Li Xiuniang touched her neck while her heart pounded in fright, the Li Shan Clan disciples quickly surrounded her in the middle guarding her safety, they gazed at Zhong Yue with their eyes brimming with killing intent, waiting for the command to slaughter him!
Yu Feiyan, Ting Lanyue and the others were all dumbfounded by the battle results, they quickly protected Zhong Yue behind them when they saw the Li Shan Clan disciples move.
Both parties were standing on guard, a war was seemingly about to break out.
Suddenly, Zhong Yue gently whispered, "Senior Martial Sister Li?"
Li Xiuniang then recollected back her thoughts, she looked around and then gazed at Zhong Yue, she sneered coldly and asked, "What are you all doing? Is this a riot? All of you, stand down! If we can't even accept a single failure then how are we considered as one of the Li Shan Clan disciples?"
Li Shan Clan disciples were all ashamed and they stood behind her, the monster god behind her slowly reformed back, the young maiden once again regained her composure, she stepped forward and returned the formality, "I am thankful that junior martial brother had mercy on me, I will always remember this duel. But today we didn't use any soul weapons and I'm unclear of your strength, you caught me by surprise, the next time when we meet in the Lawless Battle, we will fight again and decide the true winner!"
Zhong Yue smiled and acceded, "Alright, it is true that senior martial sister didn't have the time to unleash your full power. Furthermore, I still have a lot to learn in the ways of cultivation, I wish to learn a thing or two from senior martial sister."
He was not being humble, rather, he was just speaking the truth. From the day he started cultivating, he had only acquired one combat skill, which was the [Spring Thunder Swords Skill]. The [Jiao Dragon Winding Body Totem Art] was only a physique-refining art, although it was fused with the [Spring Thunder Swords Skill] into a new combat skill, he was not imparted with the true quintessence of the Jiao Dragon.
Without the true quintessence, one could not unleash the true power of the technique.
For example, two cultivators of the same level visualize the same Jiao Dragons, one could only visualize the skin of the Jiao Dragon, while the other was able to visualize the blood, fleshes and bones of the Jiao Dragon – the power they could both unleash would naturally be vastly disparate.
While Xin Huo only passed onto him a cultivation art, the [Sui Sovereign Flame Order Palace Visualization Art], other than that, he had nothing else.
He did not have any useful arts that could visualize the water, fire, wind or clouds, no flying skills nor any supportive skills at all. In comparison to the other disciples whose arsenal comprised of various kinds of arts and skills, his cultivation was not systematic – albeit rapid, its haphazardness would pose a considerable flaw moving forward.
Li Xiuniang gazed deeply at him, she found out that the boy was kind-hearted and cheerful, he had his own pride but was not arrogant, she couldn't help but have a favorable impression on him, she smiled, "Junior Martial Brother Zhong, have you acquired the secret technique of lightning soul-refinement of the Lei Hu Clan? I can see that there is lightning lurking in your psyche, this is quite similar with the lightning soul-refining art of the Lei Hu Clan."
"Lei Hu Clan?"
Zhong Yue shook his head and said, "I have my own ways, but not of Lei Hu Clan's"
Li Xiuniang nodded in understanding, she said, "The lightning refining soul technique of the Lei Hu Clan can be said as one of the premier secret techniques in the Swords Gate. It is not a surprise that your speed and explosive strength are so incredible if you are also refining your soul with lightning, catching me by surprise. Junior Martial Brother Zhong, Lei Gun of Lei Hu Clan is also here, his techniques are quite similar to yours, if I knew that you are this strong, I would have taken him as a practice whetstone first."
She sighed and expressed her regrets for failing to build up the invincible aura she needed for the Lawless Battle, she proposed, "If Junior Martial Bother Zhong doesn't mind, why don't you and I join forces together and explore the Beast God Ridge together, let us find out what is going on here."
Zhong Yue smiled, "The more people, the more power, with senior martial sister and the others, the pressure on our shoulders would undoubtedly be alleviated."
