AGM 296 - Power of Space
The people in the tavern were all shocked by the sound of Hua Xiaoyun’s crazed howling.
The eyes of the protector flashed with a glint of sharpness, his instincts were right. There had been someone spying on him earlier and now, that person even directed a will-attack at Hua Xiaoyun.
However, he couldn’t sense anyone abnormal enough in the tavern to warrant suspicion. That must mean that the attacker wasn’t actually in the tavern and was using a technique that could amplify his will, penetrating space in order to attack. Such an attack method caused even him to feel fear.
The beautiful eyes of Shu Ruanyu also flashed with a hint of shock. Who was this expert? Capable of unleashing such a devastating attack even from a distance.
“ARGHH…” Hua Xiaoyun let out a low-sounding miserable shriek as an expression of extreme distress and agony appeared on his face. The strength of this lightning-like will-attack grew increasingly powerful. A silhouette of an ancient primordial beast took form in his mind; it was emanating the will of a Mandate, wanting to shatter his consciousness.
Hua Xiaoyun’s current cultivation base was slightly higher compared to back then when he was in Chu. However, because he was recovering from a grievous injury and with a mind wholly bent on revenge, his improvement was limited. Although he was now at the fifth-level of Yuanfu, his foundations weren’t that stable.
And as for his Mandate, it was still in the Initial Boundary stage. It was precisely because the will of his Mandate was weak that he found it extremely hard to defend against these kinds of insidious mind-attacks, powered by the will of the other party. The pain of his headaches, was even worse than death, he felt as though his mind was about to explode into pieces.
“Let’s leave.” His protector grabbed Hua Xiaoyun and flew upwards. “Boom!” Since the protector had flown at a terrifying speed, a hole was blasted open on the roof. He had to bring Hua Xiaoyun away. If not, when Hua Xiaoyun’s consciousness shattered, he would become nothing but a brain-dead vegetable. It was no different to being dead.
Shu Ruanyu glanced at the hole on the roof as she too, leapt upwards to soar in the skies. Who was this expert exactly?
The moment the protector escaped from the hold, an ice-cold blade’s edge cleaved down from the Heavens. The sharpness of that blade light created a chill in the hearts of those who witnessed it.
After which, only a gigantic figure cloaked in large robes could be seen slamming downwards. The eyes of this figure were completely filled with a bone-chilling intent; it didn’t seem like the eyes of a human.
“WHO?!”
The protector roared as he slammed up above with his palms several times. A massive wind kicked up as the blade descended, the currents of the powerful wind force altered the angle of the blade, causing it to miss its target.
“Bzzz!” The large figure wasn’t fazed, he immediately swept forth with his legs, both also flickering with that terrible ice-cold light. The protector of Hua Xiaoyun stiffened when he saw that the large figure’s legs were covered with razor sharp edges. With a roar of anger, he immediately unleashed his Astral Nova, which instantly transformed into a huge sabre, colliding directly with the large figure.
A thunderous sound echoed as Hua Xiaoyun’s protector quickly retreated. From the start of the fight till now, he had kept a tight hold on Hua Xiaoyun, yet for some reason, the expression of agony etched onto Hua Xiaoyun’s face seemed to be even more intense. It was as though that will-attack would continue on relentlessly, only stopping after it achieved its objective.
This caused his protector to turn ashen. This meant that there was still someone hiding in the shadows, but if this enemy was so powerful, why didn’t he directly attack?
At this moment, Qin Wentian couldn’t help but feel slightly depressed. His head was still lowered, the glowing of his third eye continued non-stop as it locked down on Hua Xiaoyun. However, his perception told him that the carriage driver and the silver-masked man were now stealthily proceeding in his direction.
It seemed that these two were really here for him.
With two of his Puppets, in addition to his will-attack, he was confident that he could definitely kill Hua Xiaoyun. Not only that, if he was fast enough, he could immediately retreat after he succeeded, killing his target without a trace. Yet he had never expected that he would also be a target for others.
