Chapter 296: The Rusty Sword Cries Within Its Box; Once Drawn, Its Cold Light Chills Nineteen Continents
Boom!
The phantom formed with Lu Fanchen at its center suddenly exploded, like a star going supernova, making a sun rise above Chiyue Town. The blinding radiance was impossible to look at directly.
“Is that man insane?”
Precia stared at Lu Fanchen, who intended to perish together with his enemy, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Although she had long witnessed the madness of those grey-robed disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, Lu Fanchen’s action this time still exceeded her imagination.
A Bone Forging Realm Intermediate Level martial artist could contend against a Blood Condensation Realm Intermediate Level opponent, and that opponent was even the Sky Eye Tyrant, someone with few rivals among the Blood Condensation Realm Intermediate Level experts in the Wushan Region.
Such a genius, who clearly could have joined forces with others to fight the Sky Eye Tyrant, instead chose to die together with him. She could not understand just how determined Lu Fanchen was to kill the Sky Eye Tyrant for the sake of loyalty.
It was not only Precia who was shocked; all the major powers present and watching were utterly baffled by Lu Fanchen’s actions.
“Such a prodigy is actually willing to risk his life like this for that hall master. Just what kind of person is that hall master, to possess such charisma?” Among the crowd, a young human man, wearing Tier 2 Battle Armor emblazoned with the Black Steel Heavy Industry emblem and possessing Extreme Advanced Level Bone Forging Realm strength, looked on in astonishment.
He himself was a top-tier genius within Black Steel Heavy Industry and had joined the Iron Twilight Legion, one of the Five Great Legions, out of admiration for Tie Mu. He would even risk his life for Tie Mu’s words alone.
So for a prodigy like Lu Fanchen to be willing to fight to the death for the hall master of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall made him believe that Hall Master Lin Qi must also be an extraordinary figure. Otherwise, it was hard to imagine why a genius like Lu Fanchen, someone even he had to look up to, would choose without hesitation to perish together with his enemy.
“This Obsidian Martial Arts Hall master does have some means.” Tie Mu of the snake-person race looked at the radiance in midair and could not help but glance toward Lin Qi before the auction venue, taking him more seriously.
To make such a prodigy willingly die for him was not something that could be achieved by brainwashing. Unless Lin Qi possessed some admirable qualities that inspired heartfelt respect.
While everyone was lost in their sighs, Fang Zhen and the others in midair were stirred into commotion.
“This old Lu moved too fast. He rushed in and stole the boss, leaving us no chance to act.” Yi Ye Fu Yun frowned as he watched the rising sun. “By pulling this, he’s even cutting down my chance to perform in front of the master of the pavilion.”
After playing the game for so long, they knew very well the importance of favorability. With high favorability from an NPC, one could receive better tasks and cushy day-to-day jobs in the martial arts hall.
Some shameless players greeted Yaklo over and over every day to grind favorability, more than ten times a day, until Yaklo smilingly rewarded them with the qualification to serve as potion test subjects. Even if they were about to die, Yaklo would find a way to save them, then keep pouring new potions down their throats. That not only saved resurrection costs and time but also let them grow stronger quickly. It was absurdly good.
“Wait, that boss doesn’t seem dead.” Fang Zhen suddenly spoke as he saw a figure fly out of the light.
“Not dead?” Yi Ye Fu Yun quickly spotted the figure as well and shouted excitedly, “Everyone, with me, grab his first blood!”
“All members of Machine God, follow my command and focus fire on that boss. His first blood is ours for sure!” Fang Zhen hurriedly issued his orders, afraid that the first blood would be taken.
In an instant, the thousands of players in midair, upon seeing the Sky Eye Tyrant flying out of the radiance, became as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood and swarmed to besiege him.
This scene left everyone present dumbstruck.
Few among the major powers of the Wushan Region did not know of the Sky Eye Tyrant. Even Zhuo Gu, leader of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, had once been assassinated by the Sky Eye Tyrant and had almost lost his life.
Such a terrifying powerhouse was enough to make ordinary Initial Stage Blood Coagulation masters tremble. The mere aftermath of his battles could easily kill Bone Forging Realm experts. This was also why the Bone Forging Realm experts from Earth Star Pharmaceuticals had not joined the fight.
Although the Sky Eye Tyrant had been injured by Lu Fanchen, it was by no means a fatal wound. His combat power was still at least seventy to eighty percent. Yet now he looked like a drowning dog, with even the high-level martial artists from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall daring to take a shot at him. It was sheer madness.
“You’re courting death!”
Facing the surrounding high-level martial artists, the Sky Eye Tyrant felt an immense humiliation. He forcibly roused his qi and blood and used a slightly weaker Supernatural Level Martial Skill: storm’s descent.
It was one thing to face a super genius like Lu Fanchen, but now he was being besieged by people who were not even in the Bone Forging Realm, and they even thought they could win. This was an insult to him as a Blood Condensation Realm powerhouse.
Suddenly, eight internal-force tornadoes appeared around the Sky Eye Tyrant, each hundreds of meters tall, able to easily sweep across a radius of hundreds of meters. All eight together were like a calamity, enough to destroy cities and erase lands.
