Chapter 34 - Trapped!
“Crash!”
The once calm sea suddenly became turbulent! A massive trench split the sea waters on both sides.
A green sword light shot up from within the trench, followed closely by a pure white water ape riding the waves skyward.
Leng Yan turned to look! Yuan Hong, with a furious expression, was right behind him, cursing continuously!
“This can’t go on! The water ape’s speed is too fast! I have to slow him down! Otherwise, I’m in danger!” Leng Yan thought to himself.
He hurriedly increased the speed of his flying sword, concentrating to scatter layers of seals in the sky. Leng Yan didn’t expect these seals to harm Yuan Hong but hoped they would slow him down!
These seals were extremely mixed, filled with anything from seals, illusory realms, changes, to confusion-Leng Yan cast whatever he could think of! Yuan Hong, closely pursuing, ran into the seals as well. However, the gap in their realms was too great to significantly affect Yuan Hong! Fortunately, Yuan Hong’s speed was indeed hindered!
At the same time, Leng Yan faced a new problem; half an hour of rapid flight had quickly depleted his magical power, making it impossible to continue sword control!
“What bad luck!” Leng Yan cursed anxiously. If he were alone, he might battle to the death, but now, he had his dear Long Qing beside him!
“I didn’t expect you to have so many secrets! Not only a top-level cultivation technique and supreme-grade magical treasures, but you also master seals! I must capture you and search your soul!” Yuan Hong shouted, rushing forward rapidly on a cloud of Water Qi, casting several water snakes to attack.
Leng Yan quickly maneuvered to dodge; Yuan Hong’s realm was too far above his own! The blackwater emperor technique couldn’t suppress Yuan Hong’s magical techniques.
“This is bad! Golden bell shield, moon essence wheel, defend!”
As Leng Yan dodged frantically, he suddenly noticed a water snake that was unavoidable, headed straight for Long Qing. He quickly summoned the golden bell shield and moon essence wheel to protect them, and turned to take the hit himself.
“Bang!”
The two layers of protection shattered after a few seconds, and the impact struck Leng Yan’s chest.
His blood surged!
Leng Yan spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his mind briefly dazed. The sharp pain momentarily severed his connection with the Azure Sky Sword, causing him to start falling.
Unable to maintain sword control, Leng Yan could only muster all his strength to stabilize the descent of the Azure Sky Sword, safely landing on the ground.
“Leng-Ge! Are you okay? Don’t scare me! There’s so much blood!” Long Qing cried out in distress upon seeing Leng Yan severely injured in his effort to save her.
“I’m fine! Once we land, you need to leave here immediately, don’t linger!” Leng Yan said with a bitter smile as he endured the pain in his chest and concentrated on landing the flying sword.
“No! I won’t leave you!” Long Qing replied firmly.
Leng Yan swallowed a few primordial spirit elixirs to recover his vital energy and said sternly, “Listen to me! If you leave, I can battle without worrying about you. Don’t worry, I have a way to escape! I won’t die! I promise I’m not lying!”
“But…”
“No more talking, listen to me. Go to Zhang’s Blacksmith Shop in Yong’an Town and find a man named Zhang Tao. Just mention my name and wait for me there!” Leng Yan turned and saw Yuan Hong was less than a li1 away, urging Long Qing anxiously.
“Bang!”
The Azure Sky Sword hit the ground, and Leng Yan pushed Long Qing away forcefully, “Go!”
Long Qing, her eyes brimming with tears, gritted her teeth and ran towards Yong’an Town!
Watching Long Qing leave, Leng Yan felt somewhat relieved and sat down to rest.
“Have you given up resisting? Hand over your cultivation technique, magical treasures, and your insights on seals recorded in a jade slip! I might let go of the fact that you killed my son!” Yuan Hong landed on the ground, revealing himself as a middle-aged man, speaking coldly.
“What did you say? If I give you these things, you’ll forget about me killing your son? Are you serious?” Leng Yan asked in surprise, sitting on the ground with the Azure Sky Sword in hand.
Leng Yan intended to stall for some time because he felt his body’s recovery ability had been significantly enhanced by the Dragon Emperor’s essence blood. In a short time, his injuries were almost healed. Stalling for a little longer would allow him to fully recover.
