What do you mean by the six of us? You're the only one who prefers spreading violence over promoting peace. Don't drag us in too!
Kong Zhi and the others were rolling their eyes in disdain. However, they had long since gotten used to how this bastard behaved. It was not like it was their first time hanging out together after all.
This bastard was practically the greatest stain to the Realm of High Paradise's name. He would always badmouth his master behind his back and from a young age, he kept trying to run away from the sect. Although he would be caught and taken back every time, soon afterward he would try to escape again. If his master was anyone else, he would have long been executed already. Or at the very least, have both his legs broken and his cultivation crippled before being exiled from the sect.
But alas, Grandmaster Qi Jie would always protect him. Even though Ba Jie would always be severely punished each time he caused trouble, the bastard was not deterred in the least. The 'Jie Line' could only have one successor and after so many years, Grandmaster Qi Jie had only taken on a single disciple, Ba Jie, who was under his protection. If not for these reasons, Ba Jie would have been sentenced to death by the people of the Realm of High Paradise a long time ago.
In a nutshell, when it came to the Realm of High Paradise, all the disciples were strictly reminded to stay as far away as they could from Grandmaster Qi Jie's disciple. They were warned not to fall under his bad influence, otherwise, the punishment would be severe. There were already a few cases of this occurring beforehand.
"I've already played my role as the villain. It's your turn now!" Ba Jie turned around and waved, "Kong Zhi, go!"
Kong Zhi was speechless. Who exactly is the one in charge of this trip? To have me make the first move… are you the villain here or am I?
The Yao cultivators began to panic when they heard him. They didn't dare to fight and quickly rushed off to the side.
Meanwhile, Ba Jie was just enjoying the show from the sidelines and watched on as they made their escape. His face pretty much said 'it's none of my business'.
Kong Zhi could do little but resign himself. With a wave of his hand, he revealed the 'Blood Kasaya'. It abruptly expanded a few hundredfolds in midair, almost blanketing the entire sky, and descending down just as suddenly. It wrapped up all the Yao cultivators along with their dragon steeds within, then quickly shrank down...
"Miao Yi. Don't tell me you're waiting for me to invite you over?" Ye Xin said to Miao Yi in an agitated tone. She didn't know what he was still hesitating for. Why hadn't he discarded his dragon steed and come on to her Crystal-Armored Hurricane Beast already?
Gu Sanzheng and the others were also looking at Miao Yi. Because it was taking him so long to get on Ye Xin's mount, the other two Crystal-Armored Hurricane Beasts couldn't run at their full speed either.
Miao Yi stared at the giant desolate mountain before them and sucked in a deep breath, as though he had come to a final decision. He turned to the rest of the group and said gravely, "All of you, turn away immediately. I'll help lure Bai Ziliang away from you!"
Everyone was taken aback. How could he possibly survive then? Sikong Wuwei glared, "Kid, in this group, regardless of whether it's cultivation or seniority, it's not your turn to play the hero yet. If we're going to run, we're going to run together!"
"Run together?" Miao Yi asked, "Gu Sanzheng. Can your three Crystal-Armored Hurricane Beasts outrun Bai Ziliang's Tempest Beast?"
"Not a chance!" Gu Sanzheng gritted his teeth and continued, "If we're really out of options, we can split up the three Crystal-Armored Hurricane Beasts and escape separately. That way, we'll at least get to cut our losses!"
"Then I might as well just go off on my own!" Miao Yi continued, "Your side won't lose anything if I leave. Even if I were to go with you guys, I wouldn't be able to be of much help anyway. However, if we were to split up and Bai Ziliang finishes one of us off, the rest of us would lose the advantage we might have had from the combined might of our transcendent artifacts. If that happens, you might not even have the power to resist him."
Tan Lao said gravely, "Then we can continue to string them along like this. After all, Bai Ziliang is the only one who can keep up with us. Not a single one of the others dare to approach us."
"You're just trying to lie to yourself. Your mounts don't have enough stamina to last running along this island for too long. However, his can. He can simply wait until your mounts have exhausted all their energy. When that happens, he can simply take his time dealing with us and no one will be able to escape." Miao Yi shook his head.
Sikong Wuwei barked in frustration, "Then we'll just leave this shitty island and find our chance of survival on the open sea!"
