youth, Ximen Yuan, turned grave. He looked at Xiao Chen, trembling as he exclaimed, “A body temperer! You are actually a cultivator who tempers his body!”
The strength of a body temperer was not commensurate with cultivation. With Xiao Chen’s cultivation as a Medial Grade Martial Monarch and nine hundred tons of physical force, he could easily defeat an early-stage Superior Grade Martial Monarch like he was drinking water.
A simple cross-grade challenge did not hold any difficulty for him.
These two people were really reckless, trying to use the Ximen Clan’s name to suppress Xiao Chen. They had truly kicked an iron board.
[TL Note: Kicked an iron board: This means doing something that turns out to sabotage one’s self.]
“Just you wait. After injuring the Ximen Clan’s people, no one will be able to save you.”
The tall youth looked at Xiao Chen in horror. Then, without saying anything else, he immediately fled. His flight clearly demonstrated the Ximen Clan’s style of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
Xiao Chen looked in the direction where that person headed and contemplated for a moment. In the end, he did not give chase.
There was no point in pursuit. With so many people watching, Xiao Chen could not kill them all to silence them. As for Ximen Yuan’s threat, he actually did not care.
The Ximen Clan might have deep resources and strength, but the Supreme Sky Sect backing Xiao Chen was not weak, either. Hence, the older generations would not dare to do anything to him.
Xiao Chen’s only concern was Ximen Bao. This person’s strength was on the same level as Feng Xingsheng’s, his cultivation only a step away from half-Sage.
If Xiao Chen faced Ximen Bao now, his chances of victory would not exceed fifty percent even if he used all his trump cards.
“I won’t worry about him for now. My only goal at present is to find more Earth Essence Fruits. At the very least, I need to advance to peak Medial Grade Martial Monarch.”
With his Spiritual Sense, Xiao Chen immediately found another Earth Essence Fruit.
After glancing at Ximen Jian, who had just stood up, Xiao Chen casually kicked out and sent him flying before ignoring him.
“Who is this person? He actually dares to humiliate the Ximen Clan’s people.”
“I do not know him nor have I ever heard of him. With such a strong physical body and a cultivation at Medial Grade Martial Monarch, he would have already become famous long ago.”
“No matter how strong he is, when Ximen Bao learns about this, he won’t have a good end.”
“Indeed. If it was not for us fearing Ximen Bao, who would even care about these Ximen Clan cultivators, letting them do as they please?”
Xiao Chen had dealt with Ximen Jian summarily and then kicked him away like he was trash.
It looked like Xiao Chen did not give a hoot about the Ximen Clan at all. Such a scene shocked everyone. They did not know where Xiao Chen came from.
On the other side, the tall youth, Ximen Yuan, feared that Xiao Chen would pursue him. So he dashed wildly for five kilometers before he released his bated breath and rang the Ximen Clan’s siren.
Soon, the Ximen Clan’s team quickly rushed over. Within ten minutes, they had all gathered.
A total of eight people arrived, all of them with vast auras. All of them were Superior Grade Martial Monarchs. One of them was a square-faced cultivator. He was thirty years old and was the strongest, a late-stage Superior Grade Martial Monarch, about the same level as the Supreme Sky Sect’s Hu Hai.
This person was called Ximen Ye, a cousin to Ximen Bao. He had a very high position in the team. He looked at Ximen Yuan and frowned, “What’s wrong? Weren’t you together with Ximen Jian? Where is he?”
Ximen Yuan was uncertain in his heart. After all, he had been frightened off and had not even cared about Ximen Jian’s fate, so he could not say much in reply.
Ximen Ye’s expression turned somewhat livid as he demanded in a stern voice, “Speak!”
Ximen Ye had shouted in a cold voice containing some might. Ximen Yuan immediately trembled and blurted out everything in detail.
“You trash!”
After Ximen Ye heard everything, he immediately scolded Ximen Yuan angrily. “I told all of you long ago that it is not a problem to snatch treasures away from others, but you cannot underestimate anyone in this Savage Battlefield.
“With your cultivations, as long as you were careful, even if you could not defeat that brat, it should still have been quite simple to leave safely.”
Ximen Yuan did not dare to rebut. He whispered, “What should we do now?”
Ximen Ye thought for a while and then replied, “Don’t make a move for now. Cousin is currently tempering his Martial Technique in Death Marsh. I do not have the confidence to deal with this guy alone. After you find him, just follow him from afar.”
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“Great, I found another Earth Essence Fruit!”
After Xiao Chen inspected a strange fruit, he revealed an expression of joy. Two venomous pythons lay at his feet, bleeding into the marsh.
After finding the first Earth Essence Fruit, Xiao Chen’s luck changed for the better. The next few tries resulted in Earth Essence Fruits. He ended up with a Golden Essence Fruit only once.
Soon, Xiao Chen found a pattern. The fruits guarded by two or more venomous pythons were more likely to be Earth Essence Fruits.
Using this rule and his strong Spiritual Sense, Xiao Chen gained a bountiful harvest, obtaining twenty Earth Essence Fruits.
However, due to his earlier lesson, Xiao Chen no longer dared to practice his Heaven Ranked Martial Technique casually. If he attracted a group of cultivators over, it would be too problematic.
