Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation
Page 707Chapter 706: Escape, Escape, Escape
Ximen Bao followed very closely as his sword light danced around. He flicked it up and down, attacking rapidly.
“Dang! Dang! Dang!
The two moved so fast that the others could only see two figures flashing around and hear weapons clanging continuously.
Quintessence surged, and shock waves swept through the place, blasting out the surrounding ground, piercing several venomous pythons hidden in the depths of the swamp and peppering them with thousands of holes. Blood flowed from the pythons continuously as they shrieked in misery.
Ximen Bao had comprehended the state of wind. His attacks were swift. The moment he executed his first move, his second move would follow closely, completely controlling the rhythm of the battle.
However, speed was not the most important thing here. Xiao Chen could also attack equally fast. The problem was that his opponent’s Quintessence was too strong.
Even though Xiao Chen had the same attack speed, he could not gain any advantage due to the gap in cultivation. Every time he parried, Ximen Bao’s Quintessence would push him back.
If Xiao Chen did not have his Great Perfection saber intent to help offset the difference in Quintessence, the Lunar Shadow Saber would have gone flying long ago.
“It is useless. You are not a match for me. Hand over the strange fruits in your hands as well as your saber, and I can spare you from death.”
Now that everything was under control, Ximen Bao tried to attack Xiao Chen with his words. This was the rhythm he liked the most.
When Ximen Bao met a pretty good opponent that he could not oppress, it did not feel too bland due to them being too weak or too much of a headache for him to deal with because they were too strong.
Ximen Bao drew more pleasure from attacking with words. If Xiao Chen actually agreed to his offer, Ximen Bao would immediately break his promise and relish the splendid expression Xiao Chen would make before he died.
Xiao Chen remained silent and calm, not answering at all.
Including the Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram and the Golden Savage Ox sculpture, he still had at least three ways to break out of this and escape.
The scope of this intense fight expanded. As the two fought, several venomous pythons fell victim to the chaos, unable to flee in time.
Cultivators around all noticed this battle and stood at a distance to watch.
“Why is Ximen Bao here? His strength is only slightly lower than the seven giants’. This Python Swamp should not hold much attraction for him.”
“Wait, hang on, his opponent seems to be the Ruthless White Robes. Unexpectedly, they are fighting each other.”
During this period, Xiao Chen had become rather famous in the depths of Python Swamp. He was practically the tyrant of this region at this point; no one dared to seek trouble with him.
Seeing that Ximen Bao’s opponent was Xiao Chen, the onlookers immediately paid much more attention to this battle.
“Surprisingly, the Ruthless White Robes is that strong. He is not at a disadvantage when fighting against Ximen Bao.”
Furthermore, every one of these people had become famous long ago. They were prominent and had not remained unknown. In the future, their accomplishments would be significant.
Xiao Chen looked merely twenty-one or twenty-two. Could it be that at such a young age, he already had the strength to hold his own against Ximen Bao?
This was simply too astonishing. No one had ever heard of such a young expert who used the saber in the Tianwu Domain.
No, the difference in Quintessence is too great. If I continue like this, no matter how strong my physical body is, I won’t be able to bear the accumulated injuries.”
Xiao Chen decided to retreat, no longer intent on continuing the fight with this person. The acupoints at Xiao Chen’s soles opened, and an immense force burst forth from his feet.
His figure flashed, and he instantly put a distance between himself and Ximen Bao. Two dragon roars came from his chest, and two Azure Dragon images appeared beside him.
Three Azure Dragon images interweaved as they carried Xiao Chen into the sky, rising more than two hundred meters in the blink of an eye.
This unexpected scene stunned Ximen Bao for a moment. Then, he shouted, “Thinking of running? How can it be that easy?”
If Ximen Bao let a nameless brat like Xiao Chen escape him in front of everyone, he would not be able to accept it.
He pointed his sword light at Xiao Chen, and the strong wind blowing in the surroundings suddenly ceased. Time seemed to come to a stop, and everything was still.
“Strong Wind Like Sword!”
Under Ximen Bao’s control, the calmed strong wind and the wind-attributed Spiritual Energy all around formed a sword.
Suddenly, a gigantic, solid-looking sword appeared. The moment it manifested, wind flowed around its blade, and it gave off a radiance, appearing ten meters in front of Xiao Chen.
Strong Wind Like Sword, Sword Like Strong Wind. Suddenly, the sword shattered the three Azure Dragon images around Xiao Chen, reducing them to azure light that disappeared.
“Pu ci! Pu ci!”
Tiny sword winds tore through Xiao Chen’s clothes and broke his skin, covering him in wounds.
“A seventy-percent-comprehended Heaven Ranked Martial Technique! However, it is still not sufficient to stop me.”
Xiao Chen did not feel any fear in the face of the imminent danger. He had comprehended eighty percent of his Return of the Azure Dragon, ten percent more than his opponent’s comprehension.
A vast sea appeared behind Xiao Chen, and 9,999 pillars of water shot into the sky. An Azure Dragon leaped out of the water and merged with the saber, turning into a three-kilometer-long saber light.
Then, with the control of the Great Perfection saber intent, the dragon-shaped saber light quickly shrank, and he casually swung it, clashing with the sword made from the strong wind.
“Boom!”
The horrifying shock wave rushed out, and a bottomless, black hole appeared in the muddy swamp.
The remnant might of the Great Perfection Heaven Ranked Martial Technique lingered in the air. The buzzing of sword and saber resounded on the wind without end.
