As Elder Qin played the guqin in the air, a terrible music storm enveloped the vast space, soaring toward the coming army. Seeing him so, Minister Hua sneered. His senior was walking toward a dead end.
“You keep chasing. I’ll deal with him,” said Minister Hua. He moved towards Elder Qin, walking into the horrible music storm step-by-step. It was difficult for Elder Qin’s music to continue rising. It had probably reached the limit.
Elder Qin didn’t care and continued to play. The music storm swept the sky. Soon, the guqin transformed from the life spirit flew out of Elder Qin’s hand.
However, something amazing happened. The guqin that floated in the air was still being played as if it was playing by itself. Beams of illusory light projected from Elder Qin. Each beam seemed to be his phantom, constantly blending in with the Guqin Spirit.
That spirit was suspended in the sky. The strings jumped freely. The high-pitched music vibrated between the heaven and earth. The shocking sonic energy enveloped the whole space so that no one could escape from it.
Yan Shao, the headmaster of the School of the Emperor Star, and Han Mo were supposed to keep chasing but they halted. Looking up to the Elder Qin, they saw the old man with closed eyes. He looked serene while the guqin above was still ringing. The sharp sound constantly beat the eardrum. The music, which shouldn’t be able to rise further, rose again, growing more and more frightening. They couldn’t continue the chase and had to concentrate on defending themselves. Otherwise, the consequences would be miserable.
Even Minister Hua, strong as he was, stopped at this moment. Looking at the spirit of the guqin playing automatically, he finally figured out what the Elder Qin was doing. Between benevolence and survival, he chose to play this last song with his life.
Hearing the higher and higher pitched music, some people held their heads in hands in agony. Someone even vomited blood, their faces pale. Those who were not strong enough even fell to the ground, convulsing in pain. Only those strongest could resist the storm.
The musical notes created by the Spiritual Qi were still beating, constantly destroying the strong below, making them unable to fight.
Above the Guqin Spirit, the beating notes shaped the illusory figure of an old man. The man walked towards Minister Hua and Nadou Tai step by step. Many copies of Elder Qin appeared between the Guqin Spirit and the two people. Accompanied by notes, those figures moved directly toward Minister Hua and Nandou Tai.
Minister Hua closed his eyes. A terrible spiritual storm transformed into an indomitable sword aiming to wipe away those illusory figures. However, those images, seemingly embracing the spirit of Elder Qin’s whole life, continued to step towards Minister Hua and Nandou Tai.
Finally, those figures approached Minister Hua and Nandou Tan. The two’s long hair danced crazily. The next moment, those illusory figures walked directly toward their bodies, into their minds. The strings were still jumping violently while Minister Hua and Nandou Tai closed their eyes tightly as if they were resisting something.
After what felt like a long time, Nandou Tai vomited a mouthful of blood. He felt powerless and fell to the ground.
Soon, Minister Hua groaned and vomited blood. His face was pale like paper and he stooped slightly. Although better than Nandou Tai, he was still badly hurt.
Bang! Another explosion came. Minister Hua stumbled back and vomited a mouthful of blood again, barely stopping himself from falling.
Boom… As if prepared just for Minister Hua, the final sound of the guqin echoed in his brain. His propped body finally sat down on the ground, his clothes dyed red with blood. Despite being minister, he didn’t even have the time to display his strength before being forced into such a pathetic state. Elder Qin was playing the guqin with his life.
Finally, the jumping strings gradually ceased. The people saw that the Guqin Spirit disintegrated into beams of light, dispersing between heaven and earth as if it had never existed. The music completely disappeared.
Elder Qin was quietly sitting like a statue, calmness and serenity on his face.
“He is dead. Keep chasing,” Minister Hua ordered coldly. Yan Shao and Han Mo were slightly wounded but Elder Qin’s final attack wasn’t aimed at them. They continued chasing forward. Behind them, Xia Feng arrived with his men but was stunned when seeing the scene.
“Go!” Minister Hua ordered directly.
“Yes, Minister.” Xia Feng nodded and continued their chase.
After they left, Minister Hua gazed at the elderly figure with a complex expression.
“Senior, I do not like you because there seemed to be nothing that you cared about, but I didn’t expect you to die so heroically. I will remember the music you played today forever.” Minister Hua looked at the old man’s figure and said, “Unfortunately, your death won’t make them survive. They still can’t escape from my grasp.”
