Chapter 462 - 458: Force Kill
"Who’s there?" Lou Chengfang exclaimed, lunging forward to dodge the murderous aura that had enveloped him from behind.
But as if his opponent had anticipated this very reaction, two more extremely vicious streams of Sword Qi shot toward him from the front!
Lou Chengfang’s face fell. With his level of strength, it had been countless years since he had faced such a perilous situation. The Purple Eyes bloodline deep within him awakened in an instant, and his pupils turned violet. An extremely powerful Protective Gang Qi erupted from his body. With a wave of his hands, he sent a surging force blasting toward the two streams of Sword Qi.
Lou Chengfang blasted the two vicious streams of Sword Qi apart, but he knew his opponent was an extremely powerful individual who surely had another move prepared. His body suddenly dropped to the ground and shot away like an arrow.
Lou Chengfang’s reaction was undeniably fast, and his strength was by no means weak. Unfortunately for him, the one he had encountered was Qin Li!
An unbearable, piercing pain suddenly erupted in Lou Chengfang’s Sea of Consciousness. He couldn’t help but let out a blood-curdling scream as his body fell to the ground. He forced himself to roll into the nearby woods.
The consequences of having one’s Sea of Consciousness damaged were far more severe than any physical injury. In that instant, Lou Chengfang almost completely lost his ability to fight back.
Moreover, he was completely stunned by the sudden attack. ’Who is this person? How did they get onto this mountain? What grudge do they have against me?’ He no longer had the mental energy to ponder such questions.
The only thing he could think of was... escape!
The human instinct for survival was on full display. Although he could escape using his Nascent Soul Transformation Pill Core, who would resort to such a method unless it was a matter of life and death?
After all, even if a Nascent Soul Transformation Pill Core escaped, it would take several hundred years for it to recover fully.
And that was only if a suitable body could be found!
Otherwise, it could only hide, eventually ending up either in the belly of a powerful Spirit Beast or simply waiting to wither away and die!
Because without a suitable body, a Nascent Soul Transformation Pill Core would gradually wither and die within a few years!
Lou Chengfang let out a great roar like a clap of muffled thunder, shaking the surrounding forest. He then plunged violently into the earth!
He was actually trying to use the Power of the Five Elements to escape!
Qin Li sneered. The Blood-Drinking Sword appeared in his hand, and a brilliant, fiery-red light brutally cleaved the ground where Lou Chengfang had burrowed. The forest... instantly burst into flames!
The fire spread quickly. The Fire Attribute element contained within the Sword Qi from Qin Li’s strike was extremely pure, so even the soil and rocks began to burn!
As for the grass and trees, they were already burning fiercely!
The ground was instantly scorched red by the astonishing heat. Lou Chengfang’s body suddenly shot out from the earth, his eyes flashing with a crazed purple light as a powerful aura erupted from him.
He roared again and unleashed a ferocious strike toward Qin Li. This attack contained the full power of a Pill Nascent Soul Transformation Martial Artist!
Even Qin Li didn’t want to take that blow head-on. His figure flashed, avoiding Lou Chengfang’s desperate attack, and he retaliated with another fiery-red stream of Sword Qi toward him.
BANG!
A tremendous explosion echoed across the mountain peak. The immense force blasted an area of over a hundred meters, sending earth and stone flying. The scene was truly terrifying!
Dozens of figures shot like lightning from all over the mountain peak toward the commotion!
Clearly, every Martial Artist on the mountain had been alerted in that instant!
Qin Li looked at Lou Chengfang with a sneer playing on his lips. Lou Chengfang instinctively sensed an astonishing danger. Before he could make a move, he saw a stream of purple Sword Qi—the same color as his own eyes—shoot from his opponent’s sword!
He felt as if he’d seen that brilliant, dazzling shade of purple somewhere before, but he couldn’t immediately recall where. When he tried to react, it was already too late.
The Sword Qi pierced straight through Lou Chengfang’s Dantian, shattering his Nascent Soul Transformation Pill Core!
Lou Chengfang immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with absolute horror as he stared at the young man who had just revealed himself in the sky. He couldn’t fathom, even in death, why this young man was so powerful. ’Could he be some great figure who has passed a Thunder Tribulation? But from what I recall, there are no seniors in the entire Land of the Far West who have passed a Thunder Tribulation at such a young age!’
With his Nascent Soul Transformation Pill Core destroyed, Lou Chengfang’s body fell to the ground, where it was engulfed by flames. Just then, a figure suddenly scooped him up and shot away like a bolt of lightning.
Lou Chengfang felt a wave of relief. ’At least I won’t be burned to death!’ he thought.
’Even if I have to die, it should at least be a comfortable and dignified death, right?’
At that moment, the other Martial Artists on the mountain peak had their attention fully fixed on Qin Li. They didn’t get a good look at the person who had rescued Lou Chengfang.
