Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
Yue Zhen Shan raised a palm to parry this strike and created seven flashes of Qi that transformed into seven giant crimson palms that flew forth towards those eight flashes of Sword Qi.
Pu, pu, pu, pu. The Sword Qi and the gigantic palms cancelled each other out. However, as Ao Feng had formed his eighth flash of Sword Qi, he was at an obvious advantage; the additional flash of Sword Qi continued its advance, forcing Yue Zhen Shan to dodge it.
This was an advantage born from a deeper comprehension of "Dao". They had shot out their attacks which had the same amount of force behind them at the same time, yet the one who had a stronger comprehension would still have a more powerful attack!
This was still only the gap when it was a clash between seven flashes and eight flashes of Qi. If it was a clash of one flash against eight flashes, or even zero against eight flashes of Qi, then the power gap would be as huge and overwhelming as the gap between Heaven and Earth. That was why those who managed to form seven flashes of Qi could be labelled as rulers.
Thankfully, the gap between seven and eight flashes of Qi was not especially obvious, and Yue Zhen Shan was not too far beneath Ao Feng in cultivation. As a result, though he would still be at a disadvantage against Ao Feng, he was still able to contend with the latter for quite a while.
This was the Winter Moon Sect, and if there really erupted a fierce battle between them, then one of the higher ranks would definitely appear to stop them.
"Yue Zhen Shan, are you sure you want to be my enemy?" Ao Feng suddenly jumped up in fury. "I am currently extremely angry! One of my daughters f******* died, and I want to kill this bastard!"
Yue Zhen Shan shook his head and said, "I haven't sparred with you for quite a long time, so I would like to see how far you've advanced now and whether you've degraded or not."
Ao Feng withdrew his furious expression, took a deep breath, and said, "You have never been able to rival me. That was the case in the past, now, and in future, it will still be so!" He widened his eyes, and there actually appeared two flashes of cold light that streaked out and tore through the open air as if they were real blades, creating power ripples.
Yue Zhen Shan did not dare to be careless. Ao Feng was indeed superior to him in power, and though this gap was not very large, if the former really put all his effort into a battle and he still proceeded carelessly, then there would be a great possibility that he would be defeated within a few moves.
"Come on then!" he said without a care. When elites battled, they would naturally contend with their real battle prowess, but one should not underestimate the power of words. This was a kind of stance, so it could not be weak.
"Heng!" It was at this moment that a powerful pressure pressed down on the area. An elder arrived by stepping on air. As his eyes swept over the group, his imposing gaze made both Ao Feng and Yue Zhen Shan instantly cease their battle.
This was an elite of the Flower Blossom Tier, and as his immortal aura swept over all of them, it made every single one of them feel utter reverence as if they were facing a god.
Ling Han glanced over; this elite of the Flower Blossom Tier was exactly He Zheng Chu, who had gone to Rain Country some time ago and fought a battle with the Rain Emperor, but in the end was chased out. And though they were both half a step away from the Flower Blossom Tier, the Rain Emperor was much more forceful than Ao Feng.
There was no way to compare the two. One was only the Attendant of a great sect, and no matter how much power he had and how many disciples he had authority over, ultimately, he could not compare to one who was the Emperor of a whole country. Furthermore, the Rain Emperor was the kind of dominating ruler that appeared once in a few thousand years, and he had made full use of the power of the nation to its extreme.
He could not help but wonder how the Rain Emperor was now. With the latter's intelligence and outstanding courage, he should be close to breaking through to the Flower Blossom Tier, shouldn't he? Once he had broken through to the Flower Blossom Tier, he would be able to add an additional two hundred years to his lifespan. The Rain Emperor was only sixty years old now, and in terms of a lifespan of about three hundred years, that was equivalent to about twenty years old of an ordinary lifespan, so he was in the prime of his youth.
Perhaps it would not take a long time for him to hear rumors of a "young" elite gradually appearing, rushing through the north region, or even entering the other three regions and prefecture, displaying his elegant bearing and powerful presence as much as he desired.
