Chapter Forty Six Escape**
writer:
无罪 update:2022-07-21 15:26
The Wuzhi existed on the plains, and lived relatively well. In the eyes of outsiders, they primarily relied on sheep, cattle and horses. Yet the Wuzhi people knew that their ancestors were able to survive mainly by hunting. The deer of the plains were once their primary food source, and the wolves their greatest enemies thus becoming the most important holy animals among their totems.
The Wuzhi challenged their difficult environment, and then challenged all powerful beings that threatened them. One tribe managed to conquer the strongest wolf pack on the steppes, before unifying all the tribes on the steppes and becoming the royal Wuzhi Clan.
That strongest wolf pack were true grey wolves. Their fur was grey, and they were enormous, having astounding power and agility, and endurance equal to horses. Only royal Wuzhi members would possess such a grey wolf as a steed.
Before the last light of dusk had faded, Li Xixing had seen the owner of the five crescent moons. He had seen that the man wearing the tiger-skull mask was the commander of the three thousand cavalry, yet he had not imagined that this person was one of the royal Wuzhi family.
“I had not thought the commander of this three thousand army would be of the royal Wuzhi family.” Li Xixing slowly looked up to face the gaze within the tiger skull mask. He said slowly, “I had not thought a person like you would dare to leave the army and pursue us.”
The grey wolf landed, and as it panted furiously, wind gusts seemed to form in front of it.
The Wuzhi commander sitting on its saddle remained motionless, not in a hurry to move. He looked at Li Xixing and Hu Jingjing. He said in pure Guanzhong tongue, “You have many things you did not think of, so you suffered such a defeat.”
“The war has just started, you have all come out, yet we are only the vanguard.” Li Xixing shook his head coldly. “Regardless of how you put hopes on other dynasties, the Wuzhi will not have a good outcome.”
“So what if we destroy good and bad alike?” The Wuzhi commander looked at Li Xixing and sneered. “Even if our Wuzhi only have a few thousand people left, we are still Wuzhi. In a thousand years, the steppes will still have Wuzhi. But if you pay a heavy price, maybe there will be no more Qin in a century.”
Li Xixing was silent for a moment and said, “So I do not want to fight either.”
The Wuzhi commander laughed coldly. “Are these words not laughable coming from Fang?”
Li Xixing looked at him and said slowly, “I only killed some of the Wuzhi people robbing the border merchants.”
The Wuzhi commander sneered. “If the Qin did not deliberately make friends of distant countries and attack the ones nearby, why would the Wuzhi go rob the merchant caravans passing through our borders.”
Hu Jingjing looked at Li Xixing from behind his back. The shock and reverence in her eyes grew stronger. Listening to the conversation, she started to understand how Li Xixing, this youth abandoned by Changling, had done here, and possessed what kind of reputation. But these people who Wuzhi knew were ones who most people in Changling did not know.
“This kind of question cannot be answered.” Li Xixing looked coldly at the Wuzhi commander. “I am just an insignificant cultivator. All I can do is protect those merchant caravans, and not let them be slaughtered casually like sheep by wolf.”
“Actually, I respect you very much, especially when I pursued you and discovered the two of you managed to lure my cavalry into retreat.” The Wuzhi commander did not argue and said directly after a few moments, “So I must give you the courtesy of a true warrior. I am Wu Lianzi, the fifth prince of Wuzhi. I want to have a fair battle with you and then take your head.”
“I agree.” Li Xixing looked at this prince and said, “If you first dissipate half of the vital energy in your body.”
Wu Lianzi looked up and saw Li Xixing’s disdainful expression. His eyes held some anger but he did not speak, and suppressed half of his vital energy through his fingertips. His hands started to shine. Red vital energy, carrying indescribable fragrance, fell to the yellow grass on the two sides of his body. In the darkness, it seemed like pretty spirit flowers were blooming on the grass.
Hu Jingjing looked in disbelief at this scene. She had not expected the other really would do this. At this time, she sensed slightly tingling from her arm.
