Chapter 872: Battle for the Map Fragment (Two)
Although Jad was the most powerful person present, there were many Saint Kings similar to him in the surroundings so he was unable to deter the people who wanted to take the map fragment at all.
“Jad, did you really think that just you and the people from the Hao family would be enough to stop the attacks from all of us?” said the Daemon Lord Yun Feng.
“Everyone, you all probably belong to different organizations. There’s only one fragment so who would the fragment end up with between so many of you? How will you split it?” asked an old man from the Hao family. He bore a smile and spoke with a normal tone; he was one of the ancestors of the Hao family. He was also a Saint King but at the 15th Star.
His simple question caused many of the people present to frown. This clearly was a question that was extremely difficult to deal with. None of them wished to work so hard and risk their lives to only have the fragment end up with someone else.
Seeing how everyone began to falter, a Saint King immediately called out, “He’s trying to get us to turn on each other. It’s self-evident. Everyone, do not fall for his tricks. We can discuss how to split it after we obtain the map fragment. Maybe we can directly turn the map fragment into multiple pieces and give everyone a piece.
“Alright. That’s not a bad idea. Let’s do that.” Immediately, many people agreed to this solution, voicing their agreements.
Yun Feng licked his lips and chuckled. “Since it’s all been dealt with, we have no need to waste any more time. Everyone, let’s strike together and obtain the map fragment.”
The Daemon Lord was the most powerful after Jad here. When he finished speaking, he charged at Jad first and called out, “Fellows of the 15th Star, come with me to deal with Jad, that old croon. We’ll leave the people of the Hao family to others.”
Immediately, several Saint Kings shot out from the group, embroiling in a great fight with Jad as they worked together with Yun Feng. As soon as they clashed, violent energy ripples erupted and surged through the entire region. It caused mountains to collapse, the ground to crack and the entire world to tremble violently.
The Hao family also had a Saint King. Leading over twenty experts from the clan, he began to fight with a hundred-odd people but he was kept busy by the last Saint King who entered the battle from the assailants. It caused the people from the Hao family to become surrounded while forced up against the attacks of over a hundred experts of a similar level. Under such a difference in strength, they fell into a disadvantageous position as soon as they clashed, surrounded and attacked by people that outnumbered them several times.
However, the people who had come for the map fragment belonged to different organizations. They did not trust each other so they had to guard against anyone besides them as they attacked the Hao family group in order to prevent anyone from suddenly ambushing them. It resulted in a great reduction of their strength and they were unable to fully display their might. So although the Hao family was tightly suppressed, no one dared to use an attack too powerful that would make them vulnerable.
On the other side, the battle between Jad and the Saint Kings had already reached a white-hot intensity. Jad did not fear much, using all his strength without holding back at all. He engaged intensely with the five other opponents. The battle was earthshaking, fighting up in the sky before sinking back to the ground again, all while moving backward. They had already moved a hundred kilometers away.
Wherever the battle passed by, violent energy ripples would wreak havoc. The surrounding region had basically become a zone of death, where even Saint Rulers would not dare to venture too deeply into.
Although the five Saint Kings fighting Jad were only in the Third or Fourth Heavenly Layer, they all had their motives so none of them were willing to use their full strength. They did not want to expend too much energy or suffer any injuries, which would cause them to miss the perfect opportunity to take the map fragment. As a result, even with the five of them working together, they could only reach a stalemate against Jad who was at the Sixth Heavenly Layer and they were even vaguely on the losing side.
Argh! Argh!
With a few cries of pain, a few weaker Saint Rulers of the Hao family vomited blood and fell with heavy injuries.
They retreated into the center of the group, which immediately increased the pressure on the other experts of the family. Their resistance became more and more difficult; if it were not for the insecurity of the attackers, the group from the Hao family would have been forced to give in long ago.
Currently, Jian Chen and Nubis concealed their presences a thousand kilometers away. They hid behind the back of a mountain. They were unable to see the battle due to being too far away but they could clearly sense the violent energy ripples.
“This place is too far away. You can’t see anything at all. I wonder what the situation is like. Jian Chen, let’s approach them a little more,” suggested Nubis.
Jian Chen raised his hand in objection. “No need. We can’t get too close. We need to be careful. I've always been monitoring the situation up ahead and I’ve even vaguely sensed that there are other experts who have still yet to reveal themselves. We can’t get too close.”
“I sense so many presences of Saint Kings and one of them isn’t any weaker than the Bi Yifei and Ling Yuanzi who pursued us. Jian Chen, do you think we’ll be able to take the map fragment with our strength?” Nubis seemed rather worried. So many presences of Saint Kings had appeared up ahead, which made him feel completely unconfident.
