Chapter 576 - Flee
The atmosphere within the mountain valley froze and turned suffocating as exceedingly ugly expressions appeared on the faces of Shen Cangsheng and the other four. Clearly, they were somewhat caught with their pants down by this sudden trouble…
Although they had obtained quite a big benefit in this fragment of the Shattered Continent, resulting in their strength improving by quite a bit, they were extremely clear that they were absolutely not a match for a group like Ji Xuan's.
Once the two sides were to truly engage in combat, their side would lose without a doubt.
"What should we do?" asked He Yao as he looked towards Shen Cangsheng with an ugly look on his face.
As a dark shade fluctuated over Shen Cangsheng's face, he gave a furious clench of his teeth as he replied, "I'll take the Academy Plaque and run away! You guys scatter and leave!"
Hearing Shen Cangsheng's reply, Li Xuantong's face instantly sunk down as he said, "With such a short distance, they would already be able to lock onto us. Simply running away would be of no use. Furthermore, once they catch you or any of us, it would end up with the same result. That's because if any one of us falls into their hands, they would definitely use us to deal with Mu Chen!"
"And with Mu Chen's character, I'm afraid that he wouldn't just stand by the side and watch! If not, he wouldn't be rushing over here with all his might."
"Let's go together! Although Ji Xuan and his gang are extremely formidable, we ain't just mud on the floor!" growled Yang Lin, the last member of the group.
Creaking sounds rang from Shen Cangsheng's hands as his face turned ashen. At this moment, a feeling of humiliation gushed from his heart. Being a rather prideful person at heart, he was the Numero Uno on the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy's Heavenly Rankings before the appearance of Mu Chen. However, at this moment, they were forced to such a miserable position, yet he was powerless to change it.
Bang!
Shen Cangsheng fiercely sent a punch against the rock wall beside him, causing cracks to rapidly extend from his fist. Taking a deep breath, he said in a deep voice, "Let's scatter first. As of now, Mu Chen and the others are currently rushing over. Regardless of anything, we have to drag the time on and wait for him to arrive. At that time, Ji Xuan will fail at his objective."
Hearing that, Li Xuantong, Su Xuan and the others nodded their heads in agreement. All of them were not willing to land in Ji Xuan's hands and be used against Mu Chen.
"Let's go!"
Shen Cangsheng gave a low roar. Taking to the air, he quickly shot in the opposite direction of where those whooshing sounds were ringing from. Behind him, Li Xuantong, Su Xuan and the other two wore tense expressions on their faces as they rapidly followed suit.
Whoosh!
Increasing their speed to the maximum, the five shot across the horizon at lightning speed, causing sharp and hurried whooshing sounds to ear-piercingly reverberate within the vast mountain range.
Darkness filled the entirety of Shen Cangsheng's face, his eyes brimming with unconcealable anger and fury. With his hands tightly clenched, green veins squirmed and throbbed on their surface. Such a speedy retreat caused him to feel as if his heart was burning up.
Crack!
The sharp and incisive sounds of space being split apart appeared to ring from the horizon behind them.
"Run quickly!" Suddenly, Shen Cangsheng's face contorted as he fiercely roared.
"Haha. These few friends from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, we've hurried over here from a place far, far away. And yet, you all want to leave before even saying any greetings. Isn't this to impolite of you all?" Just as Shen Cangsheng's roar rang out, faint laughter, accompanied by a voice, suddenly rang out within the region.
Upon hearing that voice, the hearts of Shen Cangsheng and the others furiously sunk down.
"Don't worry about him! Continue on!" growled Shen Cangsheng. However, before his voice could fully ring out, his eyes furiously, abruptly contracted. Fiercely raising his head, he saw a figure with his hands behind his back stand on the mountain peak before them, looking straight towards them with a grin on his face.
This figure was dressed in white robes, with a warm and radiant smile covering his handsome face, making it hard for people raise their vigilance against him. Nevertheless, upon spotting him, the faces of Shen Cangsheng and the other four instantly contorted.
