Book 7: Chapter 28: Thwarted
Book 7: Chapter 28: Thwarted
“ I indeed looked down on your strength, that can’t be ignored. You are far stronger than ordinary Soul Experts, but your soul force should already be at its absolute limit. Right now, forget about another cultivator, even a few ordinary soldiers should be enough to kill you.”
“Even after running for so long, you still weren’t able to escape in the end.”
Xue Wantao slowly stood up, giving Lin Xi a cold look. “While waiting for this moment to finally kill you, I thought through many things. I heard that you exposed the collusion between a Three Towns Battalion Commander and a Great Mang Thousand Devil Nest cultivator, so what you are using should precisely be Thousand Devil Nest’s method. No wonder when I stabbed your body, I wasn’t able to immediately move about.”
“When you took me on as your enemy, you already thought to use this type of method to face me, and I indeed lost under your hands. However, I must also thank you, the direct lessons you have taught me also allowed me to learn many things. For me, this might have been even more useful than fighting several dozens of battles against different cultivators.”
“Turns out watching your own fingers fall off your body was that terrifying of an experience.” Xue Wantao said in self-mockery, and then continued with a cold voice, “However, I will learn how to give up this type of fear.”
When he heard Xue Wantao say these words, Lin Xi didn’t say anything, only frowning, unknown what he was thinking.
Right when Xue Wantao said these words, the footsteps on Lin Xi’s side became more and more clear. That serious faced high ranking Yunqin military officer also appeared in his line of sight.
Even though he didn’t know the identity of this Yunqin officer, Lin Xi could tell that he was a cultivator. With his current state, this Yunqin officer was like a black city wall he could not climb over.
On his side was a black wall.
On the other side, was a deep ravine that could not be crossed.
At the limits of his sight, right before him, was a Xue Wantao whose temperament was already completely different from last night.
Even though he could tell that Xue Wantao’s breathing was rather messy while speaking, his blade still injuring Xue Wantao’s inner organs, it might still take a long time before he could completely recover, Xue Wantao’s soul force clearly hadn’t been consumed that much. There was no way he could block Xue Wantao’s strike.
…
A bit of a worried expression appeared between Lin Xi’s clean brows, but he didn’t turn around to run, instead slowly taking a dozen or so steps towards Xue Wantao, getting close to that inclined, silver thread-like waterfall.
He didn’t reply to Xue Wantao’s words either, only saying quietly to himself, “It really is high…”
Fine droplets of water moistened his face, the mountain wind blowing his incredibly tattered clothes about.
The serious faced Yunqin officer knew that he didn’t have to interfere, only remaining in place.
Xue Wantao saw through what Lin Xi was thinking, coldly saying, “Water is an extremely soft substance, but once it exceeds a hundred meters, even for a cultivator, it becomes like fine steel. I believe you are aware of this as well… Moreover, the height of this valley exceeds two hundred meters. If you dare jump from here, I will have to praise your bravery once again.”
“You really speak a lot of nonsense.” Lin Xi took two more steps towards the slippery cliff. He turned around to look at Xue Wantao, saying, “According to the stories I know, those who speak a lot of nonsense don’t have good endings.”
Xue Wantao’s eyes narrowed slightly, saying with a sneer, “However, the one who will die today isn’t me, but you.”
Lin Xi’s expression didn’t show much changes, instead calmly looking at Xue Wantao and saying with mockery, “You just said that you already learned to overcome the great fear within you, but you still believe I wouldn’t dare jump from this type of height. That is why you are, in fact, still scared.”
After a slight pause, Lin Xi shook his head, looking at Xue Wantao in disdain and calmly saying, “I can tell you that this type of cliff, I have already jumped off of many times… That is why as long as I do not die, no matter how much progress you have made compared to yesterday, you will still die under my hands in the end.”
The Yunqin general who originally only quietly watched from the back suddenly raised his head, his eyes releasing an expression of shock.
Xue Wantao’s breathing also stopped momentarily, the rippling of soul force almost making the condition of his injuries even more serious. He knew for sure that with Lin Xi’s nature, he definitely wouldn’t do stupid things, he would definitely go for a gambit, see if he could drag him down with him. That was why right now, he already made the mental preparation to attack with everything he had.
However, at this moment, he felt like Lin Xi’s words weren’t to confuse him… because Lin Xi’s words were full of strong contempt, as well as a special hint of pride.
Just what kind of backing did he have, to remain calm and lofty even in this type of situation?
Xue Wantao looked at Lin Xi, and then, his breathing completely stopped.
Lin Xi’s body exerted force, and then his entire body leapt off the cliff, jumping into the valley.
“It really is high…”
The instant Lin Xi jumped, he still couldn’t help but say this to himself quietly. Then, he took a deep breath.
When he practiced his archery before, he also jumped off of cliffs several times, using this type of life and death great fear to temper his willpower.
There were some cliffs that were even taller than this one.
However, normally when he jumped off, there was no pressure, because he only had to use his own ‘return’ ability. However today, he really was risking his life, he had to see if he could still survive after jumping off, and not return to the cliff.
