“Peng,” he collapsed with his head raised. Till his final moment, he still could not manage to believe that he would actually die here, and furthermore, that such a divinely beautiful, cold as ice maiden would actually have such great power that he had not even managed to display a single technique before death.
Ma Lang was extremely shocked as well. He too had not imagined that Liu Yu Tong would be so powerful, and even be able to instantly kill Yu Zheng, a martial artist in the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier, in one move.
Such a genius, why was she willing to lower herself to stay by Ling Han’s side?
“You still dare to be distracted at such a time, are you complaining that death is not coming fast enough?” Ling Han smiled coldly, and brandished his sword in a killing move.
Ma Lang raised his saber to parry in panic, yet was still forced to retreat about seven or eight steps by the shockwave from this move. Another wound appeared on his body.
“Let me see you off!” Ling Han brandished his sword once again, like a rainbow piercing through the day, presenting a dazzling image. [ED/N: Day or sun, quite ambiguous; day is more likely though]
This was the strongest move of Shocking Electricity Sword Arts, named Flash Strike!
Ma Lang gritted his teeth and raised his saber in a parry. But the saber missed, and with a “pu”, he only managed to feel a sharp pain in his chest. His heart had been pierced through by the long sword, and the terrifying shockwave generated by this attack immediately exploded his heart.
Martial artists in the Element Gathering Tier had a strong vitality. Even though his heart had been exploded, he was not completely dead yet. He kept staring at Ling Han and his mouth opened and closed a few times, as if wanting to say something, yet he did not manage to produce any sound at all.
“After such a long battle, how could it be that I have not managed to seen through your moves?” Ling Han knew what Ma Lang wanted to ask, and replied calmly.
‘You’re a damn monster, we’ve only battled just a short while, and you’ve actually seen through my moves?’
Ma Lang was spitting out curses in his heart, and he finally breathed his last, unwillingly closing his eyes in death.
Ling Han withdrew his sword, and glanced over the scene. Ling Dong Xing had dealt with majority of the law enforcers, and even if any of them were so fortunate as to get away from him, Liu Yu Tong would immediately deal with these leftovers.
Meanwhile, Ling Zhong Kuan and his grandson, Ling Mu Yun, had also died under the powerful effects of the poison. Their eyes were fixed in a stare, filled with a powerful rage, though who knew who was it they hated the most–Ma Lang and Yu Zheng or Ling Dong Xing and his son.
“These two traitors, they’ve gotten off lightly!” Ling Han humphed. He had initially intended to kill the two of them himself.
“It’s fine, they are, after all, clansmen of the Ling Clan. Dying in the hands of outsiders is good,” Ling Dong Xing only sighed. He was, after all, the Clan Head, and so there were many more things he needed to consider.
They naturally need not deal with the bodies themselves. However, killing someone was easy, but dealing with the aftermath… Ling Dong Xing had a bit of a headache at this.
“Han’er, you and Yu Tong must immediately leave, go as far away as you can!” Ling Dong Xing had decided. He could remain behind and die with the Ling Clan, but his son was the hope of the clan. At the very least, he needed to ensure that Ling Han remained safe.
Ling Han smiled, and said, “Father, I had not done this act out of impulsiveness. We can let Chen Feng Lie deal with this issue.”
“So many people have died, and there’s even a disciple of Seventh Elder. Can he really solve the issue?” Ling Dong Xing asked, frowning.
“For the sake of his own life, he would definitely do all he can,” Ling Han laughed. “Moreover, Yu Tong is the princess of the Liu Clan, one of the Eight Great Clans of the imperial city. If worst comes to worst, we can reveal her identity.”
Yet Ling Dong Xing still shook his head. He naturally thought of his son as the best young man in the whole world, but would the Liu Clan think the same? When he recalled that his own wife was also the great granddaughter of the Third Elder of Winter Moon Sect, yet in the end, their conclusion was tragic… there was already a previous example.
Still, they really are real father and son, even the women they got to know were of such high, noble status.
He could not help feeling a little worried. As a father, he did not hope in the slightest for Ling Han to follow in his footsteps.
“Right, Yu Tong?” Ling Han had never been a father, so he would not be able to understand Ling Dong Xing’s current thoughts. He saw how Ling Dong Xing still looked very worried, and misunderstood his father was still worrying about the issue of Stone Wolf Sect, so he asked Liu Yu Tong for assurance.
“En!” Liu Yu Tong nodded, her expression extremely solemn.
When Ling Dong Xing saw this, as someone who has had previous experience, how could he not be able to tell that Liu Yu Tong had already developed feelings for his son?
Hopefully this will not be another pair of star-crossed lovers! No, this will definitely not be an ill-fated romance, his son was better than him by a hundred, a thousand times, and in the future, he’d definitely be able to exceed the limitations of martial arts of Rain Country. So what would be inappropriate in marrying the daughter of one of the Eight Great Clans?
