Chapter 202 – Battle in the Maple Forest
[TL: Hi guys, this one is a bit late than usual…. Needed a lot of work in creating some imagery in this text. ]
“Alright, but you be careful.” Jun Wu Yi agreed in a heartbeat. He had already realized that if his nephew wanted to go alone, then he must have his own reasons.
Jun Wu Yi was rather confident of his nephew’s abilities, and wanted to return to his own personal practice as soon as possible instead of worrying needlessly about his nephew’s whereabouts.
A few days ago, Jun Mo Xie had given Jun Wu Yi a detailed outline of a very mysterious sword-play technique stating that he had accidentally stumbled upon it. Initially Jun Wu Yi had scoffed at the technique refusing to believe its validity, but had later realized that the technique was indeed very effective. In fact, Jun Wu Yi was completely taken by this technique since it was subtler than anything he had ever seen before, and could still be used to impulsively kill off an enemy with a burst of strength!
Moreover, this technique was so precise, that it was rather difficult to dodge if applied correctly! Jun Mo Xie had studied several ancient weapons in his previous incarnation, and had sorted out his knowledge to formulate a technique which suited Jun Wu Yi’s temperament.
Jun Wu Yi had fought in several wars as a younger man, and was cold-blooded but impulsive military general, which made this law a perfect fit for his nature!
It was as if the technique was made to his measure! As a result, Jun Wu Yi had been madly trying to learn it.
The uncle and nephew duo split up.
Jun Mo Xie was a bit confused since the fray for the Xuan Core had already ended, which meant that all the experts who had previously gathered in the Tian Xiang City should’ve already dispersed by now. However, for some reason, the Solitary Falcon was hadn’t left the city yet……
The young master Jun had always known that it was impossible to know the entire story behind any man’s actions, but he had already figured out that the Solitary Falcon was never interested in the Xuan Core itself, and had only come looking to find the right opponents to fight against. He knew well that in case the Solitary Falcon had been interested in the Xuan Core, then he could’ve easily escaped with the Xuan Core at any time he wanted to, and no one present on the scene could’ve obstructed his path; so much so, that even the two Xuan Beasts from the Tian Fa forest wouldn’t have been able to catch up with him.
So, what is he doing here today?
Perhaps, there’s something else in the Tian Xiang City which has caught his attention? Could it be that he’s found another expert to fight against?
Jun Mo Xie had been wracking his brains to get close to the Solitary Falcon right from the beginning, which is why he had engaged the Solitary Falcon in such enticing conversations and had offered him such fine wine.
However, his plan had to be pushed out ahead of scheduled time, and the unexpected arrival of so many Sky Xuan and Spirit Xuan experts left Jun Mo Xie overwhelmed.
Later, once the battle for the Xuan Core had terminated, Jun Mo Xie realized that he could use the help of those two Xuan Beasts from the Tian Fa forest to do his necessary tasks, which meant that he no longer needed the Solitary Falcon to carry out his immediate plans!
As a result, even though he had planned everything very precisely, he was forced improvise quickly in order to adapt to the quickly changing circumstances.
However, the young master Jun’s heart had still been nursing some grievances in this particular regard: I spent so much time and energy in planning everything out, and now it’s all gone to waste? What a complete waste of my time and energy!
Jun Mo Xie was bit disappointed with himself since he knew that it would be very difficult to track down the Solitary Falcon once the man had left the Tian Xiang City. However, now that Jun Mo Xie unexpectedly saw the Solitary Falcon’s figure in the Tian Xiang City again, he was obviously unwilling to let go of this opportunity!
Therefore, the hitman Jun immediately followed after the disappearing master in full speed!
The hitman’s speed and agility were second to none, but no matter how hard he to tried to push himself, he still found himself unable to catch up to the Solitary Falcon; in fact the distance between them kept increasing steadily! This is not to say that Jun Mo Xie was short on skills; his Xuan Qi was still quite low, and although his cultivation had shown a lot of improvement of late, but it was still only equivalent to that of a junior Gold Xuan expert. However, the young master Jun was confident that after breaking into the second layer of the Hongjun Pagoda, his strength would reach at par with an Earth Xuan expert’s Xuan Qi as per the Xuan Xuan continent’s standards.
However, that was to be taken into writing much later, but for now he had already lost sight of the Solitary Falcon’s figure; but still, the hitman didn’t give up, and continued on this wild-goose chase by pairing his assassin’s skills and intuitive abilities with the clues at hand for tracking the Solitary Falcon down.
~ The Maple Forest, south of the City ~
The maple leaves appeared as red as blood in color under the late autumn sunset.
The autumn wind was whistling through this seemingly forest of blood, and it seemed as if the thousands of maple leaves which had once adorned the branches of the trees of this forest were no longer able to resist the force of the wind and were falling and flowing in the it, making them seem like waves of blood surging up and down a sea of blood……
The entire horizon seemed to be painted in blood!
One blue-robed lonesome figure was standing quietly in the wind, and although he was standing motionlessly on his spot, but his fluttering robes made it seem as if his body was an embodiment of a turbulent sea with waves rolling up and down, roaring and rippling endlessly. The azure-blue color of this man’s robes was complimenting the deep red color of the forest in background, and it seemed to be creating a strange but serene, hostile but peaceful picture.
