Chapter 804: Chapter 803: The First Spring of Human Martial Artists_1
"This Young Master does not wish for a violent clash, so leave the item behind and you may go,"
Withdrawing his gaze from the three mid-grade Spiritual Weapons, Young Master Evil waved his hand generously.
"Go? Are you the fool, or do you think we are?"
Huang Tao couldn’t help but sneer.
Of course, he also realized the difficulty of dealing with the five people opposite of him, especially since they outnumbered his group—but why should he give up an opportunity that was within his grasp for nothing?
"How about we unite against a common enemy first?"
Huang Tao communicated with the other three telepathically. Talk as he might, without his companions’ cooperation, he would have to give up even if he didn’t want to.
"Four people vying is better than five."
With a smile still on his face, Su Yichen’s expression turned a few degrees grimmer and more solemn.
"Even if you plan to flee, I will not,"
That was Bai Ruiting’s reply, her beautiful eyes tightly locked onto Young Master Evil, as if there was a deep-seated grudge between them.
Shi Xiaole remained silent for a long time but the fierce Sword Qi emanating from him clearly indicated his choice.
"You won’t shed a tear until you’ve seen the coffin. Well, my hands are itching for some action. I will make the first move with this bunch of fools, hehehe,"
Across from them, a man with a pointed chin licked his lips, his gaze sweeping around before breaking into a fierce, cruel smile. He charged forward, taking the lead with Shi Xiaole as his target.
Long before the conflict began, the five of them had been following Shi Xiaole and the others, understanding their combat style like the back of their hands. Had they not accidentally revealed their presence upon seeing the mid-grade Spiritual Weapons, how would these four have noticed them?
In Yi Minglang’s eyes, Huang Tao was the most cunning and well-hidden. Su Yichen’s Flying Skill and his fan technique were unpredictable—facing him one-on-one, even Yi Minglang wasn’t confident he could prevail. Not to mention Bai Ruiting, she was a Saintess from the Longevity Sect, skilled in countless techniques.
In comparison, Shi Xiaole seemed like the most conspicuous target, especially the swordplay that killed the Yellow-haired Monster was sharp and unmatched—it was precisely because of this that it revealed his limit, likely making him the easiest to deal with among the four.
As Yi Minglang took the initiative to engage Shi Xiaole, the others in his faction felt a tinge of regret, but that quickly turned into murderous intent, and they rushed out in unison.
Whoosh!
A gaunt old man swung his sickle, aiming it at Huang Tao, who was closest to him.
Huang Tao quickly countered with a sword strike.
"Ruiting, what about we join forces? After all, we all hail from the Daxia Dynasty and should work together,"
Young Master Evil’s clothes fluttered as his red cloak stretched into a straight line.
"In your dreams!"
Bai Ruiting moved sideways at an incredible speed, and right where she had been standing, a tiny hole appeared as if out of nowhere. Inside the hole, it was deep and immeasurable, and clusters of Sword Qi spilled out, causing the void to emit a hissing slashing sound.
It turned out that as he spoke, Young Master Evil had already sneakily made his move.
This strange and unpredictable strike sent chills down the spine of Sun Wei and the others.
But the one in the most danger wasn’t Bai Ruiting, but Su Yichen.
Two from the opposite side had targeted him at the same time—one a cold swordsman, and the other a woman who had put away her glass beads and put on gloves.
The two attackers, one covering long range and the other short, above and below, targeted Su Yichen with a strategic assault, greatly reducing his mobility and preventing him from fully utilizing his Flying Skill.
This was, of course, credited to the glass beads’ analysis. They believed that disabling Su Yichen’s Flying Skill would reduce his strength by at least twenty percent.
"Should we lend a hand?"
Seeing the tide of battle turning unfavorable, Xu Fang asked from a distance.
"How can you help?"
The young man in brocade snorted.
The strength of the nine engaged in the fierce battle was clearly a notch above theirs—stepping in would be a thankless job. Besides, why should they help? Even if they did, would they get so much as a single mid-grade Spiritual Weapon to share?
