Chapter 435: Saintlands Trial (1)
Translator: Swammped Editor: Hitesh_
"Seamless Cage!"
The white-haired old man's psyche was inconceivably powerful. With but a thought, two wide waves of mind power seamlessly integrated, instantly forming a huge net and blocking Ye Chen and the rest while closing in.
Ye Chen's brows tightly creased. The old man's net was on a completely different level compared to Saint son's. Although it looked like a simple big net, there was a thin layer of psyche in the net's grid, spread out flawlessly. Furthermore, the net itself wasn't just one layer, but three layers that interweaved complexly. It wouldn't have been much if these three layers were simply superimposed over each other. Unfortunately, these layers integrated in such a manner that there didn't seem to be any combining point linking them together.
Ye Chen was clear that breaking this net in a small amount of time was simply impossible. By the time the net opened, the old man would have already caught up. Therefore, if he wished to live, the only possible option was to charge forth before the net closed. A one step delay would mean certain death.
As soon as he thought up to this point, his forehead swelled, looking like a diamond bead. The sword soul in his Soul Sea emitted rings of light, frantically setting off raging sword intent waves, which covered him and propelled him forward.
This was the moment Ye Chen's sword soul had been employed at its full power.
How could Yin Demon Ancestor and Master Jaderiver not understand how frightening this net was? They too had no means to instantly break it open. After all, martial will paled in comparison to sword will as far as offense was concerned. Moreover, this disparity wasn't a small one.
"Yin Gale Escape!"
As a master grade almighty Sea of Soul realm expert, Yin Demon Ancestor had created two profound martial skills. One was Yin Demon Chop, and the other was Yin Gale Escape. As for 'Earth As Heavens', it was not a skill he had created himself, but one that was left behind by the predecessors. As the name implied, Yin Gale Escape was a movement technique which he had created in the last decade. Although having lost Zhen Yuan, he couldn't bring out the essence of this technique, the current him would do anything to bring out any bit of speed he could muster. There weren't many thoughts going on in his head right now.
A dim, gray colored whirlwind flashed, and Yin Demon Ancestor's body disappeared.
Master Jaderiver's reaction wasn't one bit slower than Yin Demon Ancestor's. The profound skill he employed was called,' Float Thousand Li'. One could tell by the name that it was quite extraordinary, and it was in fact indeed anything but ordinary. It was merely a step below mid-grade profound skills, and was at the peak of low grade profound skills.
His figure slightly paused, then his speed exploded, increasing with each passing moment. His figure floated unrestrained, impossible to be followed by eyes.
Shua!
Ye Chen had already rushed past the net along with Murong Qingcheng. As the net was about to close, a few psyche threads stretched out from it. Yin Demon Ancestor slashed apart these threads and charged out of the net along with Master Jaderiver.
Seeing this scene, the old man's complexion sunk. He didn't anticipate that four people would manage to escape even when he had issued this move with all his might. If these people were truly allowed to enter Saintlands, the clan would lose all its face. It should be known that this had happened a year ago as well.
Reaching out with his left hand, the old man made a grabbing motion.
Puff!
The net closed, forming a circle and trapping in Old Man Sky Eagle, Daoist Black Snake, and the rest. Under their despairing gazes, the net crushed them to death.
At this point, only four of all who had arrived in the underground world remained alive. The casualties were disastrous, as even Daoist grade Sea of Soul experts had been completely wiped out.
The distance from the summit which had the conveyor gate was less than fifty li. For a Sea of Soul realm expert, a distance of fifty li was merely two or three breaths away. Unfortunately, in the underground world, no matter what they tried, they couldn't break past the speed of sound. It was simply too hard.
Rustle….
Goldwind Saint son and the rest two incessantly dished out long range attacks at Ye Chen's group. Psyche blades, psyche spears, and psyche hammers frantically rained down. If not for the distance between the two sides being substantial, their odds of escaping wouldn't have exceeded thirty percent. Even at this moment, they looked like destitutes wandering in a storm.
Forty li!
Thirty li!
Twenty li!
The four were about to arrive at the summit when the old man sucked in a deep breath and muttered, "Seems like I'll have to stop them."
Hearing these words, the faces of Goldwind Saint son and the other two immediately paled. They immediately stopped attacking Ye Chen and the rest and frantically retreated. As they did that, they started putting layers of psyche barriers in the surroundings as if something frightening was about to occur.
At the end of his breath, the old man suddenly let out a roar, and a cloud of formless but substantial psyche whirled around him. Like a snowball, the psyche's range frantically increased and the rotatory force became increasingly powerful. It was as if a tornado had appeared in the void, connecting the heaven and earth and swiftly spreading out in all directions.
"Not good!"
Yin Demon Ancestor and Master Jaderiver were behind Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng. As soon as the tornado formed, they immediately felt an engulfing force pulling their speed down. To their surprise, they discovered that this tornado was just like the one when they were entering, The only difference was that the power of that tornado was tens or even hundreds of times above this.