“The boss is already in post-skill stiff state. Now, unleash!” Yi Ye Fu Yun saw the desperate Sky Eye Tyrant and gave the order without hesitation.
In an instant, at less than a hundred meters from the Sky Eye Tyrant, more than twenty members of the Azure Sky Defense Group, each only at the level of a high-level martial artist, all spun in midair with spears in hand, and one after another gigantic qi and blood phantom abruptly appeared.
Although these qi and blood phantoms were not as huge as Fang Zhen’s initial over-three-hundred-meter one, they were still more than two hundred meters tall. Because the players themselves were spinning, the phantoms also began to spin, turning into storms themselves and attacking the Sky Eye Tyrant.
This move was a martial skill created by Yi Ye Fu Yun. Unlike the coilgun, it was an improved version of Spiral Demon Spear Kill: the Spiral Demon Spear Cannon, turning the gigantified phantom itself into a demon spear. Though its grade was not as high as Fang Zhen’s Super Electromagnetic Cannon Type 2 Modified, it had the level of a High-Class Super-Class Martial Skill, equivalent to a Sequence Extraordinary Level Martial Skill, and was easier to learn. Generally, anyone with decent burst capability could master it.
“How… is this possible!”
The Sky Eye Tyrant was stunned as he watched more than twenty enormous phantoms turn into sharp spears lunging from all directions.
For the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to have a genius like Lu Fanchen was already remarkable. He had never before in his life been wounded by a Bone Forging Realm martial artist.
But now what was this, more than twenty super geniuses who had mastered Sequence Extraordinary Level Martial Skills?
Seeing the more than twenty gigantic phantoms incoming, the Sky Eye Tyrant hastily pulled his eight storms back to block.
Boom boom boom…
A series of internal force collisions echoed through the sky above Chiyue Town. Although the eight storms controlled by the Sky Eye Tyrant were somewhat stronger than the Spiral Demon Spear Cannons and could directly block more than ten of them, two fists could not beat many hands. Over ten Spiral Demon Spear Cannons still pierced through his defense and blasted straight into his body.
The Sky Eye Tyrant was wearing Tier 2 Top-grade Battle Armor. Against the attacks of strength-system high-level lord monsters, he would suffer only minor injuries. But the power of these Spiral Demon Spear Cannons was no weaker than the Supernatural Level Martial Skills used by Initial Stage Blood Coagulation martial artists. This was far beyond what Tier 2 Top-grade Battle Armor could withstand.
More than ten colossal spiral phantoms pierced through the Sky Eye Tyrant’s body at once. The Tier 2 Top-grade Battle Armor sustained little damage, but his body spurted blood wildly. He was dead beyond any doubt…
“Dead?”
“More than twenty super geniuses! How can the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall have so many super geniuses?!”
The instant-kill of the Sky Eye Tyrant plunged the already shocked crowd into complete silence. Even Bai Shou Kalad of Earth Star Pharmaceuticals was no exception, looking at those more than twenty grey-robed disciples as if they were monsters.
Super geniuses were exceedingly rare in any power within the Four Regions. Even in a Domain City, two or three might not emerge in a year. Sequence Extraordinary Level Martial Skills were not easy to learn, and the cultivation resources required were beyond what ordinary factions could bear.
More than twenty super geniuses: even if Earth Star Pharmaceuticals took out the heritage it had accumulated over many years, it would amount to no more than this.
“Just how much strength has this Obsidian Martial Arts Hall been hiding?” Xie Feina stared at the more than twenty grey-robed disciples in midair, utterly shaken.
More than twenty super geniuses.
This suddenly made Xie Feina understand a bit why Lin Qi had been so confident and dared to auction off those guard robots.
As long as the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall survived today, then in the future within the Wushan Region, it might very well become the greatest power below the Domain City.
“So this is our martial arts hall’s strength?”
Standing beside Lin Qi, Yinuo was also dumbfounded.
She had thought that after advancing beyond the Blood Condensation Realm bottleneck, her strength would rank among the top in the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. But now she realized that within the hall, she could only be considered an expert, nothing particularly special.
“Kill! These people must die! We absolutely cannot allow the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to keep these super geniuses!” Bai Shou Kalad stared at the more than twenty players, eyes filled with madness. “Meliya, Twelve Eccentrics, why are you not acting yet! Do you not want those things? And since you came here today, do you really think the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall will let you go afterward?!”
At Bai Shou Kalad’s words, the Blood-stained General Meliya and the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest, who had been watching the show, all showed shifting expressions.
“This Obsidian Martial Arts Hall indeed cannot be allowed to remain. Take action.”
The leading half-beast race old man among the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest sighed and stepped forward, erupting with the qi and blood of an Extreme Blood Condensation Realm Intermediate Level expert. His physical fitness was so fearsome that a casual axe swing carried over a hundred tons of strength, blasting the air apart and splitting the ground beneath him into a chasm hundreds of meters long and more than ten meters deep, as if he could cleave space itself.
At the same time, the Blood-stained General Meliya swept her Scorching Dragon Spear, infusing it with qi and blood that turned a radius of one kilometer scorching hot, forcing all factions’ members in the area to hastily flee from the burning qi and blood zone.