"Ji Xuan!"
"Please stay behind, the few of you," said Ji Xuan with a smile as he looked towards Shen Cangsheng and the other four.
"In your dreams!"
Shen Cangsheng sneered in reply. Sweeping a glance towards Li Xuantong and the three, the five of them explosively scattered seemingly in the next instant.
Seeing this, Ji Xuan couldn't help giving a gentle sigh. Not a single flutter of emotion was present within his eyes, before he gave a wave of his sleeve. In the next instant, exceedingly powerful Spiritual Energy instantly swept out from his sleeve just like a long river.
Swish! Swish!
As the long Spiritual Energy river swept out, it split into five parts, appearing right before Shen Cangsheng and the other four in the blink of an eye. As the long Spiritual Energy rivers converged together, they transformed into a giant Spiritual Energy palm that fiercely pressed down from above.
Bang!
A giant thunder-like bang resounded.
Shen Cangsheng and the other four that were originally shooting away were instantly sent in the opposite direction. Other than Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong, who staggered back a few steps, muffled groans rang out from Su Xuan and the other two, while a faint shade of paleness appeared on their faces.
This Ji Xuan's strength is actually that terrifying! He had forced the five of them back just with a single palm of his.
Shen Cangsheng and the other four were forced to group up once again. At this moment, a shadow of shock flashed across their eyes. The power and strength of Ji Xuan had far exceeded all of their expectations.
As of now, within their group, Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong were both currently at the pinnacle of First Grade Spirit Disaster. As for Su Xuan, He Yao and Yang Lin, all of them had already reached the realm of Spiritual Energy Disaster. Truthfully speaking, such a lineup was considered to be rather strong. If not, they wouldn't be able to rush into the Top 16 by just relying on their own strengths.
However, despite that, their lineup was obstructed just by Ji Xuan alone.
"These few friends from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. You all should be clear that my true target's not you all. As long as you all agree to be captured, I'll not make things difficult for you all," said Ji Xuan in a warm tone.
Not giving a reply, a glint faintly sparkled within Shen Cangsheng's eyes.
Whoosh.
At this moment, more whooshing sounds rang out from behind them as four glowing figures shot over. Splitting up and moving into four separate locations, they completely sealed the surrounding space. The four that had shot over were precisely the members of Ji Xuan's group.
Seeing this, the eyes of Shen Cangsheng and the other four turned dim. From the looks of it, they seemed to have no way to easily escape this predicament.
Exchanging glances with one another, all of them took a deep breath before their gazes gradually turned fierce. Even if there wasn't anymore chances for them to escape, they would absolutely not let themselves be captured that easily! They needed to buy time for Mu Chen!
"Take action!"
Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong explosively shot out seemingly at the same instant. Clenching their hands, long spears appeared in a flash. Spiritual Energies erupted from their bodies without the slightest bit of restraint, while the incomparably fierce spear tips explosively rumbled towards where Ji Xuan was at lightning speed.
At the same instant, Su Xuan, He Yao and Yang Lin had rushed towards another location. They had chosen to collaborate and attack one of Ji Xuan's group members that had sealed that direction.
Bang! Bang!
As the spear tips heavily pierced towards the place where Ji Xuan stood, the mountain peak below had instantly collapsed. As giant rocks tumbled down, Ji Xuan strode through the air, walking straight up into the skies, while his white robes appeared clean and unblemished. The fierce attacks coming from Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong had unexpectedly not caused the slightest bit of harm towards him.
"Looks like you all do not approve of my suggestion, huh." Looking towards Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong, Ji Xuan shook his head with some regret, before taking a small step forward.
Whoosh!
As his feet landed in the air, his figure appeared to have instantly shifted right before the two. As the trio exchanged gazes, the eyes of Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong snapped wide open.
Bang!
