“Division Master Chu, what are you doing, gripping your sword so tightly? Don’t tell me that you want to dig out my liver and take the wood deity in there?” Gu Hai sneered.
“Humph!” Chu Chen snorted coldly as he suppressed the rage in his heart.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly. Seeing that Chu Chen could endure so much, he stopped agitating Chu Chen. Otherwise, he would end up achieving the opposite effect.
Chu Chen turned his head to look at the Metal Division disciples.
“What are you looking at? Stay farther away from my servants. Humph! It was the treants who treated the poison of the Thorny Ritual Array in you, yet you turned around and harmed them today. I will remember all of you,” Gu Hai said coldly.
The Metal Division disciples’ expressions changed, all of them now betraying anxiety as they looked at Chu Chen.
Right now, Chu Chen appeared uncertain. He tightly gripped his sword, wanting to stab Gu Hai. However, he endured.
Not far away, Venerable Liu Nian coughed. “Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Division Master Gu, don’t argue with him now lest you push him into a corner and he fight back. Currently, he would only be punished after he returns if he kills you. When you join the duke’s official residence, he will no longer have a chance.”
“That’s true.” Gu Hai’s face sank as he moved farther away from Chu Chen.
On the other hand, Chu Chen’s eyes lit up. That’s right. If I kill Gu Hai now, I will just be punished at most. However, if Gu Hai became the duke’s trusted aide, I will never have a moment of peace.
“Division Master!” the Metal Division disciples cried out anxiously.
Shing! Chu Chen suddenly swung his sword at Gu Hai.
Gu Hai took out a crimson saber with a flip of his hand and soared into the air. When he held the crimson saber, surging energy filled him, instantly boosting his strength severalfold.
Clang!
Crimson light filled the sky as a saber light and a sword light clashed.
Boom!
The attack knocked Gu Hai into the distance, the sword qi shredding most of his clothes to pieces as it brushed by him.
The attack also reduced the surroundings to rubble. In the end, Gu Hai was far from comparable to Chu Chen.
“Chu Chen, how dare you try to kill me?!” Gu Hai glared.
“That’s right. Venerable Liu Nian is right. If I kill you now, I will only be punished by the duke at most. However, if I don’t kill you, would you let me off?” Chu Chen said coldly.
“Everyone, listen up! Surround them! Kill them all! Don’t spare anyone!” Chu Chen shouted.
“Hah!” the Metal Division disciples shouted in acknowledgment while raising their swords.
“Withdraw!” Venerable Liu Nian shouted to Long Wanqing.
Buzz!
Long Wanqing collected all the treant corpses, including Granny Qing Hua’s, into her storage item with a flip of her hand. The surviving treants glared at the Metal Division disciples in the surroundings. The Wood Division disciples appeared anxious as they held up their swords.
“A crimson saber? It pushed your strength to the level of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator? You showed the strength of a peak Second Nascent Soul Stage earlier, right? It is only so-so!” Chu Chen sneered as he swung his sword again.
——
Creak!
Just at this moment, four hours had passed since the heaven-grade zithers entered the Sound Barrier Cage, so the door opened.
“You bastard! Get out here! Come out!” Army Breaker roared with all his might. He was the first to exit the Sound Barrier Cage.
At this moment, Army Breaker’s hair was in disarray. His face was swollen, and his eyes were bloodshot. The way he shouted inspired chills in the heart.
Ensnaring Performance also emerged from the Sound Barrier Cage.
Ensnaring Performance was in a similar state. Both of them had messy hair, swollen faces, and tattered clothes as if they had been in a brutal fight.
“Army Breaker? Who is the one that is afraid? We agreed that it would be a music Dao duel. I endured your music piece attacks. However, you broke the rules. When it was my turn, you did not let me sing. I sang only two lines, and you could no longer endure. Since you already lost, just admit it. Why lose your temper? Ptooey!” Ensnaring Performance yelled as he held his swollen face.
“We were competing with artistic conception. What nonsense were you singing? What nonsense was that? You were so ridiculously out of tune. Had I kept listening, I would have broken out of disgust!” Army Breaker roared.
The pieces that Army Breaker appreciated were all elegant art. Who could have expected Ensnaring Performance to sing like that? The moment Ensnaring Performance sang, Army Breaker could not endure it and wanted to stop Ensnaring Performance. However, Ensnaring Performance refused to stop, so Army Breaker attacked, driven beyond endurance. The two had spent their time inside brawling.
