Chapter 144: Sent by the Jin Family Again
Someone falling ill—such a common excuse was not entirely unusable!
However, upon closer thought, Su Yizhao realized he had no one suitable to invoke!
Everyone here was a cultivator; illness simply would not work as an excuse!
Qin Hongyi also knew it was unfeasible and suggested, "Perhaps we could claim that Gou Haitian was beaten up by someone?"
Su Yizhao smiled!
That kid was extremely arrogant; it was entirely normal for him to get beaten up!
Su Yizhao said, "That's it! He got beaten up, and I am going to check on him. That's only human nature, right?"
With that, the two stood up.
Suddenly!
A beam of bright light shot toward them!
Su Yizhao caught it with his right hand!
A transmission talisman?
Rarely did anyone use a transmission talisman to contact him.
His divine sense swept across it, and he froze in astonishment!
Seeing his expression, Qin Hongyi asked anxiously, "Did something major happen?"
Su Yizhao squeezed his right hand, and the transmission talisman turned to ashes!
He softly said, "This time, we don't need to make up any excuses!"
"Why?"
"Because Gou Haitian really was beaten up by someone!"
Qin Hongyi was dumbfounded!
What a coincidence?
Without hesitation, Su Yizhao flew toward the main gate!
The inner sect of the Profound Heaven Sect actually had no physical gate; the gate was merely symbolic, and leading to the outside world required tearing through the void.
He and Qin Hongyi sped all the way.
In his mind, he had already rehearsed the excuse for going out four or five times, perfecting it completely!
He planned to blurt it out the moment he saw Xuan Wuji, leaving him no time to ask further questions!
Flying past countless peaks, the Profound Heaven Hall came into view.
However!
Damn it! No one was there?
Spreading his divine sense across a hundred-mile radius, Xuan Wuji was nowhere to be seen!
Was last time just a fluke?
Qin Hongyi noticed it too and muttered, "How can this be? We worried for nothing!"
Su Yizhao pulled her along, plunging directly into the void!
When the two stepped out of the void, they found themselves right above the outer sect.
The bustling noise below instantly drew their attention!
Extending his divine sense downward, he saw countless cultivators surrounding an arena a hundred feet below, clamoring noisily!
On the arena, a male and a female cultivator were confronting each other!
Su Yizhao looked closely and was surprised to find he recognized them!
The female was Feng Manying, the one associated with the violent wind!
And the male was none other than Huang Qizheng!
Huang Qizheng?
Su Yizhao was deeply puzzled!
Last time, the two of them had joined forces to slay the giant octopus, relying heavily on Huang Qizheng's divine ability!
Why were they fighting now?
Beneath the arena, Chi Xiangdong was supporting a battered and bruised Gou Haitian.
"Feng Manying, I advise you not to stick your neck out!" On the arena, Huang Qizheng's voice was very calm.
Feng Manying shook her head, "I'm just curious, what grievances do you have with them?"
Huang Qizheng smiled, "Curiosity killed the cat. Some people are simply out of your league!"
Feng Manying retorted, "You certainly aren't one of them!"
"Audacious! Summon!"
Huang Qizheng rapidly formed hand seals, and a sword beam shot forth!
Feng Manying let out a sharp cry and summoned her own flying sword as well.
"Clang!"
A crisp sound echoed!
Sparks flew across the arena!
After testing each other with a single move, the two no longer held back, driving their flying swords with full force.
In an instant, the entire arena was filled with a dense rain of swords.
"Clang, clang...!"
Powerful sword qi scattered in all directions, causing the surrounding spectators to hurriedly step back.
On the arena, the figures of the two shifted rapidly, weaving and dancing amidst the blinding sword light!
"Splendid!" Su Yizhao exclaimed in appreciation.
A match between evenly matched opponents was truly wonderful to watch!
However, he didn't care for it much!
The Enforcement Hall taught the art of killing! It emphasized a single strike to end life!
Still, these two had improved their cultivation quite rapidly!
He had met Feng Manying in reliance city when they went together to purge the Tang family.
Back then, her cultivation was at most at the Six-Divine Realm!
Of course, at that time, his own cultivation was even lower!
Since she belonged to the Gou family's auction house in Reliance City, it was only natural for her to stand up for Gou Haitian!
As for Huang Qizheng, they had met during the commandery competition.
