Rain fell in sheets, thunder crashed, and lightning danced across the sky. The world was a mix of darkness and light, filled with rumbling booms and the sound of raindrops smacking onto the ground.
From a distance, everything seemed to be a haze of rain, completely somber and desolate.
Bai Xiaochun trembled as he sped forward with all the speed he could muster. He flew along, feet pounding the ground, occasionally leaping into the air over some obstacle. He was like an arrow loosed from the bowstring, whistling through the air.
“Have to stay alive,” he muttered. “You guys... have to stay alive!” That was what he kept repeating to himself as the images of Du Lingfei and Hou Yunfei continued to flash in his mind.
The shadow of death loomed, fusing with the rain, making everything around him seem even colder than usual.
By this point, roughly nine figures were speeding toward him from various directions. The furthest person away from him was Chen Heng, but he was also the fastest. He was like a beam of light stabbing through the sheets of rain, moving faster and faster, causing rumbling sounds to echo out.
“You can’t escape! Nobody can escape from our patriarch’s spell formation!” Killing intent flickered in Chen Heng’s eyes.
He had never imagined that three Outer Sect disciples of the Spirit Stream Sect would manage to evade him for so many days, and in fact, even get close to the border of the spell formation set up by his Patriarch. As for the disciple they were currently closing in on, he had a profound cultivation base, sufficient to not only strike down Chen Yue, but numerous other members of the Luochen Clan.
He was now more convinced than ever that this person was one of the famous Chosen from the south bank of the Spirit Stream Sect, either Shangguan Tianyou or Lu Tianlei. After all, when it came to the affairs of the south bank, the north bank usually wouldn’t interfere.
“Spirit Stream Sect Chosen....” Chen Heng thought, eyes glittering with killing intent, and even a spark of amusement.
Rumbling thunder filled the air as Bai Xiaochun sped along with gritted teeth. He was panting, and his internal spiritual energy was fading quickly. Because of the rain, it was hard to see anything, and he almost felt as if some primordial ancient beast had swallowed up Heaven and Earth.
Suddenly, Bai Xiaochun looked up with bloodshot eyes, looking fiercely at certain fluctuations in the rainwater a few dozen meters up ahead. Popping sounds rang out as countless raindrops then exploded and shot toward Bai Xiaochun.
Behind that sheet of rain was the first Luochen Clan member who had arrived to intercept Bai Xiaochun!
He was a middle-aged man, and the ugly scar which ran down his face made him look extremely ferocious. On top of that, he had a cultivation base in the great circle of the seventh level of Qi Condensation. He shot toward Bai Xiaochun, hefting a gigantic battle-axe in his right hand. As he closed in, he gripped the haft of the axe with both hands, lifted it high into the air, and swung it down viciously toward Bai Xiaochun!
“You’re not going one step further!” the man barked, his voice booming like thunder.
Bai Xiaochun didn't hesitate for even a moment. As the axe descended, he sped forward, shooting his left hand out toward the axe itself!
The middle-aged man laughed coldly, pouring more cultivation base power into his hands, causing the axe to scream madly through the air toward Bai Xiaochun.
In the instant that Bai Xiaochun extended his left hand, a black flicker of light could be seen as his Undying Iron Skin was unleashed. Even as his left hand made contact with the axe head, it turned completely pitch black.
A boom rang out as Bai Xiaochun’s left hand clamped onto the axe with such incredible force that the surrounding rainwater began to vibrate, and then exploded into a haze.
Pain exploded out within him, and blood flowed, and yet the power of his Undying Iron Skin kept his hand safe, albeit injured.
The middle-aged man frowned, then tried to jerk his axe away. However, Bai Xiaochun’s grip was like an iron vice that kept the giant axe completely locked down; no matter how the middle-aged man struggled, he couldn't move it even a teeny bit.
The man’s face flickered, and then he looked up and realized that Bai Xiaochun’s eyes were blazing with flames of madness!
It was a madness that this man had only ever seen within the eyes of various wild beasts in the Fallenstar Mountains.
The man’s heart instantly began to pound, and in the blink of an eye, the glow of defensive shields sprang up around him. Without any hesitation, he let go of the axe and fell back.
He was fast, but... Bai Xiaochun was faster!
Even as his left hand maintained its grip on the axe, his right hand flared with black light, and simultaneously shot out toward the middle-aged man.
His hand pierced through the man’s defensive shields, causing cracking sounds to ring out as one layer after another was destroyed. Bai Xiaochun cut through them like a razor-sharp blade through bamboo. At the same time, because of the current state Bai Xiaochun was in, his Throat Crushing Grasp suddenly did something it had never done before.