The two factions were like dogs biting each other, it would be best if they fought to mutual destruction.
Xu Fang looked at Shi Xiaole, and her eyes flickered, ultimately choosing not to step forward. The other four were also calculating, content to watch from the sidelines.
"Shadow Slash!"
Two figures crossed paths, and the gaunt old man suddenly came to a rapid halt, turned around, and with a ghostly swing of his sickle, drew a string of faint and elusive blade shadows.
Something bizarre happened.
As the blade shadows vanished, the afterimage left by Huang Tao in his original place was cleaved in two from top to bottom. The speed of the blade grew faster, surpassing the rate at which the afterimage disappeared.
Clang!
The foremost wave of Sword Qi suddenly struck empty space with a heavy metallic clash, and Huang Tao’s true form was revealed as he staggered back several steps.
This strike, in terms of power, was only at the level of a top-tier Seventh Tier; but in complexity, some Eighth Tier Earth Immortals might not be able to withstand it.
What the others did not know was that the gaunt old man was himself an Eighth Tier Earth Immortal who had been severely injured in the past, causing his skills to decline and making recovery difficult.
Facing the end of his lifespan, he had agreed to a certain top-tier power from the Daxia dynasty’s offer to enter Rainbow Island to escort their geniuses and seize opportunities for himself.
Now separated from that power, the gaunt old man naturally had to think of himself.
"Erase Shadow!"
With a sinister smile, the gaunt old man, seizing the advantage, raised his long blade for another strike.
This time, there were no blade shadows, no series of Sword Qi; only a sudden, inexplicable storm of Sword Qi that enveloped Huang Tao from all directions, intending to grind him to dust.
His face flashed with a deadly resolve, and Huang Tao no longer concealed his power. The Sword Qi around him climbed higher and higher, reaching its zenith in an instant. His sword shook violently, spilling out beads of yellow light that transformed into a desert Sword Sea even before the storm of blade Air could approach.
Boom!!
Even with the suppression of an Array System at the pinnacle of the Divine Barrier Realm, the destructive power they unleashed was still extraordinary to witness.
Countless grains of sand, now Sword Qi, scattered, forcing Sun Wei and his group to retreat repeatedly, fending off attacks with their weapons. Even so, the weakest amongst them, a young man in brocade clothing and an old man with an axe, nearly suffered a disadvantage.
"What kind of Sword Dao is this?"
"Floating Sand Sword Dao."
"Good, killing like this is the only way to truly give me pleasure."
The emaciated old man laughed heartily, increasing the ferocity of his blade Air, battling Huang Tao to an indistinguishable outcome.
"Plucking the Void!"
Just as Su Yichen had exchanged a move with the impassive swordsman, a highly condensed invisible force blatantly ignored the protective Vigorous Air and grabbed towards his chest.
Staggering footsteps, Su Yichen narrowly dodged by a hair’s breadth and looked towards the woman who had attacked: "Are you from Haomu Mansion?"
Haomu Mansion, one of the top powers of Bei Liang dynasty, is rumored to possess a unique technique capable of killing someone through their protective Vigorous Air, making death an invisible terror.
"You answered correctly, but unfortunately, there are no rewards."
The woman smiled coldly, her movements not lagging as she continued to claw at Su Yichen, coordinating with the impassive swordsman’s techniques and firmly gaining the upper hand.
"Crescent Deficit!"
Bai Ruiting glowed, and within that light was a terrifying heat that melted all things, forming a fierce beam shooting straight at Young Master Evil.
If she had unleashed this attack earlier, no matter how many large Yellow-haired Monsters came at her, they would have faced only certain death.
Young Master Evil’s smile did not diminish; unbeknownst when, a curved blade appeared in his hand. With a twist of his wrist, the curved blade cut through the air with twisted arcs of light, easily slicing the beam of heat into seven or eight segments.
