Chapter 77: The Final Collision
Outside , all the onlookers held their breath. No one had expected that Xu Min, who was alone, would be willing to wage war on such a large faction as the Snow Mountain.
Every single faction within the Ruins of the Immortal Valley was watching the large scale battle that was about to begin. The smaller factions secretly wished for Snow Mountain to lose as they had been subdued for a long time; none of them dared to go against the larger factions.
The larger factions were also watching with great curiosity. Some watched for the sake of seeing if they should try and recruit the young man. Whereas, others watched because they wished for Snow Mountain to lose their brightest fighters. The fewer survived, the easier it would be to deal with the faction in the future.
The silence was broken from time to time when people spoke to one another, discussing whom they expected to win and who to lose. A few friends even made bets as to who would win. Even Bu Huang decided to join in the betting, but while most betted on Shen Yu to win, Bu Huang put all his money on Xu Min, a grin appeared on his face.
"Let’s just see how good you are, being that old man's disciple," he grinned as he leaned back in his seat and eyes glued to the screen displaying Xu Min and Ye Ling waiting for the large group to arrive.
Inside the Valley, Xu Min waiting patiently. Without even knowing, a smile had crept onto his lips, yet anyone who saw this smile felt a cold chill run down their spines.
"They are about to break out from the forest," Xu Min commented. His Qi still covered the entire area and noticed every movement made by the group.
"I will take care of all the small men; you have fun with Shen Yu. He is likely to have some tricks up his sleeve, but I know so do you," Ye Ling snickered. Xu Min nodded his head. When it came to treasures, he did not have a lot, but when it came to secrets he was a master.
Not only did he have his sword which would make it possible for him to gain an upper hand on an internal expert like Shen Yu but he was also an internal expert rather than just an external one.. Although he only had two stances, the Radiant Jade Shower and the Shattering Hand, his control over the two stances was completely perfect.
As the tension started rising, Xu Min's eyes strained to their limits. They looked at the group which slowly emerged from the treeline, all of them one in line.
"Counting them, they are all present," Ye Ling growled with a low voice and Xu Min nodded his head. Looking at these experts they were clearly eager to start the battle.
Even though the experts were eager to battle wiht their faces displaying their eagerness, none of them rushed forward. Instead they followed Shen Yu's orders and kept back. Gripping their weapons, they let their Qi roil around their bodies, so it could burst forth in various stances. The atmosphere was tense, and everyone's bodies were taut.
Xu Min was the same. A gleam had appeared in his eyes, and his heart was beating rapidly. His entire body was like a bowstring, ready to be released upon the advancing enemies, but not letting go before they came into range.
It felt as though everything was in slow motion. The advancing group took forever before they finally reached the man and lion. As soon as they did, chaos emerged.
"You will die below my blade!" Someone called out and rushed towards Xu Min. Before he had the chance to reach him, the lion pounced at the person. The lion’s claws were no longer withdrawn, instead they slashed at every person that came into it's range. Ye Ling held nothing back. His Qi flowed from his body which increased his claws size and made energy shockwaves whenever he swiped with his paws. This sent out five shots of light as sharp as swords which raked through the air, cutting deep into the bodies of the experts who tried to advance.
"Don't just run at him like an idiot!" Shen Yu called out. Everyone retreated as soon as his words were said, "This beast is a five star Golden-Furred Blood Lion, not something you can deal with on your own. All of you surround it and start attacking it. You do not need to defeat it. All you need to do is to make it waste its energy and keep it locked down. I will come and deal with it when I finish dealing with this Xu Min. Luo Wei you take control of the lion group!"
Shen Yu easily called out the orders. He nodded to his friend, the friend who had convinced him of attacking Xu Min. Now this friend, Luo Wei, was in the position of leading the assault on the lion, and his facefilled with excitement again.
He quickly barked some orders. Though they were many, Xu Min was not too worried about Ye Ling. Ye Ling might be at a disadvantage because of the sheer number of experts around him, but they just wished to keep him locked down not kill him. Ye Ling's job was the exact same. He was to keep all of them busy so that they could not join Shen Yu against Xu Min.
"So now it’s just you and me," Shen Yu said as a wisp of Qi arrived on his forefinger.With a flicker of his hand, this small wisp turned into a bullet which headed straight for Xu Min's head. Without really caring, Xu Min lifted his sword and a loud hong sound resounded out, shockwaves appeared in the air and a stunned expression appeared on Shen Yu's face.
