Chapter 870: Turn of Events
Lush-green tree branches interwove above, sprouting from the tall trees that populated the forest. They appeared like an enormous spider web that covered the sky. Under the cover of these large trees, even sunlight had difficulty breaking through.
A light ray passed through the gaps between the dense trees. It transformed into half a foot wide light pillar as it shot down. It shined on a large group of human figures who were resting with their legs crossed.
There were around fifteen to sixteen human figures in this group. All of them had rich, powerful auras, and were clearly not weaklings. A couple of people among them even had obscure auras, making it difficult to detect their actual strengths. However, from the degree of respect on the faces of the people around, it was clear that these people were the core of this group.
“Bang!”
A couple of muffled sounds suddenly appeared in the distant quiet forest. Immediately, the sounds of physical flesh falling to the ground followed. One seemed to be able to hear some miserable cries. However, the people seated on the ground did not move. They ignored the miserable cries that filled their ears. A couple of minutes later, a few human figures flashed out of the dense forest before landing on some empty ground. They knelt to a black-robed young man and said, “Chief, those fellows behind, who were a little close, have been quietly removed by us.”
The black-robed young man finally opened his tightly shut eyes upon hearing these words. He revealed a pair of ink-like pupils and nodded before letting out a cold laugh, “These fellows are really too reckless… First Elder, how much further until we arrive at the Jia Nan Academy?”
“If no accidents happen, we might be able to reach it by the day after tomorrow.” A white-haired old man beside the black-robed young man smiled and said, “Fortunately, we have quite a number of people on our side. Otherwise, we would have been disturbed by those troublesome flies until we found it difficult to rest.”
The black-robed young man also smiled. He raised his head a little to reveal a familiar young face in the warm sunlight. This person was Xiao Yan and the people surrounding him were naturally those from ‘Xiao Gate’ and the Jia Nan Academy who had left the Black Emperor City.
Two days had already passed since that big battle. During these two days, Xiao Yan’s group had increased their speed as they rushed to the Jia Nan Academy. However, there is still an unceasing number of greedy fellows following them despite their traveling speed. They were like hungry wolves that were staying far away, but were still prepared to act at any moment if prompted by the slightest opportunity. Although quite a number of them were eliminated by the vicious tactics of ‘Xiao Gate’ and the Jia Nan Academy, a number of them continued to surge forth, acting just like vampire bats that had sniffed the scent of fresh blood.
Moreover, regardless of the changes of the route Xiao Yan’s group took, these fellows were still able to accurately follow… after this situation continued to happen, Xiao Yan’s group could tell that there was definitely someone behind spurring them on. Moreover, there were only a handful of people who possessed such an ability.
However, despite being stared at by many pairs of eyes, it was fortunate that most of the experts from ‘Xiao Gate’ and the Jia Nan Academy had come this time around. Hence, some things did not need to trouble Xiao Yan to deal with personally. Otherwise, he would definitely become tired because of these countless number of fellows and he would probably not be able to avoid any losses.
“Although the people chasing us do not lack skilled individuals, an expert at a similar level to Han Feng has not appeared. Therefore, we are still able to manage despite it being a little annoying.” The Little Fairy Doctor by his side softly spoke.
“That old fellow will not give up easily. He definitely wants the Bodhisattva Body Transformation Saliva. Therefore…” Xiao Yan shook his head as his finger gently rubbed his Storage Ring. A strange expression flashed across his eyes. It immediately disappeared as Xiao Yan’s gaze shot to the large man who was cautiously observing the activity outside the forest. He said in a deep voice, “Alright, let’s continue on our journey. Big Yao, you should lead a couple of experts from ‘Xiao Gate’ to look after our backs. If anyone approaches, just attack them, but retreat if you meet any enemies that you cannot defeat.”
“Yes, chief!” Big Yao nodded his head when he heard Xiao Yan’s words.
Xiao Yan exchanged glances with Su Qian and the others after giving the instructions. They swiftly got up and waved their hands. Numerous human figures began to soar as they swept through the forest like ferocious leopards. After which, they quickly rushed out of the forest. Behind them, Big Yao led a couple of experts from ‘Xiao Gate’ and slowly followed. He cautiously scanned the surroundings…
The journey swiftly became shorter amid the repeated chasing. However, the experts from the ‘Black-Corner Region,’ the ones chasing Xiao Yan’s group, seemed to be aware that they were coming increasingly closer to the Jia Nan Academy. Immediately, their hearts began to feel restless and uncomfortable. If Xiao Yan’s group were allowed to enter the Jia Nan Academy, they would completely lose the opportunity to snatch the item. Hence, more and more people’s greed overcame their reasoning as they began to unleash various sneak attacks on Xiao Yan’s group. However, all of them ended up with a miserable death. During one of the sneak attacks, there were even three expert Dou Huangs who had joined hands only to leave behind one corpse. The other two fled miserably after being seriously injured. It was not an easy task to snatch something from the hands of two elite Dou Zongs.
