Nine Astra Skies

Chapter 192: Certain Death in One Slash!

After a moment, Dongmen Yingyang and the rest flew in and landed on the ground.

“Where is he?” Dongmen Yingyang growled. His fiendish appearance caused Leiyu Tianyi and the rest to tremble deep down, and they quickly knelt with a thud.

“General Dongmen, we only found his Nightwind but we don’t know where he is,” Leiyu Tianyi said, scared witless. He knew that Dongmen Yingyang was fierce and ruthless. If Dongmen Yingyang was unhappy, they would be turned into corpses right there.

“Split up and search!” Dongmen Yingyang looked toward the dense thicket. Despite his ability as a Heavenly Venerable Rank expert, he could not detect even a trace of Ye Chen’s energy. This little punk named Ye Chen must have had some tricks. It was not surprising that even the Grandruler prioritized this matter.

“General Dongmen, that guy is an Earthly Venerable fighter!” At Leiyu Tianyi’s side, a Sixth Level fighter who had been disguised as a fortune-teller spoke up in a shaking voice. If they split up and searched the forest for an Earthly Venerable Rank powerhouse, was that not a suicide mission?

Dongmen Yingyang waved his sleeve once. There was a loud “bang” and the person flew backward, crashing heavily into an enormous tree five or six meters away. Then he dropped down, spat out a mouthful of blood, and his eyes turned dull and lifeless.

“Anyone else has any objections?” Dongmen Yingyang cast a severe glare at Leiyu Tianyi and the rest.

“None.” Leiyu Tianyi was gripped in terror and shook his head hurriedly. Thereafter, he roared at his subordinates. “Split up and search!”

More than ten people split up and burrowed into the dense forest.

Dongmen Yingyang knew that if these people had encountered Ye Chen, they were sure to die. However, if any of these people died, Ye Chen would undoubtedly reveal his traces. In that case, they could track down Ye Chen. As for the lives of these men, it was of no importance to him at all.

“Split into two groups and search through the east and south side. Brother Sikou, we’ll look for him separately. Everyone, keep in contact at all times. When you find him, don’t engage in battle. Instead, send out the signal immediately.” Dongmen Yingyang looked at a middle-aged man who was standing next to him, dressed in a scholar’s robe.

The one standing next to Dongmen Yingyang was called Sikou Fengyan. He was a Heavenly Venerable Rank expert as well. His strength was slightly inferior to Dongmen Yingyang’s and he wore a scholar’s robe. He had a peculiarly shaped iron fan in one hand and looked cultured and refined.

“Very well.” Sikou Fengyan waved his iron fan once as he spoke.

Dongmen Yingyang and Sikou Fengyan sprang up and flew in the air. The remaining Earthly Venerable Rank and top Tenth Level experts split into groups and headed deep into the forest.

Ye Chen’s Astral Body swept past them, noticing that they were splitting up to search for him. He had an idea. Should he make them suffer? Previously, those from the Nanman Kingdom had tried to assassinate his father. He still had not settled the score for that. Now that they were hot on his heels, if he did not make the Nanman Kingdom bleed heavily, they might just buzz incessantly by his ear like flies!

Only by giving them a heavy beating would they learn their lesson!

With his Astral Body, Ye Chen knew of their whereabouts like the back of his hand. He brought Little Tanuki and Little Wingsy with him, carefully evading his pursuers while checking on the movements of the Nanman Kingdom’s experts.

“Little Wingsy, we’ll split up and act. Stall the two Heavenly Venerable experts. Little Tanuki and I shall wipe out the small fry. After I’m done, I’ll send you a signal and then you should flee immediately,” Ye Chen said. He knew that Little Wingsy had resilient strength.

Although Little Wingsy could not kill the two Heavenly Venerable experts, they could do nothing against him either. Little Wingsy had the body of a Daemon King powerhouse. Even if he just stood there and let the two Heavenly Venerable fighters hit him for two or three hours, they could forget about leaving even a scar on his body!

“Uh-huh, I like fighting the most!” Little Wingsy balled up his fists and said excitedly.

“Be careful.” Ye Chen patted Little Wingsy’s head but after a moment, he could not refrain from laughing and shaking his head. His advice was superfluous!

Little Wingsy strode into the forest, looking for Dongmen Yingyang and Sikou Fengyan.

Ye Chen examined with his Astral Body and locked onto a team who was searching for him a few hundred meters away. There were two Earthly Venerable fighters and four top Tenth Level ones!

“As if it’s not easy to deal with you guys! Little Tanuki, let’s go!” Ye Chen’s murderous aura was chilling. He would not feel sorry over the deaths of these people from the Nanman Kingdom!

In the thicket, the six of them were constantly looking for traces of Ye Chen.

“Brother Qi Diao, don’t you think that the Grandruler is paying too much attention to this punk? He’s just an Earthly Venerable fighter – is there a need to send so many of us? Even General Dongmen was acting so cautious. He even sent his assassins,” among the six Nanman Kingdom experts, a silver-armored Earthly Venerable expert spoke up and glanced at the four gray-robed top Tenth Level experts walking behind him. These four experts even had their faces and heads covered.

The four top Tenth Level experts had kept their faces covered and had not said a single word from the start until now. Mysterious energy emanated from them as if they were moving corpses. It was enough to make anyone’s hair stand on end.

“To attain the Earthly Venerable Rank at seventeen years old – a threat like this should be strangled while he was still a baby. Moreover, the kid by his side also has extremely mysterious origins. Even the sect leader of the Emerald Cloud Sect, Nie Qingyun, had suffered at his hands,” the Earthly Venerable expert named Qi Diao replied as his eyes darted around the forest.

