Chapter 154 - Courting Death (Part VII) (Patreon)

After being hit, Lucian had lost consciousness for a second.

That wasn't... so bad, he thought after recovering. Quickly, he stabilized his wounds as much as he could, feeling glad that he wasn't the one responsible for controlling their flight.

Looking at the gore of flesh and shattered bones below his shoulders and wrapping it with Blood Essence, he realized he had literally sacrificed both arms to block that strike.

Adding to that, when he glanced down at his robes, he saw a massive, round wound. It had obliterated one lung and several ribs, but had thankfully missed his heart and spine.

Shaking his head, he turned to Grandmaster Miao. “Throw me out.”

He had lost consciousness, not his memories. Lucian saw the Wu brothers being launched out of the Broken Maze, which meant Grandmaster Miao was perfectly capable of saving him the same way.

“I can't,” Grandmaster Miao said, surprising him. “Everyone here could leave except you.”

“You should explain that,” Lucian replied with a frown.

“Do you think we have the time?!”

Shouting, Grandmaster Miao maneuvered sharply to avoid another golden lance, while Lucian sighed in irritation. Despite how easily they avoided the attacks most of the time, the golden lances were not meant only to kill. 

They were a constant distraction.

In Lucian's perspective, Vermilion Tide’s job was to harass them from afar. The moment Grandmaster Miao tried to retaliate, Madame Ching would act.

After all, Madame Ching had attacked once, and only when Grandmaster Miao made a move of his own.

Or at least, Lucian thought so.

Soon, they approached the final part of the battlefield, and Lucian couldn't understand what was happening there at all.

Starlight flashed through the sky, and piles of debris were hurled in different directions. Everything happened in rapid succession as invisible forces clashed, avoiding even the Qi perception of those outside.

Nonetheless, Grandmaster Miao possessed investigative techniques and could glimpse more of the situation.

“Wei Zhang is suppressing Scribe Gui Mao,” Grandmaster Miao said, his eyes like a serpent. “But neither has used any powerful techniques yet. They're still probing each other.”

Lucian narrowed his eyes, his thoughts racing. He had some guesses as to why they were visiting each battle site.

“You're using the others to gain a better advantage against Madame Ching,” he said. “Our allies are being suppressed on two fronts and were defeated on another. This can't be good. ”

Grandmaster Miao chuckled and flew forward with the help of his Qi lines as he said, “Ye Ren is a prodigy. Whoever fought him was bound to have problems. But he's too prideful. He won't interfere in other people's battles.”

A glint appeared in Lucian's eyes as he realized Grandmaster Miao had likely ordered the Wu brothers to fight together against the bare-chested man not to win, but to provoke Ye Ren's pride. Through this, they ensured he would not interfere in the other duels unless they escalated to a one-against-two battle!

Ignoring his wounds while the Rune of Greed continued absorbing the remaining blood across the battlefield and the Rune of Sloth struggled to heal him, Lucian asked, “Tell me about the others.”

Instead of answering, Grandmaster Miao clicked his tongue, dodged another golden lance, and shot Lucian an annoyed gaze.

“Yes, I know,” Lucian replied with a wry smile. “No time.”

While Lucian appeared relaxed, letting the Qi lines carry him through the sky, the truth was completely different. He was focused on keeping his senses alert, recovering Blood Essence, and suppressing the Curse of Wrath.

It almost activated, he thought, gnashing his teeth.

If that golden spear had exploded slightly to the left and destroyed his heart instead of his right lung, there would already be a black monster hunting everyone present for blood.

Nonetheless, I wasn't supposed to survive that attack without activating the curse. Lucian realized. It seems empowering my body with Blood Essence and Qi simultaneously creates a far greater enhancement than I thought. Good!

Until now, he had only fought cultivators at the Qi Condensation realm or below, leaving him with no proper point of reference for measuring the true extent of that enhancement. Besides, it had been less than an hour since he unlocked his fourth chakra and gained the ability to correctly infuse Qi and fortify his body!

“About before, you should be more careful,” Grandmaster Miao said abruptly, after dodging yet another golden spear. “Using so little Qi to defend against that attack fooled no one. If you want to keep your true strength hidden, learn how to deceive others!”

What are you talking about? Lucian shot him a strange look but nodded anyway. He assumed Grandmaster Miao was overthinking again, so it was better not to dig into it.

After Grandmaster Miao avoided another golden spear, they did not stir to either side to create distance, but were suddenly pulled upward.

From below, hundreds of shadow spears condensed from the various debris and shot toward the sky, aiming at their location and the surrounding areas.

Lucian perceived that Madame Ching was responsible for those.

The houses had been flattened, but the moonlight still cast shadows across the rubble, Lucian quickly thought, observing where the attacks had come from. If she could leave techniques hidden throughout the ground, in those shadows, then...

He turned and looked over the district, realizing they had made a full circle.

Then she could have infused techniques into any shadow, he concluded, shooting Grandmaster Miao a cold glance. This guy should have known that. This kind of technique wouldn’t be hidden.

Before Lucian arrived, it had been decades since the major forces of Three Feathers City had changed. The main players had remained the same, giving them plenty of time to learn one another's limitations, goals, and techniques.

Grandmaster Miao needed to check on the others and had to flee the duo behind, Lucian thought. Meanwhile, Madame Ching followed without using a stronger move because the situation suited her goals. She was laying a huge trap!

Lucian was growing mildly irritated with this whole situation. He felt like a fool, as though everyone possessed information he lacked, something extremely unusual in his experience.

Still, he didn't allow it to affect his judgment.

There's no need to force myself, he thought with a sneer. Let Grandmaster Miao hold up the falling sky. If he drops it, I'll pierce through.

Despite everything, Lucian never lost confidence in himself. No matter what techniques he witnessed here, he had once stood among people far stronger.

He himself had once been far stronger.

Suddenly, Grandmaster Miao said, “Hold on for three breaths!”

Then he retracted all of his Qi lines, encasing himself within a cocoon before shooting straight toward Madame Ching and plunging into the center of her shadow wings.

The shadows folded into a sphere and shot toward the heavens, rising above the clouds while carrying both Grandmaster Miao and Madame Ching away.

Having no time to react, Lucian began to fall.

Two things happened afterward, making Lucian immediately understand why Grandmaster Miao had done and said what he did.

First, shadows condensed throughout the ruined Broken Maze and shot upward to protect Madame Ching. Grandmaster Miao had no intention of letting her keep the initiative and had forced her to trigger her techniques prematurely!

Second, the moment Vermilion Tide saw that Lucian was no longer protected, she unleashed the full power of her peak-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation.

That's what hold on for three breaths means, Lucian thought.

A horned serpent's head appeared behind Vermilion Tide, her body becoming covered in golden scales as she shouted, “Die!”