His azure hair was raised in the wind, and seemed to be merging into the blue sky above. Although numerous leaves were falling to ground, but the ones around him would inevitably circle around him, and his blue hair didn’t seem to have been contaminated by them at all. His eyes were calm and composed, with no hints of sadness for the road behind, no desires or hope for the one ahead, no panic, and no fear.
This man was Hai Chen Feng!
Being a true friend, Hai Chen Feng had showed up as promised.
To meet this unknown but unparalleled enemy for his friend’s cause!
His eyes were poised eastwards, and he seemed to staring at the horizon in the hope of catching a glimpse of his hometown beyond the sea, where his master was waiting for his return!
Once this battle is over, will I get an opportunity to return home again?
Woo….. a fierce autumn wind breezed through the sky, and it seemed as if a meteor had fallen from the sky and its sudden impact upon landing to ground had made the wind gush away from it!
Hai Chen Feng squinted his eyes as a ray of azure blue light flashed from his body and he stood rooted to his spot, steady as a rock, but his hair started to flutter in wind behind his body, while the maple leaves tilted backwards and sped past, and away from his body! The tens of millions of leaves which had somehow managed to brave the autumn winds until now, finally gave in and were caught up in the powerful force of this wind, flooding the sky with their blood red radiance!
The red and the blue sea had been suddenly separated from each other!
Hai Feng Chen suddenly seemed to standing alone in the frame, with no one around him, and no support!
It almost seemed as if all the strenuous effort he had previously put into picking a favorable geographical position had been neutralized in an instant!
Hai Feng Chen’s facial expression changed almost instantaneously while his hand found its way to the hilt of his sword as he looked upwards to search for his enemy, but saw no one!
There was no enemy in sight!
This unknown man hadn’t even appeared in flesh yet, but had already deliberated Hai Feng Chen into using his Xuan Qi!
Whoosh!
A black figure appeared in a flash at a high altitude in the sky above in front of Hai Feng Chen. The man descended to about ten feet in the air, but the manner in which the winds were breezing past his robes made him seem more like a hawk than a human!
His long hair were flowing down by his shoulders, his spine was as straight as a spear, his eyes seemed as crisp as lightning, his nose and lips resembled that of an eagle, his face was thin, and it almost seemed as if his entire body was a personification of death! He appeared like the overlord of the sky, just waiting for his next prey; like a hawk looking down on a rabbit!
“Is your excellency the one who picked on the Jin Yang Bang?” Hai Chen Feng took a deep breath and asked in a respectful tone. His Sky Xuan intuition had already made him aware that he was no match for this man in front of him!
“Yes, and you are Jin Feng Lie’s hired help? And a Sky Xuan expert at that, yes, yes, that’s good, that’s very good!” the man in the black gown glanced at Hai Chen Feng as his face became ardent with desire. Hai Chen Feng’s heart was already beating like a drum: his cultivation is simply too high for me… what level has he already reached? ….. he’s at least a Spirit Xuan expert ah!
Even though Hai Chen Feng was a toughened Sky Xuan expert at heart, he still didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry! Although he expected this person to be quite strong, and maybe even stronger than himself, but he had absolutely never imagined that this man would simply be beyond his ability to cope up with!
This person is so strong that I believe that even Master wouldn’t be able to defeat him easily!
But there are only a very handful of people who have progressed that far….. so who is this person?
The real reason why Hai Feng Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry was, since this person has already progressed this far, why would he stir up trouble with a small faction like the Jin Yang Bang gang? If such a person had asked something from Jin Feng Lie, then Jin Feng Lie should’ve offered him everything he possessed… but instead he has managed to annoy this man!
What is this?
The man in the black gown smiled coldly: “However, being just a Sky Xuan expert, you’ve actually dared to challenge me! Ha ha! Good! Good! At least you have courage!”
“Justice is to be found everywhere, and so I had to! Even through mountains of daggers, and seas of flame, one mustn’t look back!” Hai Feng Chen stated in a genuine tone as he respectfully folded his hands: “Sir, I request that you leave my friends be! And in case I’ve offended you, I request that you forgive me.”
“I never do.” The man in black laughed loudly; his voice seemed rather weird, almost as if an eagle was chanting: “I came to the Tian Xiang City in search of something, and the purpose of my trip has been fulfilled, and was quite productive; therefore, I was about to leave without bothering about this nonsense with the Jin Yang Bang gang; but just as that was about to happen, I received your challenge for a battle. It looks like people sometimes just get lucky ah.”
“Since your objective has already been accomplished, why not leave this matter be, Sir?” Hai Chen Feng sighed, and then added: “Your excellency has indicated that you were only interested in the competition for the Xuan Core, right?”
The man in black groaned, almost as if someone had hit a wrong note, and his face suddenly became gloomy. He batted his eyelids, and said: “Just because that’s over means that we won’t fight? That’s nonsense! Today I’m going to teach you a lesson! You need to note: there are some people you simply shouldn’t provoke, and since you’ve provoke one, you must pay the corresponding price!”