Sun Xinghong was the oldest, and spoke first. “Junior Sister, Junior Brother, the situation is dire. What should we do?”
Qin Xiu’er’s face was pale, but she answered without hesitation. “We should escape, of course!”
Shen Peng frowned. “Junior Sister, Senior saved our lives. If we do that, wouldn’t it be rather…”
Sun Xinghong and Qin Xiu’er fell silent.
They were not ungrateful people. But they had experienced too little of the world, and having only just escaped death, they were still deeply afraid. They could no longer summon the fierce resolve they had displayed earlier. A person had only one life. Having survived until now, how could they willingly place themselves in the same danger again?
Moreover, all their spirit and confidence had been exhausted by the savage beasts. Even if they fought now, they could not overcome their own weakness.
Only by following several seniors, fighting savage beasts under their protection, and killing a few could they gradually dispel the shadows cast by their earlier experience. Otherwise, their states of mind would struggle to recover.
Clearly, however, that was impossible at present.
The situation was urgent, and they had little time to deliberate.
Qin Xiu’er held the highest standing among them, and spoke first. “Those men are much too strong. We’re certainly no match for them. Staying here will merely cost us our lives and burden Senior. We’d do better to retreat, send word to the elders of our sect immediately, and ask them to come to his aid.”
Sun Xinghong and Shen Peng exchanged glances and silently nodded. Then bitter smiles appeared on their faces.
The words sounded perfectly noble, but when one expert faced four others who were no weaker than himself, the outcome was easy to imagine. Furthermore, they did not even know where their sect elders were. How long would it take them to escape, send a message, for the elders to receive it, and for those elders to reach this place?
Countless uncertainties lay between those steps, and each would consume time. How could their lifesaving benefactor hold out against such powerful opponents until help arrived?
The excuse of leaving to seek reinforcements was, in truth, only a justification they were offering themselves.
After their recent ordeals, the three were no longer quite as naive or arrogant as before. They were, after all, disciples of an orthodox immortal sect and not wicked people. The decision to abandon their benefactor filled them with shame.
But shame and guilt were ultimately less important to them than their own lives.
Soon their expressions grew resolute. When they looked at Xu Ziqing again, they had buried their guilt somewhere deep inside.
Xu Ziqing had developed some understanding of others’ emotions. Observing their movements and catching their expressions, he understood at once.
Far from disappointed, he was actually rather pleased.
He had never wanted to travel with them in the first place. Now that the four people from Ultimate Bliss Peak had arrived, it was like receiving a pillow just when he wanted to sleep!
The three were already thinking of escaping. He needed only occupy the four enemies during the battle and buy enough time for them to flee. Once they were gone, he could use whatever techniques he wished without worrying about witnesses.
His gaze sharpened, and his aura surged.
“If you’ve come for my life, then attack!” he declared. At the same time he quickly transmitted to the three behind him, “They’re looking for me. I’ll keep them occupied. You must escape while you can!”
Hearing this, the three were deeply ashamed. Their earlier thoughts now made them feel only contempt for themselves. “Senior…”
Xu Ziqing barked, “No more talking! Once the fighting starts, I won’t be able to protect you!”
His stern words jolted them into action, and they hurriedly prepared to flee. Their gratitude and guilt only grew stronger.
The spiritual transmissions had taken no more than an instant and gone unnoticed by the four attackers. But Xu Ziqing’s spoken challenge had been heard perfectly.
At that, they lost all desire to swagger and gloat.
The tallest said at once, “Attack!”
In the next moment, all four released astonishing auras!
Before they could strike, Xu Ziqing raised his Steelwood Sword, flourished the blade, and thrust toward them.
He employed the Four Seasons Sword Art, which he had not used for quite some time. His sword moved like drifting clouds and its light like flying snow, gathering surging true essence and stirring the sound of wind and thunder.
The four men also wielded flying swords, all lower-grade spiritual artifacts. The moment they summoned them, they surrounded Xu Ziqing from four directions.
It was not that they possessed no other treasures. Rather, their other weapons were difficult to coordinate. If the slightest mistake allowed Xu Ziqing to escape through a gap, their situation would become troublesome.
In an instant, four powerful sword arts erupted. Their techniques combined forces of Metal, Fire, Earth, and other attributes, forming countless icy sword lights that interwove into a dense web and released tremendous power.
The four men’s footwork was equally ingenious. Xu Ziqing could not tell where they had learned it. Their advances and retreats contained strange transformations that made their positions seem blurred and indistinct. Whenever one fell back, another pressed forward, giving him no opening to defend himself.
Moving among the four, Xu Ziqing felt the pressure constricting his breath.
Compared with Foundation Establishment, true essence at Essence Transformation was denser, each drop containing several times more energy. Even identical techniques consequently became much more powerful.
Dazzling light filled the air. Surging forces exploded again and again, raising hurricane-like winds that ground everything nearby to dust, though the effects were not enough to shake heaven and earth.
