Although Shangguan Fei’er’s claw had not actually broken through his Consolidated Armour, some of the energy from the attack had still bored into his body, causing his entire chest area to feel cold. He couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine; if he had not reacted quickly enough, that claw would have been sufficient to slice his chest. His hair stood on its ends, and his spirit tensed nervously.
Shen Ji, in the midst of the fight, was shocked, but how could the audience not be more so?
When Shen Bu had heard that Shen Ji would be fighting, she was extremely excited. Previously, although she had lost to Zhou Weiqing, in her eyes that was an accident, a mistake due to her own carelessness. In terms of absolute strength, Zhou Weiqing should not be a match for her, let alone her own senior elder brother, already at the eight Jeweled stage. Even if he was joined by a mere little follower, what could they do?
Alas, who could have thought that in just that first clash, Shen Ji had almost taken a huge loss, with his defenses almost penetrated by that seemingly insignificant little follower. Furthermore, that follower actually had a God Tier Consolidated Equipment, and more so, one that was unbelievably huge! How was that possible! Everything that had happened before her was totally against what she knew about Zhou Weiqing.
As for the Peerless Battalion, they were not much better, their eyeballs almost popping out. An eight-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master; that was already one of the top powerhouses in their eyes. Who knew that this seemingly slim drillmaster of theirs could have such power in her, almost taking him out with just a single claw, sending him into a fluster.
The Ruffian Battalion soldiers had never had a good impression of the officers of the army, and seeing Shangguan Fei’er succeed like that, after a short dazed moment, they all burst out in cheers.
“What a close shave!” Shen Ji exclaimed in his heart. The loud cheers from the outside did not affect him, but by now he treated Shangguan Fei’er as a mortal enemy.
Shangguan Fei’er did not follow up on the attack, instead blowing lightly on the sharp claws of her Consolidated Equipment before turning to Zhou Weiqing and saying: “I don’t need your help, he doesn’t even have a piece of God Tier Consolidated Equipment, I can handle it by myself.”
At that moment, Zhou Weiqing’s Overlord Bow was already drawn to a full crescent, but hearing her words, he relaxed and let it go. Confidence came from strength, and seeing the pride in her eyes, he couldn’t help but feel a strange feeling in his heart. Although Shangguan Fei’er and Shangguan Bing’er looked exactly the same, in his eyes, they were now totally different and separate now.
Eight Jewels against Six Jewels. That seemed like insurmountable odds. However, Shangguan Fei’er had four God Tier Consolidated Equipment, and she also had her mutated Duo Physical Jewels. In terms of personal power, she had absolute confidence of defeating Shen Ji.
“Who are you?” Shen Ji did not continue taking action, his gaze focused on the bracer-claws around her arms, his brow furrowed deeply.
He totally ignored the insulting words of Shangguan Fei’er, only taking to heart her identity. If it was just a single God Tier Consolidated Equipment, perhaps he might not pay such attention. However, the problem was, the sheer combat skill that ‘he’ had shown just now was just too terrifying. ‘His’ actions might seem very simple and straightforward, but in truth, every minute detail of what Shangguan Fei’er did was focused fully on his own weak points, and completed in such a smooth flowing fashion, as if it had been done without much difficulty and thought before managing to find his weak points. Such a close combat skill, how could any ordinary Heavenly Jewel Master have it?
“I’m just an ordinary little soldier, follower of Battalion Commander Zhou Little Fatty.” Shangguan Fei’er said passively.
Shen Ji’s eyes narrowed. “It looks like you are spies from the WanShou Empire. Perhaps, you have the power to defeat me alone, but for the sake of our northern armies and citizens, I am sorry. The bet is over. Today, I must arrest you both.” As he said that, he waved towards his group, and all eight of them including Shen Bu charged forward, unleashing their Heavenly Energy.
Without any exception, all of them were Heavenly Jewel Masters, all at the six-Jeweled stage. Along with the eight-Jeweled Shen Ji, their overall power was far superior to the group of black clad enemies that had ambushed Zhou Weiqing in the Fei Li City back then.
“Battalion Commander.” Wei Feng led the group of Company Leaders to the front, and the other soldiers of the Peerless Battalion also stood up.
Zhou Weiqing waved his hands and said: “Stay back, leave it to me and your drillmaster.”
Although there were many Physical and Elemental Jewel Masters amongst the Peerless Battalion soldiers, facing such six-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Masters was almost impossible for them. Facing the nine enemies in front of him, Zhou Weiqing did not panic or get flustered. After all, this was not the first time he had been surrounded by greater odds. Furthermore, this time, he had a terrifyingly powerful Shangguan Fei’er on his side.
Both he and Shangguan Fei’er were Heavenly Jewel Master with unique abilities, and although Zhou Weiqing was not from a Great Saint Lands, he was no inferior to any Great Saint Lands disciple, perhaps even greater. Facing such ordinary Heavenly Jewel Masters, he was not afraid at all. His worry was more about how they would affect his plan.