Miao Yi replied, "On the ocean, we'll lose the speed advantage our mounts can give us. We'll have even less of a chance outrunning his Tempest Beast then. At least on this Skyfire Mountain, Bai Ziliang will still have some reservations and not act too rashly. Furthermore, there is no one else he can turn to for extra support. As a member of the Realm of Ten Thousand Demons, once he's on the ocean, the number of resources at his disposal should be staggeringly high. The Western Star Sea is their turf after all."
"Are you saying there's no other way but yours?" Sikong Wuwei growled, "Then we might as well turn back and fight!"
"Do I even need you to tell me whether we stand a chance at winning that fight?" Miao Yi told everyone gravely, "Listen to me. I will lure Bai Ziliang away on my own and try to buy you all as much time as I can. Once your Crystal-Armored Hurricane Beasts start running at full speed, the others won't be able to catch up to you even if they try. Now that there are no eyes in the sky watching us, you can make use of this opportunity to sweep them off your tail. It doesn't matter which way you decide to run off to. After this, even if Bai Ziliang's Tempest Beast tries to speed up, he'll have a harder time finding you guys once he loses sight of you. This will be a chance for you guys to think of an idea to escape him completely. I'll leave the details for you all to decide according to the situation. This is the most I can do for you!"
Zhao Fei frowned silently. Gu Sanzheng asked, "Then what will you do?"
"I have my own ways of handling the problem. Who knows? My luck may even be better than yours!" Miao Yi joked, "On the off-chance that Bai Ziliang decides not to chase me and comes after you all in full-force instead, you guys will end up being the ones luring the enemy away from me!"
Gu Sanzheng remarked grimly, "You've already tested out Bai Ziliang's actions just now. You know what the result will be!"
"We're getting close to that mountain. The speed of my mount is much lower than Bai Ziliang's, so I still need you all to help me buy some time for now. Slow down a little so that I can go ahead. Bai Ziliang wouldn't dare to approach you all on his own anyway. Once I reach the foot of the mountain, you can all turn away immediately. I'll think of a way to hold him back for as long as I can!" Miao Yi said.
"The closer you get to the mountain, the hotter it'll be. Will you be able to take it?" Gu Sanzheng asked.
Miao Yi didn't answer. Instead, he turned to the two people behind Gu Sanzheng and said, "Zhao Fei, Sikong, don't forget about the promise you two made to Qi Xiuhong back when we were imprisoned inside the gourd artifact!"
Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei looked at Miao Yi in shock! Tao Ruchun and Pi Junzi were also staring at him in astonishment!
"Go!" Miao Yi yelled. In order to lessen the weight on his mount as well as the consumption rate of his transcendence energy, he recalled his armor artifact. With a swing of his sword artifact, he made a gash on the dragon steed's rear. It neighed in agony and immediately started galloping much faster. It charged in front of the three Crystal-Armored Hurricane Beasts, its beating hooves kicking up sparks on the ground as it hurriedly bolted straight towards the mountain.
"Let's do what he says and help him slow down the people at the back!" Zhao Fei said as he tossed his Spirit Illusion Greatsword up into the sky. It instantly formed ten million projections and began assaulting their pursuers.
Chasing Gu Sanzheng and the others from behind, Bai Ziliang was taken by surprise from the sudden assault and immediately slowed down. However, he soon realized that the other party could not possibly attack him from such a long distance. They were merely trying to scare him. Regardless, Bai Ziliang didn't dare to increase his speed too much. His gaze was locked onto Miao Yi who was galloping at the front of the group.
As soon as Bai Ziliang slowed down, the group behind him led by Lan Susu gradually pulled closer to him.
"Qi Xiuhong is the name of that woman who died?" After separating from Miao Yi, Gu Sanzheng asked, "What promise did you guys make to her?"
"Her cultivation was only at the White Lotus Fifth Grade. Her Manor Head coveted her for her beauty, but because she was unwilling to comply, he sent her here to the Sea of Constellations to die. Before she passed, we promised her that if we ever made it back alive, we will help avenge her!" Sikong Wuwei said in a grave tone.
Gu Sanzheng, Tan Lao, and Ye Xin looked at one another. They hadn't expected that Miao Yi would still be concerned over a matter like this in such a dire situation. Their gazes followed his gradually departing silhouette, and they instantly understood. He had already made preparations in case anything were to happen to him.