After the three elite Dou Huangs suffered a massive defeat and withdrew, quite a number of greedy people quietly woke up a little. Now, they finally came to a sudden understanding that there were two genuine Dou Zongs within the group that they were following… after thinking about how powerful and frightening an elite Dou Zong was, a chill had gradually rose within the hearts of quite a number of people. Therefore, they began to quietly withdraw.
The dark-black night covered the vast, endless mountain range. A low, deep beast roar reverberated for a long time. Faint moonlight scattered down, but had difficulty expelling the darkness shrouding the forest.
Quite a number of fires had appeared in the forest as a group of human figures, with somewhat tattered clothes, began to sit down with their legs-crossed one after another. Clearly, they had experienced quite an intense battle along the way.
Although their expressions were somewhat miserable, quite a number of people still displayed a radiance. Once they endured the night, they would be able to reach the Jia Nan Academy the next day. At that time, they could be at ease.
Xiao Yan’s gaze swept across the somewhat tired people as he sat beside a fire. He slightly smiled and flicked his hand. Over ten round medicinal pills flew out and paused in front of everyone’s stunned gazes.
“It has been hard on everyone these past few days. Consume this medicinal pill. It will benefit all of you.” Xiao Yan laughed.
Joy immediately surged into everyone’s eyes when they heard this. They hurriedly grabbed the medicinal pill and bowed to Xiao Yan. All of them were aware of Xiao Yan’s status as an alchemist, and naturally understood that the thing in their hands would definitely not be ordinary.
Xiao Yan smiled. He exchanged glances with Su Qian and the Little Fairy Doctor after watching everyone consume the medicinal pills, swiftly cross their legs, and train.
“We will return to the Jia Nan Academy tomorrow…” Xiao Yan’s finger gently touched his Storage Ring as he softly muttered.
“These few days have really strained people. Even these old bones of mine are somewhat unable to endure…” Su Qian stretched his lazy waist and laughed.
“We have troubled First Elder these few days.” Xiao Yan cupped his hands to Su Qian, but the latter merely waved his sleeves. His eyes narrowed and seemed to have entered a fake sleep state.
“You should guard them. I will find a quiet place to study the ruler technique Dou Skill I recently obtained.” Xiao Yan waited a moment before suddenly turning his head to the Little Fairy Doctor to give her some instructions. He then immediately got up and walked into the forest.
Xiao Yan walked through the dark forest for some time before a small clear stream appeared in front of him. His body moved and he appeared on a large rock beside the small stream. After sweeping his gaze once around, he finally sat cross-legged. He swung his hand and the Six-Joint Flowing Ruler Technique scroll, he had obtained from the auction, appeared in his hand.
Xiao Yan gently inhaled a breath of cool air as he slowly pushed the scroll open. His attention gradually began to focus.
Other than the sound of trickling water, it was completely silent beside the small stream. The cool moonlight scattered down from above, covering the black-robed young man on a huge rock.
As Xiao Yan’s attention totally sunk into the scroll, the activity of the outside world was automatically isolated by Xiao Yan…
Time gradually flowed by during the dark night, Xiao Yan maintained this posture for nearly an hour. Only after that did a strange glow suddenly flash over the Storage Ring on his finger. Immediately, a jade box shot out without any warning!
A layer of somewhat illusory energy was surrounding the jade box that had fled from the Storage Ring. The illusory energy slightly wiggled. Within a breath’s time, it transformed into an old figure.
“Tsk tsk, chief Xiao, thank you for escorting me all the way. The old me shall take my leave!”
The somewhat old illusionary figure had just appeared when it laughed at Xiao Yan on the enormous rock in a strange manner. Its body did not pause for even a moment. With a flash, it gripped the jade box and shot toward the dark forest.
The old figure’s speed was extremely quick. Within a few flashes, the swift and mobile figure was in close proximity to the dark forest. However, a faint laugh strangely sounded behind him just as he was about to charge into the forest.
“Old Ying Shan, you have really failed to endure…”
The old figure suddenly stiffened when he heard this voice!