Some of Li Xixing’s hairs seemed to be blown by the wind and stabbed into her arm. Yet these hair strands could use the slight pain to remind this was not the wind. She could sense the characters the hair strand were carving on her face. She sensed more disbelief and even some shame.
“Nearly.”
Wu Lianzi was focused, his gaze akin to two sharp swords. His slow and determined tone showing his strong confidence and pride. He was slightly shorter than Li Xixing, yet he felt taller and imposing.
“Nearly.” Li Xixing repeated and then held his sword across his chest.
The pale white longsword he held now had three slanted seal scripts which irregularly stretched to the sword tip. The night wind suddenly grew wild and roared terrifyingly in front of him.
Li Xixing was recognized as strong in the young generation of Changling cultivators, yet in this life and death battle, his body was filled with an indescribable cold-blooded presence. A fang-like pale sword light shone. It created an unpredictable crescent in the air across almost a hundred feet and cut towards Wu Lianzi.
When this sword light shone, Wu Lianzi started to sprint. The tips of his feet tapped lightly on the yellow leaves as he passed through the air like the wind. The five curved blades on his black flew out, and five crescent moons danced around him.
The sword light fell on the blood moons. Pale white sword light splashed, and the tiger-skull mask he wore showed countless spiderweb cracks. But his gaze was still extremely confident and proud.
He let out a domineering shout, and caused the skull pieces around his mouth to spray out.
The five blood moons stood in front of him in a line like soldiers, and gradually merged together into a large and thick bloody long blade! He gripped this obviously heavy and thick long blade. Vital energy poured wildly out of his body. The air was compressed and immediately gave thunderous noises.
Facing this terrifying blade, Li Xixing’s expression grew colder. His sword did not move, but the vital energy coming out of his body caused an enormous wall to appear in the sky above him.
Then he smashed the wall in front of him!
Wu Lianzi’s tiger-skull mask fell down like porcelain pieces. The long blade in his hand did not swing forward, and shoved upwards like a pole.
A great boom!
He seemed to poke a hole in the sky.
A hole was created in the invisible wall. The enormous power dropped to the ground, but he was right in the hole. The ground shook. On both sides of his body, a deep wall-like mark appeared, about ten feet.
He defeated this attack like this, yet in the next moment, the unwounded Wu Lianzi screamed in fury. The moment after he poked a hole in the giant wall, Hu Jingjing had attacked from behind Li Xixing.
A candle-like light sword light did not fall towards his body and brushed against his side and the ground.
The sword light fell onto the giant grey wolf not far behind him.
This blow was not strong for cultivators, especially after Hu Jingjing became seriously injured. To Wu Lianzi, this was extremely weak. Even so, he had not expected after Li Xixing agreed to a fair battle, Hu Jingjing would attack.
This weak attack was enough against a giant wolf.
As he screamed furiously, the giant grey wolf furiously leapt in the air as it sensed danger. Yet the yellow sword still struck its two rear legs.
His hind-limbs were cut off and blood spewed.
Li Xixing had retreated. He grabbed Hu Jingjing and threw her onto his back like a bag. Then he quickly bent down and moved through the grass behind.
“Apologies.” As Wu Lianzi furiously screamed, Li Xixing bowed his head as he ran furiously and said softly to himself, “This is a war, and not grievances between two people.”
Volume 3 46 - Sword Out
With a cold presence, the white flame descended on the peak of Deer Mountain. This mountain, that had been roasting under Emperor Chen of Han’s pill fire sword, suddenly cooled down.
One one hand this brought comfort to all those around, but on the other it threw them into extreme discomfort.
Their comfort stemmed from the feeling of comfort on the surface of their bodies, but their discomfort stemmed from deep within them.
For they all knew that this was the Starfire Comet Tail Sword of the Ba Mountain Sword Field. During the wars between the Qin Dynasty and the Han, Zhao and Wei dynasties, many powerful cultivators had died under the Starfire Comet Tail Sword of the present empress of Qin, Zheng Xiu.
