190 Lethal flying knives

"You've already given up? I think you are capable of catching up with them, beating them up and recovering that Xuan Core if you want to….. you just need to have the spine for it!" the Solitary Eagle gloated a schadenfreude smile: "That's right! And maybe you'll encounter a supreme being… and who knows, maybe you'll win and your epic battle will be remembered for an eternity to come..."

Shi Chang Xiao's entire body stiffened as he heard these words; he furiously turned around and ferociously roared: "Shut your trap! Keep your damned words to yourself unless you wish to die!"

It must be mentioned that Shi Chang Xiao was not only one of the 'Eight Great Masters', but also a rather old-fashioned and civilized man, and therefore it was quite difficult for most people to imagine him screaming abuses at anyone; let alone another member of the 'Eight Great Masters'! He was staring right in the eyes of the Solitary Eagle, and everyone else had already started preparing themselves for the inevitable fight which would normally follow after such an exchange!

However, beyond all expectations, this exchange failed to rekindle the flame of war!

If these words had been spoken under any other circumstances, then it would have resulted in a very sharp response from the Solitary Eagle, and would have aroused a fierce battle between the two masters. However, the Solitary Eagle not only did not lose his temper, but actually broke into laughter instead.

Most people were left standing dumbstruck with a perplexed look on their face, unable to understand the reason. However, several people seemed to be depriving pleasure from the misfortunes of their counterparts at the moment: [if an 'Eight Great Masters' like figure was left tumbling in the air, then why should I feel ashamed? ]

The nine disciples of Li Wu Bei had already realized that even though their Sixth Brother wasn't moving after facing the Solitary Eagle, he hadn't yet succumbed to his death, but was in a coma at the moment; inching closer to his death. They were all huddled next to a big tree at the moment, using one hand to assist their injured comrades, while using the other to maintain their guard. Out of these ten people, six had sustained injuries in the battle which had just taken place, while the Sixth Brother wasn't just very seriously injured, but had also managed to land himself in a coma.

"The Xuan Core is gone, so what's the plan now? Young Li will be very disappointed." Lei Jian Hong sighed, and said: "Who could have thought that even using our entire strength in a battle would turn out to be completely useless….."

"No one could have... since even two of the 'Eight Great Masters' were unable to do anything, I believe that even our own Master would have come out empty handed in this battle…. So please don't take this to your heart Big Brother."

The young woman stationed behind him spoke in a low tone: "Moreover, even the Three Elders of the Silver Blizzard City were rendered useless, so what are we worth in such a fight?" her words immediately eased the tension inside their group.

"The Six Brother is now... Young Li would have wanted to use him to keep an eye on Jun Mo Xie, so what about that now?" Lei Jian Hong frowned under the effect of the pain he felt upon watching his comrade's nearly lifeless body.

"Young Li hails from the Imperial Tutor's household; he's clever and resourceful, and he'll surely find someone else to carry out this task." The woman replied: "If he isn't able to find any suitable candidates, then I'll take over that responsibility."

"I'm interested in knowing who those two black people were? How could they have been so powerful? There are only a handful of people in this world with so much power, but I didn't recognize either of those two! What's even more surprising is that even though they were weaker than Shi Chang Xiao and the Solitary Eagle, these two men still aren't chasing after them.... The Solitary Eagle didn't come here for the Xuan Core, so I can understand his inaction, but even Shi Chang isn't chasing after them….. which is very surprising since he was willing to risk everything for that Xuan Core earlier….."

"You're right; I believe that even though the strength of those two people was lesser than the Solitary Eagle and Shi Chang Xiao, they have surely reached the Spirit Xuan realm. Although we don't know who these mysterious experts are… therefore I can only conclude that their origination must be beyond the scope of our knowledge!"

The woman's beautiful eyebrows puckered in puzzlement as she asked: "But what's bothering me even more is this... Why do the Solitary Eagle and Shi Chang Xiao seem afraid of them? Is there a force in this world that even these two masters are afraid of provoking?"

"Could there really be a force in this world that even the 'Eight Great Masters' are afraid to provoke?" Lei Jian Hong frowned.

No member in his team was capable of answering this question.

But their conversation had already caught the attention of Jun Mo Xie, who was still in his stealth state. Jun Mo Xie's hands had already started to itch at the time he heard that they were Li You Ran's companions, and this itch got even worse when he heard that Li You Ran had asked them to keep an eye on him. As a result, Jun Mo Xie simply couldn't control his urge to kill again.

The rain was finally beginning to ease down a bit.

"Brother Shi, Brother Falcon, Brother Fei Meng Chen, if the three of us have wronged you today, then please allow us to make up for it with some of our finest tea the next time we meet." The Third Elder of the Silver Blizzard City stepped forward, and said: "If there's nothing else left to say, then we will take your leave now."

Several distant silhouettes had already started dispersing by now; several of the City's forces including the military had gathered to plunder the Xuan Core. They had all already realized that it was fruitless to linger around anymore since the Xuan Core was already gone, and had chosen to return to their shelters over standing pointlessly in the rain.

Shi Chang Xiao replied lightly as the Three Elders of the Silver Blizzard City started to leave: "Please don't blame yourself for the falling out here today; but I will take you up on that invitation later on."

