Chapter 126: Swift as the Wind

“Who is there?” shouted a Hai Family disciple sharply from across.

Xu Ziyan turned and ran deeper into the alley. The three of them, seeing her turn and flee, immediately chased after her. Xu Ziyan had only run a dozen steps, luring them away from the alley entrance, when she suddenly reversed her movement and charged backward toward the three Hai Family disciples. Just as she reached them, her body spun rapidly. She extended her slender fingers and lightly tapped each of the three disciples’ throats. The crisp sound of three “cracks” echoed in her ears. The three Hai Family disciples fell backward, their eyes wide open, still filled with disbelief.

Xu Ziyan quickly stripped the robes from one of the female disciples and put them on over her own clothes. She leaped upward as her Flying Sword encircled her. Xu Ziyan stepped onto it and soared toward the direction Xu Lin and the others had taken outside the city. A flash of red streaked across the sky. The Hai Family disciples on the ground assumed it was one of their Qi Refining Stage experts chasing out of the city. No one suspected otherwise; they only wished in their hearts that they, too, could one day master Sword Flight.

The sky was nearing dusk, the setting sun staining everything red. It cast its light on the road leading from the city to the Endless Forest, seeming to fill it with desolation and bleakness. The wind kicked up a few fallen leaves, sending them dancing in the air. Xu Lin idly reached out and caught one, his gaze fixed toward Xichui Town. The nine Xu Clan disciples were standing by the roadside, some crouching, some standing, each with anxious and worried expressions as they looked toward Xichui Town. Without Xu Ziyan, they felt as if they had lost their backbone.

“She’s coming!”

Xu Lin, having the highest cultivation level among them, suddenly raised his head toward the sky. He had heard the sound of a Flying Sword cutting through the air, but his expression changed instantly. He shouted urgently,

“That’s not Ziyan—it’s the enemy! Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Everyone’s heart skipped a beat. They looked up and saw over twenty figures riding Flying Swords approaching through the colorful clouds.

“Second group, follow me!”

Xu Tianlang did not hesitate in the slightest. He shot upward into the sky, stepping onto his Flying Sword. Mid-air, he released several Talismans, hurling them directly at the faces of the oncoming enemies. Meanwhile, Xu Peng and Xu Meiruo, right behind him, also released their Talismans toward the opposing side. The three of them formed a triangular formation in the air on their Flying Swords. Their eyes fixed firmly on the enemies, after throwing the Talismans, their hands quickly formed Hand Seals as they prepared to unleash their most powerful Spells.

At the same time, the first group led by Xu Lin did not take to the air. Instead, they watched the battle above like eagles, searching for any opening to deliver a fatal blow. The third group, led by Xu Qi, along with Xu Tianhai and Xu Lan, kept a vigilant watch around them, ready to intercept any other enemies that might appear.

A total of twenty-two people had chased them out of Xichui Town. Among them, the highest cultivation level was as high as Qi Refining Eighth Layer. The person at the very front, whose daughter was the red-dressed woman killed by Xu Tianlang and the others, saw the nine individuals from afar. He was just about to descend on his Flying Sword to cut down these people who dared challenge the Hai Family’s dignity. He didn’t expect three of them to suddenly shoot into the sky, charging toward him on Flying Swords.

“Sword Flight? Qi Refining Stage? Weren’t they at the Houtian realm?”

He was stunned for a moment, then alarmed. Immediately after, he saw several Talismans hurled directly toward his face.

“Defense!”

He shouted loudly and quickly cast his own Spell, forming a protective barrier around his body to block the destructive force released by the Talismans. With his cultivation level and quick reaction, he managed to block it, but the others were not so lucky. Six Hai Family disciples were injured by the Talismans on the spot and fell from the sky.

“Attack!”

Xu Lin, on the ground, commanded in a low voice. He rose on his Flying Sword, followed closely by Xu Liangwei and Xu Mei. The three of them swept past the six fallen men on their Flying Swords, and the six heads separated from their bodies.

“Release!”

Xu Lin shouted. The three of them simultaneously threw the Talismans in their hands toward the remaining sixteen Hai Family members. At the same time, the three from Xu Tianlang’s second group also flipped their hands and released the Spells they had been preparing. In an instant, under the fading sunlight, a burst of dazzling colors appeared, accompanied by continuous roaring sounds.

Amid the brilliant display, a furious roar suddenly erupted. The dazzling colors scattered in all directions, revealing an enraged figure from within—the person with Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivation. His face was twisted with rage. They had started with twenty-two people, and in the first encounter, they had lost six. Then, in the opponents’ combined attack just now, five more had died. Now, only eleven remained on his side.

