"Vice Sect Head..."
"Second Senior Brother...."
The few leaders from the Above Heavens all exclaimed loudly at once. One of them even showed traces of anger in his eyes. They did not understand the underlying reason behind what happened, but no matter what it was, they could not just perform fratricide while in the middle of a war with their enemies, right? What difference would that be from directly betraying the sect?
Meng LingXiao was embarrassed and furious, but his inner energy was already close to running out. He furiously bellowed, "Ling Tian, I won't rest until one of us dies!" He pulled upon the dredges of his energies, and the originally scattered sword lights suddenly congealed to the point that they looked nearly corporeal, flying towards Ling Tian to cut him down.
"This young noble has no time." Ling Tian snorted in disdain. "You're also not my child, so I have no need to accompany you to play." His figure twisted, and left behind four or five twisted shadows, colliding towards the troops of Above Heavens. The Heaven Splitter flashed, and as it spun in a circle, a few of the disciples that were slower fell to the ground as they screamed.
Meng LingXiao clenched his teeth and finely controlled his sword lights to turn back again, rushing towards Ling Tian. His white beard was already speckled with droplets of blood. After forcing himself to integrate sword and body as one twice, he was already an arrow at the end of its flight. To add on force to increase its speed, his internal energy became over-stimulated, causing himself some serious internal injuries. Right now, he only wanted to use the threatening strength given by his 'man and sword as one' to kill Ling Tian or at least seriously injure him.
In addition, his hate towards Ling Tian had already reached an extreme, and if he could trade his life to deal some damage to Ling Tian, he would do it without any hesitation.
A bone-biting cold killing intent suddenly pervaded the entire battlefield!
"Vice Sect Head, be careful!"
"Second Senior Brother, careful!"
"Stop him!"
A few of the disciples threw themselves over with expressions of urgency and panic, disregarding their lives!
Meng LingXiao turned a deaf ear to all this and he did not even care what was happening around him. His eyes were already bloodshot with the image of Ling Tian's mocking smile the only thing reflected in his eyes and mind. He had only hate in his heart, and he only wished to kill that irritating kid.
A pity, reality sometimes was just this cruel!
Because...
He suddenly felt a chill pass through his neck, and saw himself suddenly flying up! As his eyes looked down, he witnessed a headless body with blood spouting from the severed neck, with its two hands gleaming with the light from the realm of sword and body as one as it rushed forward. It was definitely of that realm, despite the sword light already beginning to scatter.
How could a headless person activate this level of skill?
Wait a minute... that corpse, why does it resemble me so much?... Meng LingXiao's eyes suddenly opened up wide, full of incredulity, but his thoughts had ground to a halt at this point.
The Above Heavens Vice Sect Head, Meng LingXiao, had died!
Everyone could clearly see that just as Meng LingXiao thrust out with his sword, a black shadow suddenly appeared from nowhere, arcing across the battlefield in an instant and appearing behind Meng LingXiao. After that, a wave of the shadow's hand cleanly separated the former's head from his neck!
This clean and straightforward method of killing someone made everyone stall a little in their actions. This was because the person assassinated was the number two figure of the Above Heavens sect, Meng LingXiao! And furthermore, Meng LingXiao could not do anything other than to allow his head to be lopped off! Even if he could not retaliate, even if he was caught unprepared, how could his head be so easily taken off?
Assassin! This person was definitely a peerless assassin! This was definitely someone who lived for the dao of killing!
The person in question shot forward rapidly, only revealing a blurred shadow of himself as it passed through the Above Heavens crowd. It only halted when it came in front of Ling Tian. At this time, everyone saw that the shadow was actually a youth garbed in black.
Black robes, cold expression, his eyes scanning the battlefield like arcs of lightning. His face was handsome, but he exuded a fearsome killing intent, the sword in his hands still dripping blood.
Ling Jian!
Ling Jian had arrived!
Using his stored expansive sword energy, Ling Jian had rushed to the back of Meng LingXiao, and under the circumstance where the latter was an arrow at the end of its flight, this great Vice Sect Head was actually assassinated in one hit! Who would have thought that he would die such a miserable death, to the point of not even being able to see his killer before he died!
"You're late." Ling Tian looked at Ling Jian, a look of praise flashing across his eyes. He naturally could see the breakthrough Ling Jian had with his martial skills.