“DIE!” Qin Wentian’s third eye madly shot out his will of Mandate, bombarding Hua Xiaoyun’s consciousness. Hua Xiaoyun screamed repeatedly, yet his howls were getting lower and lower in volume. It appeared that he would soon no longer be able to withstand the pressure. Even if Qin Wentian didn’t directly attack him, he would die to this killing energy that was bypassing space.
They were getting nearer—that carriage driver got off, and walked slowly forwards with a hunched back, in perfect disguise. If it weren’t for Qin Wentian’s terrifying perception, he wouldn’t even have known how he’d died.
A crisp, gushing sound rang out, while Qin Wentian’s heart clenched. “Damn!” He knew there was no more time. He could have killed Hua Xiaoyun for sure if he had ten more breaths worth of time.
But sadly, at the climax of his will-attack, the driver chose precisely this moment to act.
Not only that, the will of the driver’s Mandate interfered with his, cutting off his connection with Hua Xiaoyun. It enveloped and bore down onto Qin Wentian, and he felt as though his movements were restricted, as if trapped in a web.
As he inclined his head, his third eye had already snapped shut. His gaze flickered with an extremely cold light when he noticed the hunched-back driver suddenly straighten and vanish from sight. An intense burst of killing intent gushed forth, while the will of the driver’s Mandate bound him from where he stood.
Qing`er’s silhouette flickered as she instantly appeared in front of Qin Wentian. At this moment Qing`er’s body seemed to be radiating a bizarre type of energy, and a breath of time later, the invisible restriction binding Qin Wentian, shattered away.
Waving her palms, a lotus materialized, spinning towards the driver at a terrifying speed. At the same time, she grabbed Qin Wentian and soared into the air.
“Mandate of Space? She’d actually comprehended the Mandate of Space at such a young age.”
An expression of shock reflected in the eyes of the driver.
The Mandate of Space was an extremely oppressive Mandate. Perhaps the first and second boundaries weren’t that powerful, but as one’s comprehension deepens, the power of the Mandate of Space would undoubtedly be the strongest. He had once witnessed for himself how terrifying the Mandate of Space was when he saw an expert using it against his opponents.
That beautiful maiden had actually comprehended such a Mandate, using space as an edge to sever away the will of his Mandate.
However, he wasn’t slow to react, and in the blink of an eye, he too soared skywards, following after Qing`er. At the exact same moment, three other silhouettes burst out of the carriage and flew upwards, closely following after him.
Their movements instantly attracted the attention of those in the tavern. Only then did the relentless attack on Hua Xiaoyun stop. Hua Xiaoyun heaved a sigh of relief, his face was entirely devoid of blood while his body was drenched in the cold sweat of his fearful perspiration.
He too, sensed the eruption of combat nearby, and as he shifted his glance over, his gaze immediately stiffened.
“QIN WENTIAN!” Hua Xiaoyun’s heart pounded madly. He naturally saw Qing`er as well—that earlier will-type attack must have been launched by Qing`er.
His face contorted with hatred; Hua Xiaoyun hadn’t expected Qin Wentian would actually be hunting him as well.
“Kill him, KILL HIM FOR ME IMMEDIATELY!”
Hua Xiaoyun’s crazed voice thundered in the air. Evidently, he understood that the people fighting against Qin Wentian were none other than the killers he had hired from the Shadow Pavilion.
“You bunch of trash, YOU BUNCH OF TRASH!!” Hua Xiaoyun raged. The killers he hired had allowed the target to use himself, the hirer, as bait. How despicable.
Qin Wentian’s eyes flickered with a coldness as he saw a long vine coiling around his body. Qing`er’s palms glowed with a faint golden light as she slashed downwards, breaking the vine apart yet the vine instantly multiplied, as it madly shot forwards once more.
Qing`er frowned, her opponent’s attack was extremely troublesome to deal with. It wouldn’t be a problem for her, but Qin Wentian wouldn’t find it as easy as her to get rid of them.
“Hiss…” Suddenly, a bunch of demonic snakes materialized from behind and swept towards Qin Wentian’s back. This attack was unleashed by the female Heavenly Dipper Sovereign, who was none other than the wife of that driver.
