Chapter 98: Two Against Hundred
"Are we not going to assist him?" one of Ouyang Xiu's followers asked confused. Clearly, they were currently allies. If they did not aid him when he faced an entire army of experts, what kind of allies were they?
"We will assist him," Ouyang Xiu said casually, but his actions said otherwise. He showed no signs of wanting to move. All he did was to stand still, his arms crossed over his chest. A smile played on his lips as his eyes shone with excitement.
Since Ouyang Xiu was not moving, no one else moved. They did not move even when he said that they were going to. Words were one thing, actions were another.
Sensing the doubt and confusion amongst his peers, Ouyang Xiu sighed and explained himself. "Xu Min is going to burst with power soon. If we are in the way, we will likely be butchered as well. Nevertheless, by the time he runs out of energy, we will step in and assist him. We will not allow these people to defeat him; especially since they are our enemies. For now, just watch and enjoy the show, but as soon as he shows signs of fatigue, join the fray and slay as you wish!"
Ouyang Xiu's words made everyone excited. To fight their enemies and kill geniuses of their opposing families made their future more secure. Killing all of the hundred experts who had appeared would truly be a great benefit to the Ouyang family. However, it would not be as easy as they expected it would be. All these experts were true geniuses, and there were so many of them! Even if the Ouyang Camp went against them, it was not possible to get rid of them all just like that. The Ouyang Family would have casualties as well.
It was Xu Min these experts were here for. Though they had enmity with the Ouyang Family, they brazenly were attacking them now to get revenge on Xu Min. If they could succeed in killing Xu Min, then would that not be enough to render tremendous merits for their clan or family?
Xu Min understood their thoughts; he was partly grateful to these experts for throwing away their lives in front of him. He had gained so many new attacks and ways of using his Qi that Xu Min was eager to test it out in a large scale battle.
By his side was the forever faithful Ye Ling, who was just as eager for the battle to start as Xu Min, and the two, man and beast, together rushed into the midsts of the many experts that surrounded him.
Qi filled the air. One stance after another was being displayed causing Qi to rise into the air and take on the shape of various things. Some were fireballs; others were wind blades. Some were blazing suns; others were weapons. All these attacks had only one target but being the target of so many attacks, Xu Min was not worried.
Instead, he lifted his sword and met them head on, feeling how the sword greedily started sucking up all the Qi of the internal experts who had cast the first wave of stances.
Feeling his body trembling with energy, he noticed that so much energy had entered it that he was likely to explode if he did not do something about it soon. With a loud roar, Qi exploded around his body.
Every single strand of Qi was as swift as the wind and as sharp as the sword carrying it. The element of the wind was an inconceivable swordlight. This was not an imitation of the element but the element itself.
Xu Min was a human; it was not possible for him to merge elements and Qi since he was not a fairy. Nonetheless, he had previously fought a fairy and had absorbed her many attacks, even her all out attack which had contained all her knowledge and elemental affinity.
Absorbing all of the fairy’s Qi had caused Xu Min's Qi to change. Although Xu Min himself was incapable of merging Qi and elemental affinities, his Qi had still taken on the element of the wind. When Xu Min’s Qi was being used, it would be much more deadly than before, and his attacks would be both swifter and fiercer.
It was not only his internal fighting capabilities that had changed, but his physical body had also benefitted greatly from the fight with the fairy. He understood that he could if given the time, be able to use this control over the Wind element in many various ways.
Now, though, was not the time. He was more than satisfied with how swift his strands of Qi traveled. What he relied on right now was the sharpness of his swordlight, and every single strand of Qi contained within it.
Each single Qi was as sharp as a sword; the Qi easily cut through limbs as though they were butter. Screams soon started to ring out as Xu Min began using his Qi without much concern for how much he used.
The sword in hand kept on defending him against the stances. The experts that were in close range were battling Xu Min himself while the Qi wind blades with the swordlight ingrained took care of the ones at a distance.
Although Xu Min was capable of attacking and defending, he was using his Qi with wild abandonment. He soon found that although his body was being filled with the Qi that the sword had absorbed, it became harder and harder to control it. The energy was running wild, and every single attack he used became more and more berserk.
