Chapter 92: Yan Li
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: AntiGod
Amidst Wu Qi's wild laughter, Shangguan Yuhong let out a hysteric curse. A black beam sprung and shot out from her waist. On the other side, the white-hair Sect Elder and the other three Sect Elders were also scolding angrily. One green, one white, and two black sword beams were seen shooting out. In that instant, the entire Heaven's Will Palace was filled with an icy breeze. Razor sharp sword beams were radiating in all directions, forcing all apprentices of Heaven Breaking Sword Sect who stood inside the hall to scurry around.
"How dare you!" Nie Baihong's pupils contracted, shrinking to the size of a needle. Three white sword beams were now spinning at high speed above his head. "Fine, let me teach you all a lesson today, that the Heaven Breaking Sword Sect belongs to those from Nie Clan! Unity of Sword Energies, go!"
Nie Baihong opened his mouth and spat out five white sword beams, flying at top speed and greeting the five sword beams of different colors. Three white sword beams above his head suddenly dispersed, transforming into countless threads of swift and fierce sword energies and merging into the previous five white beams. Once the nine feet long white sword beams were merged with these energies, they immediately stretched longer and reached to a length of thirty feet, moving around agilely and quickly. They were now at least a few times stronger than the sword beams unleashed by all five Sect Elders.
Within the blink of an eye, ten sword beams collided and tangled into a fierce fight. The ear-splitting noises of weapon clashing kept ringing out, causing the entire Heaven's Will Palace to shake and vibrate. The raging sword energies were shooting in all directions, slicing through the dark floor and producing a great amount of dazzling sparks. The defensive arrays placed on the floor were broken and shattered one after another, and long, deep sword marks were left on the once smooth and flat surface.
Nie Baihong had both of his palms clenched tightly while two nearly one foot long white beams were seen shooting out from his eyes. Raging sword energies were surging and rolling from his body, and his hair were all standing up straight. From time to time, his long hair would sway and clash with each other, producing jarring, metallic noises. This was all the result of the secret technique of Unity of Sword Energies, a technique that could only be inherited by the Sect Leader of Heaven Breaking Sword Sect. It had transformed Nie Baihong into a flying sword, an extremely tough, indestructible, emotionless sword of slaughter.
Cracking noises kept ringing out in the scene, coming from the shattering of hard rock floor underneath Nie Baihong's feet. Within the blink of an eye, a round-shaped hole, as deep as two feet and with the diameter of three feet, was opened up. Wisps of misty white fog came gathering from all directions, and were being absorbed into Nie Baihong's body continuously. They were then shot out from his mouth, merging into all five sword beams, which had turned into five long rays of lights and had been fighting with all five Sect Elders at the same time.
Although it was a duel of five versus one, yet all five Sect Elders, including Shangguan Yuhong, were suffering from a tremendous pressure brought by Nie Baihong's white beams. Their bodies were shivering, their feet were staggering, and the two weakest Sect Elders were even panting for breath, backing off from the center of the battlefield step by step. An enormous force was carried by Nie Baihong's sword beams. They had suppressed five Sect Elders, pressuring them and making them hardly able to breathe properly.
They wished they could retract their sword beams, yet they failed to do so. They wished they could retract a thread of their Nascent Divinity from the sword beam, yet it was a failure as well. The five white sword beams of Nie Baihong were like a muddy land of swamp that tightly trapped and tangled the sword beams of all five Sect Elders. They frittered away the Nascent Divinity and energy essence attached to the flying swords inch by inch, and were squeezing out the strength in these Sect Elders' body thread by thread.
Hiding behind Nie Baihong, Wu Qi smiled. He murmured with a deep voice, "They really have the courage to attack? That also means, just because they are determined to kill me to vent out their anger, they had shown no respect to Princess Zhang Le and Sect Leader? Hehe, since you want to kill me, then you'll be my deadly enemy. So, there is nothing left we can talk about."
Wu Qi let out a weird laugh. A stream of strong light suddenly burst out from his storage ring. It was the Autumn Water Sword given to him by Nie Baihong. Tailing with a nearly one-foot long ray of green light, it streaked and pierced through the air, thrusting towards all five Sect Elders. Amidst the shocking cries of nearly one hundred Heaven Breaking Sword Sect's apprentices in the hall, a curtain of fresh blood shot out from the chest of five Sect Elders together.
They were in the middle of a fierce duel. Nie Baihong's attack had made them hardly breathe properly, and all their mind was focused on controlling their own sword beams. Thus, none of them ever expected that Wu Qi, an apprentice who had just joined the sect, to also be able to control a flying sword. And even in their wildest dreams, they could never believe that Wu Qi had the courage to launch an assault at them!