If he returned to the cliff, he would face two cultivators he couldn’t match, so it would still be death.
That was why he chose to jump where this waterfall was. It was because the color of the water here was rather dark, the water level should be much deeper than other places. When he fell here, he might not directly die from the impact.
However, he still had to first make sure that he could land in this deep pool, and he had to find a way to reduce the impact a bit. Otherwise, even if the water level below was deep enough, the instant he made contact with the water, it would still be just like Xue Wantao said, his flesh and bones would immediately be crushed.
Because of the true pressure of death, unlike before, this valley looked especially tall, looking at the dark green gemstone-like pool also made his heart pound.
…
A precipitous cliff quickly rose before Lin Xi’s eyes.
The damp moss and stones quickly became streaks of green and black.
The roaring winds, thunderous water sounds and the unique feeling of weightlessness when falling from above made all of his blood and consciousness seem to surge, his mind also naturally feeling incredibly nervous.
He didn’t jump too far from the cliff, this was an extremely dangerous thing to do for anyone trying to survive after jumping off a cliff. Most of the mountain rocks on the cliff were jagged and uneven, when jumping down from above, one might not necessarily be able to see just how far out they reached. The powerful mountain winds might just directly blow one even closer to the cliff, making it easy for them to smash into these rocks.
However, Lin Xi only narrowed his eyes slightly, doing his best to see a bit clearer, at the same time carefully calculating the time.
His right hand tightly gripped the black long blade, a cloth strip bound tightly around his arm and the blade’s handle, just like how Tang Ke taught him, in preparation to throw the blade.
From above, this cliff looked exceptionally tall, but in reality, the fall was extremely short.
As if without much of a pause, Lin Xi’s body leapt out. Almost the moment he made a turn in the air, adjusting his body so that he was facing the cliff, falling straight down, Lin Xi knew that he was now facing the most crucial moment. His heart contracted powerfully like never before, sending large amounts of blood towards different parts of his body. The rest of the soul force in his body also completely gushed out, gathering towards his hand.
Lin Xi struck out with the blade, truly using all of his body’s strength against the cliff in front of him, hacking in viciously.
The sharp and ice-cold blade stabbed into the damp and hard mountain rock.
Lin Xi’s rapid falling stance suddenly came to a stop. At the same time, Lin Xi who tightly gripped the long blade only felt his body shake. The long blade in his hands stabbed deeply into the mountain, but his body still felt as if he smashed into a formless mountain.
Ka…
He could clearly hear the sounds of bones shattering in his wrist, the force seemingly entering his own chest and abdomen.
The powerful recoil force and rippling force sent his body flying far away from the cliff, approaching that waterfall with incredible precision, falling towards the dark waters below the waterfall.
This just happened to be in the middle of the entire cliff.
In the end, Lin Xi’s body tumbled, vaguely seeing that there were several trees sticking out of the cliff. At the same time, he also saw the deep blue waters that were quickly widening in size. He didn’t have time to do anything else, only having enough time to straighten his body as much as possible, keep his head up and feet down, even his toes straight, smashing into the water surface like a perfectly straight spear.
Water splashed high into the air. It was as if Lin XI smashed into an invisible mountain again.
Compared to when he stabbed into the mountain with all his strength, the impact this time seemed a bit less. However, because the time was too short, at this moment, the injuries he suffered from the previous battle completely erupted as well.
Pu!
Even though he completed the dive with extreme persistence, a mouthful of blood still sprayed out from his mouth.
The left part of his chest that had already stopped bleeding also burst again, strands of scorching hot blood rushing out.
Then, his entire body completely entered the dark green waters, quickly sinking, completely disappearing under the waterfall’s white waves.
…
On the cliff, Xue Wantao immediately rushed to the slippery cliff without any regard for his chest’s injuries.
Because everything happened too quickly, he only saw the instant Lin Xi rushed into the water. His face was already incredibly pale.
He looked at the deep waters below, really wishing to take another step, clench his teeth and jump off.
However, when a gust of mountain wind blew into his body, he felt a wave of dizziness, actually inadvertently taking a step backwards instead.
His face immediately became more and more pale. When he saw the craggy mountain rocks, saw the extremely small pool below the waterfall, he once again roared out like a wounded beast, “How is this possible! …Why does he dare make this type of jump?!”
The serious faced Yunqin officer also arrived at the edge of the cliff, looking down the cliff. He also took a deep breath.
He didn’t dare make this jump either.
This type of elevation, if what was below was an extremely deep river, then he would jump without any hesitation.
However, the pond below, when looked at down at from above, was simply as small as a well… Moreover, who knew just how deep it was below, if there were any rocks beneath the water? These were all sources of fear he couldn’t overcome.
He didn’t want to die like this for no reason, and he also understood Xue Wantao’s current scream well. It was because he was also a cultivator, so he understood extremely clearly that when a cultivator believed they made a huge breakthrough themself, but instead discovered that there was still someone who far exceeded them in that area, moreover mocked them for this, just how great the sense of defeat would be.