"Yes, Young noble." Ling Jian nodded, before continuing in a hurried and low voice, "Young noble, we need to finish this battle fast. I've just received news from the Crystal Pavilion that the number one aristocratic family in the Moon Deity Empire, the Lei Family, has secretly infiltrated Sky Bearing Empire. The exact number and names are unknown, but definitely above 1000 in number. Their objective currently remains unclear."
"How long has it been since you received the news?!" Ling Tian jumped in shock.
"When I received the news, it was around eight hours ago." Ling Jian's face now showed a sense of anxiety. "The Ling Family Courtyard is in danger! Lass Chen is also in danger!"
A cold gleam shot through Ling Tian's eyes, and he no longer hesitated, suddenly howling out into the air, "Use all your strength to kill, leave no one alive! Quickly clean up this group of trash and return to Sky Bearing!"
To leave behind even some would mean allowing a tumor to fester. This would bring unnecessary trouble, thus Ling Tian chose to wipe them all out!
"Yes!"
Just as his voice sounded in the ears of everyone present, Ling Jian had already thrown himself into the battle, the Black Iron sword in hand hacking down like a torrential downpour. As his figure flew forward, the disciples of the Above Heavens gurgled in their throats before falling to the ground. All of them sported a thin red line around the necks, the trademark skill of Ling Jian.
Ling Jian did not hesitate or conserve his power, going all-out at the start! Under his anxiousness, he did not bother to hide his skills as the number one famed killer. He moved like a warship traveling unhindered through the seas, only leaving behind rolling waves of blood.
A blast of cold came into existence, as Li Xue rushed in amid a wave of white frost. With her fist on the left and her sword on the right, she threw herself into another direction of Above Heaven disciples. Every time her sword flashed at least one life would be reaped, and every time her fist landed someone would drop to the ground, frozen stiff.
Within the icy fog, everyone was in disorder. The ground was littered with bodies, none of them fated to walk back out alive.
Ling Tian's movement skill accelerated to his peak within an instant, and at his maximum speed, the three burly men who were barricading his way turned into six chunks of flesh. With a shout, he had already appeared and blocked the way of the two leaders of Above Heavens, and his sword thrust out over a hundred times in a few moments, akin to raindrops falling on them!
The two leaders received a huge shock and immediately resisted while retreating in a haggard manner. Ling Tian's movement technique had reached such speeds that it was impossible to imagine that a mortal body could achieve it. He suddenly slipped past them, and with a sweep of his sword, two other disciples lost their lives. Ling Tian flipped himself up, using the heads of the disciples in front of him as stepping stones as he proceeded onward, rupturing their heads in the process and leaving a trail of corpses to mark his progress. By the time he landed, he was once again in front of the two leaders.
At this point, the guards of the two leaders suddenly stiffened and stumbled over. Just as they touched the ground, their bodies separated into two! Nobody saw a thing, especially how Ling Tian had acted, but the two leaders just seemed to have mysteriously died just like that.
Another two moves were exchanged, and the leaders were forced back seven to eight steps. The Heaven Splitter in Ling Tian's hands suddenly shot upwards to the sky, and using his two palms, he congealed his full strength, striking out eight times in a row, causing a strong gale to be whipped up.
Ling Tian did not even bother to stay, his figure shooting up into the sky like a sword before grasping the Heaven Splitter. In one move, he crossed a hundred feet before directly landing atop a horse. He reversed his grip on his sword and prodded the butt of said horse, causing it to neigh loudly and take off away from the battlefield.
His voice traveled as he rode off into the distance, "There have been some unforeseen circumstances! Everyone, please settle this quickly and return, I'll make a move first! The three seniors of Beyond Heavens, Ling Tian thanks you for your help in advance!" As he finished speaking, so did the sound from the horse galloping vanish without a trace.
It was only now that the eight palms Ling Tian had sent out suddenly exploded outwards, blasting the two leaders of Above Heavens into little meat chunks scattering all over the battlefield. When Ling Tian had moved, he determined that they would die without a doubt, and hence did not even bother checking once!
Ling Jian was so totally engrossed in the slaughtering that he did not even reply Ling Tian's words. Wherever his slim body passed, there were only dead, no injured. The Above Heavens disciples present were being cut down like leaves being blown off the trees by the autumn wind, only leaving a few heads for Ye QingChen and the other Beyond Heavens members.
Li Xue flew past him, and behind her similarly was devoid of people. Both exchanged a glance, slightly nodding, before rushing forward once again, attacking the leaders of Above Heavens that Ye QingChen and company were tangling with.
