by Fang Xiang
“Why concern yourself with these people.” Jin Ling urged, “It seems that we suppress them too much usually.”
Mu Wu Shang did not speak, but his heart eased.
There were two members of Genius Alliance in Bright Might Yao Art House, one was Mu Wu Shang, the other was Jin Ling. Genius Alliance was a loose organization among students. It was established four hundred years ago and was created by the twelve top genius students from the many yao art houses of the yao world.
The Genius Alliance only recruited those with outstanding students. After developing for more than four centuries, the influence of Genius Alliance was much greater than it started with. In four centuries, each generation’s alliance leader of the Genius Alliance was the undoubted leader of their generation of students. When these geniuses finished their schooling, if they would enter the important systems of the yao world or they were managing major areas. In its four century history, nine Sky Yao had appeared among their numbers. This was almost seven-tenths of the Sky Yao that had appeared over this four century period.
Each student thought it an honour to enter the Genius Alliance, and the scheduled exchanges inside the alliance was fatally attractive to these people who were cultivating maniacs.
If they could enter the Genius Alliance, they would definitely have a bright future.
However, these great talents also garnered much ire. On one hand, due to thinking highly of themselves, they were very brazen in their actions, and naturally did not attract favor. On the other hand, the elders that had already left the Genius Alliance liked to take care of their younger juniors in the Genius Alliance. This meant that the Genius Alliance was given a great amount of resources, and caused many yao to feel it was unfair.
The reason that this prison-breaking battle was related to the Genius Alliance was that the Genius Alliance had been planning on a prison-breaking battle recently. They were used to being high-profile and so this plan had been made public early on so everyone knew.
But at this time, the sudden prison-breaking battle that appeared caused the Genius Alliance’s position to be very awkward. Those students that disliked the Genius Alliance before were naturally happy. The Genius Alliance that had never been in a reactive position before finally tasted what it was like to be roasted on a fire.
However, these young geniuses were all very proud. How could they swallow this?
Mu Wu Shang was also the same.
Jin Ling’s tone was light, but she also had a fire suppressed inside.
Suddenly, the spirit imprint on Mu Wu Shang’s arm lit up. Mu Wu Shang noticed the “Ancient” character inside the light, and a blush came onto his black face. His eyes became excited.
A ball of light floated from the spirit imprint and a face that they were very familiar with showed up. He said excitedly, “Great, both of you are here. Saves me from making another trip. Quick, come to the Wasteland Beast Chessboard now!”
Mu Wu Shang and Jing Ling exchanged looks. They were excited. The Alliance was going to act!
The two did not waste words and instantly stood to fly with their greatest speed to the cultivation seclusion rooms. The two each rented a seclusion room, and entered the Wasteland Beast Chessboard. They quickly found the Alliance.
Forty six yao.
Mu Wu Shang and Jin Ling were all greatly shocked, and then they immediately became excited. It was possible to see how much the Alliance prioritized this matter when so many alliance members were present. When they saw the youth that looked very honest at the front, they couldn’t help but become excited again.
He had an very interesting name, Huai Boy. He was one of the supervisors of the Genius Alliance. Those that had roles inside the Genius Alliance were those that were very powerful, more powerful than normal members.
Huai Boy’s appearance was very normal. He always had a smile on his face, appeared to be harmless, and honest. But today, the smile on Huai Boy’s smile disappeared. The narrowed eyes were lit up.
“Just received news that the master of the Wasteland Beast Chessboard has challenged us directly!”
Mu Wu Shang’s excited expression froze on his face. He looked dazedly at Huai Boy, his mouth gaping. The other student members all had shocked and disbelieving faces.
Challenging the Genius Alliance!
Was this guy crazy?
“This has already been broadcasted by all the major yao channels.”
“We do not know if someone is scheming and pushing their agenda from the shadows, or if it is the person’s challenge. But this is not important.”
“Because we will use reality to tell everyone that doubts us.”