The moment the two exited the Sound Barrier Cage, they wanted to continue fighting. However, they suddenly heard Gu Hai shouting in the distance.
“Chu Chen, are you thinking of silencing everyone here? The duke will not let you off!” Gu Hai’s furious roar rang out in the distance.
Given Ensnaring Performance’s and Army Breaker’s excellent hearing, they heard it loud and clear.
“What? Chu Chen wants to kill my master?” Ensnaring Performance’s expression changed.
Another voice rang out in the distance.
“The one I want to kill is you. Humph! Since you already refined the wood deity, it is crippled. However, so be it. There will still be some effect, at least. If I don’t kill you today, you will keep targeting me when you join the duke’s residence!” Chu Chen’s roar rang out in the distance. “Metal Division disciples, kill them all! Spare no one!”
“Yes!” the Metal Division disciples shouted.
“You bastards!” Ensnaring Performance instantly shot into the distance.
“How bold of you! Chu Chen, what are you doing?!” Army Breaker also shouted in rage.
Whoosh!
Ensnaring Performance and Army Breaker both shot into the distance.
——
At the seaside:
“Go to the ritual array! Enter my ritual array!” Gu Hai shouted.
“Stop them. Kill them all! Spare no one!” Chu Chen shouted.
“Come if you dare!” Long Wanqing roared in rage.
Long Wanqing immediately drew her sword and led the Wood Division disciples in clashing against the Metal Division disciples.
There were too many Metal Division disciples. Although Long Wanqing was a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, blocking several hundred was already her limit. The Wood Division disciples struggled very hard.
This was a one-sided suppression; many Wood Division disciples immediately sustained injuries.
However, this place was just right by the ritual array that Gu Hai previously laid. Following Venerable Liu Nian’s instructions, the treants rushed into the ritual array.
Gu Hai held up the crimson saber at the other side, clashing with Chu Chen over and over again.
Boom!
Chu Chen thrust his sword, and a large manifested sword knocked Gu Hai back over thirty meters. The crimson saber managed to block the manifested sword. However, the sword qi continued to fly ferociously towards Gu Hai to pierce through him.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
When the sword qi flew over, bony protrusions appeared on Gu Hai’s skin, blocking the sword qi from penetrating his body.
“How could your body block my sword qi? Are those bones? That’s not right!” Chu Chen looked at Gu Hai in shock.
“Haha! The strongest expert of Elite Hall? You are only so-so!” Gu Hai sneered.
“Humph! Only so-so? Say it again when I chop you down. You may have something under your skin, but let’s see if you have them around your vulnerable spots. Let’s see if your eyes are protected!” Chu Chen swung his sword again.
“How bold of you, Chu Chen! How audacious!” Army Breaker’s shout suddenly came from the distance.
Buzz!
Suddenly, zither music rang out, and a vast rain of sabers instantly appeared out of nowhere and rushed at Chu Chen.
The music formed sabers that fell towards Chu Chen.
“Huh?” Chu Chen’s expression changed as he turned to defend. When he swung his sword, half the sword qi in the air surged over.
Boom! The saber rain and the sword qi clashed, negating each other.
“Army Breaker?” Chu Chen raised his eyebrows.
“Hahahahaha! Chu Chen, you can’t kill me, isn’t that right? Hahahaha!” Gu Hai guffawed as he retreated.
“Humph! Gu Hai, you have to die today!” Chu Chen glared as he charged over again.
“How audacious! Chu Chen, what are you doing? ‘Sabers Raining in the City’!” Army Breaker roared while glaring.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
When the zither music rang out, a saber rain immediately fell over Chu Chen.
“Let’s go!”
Gu Hai leaped in front of Long Wanqing. Then, he pushed the surrounding treants and injured Wood Division disciples into the ritual array.
“After them! Don’t let them run!” Chu Chen shouted to the Metal Division disciples as he blocked Army Breaker.
“Yes!”
The Metal Division disciples immediately jumped into Gu Hai’s ritual array.
“Argh!”
“Argh!”
“Argh!”
The Metal Division disciples’ miserable screams came from the ritual array. The expressions of the Metal Division disciples who had yet to enter stiffened immediately; they no longer dared to charge in.
