Chapter 1535: Hopelessness
“If this continues, I will definitely lose!” A gleam of light flickered through Xiong Zhong’s eyes. He had to admit that he had underestimated Jian Chen. In terms of strength, he was definitely stronger than Jian Chen but not by much. He could not to utterly dominate Jian Chen, and Jian Chen’s recovery abilities were just far too powerful. Under the dual healing from his abilities as a Class 9 Radiant Saint Master and his Chaotic Body, Jian Chen could recover in an extremely short amount of time no matter how fatal his injuries were. He was even able to regrow whole limbs. On the other hand, Xiong Zhong did not possess these abilities and his wounds from the power of laws would not close up either. The more heavily injured he became, the more power he needed to devote to suppressing the power of laws. It severely limited the amount of strength he could use.
Jian Chen basically healed as he fought against Xiong Zhong, so Xiong Zhong would obviously began to suffer more.
Xiong Zhong tilted his head in an attempt to dodge the Qing Suo Sword, which had targeted his forehead. At the same time, the thought of retreat crossed his head. If he continued fighting like this, it was extremely likely that he would die here.
However, at this moment, a gleam of light flashed through Jian Chen’s eyes. He used all the power his soul could offer, using the Martial Soul Force that would only appear in people who were both Radiant Saint Masters and fighters. Immediately, a tremendous pressure permeated the surroundings. It did not target anyone’s body or influence their soul.
Xiong Zhong never expected that Jian Chen would possess Martial Soul Force, which targeted the soul. Xiong Zhong’s strength at late Returnance was completely useless against Martial Soul Force. He was unable to stop it, and any forms of defences were useless. All he could do was forcefully endure it with his powerful soul.
The Martial Soul Force caused a ripple in the surrounding space as it expanded as a wave, moving extremely quick. When it swept over Xiong Zhong’s body, he immediately trembled. At that moment, he felt like his soul was being assaulted by needles, causing an intense pain. He became dazed while his eyes became blank.
Jian Chen’s Martial Soul Force was powerful. Martial Soul Force was known to be able to slaughter experts of the same level instantaneously. Even though Jian Chen possessed a soul at the level of Returnance, his understanding regarding Martial Soul Force was far too limited. Coupled with the fact that he did not know any secret techniques, he was unable to use the full power of his Martial Soul Force. As a result, the Martial Soul Force he used was unable to cause any substantial harm to Origin realm experts. It could only influence them during crucial moments.
As a result. Xiong Zhong recovered in a single moment after being struck. His soul ached, but it had not been injured. However, that slight instant made Xiong Zhong lose his chance to dodge the Qing Suo Sword.
Under the control of Jian Chen’s soul, the Qing Suo Sword sliced Xiong Zhong’s head with a resplendent glow. Blood immediately splattered into the surroundings with some white brain matter.
A third of Xiong Zhong’s head had been cut away. His entire head instantly became dyed with blood. He looked vicious and terrifying.
However, Xiong Zhong did not die. The sword sliced away a third of his head, but it missed his soul, so he avoided disaster.
“You actually even know soul attacks!?” Xiong Zhong involuntarily cried out. Jian Chen’s talent had already shocked him, yet Jian Chen actually possessed a terrifying soul attack. Xiong Zhong’s heart churned.
Even though the soul attack was unable to harm Xiong Zhong’s soul, the soul attack had caused him to lose focus for a moment. Even if it was only a split second, it was enough time to make a comeback.
Xiong Zhong had already planned on fleeing, and now that Jian Chen had used his Martial Soul Force, Xiong Zhong became utterly terrified. Without any hesitation, he immediately abandoned Jian Chen and shot toward the tunnel below.
Jian Chen was coated in a milky-white light. He did not seem to lay off healing for even a single moment. He immediately pursued Xiong Zhong when he saw Xiong Zhong attempt to flee. He tried everything he could to kill Xiong Zhong. After all, he was a late Returnance expert. In the entire World of Forsaken Saints, there were only two of them, so the death of one would be a great loss for the foreign world.
However, some weakness appeared on Jian Chen’s face. This was caused by the usage of his Martial Soul Force since he had severely drained the power of his soul. Even his head felt rather heavy.
Even though Xiong Zhong was heavily injured, he did not slow down at all. He charged back to the Tian Yuan Continent from outer space in a single moment. He fused with space, appearing outside Changyang Mingyue’s domain as if he had teleported. He glanced back at the azure and violet lights, which were rapidly drawing closer to him. Clenching his teeth, he no longer suppressed the power of laws within him. He condensed all his power into his metal mace and then struck the domain as hard as he could.
Boom!
With a great rumble, the tough domain loudly collapsed due to Xiong Zhong’s attack. Changyang Mingyue was connected to the domain, so she suffered a severe backlash and vomited blood when it was destroyed.
Xiong Zhong did not tarry. After vomiting some blood, he shot into the tunnel like a loose arrow, which had originally been covered by the domain. Jian Chen chased after him.
When Xiong Zhong was about to enter the tunnel, he suddenly froze and stared ahead.
Four figures gradually emerged from the tunnel. They were the four other Returnance elders from the World of Forsaken Saints. Around another dozen Receival experts followed behind them.
At that moment, basically all the Origin realm experts from the foreign world had come. There were only a few of them still stationed in the World of Forsaken Saints.
“Elder Xiong, how are you in such horrible shape!?” The four Returnance experts were shocked when they discovered Xiong Zhong. After all, Xiong Zhong was not Cheng Jingyun or Gongxi Ming. He was a powerful expert only second to Ouyang Yangwen.
