novelraw Chapter 893 757: Borrowing the Sword
Chapter 893 757: Borrowing the Sword
Killing intent surged, Shi Chun raised his hand and patted Huang Yingying's shoulder, decisively saying, "All three at once, leave none alive!"
Since he was the one calling the shots, Huang Yingying immediately drew two more arrows from the quiver, adding them to the one already nocked on the bowstring. Glancing at the three figures slowly approaching, she said, "Almost there."
Implying, can we start?
Shi Chun laid out the plan, "After one shot, regardless of success, they are bound to flee." Pointing to Qilin A San peeking out from above his head, he continued, "Therefore, after one shot, you immediately ride it to pursue. Focus solely on the chase; I'll follow to capture them alive. If catching up proves impossible, leave no survivors! A San, avoid the devouring void entrance; it's dangerous during pursuit!"
"Understood." Qilin A San nodded solemnly, wearing the air of someone about to undertake a significant task.
"..." Huang Yingying glanced up at it, unsure of where this creature sprang from to steal the conversation, then followed with, "Okay."
She then fixated on the approaching trio, slowly drawing back the bowstring.
Meanwhile, Shi Chun nudged Wu Jinliang with his elbow, gesturing towards Shen Moming and Xiao Sheng, "You three protect the Sect Master; Sister Zhu stay close to me later."
In the darkness, the three demon cultivators cautiously recording routes while holding Jade Scrolls suddenly halted.
Each felt an intangible sense of being watched, as though something was targeting them. Simultaneously, they looked towards the source of this probing sensation.
Suddenly, they each detected a murderous intent following this probing sensation, and the three were greatly alarmed.
However, it was already too late, and upon hearing the distant bang, all three saw their right shoulder and chest as if struck by a heavy hammer. They glimpsed a streak of purple light tearing through the void, drilling close to their chests, instantly piercing through.
This scene nearly scared them out of their wits.
They instantly recognized the attack: the Void Escape Divine Arrow!
Being targeted by this meant certain death, even deploying a Demon Path blood escape couldn't save them.
The impacts, the sharp pain, the instantaneous chaos in their aura followed suit, as the three watched their right chest and shoulder explode open, witnessing their right arms being blown away.
Falling mid-air, the trio quickly gathered their gas, stabilizing their forms, instinctively flashing to flee, prioritizing escape.
With their severely weakened cultivation state, further damaged, facing the Void Escape Divine Arrow left no room for resistance, assuming it was Heavenly Court experts targeting them.
Just as their forms began to scatter, three more streaks of purple light burst forth beside them, bang bang bang, sending them flying.
Another trio of divine arrows shattered their left shoulders.
The source of the attack was, indeed, Huang Yingying.
Once confirming the three arrows could simultaneously target the trio and assured of simultaneously killing them, as the arrows left the string, she immediately seized three more arrows from the quiver, re-nocking them and again targeting the airborne trio, releasing another shot.
The trio, struck, had their right shoulders blasted apart, arms severed, left shoulder wounds bursting with blood, aura disrupted, forms tumbling.
Having already established experience, Huang Yingying unhesitatingly grabbed another trio of arrows, nocking them on the string, targeting them.
Bang, the released arrows vanished into thin air, reappeared as purple light, and blew away a leg from each.
Due to lighting conditions, Wu Jinliang and others couldn't clearly see the process, but they could see the purple light piercing through the darkness and witness the scene of the divine arrows leaving their target trio in bloody chaos.
The bowstring's resonant sound echoed loudly in their eardrums.
Only then did the first trio shot, transformed into flowing light, loop back through the darkness and swiftly return to the quiver.
Including those shot out, there were a total of thirteen arrows in the quiver.
Huang Yingying already reached for the quiver again, procured another three arrows, aiming at the three figures rolling within the Extreme Abyss, and with a bang, another three arrows shot forth.
Three streaks of purple light exploded again, blowing away another leg.
With four consecutive volleys, Huang Yingying had forcefully obliterated the four limbs of the targets.
"They're not getting away; they won't recover quickly. Sir, hurry and capture them!"
The one shouting was Huang Yingying, who had once again drawn three divine arrows, bowstring pulled towards the targets, obviously already locking onto the trio, ready to slaughter them at any moment.
