Chapter 135: Meeting!
Hearing Nalan Yanran concede defeat, Xiao Yan finally let out a long breath of relief. In the next instant, a wave of aches and soreness swept over his entire body. He had been running on sheer willpower alone just moments ago.
Now, suddenly relaxing, the injuries sustained during the battle abruptly all erupted at once.
At the same time, Nalan Yanran slowly rose from Yun Yun's embrace. Biting her red lips tightly, she said: "According to our agreement, I should become your slave and servant. But... please forgive my willfulness!"
Having spoken, she swept her sword horizontally, slashing toward her own neck. Just as she had said before—life or death, each to their own fate. She had long been prepared!
"Ah!"
This abrupt action of Nalan Yanran's directly caused the expressions of all the Yun Lan Sect disciples on the plaza, including the elders, to change drastically.
No one had imagined that Nalan Yanran would actually attempt suicide over losing the duel—and so decisively at that, giving everyone not the slightest chance to react.
At this moment, within the arena, some elders, though wanting to rescue her, could only watch helplessly due to the distance as the sharp blade drew closer and closer to Nalan Yanran's neck.
"Yanran—"
Just as the longsword was about to slice through Nalan Yanran's snow-white skin, at the critical, hair's-breadth moment, a fierce, forceful burst of energy violently struck the arm Nalan Yanran used to hold the blade.
"Ding!"
Along with a crisp ring, the longsword fell to the ground. Yet that razor-sharp sword aura still left a shallow, bloody trail upon Nalan Yanran's exquisitely delicate neck.
"Teacher!" Nalan Yanran turned her head to look at Yun Yun beside her, whose face was still full of lingering fear. It had been her timely intervention that had stopped her just now.
In such a short span of time, only Yun Yun possessed both the strength and the positioning to fulfill those two conditions.
"Yanran, why torment yourself like this!" Watching the miserable, tragic smile in Nalan Yanran's eyes, Yun Yun couldn't help but be moved. Holding her in her embrace, she sighed.
With a complicated expression, Xiao Yan glanced at Nalan Yanran in Yun Yun's arms. Inwardly, he couldn't help but sigh. "I have no interest in making you my slave or servant. So you needn't go this far to preserve the Yun Lan Sect's and the Nalan clan's reputations!"
After defeating Nalan Yanran, the humiliation brought by the annulment had already vanished like smoke. Now, people would only say that Nalan Yanran's vision was short-sighted, that she had misjudged and missed out.
No matter what, Nalan Yanran was still the Young Sect Master of the Yun Lan Sect. Yun Yun and the sect elders wouldn't allow her to do such a thing.
Moreover, the Xiao Clan still lived within the Jia Ma Empire. If he truly went through with it and forced the Yun Lan Sect into a rage, he still lacked the strength to protect the Xiao Clan against the full fury of the entire Yun Lan Sect.
"The three-year agreement is now concluded. From this day forward, there will no longer be any entanglement between us."
Xiao Yan finally looked at Nalan Yanran, offering a carefree, untroubled smile. Grabbing the fallen Black Xuan Ruler, he turned and departed.
Nalan Yanran remained behind, frozen in place. For a moment, her heart was a tangle of mixed emotions, a hundred feelings crossing at once.
"It's over, just like that?" Zi Yan smacked her lips with some reluctance. This grand spectacle—she'd quite enjoyed watching it.
"The opening act has indeed concluded!" Jiang Yun's gaze fell upon a distant patch of space. In an inexplicable tone, he added, "However, an even bigger trouble seems to have arrived."
"Hm?" Hearing Jiang Yun's words, Zi Yan, Xiao Yi Xian, and Qing Lin looked at him with some confusion. They saw him now staring unblinkingly at the distant sky.
Yet, when they turned their heads to look, there seemed to be nothing there at all?
"Something's wrong!" Suddenly, Zi Yan's expression changed sharply. Her entire demeanor shifted from its earlier languid ease to fully sharp and alert. Her gaze locked tightly onto that patch of space. With a grim expression, she said, "A lot of very powerful guys are approaching."
Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin watched for a long time but still saw nothing. A trace of dejection flashed through their hearts. Had they still not caught up to the speed at which Jiang Yun and Zi Yan's strength was improving?
The next second, both composed themselves, their eyes vigilantly on guard, ready to respond to danger at any moment.
Watching the three focused, alert women, Jiang Yun did not inform them of the truth. He knew the newcomers well. And moreover, none of those coming could pose a threat to them.
"Tch!"
On the plains outside the Holy City of Jia Ma, a fierce gale suddenly howled ceaselessly. At a certain moment, the void space abruptly rippled with violent spatial fluctuations. Then, an enormous spatial black hole, several dozen zhang wide, slowly materialized.
Within the Bone Flame Ring, Yao Chen's hairs immediately stood on end. He roared at Xiao Yan, who was walking unhurriedly down the mountain: "Little Yan Zi! Get to Jia Xingtian's side, quickly! Be ready to flee at any moment!"