The unfortunate thing was that the twenty Earth Essence Fruits were all about a hundred years old. They could only barely push Xiao Chen’s cultivation to peak late-stage Medial Grade Martial Monarch.
After consuming the Quintessence Gathering Pill, Xiao Chen would require more, so he had to find Earth Essence Fruits over a hundred years old. He even needed two-hundred-year-old or three-hundred-year-old Earth Essence Fruits. Only then he would be able to truly push his cultivation to peak late-stage Medial Grade Martial Monarch.
After putting away the Earth Essence Fruit in his hands, Xiao Chen looked into the distant horizon. He said, “Looks like I will have to go into the depths of Python Swamp. The periphery may be safer, but the rewards are too small.”
The air in the depths of Python Swamp was more turbid. The shroud of poisonous gas there was denser than in the periphery.
In that place, the cultivators looking for Earth Essence Fruits would be stronger, more or less around Hu Hai’s level.
Although the number of venomous pythons would be much fewer, every one of them would be at least three hundred meters long. Aside from lacking a black horn, they would be quite similar to the one that initially blocked the entrance.
Xiao Chen looked around and discovered a few loose cultivators around as well. The moment he arrived here, he had felt the weight of a few malicious gazes.
“Where did this brat come from? How dare he just go anywhere he wants?”
The loose cultivator nearest to Xiao Chen had just killed a three-hundred-meter-long venomous python. In the end, he obtained only a poisonous fruit, putting him in a bad mood.
When this loose cultivator saw Xiao Chen, he wanted to vent his frustration. So, without saying anything more, he immediately charged at him.
Xiao Chen did not panic. Loose cultivators had always done as they wished. They were strange and cruel. Without having overwhelming strength, it would not be possible to deter them.
This situation was convenient for Xiao Chen. He could kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, saving him a lot of future trouble.
[TL Note: Kill a chicken to scare the monkeys: As was explained before, it means to use someone as an example to warn others.]
Xiao Chen drew his Lunar Shadow Saber and unleashed a perfect sixty-percent-comprehended saber intent along with his immortal state of thunder. Then, he executed Burning to Desolation.
“Qiang! Qiang!”
The weapons clashed, sending sparks flying. An intense shock wave spread in every direction. The loose cultivator who charged at Xiao Chen had not expected Xiao Chen to be so formidable.
Although Xiao Chen did not have vast Quintessence, it was very pure. Furthermore, he had set his saber intent at sixty percent comprehension. His state of thunder had also reached the limit and contained the immortal attribute.
Adding everything together and applying them to the originally tyrannical Burning to Desolation sent the middle-stage Superior Grade Martial Monarch loose cultivator flying back with blood leaking from his lips.
After the loose cultivator landed, he looked at Xiao Chen in horror. Then, he turned around and fled. However, Xiao Chen did not let him do as he wished. The Azure Dragon image under Xiao Chen soared and quickly bit him.
Such a scene immediately gave the loose cultivators around paying attention a big scare. Unexpectedly, Xiao Chen could force back a Superior Grade Martial Monarch in one move.
“This fellow should be a genius cultivator. It would be best not to cross him.”
These loose cultivators withdrew their gazes and stopped paying attention to Xiao Chen. As for that loose cultivator’s fate, it was none of their business.
The Azure Dragon image bared fangs and claws as it moved up and down, bearing Xiao Chen on a tight chase. The black-robed loose cultivator in front felt very bitter.
Originally, that loose cultivator had planned to casually kill someone to vent his frustration. A Medial Grade Martial Monarch should have been an easy target. In the end, he kicked an iron board.
“Azure Dragon Tail Whip!”
The dragon looked up and tossed Xiao Chen in a long arc. A strong wind blew, and everywhere it passed, the murky water and mud in the swamp shot up, forming water screens.
The black-robed loose cultivator cursed angrily and circulated his Quintessence. Then, he shattered all the murky water and mud coming his way and charged at Xiao Chen again.
“Brat, don’t push things too far. If the fish dies trying to break the net, it will not benefit you, either.”
[TL Note: The fish dies trying to break the net: This means a life-and-death struggle resulting in negative results for both sides, what might be called a Pyrrhic victory.]
The weapons clashed and knocked the black-robed loose cultivator back by a hundred meters. He glared fiercely, and a baleful aura spread out.
Xiao Chen pointed his weapon at the loose cultivator and smiled coldly to himself. He said, “Don’t think so highly of yourself. Even if a fish like you dies, you will not be able to break the net.”
This person was only about as strong as Chen Xiao and the others—weaker than Hu Hai.
Xiao Chen brought out only a sixty-percent-comprehended saber intent. With the immortal state of thunder, he could firmly suppress his opponent already. He had not even used his Great Perfection saber intent and peak state of massacre.
“I will make you pay for this!”
Seeing that Xiao Chen was intent on killing him, the black-robed loose cultivator threw caution to the wind and circulated all his Quintessence. A boundless baleful aura gave rise to a sea of blood floating around him.
“Profound Ice Ghost Chop!”
The black-robed loose cultivator roared ferociously and turned the sea of blood around him into ice. Then, he formed a sword light made of frozen blood and chopped at Xiao Chen.