Chapter 257: A Draining Development
“Hmph!” The man grunted. With just a small step to the side, the man was able to dodge the Fire-tipped Spear so that it sailed harmlessly past him. Stepping forward in an instant, the man let loose a punch straight into Bai Yunfei’s chest!
“Bang!”
Staggering backward several steps, Bai Yunfei coughed out a mouthful of blood before trying to force back down the rest.
“He’s strong!” It only took a single move to showcase the vast difference between the two fighters. The black-robed man he was fighting now was completely different in strength compared to the mid-stage Soul Ancestor beast tamer he had been fighting before. This man was not only a soul cultivator that depended on himself to fight, he was also a late-stage Soul Ancestor, making him already far superior than the beast tamer.
Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei sent the Cataclysmic Seal toward the black-robed man. At the same time, he swung his left hand and threw three throwing knives behind the Cataclysmic Seal. With those two projectiles thrown, Bai Yunfei leaped forward to use the Fire-tipped Spear to serve as the third strike!
Even against Bai Yunfei’s impressive assault, the black-robed man snorted derisively before his body started to flicker like a haze of heat.
Then, beneath the bewildered eyes of Bai Yunfei, the man split into three!
Mirror images!
This was the genuine mirror image soul skill!
The Cataclysmic Seal and the three throwing knives sailed through one of the mirror images without any resistance. On the other hand, the figure on the right was a miss as well with Bai Yunfei’s spear passing through it as well; this one was a mirror image too!
Bringing his left hand back to block the incoming punch from the remaining figure on the left, Bai Yunfei was alarmed to see that this figure was an illusion as well!
“What!?” A chill shot up Bai Yunfei’s spine as the feeling of death poked at him from behind. Hurriedly doing a half-spin, Bai Yunfei brought his spear around and stab forward to protect himself!
“Pa.”
A hand with a black aura rising up from it caught the shaft of the spear. “Insignificant worm, know your place!” A voice boomed out at the same time.
Dumbstruck, Bai Yunfei tried his best to pull the Fire-tipped Spear away from the man’s hand, but to no avail! No matter how much he tried to pull, the spear would not move!
Just when he was about to use the Cataclysmic Seal to hit the man, a sinking realization came to Bai Yunfei, causing his face to pale in color after realizing what was going on!
His soulforce was… was being drained!!
The soulforce in him was forcibly being drained from his right arm and into the Fire-tipped Spear!!
“What… what’s going on?!” Not once had Bai Yunfei ever come across an issue like this. In the time he spent trying to comprehend what was happening, half of his soulforce was already taken away!
“It’s him!!” With a vigilant glare at the black miasmic hand that had grabbed hold of his spear, Bai Yunfei came to a quick realization of what was happening. Letting go of the spear with a grunt, Bai Yunfei materialized a blade of fire from his Flameblade Bracer and slashed at the hand holding the spear!
“Eh?” Uttering a quizzical sound, the man was clearly not expecting for Bai Yunfei to attack in such a way. The appearance of the Flame Winged Blade had been equally unexpected since he didn’t feel any soulforce being used from Bai Yunfei’s body.
Bai Yunfei’s plan was successful. Letting go of the spear, the man took a step back to dodge the blade.
However, the Flame Winged Blade didn’t even make a complete arc before it was dematerialized. It was a trick!
What Bai Yunfei wanted to do was to take advantage of when the man took a step back to dodge in order for him to retreat as well!
It took only one step before the man realized he had been duped. Snorting, he flew forward once again to chase after Bai Yunfei. Even though Bai Yunfei was trying his best to retreat, he was unable to shake off the man!
The chain of events that was happening in front of him sent Bai Yunfei into a panic. As expected, the strength of a late-stage Soul Ancestor was terrifying!! In his panic, Bai Yunfei threw a left hook, but it was useless. The man had merely grabbed hold of Bai Yunfei’s wrist, rendering Bai Yunfei to be unable to move!!
