The others remembered how the Smiling Saber Demon had been so certain of Xiao Chen’s death earlier, mocking him and behaving arrogantly. However, in the blink of an eye, due to Xiao Chen’s actions, Shen Xiao was driven to the brink of death.
The other old men who all scolded Xiao Chen earlier were immediately terrified when they saw him look over.
“White-robed brother, let’s speak with words. Don’t be rash.” Someone begged for mercy, feeling guilty. At this moment, no one dared to look directly at Xiao Chen.
“That’s right, that’s right. Don’t be rash. The Smiling Saber Demon was reckless and did not know what was good for him. Now, he is suffering from his actions. We do not have any hatred or grudges with you.”
When the Smiling Saber Demon, who was reduced to a dire state by the bloodsucking monster, heard this, he immediately felt like vomiting blood.
Xiao Chen ignored these people, his gaze stopping at Bing Xuejian’s cold face and not moving away. The others released their bated breath upon seeing this.
The Smiling Saber Demon’s deadly plight was the best example of the consequences of offending Xiao Chen.
“I advise you not to do this. Otherwise, you will die a miserable death!”
Xiao Chen smiled coldly. “Even if I don’t do this, won’t you still kill me? Don’t think that you can control everything just because you are a half-step Martial Emperor. I will give you this big present as well.”
“Pa!”
Repeating his earlier motions, Xiao Chen took three steps, threw a palm strike, and punched, sending one quasi-Emperor-level bloodsucking monster to Bing Xuejian.
Compared to the flustered Smiling Saber Demon, Bing Xuejian appeared extremely calm. He did his best to swing his sword, using all sorts of wondrous movements to keep the quasi-Emperor-level bloodsucking monster at bay.
This performance did not surprise Xiao Chen. His scheme could easily deal with the Smiling Saber Demon. However, it could not finish off the half-step Martial Emperor Bing Xuejian.
It could only delay Bing Xuejian. However, this was the effect that Xiao Chen sought. Beggars could not be choosers.
Xiao Chen did the same thing to Fei Lengyi, a person who posed a great threat to him. Naturally, Xiao Chen could not let him off.
A miserable shriek rang out as the Smiling Saber Demon’s defense collapsed. The bloodsucking monster bit his neck, draining his lifeforce slowly and excruciatingly painfully.
Xiao Chen could not be blamed for being cruel. The fight for this Life and Death Art already reached the final stage.
Either you died, or I did. There was no room for benevolence; one needed to be decisive in killing.
That quasi-Emperor-level bloodsucking monster seemed to become stronger after sucking the Smiling Saber Demon dry.
Then, the bloodsucking monster turned its head and immediately headed for Jin Liangqi, who was the closest. It moved very slowly in the air. Compared to Xiao Chen, it was much slower. However, it was still moving. As for Jin Liangqi and the others, they were entirely immobile.
Xiao Chen stopped watching. He turned his body and headed for the prayer mat that was seven or eight meters away in the air.
Normally, he could travel such a distance in an instant with just a thought.
However, right now, his flying speed was constrained, and his feet restricted by this suction, making walking very arduous. His Vital Qi surged, and the draconic patterns on the Azure Dragon Battle Armor lit up. For the sake of this Life and Death Art, Xiao Chen put in his full effort.
“Damn it! The Life and Death Art is going to fall into the hands of that brat!”
The eyes of Fei Lengyi and Bing Xuejian, who were fighting with quasi-Emperor-level bloodsucking monsters, looked like they would spew fire as Xiao Chen got closer to the prayer mat.
However, the two half-step Martial Emperors could do nothing to stop him. Their physical bodies were incapable of resisting the suction. Furthermore, quasi-Emperor-level bloodsucking monsters were holding them back. They simply could not spare the time or attention for anything else.
Ten meters…nine meters…eight meters…
Xiao Chen approached the prayer mat step by step. Soon, it looked like he could obtain the Life and Death Art on the prayer mat just by reaching out. His nervous face revealed an involuntary smile.
“I got you, Life and Death Art!” Xiao Chen shouted. Now that he was already near the prayer mat, he did not hesitate to stretch out his hand to obtain the Life and Death Art that everyone sought.
However, when Xiao Chen’s hand was only half a meter from the Life and Death Art, something strange happened. The group, which was falling, felt ground under them.
Suddenly, everyone regained their mobility. This development caught Xiao Chen somewhat off guard. He fell to one knee and fell forward due to his inertia.
Xiao Chen reacted very quickly. He pushed off one leg and twisted his body. Then, he reached out once more and grabbed the Life and Death Art’s secret manual.
However, just at this moment, Bing Xuejian and Fei Lengyi—two half-step Martial Emperors— frantically burst out with all their power. They soared into the air, temporarily freeing themselves from the harassment of the quasi-Emperor-level bloodsucking monsters.
They each sent out a horrifying sword move at Xiao Chen.
The two half-step Martial Emperors did not hesitate to attack. Furthermore, their attacks were very horrifying. The anxious Fei Lengyi even infused the strongest force that the jadeite could provide him with into his sword move.
This made the jade-green overlapping sword lights even more unblockable. They seemed to slice the air apart.
Without a doubt, Fei Lengyi had only one motive: to deny Xiao Chen any chance at all. He needed to kill Xiao Chen in one move.
