Chapter 825: The Great Escape
When Xiao Chen saw the last person approaching him, his expression remained as calm as still water. He did not panic as all as he put away the Void Projection Painting and summoned out the Lunar Shadow Saber.
Then, while using the Strength Character Formula, Xiao Chen executed Soaring Dragon. A vast aura flooded out endlessly from his body. A dragon roared and a strong wind blew.
The surging aura was like thousands of snow mountains collapsing, engendering fear in the heart. The black-clad man flying over actually paused in midair temporarily.
Hidden Dragon in the Depths, the gentleman plans before taking action; Soaring Dragon, the dragon soars through the nine heavens, shaking the world!
Xiao Chen took a soft step forward, and a boundless force exploded out. A kilometer-long crack instantly spread out, splitting the flat ground in half.
When he drew the saber, a dazzling, resplendent light appeared. He became like an Azure Dragon soaring into the sky. With thirty-sixfold combat prowess, the roar of this Azure Dragon could strike fear in the heart of a Martial Sage.
How could the black-clad man block the momentum of this attack? A horrifying wound appeared on his chest, and he vomited a large mouthful of blood. This blow blasted him back ten kilometers, his survival uncertain.
Although this exchange took a long time to describe, Xiao Chen actually took only an instant to block the attacks of these five Medial Grade Martial Sages and knock them away. Just by raising his hand a few times, he repulsed these five powerful cultivators.
Forcefully suppressing the side effects of using the Strength Character Formula, Xiao Chen took out the puppet snake. Then, he bent over and picked up the stunned Ying Qiong before quickly entering the puppet snake.
After knocking back this group of people, he should have enough time to activate this puppet snake.
No one would believe that as a half-Sage, Xiao Chen repelled five Medial Grade Martial Sages with a few waves. However, this truly happened.
The five masked black-clad men slowly recovered. They all had furious expressions as they regrouped.
Between the five was a hole as wide as a bucket. This hole appeared dark and bottomless. They all exchanged glances and saw helpless expressions in one another’s eyes.
With the five’s capabilities, they could split mountains or even flip over a small area of the sea. However, burrowing into the ground nimbly like an animal was beyond them.
Of course, cultivators with special Martial Techniques were an exception. There would always be such strange people in the world. However, these five people were not them.
“Puppet snake! This fellow actually has a Secret Treasure that is almost extinct! This is going to be troublesome.”
“It was difficult to get some of the elders still in the clan involved in this plan. However, that girl still managed to escape.”
The five felt flustered. If they let Ying Qiong escape now, once the elders settled the matter in the depths of the starry heavens, the five would not have a good end.
“Whoosh!”
A wind blew. The expert who killed the old woman beside Ying Qiong arrived before the hole. After he heard about the matter, his face slowly sank.
The old man said hatefully, “What an Azure Emperor’s descendant! To think he dared to spoil my great plans!”
“Third Elder, what should we do? If we cannot kill the Second Young Miss today, how are we going to remain here?”
The yellow-robed old man replied calmly, “I will try to think of a method to suppress this matter. Since I dared to make a move, naturally I already made preparations for failure. Go back first.”
Seeing the old man remaining calm, the five black-clad men no longer panicked. They could not help but heave a sigh of relief and respectfully took their leave before preparing to return.
“Pu ci!” An extremely fast saber light flashed. The five men’s heads flew into the air, their eyes filled with disbelief.
The five had not expected that the countermeasure the yellow-robed old man mentioned was silencing them. They also had not expected this yellow-robed old man to be a grandmaster-level Martial Sage already.
If the five had known, they would have kept an eye out and not exposed their backs to this person.
A figure landed. It was that handsome man who had stood beside Ying Qiong during the Sage War. He saw the hole below and frowned slightly. He said, “Second Sister, you are indeed lucky. After I paid such a huge price, I did not imagine that an unexpected person would foil my plans.”
The yellow-robed old man sighed gently and said, “First Young Master, I’ll deal with the aftermath. This matter will definitely not implicate you.”
The young man entered deep thought. After a while, he stretched out his right hand, and a small bird appeared on his palm. He raised his hand and released the bird. The bird flapped its wings and rushed into the hole.
“That White Robed Bladesman should not have any combat prowess temporarily after executing that attack. If my Wind Chasing Bird can find them, we should still stand a chance.”
The yellow-robed old man’s eyes lit up as he said, “In that case, let’s go and make our preparations.”
The young man raised his hand and said, “There is no need. Just focus on dealing with the aftermath. I will handle things from here. One step of bad luck can cause everything to fail. Continuing to push on would be going against the heavens. I will just casually send someone over.”
---
In a forest one thousand five hundred kilometers outside Qin City, the flat ground burst open, and a long black snake came out.
A trap door on the snake’s belly opened, and two figures leaped out.
Fine scarlet lines under Xiao Chen’s skin covered his entire body as if his skin would burst open.
Doing his best to suppress the side effects of the Strength Character Formula, Xiao Chen placed the puppet snake back in the Universe Ring. Then he put his hood on again as he watched the hole with a grave expression.
Ying Qiong looked doubtful. However, after a while, Xiao Chen suddenly moved, sending out a sharp saber Qi from his fingertip.
“Ka ca!”
