Chapter 363: Initial Yun, Drift Immortal
The gates to the Immortal Asylum swung wide open, and what a sight it was! Every powerhouse from the Nine Hells was getting a thrashing from the Old Immortals.
With the gates ajar, hope peeked through like the first light of dawn, promising a sliver of escape. Humans, demons, and devils threw caution to the wind and made a break for it.
Ten days in that godforsaken Immortal Asylum, a place so oppressive it could drive a saint to madness, had everyone on their last nerve.
"Move it, move it!"
"That Nian can only break free if it eats all of us! Don't let that happen!"
No one, especially the losers of the competition, had any fight left in them. Survival was the name of the game.
And so, a mad dash ensued, with thousandshumans, demons, and devils aliketripping over each other to get out.
"Exile Yun!"
The Sword Warden, Siren Empress, Netherworld Emperor, and Phoenix Empress also wished to run. However, their hearts shook with anxiety when they saw Yun Xiao turn back around and square off against the fearsome, red-haired Old Immortal all by himself.
"Get out!" Yun Xiao barked, without so much as a backward glance. His word was law.
"Yes!" Even the Phoenix Empress, with her high and mighty hair, couldn't help but admire him at this moment. He was the very picture of a sovereign of the entire Nine Hells, stepping forward to protect his people.
Danger loomed, and there stood Yun Xiao, ready to shoulder it all by himself.
Mu Tianjian, the Phoenix Empress, and the others didn't immediately flee away. No, they rallied their forces, facing down the onslaught of the Old Immortals with gritted teeth, retreating step by bloody step until they'd all finally escaped.
Even the Phoenix Empress was drenched in blood, her majestic azure feathers plucked away by those relentless Old Immortals, a testament to their terrifying might.
The peak forces of the Nine Hells, cut down by half at Yun Xiao's hand, had barely held their own against the Old Immortals. It was a grim retreat, marked by the fallen.
"Thank heavens for Pale Revenant's swift actions with the Eight Trigrams formation, and for Yun Xiao's timely opening of the Immortal Asylum," the Sword Warden said, his gaze sweeping over the countless fallen.
He knew all too well that if not for those two strokes of luck, within a quarter hour, all of the spectators would've been goners, and then it would've been curtains for those holed up in the Eight Trigrams formation too.
Despite the luck, in just a short span, nearly 1,000 humans, demons, and devils were torn to shreds by those Old Immortals. With their hunched backs, hands and feet scraping the ground, they tore through anyone in front of them and started feasting on their innards right then and there, reveling in the bloodbath with a grotesque glee.
"Humans are delicious! Demons and devils, not so much," the Old Immortals cackled, faces smeared with blood, hardly worse for wear despite the carnage they wrought.
Some, even bisected, would crawl back into the fray, a sight so ghastly it sent shivers down the spines of the powerhouses of the Nine Hells.
And there was Yun Xiao, charging against the tide, plunging into the midst of the Old Immortals. His act was nothing short of heroic, enough to bring a tear to the eye of demon and devil alike.
"I always thought Exile Yun was a selfish brute, but to think he'd draw the Nian's attention away to give us a shot at escape," an Inscription Cultivator mused, visibly moved.
"Oh, cut the nonsense! You guys pissed him off first. Of course, he'd give no quarter. What's this about being a selfish brute?" a Sword Cultivator retorted. Their bickering was a sign of safety, the worst was behind them.
Seeing Yun Xiao dive into certain doom forced even his rivals to see him in a new light. But a change of heart did little against impending doom.
With a thunderous boom, the red-haired Old Immortal didn't sic the horde on Yun Xiao but let them chase down the escapees, their manic laughter echoing as they stormed past, leaving a rain of corpses in their wake.
Then, with a ground-shaking thud, the red-haired menace landed before Yun Xiao, his fiery locks and bloodshot eyes wild, a dark red tongue lolling out like some feral beast, a far cry from the cunning of demons or the intelligence of devils.
"Ever heard of me, little Immortal?" he taunted with a grin.
"Can't say that I have," Yun Xiao replied, his grip tight on his blade, his gaze icy. If the beast was willing to parley, he'd take the moment's respite.
After all, every bit of time would allow more and more people to escape the gates of the Immortal Asylum.
"So, you haven't? No matter, won't stop you from making a fine meal." The red-haired Old Immortal grinned, a sinister smile that could curdle milk.
Then, quick as a flash, he was right in Yun Xiao's face, a blur of red afterimages trailing behind him like the tail of a comet.
This wasn't about fancy moves; it was raw power, pure and simple, the kind that made the air crackle and pop.
With a thunderous clap, he swung at Yun Xiao, the air exploding with the force of it.
Yun Xiao, not one to be outdone, pulled out all the stops. His left hand summoned the Prison Warden Sigil, twisting it into a dragon that coiled and roared, unleashing a maelstrom of techniques meant to fend off this ferocious swipe.