These men were not even sword cultivators. Merely coordinating their sword arts made them this dangerous. Yet they remained too confident and had not used their true trump cards. Thinking four against one would settle the matter quickly, they never imagined four experts at late Essence Transformation could be held at bay by a single early Essence Transformation cultivator.
For now, the men were enjoying themselves as though cats playing with a mouse. Seeing Xu Ziqing forced into an increasingly disheveled state only made the experience more entertaining.
This single-spiritual-root genius had ranked near the top of the grand competition only months after entering the sect. Barely twenty years old, he might one day become a Golden Core or even Nascent Soul cultivator. Yet here he was, clinging desperately to life under their attacks, his poise destroyed by their teasing, and soon to die at their hands. How could they resist savoring such an exhilarating sight a little longer?
But their indulgence gave Xu Ziqing room to breathe. Had they sought to crush him through sheer cultivation from the outset, he might already have been forced to release Rongjin immediately.
Despite the pressure, Xu Ziqing did not panic.
During his half year of brutal training on the Savage Beast Plains, he had deliberately entered herds to temper himself under the pressure of group attacks. By now, he possessed a set of methods for handling multiple enemies.
He would use every means at his disposal, carefully conserving and refining his expenditure of true essence so that he could endure longer. Only when he was completely exhausted and at the final moment of danger would he release Rongjin and escape the herd.
Practicing this repeatedly had made his techniques more polished and given him ten times the experience he had possessed before.
Seeing that sword techniques alone were no longer sufficient, Xu Ziqing gave a low shout and flicked his hand. A golden bead shot out, the very one he had obtained from Li Cai. He had refined it a little afterward, and it was especially suitable for striking people.
The four from Ultimate Bliss Peak recognized the object and understood its power. The intended target immediately raised his spiritual sword to shield his face. The golden bead struck the blade with a sharp metallic clang that left his arm numb.
A gap appeared in their four-sided formation. Xu Ziqing gained a little breathing space and pointed two fingers forward. The Qingyun Needle shot from between his brows, transforming into a streak of green light and rushing toward one man!
This was an embryonic divine ability, gathering several of a cultivator’s insights and therefore not to be underestimated. Its target dared not take it head-on and twisted aside. Xu Ziqing swept his sword again, entangling the techniques of two other opponents in rapid succession.
As the four fought fiercely, Xu Ziqing successfully kept every enemy occupied.
Qin Xiu’er and her two companions recognized their chance. All three immediately poured true essence into their escape arts and fled for their lives as streaks of light. Within a few breaths, they had disappeared without a trace!
Xu Ziqing rejoiced inwardly and finally breathed a little easier.
At last he had gotten them away. The effort he had spent had not been in vain!
The four men from Ultimate Bliss Peak had no interest in those three Foundation Establishment juniors. They were all masked; why would they fear identification? Those three cowards had run for their lives. Even if they learned something, would they possess the courage to report them?
Now, however, the four discovered that Xu Ziqing possessed far more abilities than expected. They stopped holding back and raised their palms, preparing to unleash the cultivation of their lifetimes and crush him into a bloody pulp.
Xu Ziqing responded with a feint. Suddenly, his Steelwood Sword transformed into a white vine and lashed in every direction like a venomous snake.
If his repeated ordeals among the savage-beast herds had taught him anything, it was this ability to transform one wood into another.
In the middle of a herd, there was no time to withdraw one technique before activating another. He had therefore comprehended the art of exchanging one subordinate wood for another. After much practice, he could even transform his life-bound wood and subordinate woods into one another freely.
In an instant, Rongjin replaced the thousand-year Steelwood and shot forth with a roar.
Its entire length was now covered in leaf buds. The moment they touched someone’s body, they could latch on and burrow inward. All the victim’s blood and vital essence would then fall prey to it!
The nearest attacker was immediately seized around the waist. He scoffed. “You think a mere vine can do anything to me… Ah! What is this?”
Before he could finish, his face twisted with absolute terror.
The instant the vine touched him, unbearable pain flared in his waist and half his body went numb. He could barely hold his magical treasure. A chill ran through him as his vital blood seemed to be drawn out without pause, leaving his body increasingly hollow and draining away the cultivation he had so painstakingly attained.
The other three were horrified. They sprang away, desperately trying to avoid the vine.
Their terror was so great that they did not even have time to curse!
Xu Ziqing remained perfectly calm. He flicked a finger, and three more vines burst from his other palm, racing greedily toward the remaining men.
The vines attacked with extraordinary ferocity, crossing and twisting around one another in layer after layer. Wherever the three tried to move, they found themselves encircled.
Just then, a voice rang out.
“What a fortunate encounter. I’ve arrived in time to see quite a spectacle.” The newcomer continued, “To think a disciple of a distinguished immortal sect would use the methods of the demonic domain.”