The green mist figure grew furious and bluntly rebuked, “Nonsense! How can we so casually use the thirty six Devilearth Banners? The ancestors of our Yellow Sand Tribe have always instructed us to never use the sacred banner unless our tribe is on the verge of extermination. And even if these cultivators were trapped for a time, given their abilities, they would certainly destroy a few of the banners. How would we respond then? Without the sacred tribe protecting artifacts, how could we steadily maintain our position in the ten great tribes? There may be even a few smaller tribes that may pry into the matter and exterminate us.”
“I was careless! Many thanks for Grand Sage’s reminder.” The spell warrior within the white light hastily apologized for his offence.
“Since you’ve only recently become a Sage, this fault will be forgiven just this once! In any case, it’s not as if we did nothing. They were simply too powerful and we were incapable of restraining them. Grand Sage Mu sure had a good idea to send our Yellow Sand Tribe to tie the intruders down. Once both sides suffered, he’d conveniently arrive to finish them off and take the lion’s share of the credit and loot. On the other hand, if we don’t take out our tribe protecting artifacts to block them, we will be seen as harboring malicious intentions, leaving an opportunity for them to enact reprisals!” The Grand Sage in the green mist coldly spoke as if he had an extremely poor opinion of the Sage Mu.
The Moulan spell warrior shrouded in lightning calmly said, “I fear this is how Sage Mu intends to act. After all, our two tribes never did have a good relationship. However, we are now allied armies and aren’t truly subordinate to them. Our loss of strength isn’t truly something they will take to heart. Moreover, the Heavenly Wind Tribe’s Wind Riding Chariot is extremely fast. It should be able to overtake the intruders. Hehe, it will be hard to say who will end up victorious! But so long as they managed to buy enough time for the main force to arrive, the Heavenly Wind Tribe will be the victors.”
The Grand Sage in the green mist disagreed, “Although the Wind Riding Chariot is extremely fast, by the time enough people are gathered together to use it, it will perhaps be too late.”
After a moment of thought, the Grand Sage muttered, “Whether or not those cultivators are caught is no concern of ours. But I am puzzled about the youth that managed to first breakthrough the formation. It seemed he discovered where our concealed hole was. How baffling. The Xumi Insect is an exotic insect from antiquity, and although its combat power isn’t great, it has the innate ability to temporarily tear a crevice in space. It in an expert in concealment. Although it is still immature and the amount of time it can maintain a spacial tear is limited, it was still enough to prevent the two mid Nascent Soul cultivators from discovering us. But unexpectedly, it wasn’t enough to prevent this particular early Nascent Soul cultivator from discovering us. It seems that youth is an exceptional character. If it isn’t due to a particular secret technique, then it must be from an exceptionally powerful probing treasure.” A trace of bewilderment could be heard from the Grand Sage’s voice.
Chapter 691: Wind Riding Chariot
Han Li followed after Marquis Nanlong and company, flying through the sandstorm for tens of kilometers. During this time, not one spell warrior had appeared before them. It was clear that a warning was given. Han Li then recalled what he had unintentionally discovered when he broke through the restriction.
It had been quite the coincidence. Because he was incapable of using his spiritual sense to see through the sandstorm, his only option was to channel spiritual power through his eyes and use the ability granted by the Brightsight Water. Since he had already used the Brightsight Spirit Water several times to cleanse his eyes, he may as well use this opportunity to test if it had any effect.
The results had greatly surprised him. His spirit sight was able to clearly see through the dense sandstorm, much to his delight. However, he was also astonished to see a circular shadow within the sandstorm that was forty meters away.
In his shock, the spiritual power faded away from his eyes and the shadow could no longer be seen. His naked eyes could now only see the sandstorm.
He channeled his spirit sight once more and the shadow appeared once more in its original position. But this time, Han Li channeled even more spiritual power into his eyes. He was able to see the shadow slightly more distinctly and he could see silhouettes faintly swaying inside.
