Chapter 36: Gushing Undercurrent
“Huchi!”
Seeing her wooden hut get destroyed, Xiao Yulan did not lose herself in anger. Instead, she took out a rescue signal from her sleeves. After a round of red fireworks were set off in the air, a second one went off, and by the third round, they had completely disappeared.
Xiao Yulan quickly said to Xiao Chen, “This is the highest level of rescue signal. Soon, the Third Elder and the others will arrive.”
Xiao Chen looked at the men in black clothing, they had discovered the fireworks and were rapidly heading towards them. He felt quite helpless in his heart. Perhaps by the time the Third Elder and the others arrived, there might only be two corpses left.
If Xiao Chen was here alone, after he used Lightning Evasion, he would be able to easily leave. It was a pity that at his current state, it was impossible to bring someone with him when using it.
The two of them ran unceasingly, occasionally dodging arrows that were fired at them. As a result, their speed was slowed significantly. If they could not think of a solution, they would be caught very soon.
Xiao Chen nimbly somersaulted in the air, avoiding an arrow, as he urgently said: “Cousin Yulan, if this keeps up, they will catch up to us very soon.”
Xiao Yulan turned her head to look at the situation behind her. The men in black were continuously jumping from tree to tree, not even stopping for a single step. These men must have been highly trained in using crossbows, as even while shooting, they did not stop moving.
Extending both her arms, Xiao Yulan’s body danced in midair as countless red petals fell from the sky. The fragrance of Poinsettias spread through the forest.
Xiao Yulan stopped, then drew the Broken Moon Sword and restarted dancing again. Her movements were very elegant, like a quick-witted fairy. The arrows that were fired looked like they had hit an intangible barrier, all being deflected off to a side.
Streams of red sword tips flew around them while Xiao Yulan unceasingly danced in the midst of the petal-filled sky. Then, the Broken Moon Sword shot out the countless red swords into the surrounding area.
Although the red sword tips looked beautiful dancing in the air, they were all laced with the poison of Poinsettias. All it took was just a touch and one would be immediately poisoned.
The densely packed red sword tips almost completely filled the immediate area around Xiao Yulan’s body. The entire space was pervaded with the pollen of the Poinsettias. Although the pollen was poisonous, it was incredibly bewitching.
The prettier something was, the more likely it was to be dangerous. When the men in black clothing saw the red space in front of them, they sensibly stopped. Poinsettia was one of the five deadly poisons—not everyone had the guts to try it.
Xiao Chen, who was in front, stared blankly at Xiao Yulan dancing amidst the petals. At this moment, she was like a fairy, dancing the most alluring dance in the world, causing anyone watching to be deeply engrossed, unable to come back to their senses.
“Let’s go, Cousin Xiao Chen.”
It was unknown when Xiao Yulan stopped dancing and suddenly appeared behind Xiao Chen. Grabbing his hand, they switched direction and continued running.
That direction headed towards the core area of Seven Horn Mountain. In that area, the Spirit Beasts were more ferocious than those surrounding the area. Furthermore, there were Spirit Beasts that were highly ranked. Regular Martial Disciples, or even Martial Grand Masters, would not dare to casually enter that area.
Xiao Yulan had cultivated there for ten years and relying on her familiarity with the area, she was very confident that she could shake off the pursuers after they entered the inner area of Seven Horn Mountain.
Coming back to his senses, Xiao Chen looked at Xiao Yulan holding his hands, “Cousin, actually, my wounds have healed already. I can move on my own.”
Xiao Yulan did not answer his question and just continued to hold his hands, rushing forward. She said indifferently: “You are about to die and yet you can still afford to care about these things.”
In her eyes, Xiao Chen was just an Inferior Grade Martial Disciple. At the moment, they were being chased. If she held onto him, they would be able to be faster.
However, while Xiao Chen’s strength looked simple on the surface, Xiao Yulan helping him along like this actually made their speed much slower than what it could have been.
Xiao Chen was about to retort back, when Xiao Yulan suddenly stopped. Her gaze coldly looking in front. Under a huge tree, a man in black clothes quietly stood there.
“Hand over the Spirit Blood Jade or die!” The man in black clothes said calmly, there was no trace of emotions in his voice.
The highly toxic Poinsettia may have been able to hold back those Martial Masters but this man in black clothes was a peak Superior Grade Martial Grand Master. He naturally had a way to be safe from the poisonous nature of the Poinsettia.
Without even doing anything, Martial Grand Masters kept appearing around him. This caused Xiao Chen to feel very depressed.
With his current strength, even if he met a Martial Master, he was confident that he would still have the abilities to battle them.
However, if he ran into a peak Martial Grand Master, he could only rely on the Return of the Azure Dragon to risk it all. Though, after the lesson he received from last time, he no longer dared to rashly use this terrifying Heaven Ranked Martial Technique anymore.
Xiao Yulan did not reply. Instead, the sky filled with petals once again, the Broken Moon Sword in her hands pierced unhesitatingly towards that man.
“Courting death,” the man in black clothes snorted. He reacted as fast as lightning and gently leaned to one side, avoiding the sword. Then, he extended out two fingers, forming them into a sword shape, and pierced in the direction of Xiao Yulans brain.
Xiao Yulan stepped backwards in a rush but the man did not chase after her. Pulling his hands back, a man-eating flower shot out of his hands. The man-eating flower opened up its petals, like the huge mouth of a ferocious beast, and ruthlessly bit at the Poinsettia behind it.
It turns out that the person already knew Xiao Yulan had planted a Poinsettia behind him. His earlier attack was only a feint and that was his true killing move.
