Chapter 302: I Need An Explanation
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The four adversaries were advanced level aurous core stage cultivators and each was outstanding in his or her own right. Their mantras and Abhijna were impressive, and they specialized in teaming up against their enemies. The four of them seemed to enter themselves into a formation and faced off Xiao Budian as one.
Xiao Budian had already unleashed the power of his Heaven-Shaking Thunderstorm and changed in to the form of the Thunderstorm Demon and God. He also released the Demon Tiger, which was at the pinnacle of the aurous core stage, from the Tiger Soul Golden Plate. He stood side by side with the demon tiger, and his coordination with the tiger allowed him to stand his ground.
However, Xiao Budian had a problem. He could not locate his enemies with his consciousness through the cloud of green mist. On the other hand, the four of them did not seem to be affected by the green mist.
Whenever Xiao Budian’s attack flared, they temporarily retreated into the safety of the green mist to avoid the attack, and return fire at the same time using the mist as cover. If not for the Green Bronze Crucible of Emptiness, he would already be at a disadvantage.
At this point in time, a ripple of mana tore through the air. Even though it was not extremely strong, the green mist began to tremble and seemed like it was falling apart.
Even though the mist did not dissipate, the hold it had on the surrounding space was significantly reduced.
Xiao Budian was rejuvenated. "Is this master’s Fences of Heaven?"
The ability of the green mist to arrest the immediate space around it disappeared and, naturally, could no longer imprison Xiao Budian. With the vibration of the Green Bronze Crucible of Emptiness, Xiao Budian took the chance and charged out of the mist cloud with a deafening howl.
"It’s over! Let’s go!" The middle-aged cultivator clad in a green robe reacted immediately and made the decisive order to retreat.
They would have had the chance to murder Xiao Budian If they trapped him within the green mist. However, Xiao Budian escaped and they could not really do anything much even if all Xiao Budian did was run.
Furthermore, this place was not that remote or deserted. The Sea of the Northern Wind was nearby and there were hundreds of participants at the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai, let alone Lin Feng and the other elders.
The green mist of the middle-aged cultivator had a secondary effect of blocking off sound. Now that this effect had been negated, they had no choice but to retreat.
The four aurous core stage cultivators were wrapped up by the green mist and the host of them immediately flew away into the horizon.
"You think you can run?" Xiao Budian grunted and exclaimed. He immediately rode on top of his Green Bronze Crucible of Emptiness and began to chase. He had no intention of taking down all five of them by himself, but he knew that if he could hold them back long enough, somebody would arrive to clean things up.
All of a sudden, Xiao Budian heard a dark and chilling laugh come from beside him.
At this moment, Xiao Budian shuddered in fright as he sensed the immediate danger. "So this was the killer move all along!"
It was an elderly figure clothed in grey and had a very typical look. He was the kind of person to merge perfectly into a throng of people. Even if he unleashed a killer move against Xiao Budian right in front of him, he would still look extremely normal and not a single part of his body or expression would betray his intentions.
This was the special quality of this kind of person. Even if he was right in front of you and said in your face, "I want to kill you," you would still overlook his presence or even forget about his existence altogether.
He had no reputation and nobody in the outside world would know about him either. He was only an advanced level aurous core stage cultivator, but despite that he had successfully assassinated a nascent soul stage grandmaster before.
Xiao Budian’s mind was extremely flexible and he understood that his prowess exceeded that of normal aurous core stage cultivators. He was born in the wild mountains and possessed sharper instincts towards danger than most other people. When the green-robed cultivator made his move, Xiao Budian already began to detect that something else was going on.
Even the attacks of nascent soul stage cultivators could not completely avoid Xiao Budian’s detection. However, the elderly figure in grey managed to get so close to him without his knowledge; only when he made his move did Xiao Budian finally realize the imminent danger.
This was Xiao Budian’s supernatural awareness. If it was another aurous core stage cultivator in his place, he or she would not even know their manner of death! Any other aurous core stage cultivator would have been wiped off the face of the earth by the elderly figure without knowing anything at all.
"The mantra and Abhijna of this individual seems to exist just for assassination," Xiao Budian began to understand what was going on. "The four aurous core stage cultivators and the nascent soul stage cultivator were but his cover!"
In reality, the green-robed nascent soul stage grandmaster had no clue about the existence of the elderly figure either. Yet, it was because of this very fact that he would try his best to divert Xiao Budian’s attention and give the elderly figure the chance he needed.
The light streak within the hands of the elderly figure radiated with a chilling touch. It weaved through the air, much like the path of a snake, and after a few turns and angles it effectively evaded all of Xiao Budian’s defences and made straight for his neck.
The Green Bronze Crucible of Emptiness had left Xiao Budian’s body as it was used to travel and no longer served any defensive purpose.
The form of the Thunderstorm Demon and God was formidable, but Xiao Budian had no confidence that the neck could withstand a strike from the elderly figure.
The streak of cold light was dim but the destructive force it embodied was enough to petrify every aurous core stage cultivator.
Even the vital point of a nascent soul stage grandmaster would not be able to survive such an attack.
Yet, Xiao Budian was calm and composed. Between the lightning and the flames, a small round shield materialized in front of him and blocked the attack of the elderly figure. At this point in time, the mutability of the streak of light was completely expended and it began to accelerate for the kill.