Even after pouring in additional spiritual power, this was the limit of what he could see. But still, it was enough for him to clearly see through their nearby concealment. Although he didn’t know what amazing ability was being used, only spell warriors would be capable of concealing themselves from Nascent Soul warriors in these parts.
It seemed the enemy also knew that their party was quite powerful and didn’t wish to fight to the bitter end, instead opting to keep watch on them. As such, Han Li didn’t reveal their location and left in feigned ignorance. Since these people weren’t brave to begin with, they wouldn’t obstruct him later on.
Once Han Li’s party left the yellow sandstorm, they immediately flew off in bursts of light and tore through the skies at their top speed. Although they had managed to shake off the spell warrior vanguard, their main force would soon be arriving. If they didn’t make it out of the sandy wasteland, their lives would be put at risk.
Not only would there be high grade cultivators from the main army to match them, but there would also be countless spell warriors wearing them down. Therefore, Marquis Nanlong and the others were all wordlessly flying as quickly as possible.
With their deep cultivation and fantastical speed, they were able to spot a faint trace of green off the horizon in less than half a day of flight. They had finally reached the edge of the Moulan Plains.
Marquis Nanlong let out a long sigh and smiled, “Good. We can finally relax. We’ve managed to make it through without any mishap.”
He slowed his speed. After such a long period of prolonged high-speed flight, they had consumed large quantities of magic power. Even if he could manage to bear through it, the others certainly wouldn’t fare any better.
The tan cultivator sighed with relief, “Yes, since we’ve managed to reach so far without any mishap, they shouldn’t be able to catch us no matter how desperate they may be.”
“Don’t lower your guard! There are formidable characters amongst the spell warriors, who possess unfathomable abilities. We... Yi!” The white-haired old man cut off his own words with a yelp and he suspiciously glanced behind him.
Han Li felt his heart thump. Just as he was about to ask the old man a question, he faintly heard a piercing crack from behind them.
In an instant, the odd sound grew louder, attracting the attention of everyone in the party.
They saw white light flickering on the horizon behind them. There was a small sphere of light that was speeding towards them with unconceivable speed.
The white-clothed old man recognized what it was at a glance and wore an expression of furious alarm. “Not good! That’s the spell warriors’ Wind Riding Chariot. They wouldn’t dare to chase us unless that had a similar number of Nascent Soul grade spell warriors.”
After sweeping his spiritual sense past them, Wang Tiangu gloomily said, “There are five Nascent Soul stage spell warriors sitting inside it. It seems they don’t wish to defeat us, but to tangle us down and stall for reinforcements.”
“We cannot allow them to tie us down. We won’t be able to defeat five spell warriors in a short amount of time. Additionally, they will act together to prevent us from escaping. Scatter and use your own abilities to escape them. Here are some jade slips. Each person will take one and remember the area. In three days time, we will gather there once again.” Once Marquis Nanlong finished speaking, he immediately took out a few identical jade talisman and tossed them to each person. In that moment of delay, the crackling from the distant wind chariot became clearer.
“Fellow Daoists, take care of yourselves. I will see you once more
in three days time.” Marquis Nanlong then enveloped his body in golden light and shot off without delay.
The white-clothed old man sullenly transformed into a streak of white light, and flew off in a different direction from the Marquis. As for the others, they received the jade slip and each began to scatter without delaying, making use of their own secret techniques to flee.
The tan cultivator emitted meter tall, yellow flames from his body and directly disappeared into the earth. It seemed he was making use of an earth movement technique.
The old woman’s hand flashed with silver light and she summoned a silver crane hairpin. After breathing out a mist of spiritual Qi onto the treasure, a cloud of white crane feathers began to surround her. In a blur, the old woman unsteadily stood on top of a crane. Then with a long shriek, the white crane took off into the skies with the old woman still on its back.
