Chapter 153 - Courting Death (Part VI) (Patreon)

The Qi lines were wrapped around Lucian's arms, legs, and bones. They did not enter his body, but were tied onto him to help him fly. Fortunately, his body was resilient enough not to shatter under the immense pressure created by the speed at which Grandmaster Miao moved.

Where are they coming from? Lucian thought, glancing at the Qi lines that descended from the clouds above rather than from Grandmaster Miao’s body. It was very peculiar that, this time, they didn't come from the cultivator, as they used to.

After dismissing that thought, Lucian stabilized his senses to the current velocity and focused on the battle. He was fighting cultivators far stronger than his current self, so he analyzed them and remained alert.

Because of that focus, he noticed something strange.

“You’ve been hit,” he muttered with a frown.

Grandmaster Miao was both intelligent and experienced. Seeing Lucian staring at his sleeve and hearing that sentence, he waved his hand, exploding with Qi. His robe shredded apart, revealing a shadowy tentacle clinging to his chest and slowly spreading across it.

With a click of his tongue, he pierced it with Qi lines and pulled the tentacle, tearing the shadow apart.

“How did you know?” he asked, maneuvering through the air to dodge a golden spear infused with soundwaves. 

The spear slammed into the ground below and exploded, sending debris everywhere.

“Your scent weakened, and it became harder to see through your sleeve,” Lucian replied, his eyes fixed on the crater caused by Vermilion Tide’s attack. “They coordinated to hit you, but you didn’t notice. It's hard to believe, but it seems to be the truth.”

At first, Lucian thought that Grandmaster Miao was fleeing to plan a greater attack. However, after witnessing the spear's power, he realized that if the tentacle had delayed Grandmaster Miao by even a second, both of them would have suffered severe injuries.

No one would choose to be hit by that in the middle of a battle.

“You are weakened or distracted,” Lucian whispered, low enough that the wind and distant battle noises almost drowned out his voice. “Tell me what you planned by coming here.”

If Grandmaster Miao claimed he had come here without a plan, just to save Lucian and with no other card up his sleeve, Lucian would activate the Curse of Wrath without hesitation.

In his eyes, there was absolutely no reason for Grandmaster Miao to be this selfless, reckless, and suicidal.

Tell me what you're thinking, or I’ll treat everyone here as an enemy, Lucian thought, scratching his neck to disguise the movement. He was ready to inflict a fatal wound and bring chaos to this place!

Grandmaster Miao heard him and felt the cold stare on his back. After a moment, he returned the look with the same cold expression.

“I'm saving strength without being noticed, just like you. This battle isn't as important for me as I made them believe so,” he mouthed, not daring to speak aloud.

Lucian narrowed his eyes and lowered his hand.

Suddenly, Grandmaster Miao veered to the side, changing his trajectory, and Lucian looked below to see what had prompted the maneuver.

Squinting, he watched from afar as an orange giant made of fire swept across the ground, causing explosions and earthquakes wherever it passed. Phantom chains attempted to bind it and cool its flames, but were being melted and broken every second.

Councillor Mu was sweating profusely, his body being dragged by those same chains. His robes and hair were covered in soot and scorch marks as he attempted to stop the giant.

With his enhanced vision, Lucian saw the Councillor swallow a bluish-white pearl, recovering his Qi and suppressing the Fire Qi in his direct surroundings.

Unable to distinguish the different stages within the Foundation Establishment realm, Lucian failed to notice that the fire giant was approaching the peak stage, surpassing the Councillor.

While Lucian was being dragged through the sky by Grandmaster Miao, the two pursuers, Madame Ching and Vermilion Tide, merely glanced at Councillor Mu.

Then Madame Ching waved her hand, tossing a bronze shell toward the fire giant.

The giant, which appeared to have lost its mind, stared at the bronze object that left dozens of shadow wings. It didn't react when the bronze shell phased through its body and settled atop its head.

Moments later, clarity returned to its four eyes, its aura receded back to the high stage, and its body shrank.

Lucian saw it all and glanced at Grandmaster Miao with narrowed eyes.

Did he know they would do that?

Forming a few guesses of his own, Lucian kept his attention locked on Grandmaster Miao, Vermilion Tide, and the black wings concealing Madame Ching. Then, he felt a wave of Qi ahead of them, and Grandmaster Miao veered to the side once more.

This time, they avoided a massive tree with green branches resembling whips. At its center was a pulsing sphere encased within the trunk, feeding the organism with Qi and energy. Meanwhile, the branches slammed and pierced upward at incredible speed, trying to hit something.

And using those branches as stepping stones, there was Zou Si.

She was dodging nonstop, her movements nimble and her use of Qi highly efficient, focusing more on control than creating a spectacle.

