Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Fang Zhengzhi felt puzzled as he stared at the glittering lake water at a distance away. Normally, Yan Xiu would have already came to him.
However, the reality was that Yan Xiu didn’t even respond to him, not to mention coming over.
“Something’s wrong!”
“There’s something going on!”
“Yan Xiu couldn’t possibly ignore me, unless…Something has happened to him!?”
Fang Zhengzhi was thinking hard and fast, but he didn’t slow down at all. This was because the people from the Heaven Dao Pavilion was on his tail. Furthermore, if something bad had really happened to Yan Xiu, he must help him.
“Closer, I’m getting closer!”
Fang Zhengzhi became growingly anxious as he neared the lake.
“Yan Xiu, where are you?” Just as Fang Zhengzhi was almost close enough to find out what was going on, he felt a slight movement.
It was a faint noise, and Fang Zhengzhi wouldn’t have caught it if he hadn’t grown up hunting in the woods, which made him extremely sensitive to the forests’ noises.
Just as he heard that noise, a man in black dashed out from the bushes on his left, and he was extremely fast.
“There is really an ambush?” Fang Zhengzhi was only guessing that there was an ambush, but when he saw the man in black, he realized that he might be caught in a tougher spot than he had expected.
Without any hesitation, he threw a handful of nails at the man.
“Hmph?” The man was surprised by Fang Zhengzhi’s reaction, and he subconsciously evaded the pile of silvery objects that were coming for him.
“Pop pop pop…”
The man in black turned around, only to discover that those were nothing more than nails. He was clearly startled by his discovery.
After all, this type of ‘lousy’ concealed weapons was very rare in the Holy Region.
“Kid, you’re not going anywhere!” The man’s face turned red before he chased towards Fang Zhengzhi.
However, Fang Zhengzhi was not in the mood to bother with him.
He was only thinking about Yan Xiu’s safety. After the sneak attack from the man in black, he became more worried.
After all, Yan Xiu was in a special condition now.
However…The sneak attack wasn’t that simple.
After Fang Zhengzhi evaded the first attack, two men rushed out from the bushes on his left and right.
At the same time, he felt a chill coming from above his head. He didn’t have to look to know that there was someone on the tree as well.
“There are four of them?!” Fang Zhengzhi was taken aback, because he could sense that the man who attacked him wasn’t weak. On the contrary, he was very strong.
If he wasn’t mentally prepared because Yan Xiu didn’t respond to him, and there weren’t any nails in his hand, he couldn’t have dodged that attack even if he caught the movement.
In that case, he couldn’t dodge the three simultaneous attacks.
This had nothing to do with his mental preparation. It was his strength. He was too weak to escape unscathed from their attacks.
That was because they were too fast.
“Boom!”
With a muffled bang, Fang Zhengzhi’s body left the ground. He avoided the sword on top of his head, but he couldn’t avoid the two palms that came from the front.
The massive power hit his chest, sending him flying backward uncontrollably. At this moment, an incredible force struck his back. It was another palm, which obviously came from the man who failed his sneak attack.
“Pfftt!” Fang Zhengzhi spat out a mouthful of blood after being attacked from both the front and the back.
He would have collapsed onto the ground if he hadn’t known that he must pull through.
“I didn’t think that the four of us needed to work together against a kid at Rebirth State. This is very surprising!” One of the men in black exclaimed.
“The fact that he hasn’t collapsed is the biggest surprise!” Another man in black exclaimed.
“Kid at Rebirth State…Four of us needed to work together…They are Sages?!” Fang Zhengzhi soon deduced their strength when he heard them talking.
Only an expert in the Sage State would comment on a Rebirth State in such a superior tone.
Four Sages…Appeared below the Heaven Dao Pavilion at the same time?
Fang Zhengzhi couldn’t help but be astonished.
During his time at the Heaven Dao Pavilion, he had more or less figured out the strength of the five sects in the Holy Region. In the Heaven Dao Pavilion, there was one Pavilion Master and seven Elders, and about a dozen disciples who had reached Sage State as well.