"Teacher, what's going on?!" Yao Chen's roar violently startled Xiao Yan. But his body reacted swiftly, immediately moving toward the tree where Jia Xingtian and Hai Bo Dong were positioned, while asking Yao Chen in his mind.
"There's real trouble this time. If we're not careful, the entire Jia Ma Empire could become history!" Yao Chen's expression was unprecedentedly solemn as he spoke in a deep, ominous tone.
A chill instantly ran through Xiao Yan's entire body. In three steps and two bounds, he arrived at Jia Xingtian's side.
"Does young friend Xiao Yan have some matter?" Jia Xingtian's eyelid twitched slightly as he watched Xiao Yan before him. By now, he had already recognized him—the mysterious black-robed figure from back then, the mysterious alchemist who had saved him, Mu Chen, and Nalan Jie.
"Elder Jia..."
"Boom—"
Before Xiao Yan's words could even leave his mouth, heaven and earth suddenly erupted with violent fluctuations. At this moment, everyone present at the Yun Lan Sect was staring dumbfounded toward the distant horizon.
There, an enormous pitch-black spatial rift was slowly taking form!
"The... the sky is splitting open?!"
"What is that...?" At this moment, no one present had the presence of mind to care about the matter between Nalan Yanran and Xiao Yan. Everyone stared with utmost gravity at that opened rift.
Everyone was curious—what was this situation?
"What is this?" Xiao Yan asked Yao Chen in his mind, equally curious.
"A Dou Zong can begin to utilize spatial power. A Dou Zun can tear open space and open spatial tunnels. And the legendary Dou Sheng can even carve out a small world within the void for living beings to inhabit."
Yao Chen spoke solemnly, educating Xiao Yan on the methods of this continent's absolute peak experts.
"Then... this is...?" Snapping back to his senses, Xiao Yan's pupils constricted. Staring in terror at that colossal rift.
"That's right—a Dou Zun is crossing through space to arrive here. Little Yan Zi, in a moment, be ready to flee at any time!" Yao Chen nodded, then spoke in an utterly calm tone.
"Teacher, isn't that a bit exaggerated? What if they're good people?"
"Good people?" Yao Chen sneered coldly. "On the Dou Qi Continent, anyone might be a good person—except them."
"It's the Soul Hall?!"
"A spatial passageway—a Dou Zun is descending!" With such a huge event unfolding, Yun Shan could no longer stay holed up. Together with Jia Xingtian, he stared grimly at the space that was shattering.
Finally, he uttered a sentence that made every single person present tremble in fear!
Dou Zun?
In this Jia Ma Empire, where a Dou Zong was already considered invincible, the sudden emergence of a Dou Zun—that was simply explosive, earth-shattering news!
"Ding-ling—"
A clear, crisp bell sound rang out. Then, everyone saw two massive Purple Crystal Winged Lion Kings slowly stride out of the spatial black hole. Behind them, they pulled a pitch-black war chariot. A terrifying pressure radiated outward from within.
A pitch-black, ink-dark figure, like a sculpture, stood silently beside the war chariot. Its entire body exuded a bloodthirsty, icy cold aura—like a perfect killing machine.
After the war chariot appeared, three figures followed closely behind, stepping through the void, slowly emerging from within, and finally, unhurriedly descending outside the Holy City of Jia Ma.
These three were precisely Honored Elder Qin Tian, Honored Elder Qing Hai, and Honored Elder Qiu Long!
With their appearance, it was as if a switch had been thrown. From the black vortex, figure after figure garbed in black robes came pouring out in an unending stream, cackling eerily.
"Such powerful individuals!" Zi Yan's gaze swept across the group. Qin Tian and the other two posed no threat in her eyes. Her gaze also paused for a moment on the Devouring Heavenly Corpse, but ultimately landed upon the pitch-black war chariot. In a grave tone, she spoke.
There, she sensed a dangerously perilous aura, deep as an abyss. In her eyes, the space around that war chariot was slowly, with the chariot as its center, gradually distorting. Should anyone carelessly fall into the other's domain—
they would absolutely be instantly torn to shreds by the surrounding space!
At this moment, it was also Jiang Yun's first time witnessing Yun Yi's Soul Hall entrance formation. This... wasn't the causality a little too big? (Lol, just kidding.)
"Hiss—"
Upon seeing so many experts, the sound of sharply indrawn cold breaths rose from within the Holy City of Jia Ma.
"This... heaven itself wants to destroy my Jia Ma Empire!"
"So this is the Yun Lan Sect—truly pitifully weak!" Qin Tian gazed at Yun Lan Mountain not far away, taking in the sights above, and mocked.
"Heh heh, to think that Yun Potian was also a prodigy in his day. Who would've thought his descendants would be so useless," Honored Elder Qiu Long lamented with a sigh.
"Seniors... may I ask why you have come to my Jia Ma Empire?" Jia Xingtian looked at the several terrifyingly powerful figures and the massive Soul Hall army—clearly no good lot at first glance. Steeling himself, he stepped forward and asked in the most deferential tone.
