Chapter 88 The Ice Field Soaked in Blood
Zhong Yue coughed and spat out a mouthful of clotted blood. He strode quickly towards the position of the Bei God Yuan Shen that was maneuvering around in evasion of the Fang Blade, as it continued to close the distance with Zhong Yue.
Clearly, Bei Shisong knew very well of the adage of catching a snake by the head; Zhong Yue was severely injured, his prowess heavily impaired, and as long as he was killed, the Fang Blade would cease to be a threat.
“Mister Bei, do you think you can still move?”
Zhong Yue wiped away the blood trickling down his mouth with the back of his hand. The Great Sun Golden Crow, by the prompting of his, Yuan Shen, commanded the zither string to extended as long as it could. Soon, the zither string reached its limit, stopping at a length of three miles long!
Immediately after, the zither string turned and spiraled around the Bei God Yuan Shen, encircling it like a hornet’s nest encasing it in the middle. Meanwhile, the Fang Blade also followed suit in winding around the Bei God while thrusting and slashing at it incessantly.
The Bei God Yuan Shen’s movements were restricted and a cold sweat rushed out of Bei Shisong’s forehead. The zither string was very sharp and incisive, it was after all, the soul weapon forged and refined by one of Swords Gate successors, Jun Sixie. With his current prowess, it was true that he could ward off the zither string; but with the zither string encircling him in tens of rounds, he could only fend against the Fang Blade in hopes of disrupting the zither string so that it would not come close to him!
However, the Fang Blade was thrusting at him incessantly, it pinned down part of his sabers, if he stopped defending, he would be slain dead by this god’s fang.
These monster wolves and monster hyenas, there are fifty-six of them, which means fifty-six sabers; I’ve broken seven away, leaving 49 left. Bei Shisong’s Sabre Blade Array is now incomplete, there’s a flaw in it!
Rays flashed in Zhong Yue’s eyes, he did not go straight for the Bei God Yuan Shen, instead, he was staring at its body. Fifty-six monster beasts, forty-nine sabers; the sabers were revolving around, the monster beasts were passing the sabers around to those that had their sabers broken so that they could ward off the zither string sword silk and seventeen feet Fang Blade.
One had to admit that Bei Shisong was indeed clever and brilliant, a terribly strong and formidable opponent. Under his command, the forty-nine nine sabers were passed around in the hands of the fifty-six six monster beasts; and yet there was no incoherence nor chaos, everything was smoothly done in an orderly manner, showing no flaws in its form!
What a smart monster Qi Practitioner, so hard to deal with.
Zhong Yue coughed again and another mouthful of blood was spurted out, he lifts his head with a smile on his face, “But our roles are switched, you now are the one defending, and your sabres are lacking in number; the longer the time, the greater the chances you will make a mistake.”
A ray flashed in Bei Shisong’s eyes, he smirked and said, “With my intelligence and control ability, how is it possible for me to make a mistake? Don’t you be proud so quickly, the intense battle between you and I will attract the other monster Qi Practitioners over; I only need to hold a little longer until their arrival, and fear not, it will be very soon.”
Zhong Yue smiled and responded, “I’m not dead yet, be at ease, with me being here, you will make a mistake before they will be able to arrive.”
His Yuan Shen controlled the 18 Coral Tree Sword Qis, Xiang Dragon Sword and Wood Sword Qi, and proceeded to launch a vicious salvo of the three right at Bei God Yuan Shen. However, he was not aiming at the monster beasts on the Bei God’s body, but rather, the sabers in their hands!
Myriad rays of Sword Qi rained down like a storm upon Bei Shisong, leaving him no option but to block them all. But in the fleeting silence following the ferocious exchange, the distinct sounds of metal cracking would be heard – another two sabers were broken away by the Fang Blade!
Cold sweat continued to percolate out on Bei Shisong’s forehead, he could immediately discern the growing difficulty of maintaining the defensive and offensive efficiency of the revolving sabers around his Yuan Shen body.
Zheng!
Another saber was broken away.
“Forty-six left.”
Zhong Yue said calmly, “And now, forty-five sabers left.”
One after another, the sabers continued to shatter into oblivion and Bei Shisong’s forehead began flooding in cold sweat, this was the first time he has ever encountered such a dire situation.
Lost – I’ve been defeated by a petty human child. Now, the only question is, the price I’ll have to pay for my defeat….
His eyes suffused in a flashing light, suddenly, a sinister pair of wings spanned out from his back as he launched into the air, the Bei God Yuan Shen quickly following behind. In the meantime, the monster wolves and monster hyenas that were bound to the Yuan Shen dispersed, hurriedly chasing after Jun Sixie like a flood of ants.
