Chapter Four Hundred and Seventy Three – Fatal Blow
Tian Ye felt the situation was terrible. He didn’t know what talisman the black mist had been forged from but it was extremely thick obscuring their vision. In front of him was a black expanse so thick he could not even see his fingers, but he could clearly sense the nervousness of the guards that were next to him.
The attack that followed definitely would be ferocious.
The attack wave constructed from countless sword energies caused him to feel deep worry, even though he had only managed to take a glance. His battalion was strong offensively and weak defensively. The defensive formation they usually practiced, the [Sky Sunflower Guard Formation], was not an outstanding defense formation. He was doubtful about how long the [Sky Sunflower Guard Formation] could hold up under such a strong charge.
He already prepared himself for losing his soldiers, if it wasn’t for this black mist … …
Even though there would still be losses, this situation would lead to many more than he previously expected. He had absolute confidence in his command, yet what shocked him and surprised him was that the Sky Ray Treasure Lens was completely ineffective against this black mist!
The Sky Ray Treasure Lens was the most important talisman on his body and was his only sixth-grade talisman. It could see through illusory spells and techniques, could view things outside a thousand li and could be called a wondrous treasure. The Sky Ray Treasure Lens was the top reason that they had managed to survive in Blood Sky Metropolis Jie.
Yet this talisman that never failed him before was ineffective today. Because of the island formation, he had been unable to view the island from the outside. The Sky Ray Treasure Lens was also non-responsive against this black mist, and had made Tian Ye suspect that it was broken.
This black mist was probably a special talisman!
Tian Ye thought about this but more of his attention was placed on the sword energy wave that was soon to arrive! After roaming in Blood Sky Metropolis Jie for a long time, he had seen many strange talismans, ones stranger than even this, and naturally did not feel great wonder.
Suddenly, a light grunt came from beside him.
However, this did not attract Tian Ye’s attention. The howling of the sword energy wave was like thunder in comparison and the entire sky seemed to be trembling from its approach!
Under this terrifying wave of sound, no one paid attention to the occasional grunts that sounded from inside the black mist.
Everyone’s nerves were stretched tight, and [Sky Sunflower Guard Formation] was channeled to its maximum!
The first to detect something was not right was Tian Ye. His face suddenly changed! Not good! There was a plot!
The tang of blood was faintly discernable in the black mist seemed to prove his speculation. Unafraid of anything, Tian Ye’s face was ashen. His expanded pupils were full of disbelief and also had deep terror!
[Sky Sunflower Guard Formation]! It was [Sky Sunflower Guard Formation] that was telling him!
As the main commander of the battalion, every change in the battle formation would be reported to him. He has just noticed that the power of the [Sky Sunflower Guard Formation] was slightly less than half its usual strength! This discovery almost stopped his breathing, this wasn’t possible!
He was not an useless person and he had relied on his actual skills to obtain this position. In just an instant, he understood everything and was dumbstruck!
In this short period, only two-thirds of the combat xiu were left in the [Sky Sunflower Guard Formation]!
How was this possible?
He almost didn’t dare to believe this result!
This battalion’s members had been handpicked by him. He had taken them to Bloody Sky Metropolis Jie and gone through many hardships to bring them back to Cloud Sea Jie! These subordinates that were unwaveringly loyal to him, he understood them better than anyone. They definitely would not make such a fatal mistake at such a crucial time!
The only possibility was that one third of the combat xiu had been assassinated unknowingly!
He suddenly realized that the black mist wasn’t used to just obscure their vision! It hid a murderousness plot!
At this time, one of his personal guards slumped over without any strength.
“A Yong!” Tian Ye shouted in shock. For the first time, he felt terror. The black mist that was almost tangible in front of his eyes seemed to hid a vicious beast that could not be seen and would consume lives at any moment.
Tian Ye’s shout did not attract the attention of other combat xiu because of the sword energies!
The howling of the sword energy great wave drowned out everything, like the howling and barks of countless yao beasts. They charged like a tide, furious and bloodthirsty!
Bam bam bam!
Facing this terrifying wave of sword energy, the light of the defensive formation was as fragile as glass and upon contact, it turned to powder in the black mist!
The collapse of the battle formation undoubtedly signaled the fate of this group of combat xiu!
In battles between battalions, when their formation was shattered, especially their defense formation, that meant failure. The talismans on the soldiers bodies were not any different than paper mache in front of the vast expanse of sword energies!
The combat xiu that lost the protection of the battle formation didn’t even have time to wail before they were torn to pieces by the flood of sword energies!
The moment the battle formation shattered, Tian Ye knew that they had lost this battle.
Lost completely!
His terror disappeared, and he showed the rebellious smile he usually had.