Unexpectedly... a gravitational force appeared, causing the middle-aged man to lurch to a stop. Before he could even react, his entire world was completely superseded by Bai Xiaochun’s pitch-black hand!
A boom rang out as Bai Xiaochun’s hand clamped onto the man’s throat and then clenched down hard!
CRACK!
A flicker of disbelief passed through the man’s eyes, and then blood oozed out of his mouth. There was no time for him to scream as the bones in his neck were crushed. Then, his head sagged to the side. He was dead!
Disbelief could still be seen in his eyes. Although he had been aware that the person they were chasing was powerful, and had even been prepared going into the fight, the blow he had unleashed moments ago had not been a lethal one. He had only been trying to stop Bai Xiaochun and buy some time. How could he ever have imagined that this skinny Outer Sect disciple of the Spirit Stream Sect would be so utterly powerful?
In the moment that the man died, two more figures appeared off in the distance. Shockingly, one of them had a cultivation base in the eighth level of Qi Condensation!
Seeing their dead comrade in Bai Xiaochun’s hand, they let out roars of rage. “Chen Zhong!!”
“You people are forcing me to do this!” Bai Xiaochun growled. He tossed the corpse aside, then quickly changed directions and shot off at top speed. He was shaking, panting, and yet, his eyes gleamed with an even more intensely brutal light than before.
He knew that he couldn't afford to stop for even a moment. After all, the whole crux of his plan was to get the Luochen Clan members to follow him. As he changed directions, he could see a sprawling mountain range off in the distance.
Because that particular mountain range wasn’t a specific border region, it didn’t have a name. It was a separate mountain range than the Fallenstar Mountains, but was comparable in size, and in fact, perhaps even a bit larger. The rain there fell at a steep angle, and the entire area was crashing with lightning.
In fact, when Bai Xiaochun looked over, the lightning seemed to mass into a sphere which then exploded out into the rain.
Bai Xiaochun sped in the direction of the mountain range, the two Luochen Clan members hot on his trail. At the same time, more cultivators were closing in.
There was even a bright beam of light which was none other than Chen Heng, who was getting closer by the moment.
As the Luochen Clan cultivators closed the distance to Bai Xiaochun, he got closer and closer to the tree-covered mountains. He was now several dozen meters away, completely soaked as he ran along. As of this moment, he was on the verge of making it into the jungle itself.
“Stop him!” Chen Heng said grimly.
The cultivator closest to Bai Xiaochun was in the eighth level of Qi Condensation. He let out a roar, then reached out and grabbed the seventh level clan member next to him. They exchanged a glance, and were instantly thinking the same thing. The seventh level clan member curled up into a ball, and then the other clan member hurled him forward as hard as possible.
Rumbling sounds filled the air as he called upon all the power of his cultivation base to propel his companion through the air. The second cultivator shot through the rain with explosive speed, and in the blink of an eye, was right upon Bai Xiaochun.
As he closed in, he unleashed his cultivation base, causing thunderous rumbling sounds to echo out. Bai Xiaochun lurched to a stop, spun, and performed an incantation gesture. The wave of a finger sent his wooden sword flying out, and yet the Luochen Clan cultivator actually allowed it to stab into him. Even as he passed away into death, a bizarre smile appeared on his face.
Suddenly, he exploded into a cloud of blood and gore that then transformed into a rope of blood that began to entangle Bai Xiaochun.
Bai Xiaochun’s face fell, and he turned to flee. However, in that moment of distracted retreat, a screaming sound rose up from behind him, which was an arrow!
That arrow had been shot from none other than the cultivator in the eighth level of Qi Condensation, who currently held a quivering bow in his hand.
The sacrifice of the other cultivator led to a critical moment in which Bai Xiaochun was incapable of dodging!
Bai Xiaochun’s eyes flickered. Stopping in place, he suddenly shot directly toward the speeding arrow.
A boom rang out as the arrow stabbed into Bai Xiaochun, causing an explosion of pain that left him pale-faced.
The arrow pierced the bone in his shoulder, shattering it. The arrow itself was made from extraordinary materials, and backed by the power of the eighth level of Qi Condensation, making it incredibly strong. After snapping the bone, it actually sent the skinny Bai Xiaochun flying through the air past the blood rope!
THUMP!
The arrow slammed into a nearby tree, simultaneously impaling Bai Xiaochun!
Delight flickered in the eyes of the eighth level cultivator as he flickered into motion, shooting forward and preparing to unleash a second arrow to cut down Bai Xiaochun!
The other Luochen Clan cultivators had brutal grins on their faces as they closed in. However, it was in this moment that Chen Heng’s expression suddenly flickered.
“Watch out!!”
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