“Hahaha, this is being decisive to cut loss quickly, and the diversion tactic!”
Bei Shisong’s voice grew indistinct as he flew away, he guffawed in conceit, “Brat, your identity will be exposed, after I leave, the true paragons of the monster race will be coming after you! Who do you think it’ll be, Gu Hongzi or Lang Qingyun?”
All of a sudden, a calm and indifferent voice came behind him, “Whoever it is, your life can’t be salvaged.”
His hairs tingled and his heart skipped a beat, he shouted in fear and shock as he saw Zhong Yue riding atop lightning as he flashed over to him accompanied by the cacophonous rumbles of thunder, “You … aren’t you incapable of flying?! You’ve come after me, what about Jun Sixie? Are you going to let her die in the claws of my wolves and dholes?”
“You’re quite wrong, Mister Bei.”
Zhong Yue flashed over at great speed, Krong! Breaking through the sound barrier, he controlled the zither string sword silk and thrust it over at Bei Shisong, his voice cold and imperious, “I never said I can’t fly, I just don’t have an airborne combat skill in my arsenal. My Horizontal Thunder Control is faster than any winged flying skill, it is just the agility that it is lacking; hence, I try to refrain from using it in such unpredictable situations such as combat. But if you truly insist on competing with me in pure speed … then I am happy to oblige! After I’ve killed you, I’ll still have time to turn around and save Senior Martial Sister Jun!”
In time taken to say this, he had already closed the distance between Bei Shisong and himself to a mile. No matter how hard Bei Shisong tried, the manifestation of his flying skill was a pair of wings, it was not easy for a pair of fully extended wings to break through the sound barrier – the flowing gale of the wind will always pale against the supreme velocity of lightning. He was doomed to fail the moment he opted to escape from Zhong Yue’s Horizontal Thunder Control with a mere flap of his wings.
Chui——
The zither string sword silk shot over, a slight jitter of the string and Bei Shisong was beheaded; but Zhong Yue did not stop there, with a shift of thoughts, the zither string twisted in the air and proceeded to eviscerate Bei Shisong’s head and body into mince, the different parts of his body no longer distinguishable from one another.
After Bei Shisong’s death, Zhong Yue immediately turned around; the landscape then filled with a blinding flash of lightning as Zhong Yue shot towards Jun Sixie!
Over fifty monster beasts were sprinting at full speed, howling and roaring as they wielded sabers in their hands, chasing after Jun Sixie who was on the Jiao Dragon’s back. Under Zhong Yue’s control, the Jiao Dragon condensed from his psyche ocean soared forward with unfathomable speed.
The monster beasts howled in anger, suddenly, the alpha wolf visualized a pair of wings that expanded to a span of a dozen feet as it soared into the winds. It’s speed increased greatly as it flitted through the air towards Jun Sixie!
The monster wolf drew closer and closer and it clenched the saber, lifting it over its head. The next moment, the saber came crashing down fiercely directly at the young lady in green on the Jiao Dragon’s back.
It was at this moment, that the sudden resonance of a zither string effused through the air. The monster wolf’s expression would forever be etched with stupefaction as a thin line of blood extended from the top of its head to the bottom of its body until it directly split into two halves that fell away from each other. Not even the saber was spared from the severing intent of the zither string as it split into halves down its spine and stabbed into the ground harmlessly by the sides of the Jiao Dragon.
The silhouette of a human fell from the sky – Dong! The ground was stomped and shook vigorously, and a pit of a dozen feet in radius was formed.
“Manggg—!!”
A fearsome dragon whistle could be heard as a Jiao Dragon crawled out from the pit, Zhong Yue stood on the dragon’s head and gazed at the surrounding monster hyenas and monster wolves.
Zheng zheng zheng zheng——
Sounds of metals colliding could be heard as Sword Qis slashed incessantly; the scarlet Coral Tree quivered and 18 rays of Sword Qi shot out from its branches. The fiery Xiang Dragon Sword Qi compressed into a thin thread of sword silk that brandished about at a speed even faster than the zither string sword silk.
Meanwhile, the Wooden Sword Qi turned into a small sapling and landed on the ground, annexing its territory in the soil.
Krong!
The monster beasts rushed over, a flurry of sabers waved and slashed about as their saber lights interweaved into an inescapable net that engulfed Zhong Yue.