“Fuck…” Another wave of unease washed over Bai Yunfei’s mind as he processed what was going on. Once more, the soulforce in his body was being drained from where the man’s fist was clutching at his wrist at an even faster rate!
“Dammit, let go!!” Bai Yunfei shouted as he pumped some soulforce into his Flameblade Bracer. Straight away, a Flame Winged Blade materialized once again in a flurry of elemental fire, surprising the man enough to loosen his grip on Bai Yunfei’s wrist.
Staggering away, Bai Yunfei tried his best to try and circulate his soulforce to stabilize himself, but the only thing he felt was the world around him start to shake and spin before he fell to the ground!!
At a loss for what was going on, Bai Yunfei felt as if he was going stupid. Not a single thought was coming to mind other than the fact that he felt extremely weak in front of this man!
A cold sneer appeared on the man’s face as he flew toward Bai Yunfei with his right hand raised high. No longer was he dressed with the energy of the elemental wind, but now a strange black energy. Wisps of black energy, which chilled the air, wrapped around his fist in a sight that would make anyone look on in fear.
Still cloaked in his black mantle, the man’s disdainful eyes could be seen looking down on the fear-stricken Bai Yunfei, “Die!!”
With that, he unleashed a palm stroke down on Bai Yunfei’s chest where a certain acupoint called the Tianling point was! A palm strike with that much force behind it would surely kill Bai Yunfei if it were to connect!!
Bai Yunfei wanted to dodge, but at the same time, he wanted to use the Cataclysmic Seal to protect himself. However, both options weren’t possible. He lacked enough soulforce to even command his body to move as he’d like. All he could do was stare at the palm that was coming closer and closer to him in complete and utter despair.
On the eve before the palm could connect, a figure in white shot forth from the side and knocked Bai Yunfei out of the way!!
“Bang!”
“Pfft!!”
Though the man’s palm failed to hit Bai Yunfei, it managed to hit this person’s right shoulder, causing the person to spit out a mouthful of blood. Some of that blood sprinkled over Bai Yunfei’s chest, and some of it spilled over his face as well…
Then, the fragile frame of the person who protected Bai Yunfei collapsed into his arms as if her strings had been cut…
It was Tang Xinyun!!
For that moment, time seemed to have come to a stop. Whether it was the angry shouts of Song Lin or Jiang Nan, or even the surprised gasp of the black-robed man, neither of the two seemed to register to Bai Yunfei’s ears. The scenery around him came to a screeching halt as Bai Yunfei felt several strands of Tang Xinyun’s hair brush against her face before coming to a slow stop.
As if a bucket of icy-cold water was dumped over Bai Yunfei, his mind was wiped blank with the downpour.
All that Bai Yunfei could do was scream endlessly inside his mind…
“Why! Why did this happen… whyyyy!!!”
Just a moment ago, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were able to kill a mid-stage Soul Ancestor.
Then this late-stage Soul Ancestor came out of nowhere and attacked them! Though Bai Yunfei was somewhat excited to fight this man… how did… how did things come to this!?
……
“Can you kill?”
“I can!”
“Fine then, in a bit, I’ll head on over and try to get that mid-stage Soul Ancestor’s attention. I’ll bring him over here while we’re fighting and create an opening. You’ll come in then and kill him!”
“That person’s a mid-stage Soul Ancestor, are you sure?”
“Don’t worry! I’ve faith in myself. Since we’ll be far away from the others, we’ll only be fighting him meaning there won’t be any other danger!”
“Okay, I trust you…”
……
The dialog from when he was talking to Tang Xinyun about the plan prior to the battle resurfaced in Bai Yunfei’s mind. Looking at her pale-as-a-sheet face, Bai Yunfei was in utter panic.
The man that was responsible for this hadn’t the same feelings. Although he was surprised to see Tang Xinyun throw herself in front of Bai Yunfei, he was quick to recover himself. With another sneer, the man raised a black wispy hand and struck at Bai Yunfei again!!
“Die!!”