Chapter 182 – Shen Ya
In truth, anyone would be shell-shocked if they knew about Zhong Yue’s second identity as Long Yue. No one would have imagined that the two identities of Zhong Yue would be able to garner such incredible fame and repute in the Great Wilderness and Eastern Barren respectively!
Not to mention that after this battle, his fame and reputation would increase even more by people if he managed to return to the Swords Gate safely!
And if his second identity as Long Yue was exposed, it would be even more terrifying and become a legend that become immortalized to live on for years to come!
For the next few days, they stayed in the Xiao Mang celestial temple. During their stay, Feng Shouzhu stalled the few priests of the Shan Shen Celestial Race by inviting them to banquets and visiting them for some conversations, prevaricating so that the few Shan Shen Celestial Race’s priests would return to their own territory. Feng Shouzhu literally set aside his face, pride and honor for the sake of securing the safety of the disciples of Swords Gate.
To Feng Shouzhu’s immediate relief, Elder Shui Zian finally arrived on the fourth day. The high priest and another few priests of the Shan Shen Celestial Race stood up and bade farewell to Feng Shouzhu as they said with a smile, “Brother Shouzhu, we could only help you out to this point. The path in front of you will solely depend on yourselves.
Feng Shouzhu’s face turned slightly red as he knew that the high priest and his companions were aware of his intention to stall so that the people of Xiao Mang Celestial Race would not attack them. The old man then bowed and said, “Thank you for your help, dear senior martial brothers. Shouzhu will always remember your kindness.”
The high priest and his companions laughed loudly and they slowly walked out of their vicinity.
After meeting with the high priest of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race, Shui Zian joined with the others and they immediately departed after notifying the high priest about their departure back to Swords Gate while Zhong Yue, Qiu Jin’er and Tian Yanzong let out a long breath of relief.
They were very insecure during their stay in the Xiao Mang celestial temple as it was exactly the same as living next to a hungry tiger’s den; it was only the matter of time until that person would end up in the stomach of the hungry tiger!
WIth Shui Zian’s arrival and the present Feng Shouzhu, they should be able to secure their exit out of the Western Barren!
In front of the airship, the high priest and the priests of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race sent them off as everyone boarded the airship and slowly left the celestial temple.
“It is the most dangerous after we left the territory of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race.”
On the airship, Feng Shouzhu said with a heavy tone, “Because it was not only the Xiao Mang Celestial Race that want to kill us now, so do the Gui Shen and Shan Shen Celestial Races as well. Initially, the Shen Ya Celestial Race had wanted to kill us as well but with the matter with Zuo Xiangsheng, they probably wouldn’t want to kill us anymore.”
Shui Zian had a scare and he said in disbelief, “How is that possible? How did this happen, Senior Martial Brother Feng?”
Feng Shouzhu sighed and he said as he glanced at Zhong Yue, “A rising star of another species will only be a target of everyone. This time, this member of the Zhong Shan Clan had displayed a potential far greater than most geniuses. He has become a problem waiting to happen in the eyes of the many celestial races out there. If he is not dealt with promptly, their hearts would be uneasy.”
Shui Zian quickly tried to understand what happened and he inhaled a long breath in shock as he measured and praised Zhong Yue, “Another bright star for the Swords Gate. Only the first headmaster of we Swords Gate managed to reverse open the five great Yuan Shen secret realms, which explains why the celestial races want you dead!”
It was Zhong Yue’s capability to reverse open the five great Yuan Shen secret realms that caused such a palpable killing intent to rise among the celestial races. Successfully opening those five realms was the hallmark of a talent that would only be seen once in a thousand years!
“Now the situation has gotten slightly out of hand….”
Shui Zian said, “If this hadn’t happened, I could still use my fame and my position to bring all of you into the territory of the other celestial races in exchange for some protection and ensure that all of us could return to Swords Gate safely. But now, I don’t even dare to enter their territories anymore.”
The matter regarding to Zhong Yue reverse opening of the five great Yuan Shen secret realms had touched the nerves of many people and if he was not dealt with, he would definitely become another god for the humans – something that would significant bolster the holistic strength of humanity as a species! All of these were unacceptable for the many celestial races in the West Barren, thus, causing them to go all out to kill him before Zhong Yue managed to grow!
Although Shui Zian was smooth and slick in establishing social relations even with the different strong and powerful celestial races, but all of these relations were nothing in face of this matter!
“Judging by the current situation, all we could do is split into three groups with Zuo Xiangsheng and the others being the first group. They would definitely be able to return to the Swords Gate safely. The second group consisting of Senior Martial Brother Feng with Qiu Jin’er and Tian Yanzong. The last group would comprise of Zhong Yue and me!”
Shui Zian continued saying, “It might still be dangerous if Senior Martial Brother Feng took Qiu Qin’er and Tian Yanzong with you, but there are still some chances of returning to Swords Gate safely if you rushed back to the Great Wilderness with great haste. Unlike Senior Feng, the path Zhong Yue and I will walk will be the most dangerous one as we will attract most of the dangers towards us.”
Zhong Yue’s heart squeezed as he thought, Me? Following Shui Zian alone?
He was worried about it as he suspected Shui Zian as complicit in the conspiracy involving Tian Myriad Mother, meaning that he was a traitor of humanity.
Besides, Zhong Yue felt incredibly bad as Shui Zian suggested that they split up with Zhong Yue following him alone.
