Chapter 737: Treacherous Oriole
Chapter 737: Treacherous Oriole
Not long after Xiao Chen left, Situ Lei appeared where Xiao Chen had been.
A mess of five or six corpses lay on the ground. The Situ Clan cultivators had all died in one attack. Some had not even managed to draw their weapons.
“Sou! Sou! Sou!”
A few slower Situ Clan Superior Grade Martial Monarchs trailing Situ Lei landed. When they saw the corpses on the ground, the sight shocked them.
“What a fast saber!”
Situ Lei also had a grave expression. He felt his back run cold with sweat. This is such a terrifying person. How dangerous would he be if he struck at me from behind?
“Xiu!”
A sonic boom resounded. Situ Lei said without turning his head, “They are coming!”
The person who arrived was Situ Lei’s archnemesis, the person he hated the most, Liu Chen of Azure Peak City’s Liu Clan. When Liu Chen landed, he did not say anything. He only gazed calmly at the corpses on the ground.
However, the cultivators of the Situ Clan acted as though a great enemy had come; they were all jittery.
Not much later, the Superior Grade Martial Monarchs of the Liu Clan arrived as well. When they saw the corpses on the ground, they also revealed similarly horrified expressions.
Situ Lei turned around and gave Liu Chen a meaningful glance. Then he said calmly, “Liu Chen, you old fogey, we have been fighting each other for decades. You should know what I am thinking by now, right?”
The crow’s-feet at Liu Chen’s eyes deepened slightly as he smiled and said, “Given our characters, we will not willingly let others take advantage of us. I know what you are thinking.”
“Good, before the White Nascent Fruit matures, let our two clans set down the grudges between us and put our full effort into dealing with this person. What do you think?” Situ Lei suggested sullenly as a bright gleam appeared in his eyes.
Liu Chen’s aged face revealed a sinister smile as he replied, “That is what I am thinking too. When the praying mantis preys on the cicada, it has to be careful of the oriole behind.”
With the common threat of Xiao Chen, the two clans that were like fire and water actually cooperated on something. If word of this matter were to spread, it would probably shock the entire Azure Peak City.
Situ Lei looked in the direction that Xiao Chen had taken. He said calmly, “Aside from you and me, probably no one else can stop this brat.
“In my opinion, once we find that brat, you and I have to attack together immediately without holding back at all, to avoid adding to the unnecessary casualties among our clan members.”
Liu Enze had given Liu Chen a thorough description of Xiao Chen’s prowess the previous night. Now that Liu Chen had seen the corpses here, he gained a rough idea of Xiao Chen’s strength even without meeting him. He did not feel that Situ Lei was being alarmist.
The cultivators of the two clans filled this area. Xiao Chen was not familiar with the local geography. Even though he had the advantage of speed, clan members would occasionally find him. He could not get a proper rest at all.
Three days later, even after Xiao Chen gave it his all, he still failed to escape the two clans. Eventually, Situ Lei and Liu Chen both blocked his way.
Situ Lei had a faint smile as he stood in front of Xiao Chen, gripping a heavy azure spear. Behind him, Liu Chen held a long sword and looked at Xiao Chen expressionlessly.
Several cultivators in the forest leaped out and encircled Xiao Chen, blocking off all his escape routes.
“Little Brother, you have been very hard to find these past few days,” Situ Lei said as he pointed his spear at Xiao Chen.
The number of cultivators from both clans who died at Xiao Chen’s hands over the past few days was countless. The ones who had come here were all elites and had cost enormous amounts of resources to nurture. Anyone would feel frustrated at such a waste.
Despite having two half-Sages blocking him, Xiao Chen did not appear flustered. He smiled and said, “The two of you must truly view this humble one highly. Unexpectedly, you even worked together to deal with a junior.”
“Haha! I really want to see if you still can laugh after this. Liu Chen, you old fogey, attack now!”
Sparks shot out all around the spear tip as Situ Lei thrust it forward. The spear moved like a dragon as it moved through the air together with a bellowing Situ Lei.
In that instant, sand and gravel flew around as a gale howled. Situ Lei completely unleashed his aura, the aura of a half-Sage. Heaven and earth changed colors.
Liu Chen’s gaze turned cold as he attacked at the same time. A blue light flickered on his sword as a strong sword intent spread.
His hair and clothes fluttered in the wind. He pushed off the ground, and the sword hummed as he thrust it at Xiao Chen.
The two half-Sages’ auras pressed heavily on Xiao Chen like they were mountains.
Most Martial Monarchs would not be able to move under such oppression. They might not even be able to breathe, but just get crushed instantly.
However, the two were somewhat naive to think that they could suppress Xiao Chen, who had consumed ten-odd stalks of Monarch Blood Grass, with aura.
Xiao Chen activated the bloodline in his blood, and the ancient sovereign’s aura burst forth.
An ancient, dignified, vast sovereign’s aura spread out, clashing with the two half-Sage auras with equanimity.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
When the formless auras clashed, they produced loud reports in the air. Whirlwinds formed and swept off into all directions.
When the whirlwinds reached the trees at the sides, they immediately ripped off the lush foliage, leaving only bare tree trunks. The cultivators of both clans distanced themselves quickly.
Under the effect of the ancient sovereign’s aura, Situ Lei and Liu Chen’s actions paused involuntarily. Clearly, this aura caught them off-guard.
Xiao Chen squinted slightly and seized this opportunity to attack. With his right hand, he drew his saber at lightning speed, using the portion of the Azure Emperor’s Drawing the Saber that he comprehended.
A bright light appeared as a boundlessly resplendent purple saber Qi split into two and flew in different trajectories, heading for openings the two old men exposed.
