Chapter 269: A Fatal Blow!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The fighting proceeded while the situation continued to escalate. Waves and waves of intense attacks were layered upon each other.
He Hanqing had to constantly wipe the blood away from his mouth during the course of the battle.
The reason he was vomiting blood was not because of the arcane Art of Soul Inducement but it was by virtue of the sword air that had been left in his body by Ling Xiaozui. He almost could not suppress it. Add the fact that he was surrounded by four strong enemies and instantly his life was at tenterhooks.
He could only utilize the Art of Soul Inducement once more, yet the use had its own limitations.
His life would run out soon. Initially, even without fighting, he had been close to death. Unless he had the help of Mr. Nian or achieved hi own breakthrough, he could easily die at any time within a span of eighteen years.
Now, however, the continuous use of the Art of Soul Inducement, twice, in fact, had consumed his eighteen years of longevity. He was like a lamp that had all used up all its oil.
Faced with the siege of the four underworld kings from Concourse of the Underworld, it was not hard to imagine how fierce the fighting was. Even if He Hanqing had exerted the Art of Soul Inducement for the second time, allowing him to return to peak condition, his own arcane had, nevertheless, inexplicably collapsed and he would no longer be a worthy opponent of the Four Kings’ joint attack.
Another drawback of the Art of Soul Inducement was that it could only briefly aim to destroy. However, the combat power was simply unsustainable and would only go from bad to worse. He Hanqing was attacking while fleeing, wishing to take advantage of the gap to escape while his current combat force was still strong. However, King Qinguang and the three others had been chasing him unceasingly, locking him down and preventing him from escaping.
An extended roar rang out.
With the gleaming flash of his saber that greeted the world from the sky, the Venerable Lord Saber went all out in his attack.
Whistling sharply, the saber light lanced in front of King Qinguang and the others. The saber light exploded out of thin air like a crystal ball, diffusing into the sky with after trails of saber energy, barring the path of the four men in pursuit.
The Venerable Lord Saber had managed to break through the blockade of Emperor Song in the end and came to give support.
"Faster, leave!" Venerable Lord Saber urged anxiously.
He did not have even to say it. In a flash, He Hanqing had turned into white smoke, speeding into the horizon.
This moment was still at the point where the combat power of Supreme Lord Spring Frost was at its peak. His speed was akin to streaming lightning!
Venerable Lord Saber roared loudly once again. A stunning flash of saber light exploded again, spreading in all directions. By his own power, he had managed to hinder the chase of the seven Yama Kings.
He Hanqing bolted all the way. Within the split of fingers, he had managed to rush out for hundreds of thousands of feet. However, unexpectedly, there was turbulence in the air before him. Three men clad in hemp garments appeared out of the blue. Their faces were indifferent, yet their auras were no different compared to the seven underworld kings.
An immensely chill wind blew alongside these three, forming a violent whirlwind.
Almost at the same time, overwhelming shadows and flashes of swords flew down from above.
"He Hanqing, leave your life here before you go!"
"I already knew that you fellows would be lurking in the dark!"
He Hanqing whistled loudly. His figure, which had been bolting forward at high speeds, impossibly changed its direction, soaring towards the sky. His speed of movement was not reduced but had increased instead, forming a trail of white smoke behind him. He then swept past over the heads of the three kings. To their surprise, the defense line built by the three Kings had turned out to be totally ineffective.
Or perhaps it wasn't. Suddenly, above the line of defense formed by swords and sabers, a flash of sword light burst out magnificently, catching up with He Hanqing’s end. Its speed was above the escaping velocity of He Hanqing.
Soon after, a stream of blood emerged behind He Hanqing’s path, caused by the slash of a sword. An elongated wound could be seen appearing on He Hanqing’s back. However, He Hanqing’s escape rate did not diminish at all. Within a single moment, he had flown thousands of feet away.
At this juncture of life and death, He Hanqing's objective was to escape at all costs, and he was not to be slowed down just because of a slash from a sword!
"F*ck!"
These three people that had appeared was the last three Kings of the Ten Court Kings, namely, King Wuguan, King Biancheng, and King Dushi.
The changes that had happened before them was clearly beyond the expectations of the three.
The initial foolproof ambush and the plan of barring the escape of the other did not take into account the possibility that their victim was prepared for it. In the most unlikely occasion, he had managed to find a way to escape. Even though he was wounded, he was still able to continue escaping without any decrease in speed. His title as one of four Supreme Lords of the Four Seasons Tower was duly justified.
Of course, the three of them would not give up at that point. Turning their bodies back, they were back in hot pursuit.
However, since He Hanqing gotten a head start, his speed had reached its maximum limit. By that time, it was apparently unrealistic for the other three to catch up with him.
A little while later, the saber light flashed again and again. It was Venerable Lord Saber catching up from behind. Apparently, the speed of the Concourse of Underworld's kings was incomparable to the swiftness of Venerable Lord Saber who was utilizing his saber. Even though they were desperately trying to catch up, they were all gradually left behind.
At this moment, all the people from Concourse of Underworld were speechless.
This mission was an absolute failure.
This was the first time the Concourse of the Underworld had all ten courts of Yama Kings jointly appearing, and was unable to accomplish their task.
What a great joke indeed!
It was extremely shameful.
" Damn..." cursed First Court Qinguang while continuing with the mad chase, "Have our people from the Concourse of Underworld gotten soft? With so many people, we still managed to let him escape."
While still in pursuit, the other brothers cast murderous glances at him.
You are the one who has gotten soft!
Out of so many brothers, you are the only one who has gotten soft!
That was Supreme Lord Spring Frost.
Why didn't you comment that so many people had been killed by Ling Xiaozui? When this task was over, this dog of a person had a beating waiting for him.