Holding the Boundless Banner and Three Corpses Mirror, ready to strike, Shi Chun found himself dumbfounded by Huang Yingying's consecutive shots, his initial elaborate plan rendered completely moot.
The various possible scenarios he had worried about didn't even have the chance to materialize, swiftly resolved by Huang Yingying's arrows.
Only then did he realize why the Void Escape Divine Arrow was a Sixth Grade Magical Treasure, surpassing the Sky Splitting Sword in grade; the power of this thing was indeed terrifying.
Beside him, Zhu Xiangxin and others were also stunned by the power of the divine arrows, unaware of what they were exactly, but astounded by the surprises the Master continuously revealed.
To them, it was an undeniable form of intimidation.
Even Qilin A San, having just escaped from the Demon Altar, was full of fearful eyes.
"Hmm..." Coming to his senses, Shi Chun hurriedly stashed the Three Corpses Mirror, replacing it with Immortal Strangling Silk, tossing it out.
A streak of flowing light shot forth, morphing into a large net, gathering the tumbling trio together.
Simultaneously, Shi Chun advanced, grasping the Boundless Banner defensively while magically extracting a full gourd of immobilization material, nearing the trio and pushing it forth, immobilizing them along with the Immortal Strangling Silk.
Despite this, as he approached, he still dared not relax his defense with the Boundless Banner, swiftly piercing steel needles into the acupoints of the three bodies.
After thoroughly subduing the three targets, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, and his right eye superpower carefully assessed the scale of their Demon Essence.
Upon careful examination, he found it somewhat puzzling. The Demon Essence was much denser than those of the Sixteen Demon Earth Immortals Great Success Realm, yet there was a considerable difference compared to the Heavenly Immortal Realm Demon Essence he had seen before. What kind of situation was this?
Now was not the time to dwell on it. He quickly stopped the bleeding for the three, checked their injuries, fed them medicine orally, and then used his magic to break open the immobilization skill's restraints, pulling up the three individuals, and using the Cloud Stepping Boots on his feet to propel them swiftly back into the cave.
"Let's go, let's go, it's not safe to stay here long. Xiao Sheng, help Sect Master up."
Shi Chun, while calling out to everyone, also found some fabric to wrap up the three caught in the net.
He seemed very anxious to leave. There was no help for it; the Void Escape Divine Arrow might not necessarily be able to deal with masters of the Upper Heaven Immortal Realm.
The Sect Hierarch of the Demon Path Three Lineages could very well be within the Extreme Abyss, and having lost three masters, might personally come looking. Not to mention, he had seen the power of Blood Kasaya firsthand.
Before the group rushed out of the cave, they were again perplexed and uncertain when Shi Chun waved his sleeve to retrieve Qilin A San's actions. Was this stored into the Qiankun Bag?
With Shi Chun personally guiding them, riding the Wind Scale, they avoided using the safe route, instead finding another path to leave.
During the journey, Wu Jinliang, who was carrying the three demon cultivators, realized something and suddenly asked, "Aren't we calling Feng Chi and the others?"
Shi Chun replied, "They can't finish their task right now, but hiding there won't cause them any issue."
Wu Jinliang thought that was true too, those few guys were all from the Demon Path, being found by the Demon Path wouldn't matter much.
Near the sea surrounding the Extreme Abyss, in a cave on an island, Li Hongjiu slowly opened his eyes from his seated meditation, and took out the Mother-child Talisman used to contact Shi Chun to check it.
After replying to the message, he spoke to Han Bao and Mulan Qingqing who were guarding the cave entrance, "Shi Chun has sent a message, instructing us to immediately return to our previous hiding place at sea. He'll contact us en route for a rendezvous."
Mulan Qingqing was puzzled, "Why are we running here and there?"
Li Hongjiu gave a bitter smile, "He said there are too many spies from various squads here, making it inconvenient to do things."
Han Bao seemed indifferent, though the Mother-child Talisman in his sleeve had already sent a message to Mulan Jin.
Previously, the Heavenly Court Command Center struggled to contact Shi Chun and the others, becoming somewhat anxious. Mulan Jin, upon Manxi's advice, instructed Han Bao to immediately contact them upon finding Shi Chun.