However, deep inside Wu Qi's soul, he was actually a lawless man, an aggressive and menacing fellow. Despite the fact that Autumn Water Sword was merely a lower tier flying sword, it was still tougher than a corporeal body. As five Sect Elders were fighting with all they had with Nie Baihong, they didn't circulate their energy in protecting their body. In addition to that, they didn't own any Spirit Equipment that could actively protect themselves. Wu Qi's sword beam swept through their chest from left to right, and a deep cut was made on all five Sect Elders' chests. It was long and deep, and one could even see their viscera through the wound.
Shangguan Yuhong and the other four Sect Elders howled painfully as a large amount of fresh blood burst and splashed from their wound. Despite the fact that they were in the middle of a sword duel with Nie Baihong, all five of them were forced to break the connection with their flying swords, pressing and holding their wounds and backing off quickly. The floor was smeared with warm blood, and their faces suddenly turned deadly-pale.
Nie Baihong sneered. The white beams shooting out from his eyes suddenly stretched longer, reaching to the length of two feet. At the same time, the dazzling glow of five white sword beams grew stronger. Ringing of metal breaking was heard, as all five flying swords of Sect Elder were broken into dozens of small pieces, falling off from midair like some scrap metals.
All of these five flying swords were sharp gears. It took Shangguan Yuhong and the other four Sect Elders at least two hundred years of hard work to cultivate. Since the day they began to cultivate them, they had been using their own blood essence to temper them. In addition to that, their flying swords also went through a few rounds of reforging. As a result, these five flying swords had long achieved the level of Superior tier magical items, approaching the level of lower tier Magical Treasures. Each flying sword was interconnected with the Sect Elder's flesh and blood, their mind and soul, and could be considered a part of themselves.
Now, as their flying sword was broken and shattered, all five Sect Elders immediately burst out a mouthful of blood, bent their knees and sat on the floor in a miserable state. Wu Qi's Autumn Water Sword had cruelly sliced through their body from left to right, and it nearly crushed their chest bones. But, Nie Baihong was even more vicious, as he simply destroyed the flying swords they had crafted and cultivated with their own life. They were wounded both internally and externally now. Their vitality was severely damaged, and they had lost the strength to remain standing.
A sword cry echoed out in the scene as Wu Qi called back his Autumn Water Sword. Stealthily, he circulated innate water energy and made it flow throughout his entire body. Then, he formed a finger incantation gesture, prepared to trigger the secret technique of fleeing at any time. After all, he had just launched a sneak attack openly against all five Sect Elders of Gold Core realm, and he was managed to inflict a serious injury on all of them. If the same behavior were carried out in other sects, he would most probably be punished with a death sentence. Wu Qi had prepared his mind as well, once he found out something was not right, he would flee from this place instantly, even if that would cost him some blood essence. In any case, he could easily get more blood essence and source energy from someone else. Thus, he wouldn’t feel bad for the loss.
A loud laugh came into Wu Qi's ears. Nie Baihong was seen opening his mouth and swallowing the five white beams back into his body, while countless white sword energies in the air were gradually gathering and forming back into three sword beams. Slowly and leisurely, they squeezed back into the top of his head. Nie Baihong then took a deep breath, let out a loud laugh and said, "Wu Qi, how dare you! The Sect Elders and I were learning from each other through a friendly duel. How could you launch a sneak attack from my back?"
What Nie Baihong said had scared Wu Qi. He moved his fingers and nearly triggered the secret technique of fleeing.
Yet, Nie Baihong was seen sneering, before he let out a loud laugh again. "However, considering that you were worried about the safety of your Master, which caused you to unintentionally launch the attack, I'll not blame you for what you did. Now, go forth and apologize to five Sect Elders. No matter what, you're junior to them. They will not blame you after you apologize to them."
Wu Qi was struck with joy when he heard what Nie Baihong said. It seemed like Nie Baihong was helping him to escape from the punishment? 'Since you want to take this responsibility, that's even better for me!' Wu Qi thought inwardly. Without hesitation, he took a step forward, cupped his fist and bowed deeply at five Sect Elders, who were now sitting on the floor nearly one hundred feet away, unable to move even a little bit. Then he said, "Sect Elders, I'm really sorry for what happened. After all, five of you had outnumbered my Master. Five of you were bullying my Master together. No matter how you look at it, it is not the right way to fight. Therefore, Wu Qi had gathered up the courage to unleash my sword. My intention was simple: to share the burden with my Master. Yet, I never expected that, although five Sect Elders are Human Immortals of Gold Core realm, but… but… why are you so useless?"
