Chapter 146 Gritting Battle

A distressed frown began forming on Yu Yifeng's face. Something was wrong, he realized. "What are you doing, Lil Chen?" He asked Xiao Chen, but the latter merely shook his head. "Help me take care of Senior Sister Luo, Brother Yifeng." With a light push imbued with his inner strength, Yu Yifeng was sent off the dais with a whisk of wind.

He would never have wanted Yu Yifeng to witness him using the Heaven's Talisman. But there was hardly any choice; there was no way he would leave without Murong Xian'er.

He walked slowly to Murong Xian'er. She seemed to feel something welling from within him. Her eyes began to tremble with dread, her little head shaking profusely, "No, Big Brother Xiao Chen... No..."

But Xiao Chen merely smiled gently at her as his hand caressed lovingly on her cheeks. Softly, he said to her, "Fret not little Xian'er. Big Brother will allow no harm to come to you..."

He turned away from her, his demeanor instantly changing so precipitously that everyone standing below the dais instantly felt his sharp and icy glare as if the temperature of the surroundings had plummeted instantly.

"I will no longer repeat myself. Nothing will stop me from leaving with her..."

"What if we decide to?" An equally chilly voice rang suddenly from a corner, piercing through the silence that hung over the crowd.

Everyone instantly turned their heads, eager to look at the origin of the voice. Zhang Qinglian of Penglai Island, wearing only a dispassionate expression, continued indifferently, "Today is the day where almost every sect, school, and order within the Orthodox Path assembled together. The Penglai Island might only be one of the lesser schools congregated here today, but we would never allow any evildoers from the Devil's Practice to do as they please!"

He began to address the crowd now looking at him. "Hear me, everyone! It is no secret that the cursed Blood Lotus Demon Blade, has openly recognized him as its master. The cursed blade itself is an object of great evil. Surely it is obvious why he was chosen? Yet now he openly defends an evil being of the Devil's Practice! Do I need to say more?"

Heads began swinging back toward the dais. Almost everyone was present during the incident of the Blood Lotus Demon Blade and they had definitely felt the malicious and murderous aura radiating from him then. Some within the crowd begin to doubt Xiao Chen's allegiance, swayed by Zhang Qinglian's rousing slander. Brutish and impatient cries began clamoring from everywhere around the dais, shouting, "The Devil's Practice has been a scourge to all mankind! Let no evildoers go!"

If Zhang Qinglian had intended to incite anarchy, his actions were beginning to bear fruit: rowdy and angry protestors began shouting for Xiao Chen, incensed with a stirring bloodlust, branding him as one of the evil entities of the Devil's Practice to crucify him. But they were cordoned off only by the flock of cultivators who were with him during the Wuwang Wind Cloud City expedition.

"He must be a spy from the Devil's Practice!" Zhang Qinglian's loud roar boomed amidst the hubbub of the noisy crowds, his final straw to ignite tinderbox.

"Master Zhang!" Yu Yifeng shouted immediately, "You are a respectable person, the leader of a sect! How can you spew such falsehoods without any shred of evidence!"

"Evidence, you say? Look at yourself, Yu Yifeng! Why are you willing to go to such lengths to protect him? Could he be one of the dirty linens of the Jade Qing Sect?" Zhang Qinglian hissed devilishly.

The rages of two of Yu Yifeng's female juniors immediately turned red. Seething, one of them shouted, "What nonsense! You are an elder! Do you not know how to govern your mouth?"

But Zhang Qinglian was hardly perturbed by her remark; he wanted to provoke the members of the Jade Qing Sect so that they would behave inappropriately before the eyes of the rest of the Orthodox Path.

"Heh heh heh heh..." A chilly giggle rang suddenly from atop the dais, the outbreak of hubbub and noise immediately died down as everyone below stared up and saw Xiao Chen guffawing, his head thrown back in a deranged euphoria. "So what if I'm one of the Good? So what if I'm one of the Evil? All of you, the so-called Orthodox Path, so easily sentenced death to an innocent girl with no proper investigation! Is this how the forces of Good behave?"

He reached for Murong Xian'er's hand and tugged it, pulling her close to him. Beginning to march forward, he growled, "Nothing will stop me from leaving!"

"You may well try!" The Elder of the Vermillion Bird bellowed. He spat an order to his underlings guarding below, "Arrest him!"

More than forty disciples of the Widespread Wintriness Sect were already waiting to spring into action. At the elder's cue, they immediately surrounded Xiao Chen, forming an array of swords, a ring of steel threatening to strike at him.

Zhang Qinglian's eyes twinkled with malice; this was his chance for vengeance. "Hearken me, disciples of Penglai Island!" He called loudly, "No evildoers are to escape today!" A chorus of assent rose from the crowd as Ye Wuhen, with another seven to eight students of Penglai Island, emerged from within the mob to reinforce the array of swordsmen.