As for the stern-faced cultivator, his entire body glowed with silver light. He formed an incantation gesture with his hands and merged with an unknown treasure, transforming into a silver flood dragon before disappearing into the clouds.
Wang Tiangu, Wang Chan, and Yan Ruyan used some unknown secret Ghost Spirit Sect technique and flew off together into a broad streak of black light. They traveled at an incredibly fast speed. In only a moment, they already became a black speck in the sky.
Han Li was also quick to act. At nearly the same time he caught the Marquis’ jade slip, his body began to glow with red light. A crimson cloak suddenly appeared on his body.
After identifying his direction, he began to pour great amounts of spiritual power into the cloak. Then with a hum, it burst with crimson light, enveloping Han Li in a ball of light and launching him through the air. Travelling at the speed that rivalled the others, he still had the leisure to turn his head and glanced at the Wind Riding Chariot behind them.
Although there was still quite some distance between them, Han Li was able to clearly see it with his immense spiritual sense.
The chariot appeared truly strange. It was a completely white chariot, but there was nothing that was pulling it. In place of its wheels, it had a pair of twenty meter long dark-red wooden wings. There were talisman characters floating on it and it glowed with a rainbow light. After examining it for a moment, he shockingly discovered that the exquisite white body of the chariot was made from the bones of an unknown beast. It carried a faintly vicious aura.
Due to the obstruction of the white light, Han Li could only vaguely make out the people sitting inside. And since he had never fought with a spell warrior before, Han Li wasn’t about to rashly probe the Wind Riding Chariot. Instead, he turned his head forward and focused on controlling the crimson cape, flying directly towards the south of the Moulan Plains.
A short moment later, Han Li and the rest of the party were over five kilometers separated from one another. When the Wind Riding Chariot arrived where the party had slip up, Han Li couldn’t help but take another look at it.
The Wind Riding Chariot had stopped for the moment. In a flicker of white light, four different silhouettes left the chariot, three men and one woman. These four spell warriors gathered together and had a quick discussion before chasing four different Nascent Soul cultivators. Fortunately, none traveled in Han Li’s direction.
Han Li grew relieved at the sight, but he then inwardly shouted, “Not good!”
At that same moment, the Wind Riding Chariot wildly pulsed with white light and fiercely shot in Han Li’s direction, releasing sharp cracks that seem to bore into the mind. As Han Li flew in the crimson light, his expression grew unsightly.
Soon Han Li coldly snorted and his body began to emit blinding light and his speed grew faster. The crimson cloak began to also release low hums.
A white sphere of light began to chase after the red sphere of light in the sky with a distance of five kilometers between the two.
While the Wind Riding Chariot was astonishingly fast, Han Li’s crimson cloak wasn’t something to make light of. Both parties had found themselves at a deadlock for a time.
A short moment later, the two spheres of light disappeared from the edge of the plains as they flew deeper towards the heart of the Moulan Plains.
Chapter 692: A Measure of Skill
With the astonishing speed of both Han Li’s crimson cloak and the Wind Riding Chariot, they deeply headed over fifty kilometers deep into the Moulan Plains.
As Han Li pushed the crimson cloak to even greater speeds, he used his spiritual sense to sweep behind him. Surprise appeared on his face.
He was already exercising the full might of the cloak, but not only was he unable to shake off the chariot, but it was actually able to close over half the distance between them. It was no wonder why that old man surnamed Yun had revealed shock when he saw the chariot despite being a mid Nascent Soul cultivator.
The Wind Riding Chariot was truly a top grade flight treasure. It seemed that unless he used lightning movement or Bloodshadow Evasion, he wouldn’t be able to escape it.
But ever since Han Li formed a Nascent Soul, he had yet to fight against a cultivator of the same grade. Although he had confidence in his mystical treasures, he truly had no idea where he stood amongst Nascent Soul cultivators with regard to power.
