422 The Price of Impulsiveness! (1/2)
No one had noticed the kitten before this.
Why would there be a cat in the chaotic battlefield, much less one that was hovering high in the air?
It was only the size of a clenched fist – how had it gotten up there?
Still, the kitten looked harmless enough...
Tens of thousands of people beneath them were watching the unexpected events unfold with a sense of trepidation; an uneasy feelingarose within them as they shouted in unison, ”Be careful!”
”Meow!”
With a soft purr, Whitey Two's paw went viciously for the unguarded back of the Ziyou expert's head.
Slap!
The expert's head practically disintegrated under the vicious strike.
His body seemed to still be in disbelief, unable to comprehend what had just happened as it turned in midair, trying to see who it was that had killed him.
There was nothing behind him just a moment ago!
How could he have been ambushed? This should not be! It was impossible!
His body followed the last order his head had given, actually turning around in the air; his chest faced the back, but his last wish was still in vain because his eyes would never be able to see it!
His body came to a shuddering stop before dropping. Until his very last breath, he was stumped, dying without a clear cause.
An expert of the times had passed soundlessly into the underworld!
The countless people beneath watched the scene unfold with unblinking eyes. Everyone felt as if the world was only shaded in black and white; there were no other colors!
This was a nightmare!
The initial failure of Ding Yunlu's vow had caused everyone present to experience a sense of despair, but when this man had appeared to tackle Yun Yang, forcing him into a failed saber form execution, everyone's hopes were reignited. They had thought that this nightmare was finally ending.
Ironically, it was their savior that met his end, and with that crumbled the last of their hope. The people had fallen into an even darker nightmare!
Yun Yang did not know who he had killed, but the crowd gathered below him clearly know who the deceased had been.
The man was a legendary figure in the Empire of Ziyou. He was the King of Sword, Qu Hanxue, who was well-known in his generation; his reputation was like the noon sun that shone upon everyone.
The moment he struck, all the swords in the city would respond accordingly!
He was a mythical character, a living legend, yet he had perished so easily right in front of everyone's eyes! Even the sword he had always carried with him, an item of fantasy and legend, had been shattered into a dozen pieces!
This was a truth no one could accept.
A King of Sword who had just announced that his opponent was running out of tricks was immediately forced back, wounded by the technique he said he had seen in the past and was not even given a death befitting his status – his head had been shattered by a fist-sized kitten!
What an embarrassing way to die!
Everyone watched the sky with chins lifted in bewilderment; the sky was empty.
They looked high and low for the kitten that had just killed the King of Sword, Qu Hanxue, but it was gone and nobody seemed to have seen where it went.
It was easy to think that it was all in their imaginations.
The kitten was gone the moment one woke up from the dream.
However, Qu Hanxue was dead!
He was, without a doubt, deceased.
The three men who rushed over from afar was stunned, watching the scene with disbelief brimming in their eyes. They could not help slowing down as they approached the scene.
Had Qu Hanxue just died meaninglessly?
Had the attack by the King of Sword left a single mark on Supreme Cloud?
Did he not discern the other's techniques? Did he not say that the other was exhausting his tricks?
He should have been holding the upper hand. Why was he the one to die instead?
They were shocked and hesitant on their next course of action, but Yun Yang was not stunned nor did he hesitate. He seized the opportunity and charged forward another thousand feet; the saber light gleamed, still as radiant in the sky.
From the moment he had flown up until now, he had stayed in the air for three hours – it was a terrifying amount of time!
The three men who rushed over had already been left far behind.
Even if these three people were to catch up, Yun Yang would not be in a passive stance anymore, since they were already shaken by Qu Hanxue's unexpected downfall and that would impact their combat power. Yun Yang still had more tricks up his sleeves; sufficient to take down the trio. Besides, he was far in front, his three pursuers were too far away to apprehend him.
Suddenly, an exceptionally strong aura appeared in front of Yun Yang, slightly towards the left of his path.
Yun Yang's gaze came into focus as his body swayed like a willow branch blown by the wind.
A hunched figure had appeared out of thin air and hovered a hundred feet away on his left. Almost immediately, the apparition executed a palm strike in Yun Yang's direction.
The strike was powerful and had an earth-shattering impact. As the palm flew out, the space around the person coalesced into a murky darkness, phasing into stark emptiness.
A black hole that was no less than thirty feet in circumference formed around the figure and swallowed everything around it, producing a strong, gravitational field. Yun Yang was unable to manifest into wind nor cloud, but even if he could, he would have been slowed down by the strong suction.
The figure had already struck out a few breathes ago, but the shrill cry akin to a ghost's howl could only be heard now. The speed of his force was actually faster than sound!
It was the Elder Hei.