The duo walked side by side, every step she took would be accompanied by the bloom of a lotus flower beneath her feet while Zhong Yue strode forward like a tiger and a dragon. Li Xiuniang turned her head and looked at the young ladies behind them, she smiled, "Although Junior Martial Brother Zhong is still young, you have a lot of little lovers. Well it's not a surprise, you are the strongest of the male house, even I was defeated in your hands, how could you have no followers? Only that all your followers are girls, one can tell what a womanizer you are."
Zhong Yue's face blushed, just when he was about to explain, the young ladies shouted out, "Who is attracted to him?"
"How is the evil demon of the Zhong Shan Clan comparable to the handsome and brilliant Senior Martial Sister Han Qingmo?"
"Senior Martial Brother Han will always be the strongest male disciple in the upper house as long as this little evil demon doesn't defeat him!"
Li Xiuniang turned back, she sneered at them and said, "A bunch of little girls that knows nothing, I've seen Han Qingmo before, he is merely mediocre, only as strong as Junior Martial Sister Yu, how could he be of Junior Martial Brother Zhong's match?"
Yu Feiyan was enraged, her soul weapon jolted behind her, she challenged coldly, "Junior Martial Sister Li, are you saying that I am only mediocre?"
Li Xiuniang looked at her with a bright smile, "Your senior martial sister didn't mean it like that, but if you want to put it that way, that's fine with me. Junior Martial Sister Yu, you are still not strong enough, challenge me? Maybe your clan's Yu Zhenglong can but not you."
"I would very much like to try!"
The two young lady glared at each other as if they were enemies, the static friction between the two was almost palpable. Zhong Yue's heart pounded in fear and consternation and he quickly ask Xin Huo in his psyche ocean on solutions to resolve the tense atmosphere.
Xin Huo was excited, he said, "It'd be a weird thing if a woman can stay quiet for long, it's only strange if they don't fight each other. All the Xin Huo inheritors I've taught in the past always had their girls fighting over each other…."
Xin Huo this little flame is a brat that craves nothing but to see the world plunged into chaos, it'd be a waste of time to ask for his help. En, the smell of blood in the air….
All of a sudden, Zhong Shuo smelt blood in the air, he focused his senses and could then hear shouting and fighting sounds coming from afar, but the two ladies were still squabbling over each other, he quickly shouted, "The two of you, Shut Up!"
Li Xiuniang and Yu Feiyan were shocked, they immediately stopped their squabbling, Li Xiuniang stood aside and whimpered, "Why are you shouting at me, you shocked me…."
"Keep quiet, there are sounds of combat."
Zhong Yue listened carefully, while the young ladies followed him in focusing their senses, Ting Lanyue closed her eyes and visualized, there was psyche flowing out and that coalesced into four to five feet large beast ears around her ears.
Through the big beast ears she conscientiously listened to the surroundings, moments later she said, "The fighting sounds come from there, there is someone fighting and running at the same time!"
"Senior Martial Sister Ting really knows a lot of stuff." Zhong Yue praised her.
The disciples rushed out a few miles towards the source of the fighting sounds, the blood smell was getting heavier and the fighting sounds increased in volume as they came closer.
"Someone is fighting right over there, he is strong!"
Li Xiuniang focused her senses, her face shifted and said, "Could it be Lei Gun that brat? No, not right, Lei Hu Clan's techniques rumble like thunder and strikes like lightning, it would not sound like this. This is combat sound is more vague and faint … En, his opponents are two gigantic beasts and the beasts are strong, no weaker than you and I!"
Zhong Yue could also sense two different kinds of monstrous auras; furthermore, with the intensity that the earth was trembling , the sizes of the two monster beasts would not be small!
Not long later, they could see huge footprints of beasts filling the whole canyon. Tao Daier stood in the middle of a footprint, she measured the size and said in a wobbly voice, "This is much larger than the monster beasts we have met, way larger … how could Beast God Ridge cradle up such gigantic beasts?"
Yu Feiyan then spotted something, she said, "There are traces of lightning strikes around here! It must be left behind by the disciples of Lei Hu Clan and Lei Gun! They were ambushed right here … there is a corpse there!"
The corpse belonged to a Lei Hu Clan disciple, all of his bones were crushed into pieces!