“Who is truly the geniuses!”
———
Like usual, Nan Yue entered the Wasteland Beast Chessboard.
However, today seemed … …
She looked strangely at the surrounding yao. She noticed that they all seemed to be very excited. Has something major happened?
Did someone activate the prison breaking battle again? She shook her head and smiled, and felt amused that she would have such an absurd thought.
“I heard that the Genius Alliance are coming to break the Wasteland Beast Chessboard!”
This sentence burrowed into Nan Yue’s ears. Nan Yue shook and felt a basin of cold water had been poured over her head. What? Genius Alliance wanted to break Daren’s Wasteland Beast Chessboard? She focused and listened closely.
“Ah? Why is Genius Alliance at odds with the Wasteland Beast Chessboard? I remember now. They seemed to have said they were going to break a prison before. Had their goal also been Vast Water Clear Skies?”
“Ha, you definitely do not know. The one making the challenge is the mystery person!”
“Mystery person? The owner of the Wasteland Beast Chessboard?”
“Just that one! Go watch the news, they’re broadcasting it everywhere.”
Nan Yue wasn’t in the mood to cultivate and immediately left the Wasteland Beast Chessboard. Her room was just four walls, where would she have the yao news tree? She hurriedly put on an outer garment, pushed open the door and flew up. She recalled that the center of the city had an enormous yao news tree.
She saw the yao news tree that reached up to the clouds from a long way off, and adjusted her direction to fly towards it.
This yao news tree was the largest of the three closest cities. The enormous crown of the tree was like a small mountain with innumerable forts. Countless vines drooped down from the tree branches and were heavy with pod-like fruits.
Yao filled all of the yao news tree.
Nan Yue picked a place with few people and landed. When she just steadied her body, her consciousness wrapped on a thin vine in front of her.
With a pop, the fruit of the yao news tree exploded and turned to a multi-coloured mist.
The rainbow mist quickly changed and became a beautiful female yao. The female yao’s expression was very excited, and spoke very quickly.
“The mystery young expert that just finished the prison breaking battle and reconstructed the Wasteland Beast Chessboard has publicly challenged the Genius Alliance. We are now doing a special report about this matter. Up until now, the Genius Alliance has not made any formal statements about this matter, and the new master of the Wasteland Beast Chessboard has not been seen. However, this matter is definitely not unsubstantiated. Maybe we will soon see a spectacular struggle … …”
Nan Yue’s head rang.
Impossible! This was impossible!
Daren definitely would not challenge the Genius Alliance!
This thought was so strong that Nan Yue did not doubt it. She had not spent much time with Daren, but she did not feel that Daren, from any perspective, would be such an arrogant and impulsive yao.
There definitely was someone spreading fake information!
Nan Yue was not dumb and instantly understood. However, her expression did not turn for the better but became even worse. No one was ignorant of the power of the Ge
nius Alliance!
Almost all yao knew what those geniuses were like. Regardless of whether this information was real, with the conduct of the Genius Alliance, they definitely would not rest!
Why was it like this … …
———
“Shixiong, move faster,” Gongsun Cha said, unsatisfied.
In the fiendish mist, Zuo Mo’s face instantly fell. After absorbing the soul base source of the fiend souls, Gongsun Cha’s speed had increased which caused Zuo Mo’s “fishing” to be unable to keep up.
Zuo Mo was discontent. “So noisy! It’s good that you even have something to eat!”
Tenth Grade flew up and down at the side, his little face slightly distressed.
“No, Shixiong, you have to be responsible for satiation since you are responsible for the food!” Gongsun Cha’s face was rascally.
The corner of Zuo Mo’s eyes twitched. He forcibly suppressed the impulse to kick Gongsun Cha away. Suddenly, his gaze focused and he stopped all movement. Raising his face, he looked towards the deeper parts of the fiendish mist.
Sword essence!
Chapter 359: Activation
Sword essence!