Ensnaring Performance also approached. He looked at the ritual array and jumped in without hesitation.
Whoosh!
Now, Gu Hai’s entire group had entered the ritual array.
Army Breaker and Chu Chen stopped fighting.
“Chu Chen, what are you doing? Do you still want to silence everyone? Are you seeking death?” Army Breaker demanded coldly.
“Army Breaker, you have no idea what happened. Gu Hai, he—” Chu Chen said while glowering.
“That is someone that the duke wants. You dare to try and kill such a person? Humph! Let’s see how you are going to give an account to the duke when you return!” Army Breaker interrupted coldly.
Army Breaker turned his head and looked at the foggy ritual array.
“Mister Gu, please come out. With me here, Chu Chen will not dare to mess around,” Army Breaker called out.
Gu Hai’s voice came from the ritual array. “Mister Army Breaker, I don’t dare to join the duke’s official residence anymore. Before I even entered, I nearly died in Chu Chen’s hands. If I enter the duke’s official residence, who knows when I will be torn apart. Hence, sorry to trouble Mister Army Breaker, but please pass on a message to the duke. It is not that I, Gu Hai, do not want to join the duke’s official residence. It is because I do not dare to!”
Army Breaker’s expression turned stiff.
Just at this moment, Chu Chen calmed down as well. Then, he suddenly understood everything. “Gu Hai, you tricked me?”
“You are the one who wanted to kill me earlier, even spewing out such arrogant words. Now, you want to pretend to be the victim? Chu Chen, you truly are a scheming man. Aren’t you very capable? Come and catch me, then!” Gu Hai’s sneer came from the ritual array.
Army Breaker frowned slightly.
Chu Chen wanted to enter the ritual array, but he immediately stopped upon recalling that the dragons had died in this ritual array.
“Division Master, they cannot run!” a Metal Division disciple called out.
Boom!
Suddenly, something large charged out of the ritual array.
It was Long Wanqing’s White Cloud. The flying ship carried Gu Hai’s group as it soared into the sky.
“Mister Army Breaker, I’m really sorry about this!” A clear shout came from the flying ship.
“You bastard! Don’t run!” Chu Chen’s expression changed.
Whoosh!
Chu Chen also took out a flying ship with a flip of his hand, and all the Metal Division disciples jumped aboard at nearly the same time.
Chu Chen followed them onto the flying ship and set out in pursuit.
Army Breaker also took out a flying ship with a flip of his hand and also gave chase.
“Mister Gu! It’s all a misunderstanding!” Army Breaker cried out anxiously.
Chu Chen followed close behind the White Cloud flying ship. All the Metal Division disciples gazed at it coldly.
Gu Hai stood at the stern of the White Cloud flying ship, holding a head with snakes for hair. This was the snake-haired head that belonged to the Thousand Islands Sea’s Li Qinghe. The two flying ships were not too far from each other, able to see each other clearly.
“Huh?” This sight surprised the Metal Division disciples. A human head?
“Metal Division disciples, can you tell who this snake-haired head belongs to?” Gu Hai smiled.
Buzz!
Suddenly, the snake-haired head’s eyes shot a red light at the people on Chu Chen’s flying ship.
“Huh?” The Metal Division disciples did not understand.
“Oh no!” Chu Chen glared.
Buzz!
Everyone was caught in an instant; their bodies started to petrify.
As Chu Chen was strong, his body stiffened only slightly before his strong willpower countered the petrification curse.
Buzz!
Chu Chen’s flying ship slowed down and eventually came to a stop.
Chu Chen managed to struggle free of the curse only after a while.
“Hah!”
Chu Chen broke the curse as he let out a loud shout. Sweat now dotted his forehead. When he turned his head to look at Gu Hai’s flying ship, he saw that it had already flown far away.
Most of the Metal Division disciples had turned into stone statues. Only three people did not see the red light. Right now, they felt extremely shocked and horrified.
“Gu Hai, I won’t let you off!” Chu Chen shouted as he glared at the distant flying ship.
Army Breaker’s flying ship flew for a while but failed to catch up. Then, it also stopped. As he looked into the distance, his face betrayed uncertainty. Then, he turned his head and glared at Chu Chen ferociously.
