Chapter 18 (1/2)
Luo Shangyan kept silent but her fingers remained on the hilt of her sword warily. The young woman in red laughed chirpily as she strode closer to them. Silkily she said, “Surely there is no need for such tenseness when a Senior Sister meets a junior of hers?”
Xiao Chen observed the person, remembering that she was called Wen Qingyu, a disciple of the Fourth Elder, and a Cultivator of Lv 6 Qi Refining Realm. He tugged at Luo Shangyan’s sleeve and simply said, “Let us leave, Senior Sister. The night is upon us soon.”
Wen Qingyu cast a simple look to her subordinates. At once, more than ten of them immediately leaped into the way of Xiao Chen and his companions. With a frigid voice, Xiao Chen growled, “What do you want, Senior Sister?”
Wen Qingyu giggled and looked at Luo Shangyan, “Oh my! Look at this, Senior Sister. Does he not have a temper, this little apprentice of yours? Does he not know any manners?”
Looking at the bunch of ten people standing in their way, Prince Zhao came forward, showing a jade medallion, “Impudence! I am the Prince of the State of Zhao! Are there any citizens of the State of Zhao here? Come forward at once!”
Four people slowly slithered away from the group blocking the way. Spurred by this, Prince Yan, too, came forward with his jade medallion, “Those from the State of Yan, leave at once!”
“Anyone from the State of Qi! Do you still value your life!?” Prince Qi too flashed his jade medallion.
The three princes stood at the front of the companions. Only two remained in their way; both of them were Tibetans. But cowering before the difference in number, they swallowed hard and drifted back to Wen Qingyu’s side miserably.
Prince Zhao turned and glared at Wen Qingyu, “You refused to lead us, Senior Sister Wen, even we are endorsed by your own master. But what do you intend to do now?”
Unabashed, Wen Qingyu remarked off-handedly, “You only have yourselves to blame. You are the ones who have followed the wrong lead!”
“Curse you! Then why did you refuse to lead us? We would have been forced to return if not for Senior Sister Luo!” Prince Zhao barked and spat onto the ground.
Wen Qingyu stared at them coldly, “Do you think you three useless wretches are worthy of learning the arcane crafts of the Immortals? Enough squabbling! I want 50 Octarine Cores. Surrender them or none of you shall hope to reach the top of the Lingtai Mountain!”
“That is so imposing of you, Senior Sister Wen. So, do you intend to shed some blood here if we refuse to surrender our Cores?” Xiao Chen asked simply, his expression still calm and composed.
“The gazes of the Elders do not reach this far… Don’t you ever think that I lack the nerve for committing murder…” Wen Qingyu hissed insidiously.
“Why do you not try and see if you can…”
Xiao Chen’s eyes took on a deathly look. Luo Shangyan might have long been giving in too much to the dogged bullying and coercion of her peers. But the rules would be changed, starting from now. He would never give in to duress and intimidation. With already a rivalry with Mo Yu, Xiao Chen was confident that one more would hardly be too many. Anticipating another bout of combat, he focused and channeled his powers to all his main aperture points.
The Mystic Cyan Sect had a method called the Immolation Spell of the Three Elements. It allowed its user to enhance his powers for a short duration albeit with a terrible cost after its use: the spell would consume and damage its user’s heart and meridians. Hence, all disciples of the Mystic Cyan Sect were prohibited from practicing this spell. But it was by chance long ago, that Xiao Chen had once managed a glimpse on this forbidden skill.
Luo Shangyan placed her hand on his shoulder and channeled some of her True Qi into him and dispersed the True Qi that was accumulating and concentrating within him. She then replied to Wen Qingyu, “All right then. We will surrender our Cores to you, but only twenty of them.”
Wen Qingyu shook her head, “No no no, Senior Sister. You do not hold the cards here. I do.”
“We are, after all, fellow disciples of the same order,” said a voice suddenly, “Surely there is no need for such animosity. Senior Sister Luo has but so few of them. Please do not inconvenience them, Senior Sister Wen. You can have my 50 Cores.”
From afar, they saw a young man dressed in white garb. There were more than ten people following closely behind him, including Xiao Wan’er and Xiao Han. It was the group led by Cheng Ying.
Wen Qingyu turned and smiled frostily at him, “My oh my… It is Junior Brother Cheng. What makes you think you are worthy to barter with me?”
Cheng Ying shook his head, “Please, Senior Sister Wen. Please trouble them no more.” He gestured towards Xiao Chen and said, “That young man, our Junior Brother Xiao, is, after all, the person endorsed by the Sect Leader himself.”
“Ah? So, he is the one endorsed by the Sect Leader himself. That explains his haughty temperament,” Wen Qingyu remarked, her face turned cruel suddenly. “But what makes you think that I will look kindly upon a person he endorsed when I look upon his own True Disciple with disdain and contempt!”
“The Sect Leader is presently absent from the fastness of our stronghold. Please trouble Senior Sister Luo no more, or I’ll have to offend you,” said Cheng Ying.
Luo Shangyan frowned and said, “Please, Junior Brother Cheng… Say no more…”
Wen Qingyu threw her head back and shrieked in laughter before she fell silent and beheld them with a cruel stare, “Well then, let us see how a Lv 6 Qi Refining Realm Cultivator offends me!” Her Immortal’s Sword shot out of its sheath and shot at Cheng Ying like a white flash of light. Its tremendous speed and intensity whipped the fallen leaves into the air, shuddering the branches and boughs of the trees in the woods. Even the onlookers witnessing their duel could feel the sting of its intensity prickling upon the flesh of their cheeks.
Cheng Ying recited some incantations and his fingers twirled as he performed some magical seals. His sword flew out of its scabbard too, meeting its match in mid-air and clashed with it, sending a strong shockwave that shook the woods. Feeling a powerful force like a huge and indomitable mountain before him, Cheng Ying was being forced back. Not being able to hold on, he was sent flying backward for meters.
“You! You have reached the stage of Lv 7 Qi Refining Realm?” Cheng Ying gaped with disbelief at Wen Qingyu. Despite the difference of merely one level, the gap between the strength of both stages was vastly different; Level 6 was one of the intermediates stages of the Qi Refining Realm whereas Level 7 was in its late stages.
“Hahaha!” Wen Qingyu broke into another bout of maniacal laughter, proud of her strength. She returned into her icy demeanor and spat, “How dare you, a mere Cultivator of Level 6, to speak haughty words before me. Your master is but merely Level 8 of the Foundation Building Realm. Even if she is here today…”
But her voice had not fully escaped her throat, when a cold voice came from the boughs of the trees above, “So here I am. What do you make of this?”
A woman clothed fully in white stood proudly and sternly while remaining perfectly steady despite standing on a branch. It was Bai Ying, the Third Elder of the sect. Wen Qingyu immediately turned pale. She bowed hastily and clasped her hands as a gesture of reverence, “My respects to you, Third Elder!”
Cheng Ying came up to his mentor with his head drooping unto his chest, saying, “Master…”
From her perch, Bai Ying looked down at him indifferently, “Did you intend to ride to a damsel’s distress with that paltry skills of yours?”
Her words pricked deeply into him that his head sunk even lower. Through the thick of the leaves, he could almost make out the profile of her face. Absent-mindedly, he murmured, “Master…”