Chapter 480 - The Eerie Valley (1/2)

The two gnarly-old men stared hard at Xiao Chen and everyone when they heard the scream, gulping hard their saliva. “The people wanted by the Headquarters?! Reports about the fugitives described two combatants with powers close to the levels of Rogue Immortals! How are we supposed to apprehend such power!?”

But the consternation did little to quell the courage of the old man in green, who channeled his full might without further ado. The vast Mystic Powers in him churned and tossed up a storm of winds that rushed and whipped around violently like a raging beast struggling to break loose and the large voluminous sleeves of his robes flailed and snapped wildly. A column of deadly energy shot from the sky like a bolt of lightning and slashed down at Xiao Chen and his companions.

The thrashing winds caused by the roiling Mystic Powers coughed up a whirlwind of dust, gravel, and broke twigs and branches. Xiao Ning leaped into the air, spinning himself quickly like a top to gather momentum before he thrust his halberd at the incoming strike from overhead. A gold-yellow missile of magical energy emitted from the tip of his halberd and clashed with the deadly bolt of magic from the sky and a shockwave rippled across the ground, flattening everything in its path.

“Run, all of you!” Xiao Ning snarled at the top of the bedlam as he withstood the attack.

The Elder in green continued feeding his energy to the magical blast, wondering, “This man must be one of those reported to be able to match equally against Rogue Immortals! But he seems weakened! Why?!” Beside him, his colleague, another Elder who was dressed wholly in red, noticed the dried blood caking on the edges of his lips and cried, “They’re hurt! What a good chance!” He too channeled his full might and delivered an attack of his own.

Gu Feng stood in the way of the attack and took it himself. The blow hit him and the ancient warrior lurched several steps backward. He gritted his teeth. “If only I have my full strength!” He cursed,” I would not have to look so pathetic under the attack of just two mages of Grand Completion Realm if not for the heavy exhaustion recently!”

Xiao Chen almost threw himself forward to help but he was held back by a distressed Gui Xian. “This is no time for your heroics now, boy!” And he yanked at his arm, dragging him away westbound to another exit of the village.

Seeing this, the Elder in green yelped, “After them! Don’t lose them!”

There was hardly any hunger for credit in the Elder’s eagerness to arrest Xiao Chen and his band of companions. On the contrary, he was afraid of Xiao Chen’s party especially after receiving the reports from the Headquarters about them, even with Xiao Ning’s and Gu Feng’s fatigue and injury. But more than that, he feared the repercussions that would come from the Headquarters if news were to escape that he allowed these wanted fugitives to escape.

He quickly crushed a jade note, using its magic to convey his summons to other detachments of soldiers of the Leagues nearby. The four Envoys of the Nirvana Realm behind him, with another pair of the Apotheosis Realm, circled around Gu Feng and Xiao Ning in pursuit of Xiao Chen and his group.

Xiao Chen turned his back to see the six Envoys at their heels and he bit his lips, calling out loud, “Guifeng!”

“At once, My Lord!” The thirty-foot spectral figure of his trusty subordinate materialized. He might have been injured since the fight at Mount Wuyue, but his sudden appearance startled the Envoys and two of them who were of the Apotheosis Realm panicked and pulled to a halt.

The other four Envoys of Nirvana Realm continued chasing doggedly behind, sending deadly rays of gold energies whenever they could. But Xiao Chen and his companions could not fight back; with None-flower Dust too injured to fight and Yi Tong helping him and all of the Levitating Dark Fragrance either too weak or incapacitated, they could only flee as best as they could against the four Envoys of the Nirvana Realm.

Frustrated, Huangfu Xin’er attempted to channel her powers using the Heartless Cultivation Method. But Xiao Chen urged, “No, Xin’er! Just run!” He shoved her towards Yi Tong. Since the fight atop Mount Wuyue, Xiao Chen had been dreading the cruel and brutal Huangfu Xin’er surfacing once more and he would give anything to stop her from becoming so again.

But an embittered Gui Xian barked at him, “Tell that to yourself, boy! Now run! Save your stubbornness for another day!”

The four Envoys of Nirvana Realm drew closer and closer as they chased behind. Yang Qing screamed, “Xiao Chen, you run on ahead! My men and I will try to hold them off!” With his men, he stopped and held off the four Envoys.

Xiao Chen could not believe this. He had barely known Yang Qing and his band of swordsmen, yet here they were, willing to give up their lives for him. Ridden by guilt, he conjured his Blood Lotus Demon Blade and said to Ziyun’er and everyone else, “The rest of you, go on ahead!”

But Gui Xian grabbed at the scruff of his collar, insisting hushedly, “You fool, go! The swordsmen are nobody but strangers! But you! You cannot die here! Just go!”

“Please, My Lord! Please listen to Senior Gui Xian’s advice! Go!” Ziyun’er joined them and urged him. With a quick look at Gui Xian, they tugged at his arms and dragged him away from the fight.

But a stubborn Xiao Chen could only look back at the fighting, his fingers still gripping firmly the hilt of his weapon. He watched with his own eyes as one of the seven swordsmen was impaled by a sword. But he knew understood full well that the Levitating Dark Fragrance and Xin’er mattered above all else… Bitterly, he grimaced quietly, resentful at his own weakness!

Two of the four Nirvana Realm Envoys saw Xiao Chen and the girls fleeing and detached themselves from the turmoil to give chase. Within seconds, they caught up to Xiao Chen. Gui Xian jostled Xiao Chen out of the way and attacked one of the Envoys, who easily defended himself with a sweeping blow before retaliating with another attack that nearly caused Gui Xian to collapse.

“Senior!” Xiao Chen tried to help him up. But with one hand gripping his weapon and the other arm missing, he could not. Instead, he lunged at the Envoy and sent a blood-red scythe-shaped magical bolt at him which was also easily deflected away.

“Stop using your powers, boy! You’ll lose your arm! Just run!”

Gui Xian screamed at Xiao Chen as he weaved several hand seals to cast another spell. A tiny wisp of fumes, in wavering hues of green, wafted towards one of the Nirvana Realm Envoys. His colleague, who realized what it was, quickly pulled him away from the fume, shouting, “Careful! It’s poisonous!”

But it was too late. With a sickening sizzle of flesh burning, the Envoy in front let out an anguished howl. The green fume had barely grazed the skin on his shoulder, but a sizable chunk of flesh had been gnawed away by the corrosive fumes.

Xiao Chen and his companions used the distraction to put more distance like 300 meters between them and their pursuers. With more than ten kilometers between them, the two Envoys knew better than to come closer out of fear for Gui Xian’s poisonous fumes. They attacked from afar, controlling their swords using telekinesis.

They were just inside a jungle when the clamor of battle broke out from behind them. It was Gu Feng and Xiao Ning who had caught up. The two warriors made short work of the pair of Nirvana Realm Envoys and were subsequently joined by Guifeng and Yang Qing and his men, all of whom bloodied and hurt.

“Quick, get cover! The League’s Hit Squads are coming!” Xiao Ning and Gu Feng hastened everyone into the refuge of the forest where they slipped into the shadows and shade of the glen provided by the thick and lush canopies of the trees. Before long, the entire forest itself was blanketed by a sudden dark shroud. The sky was filled with innumerable Hit Squad Flying-cloud Stones.

Boom! Boom! Boom!