Chapter 448 - 312: Deadly Grand Formation

Chapter 448: Chapter 312: Deadly Grand Formation

P.S. Happy holidays to all of Xiaodao’s female readers! To all the guys out there, be sure to care for and cherish the women in your lives. Respect your mothers, honor your wives, and love your daughters. Mmm~~

"You little bastard! You want to kill me... HAHAHAHA! Ah!"

Zhe Wanqian unleashed Furious Dragon Absorbing Water, transforming into a massive tornado. He had expected to easily destroy whatever was trapping him, but to his shock, this hazy, illusory grand array actually expanded and contracted in response to his power!

The massive tornado was several meters thick and over a hundred meters tall. Zhe Wanqian stood at its very peak, expecting to see the city below, but all that met his eyes was the same swirling mist. In other words, he hadn’t escaped at all!

Furthermore, this incredibly destructive technique, Furious Dragon Absorbing Water, could normally gouge a crater dozens of meters deep if used on solid ground. Yet now... the ground below was just as hazy, and not a single speck of dirt was being swept up!

The massive tornado howled and tore through the array, but it felt like a punch thrown with all his might that had struck nothing but empty air.

The Zhe Family’s ancestor let out a furious roar. His rage-filled bellow echoed like muffled thunder within the Four Symbols Grand Array, yet not a single sound escaped to the outside world.

The smile on the Zhe Family ancestor’s face froze. Meanwhile, Ling Xiao, who was at the array’s core, burst into laughter. Not only had the ancestor’s incredibly powerful Furious Dragon Absorbing Water failed to damage the array in the slightest, it had actually sent him straight into the Ming Sect!

Ling Xiao watched the Zhe Family’s ancestor with an indifferent expression. ’Forget you,’ he thought. ’Even a Cultivator who has formed a Second Primordial Spirit wouldn’t find it easy to escape this Four Symbols Grand Array!’

On the Canglan Continent, comparing Martial Artists to Cultivators was simple. A Golden Core Stage Cultivator, relying on their innate strength alone without any artifacts, was roughly equivalent to someone at the Sword Sect realm. Of course, give that Cultivator a single artifact or a powerful Cultivation Technique, and a Sword Sect expert would be no match for them. Take Ling Xiao, for example. At his current Mid-Golden Core Stage, he could likely hold his own against a Tier Five Sword Emperor and even kill a Tier Four Sword Emperor without the aid of any artifacts. However, if he faced a Tier Six Sword Emperor powerhouse without relying on Spiritual Artifacts, his only option would be to run.

But this was precisely where a Cultivator’s advantage lay, so there was no point discussing fairness. Without the help of this array, Ling Xiao wouldn’t have dared to openly challenge the Zhe Family even if he had a hundred times his courage, let alone entertain the thought of wiping out their powerhouses for revenge and to establish his own dominance.

Although the Zhe Family’s ancestor had always been extremely hot-tempered, it didn’t mean he lacked composure. Otherwise, how could he possibly have cultivated to the Sword Venerable Realm? Much of it was just an act. Zhe Wanqian’s true intelligence was not at all reflected by his explosive demeanor, and... it had little to do with the fact that his lifespan was nearing its end and he was on the verge of succumbing to his inner demons.

He was simply acting more on impulse, that’s all.

Seeing that a brute-force attack was ineffective, Zhe Wanqian immediately stopped his assault, sat down cross-legged on the ground, and began to ponder.

Zhe Wanqian’s original line of thought was this: ’Since Ling Xiao dares to openly provoke the Zhe Family and possesses the strength to kill Middle-to-High Tier Sword Emperors, he must have a powerhouse of at least the Tier Six Sword Emperor realm backing him!’

As for Ling Xiao himself, Zhe Wanqian never believed—not then, and not even now—that the boy had the strength to defeat him.

’In that case, with my cultivation at the Tier Two Sword Venerable realm, I could escape safely even if I ran into one of those old fossils from a super-family! But how could a boy from the Mortal World possibly have ties to a super-family? The only possibility is the Sea Domain Song Family!’

He had long suspected that if the young lady from the Sea Domain Song Family was truly Ling Xiao’s woman, then the Song Family would certainly provide him with some support. It would be just like the last time in Penzes City, when two of the Zhe Family’s Sword Emperor Powerhouses ran into a tough opponent. They must have other hidden forces.

’But no matter how I calculate it,’ he thought, ’even if the Sea Domain Song Family’s old ancestor, Song Xi, came personally, the most he could do is fight me to a draw. He doesn’t have the power to kill me!’

After all his planning and calculations, Zhe Wanqian had never once anticipated that such a bizarre place capable of trapping him even existed within Penzes City!

’This definitely isn’t Ling Xiao’s own power!’

As Zhe Wanqian mulled this over, his eyes suddenly lit up. A new thought struck him: ’This boy, Ling Xiao... his strength has skyrocketed in two years, he can refine a miraculous elixir like the Beauty Pill, and he possesses a method capable of trapping even me... Doesn’t that mean he must have some kind of Secret Manual in his possession?’

The more Zhe Wanqian thought about it, the more his heart burned with excitement. He was thrilled. ’A method that can trap even me... could it be anything less than extraordinary? If I can obtain it, the Zhe Family will soar to unprecedented heights!’

With his heart ablaze, Zhe Wanqian’s eyes snapped open. He decided to try and persuade Ling Xiao. He was confident that, sooner or later, he would get out. And once he did, it would be Ling Xiao’s doomsday. ’So,’ he reasoned, ’it would be better for him to hand over the Secret Manual. I can choose to overlook the fact that he’s killed so many of my family’s people. Not only that... I can even give him the title of an honorary Elder of the Zhe Family!’

