Chapter 344: Chapter 341: Escape
’Trying to run?’ A powerful killing intent flashed in the white-robed woman’s eyes. In her entire life, she had never felt such an intense, overwhelming desire to kill someone before!
"Leave your life behind!" the white-robed woman shouted. Her body transformed into a white streak of light, chasing after the direction in which Qin Li and the others had disappeared.
The Second Senior Brother in the sapphire-blue long robe and the others who remained were left standing there, dumbstruck. The look in their eyes was an unreadable mix of anger, fear, and disappointment.
They stared blankly in the direction Qin Li and his companions had vanished, speechless for a long time.
Qin Li pulled the Snake Woman up, and a stream of Innate Purple Qi immediately flowed from his hand into her body. Qin Li couldn’t help but be startled. He hadn’t expected the Snake Woman to be so severely injured. He had assumed her strength was close to the white-robed woman’s, so even if she lost, it wouldn’t have been such a crushing defeat.
Only now did Qin Li realize that in the initial battle between the Snake Woman and the white-robed woman, the latter hadn’t been using her full strength at all! The white-robed woman, having truly shown her power, was terrifying to a freakish degree!
’Thinking of this, Qin Li couldn’t help but marvel at his own audacity. He had actually tangled with such a monstrous woman for so long. It was truly... a bit reckless.’
The white-robed woman’s gaze was extremely sharp. She had long seen that Qin Li’s power was almost completely exhausted. She seethed with pent-up rage. ’This man... I absolutely cannot let him die an easy death. I must first sever his limbs, cripple his Dantian, and blind him. Then, I’ll drag him back to the Sect and make him the lowliest of manure carriers!’
She swore she would do it! Otherwise, there would be no way to vent the malicious anger festering in her heart!
This time, the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace had sent out a large number of Sect disciples. On one hand, it was to let them gain worldly experience. On the other, it was to explore the vast Celestial Essence Continent!
Even for a super-sect like the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace, they were but a drop in the ocean before the boundless Celestial Essence Continent.
As Han Mei, the most talented disciple in the history of the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace and bearer of the title Saintess, she received nothing but tides of praise and the adoration of talented geniuses wherever she went. She was the very picture of a heaven-blessed prodigy, born to stand high above all others!
She was leading this team, all of them her junior brothers and sisters who held her in deep awe and also relied on and trusted her completely. Yet, she had never imagined that under her protection, two of her junior brothers would be poisoned to death!
Her heart ached, but beyond that, how could Han Mei bear this shame? If she couldn’t kill this person, how could she ever show her face in the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace again? How could she face all her fellow disciples and the sect elders who had placed such high hopes in her?
Moreover, this would become an eternal stain on her otherwise flawless life!
The fury in her chest was like a raging wildfire, growing stronger and stronger!
Although she was also injured, she didn’t care. As long as she could kill that wretched pair, she would accept it even if her injuries grew more severe!
With that thought, she forcibly used a Secret Skill to surge the Primordial Power in her body. The silver longsword in her hand instantly erupted with an incomparably dazzling light!
It transformed into a long, silver streak of light, slashing toward Qin Li!
At that moment, Qin Li, leading the Snake Woman, had already sprinted to the edge of the island. Dozens of meters below them was the churning Great Sea!
The instant he felt that terrifying aura, Qin Li dove headfirst into the Great Sea without the slightest hesitation, pulling the Snake Woman with him!
The silver streak of light followed close behind, like a shadow in hot pursuit!
SPLASH!
Qin Li and the Snake Woman plunged into the Great Sea. An icy sensation immediately washed over them, but Qin Li had used all his strength during the descent, so the two of them instantly submerged dozens of meters deep.
An immense, unparalleled power slammed viciously onto the sea’s surface. Shockingly, a stretch of the sea dozens of meters long was sliced clean open by this one sword strike from the white-robed woman, Han Mei!
That Sword Qi shot straight toward Qin Li and the Snake Woman!
In that instant, the Purple Crystal Core in Qin Li’s Dantian erupted with a boundless power. At this critical juncture, relying on this burst of strength, Qin Li barely managed to evade the Sword Qi, pulling the Snake Woman with him as their bodies vanished deeper into the seawater.
The sundered surface of the sea instantly closed, but it churned up a heaven-shaking wave over a hundred meters high. The sea roared and the great wave rolled. In the sky, the white-robed woman Han Mei’s pretty face was ashen, and the shock in her eyes could not be concealed!
Just a moment ago, when Qin Li dodged her killing blow, she had clearly felt a terrifying aura erupt from the young man’s body. In that instant, it nearly shattered all the defenses in Han Mei’s heart!
’What kind of combat technique does this person cultivate? How could he also activate a life-saving Secret Skill at the critical moment?’
A trace of fear finally, and involuntarily, flashed through Han Mei’s eyes!