Ling Han immediately wrote a missive, and had a messenger deliver it at full speed to Stone Wolf Sect, addressed to Chen Feng Lie. If Chen Feng Lie was unable to deal with this matter, then he actually had an alternative solution, and that was Zhu He Xin. Zhu He Xin was a low-level Black Grade alchemist. Although he did not have a very high opinion of him, but within Rain Country, Zhu He Xin possessed quite a high status. At least he was someone that the Stone Wolf Sect definitely did not dare to trifle with.
…Liu Yu Tong was his little female attendant. It would be very embarrassing to be forced to make use of her background.
Chen Feng Lie received the letter on the third day. When he had finished reading the contents of the letter, he had almost been shocked to the point of heart attack, thinking how was it that this young master could be such a troublemaker? He had just killed off one Cheng Xiao Yuan, and now he’s also killed Ma Lang and a whole law enforcement team.
Cheng Xiao Yuan was fine. He was Chen Feng Lie’s disciple, and so what if he’s dead? It’s fine as long as Chen Feng Lie did not intend to pursue matters. But Ma Lang was Old Seventh’s disciple, and was also the most excellent one of them. How could he bury this pit?
But he had no choice but to do it, for his life was tied to Ling Han.
Ling Han did not know how Chen Feng Lie had dealt with the issue. He only knew that two days later, the latter replied to his message and said that there was no longer any need to worry about anything.
Since this matter was already resolved, Ling Han decided to enter Seven Wind Mountains. There was still one month before the end of the year, and he needed to achieve at least the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier to have a chance to compete for the first place in the Da Yuan Tournament.
Chapter 46
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
The Seven Wind Mountains encompassed a very wide area. From east to west, they spanned close to a thousand miles, while from south to north, they covered close to four hundred miles. It was the largest mountain range in the northern region of Rain Country. There were many demonic beasts inhabiting the mountain range, and there was also a large variety of different Spiritual Medicine growing here. Sometimes, some precious metals that could be used to forge high-grade weapons were also discovered here. As a result, there were many who entered here for training trips, as well as many whose target were the numerous treasures in this place. However, the annual death toll amongst those who entered the mountains here was also very high.
Some died under the fangs of demonic beas
ts. Some died because of some dangerous environment they found themselves in, while there were also some who were killed by their fellow human beings.
Although no one had actually counted the numbers, most believed over half of the deaths that occurred in Seven Wind Mountains was due to being murdered by other humans. Therefore, the most dangerous existence within Seven Wind Mountains was not any kind of demonic beast, but man.
A day later, Ling Han and Liu Yu Tong arrived at Yellow Bridge Town. From here, they could directly enter the mountain range.
Because the journey this time round was quite far, they had traveled here on horseback. The two of them stayed one night in an inn in the town, and subsequently left their horses at that inn before setting out towards the mountain range with only a simple bundle on their backs.
…If they were unable to return within a month, then the inn had the right to sell off their horses. The money earned from the sale would cover the payment to the inn for holding onto their horses for a month.
The early morning sun hung high in the sky, its rays shining on the still remaining dewdrops, reflecting a variety of exceptionally beautiful colors and thus presenting a scene full of life. This was a wild, primitive, colossal mountain range. Although there were many people exploring the depths of the mountain range every single day, compared to this gigantic mountain range, the large number of visitors was really insignificant.
As Ling Han and Liu Yu Tong breathed in the fresh air around them, they both experienced an indefinable sense of relaxation.
They traveled all over the mountain range in search of the rock cave that had been mentioned in the rumors. However, they had searched for five days, and although they did find many caves, all the caves they found only led to disappointment.
That was reasonable, though–if that cave could be so easily found, then wouldn’t it have long been discovered by others?
‘En?’
Ling Han’s steps suddenly paused. He heard some sounds of battle.
“Let’s go take a look,” he said. This was his second life yet he still could not change his curious nature.
They followed the sounds and quickly arrived at the bank of a little brook. In the clearing some distance in front of them, there were two groups of people who were currently engaged in a deadly battle.
“This is really a small world!” Ling Han shook his head. He knew one of the parties that were currently fighting.
…They were Liu Dong, Chen Peng Ju, Zhu Xue Yi and the others. They had joined forces previously at Balance Mountain to obtain the Green Spiritual Fruit. However, as Hang Zhan’s incident happened soon after, the five of them were also scared off. He never thought he would see them again here.
Out of the group of five, Liu Dong, Li Hao and Zhu Xue Yi had all broken through to Element Gathering Tier while Chen Peng Ju and Zhou Chang had also progressed to the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier. Their improvement was very evident.
After all, they had each respectively gotten one Green Spiritual Fruit.
Yet, though their side had three elite martial artists in Element Gathering Tier, they were still at a disadvantage as the other side had four martial artists in Element Gathering Tier.
