Chapter 249: Prepare to Die!
If a late-stage Soul King like Xiao Binzi were surprised by whatever happened, the situation was far more dire than what they all imagined. Thinking about what to do for a split moment, Xiao Binzi commanded Song Lin, “I’ll go first. You go to where Jiang Nan is. Do whatever the situation calls for, I’ll be there in a flash!!”
Just seconds after he finished his last sentence, Xiao Binzi shot off on his sword and became a speck in no time at all.
As soon as Xiao Binzi left, Song Lin looked away from the old man to Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun, “Yunfei, you and Tang Xinyun stay here for now. I’m going to help Jiang Nan!”
Without any time to lose, Song Lin shook his hand so that a green-colored sword appeared in front of him. Compared to Xiao Binzi’s Zephyr Sword, this one was far weaker in light and power. Hopping onto it, Song Lin soon blasted off to the northeast as soon as his soulforce was pushed into it.
“……”
Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun shared glances of concern and worry for a moment before Bai Yunfei tried to comfort Tang Xinyun, “Xinyun, don’t worry. With the first elder helping, your master will be fine.”
“Yes…” Tang Xinyun nodded, but concern clouded her face as she looked to the north.
The crumbling mountain, where that giant fiery pillar had appeared, was completely enshrouded by the dust cloud from the rock slide, but even despite the low visibility and relative distance, Bai Yunfei could tell that there was an extremely powerful force in that area. Due to his lack of strength, Bai Yunfei wasn’t able to tell what was going on in full detail.
Bai Yunfei turned to the direction Song Lin went with furrowed eyebrows. The first elder had said that Jiang Nan wasn’t too far away, and the elder Cang Yu was fighting not too far as well. Combined with how unusually fast the first elder reacted, it was most likely an indication of how much danger Jiang Nan was in. That must’ve been why Song Lin himself left so fast, but the fact that Bai Yunfei was left here simply didn’t sit well with him.
Power. It was an issue that stemmed solely from power. If he had enough of it, he’d be able to fight with Song Lin and perhaps even with the first elder!!
A fierce explosion suddenly rocked the area around him with several earth-shattering explosions following it, knocking Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. Another brilliant surge of elemental fire shot into the sky, but not on a level as scary as the first one. The distance was even closer than before, so Bai Yunfei was able to see even more. Even the faint remnants of elemental fire was receding enough for Bai Yunfei to sense the intricate soulforce there and into the auras within.
Among the numerous auras was Song Lin; he had joined the fray!
Grim-faced, Bai Yunfei focused heavily on the sight as he debated with himself whether he should ‘follow directions’ and stay obediently away from the battle.
Tang Xinyun had noticed the battle too. Taking notice of the strange look on Bai Yunfei’s face, she asked, “Yunfei, what’s wrong?”
“It’s… it’s nothing…” Bai Yunfei waved a hand nonchalantly, but his face was fixed in its expression.
“Xinyun,” Finally, he came to a resolution, “I have to go closer or I won’t be happy with myself. You stay here, I’ll be back soon.”
“What? You’re going over there!?” Tang Xinyun exclaimed. At first, she was very willing to go help with the fight, but after seeing how the fight was progressing, Tang Xinyun knew that there was nothing she could bring to the fight. When Bai Yunfei said that he wanted to go, she spoke up to stop him, “No! The first elder said to stay put unless he says so. Yunfei, you can’t help them; this is something only the first elder and senior Song Lin can manage!”
But Bai Yunfei shook his head. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything excessive. I just want to go a little closer.”
“But…”
“I am a disciple of master Zi Jin. If my senior is facing trouble, I can’t sit still on the sidelines. No matter the case, I have to go. Xinyun, you stay here and don’t move a muscle.”
“You’re telling me that, but aren’t you doing exactly that?”
“I…” Bai Yunfei didn’t know how to respond.
“If you really want to go, then I’m going with you!” She insisted after a second’s thought.
“Absolutely not! You’re far too weak; it’ll only be dangerous for you.”
“In front of those people, the two of us will only meet the same fate. If you’re going, I’m going!”
“I…” Hesitation flooded Bai Yunfei for a brief moment.
He cast a glance in the direction of Jiang Nan and nodded his head after a while, “Fine then. We’ll both go. Make sure to hide your presence and watch from afar. We’ll have to act based on the situation.”
“Yes, I hear you.”
…………
In the northeast, Xiao Binzi was currently rushing to the battlegrounds.
“Uoahh!!” A loud roar resonated across the land as a mountain-sized elephant came charging forward amid an orange glow. It brought its giant hooves into the air and back down as it charged, the hooves of the elephant soulbeast caused the earth to shake and fracture under its rampage.
