Chapter 614: One Person Beating Up a Group
The blue-robed old man quickly closed the distance between Xiao Chen and himself. After fifteen minutes, he reached within five hundred meters of Xiao Chen.
“Die for me!”
The blue-robed old man’s gaze turned cold, and he used his palm as a saber. Quintessence gathered on his palm, and his figure flashed. He arrived above Xiao Chen and hacked down.
A palm wind flew out, tearing tiny cracks in space. If this palm strike landed, Xiao Chen would be in for a bad time.
The difference in speed was too great. Moreover, one used Quintessence and the other Essence. There was no way to compare the two men. Since that was how things were, then there was no escape.
“Thunder Shadow Chop!”
Xiao Chen drew his Lunar Shadow Saber at lightning speed as he turned around and moved seven steps, leaving behind seven afterimages. Each afterimage sent an attack, shooting out a dazzling saber light.
“Merge!”
The afterimages merged and the saber lit up with dazzling radiance. It combined the might of seven peak attacks and collided with the blue-robed old man’s horrifying palm saber.
“Bang!”
The two moves clashed straightforwardly. Then, an intense energy ripple exploded out. Waves spread into the surroundings, propagating in layers and distorting space.
Xiao Chen took three steps back, but that blue-robed elder took ten.
After the blue-robed elder found his footing, his expression changed drastically. He had been at a disadvantage in this exchange. Although he had used only a quarter of his Quintessence, it should have been more than enough to deal with a half-step Martial Monarch, easily injuring the other party.
Even if the blue-robed elder failed to injure Xiao Chen severely, he should not have lost out in power.
The blue-robed old man looked up and saw Xiao Chen’s appearance clearly. He became slightly stunned as rage appeared in his eyes. He clenched his teeth and roared angrily, “It’s you! White Robed Bladesman Xiao Chen.”
Electricity leaped about on Xiao Chen’s saber as he held it with one hand. He showed no expression on his face nor felt any fear.
Xiao Chen’s opponent had not reached the peak of Inferior Grade Martial Monarch. As long as the two Martial Monarchs did not work together, even if he could not defeat them, he would be able to flee easily.
Xiao Chen said calmly, “I am not here for your Netherworld Flame. As long as you don’t obstruct my way, I will not interfere with your matters. How about we both take a step back and work together?”
“Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!” The blue-robed old man laughed unrestrainedly. “Take a step back and work together? What qualifications do you have to say that to me? You are the one who destroyed the Holy Fire Manor’s branch in Desolate City, right?”
“Sir, please do not speak such nonsense without any evidence,” Xiao Chen said unhurriedly; there were no ripples in his calm eyes.
The blue-robed old man’s pupils constricted, a murderous intent spreading in his eyes. He scoffed coldly, “Do I need evidence? There is no one here at all. No one will know that I killed you.”
The Holy Fire Manor’s branch in Desolate City was no more, and his son was dead. After investigating for a long time, the blue-robed old man found that Xiao Chen was the most likely suspect. Just based on his suspicions, this Xiao Chen had to die!
“It looks like you truly think you are unrivaled after obtaining the championship of the Five Nation Youth Competition. I will show you the gap between you and a Martial Monarch today!”
The blue-robed old man’s expression turned frosty as he snorted coldly. Then he attacked at lightning speed. Vigorous Quintessence gathered on his right palm and then he sent out a strike. Space started to tremble like a mountain was falling towards Xiao Chen’s head.
“Hu chi!”
The Essence in Xiao Chen’s body immediately solidified. His entire body gave off several ten thousand strands of purple light. His black pupils turned a deep purple as well, illuminating this dark underground place.
“Clouds gather from all directions. Wind and thunder, gather!”
A strong wind blew everywhere; clouds churned above. Xiao Chen had instantly executed the starting moves of the Lightning Tribulation Saber Technique.
Dang!”