The raging wind whistled as a golden-armored Puppet appeared from nowhere. Initially, Qin Wentian planned to use this Puppet to lay an ambush for Hua Xiaoyun, but now, he had no choice but to summon it back.
The sea of snakes were smashed into nothingness as that Madam and the golden-armored Puppet collided with each other. However, in the instant before they clashed, the Madam sent out her palm as a gigantic python materialized in thin air.
Heaven’s Destruction consisted of two Yuanfu cultivators and two Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns. According to their plans, two of them, the master and the madam, would be sufficient to stall Qing`er and the two fourth-ranked Puppets, while their two disciples would then easily slaughter Qin Wentian. This was basically money falling from the Heavens.
Yet Qing`er’s strength exceeded their expectations. She, who had comprehended the Mandate of Space, could control its form in such a way that the will of other Mandates were unable to penetrate through her protective layer of space, powerless from reaching her and Qin Wentian. To kill Qin Wentian, they would only need to suppress Qing`er for a single moment.
“Get over here.” That python wrenched open its huge maw. In the next instant, Qin Wentian only felt a powerful suction force sucking him in that direction.
Although there were some accidents, the protector of Hua Xiaoyun had already blocked a fourth-ranked Puppet for them. It wasn’t that difficult for them to kill Qin Wentian despite their original misjudgement of Qing`er.
Qing`er’s beautiful eyes changed the moment she saw what was happening. After which, a golden lotus bloomed underneath her feet and spun rapidly, becoming increasingly larger, while a mysterious surge of energy emanated from it.
“I can deal with them…” Qing`er lightly stated, as the golden lotus enveloped the entire space. Qing`er grabbed Qin Wentian’s arms and flew towards the opposite direction.
“Let the golden-armored Puppet aid you,” Qin Wentian added in a low voice. Qing`er glanced back at him after a moment of thought and replied, “Nothing will happen to me.”
Her voice was still cold and aloof, both melodious and crisp, and as the sound of it faded, she pushed Qin Wentian out of the expanding lotus.
After he was pushed out, the petals of the golden lotus came together and closed; it was an extremely beautiful sight.
The golden lotus was half-translucent and one could clearly see everything that happened inside it. The gigantic lotus trapped the two Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns within.
“Mandate of Space, Qing`er is so powerful.”
Qin Wentian murmured, but he had to stop his musings because the other two people hidden inside the carriage from earlier had arrived. An overwhelming killing intent bore down on him, akin to the aura of death.
A brilliant light flashed, a terrifying lance appeared in Qin Wentian’s hands as a blood-colored stone monument floated up in the air above him.
These two attackers weren’t weak; one was at the eighth-level of Yunfu while the other was at the sixth. Qin Wentian could sense an extremely strong threat of danger from the both of them.
“Qin Wentian, you’re dead for sure.” A wretched expression appeared on Hua Xiaoyun’s face. It would be impossible for Qin Wentian to escape even if he were given wings.
Hua Xiaoyun’s protector was still locked down in combat with the bladed Puppet, but with his level of power, he could have broken away from this battle and easily killed Qin Wentian. However, he didn’t dare to. If he broke apart from the combat, this fourth-ranked bladed Puppet would definitely target Hua Xiaoyun. To him, Hua Xiaoyun’s life was the most important thing he had to protect.
“So, he is Qin Wentian?” Shu Ruanyu asked Hua Xiaoyun in an icy voice. The flery red-colored skirt fluttered in the wind as her eyes narrowed, wearing an expression close to hatred when she stared at Qin Wentian.
Zhu Sha, was the husband of her aunt, and according to Yang Fan, Zhu Sha’s death in the secret realm was caused by the youngest, fourth-ranked Grandmaster in the Moon Continent.“Yeah, he’s Qin Wentian. Does Lady Shu have a grievance with him?” Hua Xiaoyun laughed, only to see Shu Ruanyu icily fix her stare at him as she remarked, “As a young master of the Hua Clan, you are utterly useless. It’s quite a shameful thing, when compared to your older brother. You didn’t have the capabilities to kill him yourself, so you engaged a band of killers?”
“You…” Hua Xiaoyun’s smile froze upon his face, his expression slowly shifting into one of malevolence.