Chapter 480 - The Eerie Valley

The two gnarly-old men stared hard at Xiao Chen and everyone when they heard the scream, gulping hard their saliva. “The people wanted by the Headquarters?! Reports about the fugitives described two combatants with powers close to the levels of Rogue Immortals! How are we supposed to apprehend such power!?”

But the consternation did little to quell the courage of the old man in green, who channeled his full might without further ado. The vast Mystic Powers in him churned and tossed up a storm of winds that rushed and whipped around violently like a raging beast struggling to break loose and the large voluminous sleeves of his robes flailed and snapped wildly. A column of deadly energy shot from the sky like a bolt of lightning and slashed down at Xiao Chen and his companions.

The thrashing winds caused by the roiling Mystic Powers coughed up a whirlwind of dust, gravel, and broke twigs and branches. Xiao Ning leaped into the air, spinning himself quickly like a top to gather momentum before he thrust his halberd at the incoming strike from overhead. A gold-yellow missile of magical energy emitted from the tip of his halberd and clashed with the deadly bolt of magic from the sky and a shockwave rippled across the ground, flattening everything in its path.

“Run, all of you!” Xiao Ning snarled at the top of the bedlam as he withstood the attack.

The Elder in green continued feeding his energy to the magical blast, wondering, “This man must be one of those reported to be able to match equally against Rogue Immortals! But he seems weakened! Why?!” Beside him, his colleague, another Elder who was dressed wholly in red, noticed the dried blood caking on the edges of his lips and cried, “They’re hurt! What a good chance!” He too channeled his full might and delivered an attack of his own.

Gu Feng stood in the way of the attack and took it himself. The blow hit him and the ancient warrior lurched several steps backward. He gritted his teeth. “If only I have my full strength!” He cursed,” I would not have to look so pathetic under the attack of just two mages of Grand Completion Realm if not for the heavy exhaustion recently!”

Xiao Chen almost threw himself forward to help but he was held back by a distressed Gui Xian. “This is no time for your heroics now, boy!” And he yanked at his arm, dragging him away westbound to another exit of the village.

Seeing this, the Elder in green yelped, “After them! Don’t lose them!”

There was hardly any hunger for credit in the Elder’s eagerness to arrest Xiao Chen and his band of companions. On the contrary, he was afraid of Xiao Chen’s party especially after receiving the reports from the Headquarters about them, even with Xiao Ning’s and Gu Feng’s fatigue and injury. But more than that, he feared the repercussions that would come from the Headquarters if news were to escape that he allowed these wanted fugitives to escape.

He quickly crushed a jade note, using its magic to convey his summons to other detachments of soldiers of the Leagues nearby. The four Envoys of the Nirvana Realm behind him, with another pair of the Apotheosis Realm, circled around Gu Feng and Xiao Ning in pursuit of Xiao Chen and his group.

Xiao Chen turned his back to see the six Envoys at their heels and he bit his lips, calling out loud, “Guifeng!”

“At once, My Lord!” The thirty-foot spectral figure of his trusty subordinate materialized. He might have been injured since the fight at Mount Wuyue, but his sudden appearance startled the Envoys and two of them who were of the Apotheosis Realm panicked and pulled to a halt.

The other four Envoys of Nirvana Realm continued chasing doggedly behind, sending deadly rays of gold energies whenever they could. But Xiao Chen and his companions could not fight back; with None-flower Dust too injured to fight and Yi Tong helping him and all of the Levitating Dark Fragrance either too weak or incapacitated, they could only flee as best as they could against the four Envoys of the Nirvana Realm.

Frustrated, Huangfu Xin’er attempted to channel her powers using the Heartless Cultivation Method. But Xiao Chen urged, “No, Xin’er! Just run!” He shoved her towards Yi Tong. Since the fight atop Mount Wuyue, Xiao Chen had been dreading the cruel and brutal Huangfu Xin’er surfacing once more and he would give anything to stop her from becoming so again.

But an embittered Gui Xian barked at him, “Tell that to yourself, boy! Now run! Save your stubbornness for another day!”

The four Envoys of Nirvana Realm drew closer and closer as they chased behind. Yang Qing screamed, “Xiao Chen, you run on ahead! My men and I will try to hold them off!” With his men, he stopped and held off the four Envoys.

Xiao Chen could not believe this. He had barely known Yang Qing and his band of swordsmen, yet here they were, willing to give up their lives for him. Ridden by guilt, he conjured his Blood Lotus Demon Blade and said to Ziyun’er and everyone else, “The rest of you, go on ahead!”