Feng Shouzhu frowned as he considered Shui Zian’s suggestion and he sighed before he said, “Seems like that’s the only way. Zhong Yue, Elder Shui is very familiar with the West Barren and he has many friends all over this place. If you followed me, you will die for sure and you might live if you followed him! We will split up now and you will follow Elder Shui!”
Zhong Yue opened up his mouth but he did not say anything.
Shui Zian then said, “The time is against us, we must act now! Zhong Shan Clan’s member, follow me!”
He then walked out of the airship and said, “We will travel by foot!”
Without no choices left, Zhong Yue forced himself to follow Shui Zian out of the airship while Feng Shouzhu said, “Take care!” while Qiu Jin’er waved goodbye and said, “Senior martial brother, I’ll wait for you back at Swords Gate!”
Zhong Yue and Shui Zian waved back at them before they walked away
“The humans split up?”
In the Xiao Mang celestial temple, the high priests stood in front of a mirror, beside which was a tower. On the tower, there was a person who slowly moved a huge mirror that emitted lights that shot towards the direction of the airship, following the airship wherever it went.
As the light shined on the airship, the Ming mirror would show real-time footage of the airship.
A white robed priest then shouted, “One spiritual mirror is not enough! Initiate the second and third spiritual mirror and observe Shui Zian and Zuo Xiangsheng carefully.”
On the other towers, the people of the Xiao Mang Celestial race answered and they initiated the mirrors on the tower, which then shone their light onto Shui Zian and Zhong Yue while another light then shot far away for a few million miles away towards the Shen Ya celestial temple.
Then, another few more Qi Practitioners brought in two huge spiritual mirror and placed them in front of the priests. Then, the mirrors flickered through different scenes rapidly as they searched for the location of Shui Zian, Zhong Yue, Zuo Xiangsheng and the others.
Not long later, they successfully located Shui Zian and Zuo Xiangsheng but another spiritual mirror was still searching for Zuo Xiangsheng and the others all over the vast area occupied by the Shen Ya celestial temple
Suddenly, when the third mirror on the tower shined lights on the Shen Ya celestial temple, it locked onto a person with a bird’s head and human’s body that emitted a majestic aura, like a conqueror that looked at his kingdom on his throne. Upon seeing this, the hearts of the priests of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race squeezed tightly and they shouted, “Quick! Move the mirror away from that person! Move it to another direction and don’t shine it at him!”
The Qi Practitioners on the tower then tried to push to mirror away from that direction, but they found that they could not push it at all as the mirror seemed locked onto that person by some inexplicable force that seemed to fixate the mirror to shine on the same position.
The person showed in the mirror was the high priest of the Shen Ya Celestial Race! He felt something and he looked towards the light emitted by the mirror and then he walked towards it. Although they were a few million miles apart, they felt like the high priest of Shen Ya Celestial Race was going to walk out of the mirror with each step he advanced.
“Damn, he discovered it!”
The body of the high priest of Shen Ya Celestial Race became bigger and bigger as it filled up the entire mirror. Suddenly, the spiritual mirror burst into flame and burned the Qi Practitioner operating the mirror on the tower into ashes!
The fire did not stop there as it suddenly shook, turning into a fiery crow, flapping its wings as it charged towards the priests!
“Senior martial brother, why the anger? They were just making a little joke with you.” A huge hand flew out from the Xiao Mang celestial temple and grabbed onto the neck of the fiery crow, destroying it with little effort as the voice of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race’s high priest could be heard.
“Hmmph!”
The shattered fiery crow then turned into countless tiny fiery crows that danced around before merging into a huge crow head shrouded in blazing fire. It stared at the priests of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race as it said with a sharp voice, “Don’t even think of messing with my son-in-law! You could do what you want with the others from the Swords Gate but don’t you dare touch my son-in-law or I will fight to the end with you!”
Huuu——-
The crow head disappeared along with the fire.
The high priest of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race humphed and suddenly, the Qi Practitioner on the second tower shouted happily, “I have found Shui Zian and Zhong Yue!”
“Good! Time to send them to hell! Warriors of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race, assemble and attack!”
“Go! Rip them into pieces and let the imbecilic humans understand their place!”
….
Then, after numerous rounds of howling, Qi Practitioners of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race charged out from the celestial temples before some of them turned into three-headed coiling Aos. They flew into the air while riding on the cloud and various other means, charging towards their targets!
“Shui Zian and Feng Shouzhu are both difficult to be dealt with. Feng Shouzhu managed to roam around the world for one to two hundred years without dying and Shui Zian is a strong Qi Practitioner and the progenitor of the【Sixty Four Sword Styles】. This time, Xiao Que and Xiao Moshen, the two of you will have to stall Shui Zian and Feng Shouzhu respectively while you leave the others to the boys and the other celestial races!”
In the celestial temple, the two strong Qi Practitioners received their orders with alacrity and they left to pursue their targets quickly.
At the same time, elites from the Shan Shen and Gui Shen Celestial Races started charging out of their territories as well. However, unlike the Xiao Mang Celestial Race, the majority of these elites charged towards Shui Zian and Zhong Yue!
Zhong Yue’s capability to reverse open the five great Yuan Shen secret realms reminded them of the human hero that led those slaves out of the West Barren to create the Great Wilderness millions of years ago. Hence, how could the celestial races in the West Barren allow someone like Zhong Yue to grow into his full potential?