’This young man is clearly only at the Venerable Realm, yet he could fight me, someone at the Shattering Void realm, to a standstill!’ Although Han Mei was extremely unwilling to admit this fact, she was, at her core, a woman of ultimate pride. Therefore, she would not allow herself to shy away from her true thoughts.
Even though Qin Li had done nothing but run from her, Han Mei still considered it her loss!
A miserable loss!
If she couldn’t kill her opponent, she had lost!
Han Mei knew very well in her heart that with this damn man’s superb abilities and elusive skills, if even she couldn’t kill him, hoping he would perish at the bottom of the sea was simply unrealistic!
And on this vast, boundless Great Sea, finding any trace of him was an impossible task. From behind her thin, blood-stained veil, Han Mei’s beautiful eyes shot out flames of indignant fury. Gritting her teeth, she turned and left.
Qin Li could clearly feel that when his Dantian’s Purple Crystal Core had erupted with that surging power at the critical moment, its color had subsequently faded a great deal. An immense wave of weakness washed over him, making it almost impossible for Qin Li to withstand the immense pressure of the deep sea.
He glanced at the Snake Woman beside him. Her condition also looked terrible; her eyes were half-open, and she was letting him carry her completely.
Gritting his teeth, Qin Li produced a Top-Grade Crystal Stone in his hand. Here, at the bottom of the sea, he began to rapidly replenish his nearly depleted Dantian while continuing to swim forward.
’Damn woman, to think you’d force me into such a miserable state. You just wait. Sooner or later, I’ll get my revenge for today!’ Qin Li cursed inwardly. ’Although she doesn’t seem like an evil person, how could this world be so simple as black and white? And how can people be judged merely as good or bad?’
If Qin Li hadn’t been fast enough, and if he didn’t have a powerful helper like She She by his side, he would have probably already died under the white-robed woman’s sword.
’That vicious bitch!’ Qin Li gritted his teeth, feeling that the replenishment speed from the Top-Grade Crystal Stone was far slower than his body’s rate of consumption.
The heavy pressure from the deep sea was causing Qin Li immense suffering, but he didn’t dare to surface right now. What if that woman hadn’t given up and was still waiting for him up there?
Moreover, Qin Li still had no idea about her background. He had a gut feeling, however, that besides the Land of the Far West, it was nearly impossible for any other place to cultivate so many powerful young disciples.
During the fight, Qin Li had already sensed that this woman was genuinely young, definitely not someone like Bing Mengyun who maintained her appearance through special techniques!
Some large sea creatures followed Qin Li from a distance. After Qin Li sliced a shark in two with his sword, the others learned their lesson and only trailed from afar. He swam forward for an unknown distance when he suddenly saw a massive undersea mountain ahead that was so large he couldn’t see its edges. Qin Li let out a long breath, knowing it must be an island.
By now, he had almost completely exhausted his strength. Pulling the semi-conscious Snake Woman, he began to slowly float upward. As he shed the heavy pressure of the deep sea, he finally broke the surface and let out a long sigh of relief. His face was pale as he helped She She climb onto the mountainous, heavily wooded island.
The cold wind roused She She, and she slowly opened her eyes. Looking at the surroundings, she asked calmly, "Are we safe?"
"I don’t know. Who knows if that woman will give up so easily. We should be careful and find a place to hide first." Now that he was out of the sea and free from its immense pressure, the Spiritual Power from the Top-Grade Crystal Stone was steadily pouring into Qin Li’s body. He was feeling much better than before.
"Those people... will they find our boat and give them trouble?" The Snake Woman’s face was deathly pale, yet she asked a surprisingly considerate question.
It seemed that ever since following Qin Li, She She’s words and actions were becoming more and more human.
"Don’t worry, they probably won’t. Leng Yao is there, and she won’t easily expose our connection. Besides, those people aren’t the type to kill the innocent wantonly. Even if they run into them, they probably won’t cause any trouble!" When he said they weren’t the type to kill the innocent, Qin Li felt a sense of helplessness and anger. ’Although they might not be evil at heart, their pride is enough to make anyone feel utterly repulsed!’
And through a twist of fate, he had actually become their mortal enemy... It was a truly frustrating situation.
However, Qin Li didn’t regret any of it. Pride wasn’t something only his opponents possessed; he and She She had it as well!
This wasn’t recklessness. At their level of cultivation, if they felt fear or the urge to retreat when facing an enemy, that mentality would sooner or later affect their future cultivation!
So, a fight was a fight. He may not have won this time, but his opponent hadn’t gained any advantage either! ’The next time we meet, the outcome will be different!’
Qin Li used his Lightweight Skill, leaving no traces on the island as he led the Snake Woman to a stone cave concealed by a large thicket of bushes.
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Right, it’s the first day of the Lunar New Year. Happy New Year, everyone! I’ll spare you the ten thousand words of blessings here... (To be continued...)
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