Just several dozen meters away, a white figure could be seen weaving out and away from the spider webbing fissures on the ground.
Just as the figure’s foot tapped down onto the ground, a fissure suddenly opened up beneath the figure, splitting the ground apart!
A red light flashed out of the figure’s body before gathering beneath their feet. Materializing as a red platform, the red light let the figure in white use it as a foothold to push off and away from the ground.
Landing several meters away, the figure retreated several steps more before coming to a complete stop.
This person was Cang Yu, the third elder of the Crafting School.
She was clearly in a very sorry state from the battle. Her hair was disheveled and her robes were in a very dilapidated state. Her right hand toted a gleaming red sword, but the cloth on her left arm was ripped to pieces, showing off her snowy-white skin with several black terrifying marks that snaked their way up her arm.
Mere seconds after she came to a stop, a very faint crackling sound could be heard as a jet-black string of chains came flying toward her from the left to entrap her!
Hardening her eyes at the sight, Cang Yu waved her right hand so a palm-sized shield made of golden light materialized in front of her. In no time at all, the shield immediately grew to surround her entire body.
“Clang!!”
There was a metallic clang when the two forces collided, but the shield remained upright. Cang Yu, on the other hand, retreated a hundred meters back with the shield.
Shaking from the impact, the shield started to grow dim in light while Cang Yu’s face grew flush red from pain. The blood came pouring out of her mouth.
When Cang Yu looked up, a single figure could be seen standing on top of the giant soulbeast. The figure was dressed in a purple robe with his hands crossed against his chest as he glared at Cang Yu. His soulforce was being transmitted into the soulbeast beneath him, but from the amount, it was clear to see that he was a mid-stage Soul Exalt. To his left was another man in the air and cloaked in a black mantle that covered his face. Despite not being able to see his physical appearance, a bluish energy could be seen as he shook his right hand. Following the clanking sounds of the chains, the weapon flew back and around him with the flexibility of a snake.
The way he stood there was enough to give anyone that saw him a heart-trembling sensation of fear, and his undisguised aura gave no small amount of fear to Cang Yu as well; he was a Soul King!
Wiping away the blood from her mouth, Cang Yu spoke, “Beast Taming School… do you mean to make our Crafting School an enemy!”
“Hmph! You’re saying that now after all of this?” The man standing on top of the elephant sneered, “We came here to kill that Jiang Nan person at first, but if you’re here to throw away your life, we’ll kill the two of you together. If we remove all traces, who’ll be the wiser that it was the Beast Taming School? Elder Cang, try not to resist. In front of a Soul King, you’ve not a chance to fight.”
“Pah! You’re nothing more than a mouse with a lion!” Cang Yu snorted as she tried to heal herself with her soulforce. From the start until now, her eyes had never left the black-robed figure due to her bitterness. She knew that this person had been doubting whether or not to kill her; otherwise, she would’ve died a long time ago.
This black-cloaked man did indeed have doubts. It was reasonable to say that as a Soul King—even as an early-stage Soul King—killing a late-stage Soul Exalt would be as easy as turning his hand.
But the one in front of him was no ordinary late-stage Soul Exalt. She was an elder of the Crafting School.
Those who had any knowledge about the Crafting School, there was absolutely no reason for them to not fear the Crafting School. The black-cloaked man himself knew that while Cang Yu looked to be in dire straits, there was no way she didn’t have a life-saving skill up her sleeves.
There was once a late-stage Soul Exalt from the Crafting School who fought against a Soul King. With the use of his soul armament and a method that nearly killed himself, he killed the Soul King! It was that battle that made the Soul Exalt famous across the continent.
That person soon became known as the current headmaster of the Crafting School, Kou Changkong!!
The black-cloaked man wasn’t confident that he’d be able to retreat if Cang Yu were to use her last resort. Thus, he decided the best case of action was to wait. Like how a frog would boil itself to death in warm water, he’d wait until Cang Yu was at her weakest point before he’d go in for the kill.
As it was, she wasn’t that far away from said weakest point. Cang Yu had already used several of her strongest techniques earlier, so most of her soulforce was already depleted. It’d take half an hour at most before Cang Yu’s death would be for certain!!
Cang Yu herself was aware of this fact, but she had no other options. With a Soul King around, running away wasn’t a possibility, and neither was winning… with her stuck in this situation, despair was starting to creep into her heart.
Just as the man from the Beast Taming School was about to attack, someone caused the three of them to look away from each other in surprise!
While Cang Yu’s eyes lit up with hope, the other two’s eyes reflected their shock!
A wave of soulsense blasted out in a horizontal push, spreading a powerful aura to them as a greenish light came speeding over like a shooting star.
“You, who have raised a hand against the Crafting School, prepare to die!”