"To think you could block my Bullet of Light. Seems like this sword of yours is not as simple as it looks." Greed appeared in Shen Yu's eyes, and he licked his lips. His gaze did not leave the sword in front of him.
"That might be so," Xu Min said with a shrug of his shoulders. His hands still firmly gripped the hilt of the sword. He was also secretly astonished about how strong this small bullet of Qi had been.
Shaking his head, Xu Min shook the worry away from him as he looked at the many experts surrounding Ye Ling. A tinge of worry appeared in his heart, but he quickly killed it. He did not have the time to worry about the lion if he wished to win the battle against this Shen Yu. If he truly wished to defeat them, he needed to first get rid of Shen Yu.
Stomping on the ground, Xu Min shot forward as an arrow that had just been released. His speed was so swift that it was impossible to see him clearly. The strength in his legs was so forceful that the place he had stomped had sunk twenty centimeters into the ground.
The sheer power behind this attack was enough to shock Shen Yu greatly. He hurriedly retreated a few steps back so that he could easily dodge it.
Seeing his target dodging his attack, Xu Min took his sword and buried it into the ground, making it possible for him to stop his advance and with a new stomp. He once more rushed towards Shen Yu who could not help but swear as he constantly retreated.
Every time he dodged Xu Min, the young man would use his sword to stop his advance and then afterwards rush after the expert in front of him once more.
Shen Yu was not too worried about Xu Min, but he had understood that this sword within his hands was a true treasure. He could not allow for this sword to wound him, leaving him with no other option than to run.
Unfortunately, running also meant that he could not stand still and take a stance. Battling with this kind of berserking external expert was something that Shen Yu had never experienced before. He was getting a serious headache having to try and come up with a way to battle him.
"How can he have me under his control?!" Shen Yu was starting to get angry, "Who even gave him such an outstanding weapon that even I am threatened by it? Can his background be much more formidable than mine?"
Shen Yu was truly shocked, but he also knew that now was not the time to worry about something such as the background on a rogue cultivator. This was a battle to the death; even if Shen Yu tried to stop the battle, Xu Min would not trust him. He would kill him at the first possible chance.
"Since it is like this, it is time for me to get serious," the young man said. While still dodging Xu MIn, he took his hand into the robe and pulled out a small blank slate. On top of this slate was three runes inscribed. The moment Shen Yu poured Qi into this slate the three runes started to light up.
"I did not think I had to do this, but let us see how you will deal with me now!" Shen Yu called out. The three runes shone with a different light. One was golden and laid a large protective barrier around the young expert. Another was blue and underneath his feet a cloud appeared, making it possible for Shen Yu to soar into the sky above, and the final rune shone with red light, mixing with Shen Yu's Qi.
The moment the red energy entered Shen Yu's body, it seemed as though his body increased in size. His muscles swelled, his eyes turned red, and his skin tanned. It was not long before a disruption appeared in the surroundings. It was clear that all of this energy was entering Shen Yu's body, constantly increasing his strength and shocking Xu Min even more. It was clear that he had entered a berserk mode.
Although he had reached the rank of a six-star Warrior during his berserking, he stayed on top of the soaring cloud, and took a stance. The red Qi billowed around him and Xu Min finally understood that this was something he needed to avoid.
Dodging to one side, Xu Min managed to avoid the first attack which was a large sword created from red Qi which rained down upon him. Moving around, Xu Min managed to continuously avoid the attacks. However as the time went by, the attacks were quicker and quicker. It was as though Shen Yu were going more and more berserk. Finally Xu Min could no longer hold out. He was hit by a sword, slicing down his body and leaving a large wound.
Using Qi to protect himself was no option right now. Rather, he led the Qi towards his wound and closed it while still avoiding the attacks.
"I need to get closer. As they say, to gain some, I need to risk some," Xu Min mumbled to himself. He tightened the grip on the sword hilt and slashed at the red Qi sword which was coming his way.
When coming into contact with the red Qi sword, Xu Min could not help but scream out as he felt violent energy entering his body. The body was filled with this violent red Qi. Even though it was possible to refine it, the process was incredibly painful. Nevertheless now he had devoured the energy, he had no other option than to fight through it at the same time as he was fighting Shen Yu.
Seeing that his Qi was being devoured, Shen Yu instantly stopped pouring Qi into the red Qi sword. He looked at Xu Min with hostile eyes. "It won't end this easily," he sneered with a cold look in his eyes.