“Dang! Dang!”
Metallic clangs rang out. Unexpectedly, Xiao Chen managed to push back Situ Lei and Liu Chen, two half-Sages, with one attack.
However, Liu Chen and Situ Lei were ultimately half-Sages. After they adjusted to the sovereign’s aura, they attacked again.
The earth-shattering attacks contained vast Quintessence that gave the impression of dark clouds covering the sky. Their auras were startling, and they bore a boundless might.
After clashing head-on for ten moves, Xiao Chen felt his Qi and blood surging. His arm started to grow numb. Although he did not receive any significant damage, this state of affairs was still unfavorable. The two half-Sages had pushed him into a situation where he could not retaliate.
My cultivation is much weaker. Even if I use all my trump cards, I have no chance of defeating two half-Sages. The best I can do is a stalemate.
Furthermore, there are so many cultivators watching from behind. When my Quintessence is exhausted, escaping death will be tough.
I have to think of a way to make them give up on chasing after me. In the end, the target is still the thousand-year-old White Nascent Fruit and not the defeat of these two half-Sages.
As Xiao Chen dealt with the two half-Sages’ attacks amidst the gusts of strong wind, his mind raced. Unknowingly, more than a hundred moves passed.
By the trees, the cultivators of the two clans goggled at the fight, incredulous looks stamped on their faces as they watched.
Unexpectedly, this fellow endured more than a hundred moves from two half-Sages and still did not show any signs of losing.
Situ Lei’s spear light danced around as he said sullenly, “Liu Chen, you old fogey, it’s time to use our killing moves.”
This opponent was harder to deal with than the two had expected, causing them to lose their patience. Liu Chen nodded and said, “Let’s finish him off in one move!”
Xiao Chen suppressed the energies in his body and perked up. With the two half-Sages about to use their Heaven Ranked Martial Techniques, perhaps his chance had arrived.
“Nine Surrounding Stars Explosion!” Liu Chen shouted, and nine balls of sword Qi appeared around him. Each ball consisted of highly compressed sword Qi, containing a horrifying might.
The balls of sword Qi moved wildly around Liu Chen, and his aura flourished. The strong winds became like knives as they swept through the surroundings.
“Ka! Ka! Ka!”
In no time at all, the wind blades shattered the surrounding forest giants into wood splinters. The cultivators of the two clans revealed horrified faces as they fled as fast as they could.
In Liu Chen’s hands, the might of this move was over ten times greater than when Liu Enze executed it; the two were simply incomparable.
Liu Chen pointed his sword forward, and the nine balls of sword Qi merged into one. A bright light flashed as the ball of sword Qi shot towards Xiao Chen. The air seemed to hum with ten thousand swords buzzing without end.
On the other side, nine flaming berserk dragons appeared behind Situ Lei. The flame dragons were each a hundred meters long. They all had billowing flames and a shocking aura when they roared at the sky.
Situ Lei’s hands moved along with his spear, and nine flaming dragon-shaped spear Qi shot out, howling as they did.
Flames flared into the air, and the ambient temperature increased. They even managed to burn away all the dust in the air—that was how horrifying they were.
Countless energies clashed inside Xiao Chen’s body, the result of fighting head-on with two half-Sages. If not for the golden light barrier around his bones, the energy that penetrated his body would be more than these.
He should have been severely injured long ago. Fortunately, he now only needed to rest after the battle to recover immediately.
Suppressing these energies, Xiao Chen watched as the two completed their Heaven Ranked Martial Techniques, and instantly made his decision. Then he quickly executed the Dragon Subduing Slash’s Return of the Azure Dragon.
Waves surged behind Xiao Chen as a vast sea appeared. Nine hundred ninety-nine pillars of water shot into the sky, and an Azure Dragon leaped out of the sea.
Quintessence gathered at Xiao Chen’s saber and formed a surging dragon-shaped saber Qi. Clouds appeared in the sky, and Dragon Might spread out as the dragon-shaped saber Qi clashed with the resplendent ball of sword Qi and the nine flame dragons.
“Bang!”
A report loud enough to alarm the heavens rang out suddenly as the ball of sword Qi, the flame dragon spear Qi, and the saber Qi exploded at the same time. Countless cracks instantly appeared in the ground, spreading out like a spiderweb.
Incredibly large boulders shot up into the sky, even blocking the sun.
Then, the remnant force shattered the rocks in the air into sand and dust, which the wind picked up, forming a boundless raging sandstorm.
A white figure was visible in the sandstorm, vomiting blood and flying back in a sorry state.
Evidently, using Return of the Azure Dragon to clash head-on with the Heaven Ranked Martial Techniques of two half-Sages was just barely within Xiao Chen’s capabilities. He lasted for only a moment before losing out to the shock waves.
Situ Lei and Liu Chen both had unsightly expressions as well. The shock waves knocked them back by five hundred meters, and the Quintessence in their bodies turned somewhat chaotic.
When the sandstorm ended, a white figure could be seen riding on an Azure Dragon image flying quickly into the distance.
However, Situ Lei and Liu Chen simply watched the white figure, in no rush to give chase.
After a long time, Situ Lei slowly said, “Liu Chen, you old fogey, unexpectedly, you are still as scheming. If you used your best move, the Nine Heavenly Stars Explosion, that brat would have been a corpse already.”
Liu Chen smiled faintly and retorted, “The same goes for you. You did not use your Ocean of Infinite Flames, either.”
After chasing Xiao Chen away, the two half-Sages who had been at loggerheads for most of their lives immediately turned hostile to each other again.
After all, these two people were feuding. How could they trust each other unconditionally? If one side used their best move and the other did not, that would provide the other side a chance to kill them.