Nascent Soul cultivators didn’t take the measuring of their skill lightly. Even with the several years he stayed at the Drifting Cloud Sect, he had only discussed techniques with the two sect elders. He had yet to spar with them. And at Soaring Skies city, he merely had a contest of spiritual sense with Marquis Nanlong. It wasn’t enough to gauge his true strength.
Now that the spell warrior in the Wind Riding Chariot was chasing him, he had a suitable opponent to measure his own skill. Furthermore, he was quite interested in the spirit techniques of spell warriors. If he was able to repel or even kill the other party, it would an optimal result. But if that wasn’t possible, he would be easy to use his Thunderstorm Wings to flee. Additionally, he couldn’t allow the fight to take up too much time since he was located inside the Moulan Plains.
Having quickly come to a decision, Han Li’s body wildly flickered with crimson light. It immediately faded away to be replaced with a sudden eruption of azure light. At that same moment, he stopped and turned around.
He coldly glanced at the white light that was pursuing him and swept his sleeve, releasing a swarm of several tens of azure swordlights. With a series of dull cries, they formed a densely layered formation in a display of astonishing grandeur.
Since this was his first battle against a Nascent Soul cultivator, Han Li had no intention of being sloppy. In addition to his seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, he reached for his spirit beast pouch and tossed it into the air. A huge cloud of black-tained Gold Devouring Beetles appeared above him. With a quick incantation, they revolved once in the air before rushing towards him.
Han Li’s eyes became spirited. He waved his arms and two spell seals struck the beetle swarm. The swarm suddenly enveloped him and covered Han Li, soon to form a tri-colored armor on his body. It possessed a shining simplicity and glowed with faint azure light.
Just as it so happened, the Wind Riding Chariot had arrived just as Han Li finished. The spell warrior inside the chariot witnessed the shocking scene of the insects turning into armor. The flying chariot slowed down, coming to a stop three hundred meters away from Han Li.
Han Li expressionlessly glanced at him and didn’t pay him any heed. Instead, he took the opportunity to spread his hands and summon a flower basket in one hand and a small bell in the other.
Soon after, he wordlessly tossed the small bell in front of him. In a flash of silver light, the small bell instantly expanded to ten meters in width and shot towards the enemy in an overwhelming charge.
At that same moment, Han Li inwardly commanded the seventy-two flying sword to turn into three, forming two hundred sixteen azure swordlights. As soon as Han Li uttered the command, they loudly rang and converged with sparkles of light before surging towa
rds the opponent in a three-hundred-meter long wave of azure light. It closely followed after the silver bell as if wishing to shatter the Wind Riding Chariot in a single strike.
The silver bell that was first released had already begun to display its might. It flew above the chariot and began to spin. With a series of continuous hums, faintly visible silver soundwaves began to ripple from the center of huge bell, enveloping the Wind Riding Chariot beneath it.
If the spell warrior didn’t defend, Han Li was confident that the strike would cause great damage. While the silver bell hadn’t undergone any changes, Han Li’s vast increase in cultivation had increased its might several times greater than when he had used it during Core Formation stage.
Of course, the Wind Riding Chariot wasn’t about to receive this strike. Its wooden wings slightly flapped and shot over thirty meters forward, dodging the soundwave that was about to envelope it.
The chariot glowed with vast white light, and a silhouette flew out and floated above it. At that moment, a huge azure wave of light was about to strike the chariot.
When the silhouette saw this, they calmly raised their hand. A barrier of deep blue light abruptly appeared from the top of the chariot. In the instant that the azure wave struck the barrier, an explosion sounded out. Although the strike had caused the light barrier to shake, it was ultimately unharmed.
Han Li’s complexion changed as he gazed at the sight with narrow eyes.
At that moment, the spell warrior began to mutter and spat a thin blue thread out from his mouth. In an instant, the thread transformed into a huge python as it threw itself out of the light barrier towards Han Li’s wave of azure swordlight. In a clash of azure and blue light, the air began to rumble.
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