t [V5C157 – A Distance Within Reach]
However, Qianye’s speed had far surpassed Nangong Zhen’s expectations. The former covered a hundred meters in but a few steps and clung to him like a lingering shadow. This time, the heavy sword East Peak was fairly slow. It would only slash out once in a while, but every slash was like a tsunami—Nangong Zhen simply didn’t dare to take them head-on.
On the other side, Song Zining was moving swiftly with his spear raised. He was like a clear wind blowing through the desolate land, free of all secular bindings. He moved diagonally to obstruct Nangong Zhen’s path from behind in a bid to prevent the latter’s return to the base.
Nangong Zhen was indescribably distressed, but the large eye above just wouldn’t disperse, and its cold will was scanning the land repeatedly. How could he dare to let loose and fight the two at full strength? Who knew when he might accidentally produce half a strand of origin power exceeding the limit?
Nangong Zhen felt himself facing a deep, boundless ocean swirling with undercurrents, one in which a tempest was seemingly about to form, but the raging waves of peril were yet to come. His Evergreen Domain was incomparably frail before this deep ocean. It seemed as though it would shatter in a single charge without being able to hinder Qianye’s advancing steps.
It was at this moment that countless flower petals appeared around Nangong Zhen and fell like rain. The Evergreen Domain suddenly froze and then started to break down like a damaged mirror surface—the lush vegetation wilted immediately and was shattered by the spinning blade-like flower petals.
Nangong Zhen’s movements stagnated for just a split second, but Qianye’s East Peak had already reached him during that short moment.
Qianye’s eyes were as blue as the ocean. He sent the blade forth with incomparable concentration as though his two hands on the sword contained boundless weight.
Nangong Zhen could no longer evade. He let out an earth-shattering roar and threw both fists out, but only managed to barely deflect the blade’s edge after countless blows. He himself lightly flew back hundreds of meters away and immediately turned to flee upon landing.
The giant eye in the sky finally turned to gaze at Nangong Zhen who immediately spat out fresh blood with a miserable cry. However, he didn’t slow down in the least and eventually disappeared into the wilderness—but not before roaring loudly from afar, “Song brat! You better not land in my hands in the future!”
Doubt flashed through the giant eye as it scanned the battlefield once more, but it eventually faded into the Iron Curtain after finding nothing.
Qianye stood silently with his sword in hand and his eyes lowered. Moments later, he spat out a mouthful of incomparably bright blood stained with little specks of gold.
Song Zining walked over in a leisurely manner. “Are you okay?”
Qianye waved his hand after spitting out a mouthful of blood. “I’m fine, it’s just the backlash from the overly violent force. Just a light injury.”
“The Profound Combatant Formula is indeed tyrannical. Only an inhuman person like you might be able to cultivate it,” Song Zining said with a shrug.
“It’s rather unfortunate that the bastard ran away.”
“How can he be a Nangong elder if we can kill him just like that? But I’m sure that fellow won’t dare to cause us any more trouble under the Iron Curtain.” At this point, Song Zining laughed ruefully. “That fellow apparently hates me more than you. That’s not fair!”
“Who told you to be so treacherous?” Qianye said with a smile, leaving Song Zining no face at all.
“That’s called intelligent fighting.” Song Zining always managed to find a suitable adjective for himself.
But it couldn’t be considered an exaggeration this time. Nangong Zhen was guarded against Song Zining’s ambush at the interception point but never expected this newly ascended champion’s domain to be so wide—the latter had actually activated the Three Thousand Flying Leaves art to contend with Nangong Zhen’s Evergreen Domain way before he had gotten into position. This forcibly dragged down Nangong Zhen’s speed.
How could even half a surprise be allowed in a battle of this level? Nangong Zhen had no choice but to clash with Qianye after faltering and was no longer able to fully control his energy at the juncture of life and death. He touched Sky Demon’s restriction ever so slightly and invited some of its attention.
It was merely a quick glance to Sky Demon, but it was undoubtedly a heavy injury for Nangong Zhen. He might have died on the spot had he used just a little bit more origin power at that time. That was exactly why Nangong Zhen was exceptionally hateful of Song Zining’s sinister sneak attack—even more so than Qianye’s.
The conflict on the other side of the battlefield was at its fiercest. Dark Flame and the Nangong private army had resumed their battle while the three were fighting. Sky Demon’s will was only a fleeting sensation to these ordinary soldiers. The biggest threat was still before them—the moment they stopped firing, the rain of bullets from the other side would tear them apart.
But, no matter how fierce, the battle there was only for decoration. How could the two Nangong champions dare remain after Nangong Zhen escaped? They slightly pushed Nanhua back with simultaneous attacks before turning to run. Moreover, they only dared run in the opposite direction of Song Zining and Qianye; they didn’t even dare return to base.
Seeing the major characters all gone, the morale of the Nangong Soldiers immediately plummeted.
Qianye ran toward the battlefield in large strides. The bullets raining toward him were all deflected by his origin defenses, and the occasional autocannon shell that did manage to pierce through was already like an arrow at the end of its flight—they could do nothing at all against his present physique.
After rushing past a burning combat vehicle, Qianye reached into the flames with his bare hands and removed a millstone-sized wheel which he weighed in his hand before hurling with great ferocity.
The steel wheel emitted an intimidating scream as it flew hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye and sliced open an enemy combat vehicle!
