Chapter 736: Savage Beast Forest
Liu Enze stopped smiling and ordered loudly, “This person is definitely still nearby. Shatter all the trees within five hundred meters! Spare none of them!”
“We obey!”
The eight black-clad Martial Monarchs leaped into the air and quickly carried out Liu Enze’s order. Surging sword lights swept through the entire place.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dense sword Qi shot out in all directions, shattering the towering trees.
Naturally, the tree Xiao Chen hid in was one of them. He sighed and could not help but reveal himself.
The air filled with wood splinters like snow drifting in the air. Xiao Chen gently flew backwards and landed on another tree.
“Sou! Sou! Sou!”
Liu Enze leaped into the air, leading the eight Superior Grade Martial Monarchs. He alighted on one of the few trees left standing while his men surrounded Xiao Chen.
Eyeing Xiao Chen, Liu Enze asked the one-armed black-clad swordsman on the ground, “Liu Hua, is he the one?”
Liu Hua felt very agitated, his body trembling somewhat as he shouted, “First Young Master, he is the one. He is the one who saved Situ Feng and injured our brothers.”
Liu Enze looked at Xiao Chen. His expression turned gloomy as he said, “You are rather courageous. After injuring my Liu Clan’s people, you did not go and hide with the Situ Clan or run away. You must be here for the White Nascent Fruit, right?”
Xiao Chen’s expression did not change even though eight people surrounded him. He did not panic at all. Instead, he replied calmly, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Murderous intent flashed in Liu Enze’s eyes, but he recalled his father’s instructions. He said coldly, “That would be for the best. I’ll give you a chance now. Get out of the Savage Beast Forest now, and we will forget about the matter of you saving Situ Feng.”
Trying to threaten me to leave? How naive!
Xiao Chen smiled coldly to himself and said indifferently, “It is not up to you to decide whom I save, and even more, whether I leave or not.”
Liu Enze’s expression turned cold, a violent bloodlust bubbling up. He placed his right hand on the handle of his weapon and said, “If you have the guts, I dare you to say it again!”
This script might be hackneyed. However, Xiao Chen had not planned on talking to him in the first place. He disdained repeating himself.
Since you said that I do not have the guts, then I will prove myself with my actions. There is no need to say whether I have the guts or not.
Xiao Chen placed his right hand on the saber hilt and took the stance of the Azure Emperor’s Drawing the Saber. Then, his aura merged with the surroundings.
The instant Xiao Chen drew the Lunar Shadow Saber, a resplendent purple saber light lit the place up as bright as day.
“Xiu!”
Nine purple saber Qi instantly appeared, all moving in different trajectories. The saber Qi dazzled and gave off a flourishing aura as electricity flickered continuously.
Everyone, including Liu Enze, felt incredibly astonished.
Earlier, Xiao Chen’s stance made everyone feel surrounded. It felt like any one of them could become his target.
Logically speaking, Xiao Chen only had one saber and one pair of eyes. He could not possibly attack nine people at the same time. All this should just be an illusion.
However, the truth was even weirder. Xiao Chen indeed managed to attack nine people simultaneously with one saber. Furthermore, the strength and trajectory of each attack were completely different.
At this moment, logic was entirely nonexistent.
“Dang! Dang! Dang!”
Sword light and saber Qi clashed. Quintessence exploded, producing strong shock waves that snapped the remaining trees around them.
This one attack easily disrupted the nine’s formation, throwing it into disorder.
Xiao Chen soared up riding an Azure Dragon image. He flew directly to Liu Enze and quickly executed Ghostly Image Chop.
Thunder roared endlessly. The saber lights that appeared were like ghostly images; differentiating the real ones from the fakes was hard.
Liu Enze flicked his wrist and sent out a blue flower made of sword light, blocking the saber light.
However, the saber contained a Quintessence that surpassed Liu Enze’s expectation and the immortal state of thunder.
Each time Liu Enze received an attack, his body flew back a hundred meters. After seventy-two attacks, he had retreated more than seven kilometers.
A strong wind formed of Quintessence swept through the place. Everywhere the two had been, the towering trees got uprooted, opening a long gorge in the ground.
After the seventy-two attacks were over, the saber lights containing the immortal state of thunder turned into a vast sea of lightning and exploded.
Liu Enze had an incredible reaction speed. Before the sea of lightning formed, he quickly executed his Heaven Ranked Martial Technique.
Nine bright blue-colored balls of sword Qi surrounded Liu Enze, flying around quickly. He had a ferocious gaze as his hair and clothes fluttered.
“Boom!”
The sea of lightning clashed with the nine balls of sword Qi. Energy surged in all directions, and the flat ground actually sank.
After that, countless clumps of dirt shot into the air like cannonballs, leaving a huge circular pit around the two.
When it came to Quintessence, Liu Enze held the advantage. However, Xiao Chen’s state had the immortal attribute. Furthermore, Xiao Chen’s physical body was much stronger.
In a head-on clash, even though the two appeared about equal, in truth, Xiao Chen suffered significantly less injury than Liu Enze.
“Pu ci!”
Eventually, Liu Enze could no longer hold on. The nine blue balls of sword Qi made of Quintessence shattered explosively. He vomited a mouthful of blood and flew backwards.
In the sea of lightning, Xiao Chen revealed a cold gaze. A strand of untraceable saber light flashed.
“Dang!”