There was sword essence within the fiendish mist!
Zuo Mo’s eyes flashed. The sword essence coming from the fiendish mist was faint, but he was sure it wasn’t an illusion. Out of caution, he closed his eyes and spread out his consciousness. A moment later, he opened his eyes. They were ecstatic.
There were people!
There were people inside the fiendish mist!
Nothing could excite him more. He hadn’t been this excited even after he completed the prison-break battle. Ever since they stepped into this vast, desolate, and mysterious ancient battlefield, uncertainty and worry had always been clouds over his heart regardless of how calm and composed he appeared.
There was no sign of life to be seen on this unknown ancient battlefield. This place was silent and barren, filled with danger. All the signs supported that this was a land of death. The scariest part of a dead land was the dangers all around it. The impoverished and dangerous environment meant that Zuo Mo and the others did not even have a chance to breathe.
But now, Zuo Mo suddenly found that there were people existing in a place he assumed was dead. How could he not be ecstatic? It was like searching endlessly in the darkness, and suddenly seeing a glimmer of light. At least, they had a chance to rest. Zuo Mo believed that if they had enough time, they could definitely walk out of the ancient battlefield.
“There are people ahead!” Zuo Mo pointed excitedly at the depth of the fiendish mist as he said to Gongsun Cha.
“People?” Gongsun Cha was stunned. After a moment, he suddenly reacted. “There are people inside?”
“En.” Zuo Mo nodded heavily. “Someone is using sword essence in there. In that direction. It’s a bit far from us, but not impossibly so. I can feel it, but it is not very strong.”
“What should we do?” Gongsun Cha hurriedly asked.
“Gather everyone, and we will advance in that direction. We need to be fast, or we will miss them.” At this time, Zuo Mo showed the decisiveness of a leader and did not hesitate in issuing instructions.
———
Wei Sheng stared at the fiend soul beast in front of him, the black sword in his hand slightly raised. However, his heart sank slightly. The body of this fiend soul beast was longer than three zhang. It was shaped like a scorpion. Between the two pincers, he was able to see the criss-crossing teeth that sent chills through his heart.
It’s body was completely covered in shiny, black armour covered with red seal scripts that curved like earthworms. There were two dark red dots for eyes that lit up in the fiendish mist, and shocked one’s soul.
Its body was close to the ground, the two pincers slightly raised as a dark and vicious presence tightly locked onto Wei Sheng.
This fiend soul beast had silently closed in with intentions of ambushing him. If it wasn’t for the fact that Wei Sheng’ cultivation level had progressed greatly, his sword essence spiritually clear and taken to heart, Wei Sheng himself was not sure he could survive after an ambush by such a vicious beast.
However, Wei Sheng did not panic due to his shock. He was not willing to show weakness, and his sword essence locked onto the other.
This fiend soul scorpion seemed to know the prey in front of it should not be underestimated. It did not dare to move rashly, and it seemed very wary of the great black sword in Wei Sheng’ hands.
The two descended into a stand off.
Wei Sheng closely watched the fiend soul scorpion, the black sword in his hand did not tremble at all. He had killed his every step the entire way on his trip through the fiendish mist. After continuous, hard battles, his body was very tired and at the end of its strength. The black sword seemed to lose its spirit. The aura had gradually faded. This caused Wei Sheng to feel it progressing was even harder, and basically had left him no opportunity to rest.
The exhaustion of his body was like a tide, wave after wave crashing against Wei Sheng’s mental defenses. Suddenly, Wei Sheng recalled the time when he had been a sword servant. Just with his simple and crude sword art, he had been searching for his sword path in the wilderness.
At that time, he had been so innocent and so satisfied!
There were no conflicts inside the sect, no unspoken criticism about the sect, no other thoughts. He was like the sword in his hand, simple to the utmost.
He lightly sighed.