Xiao Chen’s Quintessence was no match for his opponent’s, but his comprehension of his Heaven Ranked Martial Technique surpassed his opponent’s, which resulted in a stalemate between the two moves.
Xiao Chen flew back like a fired cannonball. He used this opportunity to put some more distance between himself and Ximen Bao.
“Brat, where are you trying to run to!”
Two Ximen cultivators maintaining a perimeter guard leaped into the air and blocked Xiao Chen’s path. They quickly attacked, thinking to force him back.
Xiao Chen’s expression turned cold. He had not expected anyone to obstruct his path. He gripped his saber with his right hand and circulated his remaining Quintessence, then directly executed Soaring Dragon.
He took a step forward in the air, and a surging force poured out from his soles. Space trembled violently like it was solid.
The two cultivators in front of Xiao Chen appeared frozen in space, their movements on pause.
Xiao Chen turned into a True Dragon and merged with his saber. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he swung his saber light. It looked like a True Dragon brandished its claw and tore the air. Bolts of lightning flashed through the sky.
“Bang!”
The aura of Soaring Dragon rushed to the sky. It immediately blasted back the two Ximen Clan cultivators blocking Xiao Chen’s path and made them vomit blood.
Xiao Chen had utterly exhausted his Quintessence, so he sheathed his saber and quickly removed the strip of cloth on his forehead. A scarlet light flickered on his forehead, and the scarlet throne appeared. Then, carrying Xiao Chen, it turned into a beam of scarlet light.
When the shock wave on the ground of the swamp had dissipated, Ximen Bao looked up and saw only a beam of scarlet light in the horizon growing fainter. He could not even see Xiao Chen’s figure anymore.
He looked down and saw the two Ximen Clan cultivators collapsed in the mud, severely injured and vomiting blood. Ximen Bao’s expression turned frighteningly grim. Unexpectedly, Xiao Chen managed to escape him unharmed. This was a total disgrace.
When the cultivators here saw Xiao Chen going far away, they were thoroughly taken aback. They had not expected this outcome.
Earlier, they had already been shocked that Xiao Chen could hold his own against Ximen Bao. Now, he actually managed to escape so easily.
Ximen Bao’s rage was off the charts. He glared furiously at the people around, frightening them and sending them fleeing, afraid that he would vent his anger on them.
Xiao Chen, who had flown far away, extended his Spiritual Sense to its limits. After verifying that no one chased after him, he heaved a sigh of relief on the throne.
He had already exhausted his Quintessence. If not for the scarlet throne, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Damn it! If my cultivation had advanced further, I would not need to fear him.”
The throne flew close to the ground, and after a long while, Xiao Chen stopped at a relatively safe place. Then, he took out some Spirit Gathering Pearls to recover his Quintessence.
After using five Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls, Xiao Chen had fully recovered.
Then, he vomited a mouthful of blood as he sat on the throne floating in the midst of scarlet clouds. This was the consequence of the bruising from the great battle earlier. After vomiting the blood, he felt much better.
“I have already obtained enough Earth Essence Fruits. However, there is no time to consume them. I should go and meet up with First Senior Sister and the others first.”
In order to use the Earth Essence Fruit to raise his cultivation, Xiao Chen had to find an absolutely safe and quiet place. He was currently in Python Swamp where a venomous python could come out from the ground at any moment.
If he experienced any interruption while raising his cultivation, not only would the Earth Essence Fruit, which he worked so hard to gather, go to waste, but he would also receive a backlash; his cultivation might even end up regressing.
The risk was too high. Xiao Chen was not willing to accept it. He returned his scarlet throne to his sea of consciousness and rewrapped the blue strip of cloth around his forehead, covering the scarlet throne mark.
After some time, Xiao Chen reached in the periphery of Python Swamp, where First Senior Sister and the rest had arranged to meet.
There was still no one here. The rest were probably still working hard to find Earth Essence Fruits. After all, they did not have the assistance of Spiritual Sense, making them horribly inefficient at searching for the fruits.
Since he had nothing to do, Xiao Chen tidied up all the Earth Essence Fruits he obtained.
He had gathered about forty fifty-year-old Earth Essence Fruits, twenty-five one-hundred-year-old ones, about ten two-hundred-year-old ones, and one three-hundred-year-old one.
Naturally, the most valuable was the three-hundred-year-old Earth Essence Fruit. Barring the unexpected, the Earth Essence Fruit had a lifespan of only five hundred years. A fruit three hundred years old was of superior quality.
That was the harvest Xiao Chen obtained after working very hard to kill a three-hundred-year-old venomous python. The value of this one fruit alone would surpass the combined value of all his other Earth Essence Fruits. It could save Xiao Chen two years of time.
After thinking for a while, Xiao Chen took out Gu Mu’s spatial ring. He had not had time to take a look at it yet ever since Shui Lingling gave it to him.
Although Gu Mu was a loose cultivator, a half-Sage’s treasures should give him some pleasant surprises.
Xiao Chen sent in his Spiritual Sense and could not help his disappointment.
There were only some several hundred thousand Superior Grade Spirit Stones scattered loosely in the spatial ring. Gu Mu was even poorer than him. However, Xiao Chen did manage to find a hundred Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls. As for Medial Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls, he did not see even one.
After he gave it some thought, Gu Mu’s poverty made sense. If a loose cultivator had not been active for twenty years, he would have already exhausted all the resources he had accumulated.
Otherwise, Gu Mu would not have had to resort to gathering Medial Grade Blood Crystals to exchange for Spirit Stones. After all, other half-Sages like Shui Lingling and Murong Lingfeng did not even care a whit about Medial Grade Blood Crystals.