In other words, there were only about 20 Sages in the entire the Heaven Dao Pavilion.
From that, he guessed that the other four sects had around 20 Sages each.
After some calculations, he concluded that there were only about 100 Sages in the five sects of the Holy Region.
There weren’t too many or too few of them.
After all, once a person entered Sage State, his life expectancy would go beyond 100 years, so it wasn’t too surprising that there were around 100 Sages in the entire Holy Region.
However, one question remained unanswered.
Fang Zhengzhi had heard of the ‘one pavilion, four sages, thirteen constabularies’. According to their ranking, it wasn’t unreasonable that the the Heaven Dao Pavilion was ranked above the four sages, since it was more powerful.
However, since there was the the Heaven Dao Pavilion, why were there four other sages?
And why didn’t any of the four sages interfere with the battle at the Southern Region? If sages weren’t allowed to interfere with the wars between the countries, why could Yan Qianli do it?
This was a conflicting matter.
Of course, Fang Zhengzhi had asked Heavenly Oasis Saint about this through Wu Yuer.
However, Heavenly Oasis Saint didn’t answer his question directly, and instead told him that he would know everything once he entered the Holy Region.
But now…Fang Zhengzhi had entered the Holy Region for an entire month, and he even read through the books in the Heaven Dao Pavilion’s Repository, but he still failed to find the answer.
Of course, this wasn’t the time for him to be thinking about that.
There were four sages around him, and they were definitely here to kill him. This was an overkill.
Did the Heaven Dao Pavilion plan the ambush?
That was unlikely.
Fang Zhengzhi was quick to shoot the idea down, because even he himself wouldn’t know what could happen in the Divine Rain Pond. If so, how could the Heaven Dao Pavilion set this up beforehand?
If that was the case…There was only one possible explanation.
Just as Chi Guyan had suspected, the people of Nine Pinnacles Mountain and Yin Yang Hall would likely come after him once he exited the Heaven Dao Pavilion.
“Are they from Nine Pinnacles Mountain or Yin Yang Hall?”
“Did both sects send their men?”
Fang Zhengzhi stopped guessing, because he had roughly figured out their identities. However, this meant that he was in a never-before-seen tough spot.
Behind him, were the people of the Heaven Dao Pavilion.
In front of him, stood the people of Nine Pinnacles Mountain and Yin Yang Hall.
Under normal circumstances, he had no way out of this alive.
“Is this fate?” Fang Zhengzhi had wondered if he would be less ill-fated if he didn’t act so rashly in the Heaven Dao Pavilion.
Just a day ago, he wasn’t so sure about this, but now, he was entirely convinced that everything was fated to be.
Even if he had chosen to join the Heaven Dao Pavilion normally, he couldn’t have watched as the people from Nine Pinnacles Mountain went after Chi Guyan. In that case, the war in the Heaven Dao Pavilion would have broken out anyway. Even if he did not create any trouble, Nangong Hao would have sparked the war with his own methods.
The only difference between the two was the process, but the outcome was identical.
Since he couldn’t avoid his fate, he had to fight against it.
However, the problem was that he couldn’t fight against his fate, because there were four sages around him, and three elders and hundreds of disciples of the Heaven Dao Pavilion chasing after him…
How was he going to fight against anything?
“Sixth Elder, Second Elder, Fourth Elder, I’ve discovered the enemies hiding below the Heaven Dao Pavilion. Hurry up!” Fang Zhengzhi shouted.
“Hmm?” The four men in black were startled by his words, but they soon sneered and said, “Kid, are you trying to trick us? How could the elders of the Heaven Dao Pavilion…What?!”
Before they could finish the sentence, they heard a massive group of people approaching, following which, the Sixth Elder, along with hundreds of disciples of the Heaven Dao Pavilion, appeared in their sight.
Apart from them, there were two men in the sky. They were the Second and Fourth Elders, who were standing atop their beasts.
This massive army was obviously enough to leave them shocked and dumbfounded.
Three elders and hundreds of disciples moving at the same time…
Were they really coming them?