There were many matters in the world that people were helpless against, could not brush off or dodge. Like this patch of fiendish mist. It continuously corroded his ling power. Now he understood why so many xiuzhe would stay in a distance place away from the troubles of the world.
As Wei Sheng’s mind was distracted, the cunning and vicious fiend soul scorpion instantly seized at a chance.
The glowing red eyes drew out two soul-shaking streaks in the fiendish mist. The speed of the fiend soul scorpion was like lightning. It was so fast, and the sound was so muffled that there wasn’t even a vibration in the air.
Wei Sheng’s heart was shocked. He knew he was in an unprecedentedly dangerous situation. When he had sighed just now, he instantly knew. That the wandering thought was a sign of extreme danger. It mean that his body was weak to the point of collapsing which was why his mental defenses had been so lax.
But he had not expected this vicious beast to be so sensitive and cunning to accurately seize this chance!
His wrist flipped, and the horse-chopping sabre that was up to Wei Sheng’s chest seemed to be as light as air as it block in front of his chest.
Dong!
Among the sound of steel striking, Wei Sheng’s body shook and he retreated seven steps.
Wei Sheng grimaced inside. If his condition wasn’t so poor, then he wouldn’t have retreated even one step under such a force. But his endurance, and ling power had reached their tail ends. His battle experience was rich and he knew that the vicious beast in front of him was cunning and deceitful. It definitely had detected that he was weak inside.
As expected, the red light of the fiend soul scorpion exploded. It did not attack but like before, it dashed forward.
Such a cautious beast!
Wei Sheng did not have the time to finish praising it when a great force passed over. He made a muffled grunt, and took ten steps back before he steadied his figure.
Was he going to be buried here today?
Wei Sheng sighed inside.
Only now did the fiend soul scorpion truly confirm that Wei Sheng had reached his last legs. It attacked without hesitation. It was very cunning, and knew that Wei Sheng had almost no strength left, so it tried to use brute force to destroy Wei Sheng.
Dong dong dong!
The sound of impacts were endless like a tempest.
Wei Sheng struggled to endure like a little boat in a hurricane, suddenly moving up and down as though he could be swallowed by the waves at any momen
t. The attacks of the fiend soul scorpion were relentless and as fast as lightning. Wei Sheng was surrounded by danger. The already tattered clothing at this time was destroyed by the small yet sharp turbulence like butterflies in flight.
A stream of blood came from the corner of Wei Sheng’s mouth. The ling power in his body was drained, his channels started to crack. He would not be able to persist for much longer, as his channels would shatter into countless pieces, and his cultivation would instantly collapse.
The black sword that had seemed vicious before was like a dull sword of ordinary metal without any sheen.
Was he really going to lose his life here?
Wei Sheng was in a daze, his moves slow as though he could fall at any moment. Yet unexpectedly, after more than ten continuous attacks, he was still standing, barely. If one looked closely, they would find that when the fiend soul scorpion’s pair of pincers was going to strike him, the black sword in his hand would coincidentally appear in front of the giant pincers.
The moment his body was in danger, Wei Sheng would always make an instinctive response.
Without conscious thought, without ling power, his mind was completely blank.
Dong dong dong … …
The hurricane was ongoing, so long it made one feel hopeless.
Yet the scene was filled with weirdness. Wei Sheng’s eyes were wooden, empty and without thought, his movements were slow. Yet the instant the giant pincers were going to touch his body, his hesitation would disappear. His movements would be unspeakably simple and crisp, but when paired with his wooden expression, it was even stranger.
It was as though if one more straw was added to his load, Wei Sheng would fall.
But no matter how the fiend soul scorpion tried, even when the giant pincers tore the air apart in their attacks, they were stopped by Wei Sheng’ movements that were filled with strangeness.
———
Nan Yue stood on the borderless Wasteland Beast Chessboard.
She bit her lips tightly. Just on her way here, she had already seen seven groups of people from the Genius Alliance. The Genius Alliance did not have any intentions of disguising its retaliation.