Chapter 990: Comprehension amid Life and Death
Xiao Chen vomited a mouthful of blood. He felt the blood in his body surge. His internal organs were intensely shaken. The force from the arrow dragon was much stronger than that of the full-power strike of a grandmaster-level Martial Sage.
With at least a thousand arrow dragons, they looked endless. Some charged straight at Xiao Chen, some swiped with their claws, some swept their tails across. They covered the entire sky; there was no place to hide.
In a few breaths, Xiao Chen scattered at least a hundred arrow dragons. However, he was not in good shape, either. If not for attaining a Rank 4 Sage Body, the backlash could have crushed his bones into a powder.
Atop the tall tower, Wang Feng’s expression turned very dark. He had not activated this Thousand Dragon Arrow Formation for many years already as it required a lot of energy.
Unless Wang Feng had to use it, he would not. However, he did not have a choice today. Otherwise, Xiao Chen would really be able to run. When that happened, he would be utterly embarrassed.
“Since ancient times, many outstanding talents and demonic geniuses have fallen while they tried to climb to power. Xiao Chen, you must be regretting it already, right? However, there is no medicine for regret in this world. I gave you kind advice, but you were stubborn. Now, even if you agree, I will not withdraw.”
Xiao Chen, who was in the Thousand Dragon Arrow Formation, was extremely calm, not panicking at all.
He materialized the Flawless saber Dao, weaving through the arrow dragons. Danger surrounded him as he trod the line between life and death. His heart was calm, completely immersed in battle, ignoring Wang Feng’s words.
After a while, his figure paused in the air. Standing in midair, he faced the approaching arrow dragons as if he did not see them at all.
Xiao Chen wiped off the blood at a corner of his lips and muttered to himself, “Indeed, the comprehensions gained while treading the line between life and death can further fuse the Flawless saber Dao together. It is time to break this Thousand Dragon Arrow Formation.”
With a flip of his hand, the Lunar Shadow Saber appeared in Xiao Chen’s grasp. Then, he gently gripped the hilt with his right hand.
Wang Feng maintained a cold look on his face. When he saw a saber appear in Xiao Chen’s hand, he did not care. He smiled coldly and said, “You are a spent force. Let’s see how are you going to flip this around. You are already in my hands. You can forget about escaping from this city.”
Just as Wang Feng spoke, that plain and simple saber emerged from its sheath by two centimeters.
The saber light that appeared was as dazzling as the sun. The killing-Qi-filled scarlet light in the air melted like snow under the illumination of this saber light. Strange Fire City returned to normal, and the sky was clear again.
As the light was too dazzling, the fifty thousand elite troops on the rooftops were caught off guard, shutting their eyes in reflex.
Wang Feng squinted, and he raised his eyebrows. He revealed an expression of shock—even more shock than when he saw Xiao Chen burst forth with fifteen Dragon Force.
“Peak Sub-Divine Weapon! What fortuitous encounter did this fellow have? This is a weapon that can break into the Divine Weapon Ranking.”
Earlier, when Xiao Chen used fifteen Dragon Force and showed his Rank 4 Sage Body, Wang Feng had not been overly shocked. In his opinion, those were not much of a threat to him.
However, now that Xiao Chen had a Sub-Divine Weapon that could make it into the Divine Weapon Ranking, everything was different.
There were many Divine Weapons in the world. Their might equaled that of an Emperor Grade Secret Treasure. To him, those were not overly rare and precious. However, the ten Divine Weapons on the Divine Weapon Ranking were very different. There were only ten at any given moment, and they were equal to a Primordial Emperor Treasure.
The Primordial Emperor Treasures were peak Emperor Grade Secret Treasures. There were only three in the entire Tianwu Domain and were in the hands of the Three Holy Lands.
If this saber really broke into the Divine Weapon Ranking, then the Three Holy Lands would not be able to do anything to this person. At that time, when Xiao Chen became a Martial Emperor and sought trouble for Wang Feng, even the White Emperor City’s Holy Master would not be able to protect him.