The Starfire Comet Tail Sword’s star energy was different from ordinary primal energies in every aspect, but its extreme speed. Cultivators found it challenging to block it using ordinary primal energies of the universe. However, the most critical factor was the range. Zheng Xiu could cast this Starfire Comet Tail Sword from an extremely far distance. As such, those on the battlefield could discover neither her existence nor the presence of her sword. She could launch a strike at the very moment a powerful cultivator was at their weakest.
Thus, she was forever the fatal insidious thorn on the battlefield.
And now, Emperor Yuanwu, whose cultivation was realm eight, had comprehended this ultimate skill of the Ba Mountain Sword Field that only Zheng Xiu had known!
In the future, in the event that a dynasty’s army faced the Qin Dynasty, there would be an even more fatal insidious thorn lurking around!
Ding Ning’s eyes had originally been closed. But as the starfire fell, and before it appeared in the sight of everyone on the peak of Deer Mountain, he opened his eyes. His eyes reflected the pale white flame, as though his eyes were covered in a layer of frost.
At this time, on Deer Mountain and the surrounding mountains, he was the only one privy to the thoughts coursing through Emperor Yuanwu’s mind.
The Starfire Comet Tail Sword was powerful, albeit not the best tactic to vanquish the Stone-Grinding Sword.
Once the Nine Death Silkworm appeared, all the elites of Changling had speculated about that person’s heir.
It was known to Changling, and several cultivators of the other dynasties that Zheng Xiu once been that person’s lover, and they had been the strongest couple of the Qin.
At this moment, Emperor Yuanwu would be suspecting that that person’s heir would be around Deer Mountain and watching this battle. He would further suspect that Yan Ying had been taught the Stone-Grinding Sword by that person’s heir.
Hence he had used the Starfire Comet Tail Sword in response.
Ding Ning’s eyes reflected the pale white flames like frost. A small cold sneer that no one else could see appeared on the corners of his lips as he thought.
The multiple streams of white starfire accurately stabbed on the black balls of light revolving around Emperor Yuanwu.
Many tears surfaced on Emperor Yuanwu’s dragon robe.
In the next moment, he gave off an enormous presence.
His body seemed to grow gigantic.
These five spinning balls of black light were unable to stop him from exuding vital energy after the Starfire Comet Tail Sword attack. When Emperor Yuanwu appeared to grow enormous, these five balls of black light were even less able to compete.
In everybody’s senses, these five balls of black light were not like five millstones, but five pitiful small beads.
Yan Ying was not fighting on his own.
When Emperor Yuanwu defeated Yan Ying’s Stone-grinding sword essence, Emperor Chen of Han had finally taken a step forward.
As he stepped out, the ground and air in front of him started to burn, turning into a crimson flame world. His pill fire sword was entwined with many unusual jumping sparks that usually could not be seen. It passed through the curtain of fire and appeared in front of Emperor Yuanwu’s face.
Emperor Yuanwu knew that this sword was probably the strongest force in the world next to him.
His brows raised. He reached out with his left hand and blocked the sword. At the same time, using his right hand as a sword he stabbed a yellow jade-like sword light towards the curtain of fire. All along his expression was calm and emotionless, to the point of eerie.
There was a cracking sound.
The presence unique to a lifebond item emerged from Emperor Yuanwu’s palm, leaving spray of blood through a small rupture in its wake.
The crimson pill fire sword flowed through this wound into his body.
Many, who could sense what had happened, brightened. But then their breathing stopped. Emperor Yuanwu’s body was like an unimaginable container.
When the rolling pill fire sword energy entered Emperor Yuanwu’s meridians, Emperor Yuanwu only flushed slightly. But the energies disappeared deep into his body.
His body was extremely stable, and his output of vital energy was also extremely stable.
The curtain of fire in front of him was forced back by the sword light coming out of his right hand. The yellow jade-like sword accurately stabbed into Emperor Chen of Han’s chest, and came out his back.
Emperor Chen of Han gave a muffled grunt and retreated backwards.
Many faces turned ashen, especially the cultivators of the Chu Dynasty.
In their view, Emperor Chen of Han would die in the next breath.
With a snap, Emperor Chen of Han’s feet landed back on the ground. Countless cracks appeared on the hard stone in a spiderweb.
