Chapter Sixty-Nine: A Bloody Prelude

“Understood!”

The three men behind the Marquis of Cloud Mountain answered at once.

No sooner had the words fallen than the leading man and woman lunged forward, engaging the crowd beside Cloud Heart. The battle was thrown into a frenzy from the very first instant.

The young man at the rear, called Little Fan, moved alone toward the corner and led out a large blue-furred dog.

The dog’s fur stood on end all over its body, its eyes ferocious, its maw full of interlocking fangs forever dripping saliva. Its nose kept working the air in sharp, repeated sniffs, as though it had already locked onto the scent. Dragging the young man with it, it charged out of the cave, heading unmistakably in the direction from which Chen Qi had descended the mountain.

The others, already locked in desperate combat, had no chance to stop them. They could only watch helplessly as man and dog vanished into the distance.

Or rather, the disciples of the Cloud Sea Sect were already fighting only to preserve their own lives.

The strike launched from behind by the Marquis of Cloud Mountain had clearly been prepared long in advance. Worse still, not every member of the Cloud Sea Sect group was as wary as Chen Qi and Cloud Heart.

Before that terrifying tide of power, every remaining disciple was wounded. The most grievously injured was the Ao disciple with one arm severed; he could barely keep himself upright, let alone walk.

Had Cloud Heart not blocked most of the force, everyone present would likely have been annihilated, like shattered stones in the cave.

Even so, with the two disciples of the Marquis of Cloud Mountain pressing in, the situation had become dire beyond measure.

“Scatter and run! Get as many out as you can!”

Cloud Heart’s final cry drifted out through the mist, growing fainter and fainter, as though its speaker were already retreating farther and farther away.

It was clear that Cloud Heart was taking the Marquis of Cloud Mountain on alone, buying a chance of survival for the disciples still trapped in the cavern.

A chance, however faint.

And one that was growing dimmer by the moment.

The Marquis’s departure did not ease the crisis in the cave; if anything, it drove the battle into even wilder chaos.

True energy clashed again and again within the cavern, the shockwaves leaving the surroundings in ruins.

Three outer sect disciples stood together, staring tensely at the four figures locked in combat ahead.

Among the three, the one-armed Ao disciple had already lost all ability to fight, and the claw-wielding disciple’s face was deathly pale, obviously badly wounded as well. Only the tall disciple, who had timely unfolded his blood qi robe, still seemed to retain some strength for a final struggle.

At that moment, the blood-colored robe around him was still spread at any cost. Standing in front of the other two, he wore a grave expression, watching the front warily for any possible ambush.

Bang!

A thunderous impact rang out overhead, as though two massive objects had collided. Then, from within the clouded haze, a disheveled figure was sent flying out and crashed to the ground before the three of them.

The handsome man with sword-like brows clutched his chest with one hand, forcefully suppressing the churning blood in his breast, while the other pointed shakily toward the mist. In a voice full of disbelief, he cried:

“You… you’ve already broken through to the Innate Realm?”

Through the mist, the face of the noble-looking man gradually came into view, and the mocking expression on it only deepened. He sneered:

“As the first opponent to witness my breakthrough to the Astral Qi Realm, you can count yourself rather lucky to die here.”

At last, the sword-browed man could no longer hold back and spat out a mouthful of dark blood. Yet he immediately forced himself through the discomfort and rose to meet the attack once more.

Already at the peak of the Innate Realm, he could not help glancing toward another battlefield.

If the round-faced woman, likewise at the peak of the Innate Realm, could drive back the red-clad woman in time and come to help, then this battle could still be fought. He had to buy that much time.

As he thought, he poured every trace of true energy in his body into the long sword in his hand, dyeing it the color of burning clouds. In a single motion of his wrist, several crimson sword beams, like bands of fiery dusk, shot forth.

Facing such peril, this inner sect disciple immediately unleashed his most practiced technique: the fully mastered Crimson Cloud Cleave.

“Heh. What utter trash.”

The noble-looking man only laughed coldly at this.

Meeting the incoming crimson sword beams, which swerved unpredictably through the air, he raised his folding fan. True energy condensed upon it, and a pale yellow beam of astral force shot out in response.

With a sharp whistle, the pale yellow astral force proved far denser than the crimson sword light. It shattered the incoming beams one after another along its path, then continued unabated toward the sword-browed man.

Refusing to take it head-on, the sword-browed man chose to evade. His figure flashed aside in an instant, and the astral force swept past his right shoulder.