But Gui Xian grabbed at the scruff of his collar, insisting hushedly, “You fool, go! The swordsmen are nobody but strangers! But you! You cannot die here! Just go!”

“Please, My Lord! Please listen to Senior Gui Xian’s advice! Go!” Ziyun’er joined them and urged him. With a quick look at Gui Xian, they tugged at his arms and dragged him away from the fight.

But a stubborn Xiao Chen could only look back at the fighting, his fingers still gripping firmly the hilt of his weapon. He watched with his own eyes as one of the seven swordsmen was impaled by a sword. But he knew understood full well that the Levitating Dark Fragrance and Xin’er mattered above all else… Bitterly, he grimaced quietly, resentful at his own weakness!

Two of the four Nirvana Realm Envoys saw Xiao Chen and the girls fleeing and detached themselves from the turmoil to give chase. Within seconds, they caught up to Xiao Chen. Gui Xian jostled Xiao Chen out of the way and attacked one of the Envoys, who easily defended himself with a sweeping blow before retaliating with another attack that nearly caused Gui Xian to collapse.

“Senior!” Xiao Chen tried to help him up. But with one hand gripping his weapon and the other arm missing, he could not. Instead, he lunged at the Envoy and sent a blood-red scythe-shaped magical bolt at him which was also easily deflected away.

“Stop using your powers, boy! You’ll lose your arm! Just run!”

Gui Xian screamed at Xiao Chen as he weaved several hand seals to cast another spell. A tiny wisp of fumes, in wavering hues of green, wafted towards one of the Nirvana Realm Envoys. His colleague, who realized what it was, quickly pulled him away from the fume, shouting, “Careful! It’s poisonous!”

But it was too late. With a sickening sizzle of flesh burning, the Envoy in front let out an anguished howl. The green fume had barely grazed the skin on his shoulder, but a sizable chunk of flesh had been gnawed away by the corrosive fumes.

Xiao Chen and his companions used the distraction to put more distance like 300 meters between them and their pursuers. With more than ten kilometers between them, the two Envoys knew better than to come closer out of fear for Gui Xian’s poisonous fumes. They attacked from afar, controlling their swords using telekinesis.

They were just inside a jungle when the clamor of battle broke out from behind them. It was Gu Feng and Xiao Ning who had caught up. The two warriors made short work of the pair of Nirvana Realm Envoys and were subsequently joined by Guifeng and Yang Qing and his men, all of whom bloodied and hurt.

“Quick, get cover! The League’s Hit Squads are coming!” Xiao Ning and Gu Feng hastened everyone into the refuge of the forest where they slipped into the shadows and shade of the glen provided by the thick and lush canopies of the trees. Before long, the entire forest itself was blanketed by a sudden dark shroud. The sky was filled with innumerable Hit Squad Flying-cloud Stones.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three barrages of 300-meter destructive energy beams pounded the forestland, laying waste to the woods around the spot where Xiao Chen and his companions were hiding. Heatwaves rippled from the spot where the salvos of energy bolts struck, sweeping Ziyun’er and everyone else off their feet.

“Ziyun’er!” Xiao Chen cried and he dashed to her and held her steady. Hurt by the blast of the heatwave, a drop of blood dribbled down her chin. “I’m fine, My Lord… We need to move…”

Xiao Chen bit his lips, resentful at his helplessness. If he could, he would have given anything to bring down the Flying-cloud Stones looming overhead. “Into the deep of the forest! We’ll shake them off in there!” Su Xiaomei cried.

Everyone sped into the deeper parts of the forest with as much speed as possible with their movement techniques. The verdant canopies of the tall and strong oaks of the forest provided just the cover they needed, shielding them from the observations of the Hit Squads in the sky. In the end, the Hit Squads could only carpet-bomb the area, hoping vainly that this would yield results.

Cascades of explosions reverberated through the mountainside woodland, scattering numerous birds and beasts from the area as the former flocked into the sky with haste and desperation, seeking to escape from the destruction and mayhem. As Xiao Chen and his party fled deeper out of sight, the Flying-cloud Stones descended on the ground to unload soldiers to canvass the forest for them.

Xiao Chen and his companions did not slow down. But in mere moments, they were surrounded by their pursuers. Xiao Chen pounced, swinging his saber. But the soldiers took out an unknown weapon and fired a salvo of energy that came at him with a terrible bang.

“My Lord!” Guifeng bellowed. He dashed to Xiao Chen, pushing him away and taking the blow himself. With a boom, he was sent flying tens of meters away, crumbling into a smoldering heap.

“Careful! Those are hand-carry energy cannons!” Yang Qing shouted. He leaped to the front, brandishing his weapon and sending a magical blow at a soldier that lopped off his head cleanly. Gu Feng joined in the fray with tremendous alacrity, taking down a few other soldiers too.

