“How could this have happened….?” Xiao Yumei knelt and looked at the left side of Ye Zichen’s face. His wounds were so deep, she could see his bones.
His left eye was a bloody mess, to the point that she couldn’t determine its condition.
Even worse was his left arm; it had been removed just below the shoulder. Fortunately, the God of Wine immediately sealed off the surrounding blood vessels. Even so, fresh blood still gushed from the wound.
“How could this…” Xiao Yumei rushed over, her eyes overflowing with unrestrained tears. The God of War passed Ye Zichen into her care.
She gently cradled his head, and when she looked at his left eye and arm, she felt as if her heart were ripping in two.
He’d been just fine mere moments ago. How could this have happened?
Suddenly, Ye Zichen moved. He struggled to break free from Xiao Yumei’s embrace, and his right eye stared fixedly up at Bai Yulong.
Bai Yulong paled beneath his case, trembled, and looked at the man holding him aloft.
Ye-zi!”
Xiao Yumei, the Great Sage, and Yang Jian cried out practically in unison, only to see his wings beating gently and his right hand stretch to the side.
“Xuan-Yuan!”
The Xuan-Yuan Sword vibrated violently in the ground, the sound reaching all the way into the heavens as the blade pierced through all obstacles and entered Ye Zichen’s hand.
Sword newly in hand, Ye Zichen grinned, licked the blood from his lips, and glanced at his severed arm.
“Hah.” He smiled indifferently, then hardened his gaze. He was overflowing with murderous intent once more.
He stomped hard against the ground, creating cracks which spread for dozens of meters. At the same time, his wings beat furiously behind him, stirring up fierce winds.
“Die!”
As the cracks spread, forming deep abysses around him, Ye Zichen roared and sliced forth with the Xuan-Yuan Word.
“Out of the way! This has nothing to do with you!”
The Xuan-Sword Sword’s blade instantly lit up with intense golden light.
The Heaven Plundering Strike!
Boom!
Golden sword light cut through the heavens and aimed for the middle-aged man. Only then did the man’s emotions show the first signs of wavering.
He started chanting, and his long, thin sword lit up with azure light.
“Turn!”
When Ye Zichen’s Heaven Plundering Strike hit his blade, it bounced back like light reflecting off a mirror.
“A toast to the firmament!”
An enormous wine gourd appeared in the skies, then tilted forward. The liquor within transformed into an enormous waterfall, covering and obscuring Ye Zichen.
However, the God of Wine had underestimated the Heaven Plundering Strike. The waterfall merely slowed the sword slightly, and in the end, it shattered in the face of Ye Zichen’s attack.
When he saw that his reflected attack was about to hit him, Ye Zichen gnashed his teeth and roared, “Heaven Plundering Strike, Fourth Stance!” Another beam of golden sword light shot forth.
The two beams collided in the air, then exploded, forming a mushroom cloud visible even from a distance.
The resulting explosion stirred up waves of power so strong, the onlookers couldn’t even open their eyes. Even the yao servants and Bai clansmen fighting outside were swept into the air and sent thousands of meters back. Ye Zichen himself slammed into the ground, where he hacked up blood.
“Ye-zi!” Yang Jian watched helplessly as the shockwave slammed Ye Zichen into the earth. His eyes instantly went bloodshot. The Erlang Lance buzzed, and the air around the edges flowed in reverse, scattering the surrounding rubble and fallen leaves. Yang Jian licked his lips, stared wide-eyed at Bai Yulong, and nodded despite himself. “You bastard, I’ll see you dead!”
……
“Zichen!”
Xiao Yumei scrambled to his side. By now, Ye Zichen’s eyes were lifeless, and blood leaked from his mouth in a non-stop stream. The God of Wine and other Divine Generals rushed over. Pu Jingwan put her finger to his neck and pressed down gently.
“What are you just standing there for? Heart-protecting pills, Heart-nourishing pills! Give him medicine now!” roared the God of Wine.
As soon as the God of Wine reminded them, the other Divine Generals started searching their belongings. Before long, ‘Ol Five and Thirteen each produced a bottle of pills. The God of Wine hurriedly accepted them, crouched, and fed them to Ye Zichen.
…..
Whoosh!
Yang Jian instantly stepped into the sky, lance in hand, stirring up winds that sent the surrounding rubble whirling into the air. Before long, the winds faded, and he disappeared with them.
Still held aloft by the shoulders, Bai Yulong’s eyes darted back and forth. He surveyed his surroundings on high alert.
The man holding him, meanwhile, was cool as could be. The next moment, he held his sword to the left, attacking the precise spot Yang Jian reappeared.
“Die for me!” Yang Jian attacked with all his might, but the middle-aged man expressionlessly knocked the balde aside.
Just as he was about to take on Yang Jian, countless illusory staves filled the air and surged towards him.
He’d fought Yang Jian all these years. The two of them had long since learned to read each other’s every move.
When they worked together, there was no need for words. A mere glance or gesture, even a breath, and they knew what the other was about to do.
One of the Great Sage’s illusory staves found an absolute gap in the middle-aged man’s defenses… or at least, what should have been a gap. To his astonishment, the man twisted the arm holding his Bai Yulong, then held Bai Yulong behind himself as a shield.
Hack!
The illusory staff hit Bai Yulong, who coughed up blood, then seemed to wilt.
“Eesh.” The Divine Generals couldn’t help but gasp. Based on the man’s appearance, he was almost certainly Bai Yulong’s father. Even if they weren’t father and son, they were undoubtedly closely related.
Hadn’t he come here to save Bai Yulong? If so, why did he use Bai Yulong as a meat shield just now?
Could a father be that vicious?
After this simple exchange, Yang Jian and the Great Sage stopped their attacks. When experts fought, it didn’t take long for them to gauge each others’ strengths.
Furthermore, the way he’d used Bai Yulong to block the Great Sage’s attack had left them confused.
After taking the Great Sage’s attack, Bai Yulong was half dead, and blood was pouring from his mouth, but the man holding him looked as aloof as ever. He pulled a pill from his pocket and slipped it into Bai Yulong’s mouth, then pounded him on the back.
Afterward, he turned that aloof gaze on the Great Sage and Yang Jian.
…
“We can’t afford to wait here any longer,” said Pu Jingwan. She’d been monitoring Ye Zichen’s pulse ever since he took those pills. “His condition is even worse than I imagined. Medicine alone isn’t enough to save him. We need to rush him away for treatment as quickly as possible.”
“Okay!” The others nodded successively, and Pu Jingwan reached out with her divine sense to explain the situation to the Great Sage and Yang Jian.
They’d been discussing strategy, but when they heard what she had to say, they knit their brows. When they turned to Ye Zichen and saw his condition, their auras billowed outward. “You leave. We’ll hold up the rear!”