After a moment of hesitation, Wei Feng waved his hands and the group retreated slowly. In truth, they too wanted to see how powerful Shangguan Fei’er and Zhou Weiqing really were.
A cold killing intent flashed in Zhou Weiqing’s eyes, and in a flash, he appeared beside Shangguan Fei’er.
Shangguan Fei’er turned her head to look at him, and she was surprised to see that his expression was impassive, but the cold light in his eyes caused her to almost not recognize him.
“Fei’er, if you do not have any better plan, then don’t blame me.” Zhou Weiqing said passively.
Shangguan Fei’er felt her heart skip a beat. In that instant, it was as if she was once again in the Lustre Spatial Realm, that Zhou Weiqing who dared face all those Great Saint Land powerhouses all by himself was back, the one who fought and defeated both herself and Zhan Lingtian with the help of that unbelievable Skill which could display a Heavenly Skill Image, delaying the fight until the male dragon could return.
Zhou Weiqing in such a state was definitely extremely terrifying. She could clearly remember that power and resolve in killing he displayed when he had been ambushed in the Fei Li City. At that time, she had been hidden at the side, ready to help when necessary. In terms of close combat prowess, Zhou Weiqing was absolutely no match for her, but if they were to pit total strength against each other, even Shangguan Fei’er did not have absolute confidence in beating Zhou Weiqing. He just had too many powerful Skills, and he could combine them in various myriad different ways, with the Demonic Change State to boot.
“Don’t kill anyone.” Shangguan Fei’er said in a low tone. She could clearly tell that Zhou Weiqing was already prepared to kill them all to silence them. Although the eight-Jeweled stage was very powerful, but in front of that terrifying Dragon Silencing Seal, how much of his strength could he actually use? Yet, these people were elite of the ZhongTian Empire army, and she did not want Zhou Weiqing to kill them off.
Zhou Weiqing glanced at her, his eyes softening. Since Shangguan Fei’er said not to kill anyone, that meant she had some way to get out of their current predicament.
With a winsome smile, Shangguan Fei’er said: “Let’s use them to train ourselves, isn’t that a good thing? Just treat it as valuable combat experience… it’s been a long time since I’ve fought to my heart’s contents, you always refuse to join me…” She used Heavenly Energy to project her own voice to Zhou Weiqing’s ears, and thus, our Dear Little Fatty’s mind started floating away…
“Jingang Binding, Cage of Hell.” Shen Ji shouted out loud as he jumped up abruptly, his arms bulging out as they could see two of the Earth Elemental Attribute Jewels around his wrist lighting up. The next instant, he landed on the ground like a huge gorilla, his hands smashing down savagely on the ground.
A massive explosion, and a brilliant gold light blasted out. However, it was quickly proved to be not an attack, instead forming a shield around Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er.
At this moment, our dear Zhou Little Fatty was still slightly dazed from the saccharine sweet voice earlier. All of a sudden, he felt that violent reverberations of energy striking at them, and he was quickly shaken awake. Looking to Shangguan Fei’er, he asked: “What’s the plan?”
Shangguan Fei’er said: “Do whatever you want.”
“As long as I don’t kill anyone right?” Zhou Weiqing grinned.
Shangguan Fei’er gave a humph and said: “Don’t ruin anyone either. The Empire still needs to depend on them.”
Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: “Fei’er, the word ‘Kao’ you used very well.”1
“Are you trying to die!”
The two of them exchanged words swiftly, but they did not jump into action. Shangguan Fei’er had her own backup plans, and she was extremely confident, even if they lost she was not afraid. Zhou Weiqing was also confident in her, after all she was the second princess of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace; furthermore she was the Little Demon Girl causing headaches to the entire Heaven’s Expanse Palace, how could this little situation in front of them be a big problem to her?
At that moment, the gold light that Shen Ji had released finally came into effect. Along with the shockwaves on the ground, four rock walls rose up abruptly, each measuring about five metres tall, surrounding both Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er.
The four rock walls encompassed several dozen square metres, and when they rose up, the entire air was filled with a thick earth energy, pressure collapsing in from all around. At the same time, after the walls rose up, several intersecting lights instantly interlocked around the air above the walls, clearly targeted at preventing them from escaping from above. In the next moment, nine figures appeared at the top of the walls.
What is that? Zhou Weiqing was startled deep in his heart. That was clearly meant to surround, entrap and kill Shangguan Fei’er and himself! Of course, perhaps it was not exactly meant to kill them, but to prevent them from escaping. In order to maintain such a Skill, it was definitely a large expenditure of Heavenly Energy on Shen Ji’s part.
At this point, they could not afford to wait any longer. Their nine opponents had already ascended the walls, and if they were allowed to attack at will, neither Zhou Weiqing nor Shangguan Fei’er could block all of it easily.
His right leg exerting a sudden explosive strength, Zhou Weiqing shot up like an arrow released from a bow.
“Go down!” Shen Bu shouted out loud, her hands forming a circle as dozens of fireballs of various sizes flew out towards him. She truly hated this fellow who had caused her to lose face so many times, and she instantly launched her attacks at him.