Minster Hua sat down to heal. Nandou Tai sat beside him, his face still pale. The reason why Elder Qin chose to use all the power to attack them before dying was probably because he wanted to buy some time by stopping the two strongest people. But Yan Shao and Han Mo were not common people, while the regiment led by Xia Feng wasn’t hurt either.
As Minister Hua thought, since the School of Emperor Star could overwhelm the other six schools of Donghai Academy, the headmasters Yan Shao and Han Mo were definitely very strong. With wind sorcery wrapped around their bodies, the two chased with the fastest speed. They were even faster than the crane. Its cultivation was lower than Yan Shao’s.
Standing on the back of the crane and seeing Yan Shao and Han Mo chasing behind, Yi Xiang vaguely guessed something. He said, “Go quickly. Do not think about me.”
“Senior…” Ye Futian looked at Yi Xiang.
“Don’t be so romantic. I won’t die for you. If I can’t win, I will run. Take care of yourself,” Yi Xiang said. He took a step back directly.
Hearing this, Ye Futian was relieved. Though having a bad temper, Yi Xiang was an extremely intelligent person. He always knew how to make the most advantageous choice.
Seeing Yi Xiang coming, Yan Shao and Han Mo separated. They obviously learned from the previous battle with Elder Qin. They walked apart so that Yi Xiang could only stop one person.
Yi Xiang cursed at the two cunning guys in his mind.
Without hesitating, Yi Xiang walked toward Yan Shao, the headmaster of the School of Emperor Star. Yan Shao was stronger and good at the wind element, with which he could improve the speed of both him and Han Mo. Therefore, Yi Xiang chose to fight with Yan Shao so that it would be more possible for Ye Futian to escape.
“Yi Xiang, we haven’t had a fight for years, right?” asked Yan Shao, seeing Yi Xiang walking toward him.
“There is a chance today.” Yi Xiang stepped toward Yan Shao and issued the challenge without any hesitation.
As for Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu, they could only depend on themselves. If they were intercepted by the two, it would only be more dangerous. Han Mo continued chasing while Xia Feng’s group also came. They only glanced at Yan Shao and Yi Xiang but didn’t stop. Who they were heading for was still at the front.
“I’ll go ahead,” said Xia Feng. He rode his sword with extreme speed, chasing toward the front. Soon, he met up with Han Mo and chased the crane together.
The flying crane stopped and turned its head. Seeing Ye Futian and the other two, the crane tweeted. Ye Futian seemed to know what it meant, and asked, “You want us to leave?”
The crane nodded. Ye Futian glanced at Nandou Wenyin, who nodded back at him.
“Take care,” Ye Futian said. Then, Nadou Wenyin, Ye Futian, and Hua Jieyu continued to move forward. As they stepped down, the crane immediately flew toward Han Mo and Xia Feng. The crane’s loud voice turned into sonic waves attacking the eardrums of Han Mo and Xia Feng.
“You go after them,” Han Mo said and ran toward the crane. Xia Feng nodded and tried to bypass the crane from the side. However, the crane flapped its wings and the sound was heard again. Flapping the wings, the crane pounced toward them with sharp claws.
“You evil creature!” Xia Feng swung his sword but saw the crane avoid his attack directly and pounced on Han Mo. The crane was trying to stop both of them.
Han Mo and Xia Feng both frowned. At this moment, Xia Feng’s men caught up with them. Xia Feng ordered, “Go catch the three.” He and Han Mo surrounded the crane, not letting it rescue Ye Futian and the others.
The army moved past. Since only Ye Futian, Hua Jieyu, and Nandou Wenyin were left, this elite army from the East Sea prefecture was enough to deal with them easily. Even the slightly threatening Nandou Wenyin couldn’t resist them, so Xia Feng had no worries.
As they had expected, the three were soon blocked.
They stopped and Nandou Wenyin looked at Ye Futian. “Take Jieyu away.”
“No use.” Holding Hua Jieyu, Ye Futian shook his head. They had escaped all this way but they were too weak. The enemy hadn’t given up and had finally caught up with them. It was impossible to escape now.
Nandou Wenyin also understood the situation. Would they really die here today? Poor Elder Qin had fought for the last opportunity for them and even sacrificed his life but still, nothing could be changed.