They then saw Ouyang Yangwen trapped in the azure disc and immediately revealed odd expressions.
Was that not the supreme treasure that the Spiritking had bestowed on Ku Mu so that he could trap the Returnance expert of the other world? It was a treasure from their World of Forsaken Saints, so why had it been used against them, trapping their greatest elder, Ouyang Yangwen?
“Hmph, I’ve underestimated the strength of this world. You must be careful of that person who’s comprehended the Way of the Sword. I’ll go heal first.” Xiong Zhong snorted. Even though he was in a horrible condition, bearing horrifying wounds, he was not happy with what he accomplished. He did not accept that he had been defeated by someone whose true strength had not even reached the Origin realm.
“If that’s the case, please take elder Ouyang back with you so that the Spiritking can remove the treasure from him. Leave the rest of these matters to the four of us,” a Returnance elder said sternly. His gaze was fixated on Jian Chen, who was coated by a milky-white light.
Jian Chen did not continue his pursuit. Another four Returnance experts had appeared from the World of Forsaken Saints, which caused his face to warp. Not only was he heavily injured right now, he had overused the power of his soul by casting Martial Soul Force. His battle prowess had already taken a heavy hit. It would be rather tough for him to take on just a single mid Returnance expert. Now that four had appeared, coupled with more than ten Receival experts, how was the Tian Yuan Continent supposed to fend off such a powerful force?
“He’s currently healing. His healing rate is extremely astonishing, so you can’t afford to give him any time to catch his breath at all,” Xiong Zhong said through gritted teeth as he stared at Jian Chen. He did not lose his battle against Jian Chen because of the wounds left by the power of laws but because of Jian Chen’s regeneration rate. If Jian Chen had not been able heal at such a shocking rate and have virtually unending energy, he believed that he would be able to kill Jian Chen.
Two of the four Returnance elders immediately went to take on Jian Chen. The remaining two people charged toward Changyang Mingyue and Tie Ta respectively. The rest of the Receival experts began attacking the armies of the Tian Yuan Continent without any hesitation.
Xiong Zhong looked at Ouyang Yangwen. After a moment of hesitation, he waved his hand and froze the space there. He disappeared into the tunnel with Ouyang Yangwen and the azure disc.
With the addition of four Returnance experts and more than ten Receival experts, the balance, which was being maintained with great difficulty, was immediately destroyed. It began to snowball at that moment. The armies of the Tian Yuan Continent suffered heavy casualties and many experts fell.
Changyang Mingyue possessed the upper hand when she had fought against just Cheng Jingyun, but with the entry of a second Returnance expert, the pressure she faced immediately increased by several fold. She was forced to retreat due to the combined attacks of the two Returnance experts.
Tie Ta also fought an extraordinarily intense battle against a Returnance expert. He just managed to gained the upper hand, but he was unable to end the battle in a short about of time.
Jian Chen faced the combined attacks of two mid Returnance experts. If he was in peak condition, he might have been able to hold his ground, but now, it was difficult for him to keep a single mid Returnance expert busy. He was not the opponent of two mid Returnance experts with good teamwork. He fell into a disadvantageous position as soon as he began fighting. After clashing a few times, he was struck by a huge sword in the waist, almost cleaved in two.
Pleasant music lingered in the air. The zither melody was frantic and violet or gentle and calm. Shangguan Mu’er sat in the air as she faced more than ten Receival experts, who had all gone her way. Her music possessed an irresistible charm. The influence of her music on their souls was so powerful that even the Receival experts found it difficult to resist. They were all affected.
However, the Receival experts did not just sit and wait around. Five Receival experts immediately flew out, approaching her with weapons drawn. The experts of the World of Forsaken Saints placed particular attention on people skilled with soul attacks. They sent five people as a single wave to deal with her.
A gleam of light flickered through Shanguan Mu’er’s eyes. She played her zither even more frantically. The melody came out with a higher pitch. It possessed an illusion-like feeling, where ripples in space would form wherever the sound waves passed.
A few of the Receival experts immediately felt their heads lighten with the changes of the music. The influence from the zither melody on them had completely vanished. However, the five Receival experts who had charged toward Shangguan Mu’er all displayed different expressions. At that moment, they felt like the charm within the music had become countless times more powerful than before. Their souls trembled violently as their consciousnesses blurred. They came to a halt.
After around five seconds, the eyes of the five Receival experts completely dulled and became empty. Shortly after that, the five of them turned around and sent a wild barrage of attacks toward their companions.
“Xia Ming, what’re you doing? Are you betraying us…”
“No, they are being controlled by the music…”
The Receival experts from the World of Forsaken Saints all cried out. Having run out of options, they could only send five more Receival experts to keep their mesmerized companions busy while two other Receival experts shot toward Shangguan Mu’er. They wanted to stop her from playing the zither so that they could save their companions.
At the same time, Yang Lie, Feng Xiaotian, and Guihai Yidao were covered in blood. They fell out of the sky while vomiting blood, falling into the mountains of corpses below. They did not climb up either. No one knew whether or not they were still alive. They did not belong to the Origin realm after all. Even with the help of their saint weapons, they could only temporarily keep Origin realm experts busy. They obviously could not remain their opponents after some time.
Without the three of them, the three freed Receival experts immediately targeted the group of Saint Emperors who were controlling the ancestral weapons. They consecutively struck out and knocked the weapons out of the sky. Most of the forty-nine Saint Emperors died while those who survived suffered unimaginably brutal wounds.
In that short moment, the Tian Yuan Continent had basically lost the strength equivalent to ten Receival experts.