More and more people got past the blockade of Xiao Chen's former comrades, only to supplement the formation of swordsmen now circling around Xiao Chen and Murong Xian'er like hungry sharks waiting to strike. Unfazed by the commotion demanding for his judgment, Xiao Chen simply laughed. "Good! Very good! Very good indeed!" He yelled, "I have never offended any one of you, yet you draw your blades against me! Very well then! Then blame me not for any reprisals from me! Come at me, all of you!"

"Insolent pup!" Ye Wuhen snarled, "Can't you see that you are standing on a knife's edge! So be it then, if death is what you seek!" Since his loss to Xiao Chen, Ye Wuhen had only the deepest jealousy and contempt for his rival. With an opportunity to avenge himself for his ignoble defeat, he conjured a sword in mid-air and grabbed at its hilt before stabbing straight at Xiao Chen.

The blade sped dangerously towards Xiao Chen, its tip gleaming coldly. But Xiao Chen, hardly perturbed, merely threw his sleeves at the incoming strike. A strong pressure pummeled into Ye Wuhen, crashing him backward like a powerful hammer! What force was this! Many immediately gasped. The stroke sent a rippling shockwave, shaking the entire platform and shattering the marbles of the dais. Devil Qi! He was indeed one of the Devil's Practice!

Tendrils of foul energies like black fumes swirled around him like jet-black serpents that slithered around him in a protective manner. Xiao Chen, standing tall and proud despite the adversity posed against him, beheld the rabble that sought to defy him with a frosty glare. With his Devil Qi, Xiao Chen had Ye Wuhen held in an invisible vice-like grip. "You shall die..." He was heard hissing thus. But he suddenly remembered that they were formerly comrades during the expedition to the Wuwang Wind Cloud City. With a fleeting outburst of compassion, the intent to kill Ye Wuhen quickly faded. Xiao Chen slammed a stroke into Ye Wuhen's chest, merely incapacitating him.

The boisterous atmosphere instantly plunged into a deadening silence. There was none who did not fear Xiao Chen's overwhelming power pulsing through the air of the square, but even more trembled at the chilly tingle felt after sensing the murderous and malicious aura now flooding the whole courtyard. It was evident that Xiao Chen could have easily killed Ye Wuhen if he so wished. Still, he had decided to show him mercy.

The rest of the mob who were earlier clamoring for his blood had fallen silent, watching with gaping amazement at the man who lorded over them with the sheer might and semblance of demons of Hell! Gripped by fear and awe, the mob began to recede slowly down the steps.

Far away from the dais, Yu Yifeng and Luo Shangyan could hardly believe what they were witnessing, their faces aghast with bewilderment and awe. Murong Xian'er hid behind Xiao Chen's back, gasping between her convulsive sobs, "Please stop, Big Brother Xiao Chen... Please..." as the horrors of her former demonic mutation returned to haunt her.

Xiao Chen marched forward imperiously as if he had heard nothing. Channeling his powers again, Xiao Chen sent forth another seismic wave of Devil Qi, the corrosive tide sweeping across the floors of the square. But the blow was stopped; a group of elders held a defensive line against the advancing wave of death. Upon their own lives they swore, that Xiao Chen must never be allowed to walk free.

Zhang Qinglian had witnessed with his own eyes how his prized student had so effortlessly defeated by Xiao Chen. Not knowing if Ye Wuhen was still alive, Zhang Qinglian wrestled against the agony of grief. He understood that he alone was hardly a match for Xiao Chen in his present state. "Slay all villains and evildoers!" He cried, stoking the flames and instigating the mob further, "Raise the banner of the Right and Just!"

"Very good! I will draw first blood by first butchering you!" Xiao Chen heard him and roared, his anger erupting. His fists smote at Zhang Qinglian's direction and a barrage of black fumes materialized in the shape of a gigantic fist streaked towards the latter.

"NOOO! Xiao Chen!" Yu Yifeng screamed at his friend. There would be no turning back for Xiao Chen if he had indeed killed the leader of the Penglai Island Sect. But there was simply no one who could now stand against Xiao Chen in his present state.

Just when the fist-like silhouette of black fumes almost crashed into Zhang Qinglian, a blinding furor of steel gleamed, dispelling the black fumes with concerted efforts. It was the group of elders from the other sects! Together as one, they had stopped Xiao Chen's strike and saved Zhang Qinglian from immediate death. "How dare you try to commit murder here!" One of them sneered coldly, "Have you forgotten our presence!"

Xiao Chen took one ominous step forward, stomping hard on the flagstones of the dais, crushing them into bits and pieces. "You lot were the ones who dared offend me first!" He channeled more power with the accursed Heaven's Talisman technique, his consciousness still clinging desperately to his last shred of sanity. The growing malice in his chest, his consequence for using the Heaven's Talisman, was threatening to corrupt him! His eyes traveled for a fleeting moment to Yu Yifeng. The quick glimpse of his friend and the only brotherly figure to him supplied him with another shot of motivation to not let the murderous grudge within him to grow.

"Lame excuses!" The Elder of the Vermillion Bird retorted. He was earlier stunned by Xiao Chen's display of his might earlier. But Zhang Qinglian's instigations and the sight of more people protesting against Xiao Chen filled him with resolve to act. He traded quick looks with his two colleagues, and they leaped off the dais to rejoin another group of Core Forming Realm cultivators.