The shield was a gift from Kang Nanhua, named the Great Chaotic Shield of the Ganges, and was an item forged after Kang Nanhua entered the advanced aurous core stage. It possessed the power to block a single attack from a nascent soul stage grandmaster, and it was this exact shield that successfully blocked the killer move from the elderly figure!
The shield shattered into pieces. This force of this attack was comparable to that of a nascent soul stage cultivator.
The Great Chaotic Shield of the Ganges was no more, but the elderly figure’s assault had been repelled. The streak of cold light materialized as a result and it appeared to be a thin knife not more than a foot long and its hilt was in the grasp of the elderly figure.
It was an old and frail hand and the skin was as rough as wilting bark. Despite the fact, his grasp on the knife was stable and unwavering – like a stone that survived the millennium.
"Does everyone have a shield like this? My intelligence failed to report this!" The grey-robed elderly figure heaved a sigh and abruptly withdrew his knife. He leaped backwards and vanished over the horizon.
Having missed his initial strike, the elderly figure retreated and left the scene without hesitation. He had no intention to continue his assault as he knew another chance would crop up in the future.
Disappearing over the horizon after an unsuccessful hit showed great discipline. He did not believe in gambles and was not greedy with his chances – such were the salient characteristics of a perfect hitman.
Despite all this, his exit was still too late. The space in front of him trembled and Lin Feng stepped out from a crack in the void and arrived in front of the elderly figure in no time. He carried a sphere of purple energy, and within the sphere was a small and independent world.
Within the Celestial Small Worlds, five individuals were struggling relentlessly to escape. They comprised the first wave of assassins sent forth – the green-robed cultivator and the other aurous core stage cultivators – and were easily subdued and caught by Lin Feng like fish in a net.
He let one of the aurous core stage cultivators go on purpose as he left a mark a on his body. He wanted to see if the ‘fish’ would lead him to an even greater catch.
Lin Feng peered at the elderly figure in silence and extended his fingers as if to grab him.
Even though he was faced with a person like Lin Feng, the elderly figure remained calm and soundlessly contracted his entire body into a size seemingly smaller than a grain of sand and rocketed backwards to avoid Lin Feng’s capture.
Lin Feng watched on and said plainly, "Your method of escape is but an illusion. Your body never contracted into such a small size. You deceive people into thinking that you disappeared by minimizing yourself."
"But such illusions are nothing to me."
Lin Feng’s fingers extended once again and spell of Heavenly Arrest, which extended from the Fences of Heaven, shot out towards the elderly figure’s position in the form of a gigantic hand. The spell gripped him within its palm and he was immediately immobilized.
Suddenly, Prince Anliang of the Great Qin Empire stepped out from the void. Immediately behind him were the two immortal soul cultivators of the Great Qin Empire that participated in the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai, the Vivant Joy Holy Man and Gambling Holy Man.
However, the typically jovial Vivant Joy Holy Man could laugh no longer and the easy-going Gambling Holy Man wore an intensely solemn expression.
The three immortal soul elders trained their gaze upon the Celestial Small World in Lin Feng’s palm and stared at the imprisoned green-robed middle-aged cultivator.
If gazes could kill, this nascent soul stage cultivator would have already been utterly destroyed by the looks on the faces of the three immortal soul stage cultivators.
They recognized this nascent soul stage cultivator to be Zhao Xin. He was one of the nascent soul stage grandmasters who participated in the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai from the Great Qin Empire.
This individual used to be an enshrined member of the Great Qin Empire’s group of nascent soul stage cultivators. He was typically low-profile, did not engage in battle often and neither did he travel often in the outside world. In a typical day, he was a shut-in and was silently practicing his mantra or forging pills and magic treasures.
His ability was quite impressive and he completed tasks with care and without fail as per the Great Qin Empire’s various orders.
Shi Zongyue and company were originally extremely appreciative of such a powerful and low-profile subordinate. Little did they know that it was this exact person that knocked over the hornet’s nest.
The three pillars of the Great Qin Empire were at a loss as they knew the impact of this incident was irrevocably negative.
As the hosts of the event, not only were the guests subjected to assassinations, people under the hosts themselves were directly involved in the assassinations. No matter what reason was given, the reputation of the Great Qin Empire took a big hit.
The Vivant Joy Holy Man glanced at the expressionless Lin Feng and made an inward sigh. "He just had to pick the disciple of this particular person as his target. Now things will definitely get more complicated."
After the events at Xingyun Peak, Lin Feng’s reputation at protecting his disciples was already widespread. Everybody knew that the leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders had a soft spot for the weak, to the point where he would possibly overdo things. If something happened to his disciples, one could expect Lin Feng to get to the bottom of it and even fight the battle himself to seek justice for whatever happened.
"The only redeeming fact is that his disciple is okay after everything that’s happened. Otherwise today’s events would really cause never-ending trouble." The Vivant Joy Holy Man thought to himself as Lin Feng turned around and once again stared at them with an expressionless face.
"Prince Anliang, the Vivant Joy Holy Man and the Gambling Holy Man… I need an explanation." Lin Feng’s tone was calm and plain but anybody could detect it was the last moment of composure before the thunderstorm and calamity.