To everybody’s utter shock, Emperor Han of Chen did not die, and his presence did not weaken at all.
Blood did not ooze out of the sword wound on his chest and his back, only surging red pill energy sprayed out. The sword wound did not expand due to the spray of pill energy, but contracted instead.
Emperor Yuanwu looked towards his palm.
The wound on his palm was also shrinking, but not as fast as Emperor Chen of Han’s wound.
He frowned slightly, his authoritative and deep eyes showing even more coldness.
“The Heaven Stealing Pill is really the strongest spirit pill in the world,” he looked up at Emperor Chen of Han and said.
All the cultivators on the peak of Deer Mountain realized that Emperor Han of Chen had not died due to the Heaven Stealing Pill. The speed with which the medicinal power of the pill replenished Emperor Han of Chen’s body exceeded the speed of his diminishing vitality.
At this time, Emperor Chen of Han was likely the being with the best recovery abilities in history.
However, the spectators were even more shocked about the shrinking of Emperor Yuanwu’s palm wound.
As Emperor Yuanwu spoke, his body did not stay motionless and swayed strangely. With each movement, there seemed to be a patch of black light and a bright flame flashing around him.
There seemed to be a black shadow and a bright figure chasing each other, but neither could touch the other.
Emperor Yuanwu’s words seemed to have won him enough time. As he lifted his head, a vast power coming from the sky descended on the peak of Deer Mountain.
There was light, the darkness had no place to hide.
Yan Ying’s figure appeared clearly in the light. A presence that no one present could defeat fell from the sky onto his body.
Yan Ying’s body kept on ringing, threads of black smoke was being pressed out of his body by the terrifying power, as though he was on fire.
The emperor of Qi clenched his fists and could not help but stand up.
But Yan Ying shook his head towards him.
The emperor of Qi stopped breathing. He thought of what Yan Ying had said to him at the start- he has asked him to watch the spectacle, to remain quiet and do nothing except watch.
He lowered his eyes and sat down.
Emperor Yuanwu’s eyes narrowed slightly.
More black smoke emerged from Yan Ying’s body, not dissipating in the least. In a brief moment, the smoke formed a black pot around him, thoroughly concealing him.
This was a black pot that looked like an ordinary black earthen pot.
Emperor Yuanwu’s left hand opened slightly. Enormous presences criss-crossed in the air to form an enormous seal.
Another invincible presence fell from the sky onto the black pot.
The surface of the black pot grew brighter. Bright flames appeared and it truly started to burn.
Yet, the black pot did not melt, nor did it burn.
Under such incineration, the earthen surface of the pot seemed to emit a clay-like light, and even a bone-like lustre.
The emperor of Yan and several important Yan Dynasty officials felt a bitter taste.
A black pot like this had forced the Yan Dynasty army to retreat in the past.
Emperor Yuanwu’s eyes suffused with genuine surprise.
This was a tactic he had never seen before and could not understand completely.
“When
is at the extreme,
forms. The change of
and
is the essence of rebirth.”
He was the strongest cultivator in the world and in a flash, he had understood.
“Receive my sword,” he said and reached out with his right hand.
Since the commencement of the battle, this was the first time he was using a sword attack.
He used his own sword.
Taking a deep breath, Ding Ning icily thought to himself,
Translator Ramblings: Does anyone feel the emperor of Qi is very good at self-control to keep to Yan Ying’s advice constantly in his mind?
Volume 2 46 - Borrowing A Sword
This chapter has been brought to you by me, and larkspur.
When that sword light brighter than lightning appeared, the emperor of Chu’s face turned a peculiar red. This peculiar flush brightened his old age marks, they now seemed just like blooming plum blossoms.
After the Yan was the first to attack and Li Caitian was killed, he had discerned there was a great conspiracy in the background. Even so, he had not expected the situation to be so great that even the top grandmaster of the Qi Dynasty, Yan Ying, would sacrifice himself to pave the way.
The emperor of Qi’s eyes were also suffused with genuine shock.
All this time, he had heeded Yan Ying’s words, silently watching the spectacle. He had not expected such a big spectacle at the end. He could clearly sense that it was a peach tree that had created this sword light brighter than lightning.