The few leaders there were already at their wit's end, and upon the entrance of this new variable, they dropped down like flies without resistance.
The bearded woodcutter flared up, shouting, "Busybodies! Sneaking an attack from the back, what a..."
Ling Jian's face turned cold.
Li Xue, however, was aware of the character of this man, knowing that he meant no ill will, and could only cup her fists and say, "Please don't take offense, Senior. There have been some changes in Sky Bearing and we need to rush back as soon as possible. If there's any point that we offended you, please forgive us. We'll give you an explanation after all this has ended. Just like how the mountains are high and the rivers long, there will be a day where we will meet again."
Signaling to Ling Jian, the two of them rose up into the air, snatching a few horses before rushing off, only leaving behind a trail of smoke behind them.
On this plains reeking of blood, there were only the three Beyond Heavens members left staring at the field of corpses, looking at each other in dismay.
"How do we deal with the aftermath?" The white-robed scholar sighed after a long time, before continuing, "Other than clearing the corpses, what else do we have to do? How scary those people are!" Ye QingChen only sighed and nodded, remaining silent.
The bearded woodcutter swept his eyes across the battlefield, and something caught his attention before he stuck out his tongue and spoke in shock, "Isn't that so? There really is isn't anything else we can do, d*mmit, look at the actions of those three, they actually did not even leave a single one alive!" After thinking about it, he scratched his head as he exclaimed, "Who was that black-robed kid that came much later? Why is he so domineering?!" Ling Jian's eyes, cold and full of killing intent, were enough to let the woodcutter feel the chills even now.
Gazing in the direction that the three of them had left, the white-robed scholar softly spoke, "It was that kid who killed the vice sect head Meng LingXiao with one stroke of his sword."
The woodcutter started sweating immediately, his voice hoarse as he spoke, "How is that possible?"
The white-robed scholar attempted to gaze as far as his eyes would allow, speaking with heavy suspicion in his voice, "Dressed in black, with a heavy killing intent almost comparable to Ling Tian. In fact, it might even surpass Ling Tian's! Although I only shot him a glance due to my shock, I believe that the gentleman is someone who is extremely dangerous."
Ye QingChen laughed at this point, "That little brat is actually someone I recognize and is definitely a dangerous character. However, dangerous is good, because if you constantly wage war it would be strange if you do not even possess this little bit of killing intent. Besides, there's the Ling kid to restrain him, so he would not deviate to become some monster." Ye QingChen's words were spoken untruthfully, in favor of Ling Tian. With the amount of killing intent exuded by Ling Jian, he could already be compared to a Devil King, so how could it still be classified as some 'little bit of killing intent'?
The white-robed scholar shot Ye QingChen a look, before replying with a heavy expression. "In just today, we've already seen some of the top exponents of the Ling Family. Including Ling Tian, there are already three. While this three might have slightly weaker internal energies compared to us, their application of martial arts are already above ours, and their moves are equally ruthless. How much more strength then does Ling Tian actually keep hidden? To use such a strength to conquer the world, I believe that will not be a difficult task. No wonder he appears so confident."
Ye QingChen only sighed, "Brother White, while Ling Tian had his ambitions, he has not thrown away his sincerity. If such a character is really able to conquer the world, while he might have to resort of countless bloodshed at the beginning, he will be sure to bring fortune to his people in the future. Everyone is actually clear that in this chaotic world, without spilling blood, conquering the world will only be a pipe dream. This is something unavoidable, and one does not have to be too concerned over it."
The white-robed scholar remained quiet for a long time to come. Finally, he let out a long and melancholic sigh.
Madly galloping!
Along the way, Ling Tian had already sent out news to separately inform the Ling Family Courtyard and the Violent Wind Gang. However, he only brought out two messenger falcons with him this time around...
Just as he was hoping for more messenger falcons to swoop down and respond to his commands, he found out that there were actually none left... Because his speed was too fast, it was too hard for the messenger falcons to spot him in this darkness, even though they were blessed with exceptionally good eyesight...
Ling Tian sat on his horse, galloping crazily forward through the night like a hurricane. Under the intense pain from the sword stabbed in it, the sturdy horse ran ever faster as though it were mad. While it would not be able to last in the long run, in the short term it would still save a lot of time.
With a light shout, Ling Tian shot off from the horse's back, and borrowing the forward momentum, rushed forward like an arrow. In an instant, he had already crossed over 100 feet. Behind him, one could hear the horse he was sitting on give out an agonized wail before collapsing onto the ground as its legs buckled. It had been ridden to death!