The four men in black were puzzled. After all, if the people of the Heaven Dao Pavilion happened to be passing by, how could there be so many of them?
Meanwhile, the elders and disciples of the Heaven Dao Pavilion were equally surprised to see the four men in black.
They weren’t surprised by what Fang Zhengzhi said, they were surprised that there were actually ‘enemies’ hiding beneath the the Heaven Dao Pavilion.
“Who are you guys?” The Sixth Elder asked, as their faces were covered by their hoods.
The four men looked at each other, following which, one of them slowly took a step forward.
“I pay my respects to the Heaven Dao Pavilion’s Sixth Elder. We are but nobodies who held some personal grudges against Fang Zhengzhi. To the best of our knowledge, Fang Zhengzhi isn’t the Heaven Dao Pavilion’s disciple, and we aren’t enemies of the Heaven Dao Pavilion’s enemies either. Is this a misunderstanding?”
“Misunderstanding? I don’t care about the grudges between you guys. We must bring Fang Zhengzhi back to the Heaven Dao Pavilion, and I’d like you guys to come with us for an explanation!” The Sixth Elder wasn’t courteous with his words, since they were in the Heaven Dao Pavilion’s territory. Moreover, they were right below the Heaven Dao Pavilion.
To put it bluntly, how could the overbearing Heaven Dao Pavilion allow others to create troubles in their territory. Quoting our ancient ancestors, “How could I let someone else sleep on my bed!”
The man in black who stepped out noticeably stiffened up when he heard the Sixth Elder.
“Bring Fang Zhengzhi back?”
“Come with us for an explanation?”
He couldn’t agree to either of the conditions. They had originally expected their plan to be flawless, after all, given their combined strength, they could easily take Fang Zhengzhi away even if they were at the Heaven Dao Pavilion’s doorsteps.
However, they never dreamt that…So many people came to ‘rescue’ Fang Zhengzhi. The appearance of three elders and hundreds of disciples was the last thing that they expected.
What should they do?
Fight the Heaven Dao Pavilion?
That wasn’t possible. However, they weren’t going to sit back and let the Heaven Dao Pavilion take Fang Zhengzhi either, because they were on a do-or-die mission.
They hesitated, but Fang Zhengzhi didn’t. He made the choice for them before they could even think of a solution.
“Die!” Fang Zhengzhi charged towards one of the men in black and attacked with the glowing Traceless Sword.
“Hmm?” The man didn’t expect Fang Zhengzhi to take the initiative, but he still reacted quickly and dodged his blow, after which, a red radiance shot out of his hand.
This was a move that consisted of both defense and offense.
However, the man was clearly wary of something, so this was a very normal move that didn’t contain much power.
Fang Zhengzhi’s lip curled into a smile at this moment.
This was what he had been waiting for.
As a red radiance shot towards him, his hands started ‘panicking’. Although he eventually avoided the attack, it almost scraped past his hand.
Following which…An accident happened.
After Fang Zhengzhi evaded the red radiance, it somehow shot towards the Sixth Elder ‘accurately’, and even exploded when it got close to him.
“…”
“…”
Both the Sixth Elder and the man in black were dumbfounded when the red radiance blew up.
“How did that happen, I was…” The man in black knew that he controlled his strength precisely, so under normal circumstances, his attack would never have gone for the Sixth Elder, much less explode in front of him.
The Sixth Elder also didn’t expect that man’s attack to be directed at him. He was engulfed by the exploded red radiance since he couldn’t react in time.
“How dare you!” A chilling light flashed across his eyes as he raised his sword high, summoning a white and green light barrier from the ground.
Nevertheless…His cloth was torn, his face covered in dirt, looking battered.
“How dare he attack the Sixth Elder without warning!”
“Form the sword formation!”
“Understood!”
The hundreds of disciples were furious to see this. They were already mad about Fang Zhengzhi’s nails while they were pursuing him. As their anger built up, how could they possibly tolerate the act of striking the Sixth Elder with a sneak attack? Furthermore, he did that in the face of all of them, while they were at the Heaven Dao Pavilion’s doorstep.