With this thought, Wang Feng could not help but feel some regret. He should not have agreed to the White Emperor City’s Holy Master’s request.
However, it was as he said earlier: there was no medicine for regret in the world. Now that he knew regret, it was too late.
“Bang!”
Xiao Chen drew the Lunar Shadow Saber from its scabbard. Then, illusory figures came out from him, materializing thousands of saber trajectories that looked very dazzling.
This move was the Azure Emperor’s Drawing the Saber that he had not used for a long time. Earlier, he merged it with the Flawless saber Dao and contested with the thousand arrow dragons.
Although Xiao Chen was surrounded by danger, he managed to find the weak point of the Thousand Dragon Arrow Formation: the scarlet light in the sky. If he could force that back, the arrow dragons would be separated from the large formation in the city.
After that, he found the weak points of each of the dragons, sending out one thousand saber strikes in one breath and breaking all the arrow dragons—and thus the formation.
While this was simple to describe, it was extremely difficult to accomplish.
First, one had to force back the scarlet light and separate the arrow dragons from the formation. Without a peak Sub-Divine Weapon like the Lunar Shadow Saber, even a great grandmaster-level Martial Sage would not be able to pull it off that easily.
Even after executing this step, one would fail if they could not send out a thousand strikes in one breath.
What Wang Feng said about one being unable to break this without being a quasi-Emperor was not false.
Unfortunately, Wang Feng was up against Xiao Chen. This Thousand Dragon Arrow Formation could not trap him.
“Ka!”
The sound of countless pieces of wood smashing simultaneously split the air. The thousand arrow dragons all broke and fell.
When the scarlet light came back, it was already useless.
Xiao Chen’s figures merged back together. Then, he sheathed his saber and took a step. As his white robe fluttered, he left behind only the image of his back for the fifty thousand elite troops as he broke out of their encirclement.
Wang Feng watched as Xiao Chen left and slowly disappeared from his vision. Wind and clouds stirred behind him, and an indistinct golden light appeared on his forehead. Surging energy rushed about in his body.
His control wavered somewhat. Ripples appeared in the space in front of him. All he needed to do was take a step forward, and he could instantly catch up with Xiao Chen.
Wang Feng could defeat Xiao Chen within ten moves.
However, he did not take this step in the end. He scattered the Heavenly Laws in his body and closed his eyes.
The agitated wind and clouds slowly calmed. Wang Feng looked like he had aged ten years in an instant.
“City Lord, should we give chase?” the commander of the fifty thousand elite troops asked after he flew forward and performed a cupped-fist salute.
Wang Feng did not reply. He only raised his head and looked up.
There was a black warship overhead, sticking close to the barrier of the sky as it flew swiftly, so fast that it was nearly at the speed limits of the Kunlun Realm.
“Never mind. He already broke the Thousand Dragon Arrow Formation. There is no point in chasing him. Since those people have the confidence to kill him, we shall not bother about this matter,” Wang Feng said a long time after he withdrew his gaze.
“You will take over the position of Strange Fire City’s City Lord. I will not be coming back for a hundred years.”
Wang Feng had suddenly said something strange. His figure flashed, and before the confused eyes of that commander, he flew towards the Starry Heavens.
---
“Pu ci!”
Five hundred kilometers away from Strange Fire City, Xiao Chen vomited a mouthful of blood. He still felt some lingering fear in his heart.
After breaking the Thousand Dragon Arrow Formation, as he was about to leave, he had felt a sharp gaze on his back and sensed extreme danger.
This attention kept Xiao Chen’s nerves tense. The Purple Thunder True Fire and Lunar True Flame gathered in his eyes, ready to form the Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram at any moment.
He already summoned out the Azure Dragon Medallion, which contained the Azure Emperor’s saber light that had lasted for ten thousand years, to his hand long ago.
If Xiao Chen guessed correctly, that pointed gaze belonged to Wang Feng. Fortunately, the other party did not make a move in the end. Otherwise, Xiao Chen would have had some trouble.
“Quasi-Emperors are indeed terrifying.”