Qianye stood beside the broken vehicle and tore out the flaming fellow’s parts, turning the larger wheels and gears into long-range projectiles. Their might immediately reached a whole new level with the addition of the Profound Combatant Formula, and they weren’t at all inferior to cannon shells in penetrating power. In the end, Qianye threw out an entire turret and half-smashed one of the Nangong family’s primary tanks.
This kind of violent and inefficient method was apparently quite effective against ordinary soldiers. The Nangong squad’s morale finally collapsed, and they began to retreat. But as well-trained elites, they managed to retain order even in an extremely unfavorable situation. They split into small squads and set up a string of defensive lines to guard the main force during its retreat.
Qianye wasn’t interested in slaughtering these low-ranking soldiers. Moreover, they had a more important objective. Accompanied by a soaring momentum, a certain figure was charging over from the distant city at lightning speed, and this expert’s aura far exceeded that of Nangong Zhen.
Qianye wasn’t a stranger to this aura—one could even say he was deeply acquainted. This person was indeed one of the top characters of the Nangong family, their second elder, Nangong Yuanwang.
Qianye stood in place until Nangong Yuanwang arrived within a hundred meters before saying, “I thought Elder Yuanwang would be meditating deep underground now that Sky Demon’s will has appeared. What are you here for? Are you looking to die?”
Nangong Yuanwang’s face turned ashen upon hearing such words of blatant mockery. He said coldly, “Qianye, are you intent on offending our Nangong family to the very end?”
Qianye chuckled indifferently. “I’m deeply indebted to the Nangong family for its attentive ‘reception’. Wouldn’t I be letting down your kind intentions if I didn’t retaliate in kind?”
Nangong Yuanwang sneered, “Even if we allow you to act so wantonly at the moment, the Iron Curtain will disperse one day! Did you not think about the future before doing such a thing? At that time, this old man will definitely take your dog life even if you hide away to the ends of the world!”
Qianye replied calmly, “I’m here right now. Why wait so long if you want it?”
Nangong Yuanwang’s eyelids twitched as he roared, “What do you mean?”
The origin power in Qianye’s body escalated slowly. “Simple. The Iron Curtain is still here at the moment, and under it, I can at least drag you down with me.”
Nangong Yuanwang spoke no more. He waved both hands in quick succession and shot several blobs of green light at Qianye.
Qianye’s eyes grew brighter and brighter as he slashed out continuously, breaking the green balls of light one after another. Countless green threads burst out, but most of them would vanish into thin air a couple of meters from Qianye. It was as though there was a giant vortex devouring everything in silence.
A number of luminous beams managed to pierce through his defenses and land on his body, but they only managed to burn through his external clothing. They couldn’t even split open his combat armor, much less test the tenacity of his body.
Nangong Yuanwang’s pupils contracted in astonishment—Qianye had easily deflected the Green Skyrender that almost badly wounded him only a couple of days ago. Nangong Yuanwang naturally dared not utilize as much power as he did that day, but it was evident that Qianye had achieved a major breakthrough to be able to render his ultimate move completely ineffective.
Qianye took a step forward with sword in hand but then proceeded to stand there in silence.
Nangong Yuanwang’s eyes turned even graver after seeing Qianye’s movements. He had realized from this step that Qianye’s speed under the Iron Curtain wasn’t slower than him at all, even a little bit faster. That didn’t bode well! This meant that a slight carelessness would lead to him being entangled with Qianye. Mutual destruction would ensue if Sky Demon’s will was attracted at that time.
Nangong Yuanwang was somewhat dissatisfied. He pointed at Qianye from afar and shot out a beam of green light which formed a mysterious array around Qianye’s body. The beam’s head and tail locked together to form a circle of light which suddenly contracted toward the center, binding Qianye at the waist like a pincer. The Nangong family’s Origin’s End, in this second elder’s hands, was able to take on many wondrous forms.
The band of green light materialized and pressed down upon the scarlet origin power radiance on Qianye’s arms, firmly restraining him. Meanwhile, East Peak’s luster had also grown much dimmer, and it was now like a piece of scrap metal.
Seeing this allowed Nangong Yuanwang’s brows to relax slightly.
However, the sound of roaring ocean tides reverberated around Qianye all of a sudden. The light ring around Qianye shook violently as though it were being battered by a raging tempest and began to break apart, inch by inch, under the terrifying pressure. Countless green light-fragments soon filled the air, each of them reflecting Nangong Yuanwang’s livid countenance.
The second elder suddenly waved his wide sleeve and sprayed out a beam of green light in a different direction. Upon closer inspection, one could see that the beam was made up of countless green strands of light shuttling back and forth like a swimming fish.
These green threads were another form of the Green Skyrender, and the energy contained within wasn’t something a fighter could easily endure. They swam out over a distance of hundreds of meters, effectively setting up a barrier in its wake.
Qianye and Song Zining naturally didn’t fear this degree of blockade, but people like Duan Hao and Blackmoon would undoubtedly die if they were to charge through. Nangong Yuanwang had completely blocked off Dark Flame’s pursuit of the Nangong family army with this single move. He didn’t try anything else, either, apart from maintaining this barrier. He confronted Qianye for a moment and then withdrew slowly after his soldiers had left the battlefield.
Qianye neither moved nor gave chase, and only looked on with a cold smile.
A feeling of uneasiness emerged in the depths of Nangong Yuanwang’s heart, but he couldn’t pinpoint the concrete reason. He could only convene together with his family squad despite the lingering doubt.
Deep that night, Nangong Yuanwang finally understood what it was.