A cacophony of dragon whistling, wolf howls, hyena barks, and Sword Qi clashing with the sabers reverberated in the air. Slowly, the ferocious sounds of weapons colliding and the enlivened battle cries of the beasts become infused with intermittent wails of pain accompanied by the sounds of splitting muscles and the cleaving of bones. Zhong Yue stood at the epicenter of the fray as he battled off the onslaught of attacks of the innumerable monster beasts. Sword Qi revolved around and the zither string loomed over the monsters like a portentous specter; blood blossomed on the ground like red spider lilies and severed limbs splattered in the air with blood spurting out like sanguine fireworks.
One after another, the huge barbarous heads spurted into the sky as they each launched a fountain of red. Blood-rusted and broken sabers were pierced into the ground, their upturned hilts quivering from the residual violence that killed their former owners.
In the middle of the battlefield, Zhong Yue stood atop the Jiao Dragon’s head staunchly, his stalwart figure not moving an inch at all in the face of such adversity.
“Aohhhh——”
The howl was filled with grief and despair and was ruthlessly cut abruptly as the final wolf has succumbed to the same fate as its other brethren.
From start to end, Zhong Yue had not moved even a single inch. Severed limbs, wolf heads, hyena heads, and broken swords scattered across the ground. The warm blood of the beasts trickled into streams that deluged the trenches left behind the wanton destruction wreaked by the Sword Qi. The scene painted a vicious yet disquietingly beautiful landscape that was stained in wicked crimson.
A cold breeze blew past, bringing a surge of frosty sensation that could even rattle the bones, and yet, Zhong Yue remained fixed to his position – steadfast and immutable.
“*cough *cough*, Junior Martial Brother Zhong, are your injuries heavy?” The Jiao Dragon turned around with Jun Sixie on top of it as she gazed at Zhong Yue who held up a solemn face.
“Heavier than ever.”
Zhong Yue dared not move a single fiber of muscle and cold sweat rushed down his forehead, “I don’t even dare to breathe freely, any harder and my broken ribs will torment my nerves.”
“We should leave, the further away the better.”
Jun Sixie was obviously in a better condition than he was, she said, “Bei Shisong was considered to be a well-known figure in Gu Xia City, and here he is, dead. The other Qi Practitioners will be arriving anytime now; and with your current state, you simply can’t afford to run into them anymore. If another monster Qi Practitioner comes, you and I ... both of us will be dead for sure!”
“May senior martial sister please wait for a moment, I need to clean up the battlefield.”
Although Zhong Yue could not move, his psyche was not under the same condition, unlike Jun Sixie who was currently bereft of all her prowess. He erupted his psyche and turned it into tens of little Jiao Dragons disorderly crawling on the ground.
Jun Sixie could still move her body, she cast a gaze at the Jiao Dragons and moments later, the young lady’s face darkened; the Jiao Dragons were collecting the broken sabers!
“Junior Martial Brother Zhong, is this necessary? There are so many sabers here and all of them were broken by you, they don’t contain much power in it anymore, you can’t even sell it off.” Jun Sixie said cluelessly as she was lost on whether to laugh or cry?
Zhong Yue blushed with shame, his Yuan Shen controlled the Jiao Dragons and plundered all the sabers away, only then was he willing to leave, “Senior martial sister, you are from one of the top ten clans and moreover, an innate spirit body holder. You are the pearl of Swords Gate; you can simply point at any treasure or medicinal pellet and they will come to you automatically. But I am a nobody, born from nothing, and brought up with nothing. If I want to continue on cultivating, I will have to find my own resources. These sabers are all soul weapons of high quality, I can extract Gold Qi from them and save myself an uncountable number of Jinyuan Pellets.”
Jun Sixie said, “Junior martial brother, you have made a big mess while fighting with Bei Shisong, surely the other monster Qi Practitioners will be aware of it. Junior martial brother, we can’t afford to leisurely proceed anymore, we need to get back to the Great Wilderness as fast as possible! So long as we’ve reached the Great Wilderness, we would have nothing to worry about anymore!”
Zhong Yue stiffened up his face and answered, “Give me half a day’s time, I will definitely bring us back to the Great Wilderness!”
He stood on the Jiao Dragon’s head, while Jun Sixie was on another Jiao Dragon’s back; all of a sudden, the two Jiao Dragons were slowly transmuting, they turned into two Xiang Dragons, shaped like steeds with the heads and tails of a dragon, the furs of a horse, and emblazoned with tiger stripes. She was amazed at the transformation.
The two Xiang Dragons galvanized all their strength and bolted out — Krong krong krong — they sprinted towards Great Wilderness in great haste!