Chapter 36 - Luring
Chapter 36 – Luring
"You are certainly shameless, Ji Cheng." Hua Wanru blocked an incoming slash with her sword while staring at Ji Cheng coldly.
Ji Cheng made a beautiful somersault and perfectly landed on the ground. He smiled faintly. "What do you mean, Fairy Wanru? I haven't done anything disgraceful, have I?. Why are you calling me shameless?"
"Put away your hypocrite smile. I want to vomit every time I see it." On the side, Hua Litong said while slashing at one of the Sword Profound Sect's members and sent him away.
Currently, Hua Litong's group had no way to escape as Ji Cheng's people had blocked the route. No matter how strong she was, Hua Litong couldn't go against fifteen people with only five members on her side. She could only pray for her other sisters and Yang clan's people to arrive at this place.
"Oi! You guys, don't hurt their faces. Understand?" A tall handsome youth with strange red hair said. He wore the Sacred Flame Sect's attire, but it was more extraordinary than other members of his sect around here. He crossed his arms, staring at Hua Litong's body with a lascivious smile hung on his face.
"Understood, Young Master Huo." Everyone from the Sacred Flame Sect said in unison and burst into waves of laughter afterward. They were familiar with their Young Master's lustful nature very well. Without a doubt, these women would become Young Master Huo's playthings tonight.
"Work hard! There will be a share for everyone." Huo Ao encouraged. The confrontation between the Sacred Flame Sect and the Misty Cloud Sect was imminent. He naturally no need to spare them. As for Hua Litong, Hua Wanru, and Yang Mengli, they could be counted as a bonus.
Ji Cheng glanced at the arrogant Huo Ao with a slight dissatisfaction. He hated this kind of person the most. He thought they were too uncultured and didn't know how to cherish a flower. However, he didn't plan to say anything since they shared the same goal at this moment.
Meanwhile, Qi Tian'er appeared as if she didn't care about it. However, if one looked closely, one would see a trace of jealousy in her eyes when she looked at Hua Litong. She was jealous of Hua Litong's beautiful face and great figure. She wished she could have this kind of devilish body that could attract every man wherever she goes. Hence, seeing Hua Litong got beaten was a kind of joy for her.
"I will use The Final Haze." One among the three Misty Cloud Sect's members said. Her name was Yun Jing. She was one of the strongest members besides Yun Chan and Yun Ting, and she could also use The Final Haze as well.
The other two women hurriedly stopped her. "Don't! Sister Jing. We can hang on for a while. I believe our sisters will arrive here soon."
Yun Jing struggled for a while and chose to listen to them in the end. Although she was strong, compared to Yun Chan and Yun Ting, her personality was milder and wasn't as decisive as the two. There was a possibility she couldn't defeat all the opponents before The Final Haze's effect end, and she would become a burden by then. Therefore, she decided to hold on, enduring a bitter fight further.
"Die!" A petal storm emerged around Hua Litong's figure. She lunged her sword at a man from the Sacred Flame Sect before her, and the petal storm coiled around her sword before shooting straight to the man's heart.
The expressions of Ji Cheng and Huo Ao abruptly changed when they saw this scene. It was already too late for them to save the man.
The petal storm was akin to a sharp spear, piercing through the man's heart, robbing his life away.
Hua Litong retracted her hand and moved back, avoiding the attacks from other opponents nearby her.
"Trash!" Huo Ao spatted coldly. He didn't have any sympathy for the dead man and even insulted him. Nevertheless, he didn't move an inch from the place and continued to watch the battle without intention to take action personally.
At this moment, a powerful aura burst out from Yang Mengli's body as she swung her sword on the Profound Sword Sect's member before her, cutting his head off directly.
Ji Cheng's eyes narrowed, and a murderous intent emitted from his body. At first, he thought everything was in his grasp and there shouldn't be any casualty among his subordinates. Unexpectedly, Yang Mengli and others were far stronger than them.
Ji Cheng drew his sword out, standing still for one breath time before a frightening aura erupted from his sword. His figure traveled a short distance in a split second to the front of Yang Mengli and ruthlessly thrust his sword toward her collarbone. His speed was extremely fast, that his sword became several sword shadows.
Yang Mengli's expression abruptly changed when she saw Ji Cheng appeared before her in a ghost-like manner, and she was too late to react as she could only hastily flex her sword, attempting to block the incoming attack.
Puff!
Blood splashed in the air as a fatal wound appeared on Yang Mengli's left collarbone. The sword shadows from Ji Cheng didn't stop only that. They continued to bombard Yang Mengli, forcing her to the corner of the hallway with no way to fight back.
Hua Litong saw this. She quickly pushed her opponent away and vaulted to Ji Cheng, along with a petal storm coiling around her sword.
Ji Cheng had always paid attention to Hua Litong for all this time because she was the only one among the opponents that could harm him. Hence, when Hua Litong attacked him, he could effortlessly evade her sword and make a counterattack by slashing back at her.
