Chapter 311: Danger of Death
The person leading them laughed coldly and said, “Duanmu Qing, we are no longer in the Profound Ice Palace. Don’t think you can order us around anymore. Since I am here, there is no chance of me leaving. Just lead the way obediently. Otherwise, don’t blame me for getting nasty.”
“Ka ca!”
Right after he spoke, the twenty people behind him all drew their weapons. They were all radiating killing intent as they stared at Duanmu Qing.
“Reckless!” Duanmu Qing snorted coldly. An ice formation appeared below the feets of the four women behind her. Soon, the ice formation connected and spread to Duanmu Qing’s feet.
“Boom!”
Duanmu Qing’s aura rose instantly without limit, give the others the impression that she was a peak Medial Grade Martial King. It was very frightening.
The person leading the twenty people became anxious. He felt a strong sense of danger. He quickly said, “Attack!”
“Chi! Chi!”
The moment he spoke, the subordinates of the five heirs immediately turned into ice sculptures.
Duanmu Qing pulled her hand back and clenched her fist. “Ka ca! Ka ca!” All the ice sculptures suddenly shattered, instantly slain.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
When the pieces of ice fell on the ground, they shattered again. The bodies encased in the ice tore apart continuously. The five heirs of the Royal Courts were frightened to the point they turned pale. Their weapon hands started trembling.
“Scram!” Duanmu Qing said calmly.
Duanmu Qing had killed fifteen Superior Grade Martial Saints instantly. The strength that she had displayed was simply too horrifying.
Although the cultivations of the five of them were Superior Grade Martial Saint, they had not comprehended a state. They were only slightly more powerful than ordinary Martial Saints. Compared to the true geniuses, they were much inferior.
Against the current Duanmu Qing, they had no chance of victory. However, they were unsatisfied with having to leave like that.
The Royal Court heir leading the group looked at the Guiyi Marquis with dissatisfaction in his heart. This was the true genius of the Royal Courts. He was hoping the Guiyi Marquis would say something on their behalf.
The Guiyi Marquis, Ying Xiao, was wearing golden Battle Armor. There was a two-meter-long sword on his back. It was the Holy Weapon, Sky Splitting Sword. Behind him were four other cultivators in a similar get-up.
When the Guiyi Marquis saw the gazes directed at him, he took a quick glance and then looked away; he ignored them.
With their last hopes dashed, they could only put away their weapons and leave helplessly.
Using a special secret technique, the strength of the four people was perfectly transferred to Duanmu Qing. This caused her combat prowess to instantly reach peak Medial Grade Martial King.
Many people knew about the secret behind Duanmu Qing’s strength, but they had no choice but to acknowledge her might. Even though they knew the secret, they still had to avoid clashing with Duanmu Qing.
In front of absolute power, tricks would not work. Xiao Chen had already experienced this personally from Bing Hou’s aura.
“This is killing to establish her might. When we find the Profound Ice Flower, those people who intended to play tricks will have to think twice,” one of the heirs sighed.
The Profound Ice Flower was very precious. Even though it was not as precious as those Secret Treasures or high ranked Martial Techniques, it was especially beneficial to ice-attributed cultivators.
At that time, there might be someone attempting to take advantage of the chaos to grab the Profound Ice Flower.
Duanmu Qing offended a few heirs without hesitation over a small issue, killing because of it. She was clearly warning the others.
Xiao Chen even suspected these three Martial Kings were purposely planted by the Duanmu Clan, all so that they could give Duanmu Qing an opportunity to establish her might.
Duanmu Qing ignored everyone’s criticism. She said in a soft voice, “This Profound Ice Flower is very important to my Duanmu Clan. We have already waited for a hundred years. Once I obtain the Profound Ice Flower, I will immediately open the Fire Li Sect’s remnant for everyone.”
“Miss Duanmu, rest assured. We will not have any designs on the Profound Ice Flower. Just lead the way.”
“I am a fire-attributed cultivator. The Profound Ice Flower will only harm me. There is no need to worry, Miss Duanmu.”
“Anyone who dares to snatch Miss Duanmu’s Profound Ice Flower is going against me. I will help you to destroy that person.”
“Right, right, right! Anyone who snatches Miss Duanmu’s Profound Ice Flower is our enemy.”
After everyone saw Duanmu Qing’s strength, they all voiced their support for her, pledging to not make a move to snatch the Profound Ice Flower.
When Xiao Chen saw the situation, he did not say anything. If it was something that would be snatched, naturally, it would happen. Words were useless.
Duanmu Qing said, “Thank you, everyone, for allowing this. Please come with me!”
After Duanmu Qing spoke, she led the group into the sinister forest. There were many large and tall trees in the forest, with many branches and leaves. It would take more than two people to wrap their arms around a tree.
A thick layer of leaves and some black grass were on the ground. When the group stepped on them, they gave off rustling sounds unceasingly.
No one dared to be careless in this infamous Ink Forest. They were all focused, carefully observing their surroundings.
“Pu chi!”
Suddenly, a black snake as thick as a man’s thigh came out of the ground. Its body was filled with black Qi. There was a metallic glint on its dense scales.
It pounced from the rear and immediately bit down on a cultivator’s head. It was like a black bolt of lightning; it happened in a flash. Its speed was so fast that no one could react.
“Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!”
Before the group could kill the snake, hundreds of similar black snakes came up from the ground. Many cultivators were caught unaware and were bitten to death.
There were some who were bitten on the arm. The venom immediately spread throughout their whole body. The cultivators who were bitten foamed at the mouth and died of the venom.
Xiao Chen quickly moved backward, avoiding an attack from a black snake. He quickly drew his Lunar Shadow Saber. Then he sent out a purple electric light with a backhand slash.
“Dang! Dang!”
The blade struck the black skin of the snake and gave off a metallic sound. Xiao Chen had only made some of its scales drop off.
What terrifying defenses. Just twenty percent of my strength is insufficient to injure them, Xiao Chen thought to himself in astonishment.
The black snake felt some pain. Its upper body leaped into the air and shot angrily at Xiao Chen. When it opened its jaws, it revealed horrifying teeth, glittering with a cold light.
Xiao Chen’s expression remained unchanged. He brandished his Lunar Shadow Saber again, using only twenty percent of his strength again. However, this time, he aimed for the place where the scales had come off. He immediately chopped the snake in half
“Hu chi!”
The black snake’s upper body in the air did not die. It flicked out its tongue and headed for Xiao Chen’s head at lightning speed.
“Die!”
Xiao Chen shouted and the Lunar Shadow Saber turned into a purple bolt of lightning. A saber light suddenly lit up on his blade. With a loud bang, it shattered the snake, turning it into dust.
The snake turned into clumps of black fog. Even at this point, the threat of the black snake was not solved yet. Xiao Chen sent out a palm strike and scattered the black Qi, resolving the problem.
The other people were not as fortunate as Xiao Chen. Some of the cultivators had chopped the black snakes into halves, but they did not expect the black snakes’ life force to be so strong. Their upper body was still able to attack, causing them to die at the jaws of the snakes.
There were also some people who dealt with the situation with ease. The Guiyi Marquis did not even draw his weapon. He simply blasted a black snake to bits with a punch.
Ji Changkong’s surroundings were filled with countless flickering stars. They turned into strands of sharp sword Qi. This sword Qi was so sharp that it easily chopped a black snake in half.
For each star that flickered, a black snake died. In a short moment, more than ten black snakes were killed.
Hua Yunfei held a scarlet sword in his hand. He revealed a sinister smile as he pierced his sword through a black snake. A ‘zi zi’ sound came continuously from it.
The black snake quickly dried up, its strange black lifeforce was actually sucked dry. After absorbing the black lifeforce, the scarlet glow of the sword became brighter.
Mu Yanxue’s sword moved at its fastest speed. In the blink of an eye, an unknown amount of attacks were sent out. A black snake was chopped into countless tiny pieces the moment it leaped into the air.
The heir of the Xihe Province’s Yan Clan, Yan Qianhe’s older brother, sent out a huge black hand. It grabbed countless black snake firmly, not allowing them to move at all.
Duanmu Qing was even more at ease. She did not even make a move. When the black snakes came near to the Duanmu women, they were slowly turned into ice sculptures before they could reach the five of them. After a breath, they all shattered into tiny pieces of ice.
Xiao Chen looked around, but did not discover Chu Chaoyun. He looked up and realized that Chu Chaoyun had already leaped to the top of a huge tree at an unknown time.
There was a faint smile on Chu Chaoyun’s face as he watched the people below him. It was as though all this was an entertaining show.
When all black snakes were killed, they counted the number of people left. They discovered that more than twenty people were lost in the first wave of attacks.
Including the people who had died at Duanmu Qing’s hands, their numbers had dwindled from more than a hundred to about seventy or eighty people. These losses were quite high.
However, most of the people who died were servants the heirs had brought along. The outstanding talents with true strength were not even injured.
The strength of the black snakes was at the peak of Medial Grade Rank 6 Demonic Beasts. Aside from them coming in large numbers and having a strong life force, they had no other trump cards. They were still unable to truly threaten the crowd.
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After resting for a while, the crowd continued on under Duanmu Qing’s lead.
The Demonic Beasts they met along the way grew progressively stronger. Unlike Ji Changkong and the other cultivators who had comprehended states, the other heirs started to get injured.
Their numbers were also reduced to sixty-odd people. Before the arrived at the Fire Li Sect remnant, they had only half the people they had started with. There were some who wanted to leave, but leaving the group now was clearly seeking death.
The path of a cultivator was cruel. This moment seemed to prove this. Those who were weak or unfortunate became stepping stones in the blink of an eye, coldly forgotten by the other people.
A living example which appeared in front of Xiao Chen made him even more resolute. He absolutely could not become a stepping stone for others.
Suddenly, Duanmu Qing stopped. She pointed to a tree in the front and said, “We arrived. The Profound Ice Flower is behind the tree. However, there is a Rank 7 Demonic Beast guarding it. We need to kill it first before we can pick the Profound Ice Flower.”
Rank 7 Demonic Beast…everyone’s expression changed when they heard it. An heir said in dissatisfaction, “Duanmu Qing, didn't you say that the Profound Ice Flower is at the peripheries of the Ink Forest? Why is there a Rank 7 Demonic Beast? Are you playing us for fools?”