They rushed into the canyon, the path they traveled was littered with the corpses of the Lei Hu Clan disciples. Blood, claw marks and traces of combat left indelible marks across the canyon, broken soul weapons and trampled totem pillars were strewn across the ground.
"Lei Gun is not weaker than I am, he is the core disciple of the Lei Hu Clan, a formidable opponent with aspirations to be the champion of the Lawless Battle, is there any monster beasts in Beast God Ridge that can kill him?"
Li Xiuniang's face changed drastically, "If the one fighting with the two beasts is not him, then who will it be?"
"We are getting really close!" Ting Lanyue shouted.
"There are more bodies!"
In the canyon, more corpses laid on the ground, but they were not disciples of the Lei Hu Clan, Rou'er took a closer look, she shouted out in shock, "I recognize them, he is of the male house, a follower of Senior Martial Brother Han."
Tao Daier continued on, "Senior Martial Brother Han arrived here earlier than us, that said, Senior Martial Brother Han found out that Senior Martial Brother Lei Gun was ambushed and he came to the rescue? But why has so many people died? Could the two beasts be Qi Practitioners of the monster race?"
In the canyon, corpses of Swords Gate upper house disciples laid all over the ground, their bones were crushed, it was evident they died in horrible ways.
Zhong Yue's heart skipped a beat; suddenly, he saw a pool of blood in front of them, the blood even formed small rivulets of blood that trickled away from the pool like a macabre network of death. The air around was filled with the smell of mutton, which denoted that the blood belonged to the beasts rather than the humans.
"The two beasts are also wounded, they are not too powerful — just great in size and strong in physical strength!"
The young ladies heaved a breath of relief, Yu Feiyan quickly said, "Tao-tao, bring the other martial siblings into the air and closely watch the surroundings. Junior Martial Brother Zhong, Junior Martial Sister Li and I will go closer. The beasts are too strong, all of you will be powerless against them!"
Tao Daier, upon hearing her words, took out the small pouch and released the rainbow clouds, bringing the young ladies up into the air.
Li Xiuniang praised Yu Feiyan's careful thoughts in her heart, she took out the monster lotus leaf and also sent the Li Shan Clan disciples into mid-air, she then said, "Junior Martial Brother Zhong, let's go!"
Zhong Yue nodded, he lifted his finger, the Dragon Scale Sword unsheathed itself from the sword scabbard and flew into the air hiding itself within the rainbow clouds, he answered, "Let's go!"
Li Xiuniang and Yu Feiyan watched as he hid the sword in the clouds, they were puzzled and could not understand what was he trying to do.
The trio strode forward, not long after, the canyon widened and they have entered a valley, the woods nearby were crushed into pieces, this appeared to be the stage of an intense battle not too long ago!
In the valley, a 140-150 feet tall black bear stood up like a human, it's body was littered with scars and wounds, blood continuously gushed out from the injuries. On the other side was the second monster beast, it was a male goat with a humongous body, but it was severely injured and laid helplessly on the ground.
Meanwhile, a man was trying his utmost to evade the attacks of the black bear while his body was powerlessly wobbling around as if he was on the precipice of death under the paws of the black bear anytime.
"It's Senior Martial Bother Han!" Yu Feiyan saw the man's face and she shouted out involuntarily.
Li Xiuniang noticed another corpse beside the battlefield, her face instantly changed and she also shouted out involuntarily, "Lei Gun is dead?"
Zhong Yue furrowed his brows, he closely observed Lei Gun's corpse then he fixated his sights onto Han Qingmo, he mumbled, "Weird, why didn't I see any traces of attacks along the way left behind by Senior Martial Brother Han? Something odd is going on here…."
Xin Huo smirked and mockingly said, "Three monster beasts playing house, interesting…."
"Three?"
Zhong Yue narrow his eyelids, he gazed at Han Qingmo and asked, "Xin Huo, do you mean?"
"Another monster beast peeled the human's skin and occupied it."
Xin Huo laughed and continued, "It is also faking a fight with the black bear, the buck is also faking its death, although, the brat Lei Gun is really dead.".