Bang!
Bai Ruiting, holding her ruler, staggered back dozens of steps, her face filled with indescribable shock: "An Eighth Tier Earth Immortal?!"
The classification theory of Earth Immortals from Divine Strategy Academy had long spread to the Daxia dynasty, Bei Liang dynasty, and even the Western Region countries, with everyone adopting it.
Bai Ruiting was sure that Young Master Evil’s attack just now had definitely surpassed the Seventh Tier and reached the initial stage of the Eighth Tier.
Don’t think that the gap between a top-notch Seventh Tier and an initial Eighth Tier is the same as the gap between a top-notch Sixth Tier and an initial Seventh Tier—in fact, it’s completely different.
The reasoning is similar to digging a well. The same digging distance might mean the difference between hitting a spring or not.
And the Eighth Tier represents the first "spring" of human potential after entering the Divine Barrier Realm, amounting to four hundred and eighty years of cultivation with the same progress rate—it’s extremely hard to achieve, as most Earth Immortals can’t withstand such power. But once reached, it’s a completely different level.
Clearly, Young Master Evil had achieved it, truly deserving of the boundless praise from the Daxia dynasty for his talents.
"After this, I needn’t hide anymore, so Ruiting, just submit to me obediently. With your beauty and capability, becoming my woman wouldn’t be a disgrace to me."
Young Master Evil caressed the curved blade in his hand, standing still as if he were the unquestionable victor.
Indeed, his performance had intimidated everyone present, not just Huang Tao and others, but even the four on his own side changed their expressions.
When forces are more or less equal, of course, there’s mutual dependency and restraint. But Young Master Evil’s explosion of true power made his companions feel a profound wariness.
"You forget, I’ve sworn with my martial heart that as long as you don’t stab me in the back, I won’t lay a hand on you."
Seeing the change in his companions, a sneer flickered in Young Master Evil’s eyes as he explained.
Upon hearing this, the four others seemed to remember something and breathed a sigh of relief. Their attacks grew fiercer, and any doubts about victory dissipated from their minds.
Well, of course, they had advantages on their own, but the mere presence of a Young Master Evil, whose power surpassed everyone on the field, was quite enough for the opposition to handle.
"To be your woman is worse than death."
Bai Ruiting pushed her six-tenths initial-level Flaming Extreme Martial Path to the fullest, moving so quickly she seemed like a streak of light—though no ordinary light carried such astonishing heat.
The entire hall seemed like a steamer as she advanced, the heat even penetrating the protective Vigorous Air and continuously eroding the muscles and bones of everyone, especially Young Master Evil.
"Still not giving up? I’ll beat you until you do."
With a flourish of his red cloak, Young Master Evil’s blade Air burst forth, instantly shattering the heat, and he swung his seemingly weightless curved blade, causing the surrounding walls to shake.
Five slashes.
Ten slashes.
Bai Ruiting’s reactions were swift, one of the best among Seventh Tier Earth Immortals. But Young Master Evil’s blade technique posed too great a threat to her. As she found herself restrained, her ruler light was disturbed, and finally, the blade Air brushed past her body.
Tss!
The protective Vigorous Air shattered, and Bai Ruiting’s face paled as her pupils involuntarily constricted.
Is this the power of an Eighth Tier Earth Immortal? Forcing her to the point where she couldn’t even get close.
Unless there was a high-level expert of the same tier as her willing to join forces and surround Young Master Evil, only then might they be on equal footing. To defeat him would require three people.
However, the others were still struggling bitterly—where could such a high-level expert be found?
"Kid, you can still run now if you want to save your life, hahaha..."
Yi Minglang wasn’t particularly fast, but for him, speed was just a surplus because his whole body was shrouded in a layer of bronze light, even his pupils had turned bronze, projecting a mocking and self-satisfied gaze at Shi Xiaole.
Shi Xiaole’s Sword Qi struck his body, creating crisp clanging sounds but failing to hinder him at all.