Dying under the sword of such an opponent, it was a worthy death!
———
Flee! Flee! Flee!
The three jindan were like homeless dogs, hating that their parents hadn’t given birth to them with a pair of wings. In their frantic retreat none of them displayed the usual composure of a jindan.
They had originally prepared to flee towards the Tian Ye Battalion as it was the top battalion of the Tian Family and was very strong. If they could run there, they should be safe. The three of them were jindan cultivation and Tian Ye would definitely recruit them.
If they could help Tian Ye get some combat service, then they would find it easy to return home. They were different than those others that were recruited from the outside, they were born Tian Family members and their own family members were in the clan. If they were not forced to, then they would not leave the Tian Family.
Who knew the Tian Ye Battalion that they put their high hopes on couldn’t even stand up under one encounter and had turned to ash!
The three completely lost of their courage!
That was Tian Ye Battalion! The true top battalion of the Tian Family! A battalion that could rank in all of Cloud Sea Jie!
Ow … .. how could it be destroyed just like that?
Terror was like a powerful poison that spread to every corner of their body and ate at every one of their nerves! There was only one thought in their minds, stay far from this ghastly place! Farther!
They flew furiously!
Yet what they had not expected was that because their speed was much faster than other combat xiu, they were extremely eye-catching and had attracted Lil’ Pagoda’s attention.
Before, Ma Fan’s plan had been to bolt the door and beat the dog. They were to lure the Tian Family into the island, and then close the large formation to destroy all of them on the island. Yet no one had expected Tian Ye Battalion to not advance with the others, and not enter Turtle Island as they had expected. Due to this, Lil’ Pagoda still had not received the order to close the island formation.
But when Lil’ Paogda saw the three jindan about the escape from the island formation, it became panicked and instantly closed the formation without a word!
In a blink, black clouds appeared in the sky. Thunder roared in the cloud layers, and silver snakes arced. The black clouds came extremely quickly as though it appeared out of everywhere.
The expressions of the three jindan changed dramatically. They were not dumb and understood what the other intended!
To kill them all!
Among the thick black clouds, the curving electric snakes caused their hearts to tremble. The terrifying power was like a storm that blew against the weak mental barriers of the three! Yet the last straw that broke the camel’s back was the azure light that was faintly discernable.
The three felt themselves frozen and all of them had hopeless expressions.
When had they ever been pushed to such a hopeless state? After becoming jindan, failure and setbacks seemed to distance themselves, and they were forever the objects of admiration!
But right now … …
The hopelessness on the person leading gradually turned to viciousness. His face was twisted, his eyes full of uncaring frenzy as he shouted, “Brothers! Kill one to break even … …”
His harsh and hopeless voice suddenly stopped, his expression freezing on his face as though he became statue in a flash.
He dropped down from the sky, bam, and hit the ground heavily. There wasn’t a thread of life on his body.
Following the fall of their fellow, the jindan seemed to see a ghost.
There was a wooden faced young female and a large bird silently standing near his body. The young female did not have any expression on her face, her eyes empty and without emotion. The large bird beside her was staring with a vicious expression at them!
Was it this seemingly lifeless young female that had just attack?
The found it hard to believe. This young female did not seem to be exceptional in any regard, and they were even unable to feel any ling power vibration from her body.
No one told them the answer!
Endless terror consumed their minds, other than terror their eyes could not hold anything else! The bravery to drag others into death with them was erased by this eerie attack!
This was an eerie place!
Everything was so eerie. Otherwise, why would they have been defeated? Why did Tian Ye Battalion get defeated so quickly? Why did they have to die here? Why was not one person able to escape … …
Everything was like a nightmare in front of them. Their gazes were scattered and their presences became chaotic.
They heard a clear chirp among their blurriness and it seemed to have a thread of disdain.
What followed was a pain in their chest and then they did not know anything.
———
Looking at the black clouds that shrouded the entire Turtle Island, Li Shu showed a serious expression.
At his side, Feng Bai’s expression was shocked. “Is all of Tian Family going to die here? I hadn’t expected that this Turtle Island’s strength was so, it isn’t bad.”
Li Shu did not speak. Feng Shixiong said that Turtle Island wasn’t bad but it could be heard from his tone that he was indifferent. This was very normal. Feng Shixiong was just passing through Cloud Sea Jie and did not understand the Tian Family’s strength so he would be like this.
But Li Shu understood the Tian Family’s strength and deep worry entered his eyes.
Translator Ramblings: Li Shu is the person that persuaded Ning Yi to take the job of killing Zuo Mo and the others.
On another note, Tian Ye really got dragged down by his family. He only came because he was ordered to do so and failed because the family patriarch’s brother was not a good commander.