They had followed the Grandruler of Nanman, Tuoba Hongye, for many years. It was the first time they felt the Grandruler was treating someone so seriously. They were war leaders who had fought hundreds of battles. Those killed by them would number a few thousand, if not tens of thousands. Now, many of them were sent here just to wipe out a seventeen-year-old youth. This was an unprecedented case. Moreover, General Dongmen had ordered them not to engage in battle but to send the signal at once upon discovering their target. That was very strange. They felt that even if they could not capture the youth, the youth could not possibly slaughter them in a short time!

A kilometer away, Dongmen Yingyang was searching through the forest when he suddenly sensed an energy. He looked back and saw that a five or six-year-old kid had appeared behind him with a whoosh. The kid was waving and swinging a fist toward him. The kid’s fist was not even as big as a soup dumpling!

“It’s you.” Dongmen Yingyang gave a faint smile and dodged to one side.

“Big guy, if you have the guts, don’t dodge. Fight me!” Little Wingsy’s fist found only empty air and he snorted twice.

Dongmen Yingyang had read through the information and knew that Little Wingsy had sent Nie Qingyun packing in one blow. Although Dongmen Yingyang was vicious, he had crawled out from a pile of dead bodies after all. He knew that underestimating the enemy was akin to suicide. After evading Little Wingsy’s attack, he swung a fist into Little Wingsy’s body.

There was a loud “bang”. Dongmen Yingyang felt his fist go numb from the impact, yet Little Wingsy was completely fine and was throwing another punch at him. Dongmen Yingyang thought to himself, this kid was just like what the information stated – his body was matchlessly sturdy. Dongmen Yingyang immediately dodged Little Wingsy’s attacks a few times and roared furiously. A Heavenly Venerable fighter’s roar rumbled over long distances like thunder.

After Dongmen Yingyang’s roar had reverberated throughout the forest, a few distant energies quickly dashed toward this direction.

Ye Chen’s Astral Body followed the sound and saw that Little Wingsy had already clashed against Dongmen Yingyang. Nonetheless, he did not have to worry about Little Wingsy at all.

Qi Diao and the other five had heard Dongmen Yingyang’s roar and changed their expressions.

“General Dongmen has found them!” Qi Diao exclaimed in excitement.

“Let’s go!” The six of them were about to take off when a white figure flashed from a nearby thicket. They suddenly became absent-minded.

“Now’s the time!” Ye Chen’s eyes narrowed. A Celestial Chi Flying Dagger had condensed in the air and he waved his right hand.

With a swoosh, a streak of light bolted out between the gaps of the leaves, shooting straight toward the Earthly Venerable fighter named Qi Diao.

That streak of light was swift and graceful, arriving in a flash!

Within this light, there was a decisive killing force. It was like the cold gaze of the Grim Reaper.

At this moment, a burst of terror bubbled up from deep within all six of their hearts.

It was the terrifying sensation of their Spirits being collected!

Pftt – a torrent of blood blossomed on the brow of the Earthly Venerable fighter named Qi Diao as glorious and dazzling as a red spider lily. The flame of his life was abruptly extinguished.

A hundred shots, a hundred hits – certain death in one slash!

Hidden within the thicket was Ye Chen, his body slightly arched as if he was a mighty hunter watching his prey closely. Ye Chen knew that the Celestial Chi Flying Dagger was not fast enough. An Earthly Venerable expert could still dodge it easily, but when Ye Chen had coordinated with Little Tanuki, an Earthly Venerable Rank fighter could forget about escaping his attack!

The remaining Earthly Venerable fighter and the four top Tenth Level fighters were so shocked by Qi Diao’s death that their hearts skipped a few beats and they broke out from the hold of Little Tanuki’s Illusion.

“An enemy’s attack!” the Earthly Venerable Rank fighter yelled in rage and lunged in the direction where the Flying Dagger had come from.

The four top Tenth Level masked experts raised their hands, aiming the black holes of their sleeves right at where Ye Chen was hiding.

Swish swish swish!

Swish swish swish!

A dense mass of needles glinted icily in the air, piercing down upon Ye Chen’s hiding place like a rainstorm. The tips of the needles had a faint green luster. Clearly, they were dipped in poison.

Ye Chen was shocked by this secret weapon and quickly responded. Like a cheetah, he leaped away and evaded the needles, then formed another Celestial Chi Flying Dagger in his hand out of thin air. The Flying Dagger left his hand and shot toward the Earthly Venerable Rank fighter.

The Earthly Venerable fighter harrumphed in fury. He was about to dodge to one side to evade the Flying Dagger when his heart suddenly clenched. The scene before his eyes changed at once. A few gigantic mystical beasts were racing toward him. A thought flashed in his mind – it was an Illusion again!

Little Tanuki was mentally linked to Ye Chen and her timing of wielding her Illusion had reached its peak. An Earthly Venerable expert would be able to break free from Little Tanuki’s Illusion in a few short seconds if they were prepared. However, their train of thought would be involuntarily affected by Little Tanuki.

After being caught in the Illusion, the movements of the Earthly Venerable fighter would be slightly delayed.

A moment of delay like this was the difference between life and death to a fighter.

There was a hissing sound and blood spurted out. Ye Chen’s Celestial Chi Flying Dagger had pierced through the Earthly Venerable expert’s temple. The Earthly Venerable expert’s formidable Pure Yang Construct was like paper-mâché against the penetrating Celestial Chi Flying Dagger. It had shattered upon contact!

Another Earthly Venerable fighter had fallen.

Standing at the end of a tree branch, Little Tanuki breathed in and huffed out a few times. The surroundings were immediately shrouded in a thick fog.

The four top Tenth Level experts could only sense a figure flitting past in the fog. However, in the next moment, they could not seem to sense anything.

The literal translation here would be “the flower of death”, which refers to the red spider lily associated with or acts as symbolic of death in certain cultures.