“Kill!”
“Offer your hearts to the master of the pavilion!”
Seeing Meliya and the others all make a move, Fang Zhen immediately gave the order.
In an instant, the skies above Chiyue Town erupted into all-out battle.
“Lord Mo Xiao, shall we act as well?” The class instructor, one of the only two Blood Condensation Realm lizardmen in the Smiling Skull, asked Mo Xiao respectfully in a low voice.
The strength and potential displayed by the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had far exceeded the expectations of the Smiling Skull. If they did not eliminate them now, this hall would become the greatest competing force in the Wushan Region in the future.
On the path of the martial artist, beyond talent, strength was built by pouring in resources. The resources within the Wushan Region were limited and had long been carved up by the major powers.
The appearance of a new power, especially one with more than twenty super geniuses, would have an unimaginable impact on the Wushan Region and would surely take a huge bite out of its resources.
Moreover, this competing power already had no small conflict with the Smiling Skull. If they were not dealt with now, the future consequences would be endless. This was also why the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest and the Blood-stained General Meliya no longer hesitated.
And at this moment it was not only this lizardman thinking so. Almost all the powers that had come to the auction harbored similar thoughts.
“Tie Mu, want to make a move together?” Mo Xiao pondered for a moment, then smiled and called over to Tie Mu, the leader from Black Steel Heavy Industry. “We can split the guard robots fifty-fifty.”
“Fifty-fifty?” Tie Mu laughed. “You sure know how to calculate. This is your Wushan Region’s own problem. Not only do you want to drag us into the water, you think half is appropriate?”
“How much do you want?” Mo Xiao asked.
Many factions had come to the auction, but in terms of absolute strength, only Tie Mu’s team and his own counted. The other forces, even the team from Azure Wing City, had leaders no stronger than Blood Condensation Realm Intermediate Level and were hardly worth mentioning.
“Of course, all of them,” Tie Mu said bluntly and firmly. “Otherwise, no deal.”
“All of them is impossible. At most half, or we act alone.” Mo Xiao refused decisively.
“Then act alone,” Tie Mu said indifferently.
“You said it.” Mo Xiao’s lips curled slightly as he looked at Tie Mu’s refusal.
This was exactly what he had been waiting for. Black Steel Heavy Industry was not a power of the Wushan Region and could choose to help either side or neither. Whichever they did would not harm their own interests.
So from the start, he had never truly expected Tie Mu’s help. It was enough that Tie Mu did not help the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
“Lord Tie Mu, that Mo Xiao just wanted to make you refuse, so you wouldn’t join either side,” the young human man said, unable to hold back as he watched Mo Xiao prepare to act.
“Of course I know.” Tie Mu looked into the distance at Mo Xiao, his tone calm. “But why wouldn’t I also want to use him to test the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall? This hall is not simple. To raise so many super geniuses… if they still have hidden strength and can stand against the Smiling Skull and the others, it won’t be too late for us to profit from the situation. If this is all they have, then we will simply strike directly.”
“As expected of you, lord,” the young man’s eyes lit up with admiration.
On the other side, as the various powers at the auction grew restless, both Wu Zhuoqun and Yinuo sensed that the atmosphere in Chiyue Town had changed.
Those forces who had merely been watching the drama were now turning their sights on the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
“Hall master, something is wrong with these factions. Maybe we should withdraw quickly.” Wu Zhuoqun scanned the surroundings and saw that the looks directed at them had changed from amazement to something like the gaze one gave prey, or an enemy.
Individually, these factions might not be strong, each with only one Blood Condensation Realm leader, but if all of them attacked the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall together, the number of Blood Condensation Realm experts would be terrifying, far beyond what the hall could handle now.
Yinuo nodded as well, her expression turning grave.
Just moments ago, she had sensed more than a dozen strands of killing intent directed at her. Once the Smiling Skull made a move, these people would definitely act too.
“No need for all that trouble. You stay here and guard the auction venue. I’ll be right back.”
Lin Qi swept his gaze around, then leaped and shot straight toward Mo Xiao, who was about to act.
“Hall master!” Yinuo was stunned at the sight.
Mo Xiao, one of the Seven Guardians of the Smiling Skull, was a figure known to every high-level member of the major powers in the Wushan Region, a name that ranked high across the region.
Lin Qi was only at the Bone Forging Realm Intermediate Level. Even if he was more talented than those grey-robed disciples, against such a master, at this distance, he would have no way to escape if things went wrong.
“Interesting. Instead of thinking about running for your life, you come straight to me. You really have guts. Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you on the spot?” Mo Xiao looked at the suddenly arriving Lin Qi, slightly surprised, then quickly smiled. “Speak. Why did you come to me? If it’s just to beg for mercy, get on your knees and lick my feet. I might change my mind.”
“One of the Seven Guardians of the Smiling Skull, huh?” Lin Qi looked at the sub-demon race Mo Xiao and smiled. “Using you to test my current strength is not bad.”
As he finished speaking, Lin Qi’s life force suddenly surged, an overwhelming vitality shooting straight into the sky.
Threefold transcendent state, activate!