"Why did we come?" Qin Tian suddenly revealed a strange, sinister smile. In the next second, the words he spoke made Jia Xingtian feel as if he had plunged into an icy abyss: "Jie jie—naturally, to annihilate this nation!"
"This..." Jia Xingtian's eyes flew wide, his gaze despairing as he stared at the Soul Hall army.
Seizing the moment while everyone's attention was drawn, Xiao Yan at the rear quietly crept toward the distance.
At this moment, everyone had been drawn by the Dou Zun, their gazes captured. No one paid any mind to the departure of a single Da Dou Shi. The Soul Hall would certainly not specifically pay attention to a mere Da Dou Shi.
"Medicine Sovereign, we meet again." Just then, Yun Yi's faint, indifferent voice drifted out from the war chariot, making Xiao Yan's form abruptly freeze.
And Yun Yi's figure also slowly emerged from the war chariot. Instantly, upon seeing such a youthful figure, wave after wave of startled cries rose from the crowd once more.
Even at this moment, facing a life-or-death crisis, upon seeing a figure as young as Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran, the crowd still couldn't suppress the shock in their hearts.
So this was the outside world?
Were the prodigies of the outside world all as terrifying as Yun Yi and Jiang Yun?
Now, as Yun Yi's words fell, Xiao Yan in the arena instantly became the focal point once more. Qin Tian and the others couldn't resist casting curious gazes upon this Ant-like Da Dou Shi, Xiao Yan.
"It's you!" Yao Chen's illusory figure materialized behind Xiao Yan. At this moment, he stared at Yun Yi with an icy cold expression, his eyes brimming with unconcealable hatred—and terror.
"To think the continent's number one alchemist would fall to such a state today!" Qin Tian, the moment Yao Chen appeared, revealed a cold sneer at the corner of his mouth and mocked.
"I owe it all to your Soul Hall. Yao Chen remembers it in his very bones!" Yao Chen stared coldly at the Soul Hall crowd, his tone glacial.
"What—!" Hearing this exchange, everyone couldn't help but cast their gazes upon this utterly unremarkable soul body. To think this was the continent's number one alchemist.
Yet even the continent's number one alchemist had been unable to escape the methods of this so-called Soul Hall!
"To think that for this old man, you would dispatch so many troops. This old man truly feels honored!" Yao Chen turned his head, watching Yun Yi as he slowly spoke. Yun Yi's appearance had led him to mistakenly believe Yun Yi had come specifically for him.
After all, in his view, a small kingdom like Jia Ma, which didn't even have a handful of Dou Zongs—why would the Soul Hall need such a grand, massive display?
"You think too much. My main purpose in coming here was to wait for someone. I didn't expect an unexpected bonus harvest," Yun Yi said, casting a scornful look at Yao Chen upon hearing his words, speaking with utter indifference. Then, his gaze abruptly shifted to one side.
That spot was precisely where Jiang Yun's group was concealed!
Yun Yi's words instead left Yao Chen feeling somewhat embarrassed. To think he had been flattering himself!
"Boom—"
Suddenly, Yun Yi raised his palm slightly. A black hole immediately formed within his palm, then expanded at a shocking speed, swelling to a hundred zhang in size.
The terrifying devouring power seemed as if it wanted to swallow this entire stretch of heaven and earth whole.
Watching that pitch-black black hole, Xiao Yan, Jia Xingtian, Yun Shan, and the others felt a chill surge from the depths of their hearts. They did not doubt in the slightest—if they were dragged into it, even their souls would be reduced to nothingness in an instant.
Under Yun Yi's control, the black hole abruptly shot toward the spot where Jiang Yun was hiding. Everywhere the black hole passed, space itself trembled violently.
"Aiya, we've been discovered!"
Watching the descending black hole, Jiang Yun chuckled lightly. Raising his palm, surging Dou Qi howled out from within him. Instantly, the temperature between heaven and earth skyrocketed at that moment.
Jiang Yun's eyes reflected the light. Watching the black hole howling toward him, his hands abruptly formed seals. Spirit seal after spirit seal flew from his hand. In the blink of an eye, a spiritual array took shape within his palm.
Dazzling spiritual light abruptly swept out from the array. Within that light, it seemed as if the roar of a dragon rang out.
"Roar—"
The space around Jiang Yun distorted violently. In the next instant, a dragon silhouette, as if formed from light itself, actually shot out from the array in Jiang Yun's palm.
Boom—
The attacks of both sides, under the gaze of countless eyes, collided viciously together.
A visible storm of energy spread wildly and unrestrainedly. The surrounding structures were instantly leveled to the ground. In the sky, the violently untamable energies eroded one another wave after wave.
Finally, like the churning tides of a great ocean, they swept and surged in all directions.
The terrifying energy fluctuations swept out on all sides. The numerous experts in the sky were also caught in the aftermath.
Quite a few who were too slow, caught by the shockwave, felt their chests as if brutally struck by a heavy hammer. A mouthful of scarlet blood violently sprayed from their mouths.
For a moment, chaos erupted upon Yun Lan Mountain!