Xiao Chen used the chance to check on Guifeng. His lamellar armor was all but shattered from the blast and the wounds he suffered were ghastly. “This device is too dangerous,” Xiao Chen realized, “I could have been dead if Guifeng did not save me!” “General, retreat now!” he ordered.

“Understood, My Lord! Guifeng… retreating as ordered!”

As Guifeng’s ethereal form dissipated, Xiao Chen began thinking, “This device that the Immortals’ League contrived is so powerful! We should put it to good use! If only I can use something like this, with Gui Xian’s specially-concocted poison, and use them to destroy the Headquarters of the Immortals’ League! The effect would be so much more epic than what I did to Tianyuan City then!”

What was more, if he could come up with ways to miniaturize its size and make it a small firearm for assassinations, he could put it to tremendous use in tandem with Gui Xian’s poison! Its application could be as potent as any magical treasure and relic and he would not need again to flee from the Rogue Immortals! A weapon like this might seem devious and deceitful, but Xiao Chen only felt it fitting to be used against the Immortals’ League which was just as ignoble and treacherous! “Why would I still want to defend myself with honor and regret when I might lose everyone dear to me? When I should attack them with all the craftiness and cunning I have and revel in the spoils? So be it then… They are the ones asking for it with their frauds and hypocrisies…”

Xiao Chen felt his heart racing with anger and anticipation. “So be it then! If this is how they want it!”

Another dark shadow soared overhead, blocking out the light as it drew closer, growing larger. Another Hit Squad Flying-cloud Stone had arrived. The soldiers on the flying conveyance saw Xiao Chen and his companions and fired their cannon, letting loose another volley of energy at them.

The salvo hit the ground near Xiao Chen without warning, gushing up a heatwave that blasted towards all directions, hitting Yang Qing who tumbled and rolled a few times before he grabbed one of the energy cannons lying on the ground. He aimed it at the Flying-cloud Stone and fired a shot that shuddered the whole forest.

A pillar of light shot up into the sky and struck the side of the Flying-cloud Stone. The stone conveyance wobbled violently and began circling down, leaving a trail of fumes in its wake.

“That’s a great shot, Brother Yang!” One of his men shouted amid the whoops of joy from others, “Give it another!”

With another bang, Yang Qing fired another burst of energy. The deadly beam hit the Flying-cloud Stone again, this time striking its energy cannon apparatus and igniting all of the energy stored on board. The Flying-cloud Stone exploded into bits with its passengers all killed.

“Gods! Look at this device! Them Immortals League is just good at producing the good stuff!” The swordsman, now standing by Yang Qing’s side, beamed again.

Even Xiao Chen was awed by the power of the energy cannon. But such lethal output would surely require the consumption of a lot of Spirit Stones. “Brother Yang,” he said to Yang Qing, “You’d better keep that weapon well. We might need it again!”

A hasty Gui Xian urged, “Enough prattling! We ought to leave!”

With that, everyone continued running. In almost four hours, they covered almost a 500 kilometers into unknown territory, yet the Immortals’ League Hit Squad remained stubbornly in pursuit, this time reinforced by several mages of the Grand Completion Realm who caught up on flying swords.

By then, Xiao Chen and his companion were all fatigued and wearied and the power in the energy cannon that Yang Qing was carry was all but depleted. They were about to be cornered when they chanced upon a hidden path leading into an unknown valley. They immediately dove into the trail like desperate mice but the Grand Completion Realm mages of the Immortals’ League immediately stopped short outside the entrance.

One of them, an ancient mage clad in green who quickly raised up a gnarly arm to stop his colleagues, peered into the quiet little path shadowed by the jagged and tall precipices, looking positively worried, “No. We cannot go in. With all the chaos that abounds with the absence of the Chief, we cannot suffer any conflict now.”

“But we’ve come so far!” One of his colleagues, a mage on his left, protested, “We cannot just let them get away!”

Another mage on the elderly mage’s right sneered viciously, “They’re heavily injured. For all we know, those inside might just finish our jobs for us.”

The three mages were still in a heavy debate when suddenly a few glimmers of sword radiance shone above them. Another troop of mages flew overhead and sped up the path, riding on their swords. The elderly mage in green gasped with horror, “Gods in Heaven, that’s the Enchanted Ice Troop! We must stop them! He shouted frantically, “Wait! Come back! Don’t enter!”

But he was too late. The mages, in forms of streaking lights, shot straight into the eerily quiet valley. Strangely, they immediately vanished as soon as the streaking lights entered the grove.