Chapter 230 - Tianyuan City (1/2)
Chapter 230 Tianyuan City
Xiao Chen scoffed and ignored them. He hopped onto his bed and sat on it and began meditating. As he channeled and built his powers, he was interrupted by the creaking of floorboards, followed by the hushed voices of two or three people passing by the room outside.
“I expect a greater turnout at this year’s Immortal’s Sword Assembly than last year surely. I heard that the prospects from all five continents this year showed immensely promising talent.”
“It was the Middle Continent who had snagged the top place last time, no? Four of the strongest ten warriors were all from the Middle Continent then, with the rest – two from the South, another two from the West and the last two from the North – from the rest of the Violet Manor.”
“None from the East?”
“The Eastern Continent? I wouldn’t count on them. The East is nothing but only an impoverished land with a meager supply of talent. There’s not been anyone worth mentioning since the emergence of the Jade Qing Seven. I remember none of the schools from the East could even make it past the qualifiers during the last tournament.”
“Who’s to say this time it might be different? There have continually been rumors of powerful youngsters this time from the East. Remember the young man Xiao Chen? Word has it that he had single-handedly annihilated the entire household of the Zuoqiu family.”
If the two Envoys had heard anything, they certainly made no indication of it. They reserved the entirety of their focus in their food and ignored the discussion outside. But one of them noticed that Xiao Chen was listening and smirked, “Forget about joining the Immortal’s Sword Assembly. The only place you’ll be is a cell in the gaols of the League’s stronghold. Enjoy your stay there for the next six months at least.”
Xiao Chen’s forehead creased suppressed anger, but he made no response. He continued his meditation for an hour until the Envoys came to him. “By law, your meridian points are to be sealed for the night.”
“So be it,” Xiao Chen growled quietly.
The two Envoys shared a quick look. They had expected a certain degree of defiance and not this. Wordlessly, the two men shot a few auric projectiles all over him to seal and prevent him from channeling his powers.
Unbeknownst to them, Xiao Chen was doubling with laughter all inside. No magic cast by anyone below the level of the Nascent Soul Realm would hold him for long. His interest to squabble with the two fools was all but extinguished by the fatigue of his journey. He swung himself to the side and lied down to sleep.
The two Envoys took turns watching him through the night. They did not dare to sleep in fear of Xiao Chen escaping. Xiao Chen slept soundly until the odd rustling of grasses outside woke him up like the tolling of bells in the still hush of the night. Something was not right, he thought. He was about to flip himself up, when a dark, shadowy figure crashed through the windows and pounced at him.
The sudden appearance of the stranger surprised him and he instinctively tried to channel his powers to shield himself when he remembered his powers were still under the magical seal. Before he was able to undo the magic, the stranger had grabbed him and took off with him.
“Wake up! The subject has escaped!”
The Envoys, shaken awake by the stranger’s entrance, sprang to their feet and leaped out of the windows in pursuit. But they had barely got out when four or five destructive auric projectiles rained down on them, nearly reducing the entire inn into mere rubbles.
Xiao Chen was started by the powerful force that almost killed the two Envoys. Is this Zimo and Fengxi’s doing? Are they really thinking of breaking him out of captivity by force?
The stranger in black held on to him tightly, pulling him along as they kept their pace, leaping onto roofs and chimneys and bolting as quickly as possible. Winds brushed by Xiao Chen’s ears as he could only watch himself being being abducted before he heard footsteps behind them; the Envoys were getting close! But before they caught up, another group of four or five strangers in black appeared to block their path and held them off.
Flickers of Sword Qi danced about viciously in the air, painting the dark sky like an artist’s colorful palettes upon a canvas of black. With every Sword Qi deflected, stray auric bolts would crash into buildings and structures, and more innocents perished without even knowing what happened.
Unlike the strangers in black garb who had no reservations in spilling blood, the two Envoys of the Immortals’ League could not unleash their full power and were slowly losing their grounds to the merciless and callous onslaught launched by the strangers.
At last, one of the Envoys abandoned the fight and took off into the air, riding on his sword to chase after Xiao Chen, leaving his colleague to deal with the strangers.
This is not right, Xiao Chen thought, Fengxi would never be so destructive and merciless and disregard the safety of the innocents! Realizing that they could be enemies from the Devil’s Practice, he snarled, “Who are you, people!”
The stranger ignored his question, focusing only on putting as much distance as possible between the Envoys and them. Even on foot while carrying him, the stranger was quick; so quick that they were almost beyond the city limits. Nevertheless, one of the Envoys managed to catch up to them. With a swing of his sword, he conjured a serpent of flames that lunged at the stranger, trying to coil around him. But with just a simple side-step, the stranger managed to evade cleanly.
“Let me go!” Xiao Chen snarled.
“Rest assured, Young Master! I’ll have you safely out of here in no time!” A hollow voice responded. The stranger used his True Qi to alter his voice!
“Stop, Xiao Chen! You’ll never get away!” The Envoy bellowed from behind, hearing what the stranger said, while sending another Sword Qi projectile at them.
Damn it! Xiao Chen cursed that this is a plot to discredit me! He would be branded as a fugitive if he allowed himself to be taken!
“I DON’T KNOW THIS MAN!” Xiao Chen yelled as loud as he could, “It’s all the fault of you fools! You have cast the seal on my powers for nothing!”
With anxiousness and distress churning inside him, he was getting worried; he needed time to break the magical seal. To make matters worse, another group of strangers, all similarly clad in black, appeared to engage the Envoy. Another group, waiting here to ambush any pursuers!.
Not long later, they were joined by the other Envoy and his assailants. More than ten strangers in black garb surrounded the Envoys as more violence ensued. “Take the Young Master with you and go! Leave these two to us! We’ll catch up once they have been dealt with!”