The three Elders chuckled, leaped upwards, converged with their other four companions, and left.

A hurricane stormed the sky as soon as they left, and it seemed that the Solitary Eagle had also decided to leave; but without even properly saying his goodbyes. Although he did say a few parting words before he left, however it seemed that his voice was sounding from a fair distance away: "It offends me that the Silver Blizzard City thinks they can charm us all by their silly tea, and oh, tell Han Feng Xue that I'll come looking for him! Li Wu Bei's disciples, tell your master that I'll be ready in case he wishes to come around causing trouble!"

Even though his voice was still echoing in the sky, his body had already vanished.

"Falcon, be careful of what you say." Shi Chang Xiao quickly responded, but it was unclear if the Solitary Eagle heard his remark since there was no reply.

Fei Meng Chen chuckled, turned around, and leisurely floated away! He had travelled thousands of miles from the Yu Tang Empire with the sole goal of capturing the Xuan Core, but even though the Xuan Core had disappeared away in front of his eyes, he didn't seem very disappointed since he was wise enough to realize that he was lucky to be alive.

Seeing that the crowd had already dispersed, Shi Chang Xiao sighed: [Those people are still out there…. I must meet with Yun Bei Chen and Li Jue Tian to discuss some proposals... ] his heart was becoming more and more upset with the turn of events, which was making him extremely anxious since the Xuan Core had slipped right out of his hands...

"Sir." A Sky Xuan expert respectfully addressed Shi Chang Xiao.

"You will return to the Shen Ci camp, and you'll stay there. I have something I need to take care of personally; I will join you there later on." Shi Chang Xiao stated after pondering for a long while.

"Yes!" the six men accepted their order. Four of these men extended their arms to support the two men who had sustained some injuries; they glared wildly at Li Wu Bei's disciples once again, then turned around to salute Shi Chang Xiao, and then dispersed into the rain.

Shi Chang looked at his hands again as slowly paced about alone in the air; it seemed as if a strange but desolate feeling had overtaken his heart.

He suddenly looked skywards, and then sighed as he took out a vial, and tossed it towards Lei Jian Hong before he flashed away; his flickering body was seen speeding away from Lei Jing Hong's team once, then a few meters away in a blur, and then completely vanished from sight….

Lei Jian Hong looked carefully at the small jade vial in his hand, and spotted two words on it: Resurrection Fluid! He couldn't help rejoicing his fortune and looked up to thank Shi Chang Xiao, but the man had already left by then.

This 'Resurrection Fluid' was a trade mark of Shi Chang Xiao's family, and they were the only ones capable of manufacturing it. Although this secret medicine may not necessarily be capable of reviving the dead, but it was more than capable of ensuring the survival of anyone alive!

Lei Jian Hong quickly ordered his comrades, who immediately and carefully picked up the Six Brother's body. Lei Jian Hong's senses suddenly started tingling to warn him of an impending danger as he opened the Jade vial, and his body subconsciously ducked away to avoid this unseen danger.

Several screams sounded almost simultaneously!

Four of the people who had gathered around the Six Brother immediately started to bleed from their nose and mouth, and then silently dropped to the ground in front of them!

A small throwing knife was sticking out of their chest, and it was evident from the manner in which the blade had pierced their bodies that the blade had already buried itself all the way into their hearts!

Each knife had demanded a life!

And all four men had died a silent death!

Three of them were Earth Xuan experts, while the fourth one was a Sky Xuan expert!

"Young….." Lei Jian Hong reached out. His body immediately stiffened as he crazily jumped, "Who are you? Come and stand in front of me! Don't hide in the dark and attack us behind our backs….. come out you son of a bi**h….. come out…. You … you…. You… where are you..."

Lei Jian Hong roared furiously as he continued to curse, while his eyes had already reddened with rage! It seemed that he had already lost his mind to chaos since he had already started running in circles in a frenzied attempt to find his attacker, but was unable to locate anyone even after searching for a long time; he finally knelt down to the ground, and burst into tears!

The other four remaining companions of his' were all as shocked as he was, and had also started rushing about screaming and crying.

The five of them tried to search again, but were unable to find any traces of their enemy; they had never imagined that the ten of them would be able to get out of a fight against a team of Sky Xuan experts and even some Spirit Xuan experts with just one casualty. But now they had suddenly been caught off-guard after the battle had ended, and four more of their people had suddenly died!

Lei Jian Hong bent down and pulled out the knife sticking out of the Ninth Brother's chest to inspect it, and gnashed his teeth as he said: "I've never seen anything like this throwing knife before…. our enemy obviously designed this specially to fool us; as long as you're able to spot the origin of this knife, attack ruthlessly! We must avenge the death of our brothers!"

"They won't die in vain, we vow to avenge each fallen man!" the four others simultaneously shouted out in anger.

The woman suddenly exclaimed: "Where are the other three knives?" they all turned around, and then the suddenly froze in fear. Someone had actually managed to remove the three remaining knives from the chests of their fallen victims, and this mysterious attacker had even gone ahead and ruthlessly slit the throats of these men to confirm the kills!

Someone had somehow managed to steal those three remaining knives in a very short period of time, leaving the blood these victims to flow out of their open wounds!

Everyone looked at each other as a burst of horror surged through their psyches!