Three against four–they were at a disadvantage in numbers; added to the fact that they had just broken through to Element Gathering Tier and thus their power was still quite weak… if it was not for the fact that their opponents seemed to want to capture them alive, they would have long been finished.
“Why won’t you quickly surrender to avoid suffering too much?” One of their opponents said. There were four members in the other party, and all of them possessed a fierce look to them. It was obvious that they have had a lot of experience in this area, and were filled with killing intent.
Liu Dong and his group made no answer, but continued to keep up their defenses.
In the past, the strongest one of the group of five was Li Hao. It was no different now. He brandished his saber repeatedly, every wave undaunted by the gap in power between the two groups. Each slash of his saber had an air of determination to it. It was also thanks to his presence that the group of five managed to hold on until now.
Yet he had also attracted the concentrated attention of two of their opponents. “Pu pu,” with two powerful blows, two wounds appeared on his chest and back respectively, and blood splattered.
Li Hao gave a loud roar and his eyes turned blood red, revealing an increasingly maniacal air, as if there was something about to explode from within him.
Ling Han could not help exclaiming softly in surprise.
“What is it?” Liu Yu Tong asked. A battle at this level naturally did not deserve her full attention.
“That guy is really quite talented, he’s almost able to form Saber Qi,” Ling Han said, pointing at Li Hao.
“Saber Qi!” Liu Yu Tong could not help being shocked. Whatever “Qi” it was, this kind of power was very difficult to form. However, it was common sense for many elite martial artists that under extreme emotional pressure, it would be much easier to form “Qi”.
For example extreme joy or grief, or perhaps endless slaughter, or maybe the depths of despair. However, she had always possessed an icy demeanor, so she had never experienced such extremes of the emotional spectrum. As a result, she has not managed to form Sword Qi.
…According to her knowledge, that elder in her clan had managed to form Sword Qi due to the great grief he experienced after his wife had died of an illness.
Now Li Hao had actually reached the point where he was close to forming Saber Qi. So how could she not be both shocked and envious?
Ling Han smiled, and said, “You don’t have to be discouraged. With my careful guidance, you too will very quickly be able to form Sword Qi. This isn’t anything difficult!” To him, the difficulty was in forming Sword Ray, while grasping Sword Heart was the real challenge.
Isn’t anything difficult?
Liu Yu Tong almost rolled her eyes in response. In the whole of Rain Country, how many people had actually managed to form “Qi”? Even in her Liu Clan, there were only seven clansmen who had managed such a feat!
Ling Han smiled. This girl naturally had no idea how colossal the East Star was. The strongest warriors of Rain Country were possibly only in Flower Blossom Tier… Rain Country could be considered a “backwater place”.
In the wider world, there were innumerable geniuses. There would definitely be no small number of those who had managed to form “Ray”, and even “Heart”.
“Are you not going to help them?” Liu Yu Tong could not hold back from asking.
“This is that guy’s rare opportunity. If he is unable to form Saber Qi through this experience, then the next time he gets this kind of chance will be maybe five years, or even ten years later,” Ling Han said, shaking his head. “Let him face a bit more pressure.”
Liu Yu Tong frowned slightly. She did not have such an optimistic opinion of Li Hao. It was possible for him to be killed at any moment under the violent, relentless attacks of the enemies rather than form Saber Qi.
“Don’t underestimate the will and determination of human beings. Under extreme pressure, there is a possibility one will erupt with inconceivable power!” Ling Han smiled. He could not help remembering that in his last life, he had really been overprotected. Concocting and taking medicine allowed him to easily progress through the tiers.
It was when he started to travel all over the world in search of ancient sites that he realized that he had such a weak grasp of his own actual battle prowess. The dangers and perils of all the ancient sites he visited also managed to forge his strong determination and willpower, as well as increase his combat experience.
It was only from then onwards that he could really be considered as a powerful warrior.
“Shua!”
A bright flash of the saber streaked across the air, as if proving Ling Han’s words. Li Hao, who had initially been forced into a dangerous corner, actually displayed a surpri
sing saber skill. What was even more surprising was that there was actually an accompanying flash at the same time the saber was brandished. It looked as if he had brandished two sabers at the same time.
He had not brandished two sabers. The second flash of saber was…. Saber Qi!
“Pu!”
None of those fighting could’ve imagined that Li Hao would have been able to display a flash of Saber Qi. One of his opponents had received the blow, and as the Saber Qi streaked across, blood immediately spilled from a wound on the other’s left shoulder.
Chapter 47
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
“Good!” The morale of Liu Dong and the other three was uplifted by this strike, yet Li Hao’s figure staggered. His Origin Power had long neared the point of complete exhaustion. This last slash was, in reality, merely his despair and rage he unleashed. He had never imagined that he would actually form Saber Qi in this attack.
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 29