The Wind Chasing Bird, which was less than half the size of a palm, had just peeked its head out when the strand of purple saber Qi chopped it in half.
“That is the Wind Chasing Bird that my eldest brother, Ying Fan, rears. It really is him!” Ying Qiong said somewhat coldly.
Previously, she was just guessing. Now that she saw this unique Wind Chasing Bird, she no longer needed any other evidence.
After waiting awhile and not seeing another Wind Chasing Bird, Xiao Chen relaxed. Hidden under the hood, the skin on his face slowly split apart, and blood leaked out.
“Miss Ying, you are already safe. Can we complete our deal now?” Xiao Chen’s voice quivered slightly.
A pain like stabbing needles came. The side effects that Xiao Chen was suppressing felt like they wanted to burst out like a flood.
Ying Qiong felt something was off. However, this time, she did not hesitate at all but simply handed Xiao Chen the three boxes. When she saw the right hand that he extended, her expression froze.
“Your hand…”
Xiao Chen’s originally smooth skin had split open all over. Blood leaked out, looking incomparably horrifying.
Ying Qiong flung her hand out and triggered a gust of wind. Xiao Chen’s hood immediately fell back, and she exclaimed in shock. She could not help but cover her mouth with her small hands; she could feel goosebumps all over her body.
Now, Xiao Chen looked truly terrifying. A spiderweb-like net of blood lines covered his face from the blood that leaked out when his skin cracked.
Xiao Chen carefully put away the brocade boxes and pulled his hood back on. Then he tossed out the other half of the core painting piece to Ying Qiong. He smiled bitterly and said, “Sorry for scaring you. They’re just superficial injuries. I will be fine after some rest.”
Compared to the previous time he had used the Strength Character Formula, he was indeed in a much better situation. He remembered the first time he had used the Strength Character Formula in the Sky Dome Realm. That had completely consumed all his combat prowess; he had not even been able to stand up after that.
Being able to last so long this time already far surpassed his expectations. Going by this, he should be able to execute the Strength Character Formula properly once after he attained a Rank 4 Sage Body.
A light flickered on Xiao Chen’s forehead, and a ruddy throne ensconced in a bank of scarlet clouds appeared. He took a deep breath and endured the intense pain. Then he leaped up and finally sat down on the throne.
A scarlet light flickered, and the Massacre Throne carried Xiao Chen off into the distance.
“Hu chi!”
A pretty figure carrying a wooden umbrella descended from the sky and landed on the scarlet cloud speeding away. Xiao Chen blinked. For some reason, Ying Qiong followed him again.
However, even moving his lips caused Xiao Chen intense pain. So he could not be bothered to say anything and let her follow him.
After all, if Ying Qiong wanted to use this opportunity to take his life, the Supreme Sky Emperor’s will clone would reveal itself when he was truly in mortal danger, instantly crushing her into dust.
As the scarlet cloud carried the throne, flying for fifty kilometers, it left behind a trail of rainbow light. Then, Xiao Chen made it land at the base of a rock mountain.
This place was filled with all sorts of strange tall rocks. With nobody here, it was a good place for recovering and hiding from pursuit.
After Xiao Chen landed, he carefully put away the scarlet throne. Then he spent some time using the Universe Flags to lay a restriction on the area.
Without saying a word, he leaped onto a rock pillar and sat down cross-legged. Then he started to deal with the side effects of the Strength Character Formula unconcernedly.
As Ying Qiong watched Xiao Chen sit on the tall stone, she had an uncertain expression. Her feelings were extremely complicated, indescribable.
She now found him even more unfathomable. She simply could not understand what kind of person he was. He was clearly selfish to the point of extreme coldness. However, because he had made her a promise, he had done everything he could, even incurring severe injury, to ensure her safety.
When Xiao Chen was in the Star Grave Palace, he had clashed with Yan Shisan without any consideration for the personal repercussions, all for the sake for a Spirit Fox Race girl.
At this moment, Ying Qiong did not know that the most wonderful emotion in the mortal realm was slowly creeping through her barriers like soft hooks, entering her heart and never to come out again.
Three days—for three whole days—Xiao Chen endured excruciating pain. But by relying on his strong physical body, he mostly recovered from the side effects of the Strength Character Formula.
The scary cast to his face was gone. His skin was smooth once more. A light flickered in his eyes from his deeper understanding of the Strength Character Formula.
Xiao Chen stood up and spat out a mouthful of turbid Qi. Then he put away his cloak and stretched.
The soft cracking of his joints immediately awakened Ying Qiong, who sat on a nearby rock pillar with her eyes closed, her emotions somewhat unstable.
She opened her eyes and saw that Xiao Chen had regained his original appearance. Then, she heaved a sigh of relief, and a look of joy flashed in her eyes.
“Young Master Xiao, many thanks for saving me this time,” Ying Qiong said softly with a smile of embarrassment.
Xiao Chen squinted and carefully sized up this girl. Then he revealed an expression of contemplation. After a while, the words he spoke nearly made Ying Qiong vomit blood on the spot.
“I could not tell that not only does Miss Ying Qiong have intelligence and exceptional martial prowess but also such outstanding aspirations. This Xiao is really embarrassed and feels inferior.”
[TL Note: Aspirations here is a Chinese pun for chest.]