With exceedingly tacit understanding, Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong had sent a palm out each, patting out at seemingly the same time. Bringing along astonishing gales, boundless Spiritual Energies heavily patted down towards Ji Xuan's body.
Boom!
However, just as they had sent their palms patting down, Ji Xuad had sent a palm of his own out in welcome. In the next instant, the palms of the trio heavily smashed against each other.
Astonishing Spiritual Energy gales immediately swept out.
Although Ji Xuan's figure had seemingly not moved an inch, Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong appeared to have suffered a heavy blow. Their bodies shot backwards in a miserable fashion, skidding over a hundred metres in the air before finally being able to forcefully stabilise themselves. At this moment, their hands were faintly trembling as intense pain radiated from them, appearing as if their bones had been shattered.
"I believe that you two should be the most elite of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. As of now, with Mu Chen placed above your heads while having the status of a Freshman, shouldn't you two be uncomfortable about it? Since that's the case, why not collaborate with me? If I settle and finish off Mu Chen, I'll guarantee your names in the Saint Spiritual Academy, and will make sure you guys are promoted into the final match," said Ji Xuan in a slow manner as he looked towards Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong.
Being a Freshman in the Saint Spiritual Academy, Ji Xuan was extremely clear how much jealousy and resentment those veteran outstanding students had towards him. With Mu Chen's road being similar to his own, one could tell that the latter's situation wasn't much better than his own. The few people before him should not have good feelings towards Mu Chen.
However, he had clearly made some errors in his judgement this time. Upon hearing him say those words, Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong only gave a laugh in reply. The smiles present on their faces weren't deep, yet it showed of a faint flavor of ridicule and disdain.
It was precisely this ridicule and disdain that caused the genial smile on Ji Xuan's face to slowly disappear.
If the people before him were exchanged for the other groups from the Saint Spiritual Academy, Ji Xuan would dare to bet that they would instantly betray him… however, these fellows from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy were actually defending Mu Chen, who was now standing on their heads?
Form a certain perspective, wouldn't this mean that Mu Chen had obtained a more perfect result than him?
"You two truly don't know what's good for you," said Ji Xuan with an indifferent smile. In the next instant, his figure disappeared once again.
Bang!
Astonishing Spiritual Energy erupted once again, as the figures of Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong were sent retreating once more, with blood flowing down the corners of their mouths. However, before they could react, a spectre-like figure had surfaced once again before them, while an even fiercer attack came enveloping over.
Bang! Bang!
The figures of the two continued to backpedal in a miserable fashion. Even after collaborating, they were still at a complete disadvantage, and were even unable to muster the slightest bit of resistance. Therefore, within the span of a dozen breaths, the amount of blood streaming down the corners of their mouths continued to increase.
Boom!
At the other location, Su Xuan and the other two had collaborated in an attempt to break through from another direction. However, they discovered that they were unexpectedly unable to obtain the slightest bit of advantage over the youth from the Saint Spiritual Academy before them.
"Haha. Could it be that you've chosen to break through from here because I appear to be the weakest?" After being targeted by Su Xuan and the other two, the youth by the name of Mu Feng spoke out in a ridiculing manner as he grinned towards the trio.
At the other three directions, his three other group members had only sealed those directions without taking action. That's because they knew that if Su Xuan and the other two had chosen them as the direction to break through, the trio might have a slight chance in doing so. However, they had ended up choosing Mu Feng. Other than Ji Xuan, that fellow was the second strongest within their group.
Solemn expressions appeared on the faces of Su Xuan and the other two. Nevertheless, none of them made any noise, with them merely attacking with increasing intensity.
"Don't drag it on anymore, Mu Feng."
Just as Mu Feng was wanting to speak ridiculing comments, an indifferent voice rang out not far away from him. That was precisely Ji Xuan's voice.
"Look's like you three are unlucky."
Hearing that, Mu Feng gave a smile. Looking towards Su Xuan and the other two, his smile started to become abnormally cold and chilling.