The purple and white lights faded from Xiao Chen’s eyes. He sighed as he put away the Azure Dragon Medallion.
There was an enormous difference between quasi-Emperors and great grandmaster-level Martial Sages, a huge chasm that separated them. Almost all of the Heavenly Sage Laws in quasi-Emperors’ bodies were already refined into the higher-level Heavenly Laws.
The terms Heavenly Laws and Heavenly Sage Laws might differ by just one word, but they were very different in reality. Just like Essence and Quintessence, there was simply no comparison.
These quasi-Emperors was only missing an opportunity to condense a Heavenly World in their sea of consciousness to be able to push open the Emperor’s Door, climb onto the great Dao, and step onto the road of Emperors, becoming one of the people who stood at the top.
Xiao Chen thought to himself, If I run into a quasi-Emperor, I have no chance of defeating the other party with my own abilities.
The improved Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram might barely be able to buy him a chance to flee.
The saber light that the Azure Emperor left behind should be able to kill a quasi-Emperor. However, that was his final trump card since it was something that could protect him from a Martial Emperor. It would be a huge waste to use it on a quasi-Emperor.
“I have to advance to great grandmaster-level Martial Sage. There is no use in dwelling on this,” Xiao Chen muttered to himself.
Earlier, when he was walking the line between life and death in the Thousand Dragon Arrow Formation, he attained several comprehensions, and his understanding of the Flawless saber Dao reached the next level.
He was already seventy percent sure that when he advanced to grandmaster-level Martial Sage, he could reach great grandmaster-level Martial Sage in one go.
With a flip of his hand, a Sage Grade treatment pill and a Sage Grade energy recovery pill appeared on his palm. Then, he swallowed them both at the same time.
When Xiao Chen killed the Medicine God Valley’s Mister Wei in the Nine Layers of Purgatory, he gained two bottles of Sage Grade treatment-type Medicinal Pills. These were sufficient for him to use for a long time.
He quickly recovered from his injuries and his energy expenditure. In less than an hour, he was back to his peak state.
Just at this moment, he frowned as a black warship appeared. Six people leaped off it and blocked his way.
Xiao Chen was no stranger to three of these people; they were the scions of the Yan Clan, Jiang Clan, and Lin Clan. The people of the Sovereign Noble Clans were finally all here. His First Senior Sister’s words had unfortunately come to pass.
The strength of these three had improved significantly. However, they were not strong enough for Xiao Chen to worry about. Instead, his gaze was drawn to three old men behind them with extremely high and somewhat unfathomable cultivations.
Still and all, if the Sovereign Noble Clans thought that just three peak great grandmaster-level Martial Sages could stop him, they were not very realistic.
When Xiao Chen saw the confident expressions on the other party, the situation did not seem quite right, so he raised his guard.
“Make your moves. Elders, there is no need to speak any nonsense to him. However, please leave the final strike to the three of us.”
Yan Shisi was expressionless. He looked at Xiao Chen like Xiao Chen was a dead man. Then, he moved to the side along with the scions of the Jiang Clan and Lin Clan.
The three of them had once suffered at Xiao Chen’s hands, which left a shadow in their hearts.
If the three of them could not get rid of this shadow, it would become an obstruction to their cultivation in the future. They would never be able to climb onto the great Dao. Only by killing Xiao Chen personally could they eliminate this shadow.
The three old men attacked without saying a word. With a casual wave, Secret Treasures appeared in their hands.
“Boom!” Boundless auras surged out and knocked back Xiao Chen.
The Hundred Change Tortoise Spirit Shield, Ten Thousand Beast Cauldron, and Profound Yin Umbrella. The three old men actually brought the Emperor Grade Secret Treasures of the three Sovereign Noble Clans along.
Xiao Chen’s expression turned grave. He circulated the immortal will of thunder and stomped on the ground heavily to stabilize himself, making it tremble.
Three bona fide Emperor Grade Secret Treasures. All of them are here. No wonder they are so confident.
Emperor Grade Secret Treasures were extremely horrifying. Now, there were three of them at the same time.