The disciples drew their swords one after another, and each of their bodies shone brightly.
Fang Zhengzhi’s eyes lit up at this moment.
He couldn’t possibly wait for the two groups of people to fight each other, because he knew that that wasn’t going to happen. After all, both the Sixth Elder and the four men in front of him weren’t stupid.
In other words, the misunderstanding that Fang Zhengzhi created, was just a catalyst. However, if he wanted them to ‘explode’ on the spot, a catalyst alone wasn’t enough.
They needed a motivation, and that motivation, was Fang Zhengzhi.
This was a simple logic. Since everyone was targeting him, even if they were to start fighting, they had to be sure that Fang Zhengzhi couldn’t escape.
Hence, an ordinary mess wasn’t enough.
He needed to create a huge mess!
The prerequisite for that was for him to escape!
“Heavenly Descent!” Fang Zhengzhi didn’t hesitate to use Heavenly Descent because it was the best way for him to break through their encirclement and escape. He even used Nine Pillars of Heavenly Descent at once.
Nine sky-blue rays of light appeared in the air.
They were pure, pure as the sky, but the three elders’ and four men in black’s expressions changed.
They could obviously tell that Fang Zhengzhi was trying to create friction between them.
However, even if they knew that, what could they do?
The Nine Pillars of Heavenly Descent had already appeared and Fang Zhengzhi was getting away. No matter how much they wanted to stay calm, they couldn’t idle around and let him escape.
“Don’t let him get away!” The Sixth Elder exclaimed.
“How did he master Heaven Dao?! But…Don’t think that you can escape so easily!” Although they were caught by surprise, the four men in black didn’t hesitate to attack Fang Zhengzhi.
Four streams of light lit up and formed a light screen which completely surrounded the nine blue light pillars in an instant.
However, at this moment…The Second and Fourth Elder attacked as well.
Their sword radiances descended from the sky and combined into one as if they were attracted to each other, forming a gigantic, transparent gold sword.
“Boom!” The giant sword pieced through the light screen with a loud bang and continued stabbing towards one of the blue light pillars.
“Slash!” A stream of blood spurted out of the blue light pillar, but at the same time, another pillar appeared at the opening on the light screen that was created by the giant sword.
In the next moment…a person crashed onto the ground nearby, but he bounced up as soon as he hit the ground and bolted towards the lake.
He was none other than Fang Zhengzhi.
“Follow him!” The four men in black disregarded the Heaven Dao Pavilion and headed towards Fang Zhengzhi.
The three elders also looked at each other at this moment, and they also chased Fang Zhengzhi without any hesitation.
“Fang Zhengzhi, you can’t escape. If you follow us back to the Heaven Dao Pavilion obediently and accept the Master’s punishment, your life might be spared. If you continue to be unrepentant, you’ll die today!” Shouted the Second Elder as he chased after Fang Zhengzhi.
“Follow you back? So that I can wait for my death?” Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t so naïve.
Of course, the Second Elder wasn’t just spouting nonsense. Under normal circumstances, if he actually followed them back to the Heaven Dao Pavilion, he could live for while more, and his life might even be spared.
However, now that he had destroyed the Divine Rain Pond, it was impossible for him to leave the Heaven Dao Pavilion unscathed. Even if his life was spared, he wouldn’t be far away from dying.
In that case, he would still be dead three months later.
He had to fight for his life!
He had escape alive!
Fang Zhengzhi was injured, but he had no time to think about it. He gritted his teeth and ran towards the lake without stopping.
He was getting close…
He could see it!
He was finally at the lake.
But, what about Yan Xiu? Where was he?
“Yan..Yan Xiu?!” Fang Zhengzhi froze, because he found Yan Xiu beside the giant teal stone near the lake.
However, Yan Xiu was covered in blood. The ink paintings on his cloth were stained by big patches of blood.
Most importantly, Yan Xiu was kneeling on the ground, more specifically, he was kneeling in a pool of blood. His arms were hanging at his sides lifelessly, and his cold face was now pale as a sheet.