The man-eating flower could absorb all the pollen into its body then digest it, generating stronger poison. No wonder he was not afraid of the toxic nature of the Poinsettia. He was able to sense the Poinsettia that had stealthily appeared behind him.
In the instant this happened, Xiao Yulan could not recall her Martial Spirit. Chewing sounds could be heard and the man-eating flower already heavily bit on the Poinsettia, chewing down on it.
The situation was critical. When Xiao Yulan battled, she was completely surrounded by the flower petals of the Poinsettia. The toxic nature was unable to differentiate between friend or foe not even allowing Xiao Chen to get close to help.
At this moment, Xiao Chen could no longer hold back. He shouted out, “Lightning Descend!”
Lightning streaked across the empty sky, striking towards that man in black clothing. The man did not dare take any risk and immediately retreated backwards. Just when he stopped moving, the lightning in the sky struck towards him again.
Xiao Chen’s Spiritual Sense had already locked down on him, allowing him to determine where would he land in an instant. If he retreated backwards, the Lightning Descend could immediately strike down.
However, with Xiao Chen’s cultivation realm, he was only able to maintain such rapid execution of this for three times. After three times, he would have to take a break before executing it again.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xiao Yulan immediately recalled the Poinsettia. All that was left was a broken petal, the rest had been gobbled up by the man-eating flower.
Avoiding the lightning once again, the man in black clothing’s eyes filled with a cold light. His gaze locked onto to Xiao Chen as he waved his hands and the malevolent man-eating flower opened up its huge mouth, heading towards Xiao Chen in a flash.
Seeing the horrifying man-eating flower, Xiao Chen was struck with fear. The flower actually had sharp teeth that only carnivorous animals had. On the teeth, he could even see a cold gleam.
Xiao Chen’s brain worked very hard, urgently trying to think of a way to deal with it. The strongest thing that he could count on was his Azure Dragon Martial Spirit. However, his Spirit Weapon was already broken, so naturally, he would not be able to utilize the might of the Azure Dragon.
Thus, all he could rely on was the Purple Thunder True Fire. It was a pity that the Purple Thunder True Fire had a very serious drawback. Although it was very persistent it had lacked penetrating power. With a barrier of Essence from a regular Martial Disciple, it could be easily defended against.
How could he increase the penetrating power of the Purple Thunder True Fire?
However, with the current situation at hand, he did not have too much time to think about it. The man-eating flower was approaching him. Once the man-eating flower got near, without a Spirit Weapon, he would be swallowed by it in no time, leaving nothing behind.
“Puchi!”
The purple flamed gathered onto Xiao Chen’s finger tip. When he focused his Spiritual Sense on it, Xiao Chen suddenly had a strange idea. Using the techniques of alchemy, his Spiritual Sense quickly made the Purple Thunder True Fire rotate.
With every revolution, Xiao Chen’s Essence would be significantly exhausted. However, the power contained in the Purple Thunder True Fire also increased significantly.
With a swoosh, the flame rapidly headed to the man-eating flower.
“Bang!” when the flames collided with the man-eating flower, it resulted in an intense explosion. The huge man-eating flower turned into countless specks of lights and returned to the body of the man in black clothing.
It actually caused an explosion, which was quite different from what Xiao Chen had expected. He originally thought that this improved version of the Purple Thunder True Fire would be able to pierce through the man-eating flower and defeat it, before carrying on to attack the man in black clothing.
But it looked like he had to continue to deliberate this further in the future. However, the danger in front of him had passed. Xiao Chen took out the Spirit Blood Jade from the Universe Ring.
“The Spirit Blood Jade is with me. If you want it, then catch me first,” Xiao Chen shouted loudly at the man in black clothing. At this moment, Xiao Yulan was already injured and temporarily could not fight. He could only lure the man in black clothing away by himself.
If he could lure him away by himself, then it would be easier for him the escape using the Lightning Evasion. This way, Cousin Yulan would also have the opportunity to escape.
Seeing Xiao Chen’s figure dashing away, the man in black clothing took a deep breath and manifested his Martial Spirit. He then quickly chased after Xiao Chen.
His aim was only to obtain the Spirit Blood Jade, nothing else mattered. Since the Spirit Blood Jade was with Xiao Chen, he no longer needed to bother with Xiao Yulan.
Xiao Yulan’s complexation was incredibly pale as she watched Xiao Chen’s figure leave. There was a complex expression on her face as her hand that held the Broken Moon Sword continued to tremble. Her mind was in complete disarray as she considered whether to chase after them or not.
Naturally, she knew that Xiao Chen lured the man in black clothing away so that she could have an opportunity to escape. With the cultivation realm of that man, even if the two of them worked together, they still would not be his match. They had may as well use one person to lure him away, saving the other person.
If she chased after them now, then she would have wasted Cousin Xiao Chen’s efforts. However, she believed that if she left, the severely injured Xiao Chen would not be able to escape from that man.
There was no way she could as calm or at ease!
At the same time, in a Xiao Clan encampment within Seven Horn Mountain, the Xiao Clan Third Elder looked into the sky and saw three rounds of red fireworks suddenly blossoming in the air. He immediately frowned.
“Pass down the order, all Xiao Clan disciples of the Martial Disciple realm and above are to gather immediately! Send someone down to inform the First Elder that the First Miss is in danger. Tell him to ask Elder Liu to come. Be quick!”
The group of people under him had never seen such a grim expression on the Third Elder’s face before. They knew that the situation was serious and immediately moved.
In a short moment, the undercurrents of Seven Horn Mountain had surged, and there was a drastic change in their situation.