Chapter 203: Five Forces Gathered
At Armament Sect’s entrance.
Many figures began to gather from every district inside the city. These were the people of Dark Asura Hall, Dark Shadow Tower, Seven Fiends Valley, Cloud Sky Mountain and Purple Mist Sea.
Liang Yangzu, Yuan Tianya, Wu Tuo, and Shi Jingyun waited leisurely at the front entrance, waiting for people from Purple Mist Sea to arrive before entering Armament Sect.
At a tall tower not far away from Armament Sect, Yi Yuan scowled at a graceful lady, watching her changing her spirit arts continuously and pressing many spirit energy marks that looked like tree leaves onto Lian Rou’s body.
Every time the leaves entered Lian Rou’s body she would shake a little. After the process was repeated at least a dozen times, Lian Rou’s body shook strongly before her eyes brightened.
“Alright.” Faint sweat appeared on top of Su Ziying’s forehead. She wore a navy blue dress, and the sides of her dress were wrinkled like waves. Her beautiful hair was tied up tall, causing her to look extremely graceful and rich.
At the middle stage of the Netherpassage Realm, she was Purple Mist Sea’s commander in Armament City, and second wife of Purple Mist Sea’s leader.
“Thank you, Second Aunt.” Seeing that Lian Rou’s seal had been unlocked, Yi Yuan’s expression relaxed slightly as he thanked her with sincere respect.
“Yi Yuan!” Lian Rou’s expression was still somewhat pale, but the moment she realized that her blood was circulating, she fiercely glared at him and yelled, “Look at what you’ve done!”
“I’ll leave this girl to you. I should be meeting up with Yuan Tianya and the others right now.” Su Ziying glanced at Lian Rou and spoke with an indifferent tone, “Girl, just accept your fate. This time, no one can save Armament Sect.” Once finished, Su Ziying brought a number of Purple Mist Sea’s martial practitioners and headed towards Armament Sect’s entrance.
“I want to go back to the sect!” Lian Rou’s expression was icy.
“Lian Rou, I am sorry, but I can’t let you go.” Yi Yuan sighed. Then, he suddenly took out a silver rope and, while Lian Rou had not recovered completely and ignoring her scolding and struggling, tied her up tightly.
Yi Yuan stood on top of the tower. From here, he could see Armament Sect’s entrance from afar. When he looked however, he took on a complicated expression as he solemnly said, “It is not the first time the five great forces wanted to take action against Armament Sect. Regardless of Qin Bing’s appearance, Armament Sect would still walk the path of destruction.”
“Lord Lang Xie and Lord Feng Rong will definitely be able to protect Armament Sect!Yi Yuan, I will not forgive you! I will never forgive you!” Lian Rou cried out.
“As long as you survive, I don’t mind letting you hate me,” Yi Yuan said softly.
“You betrayed Armament Sect, lured Lord Lang Xie and Lord Feng Rong, and brought Senior Brother Qin into a trap just for me? You are overturning the entire Armament Sect!” Lian Rou reprimanded angrily.
“Do you know what you and Tang Siqi are in the eyes of the sect master and the three great reverends?” Yi Yuan’s expression was stern. “I didn’t want to do this either! When I heard that you and Tang Siqi were captured by Blood Shadow, I went to look for Sect Master. But he did not give me hope! He forbade me to notify Qin Bing about this and gave Lang Xie and Feng Rong the authority to take direct control of the situation. Do you know what this means?”
Yi Yuan hmphed coldly. “In their eyes, you, Tang Siqi, and I are nothing more than insignificant pawns! We can be sacrificed at any moment!
“They planned to sacrifice you. What else can I do? Watch you die with my own eyes while doing nothing?!” Yi Yuan’s eyes had turned red.
Lian Rou suddenly grew silent.
“Sister Su, you’ve come. Everyone is waiting for you.” Wu Tuo’s fat face let loose a brilliant smile, appearing completely harmless.