"In this matter, the sect leader has already made a decision!" He Zheng Chu said emotionlessly, "It was Ao Zi Tai who had used a scheme to set up one of our disciples first, and now that she has been killed by Han Lin, she deserved it for her crime! However, Han Lin killed her in private, which is also a breach of the rules of the sect, so his punishment is to enter the Dark Devil Forest and collect seven stalks of Fiery Sun Grass in one year's time before he will be allowed to return."
That was the end of the matter?
Everyone was shocked. That was a daughter of the Ao Clan, and furthermore, she was not an insignificant illegimate child, but a genius and talented princess! Yet Han Lin was only to go to the Dark Devil Forest and collect herbs; wasn't this punishment a little too light?
However, there were some who were wearing cold smirks. That was the Fiery Sun Grass they were talking about here. It could only be found in the deepest parts of the Dark Devil Forest, and there would be demonic beasts of the Flower Blossom Tier there. Even an elite of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier would not dare to carelessly enter that part of the forest.
Moreover, the Fiery Sun Grass was an extremely rare herb. Collecting one stalk would take a very long time, and if one wanted to collect seven stalks, the time needed would be overwhelming. If one was lucky, that would take about one or two months. But if one was unlucky… then he'd best prepare himself to stay there for about a year and a half.
During this long period of time, how high were his chances to encounter a demonic beast in the Flower Blossom Tier?
Thus, while this was not a definite death sentence, it was still extremely dangerous.
...It was obvious. There was no way that a member of the younger generation of the Ao Clan could die for nothing, but in this matter, it was still Ao Zi Tai who was in the wrong. Furthermore, this involved Yue Kai Yu as well. Thus, the Elder of the Ao Clan must have interfered, which had led to this kind of punishment in the end.
"Junior Brother Han, I shall go with you!" Yue Kai Yu immediately declared, extremely loyal. He did indeed have this kind of character, and added with the fact that they had experienced a hardship together just now, he made the choice to go with Ling Han without any hesitation.
Ling Han nodded to Yue Kai Yu, yet wondered internally whether he should really enter the Dark Devil Forest. After all, he was only holding onto the false identity of "Han Lin", so there was no need for him to take the risk just to maintain this false cover.
He decided not to worry about that for the moment and see how things went. Anyways, he had nothing much to occupy his time currently.
Ao Feng humphed and stared for a very long time at Ling Han's face before he finally turned and left. There was nothing else he could do now. The Elder of the Ao Clan had obviously agreed to this final decision, and no matter how arrogant he was, he dared not oppose a decision made by their Clan Elder.
The Dark Devil Forest?
Heng, at most within three months, he would definitely be able to break through to the Flower Blossom Tier, and by that time, he would be able to charge into the deeper parts of Dark Devil Forest, find Ling Han, and kill him!
It was only another two or three months. He did not believe in the slightest that Ling Han would be able to procure seven stalks of Fiery Sun Grass in such a short period of time.
The crowd dispersed and went their separate ways. There was naturally someone who carried away Ao Zi Tai's body. Moreover, the passing of this goddess of the Winter Moon Sect had broken the hearts of who knew how many young men, so everyone wanted to have a moment of silence.
"Han Lin, within three days, you must leave the Winter Moon Sect. If you dare to escape secretly, the sect will definitely search the whole world and apprehend you," He Zheng Chu said, without knowing that the person in front of him was precisely that criminal that he had gone over to the Rain Country to apprehend some time ago.
When he had finished speaking, he immediately turned around and left. With his identity as one in the Flower Blossom Tier, he of course disdained spending pointlessly time on talking with a minor character like Ling Han.
"Junior Brother Han, we're in trouble this time!" Yue Kai Yu said, his brow wrinkled in a frown. He naturally knew the difficulty of collecting seven stalks of Fiery Sun Grass.
Ling Han frowned as well, and just when Yue Kai Yu thought that he too was troubled, he heard Ling Han say, "Who knows if I would still be able to get the Thunder Battle Armor tomorrow?"
Yue Kai Yu almost stumbled. Things were already like this, and you are actually still talking about the Thunder Battle Armor? He said in irritation, "Compared with entering the Dark Devil Forest to collect herbs, the Thunder Battle Armor is nothing!"
Ling Han smiled, and said, "With the Thunder Battle Armor, wouldn't it be safer for us?"
That sounded very reasonable. Yue Kai Yu scratched his head—he kept feeling like there was something off with that logic.