The saber and palm clashed, producing surging shock waves. The black ground instantly exploded, throwing up countless black rocks.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Amidst the several ten thousand rocks in the air, the two exchanged moves at lightning speed. Thunder roared and the state of massacre poured forth. The strong Quintessence palm wind destabilized space. Countless fissures spread throughout the place.
The aftermath of the exchange scattered the huge rocks in the air. When strong winds blew, they kicked up a vast cloud of dust.
“Earthly Lightning Tribulation!”
Wind and thunder gathered. Xiao Chen’s momentum reached its peak. He completely unleashed the state of massacre within the scarlet throne, and the berserk Saber Technique he wielded gained an attribute of massacre. The might of the Earthly Lightning Tribulation instantly soared.
“Mountain Pushing Palm!”
The startled blue-robed old man increased the amount of Quintessence he used to seventy percent. A resplendent light flowed on his right palm. Then he extended his palm, and it felt like a mountain was moving, compressing all the air around.
“Bang!”
A loud sound rang out, and a huge deep pit appeared below the two. White-colored Yin flames flew out like wads of cotton.
The blue-robed old man took a step back, retreating a hundred meters. When he landed, he left a deep imprint on the ground.
“Heavenly Lightning Tribulation!”
Xiao Chen’s aura flourished. Without even taking a step back, he turned into the heavenly Dao and flung down the second lightning tribulation. The blue-robed old man’s aura seemed to be waning; he got knocked back by another hundred meters.
“Divine Lightning Tribulation!”
As the final lightning tribulation fell, the blue-robed old man paled and retreated five hundred meters. He had not expected that after using seventy percent of his Quintessence, he still could not stop Xiao Chen.
“Chi! Chi!”
Xiao Chen looked up and discovered that burning Quintessence had covered that blue-robed old man’s body at some point in time. At that moment, the old man’s aura soared frantically, reaching peak Inferior Grade Martial Monarch. A strong wind blew behind the old man, kicking up even more dust.
Xiao Chen, leave quick! He burned his Quintessence. Furthermore, he burned it using an Extreme Yin Flame. You are definitely no match for him, Ao Jiao said quickly from within the Lunar Shadow Saber.
Burning Quintessence was a technique that only Martial Monarchs and above could do. They would exhaust their Quintessence at a much faster rate to raise their strength. Usually, a Martial Monarch would not do this, unless they had no choice. Furthermore, using an Extreme Yin Flame to burn the Quintessence would raise their strength even more.
Aware of the severity of the situation, Xiao Chen sheathed his saber and quickly fled.
“You are still thinking of escaping at this time?”
The blue-robed old man snorted coldly, and his figure flashed. In the blink of an eye, he caught up to Xiao Chen. Everywhere he passed, Quintessence flames would burn the area clean.
Then, the blue-robed old man sent out a palm strike at Xiao Chen’s back at lightning speed.
Xiao Chen felt danger coming from behind him. His face sank, and he quickly turned around. He crisscrossed his arms and took the stance of the tiger and dragon.
The left hand as the dragon and the right as the tiger. The tiger and dragon roar, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon!
“Bang!”
The palm strike landed on Xiao Chen’s arms, causing him to vomit a mouthful of blood. He tumbled in midair several times before he twisted his body and landed firmly on the ground.
Xiao Chen’s Qi and blood surged. His opponent’s burning Quintessence advanced wildly in his meridians. His internal organs instantly suffered significant injuries, causing him severe pain.
Xiao Chen knelt on one knee as he wiped blood off the corner of his lips. He smiled at his opponent and said, “Truly, you are a Martial Monarch expert. With a casual palm strike, you are able to injure me to this extent. In the future, I will have to come and experience your exquisite moves again. I will return this palm strike then!”
The blue-robed old man knew that Xiao Chen was mocking him for bullying the young. He said in an icy voice, “Even at your deathbed, you still dare to bicker with me. Even if you are the King Grade True Dragon, you will die here today!”
“Boom!”