The more he considered it, the more feasible his plan seemed. He convinced himself that Ling Xiao couldn’t have been the one who killed the Tier Four Sword Emperor and publicly challenged the Zhe Family. ’It must be the remnants of the Su Family,’ he mused. ’They were probably taken in by the Song Family, and now they’re using Ling Xiao to get their revenge.’

And so, after a moment’s thought, Zhe Wanqian called out in a deep voice, "Boy, I have something to say to you!"

Ling Xiao gave a scornful smile, looking indifferently at Zhe Wanqian, who sat cross-legged within the Ming Sect. He said nothing. Instead, with a mere glance, a giant hand suddenly materialized within the Annihilation Array! It reached into the Death Gate, grabbed the long-dead corpse of Zhe Shixun, and with a THUD, tossed it right in front of Zhe Wanqian!

Zhe Shixun’s corpse, clutched in a massive hand, appeared without warning within the Ming Sect. Zhe Wanqian was about to attack but froze. He grabbed the body and examined it, finding it completely free of wounds. However, the expression on its face was one of pure, contorted terror, as if he had been literally scared to death by some unspeakable horror.

"AARGH! Ling Xiao, you whelp! You’ve gone too far!"

The persuasive words Zhe Wanqian had just prepared were now impossible to say. His opponent was clearly intent on exterminating the entire Zhe Family. "When I get out of here, I’ll tear you into a million pieces! I’ll slaughter every last man in your family! The women will all become camp whores! Ling Xiao... You just wait!"

Zhe Wanqian roared with rage. Just then, he saw the ancestor of the Sea Domain Song Family, Song Xi, walking toward him, sword in hand. He couldn’t help but curse, "Song Xi, so it really was you, you old bastard! Wasn’t being defeated by my grandfather embarrassing enough? How dare you kill members of my Zhe Family! Prepare to die!" As he spoke, a boundless aura erupted from Zhe Wanqian, bearing down viciously upon Song Xi.

To Zhe Wanqian’s utter astonishment, this Song Xi’s aura was not the least bit weaker than his own! His eyes were filled with undisguised mockery. Without a word, he flicked his wrist, sending the sword scabbard flying. Then, he swung his blade diagonally toward Zhe Wanqian. The Sword Qi surged like a massive wave, letting out a piercing shriek as it slashed down.

Zhe Wanqian was incandescent with rage. ’So it really was the Sea Domain Song Family pulling the strings all along! And to think... even their old ancestor came here in person. It’s a good thing I came myself today. If I’d stuck to my original plan and sent twenty Sword Emperors and twenty High-tier Sword Sects, they wouldn’t have even been enough for this one Song Xi to slaughter.’

’Despicable! Shameless!’

Cursing wildly in his mind, a wave of fear washing over him, Zhe Wanqian began to battle Song Xi.

From the core of the array, Ling Xiao watched with a calm expression, though he couldn’t hide his inner surprise. ’This Sword Venerable from the Zhe Family really is powerful!’

Each wave of Sword Qi, mixed with elemental power, slashed out with tangible force. Ling Xiao watched with rapt attention, analyzing the similarities and differences between these techniques and the sword skills of the Cultivation Realm.

It was an incredibly rare opportunity to witness a Sword Venerable Realm powerhouse fighting for his life, forced to use every last one of his trump cards.

Watching the ceaselessly cursing Zhe Wanqian, Ling Xiao sneered inwardly. ’Whoever you imagine your enemy to be, that’s who will appear in this array. And their strength will be identical to your own! You could fight for half a month and you still wouldn’t win. You think a Sword Venerable can’t be exhausted to death? Even Immortals can fall when besieged, to say nothing of a Sword Venerable like you.’

Like a frog at the bottom of a well, thinking it owned the whole sky, only to be lifted out by rising floodwaters to see the boundless heavens for the first time... Or like a kitten stepping out of its house and discovering it is not, in fact, a tiger... Such was Zhe Wanqian’s state of mind at this moment.

The more he fought, the more shocked he became; the longer the battle dragged on, the more his heart filled with a chilling dread. His opponent’s techniques were endless and exquisitely refined! By now, this "Song Xi" had already unleashed over seventy different sword skills, and not a single one had been repeated.

Zhe Wanqian’s mind reeled. ’When did the Sea Domain Song Family acquire so many High-level Sword Skills? And just how formidable is Song Xi to have mastered so many of them?!’

In reality, these weren’t Song Xi’s sword skills in the slightest. The grand array was Ling Xiao’s creation, and as long as he was in control, all the sword skills used by the illusions within were his.

As "Song Xi’s" attacks grew ever fiercer, Zhe Wanqian started to feel completely outclassed. What’s more, he had a nagging feeling that his opponent’s strength was identical to his own!

As time went on, a realization suddenly dawned on Zhe Wanqian. His opponent’s expression... it was too simple, too unchanging! He let out a great roar and spat a mouthful of blood. "Illusion! Break!"

A mocking smile crept onto "Song Xi’s" face. The sword thrusting for Zhe Wanqian’s head didn’t pause for an instant. Its chilling Sword Qi and palpable killing intent continued to drive it viciously toward the spot between Zhe Wanqian’s brows!

Only when the sword’s tip was less than a palm’s breadth from his brow, its ghastly, cold aura chilling him to the bone, did Zhe Wanqian finally retreat, his eyes wide with fury and terror.

At the same time, he roared madly, "What in the world is this?!"

Unfortunately, the only reply he received was the mocking gaze of "Song Xi" and the relentless pursuit of his sword.