Chapter 642: Chapter 642: Unable to Defeat
Li Nian’er and Cheng Lu exchanged a look and tacitly closed in on Jiang Qi. Zhu Liang, having quickly regulated his breathing, charged forward once more. Ye Qingchen wasn’t idle either; he used his Double Pupils to observe the flow of Energy within Jiang Qi’s body, vaguely detecting several flaws. With Xiao Xiao at his side, he darted back and forth like a specter.
However, Jiang Qi seemed to know exactly what Ye Qingchen planned. He deliberately revealed an opening, and when Ye Qingchen and Xiao Xiao pounced, he met them with a fierce shove that unexpectedly restrained them both. Caught off guard, they tried to break free but were sent flying backward.
Xiao Xiao rushed to catch Ye Qingchen, only to see that he had already landed steadily on the ground. A wave of relief washed over her. She lifted her gaze to glare furiously at Jiang Qi, who stood at the center of the fray, wishing she could tear him limb from limb.
She would never let anyone who harmed her young master off easily. Even if the opponent’s strength far surpassed her own, it was unacceptable!
As rage surged through Xiao Xiao, the Fire Attribute Energy in her body suddenly flared. The power of her Vermilion Bird Holy Soul erupted once more, and before Ye Qingchen could stop her, she shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
At that moment, Jiang Qi was growing frustrated with Zhu Liang and the others entangling him. He had thought he could take down one or two of them with ease, but he hadn’t anticipated them being so tenacious; he couldn’t control them without using his ultimate techniques. As time ticked by and Ye Qingchen remained unscathed, Jiang Qi decided to use lethal force.
After all, these people are connected to the Wuji Immortal Palace, but in this remote area, no one will ever know if they die!
Li Nian’er was using her Water Attribute Energy to restrain Jiang Qi when, in an instant, a sharp longsword pierced her defenses and shot toward her chest. The speed caught her completely off guard. She instinctively twisted her body, managing to alter the blade’s trajectory just enough that it sliced through her shoulder blade instead. Blood gushed out, instantly soaking her clothes, and the searing pain forced her to withdraw from the fight.
Her withdrawal left Cheng Lu and Zhu Liang struggling to hold on. The three of them had been no match for Jiang Qi, and now they were one person short. Just then, Xiao Xiao seized the opening and charged forward recklessly, her body engulfed in flames that seemed capable of purging all the world’s sins.
Zhu Liang and Cheng Lu were stunned by the power Xiao Xiao unleashed. They had never expected the young girl who was always by Ye Qingchen’s side to possess such explosive strength. Had she not acted now, they might never have known. As Xiao Xiao filled the gap Li Nian’er had left, Zhu Liang and Cheng Lu exchanged a look, tacitly maneuvering to give the young woman a clear path to attack.
Jiang Qi watched Xiao Xiao approach, his eyes narrowing as the heat in his gaze intensified. He made no move to evade her incoming attack.
Xiao Xiao did not hesitate. Seizing the opportunity, she focused her power and, with a great swing of her arm, sent her longsword streaking toward Jiang Qi’s chest. It seemed destined to pierce his flesh in the very next second and gravely injure him.
Unexpectedly, however, a smirk played on Jiang Qi’s lips. He effortlessly broke free from Cheng Lu’s grasp and, pinching two fingers together, caught Xiao Xiao’s longsword with impossible ease. The flames wreathing the blade began to extinguish at the point of contact, the effect spreading rapidly down the steel toward Xiao Xiao.
Realizing something was terribly wrong, Xiao Xiao tried to retreat and pull her longsword free, but the weapon felt as if it were pinned by a mountain, refusing to budge. Jiang Qi chuckled mockingly and reached out to grab her. Panicking, Xiao Xiao abandoned her sword and tried to leap away, only to find her energy locked in place. She was completely unable to move.
Zhu Liang reacted in a flash. He channeled all his strength into a single explosive push, shoving Jiang Qi away and creating distance between him and Xiao Xiao. Jiang Qi stumbled back a few steps, a sinister glint in his eyes as he watched Xiao Xiao slip from his grasp.
"You’re just asking to die!" Jiang Qi roared. Ignoring everything else, he grabbed a longsword and channeled a surge of fiery red Spiritual Power into the blade. He then ferociously cleaved at Zhu Liang’s left arm.
Zhu Liang frantically tried to block, but the flames seemed to have a will of their own. They melted his longsword in seconds and slammed into his Metal Attribute defense.
As the saying goes, true gold does not fear the flame. Even with the disparity in our strength, my attribute should counter his. This shouldn’t be a problem, Zhu Liang thought.
To his shock, however, Jiang Qi simply applied more force, shattering the newly erected defense and slashing down toward his left chest. "Remember this move. It is called ’Annihilation’!" Jiang Qi roared. "It is your honor to die by it!"
Jiang Qi had intended the blow to be fatal, knocking Zhu Liang out of the fight for good. But to his astonishment, a small golden object shot out from somewhere on Zhu Liang’s body, deflecting the longsword at the last moment. The blade’s trajectory shifted, and it struck Zhu Liang’s left arm instead. Zhu Liang cried out in pain.
The tide of battle had turned completely. All of them were at a disadvantage, with Jiang Qi dominating them single-handedly. He looked down at his defeated foes, who lay on the ground struggling for breath, and sneered.
"What a bunch of trash!" he mocked. "With such pitiful strength, you actually dreamed of surviving my assault? Utterly delusional! And you, Ye Qingchen, you’re a lucky one, aren’t you? People keep protecting you again and again. But in the face of absolute power, all of that is meaningless! There is only death for those who oppose me!"
He began walking slowly toward Ye Qingchen, his aura swelling with menacing intensity at every step. It was clear to everyone that his next move would be to eliminate their junior brother.
Li Nian’er, still suffering from the wound Jiang Qi had inflicted earlier, felt a delayed surge of pain. Though she had a Water Attribute affinity, the cut suddenly burned as if scorched by fire. She could barely lift her arm, let alone the longsword in her hand.
Cheng Lu didn’t dare hesitate. Having been thrown aside moments before, he scrambled to his feet to intercept Jiang Qi, only to be sent flying again, this time crashing into a pit. He spat out a mouthful of dirt and grumbled, "Why is Eldest Brother so slow? We’ve had to hold this guy off for so long! We can’t handle him, but if Eldest Brother were here, he’d absolutely crush this bastard!"
Zhu Liang remained silent. He was seriously injured from that last attack, but his real concern was the little golden egg that had flown out. If it hadn’t appeared from nowhere and altered the path of Jiang Qi’s attack, I would be more than just injured right now.
Seeing Jiang Qi walk toward her young master, Xiao Xiao panicked and quickly moved to stand in front of Ye Qingchen. "You bastard!" she yelled, shielding him. "If you want to harm the young master, you’ll have to get through me first!"
Ye Qingchen gently moved Xiao Xiao aside, his expression resolute. "Xiao Xiao, don’t worry. Go check on our senior brother and sister. I’ll deal with him."