Their gazes were a little conflicted as they wondered whether Miao Yi would survive and give them a chance to avenge their three major sects too.
Gu Sanzheng looked up at the sky and heaved a deep sigh. There had been many a time when he could only remain helpless in this land. Perhaps it was better to live a boring life instead of fighting against the machinations of fate.
As soon as Miao Yi reached the foot of the mountain in front, he charged straight up. Gu Sanzheng immediately shouted, "Let's go!"
The three Crystal-Armored Hurricane Beasts quickly changed directions and ran off. No longer required to slow down their pace to match the other dragon steeds, the three spiritual beasts abruptly accelerated, increasing their speed to the very limits as they darted away from the foot of the mountain.
Behind them, Bai Ziliang furrowed his brows as he watched the three quickly departing mounts, then turned to look at Miao Yi who was charging towards the mountaintop.
As expected, Bai Ziliang commanded with a wave of his hand, "You all go after them. I'll take care of the one heading up the mountain myself!"
"Young Master! Be careful of any traps! I shall accompany you!" Lan Susu hastily advised, afraid that something might happen to Bai Ziliang.
However, her mount couldn't keep up at all with the Tempest Beast that was running at full speed. Not to mention, her forehead was already beading with sweat. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to endure much more of this and that it would be even harder on her up the mountain, Bai Ziliang quickly nodded and said, "Come sit behind me! The rest of you, go after the others. Make sure to keep an eye on them and don't let them escape. Once I've dealt with the one up the mountain, I'll immediately come looking for you!"
Pang Duo and the others acknowledged the order and hurriedly gave chase towards Zhao Fei and the rest.
Lan Susu leaped up to sit behind Bai Ziliang, her mount immediately neighing in agony as it tossed around in the flames. The Tempest Beast then quickly sped up, shooting out like a lightning bolt.
When he turned around and saw that Bai Ziliang was really going after Miao Yi as expected, Sikong Wuwei pounded on his thigh and let out a heavy sigh!
Everyone could tell that Miao Yi was in a perilous situation and that his chances of survival were slim. If he really did have some method of handling the situation as he told them before, why didn't he use it sooner? Why would he need to risk himself for it?
"Let's not waste Brother Miao's good intentions!" Gu Sanzheng gritted his teeth and barked, "As long as we survive, we might just get the chance to avenge him!"
The speed of a Tempest Beast was much too fast compared to a dragon steed's. Although Gu Sanzheng and the others had tried to stall some time for Miao Yi, Bai Ziliang still managed to catch up to him before he could even reach the mountaintop.
Behind them, Ba Jie was riding alongside Kong Zhi on his four-horned, golden-hooved white deer. For some reason, his own mount was gone. Evidently, it was because their group had been slightly delayed from their recent scuffle, and Ba Jie figured his dragon steed would be too slow, so he decided to ride together with Kong Zhi on his mount and go ahead of the rest instead.
When he saw the prestigious representative of the Realm of Ten Thousand Demons chasing after Miao Yi so relentlessly, Ba Jie assumed that there was definitely some great treasure to be had and was insistent on catching up to them.
Miao Yi also never expected the Tempest Beast to be so fast. Turning back to look, he realized that the other party had already caught up to him before he could even reach the mountaintop.
Feeling the heat of the mountain, Bai Ziliang was deeply astonished as he hadn't expected Miao Yi's dragon steed to actually be able to make it up here. Had he not been riding on the Tempest Beast, he probably wouldn't have been able to endure this at all.
Bai Ziliang brandished a giant black seal in his hand and hurled it out, causing the artifact to expand abruptly. Much like the Mountain Suppressing Hammer, it shot towards the fleeing Miao Yi with a crack of thunder.
Turning back to look, Miao Yi was greatly surprised. He quickly tossed out six Second Grade Mountain Cleaving Talismans in response, and the six blue streaks of light abruptly shot out.
Boom boom boom...!
A series of eruptions resounded. The six Second Grade Mountain Cleaving Talismans were able to alter the trajectory of the giant black seal, but they were still unable to stop its momentum. The giant black seal crashed nearby, kicking up plumes of dust and rubble as the ground beneath it trembled heavily.
Miao Yi's dragon steed continued to frantically dash towards the peak of the mountain. He was a little exasperated. Didn't they say that this was Lie Huan's personal residence? Why wasn't there even a single sign of a palace or a cave?