“Fatty Wu, aren’t you guys a little too early?” Su Ziying had brought the martial practitioners of Purple Mist Sea and arrived at Armament Sect’s entrance. After glancing at the crowd, she asked, “Where is Di Shijiu?”
“He is still chasing after Lang Xie,” Liang Yangzu replied.
“And Blood Shadow?” Su Ziying asked again.
“He should be with him,” Liang Yangzu’s eyes flashed.
Su Ziying nodded and asked, “Do we need to wait for them?”
“No!” Liang Yangzu snorted and said solemnly, “I can take charge for Dark Shadow Tower.”
“Alright.” Su Ziying looked at the entrance and said, “Then let’s go in and talk with Ying Xingran.”
“Hehe, let me open it, let me open it.” Cloud Sky Mountain’s Wu Tuo cheerfully arrived in front of the door, and like a human-shaped stone, he rammed his head into the steel door.
“Bang!”
Armament Sect’s thick steel door shattered into pieces, just like that.
Wu Tuo led the way in and said loudly, “Cloud Sky Mountain’s Wu Tuo pays his respects to the sect master.”
“Dark Asura Hall’s Yuan Tianya pays his respects to the sect master!”
“Seven Fiends Valley’s Shi Jingyun pays his respects to the sect master!”
“Dark Shadow Tower’s Liang Yangzu has arrived for a meeting!”
“Purple Mist Sea’s Su Ziying pays her respects to the sect master!”
One after another, the loud voices rang throughout the entire foot of the mountain of Flame Volcano and resonated around Armament Sect’s entrance.
With these five loud cries, the people in charge of their respective forces entered Armament Sect’s outer sect one after another.
Halfway up Flame Volcano.
Ying Xingran, the three great reverends, and the seven great elders had swiftly descended the mountain in unison, heading to the foot of the mountain.
Every single one of their faces was filled with thick despair, as if they could see their future fate.
As a result, Ying Xingran’s face had lost all of its blood. He walked at the front, and from time to time, he would nervously turn around and ask Luo Zhichang, “Is there still no news from him?”
Chief Reverend Luo Zhichang had contacted the expert that watched over Armament Sect, using the instructions that had been left behind. Unfortunately, whether it was because it had been so long that the other party had forgotten about them or they had passed away, there was no response at all.
This was the equivalent of cutting off Armament Sect’s remaining hope.
“There is no news, not even the slightest reaction. Perhaps he is already gone,” Luo Zhichang sighed deeply.
‘Then we can only put our hopes on Qin Bing!” Ying Xingran finally lost all hope and led them to the plaza. He rushed towards Tan Dongling and instructed, “Pass the three spatial rings to Qin Bing!”
At the plaza where the twelve spirit pattern pillars were, Qin Lie had his eyes tightly closed while a powerful wave of mind energy emanated from his body. He was doing his utmost to unlock the sealing art that was imprisoning Xue Li.
He did not realize that Ying Xingran and the others had arrived.
“Sect master, Se-Senior Brother Qin cannot be disturbed right now.” Tang Siqi hurriedly stood up and told them what Qin Lie had instructed her to, “Senior Brother Qin has finally learned the final magic of the spirit pattern pillar. He is now going through it and needs a little bit more time.”
“…Time. Time is not something Armament Sect has anymore. We can no longer give him time.” A trace of blood flowed down Ying Xingran’s lips. His eyes were like dying candles amidst the wind; it was like it could be extinguished at any moment.
“The commanders of the five great forces have already entered the sect. We no longer have any time.” Luo Zhichang said with a slightly unsteady voice and a face full of despair, “Wake Qin Bing up. Have him carry the three spatial rings filled with the sect’s final hope and swiftly leave through the underground path. Don’t come back anymore!”
“Go!” Fang Qi and Jiang Hao also cried out.
“Sect Master! What should we do, Sect Master?” The cries of the outer sect disciples all rang out from the big yard in front of Armament Sect.