“Not good!”

Catching the deeper curl of mockery in the noble-looking man’s eyes, the sword-browed man seemed to realize something and thrust his body around to chase after the pale yellow beam.

But in the instant he had dodged, the beam had already flown several yards farther. By the time he turned back, his movement had come up empty.

He could only watch helplessly as the pale yellow astral force struck the tall disciple’s blood robe without pausing.

The blood robe collapsed at once, bursting into a cloud of scarlet mist, and the tall disciple himself was sent flying backward, crashing into the claw-wielding disciple behind him.

“Don’t rush. Here comes the next strike.”

The noble-looking man was clearly very pleased with the result. With another elegant flick of his fan, the same pale yellow astral force appeared once more.

Unable to dodge again, the sword-browed man drove the long sword in his hand straight into the pale yellow beam. Red and yellow gnawed at each other, hissing and sputtering.

After a long moment, the ceaseless surge of red true energy finally swallowed the pale yellow astral force on the blade, and the sword-browed man managed to withstand the blow.

Steadying himself, he looked up, still shaken, only to find the noble-looking man gone from the front.

Then, from behind him, came several agonized screams.

Hatred nearly split the sword-browed man’s eyes. He did not turn around. Instead, copying Cloud Heart, he swallowed the Phoenix Blood Stalactite Milk he had just taken out.

He knew full well that with only the cultivation of a peak Innate Realm expert, he could never properly refine such a treasure without the aid of a senior master.

But as a desperate measure in a fight to the death, it was more than enough.

At the last moment, he cast one swift glance toward the other battlefield, and within that fleeting look there remained a final trace of hope.

...

“Let go of me already. I can walk by myself!”

Chen Qi ran at full speed along the path they had come by, his face expressionless, when he suddenly felt a force of struggle coming from the object he was carrying.

Sensing that the struggle was growing stronger, Chen Qi finally said in irritation:

“Quit fussing. You’re too slow. We’ll be faster like this.”

With Chen Qi’s current physical condition, carrying a weight of under two hundred pounds only slowed him slightly. With the aid of the formation flags, however, he was still faster than his normal pace. That was the confidence behind his words.

At last, the one being carried, Sun Ruohai, accepted reality and stopped struggling. He let his body go limp, like a salted fish lying flat and giving up.

Bathed in dust and thick mist all the way, the two of them soon ran back to the edge of the poisonous marsh and stopped at the sight of the familiar toxic miasma.

The marsh remained quiet and tranquil, just as it had when they first saw it.

Sun Ruohai, still being carried, spoke again:

“Are we still running? The poisonous marsh is ahead. Without Senior Sister Cloud this time, it’s bound to be extremely dangerous.”

As if to emphasize his point, Sun Ruohai added:

“There isn’t even a shadow behind us, and with this fog, surely no one will be chasing us?”

After a moment of silence, Chen Qi shook his head and asked in return:

“But what about this marsh? Are we just supposed to stand here and wait for Senior Sister to come save us? What if they lose?”

As he spoke, Chen Qi’s tone grew firm and unquestionable.

“If one wishes to live, one must save oneself.”

With that, he started to drag Sun Ruohai onto the marsh.

Unable to outargue him, Sun Ruohai wore a bitter expression. Just before holding his breath, he managed one last protest:

“Then at least think about how we’re supposed to breathe once we get inside!”

After that, the two of them held their breath and pressed deeper into the poisonous marsh. The footprints left behind them slowly filled in again as the mud welled up, and the marsh returned to its placid stillness.

A few minutes later, a blue blur suddenly darted to the spot where Chen Qi and the others had stopped and began sniffing furiously.

It was the blue-furred dog, wagging its tail with obvious excitement. It stared into the poisonous marsh and barked incessantly, its voice standing out especially clearly in the silence by the marsh.

Soon, a thin young man appeared behind the dog.

His features were refined, and he wore plain, close-fitting clothes, yet the cuffs of his sleeves billowed without any wind, revealing that he too had already entered the Innate Realm.

He drew in a deep breath, and it seemed even the nearby mist thinned somewhat.

Then, without hesitation, the young man led the dog into the poisonous marsh. His steps were unhurried, yet they remained perfectly straight.

His gaze had already regained its calm. His expression was natural, and his breathing steady.

Only the mud flung up by the true energy around his feet betrayed the fact that his heart was far from as tranquil as his outward appearance suggested.