"B*stard!"
Yin Demon Ancestor was furious. As far as he was concerned, apart from those lofty and aloof Life and Death Kings, there was nobody who could force him into such desperation, not even exceptional and awe-inspiring master grade Sea of Soul realm experts. After all, there was a huge difference in defeating and leaving one with no power to retaliate.
"If this had been the surface, not one of us would have needed to fear him." Master Jaderiver was also quite sullen inwardly, but also helpless. They were like tigers who had arrived in urban lands and were insulted by dogs. Even at his peak, the old man would have been more or less as powerful, if not even a bit weaker.
"Come here."
The old man gave them a sullen look, not showing much interest as he continued to overdraw his psyche. The tornado's force immediately exploded, disabling Yin Demon Ancestor and Master Jaderiver from taking a single step forward. They were slowly pulled back. Of course, the speed of the old man had also been considerably slowed down as well.
At the moment of immediate crisis, a cold and cruel glint flashed in Yin Demon Ancestor's eyes.
Sensing something being off, Master Jaderiver said furiously, "You dare…!"
"Why wouldn't I dare? Instead of two dying, one can keep on living. Master Jaderiver, you can die in peace." Striking his palm at the latter's chest, Yin Demon Ancestor charged forth with the help of the impetus. The former, however, spurted out a mouthful of blood and was sucked in by the tornado. Although he tried to resist it to the bitter end, how powerful was the old man's psyche? In a few moments, his body was severely cut, and soon after, the old man exploded his head with a punch.
Witnessing this scene, Ye Chen didn't feel much. At the moment of life and death, he would have done the same unless his companion was quite close to him.
"Not one of you should think of escaping."
After killing Master Jaderiver, the old man again turned his attention towards Ye Chen, Yin Demon Ancestor, and Murong Qingcheng. The tornado's power kept on increasing, even sucking in small mountains while crushing them. Even some rivers were swirling above them, entering the tornado like a starry river.
Faster!
Faster!
Feeling the tornado's suction slowly turning frightening, Ye Chen had no choice but to overwork his sword soul. Fortunately, sword intent was indeed a sharp weapon for boosting speed. The moment the tornado's suction covered them, it was immediately cut down, leaving a good amount of leeway for Ye Chen.
Nine li!
Five li!
Three li!
One li!
One li away from the summit, Ye Chen could already see the markings on the conveyor gate, as well as the impressions marked by the passage of time. Yin Demon Ancestor was following merely a hundred and fifty meters behind him. Two in front and one in back were frantically escaping from the death god.
Humph!
Several li away, the old man could easily sense them through the tornado. He slightly slowed down the tornado before letting it explode with power once again. Although this momentary lapse didn't seem much and even superfluous to some extent, its effects were huge. Just like while fishing, once one had caught the fish and happened to engage in a deadlock with it for the tug of war, if one let the rod loose for a moment and then suddenly pull it back up, one would be able to succeed.
Ye Chen and the rest were no different than fish. Under the ingenious application of the tornado by the old man, their feet actually left the ground and were pulled back.
"Demonic Hand Imprint, Annihilation!"
A dark light flickered in Murong Qingcheng's eyes. She turned around and punched out, dispersing the suction power by at least thirty percent.
Demonic Hand Imprint Annihilation style could destroy everything, but not will. Fortunately, psyche was not will. Although the latter could amplify one's might much higher in comparison to will, but due to this very reason, it was no longer pure. Murong Qingcheng's punch scattered everything except will from the psyche, and thus, the suction power was naturally reduced by quite a bit, Of course, it was also because the old man was too far away and had a weak connection with his psyche, since the difference between Murong Qingcheng and the old man was too big.
Feeling his body get lighter, Ye Chen grabbed the chance and arrived at the gate with a few flickers, immediately entering the whirlpool inside along with Murong Qingcheng.
"You're dead for sure. Once I reach the world outside, I'll give you a nameless death." Yin Demon Ancestor gnashed his teeth while throwing out two upper grade artifacts and yelling, "Explode!"
Boom!
The upper grade artifacts didn't explode, but his will inside them did. Such a small amount of will exploding didn't have much threatening power, but it was enough to end the deadlock. Yin Demon Ancestor was quite smart. If he had only tossed one upper grade artifact, it certainly wouldn't have been enough. As for why he could explode will? This was because upper grade artifacts had the ability to store a slight amount of will. Otherwise, if he had exploded his own will, his life would have become much worse than death.
Shua!
With his insides filled with pain over the loss of his two upper grade artifacts, Yin Demon' Ancestor's figure flickered before disappearing inside the conveyor gate.
The old man's complexion paled as soon as he dispersed the tornado. He reached out and grabbed the somewhat damaged upper grade artifacts. With an ashen face, he muttered, "I refuse to believe that every single outsider can go through the trial of saintlands. Every single one of you will become new stone sculptures."