Hearing Yuan Hong’s words, Leng Yan was secretly pleased. It seemed like he could stall for more time.
Just moments ago, Yuan Hong had threatened to perform a soul search on Leng Yan, yet at this moment, he hesitated, negotiating instead, asking Leng Yan to voluntarily surrender his cultivation techniques, magical treasures, and insights on seals. This indicated that perhaps Yuan Hong did not actually know soul search techniques, or he feared that his magic couldn’t accurately extract Leng Yan’s memories.
“Of course! Just give me your cultivation techniques, and I can break through to a higher realm. Then I can simply have more sons! So, how about it? Hand them over, and I won’t kill you!” Yuan Hong said, eyeing Leng Yan.
“Too bad I have no intention of giving them to you! Besides, I think you’ve misunderstood something. If I decide to leave, you won’t be able to stop me!” Leng Yan replied, standing and stepping back slightly.
“Boy! Don’t be arrogant! We are separated by several realms; the difference in our power is beyond your imagination! I’ll give you one last chance! Don’t be unwise!” Yuan Hong said, his face darkening, a murderous intent in his eyes.
“I really don’t like being threatened! If you want my cultivation techniques or magical treasures, come and get them yourself!” Leng Yan smiled slightly and turned to leave.
Yuan Hong was momentarily stunned. Did this mean Leng Yan wasn’t afraid of death? Or did he truly have some hidden trump card? Regardless of the answer, Yuan Hong wouldn’t allow Leng Yan to escape.
“If you want to die, don’t blame me!” Yuan Hong roared in anger, casting an ice spear towards Leng Yan’s back.
But to his shock, the ice spear passed through Leng Yan’s body without drawing blood or causing a scream. Gradually, Leng Yan’s figure blurred and disappeared from Yuan Hong’s sight.
“What’s going on? He must have some treasure that conceals his form. I have to capture him!” Yuan Hong quickly concluded, tossing out a transparent water droplet. Instantly, it expanded to cover a li in radius.
This water droplet, known as the “water curtain barrier,” was a low-grade treasure tool. It could envelop an area of several li, severing contact with the outside world, like a cage.
“I know you’re still here! I’ve now enclosed the area within a li with my water curtain barrier! You cannot escape! You might as well come out obediently!” Yuan Hong shouted at the surroundings.
Leng Yan found himself within the immortal land, feeling extremely frustrated. He hadn’t anticipated that Yuan Hong would possess such a magical treasure. If he didn’t find a way out, the immortal land would expel him after an hour, unless he could offer another five thousand primordial spirit elixirs for the immortal land to absorb. But where could he possibly find five thousand elixirs now?
Hovering near the water curtain barrier, Leng Yan considered whether using the Fiend Thunder might blast an opening for him to escape, though the chances of success seemed slim.
His Fiend Thunder was at the most elementary level, effective against cultivators below the true essence realm but not necessarily against those in the unification realm.
Since Yuan Hong had set up the water curtain barrier and infused it with his unification realm spiritual power, it essentially mirrored the strength of a unification realm cultivator, making it difficult for Leng Yan’s efforts to be effective.
However, not trying would yield no results. Leng Yan decided to give it a shot.
He gathered his remaining five Fiend Thunder pieces, augmented them with several hundred concealment seals, and floated to the edge of the water curtain barrier before tossing them out.
As soon as the Fiend Thunder was thrown, Leng Yan quickly retreated, triggering the explosion.
Boom!
The massive explosion resonated, creating a large hole in the ground, and the water curtain barrier shook continuously. However, it didn’t even crack, proving Leng Yan’s attempt futile. His heart sank.
The explosion caught Yuan Hong’s attention, and he turned to look at the site with a smile. “I knew you hadn’t managed to leave! So, what now? Do you have any other tricks? I’ve told you before, the difference in our strength is beyond your imagination! I’ll give you one last chance-show yourself!”
Leng Yan felt a surge of anxiety. If he couldn’t devise another plan, he’d be forced to detonate the netherworld ghost banner. The loss would be tremendous since it was a trump card capable of withstanding three attacks from a void calamity cultivator. But if he didn’t take this step, would he really allow himself to be captured by Yuan Hong?
Footnote:
- Li(里):In Chinese, “li” (里) is a unit of distance, approximately equal to 500 meters.
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