He and Huang Qizheng had even teamed up to slay a powerful demonic cultivator!
Now, both of them had already reached the peak of the Six-Divine Realm, just a step away from advancing into the Eight-Void Realm!
The battle on the arena grew increasingly fierce!
Huang Qizheng was gradually falling into a disadvantageous position!
Feng Manying moved with extreme speed, her hands forming seals as a single flying sword multiplied into over a thousand sword beams, stabbing toward Huang Qizheng from all directions!
Yet, Su Yizhao could not yet determine the victor!
He knew Huang Qizheng still possessed his ultimate trump card!
A divine ability!
And it was a divine ability capable of freezing an opponent for a split second!
"Fellow Daoist Huang, shall we call it a draw here?" Feng Manying had already seized the upper hand, and almost all the attacks on the field were coming from her!
Huang Qizheng's face flushed crimson, and he shouted, "Courting death!"
He chanted rapidly while making hand seals, and instantly, an esoteric power from heaven and earth enveloped Feng Manying!
"Stop!"
Huang Qizheng roared!
On the arena, all sword beams instantly froze in place!
Only his summoned flying sword remained unaffected, and with a "swish," it pierced straight toward Feng Manying's forehead!
Caught completely off guard by this sudden turn of events, Feng Manying turned pale with fright!
Seeing the sword beam flash right before her, she could only close her eyes and await death!
At that very moment, a palm blocked her forehead!
The sword beam arrived, piercing straight into the palm!
The palm clenched fiercely, grabbing the sword beam in a tight grip!
The foot-long flying sword revealed its true form, struggling violently within the palm!
Silence!
The entire area surrounding the arena fell into absolute silence!
Everyone had expected to see blood immediately and witness Feng Manying's tragic demise.
How could a hand that appeared so abruptly possibly block a flying sword?
Yet, to everyone's shock, there was no blood, nor any tragic end!
That hand had actually caught the flying sword and reversed the outcome!
A cultivator in azure robes stood beside Feng Manying, holding the flying sword in his right hand!
Feng Manying had thought her death was certain, but after waiting a moment without feeling any pain, she opened her beautiful eyes!
Before her forehead was a tightly clenched hand!..
Within that hand, the foot-long flying sword struggled ceaselessly, flashing with a sharp, chilling light!
Yet, its struggles grew increasingly weak!
The sharp, chilling light sliced against the hand, yet failed to breach the skin by even a fraction!
On the skin, only a faint golden glow flickered!
Who was it?
She was astonished!
Astonished not just at having her life spared!
Even more astonished by the sheer resilience of that hand!
Her lovely eyes slowly traced upward from the hand!
Azure Daoist robes!
A familiar face!
Her entire body trembled with pleasant surprise, and she cried out, "It's you?"
The newcomer was none other than Su Yizhao!
He nodded and said, "Fellow Daoist Feng, you've already grasped three parts of the essence of wind. You've improved a lot!"
A scene flashed through Feng Manying's mind!
In a narrow cave, the two of them had pressed almost chest to chest...!
No!
It was her own chest that had almost pressed against his!
A slight blush crept onto her face, and she snapped defensively, "Your improvement is the greater one! Compared to you, my progress counts for nothing!"
Four or five feet away, Huang Qizheng's face flushed red as well!
He frantically formed hand seals, driving the profound Qi within his dantian to its absolute limit.
However, the flying sword seemed wedged immutably in place, unable to budge even the slightest bit!
That hand!
It actually managed to catch a flying sword traveling at high speed!
Just how had he trained it?
Su Yizhao relaxed his right hand, and with a "hum," the flying sword shot back!
"Fellow Daoist Su! You've arrived!" Huang Qizheng withdrew his flying sword and cupped his fists in greeting.
It had only been a short while, yet their strengths differed by such a vast margin?
Su Yizhao nodded and said, "Fellow Daoist Huang has many ways to find me, but I really dislike this particular method, and it comes with a price!"
"I'll compensate you!" Huang Qizheng replied resolutely!
Chi Xiangdong sneered from beneath the arena, "Now you know fear? How do you plan to compensate?"
Huang Qizheng was unconcerned. "I can compensate with profound stones, offer a formal apology, or pay with whatever it takes until Fellow Daoist Su is satisfied!"
Su Yizhao softly asked, "Were you sent by the Jin family?"