After all, if it were an enemy, why not just kill Lou Chengfang on the spot? Why go to the trouble of saving him? Therefore, dozens of Shattering Void Realm experts all closed in on Qin Li.
Uncontainable rage was written on every one of their faces. Without a single person asking a question, countless fierce and powerful attacks blasted toward Qin Li!
RUMBLE!
A deafening explosion erupted.
An intensely blinding light burst forth where Qin Li had been standing. The surging, cataclysmic power instantly annihilated everything within a radius of several hundred meters!
The people on the mountaintop who couldn’t get away in time, as well as the grand, ancient buildings, were all utterly destroyed in this single attack!
A crater dozens of meters deep was left in the ground. The force of the attack had nearly leveled the entire mountain peak!
After unleashing their attack, they all stopped, staring blankly at the deep crater below. That strike had been purely instinctual, driven by their rage and terror.
They were confident that no one could have survived such an assault!
But the destruction they had caused was immense. Even if Lou Chengfang didn’t hold them accountable, the Palace Master would surely demand a clear explanation.
But the man had been blasted to smithereens. How could they possibly explain?
The men looked at each other, completely at a loss. Just then, someone suddenly said, "Quick, find Steward Lou!"
That snapped them out of it, and they all headed in the direction where Lou Chengfang had disappeared.
Just then, disaster struck again!
A brilliant, dazzling purple light appeared out of nowhere in the sky, slashing horizontally toward the Lengqiu Palace disciples!
A cry of alarm rose from the crowd. More than half of them managed to dodge in time, but a dozen or so were still sliced in half at the waist by the sword strike!
"He’s not dead!" someone roared in grief and fury.
In a panic, everyone unleashed a chaotic barrage of attacks at the sky, but they hit nothing. No one else appeared.
Now they were truly terrified. Their opponent’s strength was clearly far beyond their own. He was elusive, and from the looks of it, he was determined to slaughter them all.
It was absolutely impossible not to be afraid. So what if they had the Purple Eyes bloodline? When faced with death, they felt fear just like anyone else!
One of the Purple Eyes Shattering Void Martial Artists roared furiously, swinging his sword wildly as he scanned the area with his Spiritual Power, searching for any trace of the enemy.
BANG!
The body of that Purple Eyes Shattering Void Martial Artist was suddenly blasted to smithereens!
He didn’t even have a chance to react!
The others only saw a flash of purple light. They couldn’t see where the person was at all, and their Divine Sense couldn’t even perceive his presence!
"Quick... quick, call for help! We’re under attack by a powerful enemy!" someone shrieked, roaring like a madman.
Seeing countless figures shooting toward them from all directions, a cold smile touched Qin Li’s lips. ’Cao Hong,’ he thought, ’it’s all up to you now! I hope you can hold on!’
With that thought, he killed another Shattering Void Realm Martial Artist, then hugged the ground and slipped away unnoticed toward Lengqiu Palace’s main peak.
...
Lou Chengfang was groggy. He sensed they had entered a cave. He had a gut feeling that the person who saved him was very familiar with this place, yet he didn’t seem like a disciple of Lengqiu Palace. A Lengqiu Palace disciple would have taken him to the main peak for treatment immediately.
And this path didn’t lead to the main peak!
In his daze, Lou Chengfang forced his eyes open, only to see a very unfamiliar face.
Yes, the face was a complete stranger to him. But on second thought, it seemed a little familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. Unfortunately, his Sea of Consciousness had just been severely damaged by Qin Li. Whenever he tried to think hard about something, his head felt like it was about to split open.
Finally, the person tossed him onto the hard ground of the cave. A sharp rock dug into his back, and the searing pain nearly made him pass out. At that moment, Lou Chengfang suddenly understood. This person... was definitely not a disciple of Lengqiu Palace!
’It must be an enemy!’
"Ah, you... you... it’s you!" A memory flashed through Lou Chengfang’s mind like lightning. He finally recognized the person before him, and his heart sank to the abyss.
"Hehe, it’s me. What do you think? Didn’t expect to see me appear before you, did you?" Cao Hong gave a wretched laugh, his eyes, filled with pain and fury, fixed coldly on Lou Chengfang.
"Hahahaha! So it was you, you piece of trash! How many times did you try and fail to even reach my mountain peak? If it weren’t for your powerful helper today, what do you think a good-for-nothing like you could have possibly done to me?" A look of utter disdain crossed Lou Chengfang’s face.
"You don’t need to provoke me. I’m not going to let you die that easily." Cao Hong’s expression calmed in an instant. He spoke lightly, "You’re right. Without my master’s help, I could never have done anything to you! But now... Lou, I am the butcher, and you are the meat on the block! I have... oh, about a hundred different methods of torture. I’m going to try every single one on you. Before that happens, you need to hang in there. Whatever you do, don’t die on me, okay?"