The saber light would have pierced through Liu Enze’s heart. However, he wore a heart-protecting mirror on his chest. It was unknown what grade of Secret Treasure it was, but it managed to block Xiao Chen’s saber light completely.
This mirror saved Liu Enze’s life. However, it could not block the force and Quintessence from the saber light. The considerable impact caused Liu Enze to vomit another mouthful of blood.
This impact launched Liu Enze high into the air. Then, after he hit the ground, he tumbled around before he managed to stand up again in a sorry state. He looked at Xiao Chen in horror. Whether Xiao Chen had the guts to say what he had earlier was already evident.
Xiao Chen checked on the rest with his Spiritual Sense. The eight black-clad Martial Monarchs left behind would arrive soon. It seemed that this Liu Enze was not one of those good-for-nothing young masters.
It was not worth attracting the rest of the clan over for the sake of killing this group of people. Xiao Chen sheathed his saber, and the Azure Dragon image under his feet circled the place once before carrying him into the sky.
“First Young Master! Are you alright?!”
The eight black-clad Martial Monarchs did not chase after Xiao Chen. Instead, they rushed over to Liu Enze to protect him.
Liu Enze coughed, and some blood leaked out of a corner of his lips. Then he said with some fear, “Liu Hua is right. This man’s Saber Techniques defy logic. His state manifests profound theories, and his physical body is frighteningly strong.
“In the Liu Clan, no one aside from my father can suppress him. We have to bring this information back quickly. We must eliminate this person.”
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Savage Beast Forest, Situ Clan’s stronghold:
The scout returned and reported to the Situ Clan Head. Situ Lei appeared greatly astonished as he exclaimed, “Are you saying that not only did the white-robed bladesman discover the two of you, but the other person with you also died at his hands?!”
The scout lowered his head and replied, “He is too strong. We were no match for him at all.”
Situ Lei felt suspicious as he glanced at this person. He asked sullenly, “Since that is so, why did he let you return?”
The scout’s chest tightened. He recalled how vicious Situ Lei was, so he quickly explained, “He told me to bring a message back. He told me to say that Clan Head’s words are untrustworthy and he is now furious.”
As for the matter of the scout revealing details about the White Nascent Fruit when Xiao Chen forced him, he kept that a secret. Naturally, he could not mention that. Otherwise, he would die for sure.
Situ Lei thought hard. What does he mean by my words are untrustworthy? Is he blaming me for sending people to follow him? Saying he is now angry, is this a threat?
Never mind, it is not wise to offend such a ruthless person. As long as he is not here to snatch the White Nascent Fruit, so what if a scout died?
However, just as Situ Lei was about to speak, he noticed that the scout’s hand hidden in his sleeve trembled violently.
“Kneel!”
Situ Lei’s expression changed as he suddenly shouted. His voice was thunderous and stern.
The might that Situ Lei had built up over the years exploded out, panicking the guilty scout, who fell to his knees and kowtowed to plead for mercy. “Clan Head, please spare my life. That person forced me to speak about the White Nascent Fruit. It was truly not of my own initiative…”
Situ Lei revealed a sullen expression as he said in a cold voice, “What a deep scheme. I nearly fell for it. Allowing one person to come back alive works better to eliminate my doubts than casually killing him.”
Strength, calmness, decisiveness, and wisdom. This fellow must be eliminated!
Situ Lei sent out a casual kick and knocked the scout aside. Then he instructed the people around him, “Pass down my orders. Everyone is to put in their full effort to search for that white-robed bladesman. I will personally lead the troops to kill this person.”
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A similar scene played out at the Liu Clan’s stronghold. Liu Enze’s description alarmed Liu Chen.
After a while, Liu Chen said sullenly, “Search for this person with everything you have. I will personally lead the troops. How can I let someone snatch the thousand-year-old White Nascent Fruit while we fight it out with the Situ Clan?”
It was easy to understand why these two came to the same decision. They did not fear an overt enemy. Instead, they were wary of an enemy lurking in the shadows, striking them when they least expected it.
Anyone would fear such an enemy.
Seven days remained to the maturation of the White Nascent Fruit. They would feel more at peace if they eliminated one variable.
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When the sky turned bright, Xiao Chen felt a distinct change in the forest’s atmosphere.
The Situ Clan and the Liu Clan, two clans at loggerheads with each other, seemed to be tacitly working together with the thousand-year-old White Nascent Fruit binding them together. They sent people out and started to search for Xiao Chen’s position.
Given such an intensive manhunt, no matter how well Xiao Chen hid, they would eventually stumble over him.
The ones who discovered Xiao Chen were a group of cultivators from the Situ Clan. Their cultivation was not high, so he did not have to spend much effort to kill this bunch.
However, someone managed to sound the alarm, revealing Xiao Chen’s position.
Xiao Chen felt two strong auras flying quickly towards him. They did not even hide their strength, prompting all the Spirit Beasts in the way to move aside.
Looking in the direction of the two auras approaching, Xiao Chen frowned and said, “The two Clan Heads are actually making a move personally. It seems that this thousand-year-old White Nascent Fruit has firmed their resolve.”
Trouble had arrived. The thing that Xiao Chen worried about the most had still happened.
With a half-Sage leading the group, given Xiao Chen’s trump cards, it would be quite easy to escape. However, with two half-Sages, unless he used all his trump cards, there was no possibility of a quick getaway.
Xiao Chen pushed off the ground and leaped up to a tree branch. Then he nimbly traveled through the forest. Every leap spanned five hundred meters, allowing him to leave behind many towering trees.