“Cheng Ping! Take Qin Bing, Tang Siqi, and the three spatial rings to the underground passage!” Ying Xingran abruptly cried out.
However, after the yell, he looked around and did not see any trace of Cheng Ping.
Just as Ying Xingran was about to yell once more, he saw a stumbling and bloody figure walking out in the direction of the artifact forging room not far away—it was the outer sect elder, Cheng Ping.
A blood-colored, short spear was stabbed in Cheng Ping’s chest. That was Cheng Ping’s own spirit artifact.
“I know about the underground passage that leads outside as well. That is where I came in from. I have come to crush all of Armament Sect’s hope!” Blood Shadow’s voice suddenly rang out from the artifact forging room.
While the crowd had turned ashen white, he looked at the sky and laughed as he appeared. “Ying Xingran! Luo Zhichang! Fang Qi! Jiang Hao! You four scumbags! You poisoned my master and joined forces with Lang Xie and Feng Rong—those two traitors—and murdered him while he was cultivating. You killed my master! I, Yan Chi have not forgotten this grudge. The reason I have lingered in this world until now was to kill you with my own hands and take revenge for my master!”
“Tong Jihua!” Ying Xingran yelled fiercely.
“Send in the men!” Chief Reverend had also cried out.
The moment Blood Shadow showed up, a bad premonition appeared inside their hearts. This Blood Shadow was different from the others. Even if Yuan Tianya, Shi Jingyun, Su Ziying, and Wu Tuo reached Armament Sect, they would not eliminate the sect master and three great reverends.
They would be captured alive and would allow Ying Xingran and the three great reverends to live so they could help them forge artifacts and refine high ranking spirit artifacts.
In Ying Xingran and the three great reverends’ eyes, as long as they didn’t die instantly, the hope that they might live long enough to see the sect’s resurgence would still exist. That was why they still had a single prayer for luck and hope in their hearts.
However, Blood Shadow’s appearance from the underground path had extinguished their hopes entirely.
The exposure of the underground passage meant that Qin Lie and Tang Siqi would not be able to leave with the sect’s secret scriptures, whereas they would be all killed by this madman.
If that happened, then how could Armament Sect possibly still have any hope remaining?
Therefore, he loudly cried out for help, hoping that Tong Jihua and the other sect elders could rush over.
Unfortunately, it would seem that Tong Jihua and the others at the front yard could not hear his desperate pleas.
“Yan Chi! Do you really want to destroy Armament Sect?!” Chief Elder Mo Hai yelled sternly, “Armament Sect raised you, and you grew up in Armament Sect since you were young. Can you really be this ruthless?”
“Elder Mo Hai…”
For the first time, there was a trace of complication in Blood Shadow’s eyes. “You are the only person I respected in Armament Sect. Every single one of my spirit artifacts were forged by you back then. This was also the reason why Junior Sister Feng Rong is still alive. The reason I didn’t kill her wasn’t for her sake, it was because I respected you!”
Beside Mo Hai, Feng Rong snorted with scorn in her eyes. “You can’t kill me!”
“I will not hurt you, Feng Rong, and the inner sect elders.” Blood Shadow’s eyes glittered with murderous intent. “But Ying Xingran and the three great reverends must die!”
“Boom!”
A thick, bloodthirsty aura exploded from Blood Shadow’s body. His fresh blood formed into many bloody snakes. They suddenly crawled out of Blood Shadow’s body and charged towards Ying Xingran and the three great reverends’, attempting to bite them.
Each one of these blood snakes were formed from Blood Shadow’s lifeblood essence. They were tinged with his thoughts and were like an extension of his four limbs, so he could nimbly move them as he pleased.
Seeing the numerous blood colored snakes agilely slithering over with a terrifying and ruthless aura, Ying Xingran and the three great reverends were filled with despair.
It was at this moment that Qin Lie suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes.
A bizarre color, red as blood, gleamed within their depths.
That very moment, he turned to Blood Shadow.