There had been an old peach tree in the Ba Mountain that had not perished even after being repeatedly struck by lightning. In the end, the core of the peach tree had naturally formed seal-like patterns that were suitable for absorbing the presence of lightning. The wood had been turned into a peachwood sword by the swordsmen of the Ba Mountain Sword Field.
Ding Ning looked at the three waves of murderous intent rising from the surrounding mountain peaks, his pupils contracted.
The master of this peachwood tree was Ye Xinhe of the Ba Mountain Sword Field, while the one flying through the air and attracting millions of rain droplets like an immortal of rain was naturally Song Chaosheng.The third one was naturally the mad grandmaster Guo Dongjiang from Blue Jade Island, who gave off the strong oceanic smell and had a hint of madness within his murderousness.
These three people were not unfamiliar to him.
The Ba Mountain Sword Field had hoarded swords for thousands of years. A few decades ago, it had produced many talents, the best of that time. The dynasties at the time had all gasped at the astounding fortune the Ba Mountain Sword Field possessed.
Ye Xinhe had been able to possess the Peach Divine Sword, one of the Ba Mountain Sword Field’s greatest weapons, at its peak. He had been one of the top.
In the past wars against the Han, Zhao, and Wei dynasties, he had played the role of the assassin that penetrated into foreign territories. When the armies were waging battles, he would be in cities of enemy dynasties looking for opportunities to assassinate important people or cultivators.
Just like how great rebels like Zhao Yi and Bai Shanshui disliked going into Changling, many cities were like an urn to cultivators. It was easy to enter, and hard to leave. Going deep into the enemy dynasty was much more dangerous than fighting in the battlefield.
Ye Xinhe had moved through the various dynasties. His ability to hide and evade pursuit was something no other grandmaster could rival. It was rumored that he had died in the battle after Ba Mountain Sword Field was destroyed. In the last few decades, there had been no trace of him. Ding Ning had thought he had died, and didn’t expect him to appear here.
Gazing at the sword light, it appeared that the other’s Nine Heaven Lightning Sword had reached its peak. Disregarding cultivation, even the famed people of Ba Mountain Sword Field in the past might not be able to show such perfection.
The Wei Dynasty’s Song Chaosheng, who hailed from the prestigious Song Family,had been one of its strongest grandmasters during its time. He had been one of the leaders of the opposition to the emperor of Wei’s plan to build a spirit canal and the monopoly of the Cloud Water Palace. But just like how the old prestigious families of the Qin Dynasty had been destroyed in the reformation, the prestigious Song Family had been wiped out by the emperor of Wei and Cloud Water Palace.
In the end, the Wei Dynasty’s capital was conquered by the Qin army. When the Wei Dynasty was destroyed, someone had seen him sing sorrowfully and cry a thousand tears. Each drop of his tears had turned into a tide, causing that unfinished Wei spirit canal to rise three feet. Then he had disappeared and never reappeared.
As for Guo Dongjiang, people rarely knew that this mad overseas cultivator had been a friend of the master of the Last Flower sword Ding Ning carried.
The Qin Dynasty’s ocean routes had not been pioneered just by the metal ships, but by the swords of many.
During the Qin Dynasty’s reformation, amidst the sea of changes, many became foes with the swordsmen of the Ba Mountain Sword Field, yet others had turned friends after fighting one another.
Ding Ning should feel joy that these three people were assassinating Emperor Yuanwu right now.
If he had followed Forefather Zhou here, perhaps, he would have felt joy. But here he was, with Pan Ruoye and Mo Shoucheng. Everything he had seen thus far was a caveat, that today’s eventualities were well within Emperor Yuanwu’s scope of expectations.
So what he wanted to do the most right now was shout, make this trinity of grandmasters change their minds.
But even if he shouted, and the trio heard, would they listen to him?
If these three knew his true identity, who among the three would listen, and who would not?