Ling Tian's internal energy was fully diverted towards his movement techniques. He stuck close to the ground like a breeze blowing across the grass as he sped forward into the distance. Within these 50 kilometers or so, even the treasured blood horses would be unable to catch up to him!
For the first time, Ling Tian felt a burning anxiety in his heart!
Ling Family!
Ling Family Courtyard!
The Ling Residence had some sort of countermeasure that Ling Tian had long ago arranged in case of any unexpected matters. During times of attack, the family members could silently hide without anyone being the wiser, so Ling Tian was not too worried about them. Furthermore, within the family servants, Ling Tian had arranged for a few peerless experts to guard the area as well, so he felt safe leaving his grandparents to stubbornly stay within the Ling Residence.
What he was worried about now was the place where there was the greatest military might ordinarily, as well as the greatest military stores and experts, the Ling Family Courtyard!
Right now, the Ling Family Courtyard was not like the Ling Family Courtyard of old. It had reached an extreme state of weakness!
Ling Tian, Ling Jian, Li Xue, the three greatest experts of the Ling Family Courtyard were all out, and only Ling Chen, Ling Chi, Feng, Yun, Dian, Lei, and Nineteen were present. Furthermore, Ling Chi was still severely wounded from attempting to assassinate the Xiao Family general the other time!
Ling Chen, Dian, and Lei were the only few experts left, so how could they alone resist against hundred if not thousands of the Lei Family disciples? While there were still twenty odd men from the Blood Iron Warriors on guard, facing such elite disciples of the pugilistic community, it would be great if they could protect themselves!
Especially since Meng LiGe had just led the army back to the camp, and it was at this moment when the men were tired and the horses weary. If anything happened...
The normally domineering and strong Ling Family Courtyard was now at its weakness state! Furthermore, the Lei Family were one of the eight great aristocratic families. They were as famous as the Yu Family, thus they definitely had the strength to back it up. Furthermore, they had come prepared this time, if...
Ling Tian did not even dare to continue thinking along this line, merely putting in his all to sprint forward.
Ling Chen, Yu BingYan, Xiao YanXue, Meng LiGe, Shui QianRou... none of them were what Ling Tian could afford or wish to lose! But the enemy actually chose this time to quietly sneak an attack!
What a penetrating move!
If anything untoward happened towards Ling Family Courtyard, I, Ling Tian, swear using my parents' names of two lifetimes, that every single blood descendant of the Lei Family will face my most cruel, inhumane treatment as revenge!
I will let all of you have mouths but be unable to talk, ears but unable to hear, eyes but unable to see! I will reduce you to pieces but still barely alive, and let you witness all the pain available in this world!
Under his mad sprint, Ling Tian's eyes had turned into a frightening red color!
And there was still Yu ManLou!
The presence of the Lei Family indicated that it was definitely Yu ManLou who had invited them over. Why else would they appear in Sky Bearing of all places? If one said that this had nothing to do with Yu ManLou, even if Ling Tian was beaten to death, he would still refuse to believe it!
At the relay station for horses, Ling Tian invaded the place like a whirlwind and rushed out in a matter of seconds, holding onto another horse with all its reins chopped off...
Harshly whipping it, the sturdy horse neighed and began to gallop as fast as it could. When its speed had reached its maximum, Ling Tian suddenly clawed down on its rear, drawing out wound after wound, dripping blood.
Under the extreme pain, the horse galloped even faster, the speed rising a few notches from its original fastest...
Behind Ling Tian, less than 50 kilometers apart, there were two other people spurring their horses on as though they were mad.
Ling Jian and Li Xue!
Both of them were considered to have a cold personality, so they did not even communicate once throughout the entire journey. At this moment Li Xue had long forgotten to annoy Ling Jian, and Ling Jian had already forgotten the grudges between them. All that was on their minds was the Ling Family Courtyard far, far ahead. Their hearts were also burning with the same anxiety, and following the hoofbeats of the horses pulling them forward, they got all the more anxious! This was especially so for Ling Jian, to the point that his eyes were nearly completely red!
Both of them had on dark expressions, icy cold looks without a single word being uttered between them. Just killing intent that threatened to overflow the heavens! The two of them at this moment resembled rumbling volcanoes that were ready to erupt!
The attack on their Ling Family Courtyard thoroughly pushed them close to the point of eruption!
Ling Family Courtyard! Ling Chen, you have to hold on!