Clang!
Their swords collided with each other, producing a loud noise that reverberated through the hallway. Ji Cheng was forced to take several big steps back while Hua Litong successfully arrived on Yang Mengli's side.
"Are you okay?" Hua Litong asked concernedly.
Yang Mengli's current state was miserable to the extreme. There were several holes on her robe and many fatal wounds could be seen beneath it. She lifted her head up and replied, "I'm fine." However, she knew that she couldn't use her left arm anymore.
Hua Litong didn't have the luxury time to take care of Yang Mengli as Ji Cheng had launched another attack on her. Fighting for several hours, her profound energy was almost exhausted. She had consumed several of the Replenish Energy Pills, but they were not enough to sustain a prolonged battle. She needed to find a way to break through the current predicament.
***
"Now you know how to control it." Yan Qi said with a smile after teaching Yun Lintian to control a profound formation around this place.
"Are you sure there is no transmission formation there? How can I bring my senior sisters here then?" Yun Lintian asked while staring at the battle on the projection.
Earlier, he found out the sun-like object that was floated above this hall was a fake one and served as a controller of the profound formation of this place. Now he gained control over every profound formation of the entire mythical realm and didn't see a transmission formation within the maze tunnel. Thus, he wanted to confirm with Yan Qi on this matter.
Yan Qi shook his head. "Young man, you should learn how to be content with what you have. If you want to see them, you can either go to them or waiting for them to come here. Simple as that." Yan Qi looked at the projection and said further, "When I built this place, I didn't intend to bring anyone here directly. All of you appearing here was a mistake, to begin with. If it wasn't because the profound formation could not suppress The Sun any longer, you would never find the way this place."
Yun Lintian went silent for a while. The only thing he could do at this moment was to eliminate the enemy above this place first. However, there was not a single killing formation around the statue. He could not directly kill them.
He spread his right hand slightly and the sun orb slowly descended into his palm. The moment he touched it, he could feel a connection between him and every profound formation around this place. A moment later, his mind moved, controlling the statue to shift backward.
***
Hua Litong and Ji Cheng fought with each other for some time now. The strength between the two appeared to be equal. No one gained a complete advantage over the opposite party.
"I didn't expect Young Miss Hua Litong to hide your strength this deep. Those people who judged you as a fallen genius are truly blind." Ji Cheng gave Hua Litong a compliment.
However, Hua Litong knew this guy was a hypocrite. She didn't put his words in her eyes and continued to slash at Ji Cheng consecutively.
"It seems I need to get serious now. If I accidentally hurt you, please don't take it to your heart and you don't have to worry that I will disfigure you. After all, I am a man who knows how to cherish the jade." Ji Cheng drew his sword into a horizontal line and several swords afterimages emerged around it.
Hua Litong's expression turned solemn when she saw several afterimages around Ji Cheng's sword because it was a sword intent! She never thought there would be another person who could comprehend a sword intent aside from Yang Chen at the age of sixteen.
Yang Chen's sword intent was heavily focused on destructive power, but Ji Cheng's sword intent was solely concentrated on speed as he firmly believed that speed was the essence of a swordsman. As long as you moved the sword faster, the lethality and sharpness were naturally increasing along with its speed.
"Ha!" Ji Cheng let out a low cry. His figure instantly vanished from the spot and reappeared before Hua Litong. He lunged his sword forward and several afterimages of his sword were ruthlessly shot at her.
Hua Litong had already expected this. She formed a petal shield beforehand and used it to block against Ji Cheng's endless sword storm.
Layer after layer, Hua Litong's petal shield was torn into shreds by Ji Cheng. She gritted her teeth while forcefully pouring all of her profound energy to strengthen her petal shield.
Yang Mengli saw this scene. She hurriedly took out a small dagger from her sleeve, injecting profound energy into it before she threw it at Ji Cheng's back.
"Hmph!" Ji Cheng snorted and bent his body to avoid the dagger.
Hua Litong took this chance to make a slash on Ji Cheng and successfully forced him away several steps.
Buzzz—
While everyone was concentrated on the battle, the statue at the center of the hallway suddenly moved backward and the hidden passage beneath it slowly appeared in everyone's sight.
"Sisters, get in!" Hua Litong didn't even think for a second as she shouted at Hua Wanru and others, telling them to enter the passageway.
"Block them!" Huo Ao yelled at his lackeys, but no one could react in time. Hua Litong's group had already entered the passageway.
"Follow them!" Huo Ao shouted angrily and chased after Hua Litong's group with his lackeys.
"Young Master, do we need to chase after them?" One of Ji Cheng's subordinates asked.
Ji Cheng pondered for a moment before he replied, "Let's go. There might be a treasure down there." Following that, he brought Qi Tian'er and others to the passageway.