“We need to steal the fragment through strategy and not force. We can only see now whether we get that opportunity or not. Though, we do have one advantage that other’s don’t have,” said Jian Chen.
“What advantage?” Nubis asked curiously.
Jian Chen smiled mysteriously. “You’ll learn about it later. Oh right, spit out your Water Spirit’s Pearl. Our identities as foreigners will be revealed in a while when we go steal the map. As soon as we obtain it, we can use the pearls to mask our presences after finding a safe hiding spot. That way, it’ll obscure what the other people will be searching for. They’ll pour all their efforts into a search for foreigners while they ignore other members of the Sea race. That’s one extra safeguard for us.”
Nubis’ eyes lit up with interest. Without any hesitation, he immediately spat out his pearl that concealed his magical beast presence, before placing it into his Space Ring.
Jian Chen also spat out his pearl and placed it into the saint artifact. To him, Space Rings were not exactly safe as there was the chance for them to be stolen at any moment. Only inside the saint artifact would there be no room for accidents, unless the saint artifact rebelled or he died.
“Let’s just wait here. I’ll tell you when it’s time to move,” said Jian Chen.
The great battle only lasted for roughly half an hour. More people from the Hao family became heavily injured and their numbers were whittled down to around a dozen. Three people had even died, fleeing the scene in the form of origin souls. The few remaining people resisted bitterly but they were also all covered in blood. They could not last for much longer.
Seeing how the situation was turning against them, the Saint King of the Hao family became extremely stern. He had anticipated that he would encounter ambushes along the way long ago but had originally thought that nothing would go wrong with senior Jad’s help. Never did he think that so many people would come, with a total of six Saint Kings.
“We can’t drag this out any longer,” the Saint King thought. With a flash of determination, he knocked his opponent away with a blow. A grand aura immediately began to radiate from his body and he bellowed, “Three Palms of Heaven’s Annihilation!” A huge palm suddenly condensed a hundred meters up in the sky, radiating with a devastating aura. Its appearance seemed to cause a great disturbance in the surrounding laws of the world and caused it to fall into disorder. All the Saint Ruler and even Saint Kings lost control of their abilities to manipulate Spatial Force.
The palm corporealized World Force and contained an extremely great power. The space within a radius of several dozen kilometers froze with its appearance and even the Saint King who was knocked away was affected greatly. He seemed to have fallen into quicksand and all his movements dulled.
“A Tian Level Saint Technique!” His expression changed greatly and the blood drained from his face immediately. A Tian Level Saint Technique was equivalent to a Saint Tier Battle Skill on the Tian Yuan Continent, possessing devastating power. Even he, a Third Heavenly Layer Saint King, had not been able to grasp such a powerful technique yet.
Even though mere Saint Rulers could begin to comprehend Tian Level Saint Techniques, to grasp one definitely not that simple. Many Saint Kings could not even use a single one.
On the other hand, only those with outstanding talent in the comprehension of the mysteries of space could create Tian Level Saint Techniques. They would need to comprehend through their luck, which was extremely rare even over the span of tens of thousands of years.
Only a mere few were able to create their own Saint Tier Battle Skills from Mercenary City over the countless years it had existed.
The giant palm print sealed up the surrounding space before descending with a vast aura. It silently fused with the earth and disappeared completely.
All of the people, including the hundreds of Saint Rulers and the Saint King, disappeared with the palm. They had vanished. Only a few Saint Rulers from the Hao family hung in the sky, staring at the area beneath their feet tongue-tied.
Below them, a bottomless pit had appeared. It was shaped like a palm and encased a radius of several kilometers. A Saint King and over a hundred Saint Rulers had been all been pressed into the earth by it.
“Argh!” A cry of rage echoed from the bottomless pit. The Saint King had not died after receiving the attack. Following him, the presence of over a hundred Saint Rulers appeared as well.
The Tian Level Saint Technique had been received by a Saint King and over a hundred Saint Rulers at the same time. It did not manage to kill a single person with their resistance.
The Three Palms of Heaven’s Annihilation had three strikes in total. The further the strikes progressed, the more powerful they became. The Saint King of the Hao family raised his palm mercilessly and another giant palm instantly condensed in the sky. It slammed down onto the ground like a bolt of lightning and caused the entire region to shake violently.
The third palm strike followed closely after the second. Wherever it passed by, space would be ripped open to reveal the void, creating a blanket of darkness.