His right hand thrust forward the Heaven Burial Sword Soul, swirling with an array of demon magic that turned the air into a storm of azure sword energy.
"Huh?" Yun Xiao, usually quick on the draw, found himself outpaced, the Old Immortal's brute force smashing through his defenses like a wrecking ball through paper.
Before Yun Xiao's sword could even find its mark, that devastating palm had already made contact with his chest, shattering the protective Life Sigil and sending him flying like a shooting star, straight into the Immortal Asylum's ceiling.
With a sickening crunch, his chest caved in, and a gush of dark blood followed.
"Damn, that really packed a punch!" Yun Xiao muttered. He'd never taken such a beating ever since being reborn as the Creator Immortal. Bloodshot eyes nearly burst from their sockets, and his chest screamed in agony.
Fortunately, the Prison Warden Sigil took the brunt of the impact, or his insides might've been history.
The Divine Desolation Physique also did its job, reinforcing his fleshly body.
"Still standing? Not bad, not even an infinitesimal fraction of my peak strength, but for a reincarnated soul, you're pretty sturdy." The Old Immortal chuckled, almost impressed.
The red-haired Old Immortal wasn't one for speedy speeches, but his strikes were a different story, lethal and lightning-fast. Mid-sentence, he was upon Yun Xiao again, palm aimed for the crown of his head, a hit that promised nothing less than a grisly end.
But in that hair-raising moment, a burst of fiery red and blue flame shot from Yun Xiao's chest, engulfing the old man's hand.
The Old Immortal recoiled with a howl, his hand reduced to bones by the inferno.
"What in the world do you have on you?" he roared, his human face morphing into a monstrous visage, a mix of lion, tiger, and leopard, all ferocity and fury.
"Got your daddy right here!" Yun Xiao shot back.
Each narrow escape meant more folks got out of this hellhole. Even if it cost him millions in Immortal Jades, turning Blue Star and Red Moon into a luxury flamethrower was worth it.
After all, protection fees could always be levied again.
It dawned on Yun Xiao that he was outmatched. Tangling with this ancient beast was a death wish. So, he morphed his Sword Soul into a six-foot Sovereign Sword and made a break for it, riding the azure blade like a surfboard on a wave.
"Now's the time to put those sword riding skills to the test," he mused, his blood pumping with excitement. If he could outmaneuver this fiery fiend today, what couldn't he conquer?
"Lead with one, trail with another!" Yun Xiao declared, glancing back to see the Old Immortal engulfed in black flames, barreling towards him like a dark whirlwind.
"Fast as lightning!"
VROOOOM! The azure Sovereign Sword shot forward.
Myriad Swords Ocean Traversal might lack in lethality, but it was a masterclass in speed and agility.
Yun Xiao, his hair billowing, clad in white, became a blur of motion, his figure multiplying, a thousand images weaving through the air, elusive as a mirage.
"Little Immortal foot soldier, such tender meat!" The red-haired Old Immortal, his temper flared by Yun Xiao's taunts, chased furiously.
Straight-line speed-wise, the old man was even swifter than Yun Xiao on his Sovereign Sword.
"Great," Yun Xiao muttered under his breath, popping a Heavenly Dao Sarira into his mouth to boost his speed.
"The Immortal Asylum's battlefield is shaped like an octagon. I've got to keep turning sharp corners!"
Yun Xiao felt like he had a gaping maw breathing down his neck, one slip in his aerial acrobatics, and he'd be gobbled up, sword and all.
"Here it comes!"
VROOM! VROOM! Sensing the ancient's imminent pounce, Yun Xiao dipped low and swerved sharply, his Sovereign Sword skimming like a stone across water.
BOOM! The Old Immortal crashed into the wall of the Immortal Asylum, carving out a crater several hundred meters across. The collision left him bloodied, cracked skull and all.
Yun Xiao couldn't help but throw back a taunt over his shoulder. "Beasts will be beasts. With such meager skills, have you turned into livestock after all these years in chains?"
"Livestock!" That word had the Old Immortal seething with rage, the ones below joining in on the uproar.
"Exile Yun..." The Phoenix Empress and the rest were dumbstruck. Just moments ago, they were pale with fear for Yun Xiao's close calls, and now, here he was, turning the tables, playing matador in this arena.
"Seize the moment, everyone out!" the Sword Warden bellowed, pumped with adrenaline.
This spectacle was proof enough that as long as they made it out, Yun Xiao had his escape plan.
Whether Yun Xiao would make it out alive hinged on their retreat speed.
Just as the Sword Warden's voice faded, the Old Immortal yanked his head from the crater.
Yun Xiao, hovering mid-air with a mocking grin, beckoned the Old Immortal with a crooked finger. "You call me a little Immortal foot soldier? Then you must be an old farm animal. Come on, chase me."
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