"How are we going to join in?" One of Ouyang's previously silent followers asked amazed while she looked at the onslaught occuring in front of her. Xu Min had started out as a dazzling and amazing cultivator. His every move had contained beauty and power. The way every single flash of his sword would block both stances and the external experts in one go was simply beautiful to behold. The Qi which left his body had such a lofty air to it as it had soared through the air and chopped people apart. Each move of Xu Min had at least wounded and killed three experts.
But as the fight went on, he seemed to lose some of the sophisticated air and turned savage. The more he killed, the more menacing his attacks became, causing him to go more berserk as he used more Qi.
These spectators were unaware of the fact that Xu Min was trying to use as much Qi as possible in the attempt to not explode. Nor did they know the actual dangerous predicament he was in. His own Qi was drawing dangerously low, making it hard for him to continue the battle.
By his side, Ye Ling was in a similar situation. Although both of them were strong, they had a limit to how much Qi they could control. The majority of their opponents were four-star Warriors. They were no easy opponents. Xu Min had to use some of his real abilities to deal with them. He understood that he and Ye Ling were being pushed into a corner, and he was uncertain of what to do.
"I can ask Ouyang Xiu to help," Xu Min mused, but then shook his head. "He will just be in the way," he mumbled harshly to himself. Another frenzied wave of Wind Qi fused with Swordlight struck out spontaneously. He used his sword to block as more chaotic Qi entered his body.
"Master truly gifted me a wonderful item!" Xu Min sighed to himself in praise. He felt how easily he could block others. "I only have a little bit of Qi left," he mused, "Will I have to die here? There is only around thirty experts left, but can I truly have to give up by now? Master did me a great favor; I want to return to him and prove my strength!"
Suddenly Xu Min's mind, which had started to consider the fact that he might be losing stumbled upon something he had not thought about in a long time. "Master gifted me with two great treasures," he said. This time his voice was rather loud, and everyone heard him. Their hearts were starting to shake in worry but also greed.
"These two treasures have already saved my life more times than I can count and once more it will be the treasures gifted to me by the master which saves me!"
Having said this Xu Min took a stance, something which shocked everyone present.
Although Xu Min had previously used Qi in the way an internal expert would do, no one had ever before seen him make a stance and everyone became extra careful.
"Ye Ling come here!" Xu Min called out. The lion did not need to wait a moment. Instantly, he was standing by Xu Min's side. His breathing was hard, and he had small cuts and wounds all over his body. Blood was flowing from the fur and from the look of it he had broken a few ribs.
Xu Min was not without wounds either. Even though he had been able to have an almost perfect defense, he could not defend against two sides at the same time and had been forced to take a few attacks head on. He had wounds all over his body too, but the frenzied Qi that was roaming his body was stopping it from bleeding almost instantly, making his clothes look tattered, but it was hard to see any blood.
"Guard me for two minutes," Xu Min ordered before he closed his eyes. He steadied himself and stretched an arm up.
The rest of his own Qi together with all the chaotic Qi that he had absorbed was instantly roaring through his body in a specific pattern before it started seeping out.
The sun in the sky turned dark; a manifestation of stars seemed to appear instead. Everywhere small shards of jade as sharp as razors appeared one after another at an astonishing speed.
These shards were so many and all over the area. When Ouyang Xiu saw this spectacle, his eyes widened. He instantly gave a single order, "Retreat. NOW!" before he turned to leave.
No one dallied, even the ones who had attacked Xu Min were shocked and turned to leave, but it was all too late. Xu Min opened his eyes; a cold gleam appeared within them as he clenched his fist. Thousands upon thousands of shards started to whistle through the air at a speed even his wind blade could not achieve.
These jade shards embedded themselves within the bodies of everyone present. Some shot right through the bodies while others were directly cut through.
The thirtysomething remaining cultivators all had tried to flee, but not one of them were able to survive. They collapsed on the ground one after another. Blood flowed from all their wounds. Their eyes were filled with despair. Even such an overpowering group was incapable of doing anything to Xu Min!
Outside the Immortal Valley, everyone had been watching the battle. At first, the Snow Mountain people had been excited and gloated as they looked at the place where Ouyang's family was seated, but their expression quickly turned sour.
When they saw the Radiant Jade Shower their faces were incredibly pale, but not only them. Everyone present had pale faces. Suddenly someone mumbled just loud enough for all to hear, "you don't think that his master is him, do you?"
Within this voice was disbelief but also fear, an unfathomable fear.