Lucian narrowed his eyes as he observed the battle, noticing that the black-robed Zou Si tried to strike the bulge in the trunk and never strayed too far from the stationary tree. In his view, retreating and attacking from range would have been the easier way to destroy an immobile target, so he didn't understand the reason behind her moves at first.

Unless her target excels at ranged attacks, he thought, his eyes moving to the roots spreading through the shattered ground.

He could now imagine that if Zou Si stopped using the branches as footholds to jump and evade, she would end up on the ground, overwhelmed by dozens, perhaps hundreds, of roots.

Clicking his tongue, he turned toward Madame Ching, curious about what she would do.

To his surprise, she did nothing and ignored the battle entirely. Instead, it was Grandmaster Miao who acted next when they arrived at the next battlefield.

There, Lord Ye Ren stood with his right hand clenched in the air, muscles bulging as several wounds across his skin visibly healed. With a serious expression, he glared at the Wu brothers, whose bodies were twisting in midair as though they were being squeezed by a giant invisible hand.

“Too weak." He glanced at Grandmaster Miao and Lucian and complained, “They couldn’t entertain me.”

After Lord Ye Ren spoke, a wet squelching sound echoed through the battlefield, and the bodies of the Wu brothers began to tear apart.

Sighing, Grandmaster Miao had no choice but to intervene.

Hundreds of cyan Qi lines descended from the sky, connected to nothing visible, and wrapped around the Wu brothers, freeing them while forming a cocoon around their bodies.

The rescue came at a cost, of course.

While Grandmaster Miao was conjuring the technique, Lucian muttered, “This better have been worth it.”

Supported by the Qi lines, he twisted his body to be in front of Grandmaster Miao and crossed his arms while the latter focused on flinging the Wu brothers away.

Lucian poured every drop of Qi and Blood Essence he could spare into his body, as a golden spear struck his arms.

A thunderous explosion rang out.

His barely healed broken arms were obliterated. A devastating force slammed into his chest, and blood burst from his mouth. And the only reason he was not launched away was that hundreds of Qi lines were still holding him in place.

The hidden eyeball connected to the Rune of Greed, undetectable because it emitted no Qi, was forced to consume increasing amounts of Blood Essence. The crimson energy was used to feed the Rune of Sloth, in an attempt to close the gaping wound that had opened across Lucian's chest.

Grandmaster Miao frowned. Having sent the Wu brothers flying out of the Broken Maze like stones from a catapult, he said nothing when Lucian was hit. Instead, he grabbed Lucian and dodged the next attack.

Another golden spear and a wave of black shadows struck their previous position, carving craters into the ground.

“Lord Ye Ren,” Madame Ching said, stopping the chase, her shadow wings spreading to show herself to the shirtless man. “Your battle attainment always surprises me. When you reach my cultivation level, you will be unrivaled.”

Yet Lord Ye Ren was not paying attention to her.

“Did... did that man just withstand a Foundation Establishment attack with his body alone?” he asked, staring at Lucian’s retreating figure with wide eyes. “Without a defensive technique? Just using that little amount of Qi? While in Qi deviation?!”

Vermilion Tide arrived moments later and sneered at the shadow wings, eager to continue the pursuit. While her opponents could not flee, they could buy time, and she didn't want that!

Madame Ching saw this and bit her lip. She knew she had to focus on the bigger picture, even if she couldn't kill Lucian. She was about to speak and say goodbye when Ye Ren interrupted.

“I want him,” he said.

Both women froze.

“That man. Bo Xian. I want his body.”

Their expressions were beyond strange. Vermilion Tide and Madame Ching glanced at each other, neither showing their true thoughts.

“He’s a body cultivator,” Ye Ren continued, his eyes shining as his muscles tensed. “I must fight him with my fists. He may truly entertain me! If he does, I will help you.”

Vermilion Tide failed to understand the significance of those words. Madame Ching, however, nearly had her eyes pop out of their sockets.

Lord Ye Ren was the representative of Thousand Echoes Island in Three Feathers City, but more importantly, he was the Core Disciple responsible for supervising the pirates and fleets in his sect's region!

Madame Ching had begged him more than once to help locate her family, but the price he demanded each time was far too high. Hearing that he would help as long as Lucian could entertain him made her mind shaken, and regret flooded her heart.

Unfortunately, she had already made several arrangements involving the life and death of the Young Master of the Bo Merchant Chamber and couldn’t promise anything. Without agreeing or refusing, she resumed the chase alongside Vermilion Tide.

Meanwhile, Lord Ye Ren clenched his fists and smiled. He couldn't care less about the two women, as his thoughts were filled with the image of Lucian blocking the previous attack.

For the first time, he was glad to have been sent to this city!