He breathed out a long sigh, shook his head and continued saying with emotions, "Today, I've injured five Human Immortal of Gold Core with one sword strike, catapulting the once insignificant me into the limelight. What a delightful moment!"
Wu Qi's words were unpleasant to the ears of five Sect Elders, and he didn't leave any face behind for them. Shangguan Yuhong and the other four Sect Elders had been wounded both internally and externally. It was so serious that it would take them at least one to two years of healing before they could fully recover. But after hearing the nasty remarks from Wu Qi, all five of them were throwing out a mouthful of blood again. This time, the color of their blood was closely matching to the color of their sword beam. Obviously, this was their blood essence forced out by extreme anger.
Although Wu Qi had the intention to further create disturbances, when he saw what happened to them, he dared not to say anything again. If he really caused one or two Human Immortals to die because of anger, even though Nie Baihong was trying to make use of him, the Sect Leader would never provide any protection to him anymore. Therefore, Wu Qi put up a kind and friendly expression on his face and took a few steps back, placing both hands behind his back and behaving like a good boy.
Nie Baihong puckered his face in a cold smile. Right when he was about to say something, an extremely heavy pressure suddenly came from the entrance of Heaven's Will Palace.
An old man clad in a black robe, having three dragons stitched on his sleeves with purple colored threads, was seen walking step by step into the main hall of Heaven's Will Palace. A subtle, indistinct ring of sword beam was circling around the old man. Occasionally, ringing of metal clashes was heard coming from this ring of sword beam. Wherever this old man passed, the floor within the radius of three feet around him would turn into powder form.
Upon looking at this old man, Nie Baihong's expression instantly turned extremely unsightly.
On the contrary, for Shangguan Yuhong and the other four Sect Elders, it was like they just saw the biggest savior in their life. They gathered up their strength, ignoring the frightening looking sword wound on their chest and rose to their feet. They clasped their fist and bowed towards the old man. "Patriarch, please bring justice to us!"
A thick beard was covering the square face of the old man. He had a rather dark facial complexion, his eyes looked deep, and he had a pair of thick brows as well. All of these had given him a powerful and domineering air. Slowly and steadily, he came and stopped at a distance of one hundred feet from Nie Baihong, and gave Wu Qi a cold gaze.
All of a sudden, Nie Baihong took a step towards Wu Qi, standing between Wu Qi and the old man. A mild ringing of weapons clashing came out from midair. Actually, when the old man gazed at Wu Qi, it was equal to shooting out a sword towards him. If not because Nie Baihong had blocked before Wu Qi just in time, with Wu Qi's current overall strength, there was no way he could find out which direction the attack came from.
A shivering sensation crept down on Wu Qi's back. When the old man gazed at him just now, he could vividly sense the aura of death. If not because Nie Baihong had blocked off the gaze, even though Wu Qi had inherited countless secret techniques from Scroll of Stealing, he would have at least faced a consequence of being severely wounded, and waiting for the inevitable death to arrive. This old man was a frightful existence, who at the current moment could easily determine his life or death.
With extreme caution, Wu Qi took a step back. Both his hands were behind his back, and a finger incantation gesture was prepared. Nearly ninety percent of his blood essence started to boil within his five internal organs. He had activated the secret technique of fleeing, and the enormous energy had begun to flow through his meridians. As long as this old man expressed his hostility towards Wu Qi again, Wu Qi would immediately flee from this place at the quickest speed possible. Then, he would concentrate in forming his Gold Core and seek his revenge on this old man in future.
Unexpectedly, after failing in killing Wu Qi with his gaze, it seemed that the old man had lost his interest in Wu Qi. He let out a mild cough and said with an indifferent voice, "You've gone too far, Baihong, this is simply outrageous. How could your disciple offend our Sect Elders like that? It looks like as his Master, you didn't teach him well."
Nie Baihong stared coldly at the old man, then responded with the same indifferent, emotionless voice, "Patriarch, why do you say such things? Do I, the Sect Leader, need Patriarch to remind me on how to teach and manage my disciples?"
The old man suddenly smiled. Using a tone somewhere between a strange, hoarse voice and a gentle, tender voice, he said, "Why can't I remind you on that? I'm your father."
Wu Qi's heart started to race suddenly. This old man was Yan Li? The man who held the same position as Nie Yaonu, the Patriarch of Heaven Breaking Sword Sect? The third son of Great Yan Dynasty's Crown Prince Yan Qijun, and the third elder brother of Princess Zhang Le?