After Emperor Chen of Han and Yan Ying’s battle against Emperor Yuanwu, he respected them, he had learned all of Emperor Yuanwu’s secrets, raising his respect, and even gaining his gratitude. But those two grandmasters did not have a direct connection to him, like the people attacking now.
So the coldness he felt inside grew stronger.
Even if he was repeatedly telling himself to be calm, and he could only see more clearly if he was calm, his hands uncontrollably trembled.
"Long Wind!"
"Fire!"
Shrill military orders sounded upon Deer Mountain.
The emperors of Chu, Yan, and Qi had easily accepted Emperor Yuanwu’s conditions in order so they could move to the side and express their stance- that they had nothing to do with what was happening now, so no one could say that the cultivators of the three dynasties had used the agreement to lure Emperor Yuanwu here.
Under such an unspoken agreement, the armies of the three dynasties naturally could not move, and were even more silent than usual. But the elite and experienced army of the Qin Dynasty naturally would not allow the assassins to kill their beloved Holy One.
Some unique military orders were to tell cultivators to activate their seal weapons. When the millions of raindrops gathered towards Song Chaosheng on top of Deer Mountain, a terrifying energy tide exploded from the side of Deer Mountain.
Pillars of wind rose, flashing with blue light. Those were blue arrows.
With the wind sending them off, the blue arrows created long blue streaks. They seemed to break free of gravity and increased in speed until the tips of the arrows started to burn.
The wind wrapped around the multiple flames. The entire sky seemed to be burning.
The power of an army, especially one that was in formation, was not something that a single cultivator could fight against.
This was like how an enormous elephant could be killed by ants.
In the bloody storm three years before Emperor Yuanwu’s ascension, many of Ba Mountain Sword Field’s strongest had been worn to death by armies or by large numbers of cultivators who had much lower cultivation.
Looking at the burning sky, many Yan, Chu, and Qi cultivators had gazes filled with helplessness and grief.
They understood very well that the Qin Dynasty was this powerful now because of the past reformation. The might of the nation was too great. Many students joined cultivation places each year which eventually strengthened the armies.
But the flying Song Chaosheng seemed to not care about the burning sky. His body did not even make any special movements. Or rather, he had predicted such an occurrence.
The millions of raindrops attracted to him started to fall. Each droplet of rain was very weak and powerless as it fell. However, when each drop fell at the same time, the friction with the primal energies of the universe caused the vibrations to resonate at the same frequency.
In nature, it was not possible for two exactly same raindrops to occur. Yet, here in the sky, the raindrops were all identical.
These raindrops formed a terrifying tide.
With a loud boom, the arrow fires were extinguished.
All of the raindrops turned into powdery mist, but that terrifying tide’s power still fell from the sky into the Qin army’s camp.
An even deeper explosion sounded halfway up Deer Mountain.
Then came the sound of metal hitting the ground and flesh flying.
Many bodies, mutilated bodies and military armaments, jumped off the ground and flew outwards.
This ferocious attack was only to open the path for the sword light that was stronger than lightning.
Song Chaosheng had only flown halfway and was situated between two mountains when the Peach Divine Sword of Ba Mountain Sword Field reached the peak of Deer Mountain.
Emperor Yuanwu was almost out of vital energy, but facing such a blow, he shook his head proudly at Marquis Xu next to him.
Then, he held out his hands towards Huang Zhenwei.
Huang Zhenwei moved to stand beside him.
As Emperor Yuanwu reached out his hand, Huang Zhenwei suddenly became extremely weak. He reached out his hand to Emperor Yuanwu as well.
A pure white lotus first appeared in his hand. Then, all of his vital energy, and even his physical energies, flooded out of his palm and into this pure white lotus.
Immediately, countless layers of yellow scripts appeared on the surface of this pure white lotus which transformed into a yellow pill.
The presence this bright yellow pill gave off was very similar to the presence that Emperor Yuanwu emanated.
This yellow pill landed in Emperor Yuanwu’s hand.
Then Emperor Yuanwu gave an even prouder smile, swallowed this pill, and swung his sword again.
Translator Ramblings: Remember that Mo Shoucheng is teacher to both Yuan Wu and Huang Zhengwei so they are sect brothers.
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