However, just at this moment, a fierce flame suddenly spewed out of Xiao Chen’s right eye. The Purple Thunder True Fire surged towards the old man with overwhelming force. Its aura was incomparably terrifying.
“Small tricks! This old man has been playing with fire for the entirety of his life!”
A large clump of pale white flames appeared on the blue-robed old man’s right hand. A chicken-egg-sized Origin Flame burned in the middle of the fire, as resplendent as the stars.
The blue-robed old man casually tossed the clump of flames, and it blasted Xiao Chen’s overwhelming purple flames into sparks that flew everywhere.
The blue-robed old man revealed a pleased expression. He had cultivated his Extreme Yin Flame for fifty years already. Its Origin Flame was powerful. Unexpectedly, his opponent dared to use fire against him.
However, when the sparks and flames scattered, the blue-robed old man’s complexion turned green. He saw eighty-one Xiao Chens dashing in eighty-one different directions; he could not make out which was the real one.
If the blue-robed old man had personally seen Xiao Chen execute Roaming Dragon’s Nine Transformations, he might have been able to tell which was the real one in that instant. However, now that he was faced with eighty-one figures that had formed already, he could not make out which was the true Xiao Chen.
“Damn it!”
The rage on the face of the Holy Fire Manor’s First Manor Lord was indescribable. A bona fide Martial Monarch expert used an Extreme Yin Flame to burn his Quintessence and yet he still let a half-step Martial Monarch brat escape.
It was already very embarrassing that the blue-robed old man had moved against a junior. In the end, he could not even stop that junior, embarrassing him even further. Fortunately, there were no outsiders here. Otherwise, if word spread, he would not know where to hide his face.
“Bang!”
The blue-robed old man used his remaining Quintessence to stomp on the ground violently, infusing all his rage into his stomp as well. A long crack appeared in the ground. The energy in the crack acted like a knife, extending the crack and even slicing the air apart.
“First Brother, what’s wrong?”
The blue-robed old man heard a voice behind him. The Holy Fire Manor’s Second Manor Lord had rushed over. He had felt the blue-robed old man burning his Quintessence and thought that he had encountered a strong enemy.
The blue-robed old man calmed himself and said, “That person is Xiao Chen.”
The gray-robed old man said, “The True Dragon Ranking’s First Rank, White Robed Bladesman Xiao Chen, our biggest suspect for the murder of the Young Manor Lord? Isn’t he only a half-step Martial Monarch? How…”
Seeing the blue-robed old man’s hostile expression, the gray-robed old man quickly bit off his words. Then he said, “Given that he managed to run away, will he cause any problems for us as we hunt the Netherworld Fire Spirit?”
The First Manor Lord said coldly, “If he does not, it would be good for him. However, if he does, we can kill him together with the Netherworld Fire Spirit. We will be able to obtain some of the Luck that he possesses.”
“Send someone to guard the entrance. I don’t believe that he has left already. When we have subdued the Netherworld Flame Seed, we will deal with him.”
---
Don’t be so rash in the future. There are no weaklings among the Martial Monarchs. I truly have never seen anyone try to use Essence to clash with Quintessence before. That is suicidal, Ao Jiao ranted from inside the Lunar Shadow Saber.
Xiao Chen had just used a thousand-year-old treatment-type Spirit Herb. He quickly refined it into Medicinal Energy and infused his internal organs with it. After spitting out a mouthful of turbid blood, he looked much better.
Hearing what Ao Jiao said, Xiao Chen stood up and smiled. “I’m fine. I know my limits. After fighting with that person, I’ve now gained a deeper understanding of my strength.”
After the Five Nation Youth Competition, Xiao Chen’s strength increased quickly. However, he had not managed to find a suitable opponent to test himself against. No one within half-step Martial Monarch could catch his interest anymore.
Fortunately, the blue-robed old man was an Inferior Grade Martial Monarch. By fighting him, Xiao Chen was able to gain a better understanding of his own strength.