The group of more than ten cultivators began chanting; their spell beginning to form and weave a magical forcefield that shrouded over Xiao Chen like a dome. The barrier was so powerful that Xiao Chen, despite his invincible might, was unable to break free.

"Amitabha..." Master Xuanji lamented from afar. His head was shaking sadly as he sighed, himself laying witness to a reenactment of the fateful incident that had taken place thousands of years before, as the lore of the distant past went.

"ARGHHH!" Xiao Chen roared with all his might, his hair now flailing wildly about his shoulders as his semblance began to take a more feral change into one akin to a demented beast. He hammered and beat around with all his might, trying hopelessly to shatter the magical formation that held him, but to no avail. Outside, the group of more than ten cultivators continued reciting the incantations to continue upholding the integrity of the barrier, an incessant warble of chants that caused only pain to Xiao Chen.

"AARRRGGGH!" Xiao Chen bellowed with agony, his eyes bloodshot and maniacal. He tried frantically to cover his ears but it hardly helped to keep the voices from assailing him from all sides. Catcalls and whoops of joy rang from the crowd that watched from outside, cheering for the elders to continue their magic that never stopped tormenting Xiao Chen.

Watching Xiao Chen in pain, Luo Shangyan wanted to leap onto the dais to help him, but she was held back again and again by the female Jade Qing Sect disciples. Murong Xian'er, long drenched in tears, threw herself into the air. She invoked her magic, herself swathed in a soft and gentle radiance like a fairy from Heaven.

Her eyes were clenched closed as she too, began weaving a spell of her own; her fingers performing hand seals and her lips uttering magical words of command. A brilliant shaft of light hit upon the outer periphery of Xiao Chen's magical prison, slowly weakening its strength. But her actions did not go unnoticed; Sikong Yun, who was watching from a distance, realized what she was doing. He immediately understood that Murong Xian'er was trying to help free Xiao Chen. With a flutter of his robes, he disappeared from where he stood, racing quickly in mid-air toward the unwary Murong Xian'er.

The little girl was only too concentrated in working her magic, that she did not notice Sikong Yun upon her until the last moment. With a merciless grip he clenched her throat tightly, Sikong Yun yanked her away violently and landed on the ground, dragging her with him. "DO NOT HARM HER!" Xiao Chen roared from his captivity, "SPILL BUT ONE DROP OF HER BLOOD AND I'LL MAKE SURE THAT NONE OF YOU SURVIVES!"

But Sikong Yun instead tightened his grip on the poor Murong Xian'er's throat. "Sever your own meridian channels, knave!" He hissed insidiously, "Or I'll first begin by slaughtering this witch!"

Xiao Chen could only blindly watch as Murong Xian'er suffered in pain, his eyes almost bursting out of his head in fury. "Big Brother..." She choked, "Don't worry about me... There're two points in the Southeast; three points in the Northwest, switch both 'Li' and 'Kan' positions..."

"Silence!" Sikong Yun barked. He jabbed hard at one of her acupuncture points, preventing her from speaking any more.

"ARRGGGH!" Xiao Chen howled. With the ferocity of a demonic beast from the depths of Hell, his fists bashed relentlessly at the barrier with all the Devil Qi he could muster. With each bash, he sent quivers of shock pulsating through the entire mountain. Like a battering ram trying to bring down a tower, the intensity and sheer power of his strokes tested the defenses of the barrier to its limits that the elders had to continue weaving more magic to quickly replace the layers that crumbled.

"SHATTER!" Xiao Chen thundered again, unleashing another barrage of dark energies so strong that cracks began to form on the dome of the magical forcefield.

The last stroke almost collapsed the integrity of the barrier. The crowd was held to a tense and uneasy silence. It took the collective strength and efforts of more than ten elders of the Core Forming Realm to keep on restoring the magical barrier. Yet now, the magic of the barrier which they had so perilously sustained was beginning to show signs of deteriorating! Was Xiao Chen's present strength nearing the Nascent Soul Realm? The depths of his limits were simply unfathomable!

The expressions of the elders, previously proud and stern, were now replaced with those of worried and fearful. Some of the warriors leaped from the crowd and began injecting their True Energy to help to supplement the reparations of the magical barrier. But before the magic of the barrier could restore itself, Xiao Chen emitted another savage roar, sending forth another shockwave of Devil Qi.

The magical barrier that the elders had so painstakingly tried to preserve immediately shattered like brittle ice. They, with the tens of warriors that had tried to help them, were immediately thrown backward by the extraordinarily strong wave of raw power, their mouths gurgling with blood spewing from their guts.

When the clouds of dust subsided, everyone below was aghast to see a lone figure still standing tall upon the dais. There was Xiao Chen, terrible and fearsome to all, his body engulfed by a huge ball of hellish flames. The palls of Devil Qi radiating from his person hardly diminished, instead, they permeated from his very self with the strength of the tide. Slowly, Xiao Chen turned to face Sikong Yun, his eyes gleaming with icy hatred.

"Release her..."