Compared to Fei Lengyi, the cold Bing Xuejian’s move was even more horrifying. Before the sword move arrived, the cold Qi already permeated Xiao Chen’s bones and blood, chilling him and slowing his actions.
Xiao Chen, who already held the Life and Death Art, could not help feeling dread. He sensed overwhelming killing Qi from these two sword moves as well as incomparable sword intent. Each of the sword moves also contained formidable might.
Even if there were just one of them, Xiao Chen estimated that he would not be able to block it. Now, two half-step Martial Emperors were executing their killing moves.
Xiao Chen could not help feeling completely disheartened. With his blood frozen, he could not take out the Solar Plume Feather in time.
The path to Emperor was littered with corpses. Was he going to fall on this road as well, becoming a stepping stone for others?
At this critical moment, a melodious zither sound rang out in the air. It sounded very pleasing to the ear, spreading in all directions.
This zither sound consisted of only one note, but it lingered for a long time without fading. Few words could describe how wondrous this zither sound was.
Talent and ability rarely met people who could really appreciate them. No one could understand the height and loneliness of this tune.
A multicolored light bloomed with the zither note. A phoenix with propitious vapors lingering around it moved to the sound, appearing very elegant and graceful. Zither and phoenix, it was as if the listeners had entered a dream. The phoenix emanated strong might as it spread its wings and flew, charging over to Xiao Chen and shielding him.
This sudden change surprised Bing Xuejian and Fei Lengyi greatly. The phoenix summoned by the pleasing zither sound easily shattered the powerful killing moves that the two executed.
It also gave Xiao Chen a chance to catch his breath. Then, his aura burst out and swept all the cold energy out of his body.
“Crack! Crack!”
When the cold Qi left Xiao Chen’s body and met air, it immediately formed drops of scarlet ice pearls and fell to the ground.
Xiao Chen’s complexion paled, but his body had already recovered. He could now move without hindrance.
In the air, Yue Bingyun held an ancient seven-stringed zither. She looked like a fairy as she slowly descended.
When Fei Lengyi saw the ancient zither in Yue Bingyun’s hands, his expression changed in astonishment. “Transcendent Divine Weapon! The Startling Wind Zither!”
The Lunar Palace’s Transcendent Divine Weapon was actually in Yue Bingyun’s hands. Both Bing Xuejian and Fei Lengyi found this news somewhat unacceptable.
Only ten Transcendent Divine Weapons existed in the world, each of them capable of shaking the world and inciting a bloody storm.
The Transcendent Divine Weapons were extremely puissant. Even if Yue Bingyun could not bring out the full might of the Startling Wind Zither, as long as she could pluck one string, she could easily block Bing Xuejian and Fei Lengyi.
“Ding! Ding! Dong! Dong!”
Yue Bingyun did not give the two much time to think. As she descended, she moved her hands continuously, playing an ancient melody. A horrifying aura spread out from the ancient zither.
The zither sounds turned into sharp sonic knives, sabers, swords, spears, and axes piercing through space, bombarding the two like a storm.
With the concentrated attacks, Fei Lengyi and Bing Xuejian could only passively defend. They each raised a screen of sword images, unable to advance.
Even though the two already defended with all their might, the sonic attacks still carved wounds of various sizes on their bodies. They moved back continuously, falling into sorry states. They could not do anything at all.
The ribbon behind Yue Bingyun fluttered in the air as she played the Startling Wind Zither, giving off a bright light that seemed to support it. The attacks were hard to block and forced the two half-step Martial Emperors into a constant retreat.
However, Xiao Chen noticed that with every note that Yue Bingyun played, the black hair on her head lost a little of their gloss. After a while, her head of black hair had turned white entirely.
“Let’s go!”
After forcing the two half-step Martial Emperors back until the quasi-Emperor-level bloodsucking monsters began harassing them again, Yue Bingyun retreated to Xiao Chen’s side and led him forward in this mysterious space.
Bing Xuejian and Fei Lengyi could catch up at any time. Although Xiao Chen’s heart was full of questions, he knew that this was not the time to ask them.
“Oh no!”
Xiao Chen’s and Yue Bingyun’s feet stopped moving at the same moment. There was no more road in front; a deep chasm obstructed them.
If this were a regular chasm, the two could fly over it easily. However, this deep chasm appeared to be extraordinary. They could sense that mysterious suction from earlier coming from it.
Loud noises kept resounding behind the two. Fei Lengyi and Bing Xuejian forced back the bloodsucking monsters once more and charged over.
The wounds from the Startling Wind Zither earlier had yet to heal. They were both covered in blood, projecting a horrifying aura.
Since these two became half-step Martial Emperors, they had never suffered like this at the hands of quasi-Emperors. They probably felt very frustrated. If they caught up to Xiao Chen and Yue Bingyun, the latter two would probably die horrible deaths.
Jump!
The deep chasm might be terrifying, but it was still a chance to survive. If the two behind caught up to Xiao Chen and Yue Bingyun, there would be no chances whatsoever.
Xiao Chen and Yue Bingyun were both decisive people, not wishy-washy at all. Their thoughts aligned, as they jumped at the same time.
The suction from this deep chasm was even more fearsome. The two could not help crying out loud. They dropped as fast as arrows released from a bow, unable to control their speed at all. In a mere few breaths, they landed heavily on the ground.
Yue Bingyun and Xiao Chen found themselves embedded into the ground. They were somewhat horrified to discover that they could barely even move an arm.