He Hanqing kept on running, face against the wind. He felt the mystical Qi within his body being continuously consumed. His life force was rapidly fading.
However, his heart was without fear.
As long as he was still alive, there would be hope. Now that he had been exposed, to remain in Tiantang City had become an impossibility. With the rightful justification of the Concourse of the Underworld forcing an attack against him, boss would have to help him figure out ways to heal himself. Not only would he be able to lengthen his life, the sword air that Ling Xiaozui had shot into his body might be taken off too.
With that thought in mind, it seemed like this time’s assassination attempt was neither a crisis nor impasse at all, but a fortunate turning point, a new world for him to start all over again!
The biggest task at the moment was to survive.
His chances of survival were high. As long as he was alive, everything would be put in the hands of the boss and would not be a problem at all.
He was dashing at his own maximum speed limit, like a meteor sliding magnificently over the sky. Suddenly, his expression changed. The wind rustled in mid-air. To his surprise, two wailing sounds of the sharp wind plunged down from the above.
"Be careful!" Behind him, the pupils of Venerable Lord Saber, who was still far away, suddenly shrunk.
However, it was too late.
The other was actually faster compared to He Hanqing who was at full speed. The velocity had come to a point where there was almost no time to respond.
He Hanqing cried out loud. A golden gleam suddenly shimmered from his body. He flung out all the attacking or lethal weapons he had on him. He punched out with both palms brazenly, trying desperately to counter-attack by facing the sky.
A loud bang, followed by the sharp screeching of an eagle could be heard. Soon, feathers were flying all over the sky.
A huge, black hawk swooped and dived in the air.
Together with it was He Hanqing’s right arm, that had been clawed away by the hawk!
The ninth class mystical beast had pierced He Hanqing’s entire arm while he was unaware and off guard. He Hanqing’s cultivation base could be considered deep and profound as he had not simply died on the spot.
He Hanqing yelled in agony as he looked at the sky.
The sharp torrent of pain from the hawk pulling one of his arms off was unbearable.
However, following his yelp, his face ashen in ultimate despair.
A bright light emerged before his eyes.
It was a brilliant beam of sword light that was approaching him head-on.
Not only was it sudden, its approaching speed was extreme and indescribable.
He Hanqing had just been dealt a terrible blow, his old force was gone, while his serious injuries increased. Even more importantly, the dismemberment was a critical strike. It was difficult to have his stature turned around in such an instance. How could he have dodged this sword which hurtled at him like a thunderbolt? Bellowing loudly, he hurriedly twisted his body, moving it slightly to the side.
A sword pierced right through He Hanqing's stomach with a swoosh and at an incredible speed, forming a hole right through his abdomen. The sword was still not done as it went towards Venerable Lord Saber behind him, glowing with blood alongside the whirring wind.
Clang!
A thunderous ringing could be heard. Venerable Lord Saber crashed forcefully into the sword with his saber light, causing the sword to buzz and fly obliquely outwards, carrying a trail of light with it, landing in the deep unknown.
However, a middle-aged man clad in a green robe and with elegant features appeared before He Hanqing’s eyes. He did not hold a sword, with only a fishing rod in his grip.
However, within the dark confines of his silhouette, the fishing rod had soon turned into a thunderous storm, each rod craving for a chance at blood.
The shadow of countless fishing rods had completely enveloped He Hanqing!
"He Hanqing, die!"
That man was Wei Xinglu.
Initially, Wei Xinglu was bringing Gugu to fish at the Thousand Feet Lake. However, after enduring over the whole night, neither the Qirin fish nor a single fish fin could be seen. The entire Thousand Feet Lake was like a dead pool.
How could they know that ever since the repeated warnings by Yun Yang, even the common species were difficult to be caught, not to mention Qirin fish? If they were using common bait, they might still able to catch some fish. However, for the Thousand Feet Lake, the more special the bait, the more difficult it was to catch the fish.This was one of the grand views after Yutang, a view of wonders!
After bitterly enduring boredom for a night, Wei Xinglu was about to bring Gugu back to the Residence of Yun as he was disheartened by the lack of any success. However, suddenly he heard the violent sounds of fighting, brought over by the wind.
He Hanqing!
Was someone attacking He Hanqing?
Wei Xinglu heart was palpitating with eagerness.
He was bold, given his great skill. Furthermore, there would not be any danger to be concerned about in this place. He simply went and observed whether it was true, thus coming all the way here. Gugu suddenly exclaimed, "Isn’t that He Hanqing being chased?"
Yu Tang’s father figure of literati, the leader of scholars, the sage Old Sir He?
Wei Xinglu’s interest was ignited when he heard the words.
Yes indeed!
He had initially intended to cause trouble for this old fellow. However, even before he had managed to go over himself, he had come across an opportunity to beat the fallen dog.
Since the opportunity had appeared before his eyes, it was a waste of fated chance if he took no action. Wei Xingly simply exerted a push. With a soft wave, Gugu was hidden in a secret corner. He then immediately, without hesitation, rushed forward.
A man and a hawk. Both attacked at the same time
Such a joint effort was equivalent to the level above the Tenth Perfection. Coincidentally, they had picked the subtle moment where He Hanqing was off-guard, thinking that he had escaped an ambush.
The strike of his sword was duly unexpected!
Having to make dreams over his lifetime, never did it occur to He Hanqing that he would have to face such a nightmare! Not only had all the ten Kings and two envoys from Concourse of the Underworld appeared, a man such as this was waiting for him!
Wei Xinglu was the purest form of force at this moment. No one could have anticipated that there would be a third party involved.
The sword had penetrated right through He Hanqing’s lower abdomen.
A single strike and everything had fallen apart!
Since the attack on He Hanqing, this was the most fatal of blows!