Yun Yang recognized the person instantly – it was the old eunuch who had been serving by the Ziyou emperor's side.
The attack allowed Yun Yang to judge the old eunuch's ability straightaway; the old man was a fourth heaven pinnacle!
It was a dreadfully powerful capability, much higher than that of Yun Yang, and was even more deadly than Venerable Lord Saber's had been.
The dreadful force's coverage extended far and wide; Yun Yang could not avoid it's incredibly strong pull.
To the casual onlooker, Yun Yang appeared to have been trapped by the strong gravity and the unexpected turn of events as well, unable to avoid falling into the trap in time. He had only made a slight tilt to avoid the strike but had hesitated and changed to countering with both palms stretching outwards hastily. It seemed like an incredibly rushed response.
In spite of this, there were slivers of green pulsing around his palms.
Boom!
Elder Hei was certain that his attack had landed on his target but it felt like he had landed his strike on cotton instead; there was no solid body to receive his powerful blow. To top it off, there seemed to an inexplicable pulling force from the opponent's hands as well!
This time, however, Elder Hei was the one who could not help leaning forward from his misguided estimation. His reflexes were swift as he concentrated all his strength on his feet and sunk thirty feet downwards at once. He leaned back to regain his balance.
As for Supreme Cloud, it seemed that he had suffered a larger impact as he was flung far away with a loud crash.
However, Elder Hei, who looked like he was on the winning side, did not look at all pleased. He knew that the situation was not right. The other party had the capacity to throw him off balance, so there was no way he could have been flung away by the impact. The only explanation would be that everything was a setup; it would be the only reasonable way. Therefore, there must be a motive for him to fling himself away.
Even as he pondered upon this, Elder Hei cried shrilly, ”Stop him!”
Seeing that Elder Hei was about to deal severe damage to Supreme Cloud as the latter was still flung far despite being able to take the strike, the three experts who were rushing over swiftly felt a mix of emotions.
F*cking hell, whether we're fast or slow, we managed to run over at the most critical moment but this old eunuch has reaped the rewards again!
Isn't it better if we just didn't appear?
He paused for a moment before he came to a complete stop.
When the old eunuch's shrill voice cried out in warning, the three experts could not react in time. When they picked up speed again, they were simply a beat too slow.
What they could see was Supreme Wind flying off like a cannon upon the impactful strike; there were actually wisps of green smoke in the air when he shot through; it was evident that his speed had reached frightening heights.
He was headed to the General Wudi Ancestral Hall!
Elder Hei's powerful palm strike that punched a hole in space, in addition to Supreme Cloud's personal kinetic force, enabled the latter's flight to speed him through five thousand feet of space in the blink of an eye, and send him through the General Ancestral Hall's wall with a loud crash.
Amidst the smog, Supreme Cloud had vanished!
Elder Hei catapulted forward, turning into a vague shadow in the sky. With a piercing cry, he flew towards the ancestral hall as well.
The other three men followed suit quickly, but instead of reflecting on their failure, the trio was reveling in Elder Hei's misery, ”This old fellow has been tricked!”
Yun Yang had absorbed Elder Hei's force, leveraging on it to fly away. Despite successfully guarding himself, his true cultivation base was still much weaker than that of the latter. The Endless Divine Art had guarded his heart and meridians, but his internal organs were still bruised by the abrupt surge of power.
For a moment, his internal organs felt as if they were ablaze as blood spilled from his mouth and nose. Gulping in a mouthful of basic Qi, he enabled himself to shoot like a meteor, following his planned trail, and forcefully broke through into General Wudi's ancestral hall.
Scanning the hall, he saw the three statues and tablets of General Wudi and family. Underneath, there were two bags of remains wrapped in yellow cloth. In front, them was the podium for incense with wisps of smoke rising slowly from it.
Without hesitation, Yun Yang crushed all three statues and grabbed the yellow cloth-covered remains and the memorial tablets, keeping them in his storage ring and hollering, ”The Empire of Ziyou has fallen. General Wudi, follow me home!”
”Reunited from now on!”
Before his words could even echo in the air, Yun Yang had moved again, breaking through another wall and shooting out amidst the smog. He was like a hawk that pierced the clouds, soaring high into the sky.
At the same time, the majestic General Wudi Tower that was one of Zilong City's landmarks tilted slowly. The tower top, hundreds of feet tall, collapsed in the direction of Yun Yang's departure!
The two times Yun Yang had broken through its wall had obviously shaken the building's foundations and when the man had charged through the wall for the second time, he had aimed well so that the tower would have no more support.
The collapsing noise was accompanied by a sky full of smog and dust which obscured most of the people's vision. As for Yun Yang, he had sped himself up to his limit.