Thus, temporarily staying in the water mist of the Extreme Abyss, just having confirmed the situation with Li Hongjiu and searching for a suitable location for strategic retreat, Shi Chun received a message from Mulan Jin.
More precisely, upon hearing Shi Chun had made contact, Manxi immediately borrowed Mulan Jin's Mother-child Talisman to send a message with just one sentence: I am Manxi, where is Situ Zhen?
Seeing this message, Shi Chun knew someone had leaked his communication with Li Hongjiu, and could easily guess who was responsible.
Such a quick reaction, pretending not to see it wouldn't work; after pondering, he replied: Temporarily unknown whereabouts.
This time, Manxi unequivocally stated: You lost the Sky Splitting Sword, if Situ Zhen is nowhere to be found and the sword is unrecovered, you won't go anywhere, and Han Bao won't let you take Li Hongjiu!
He was indeed angry this time. With things reaching this point, Mulan Jin beside him couldn't interfere any further.
In the water mist, Shi Chun was deep in thought; he had to take Li Hongjiu away, both for healing and because there were too many spies from various squads here, and also because the surrounding sea wasn't suitable for Li Hongjiu to perform the Thunder Sword Technique—there were too many personnel from various factions here.
Before the Battle of Great Pardon ended, he needed to elevate his cultivation to the Earth Immortal Realm to truly qualify for participation, especially after Wu Jinliang and the others described the scene when those masters struck.
Now, having managed to gather some Demon Essence through risk, only Li Hongjiu's actions remained.
The issue was, he couldn't mess around with Manxi; if Manxi disagreed, there was no way he'd forcibly take Li Hongjiu from Han Bao.
Having weighed it over, he felt his goal was already achieved; there was no need to continue concealing the whereabouts of Sky Splitting Sword. He immediately replied: Commander, I have recovered the Sky Splitting Sword, but have lost Situ Zhen again; honestly, I can't find her at the moment.
In the Heavenly Court Command Center's high platform, Manxi was delighted upon seeing the message, almost disbelieving it, first showing it to Mulan Jin beside him, "This fellow, we haven't been able to find it among so many people, yet he claims to have recovered the sword—if true, this guy indeed possesses some remarkable ability beyond others."
He then hastily replied to confirm: Is this true?
Shi Chun replied: Dare not deceive the Commander.
Worried he'd get tricked, Manxi promptly sent a message: Handing over the Sky Splitting Sword proves it true, failing to do so proves it false; immediately hand over the Sky Splitting Sword.
Shi Chun was taken aback, quickly replying: Commander, the rules of the Battle of Great Pardon state that whichever magical treasure is snatched by whom belongs to them, how could there be rationale for surrendering it?
Manxi showed the message to Mulan Jin again, persuading: "Commander, the Sky Splitting Sword must no longer face any more incidents; your beloved is with him, this sword by their side will only bring them more danger. Individuals like Yan Zhili are not those they can withstand. The Sky Splitting Sword in Dongguo Shou's hands would be the safest, and would also have the greatest impact—then the result of the battle can be expected. To not disappoint the Emperor's expectations, please, Commander, guarantee that he lends the sword; it will be returned post-battle, and lending the sword will earn significant credit."
Having entered here, he had consistently been aiding this Commander, and this was the first proper request for assistance.
Mulan Jin considered carefully; in terms of emotions and rationale, he couldn't outright refuse, and indeed, the other party's reasoning was sound, thus nodding affirmatively immediately.
Manxi was overjoyed, quickly maneuvering the Mother-child Talisman messaging back to Shi Chun: Shi Chun, Xuanji Token Master is right beside, and can guarantee it. The sword is merely handed over for squad usage, promised to be returned post-battle, and you'll earn credit for three hundred tokens.
To Shi Chun, the Sky Splitting Sword before him wasn't extremely significant; the key was it consumed too much mana, and there were few his side could manage it, Huang Yingying couldn't openly use it either. Provided it ultimately returned, lending it for credit wasn't inherently negative.
That was, after all, credit for three hundred tokens.
Confirming Mulan Jin would guarantee this, Shi Chun immediately agreed to lend the sword.
Manxi's intent was simple: the sword would be handed to Han Bao, who obtaining it would let Li Hongjiu go, and the Command Center's operations would take care of the rest.