His heart was filled with nothing but anger. When Xu Tianlang had released his Spell earlier, he had already realized that the opponents were hiding their cultivation levels. But he also clearly understood that they were only at the Second Layer of Qi Refining Stage. To have eleven of his people killed in a single encounter by a group at the Second Layer—how could he explain this when he returned to his clan? His hands suddenly flipped upward, then pressed downward. The sky immediately darkened. A boulder the size of a small hill pressed down toward Xu Lin and Xu Tianlang. At the same time, a Vortex formed by Earth-element Spiritual Energy tightly held Xu Lin, Xu Tianlang, and the other four, preventing them from breaking free. They could only watch helplessly as the massive rock descended upon them.

Left with no choice, Xu Lin and Xu Tianlang raised their arms upward. The others followed their example, striking upward with their palms.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

A series of loud explosions followed as six people, twelve hands in total, struck the giant boulder. But the boulder did not pause in the slightest. With a deafening crash, it smashed Xu Lin, Xu Tianlang, and the other four, along with their swords, straight toward the ground.

Xu Qi from the third group could no longer stand by and watch. If he continued to stick strictly to Xu Ziyan’s orders, he would only be watching as Xu Lin, Xu Tianlang, and the others were crushed to death by the boulder.

“Attack!”

Xu Qi shouted loudly, charging toward the boulder. Xu Lan and Xu Tianhai followed closely behind. All three of them, six palms striking together, slammed into the giant rock.

“Big brother, run! Don’t worry about… Ugh—!”

Xu Lin spat out a mouthful of blood. Xu Tianlang’s eyes turned bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead as he strained to push upward with all his might. But he still couldn’t slow the boulder’s descent even a bit.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Three loud crashes echoed as Xu Qi, Xu Lan, and Xu Liangwei struck the boulder with their six palms. With the combined Magical Power of all nine, they finally managed to reduce the boulder’s speed. But the nine of them still crashed heavily onto the ground. Their legs sank knee-deep into the earth as they struggled to hold up the massive rock.

“Hmph!”

A cold snort came from the sky. The Hai Family disciple at Qi Refining Eighth Layer brought his hands together in front of his chest and pulled them apart. Between his palms, nine Long Spears formed from Earth Spiritual Energy appeared. He flipped his palms and coldly commanded,

“Go!”

The nine Long Spears whistled as they shot toward the nine people beneath the boulder—Xu Lin and the others. The nine of them closed their eyes in despair, the same thought crossing their minds: This time, they were truly going to die.

From the clouds above, a Talisman suddenly drifted down toward the head of the Hai Family disciple. Immediately after, a figure emerged from the clouds—it was Xu Ziyan, who had hurriedly caught up. Before the Talisman even reached the Hai Family disciple’s head, Xu Ziyan’s figure had already arrived in front of Xu Lin and the other nine. She reached out with both hands to either side, grabbing and pulling, and suddenly two Water Dragons formed, merging in front of her chest into a huge sphere of water.

“Go!”

The water sphere before Xu Ziyan suddenly exploded, turning into nine smaller Water Dragons that shot toward the nine Long Spears.

“Kaboom—!”

A tremendous explosion roared in the sky. Xu Ziyan had thrown a Top-grade Fifth-rank Talisman, which drifted to the Hai Family disciple’s head and exploded violently. The sky filled with The Flame, intertwining brilliantly with the colorful sunset clouds.

“Kaboom—!”

Almost simultaneously, a loud blast echoed just above the ground. The nine Water Dragons collided head-on with the nine Long Spears. The spears shattered into pieces, while the nine Water Dragons coiled in the air and lunged toward the boulder above the nine heads. They wrapped around the massive rock and dragged it upward. When it reached mid-air, the nine Water Dragons exploded violently, shattering the boulder into dust.

The flames released by the Top-grade Fifth-rank Talisman in the sky gradually dissipated. Over a dozen beams of light flickered and then fell from the sky, making a series of “clinking” sounds as they hit the ground—eleven ownerless Flying Swords and a few Storage Pouches. As for the eleven people in the sky, they had long been burned to ashes by the Talisman.

The nine people—Xu Lin and the others—sat down heavily on the ground. In that short span of time, they had completely exhausted their True Essence and were now utterly drained, without a shred of strength left.

Xu Ziyan looked at the group sitting exhausted on the ground, noticing that not one of them had immediately begun Meditative Rest to recover their Magical Power. She frowned slightly and said urgently,

“Hurry, take your Elixirs and quickly enter Meditative Rest. We need to leave this place as soon as possible—it’s not safe here!”

Hearing Xu Ziyan’s words, everyone snapped out of their weariness, realizing this was not the time or place to rest. They quickly took out Elixirs from their Storage Pouches, swallowed them, and sat cross-legged on the spot to begin Meditative Rest.

Xu Ziyan stood in front of the group, gazing anxiously up at the sky. She didn’t know if the Hai Family in Xichui Town would send more people after them, nor what level of disciples they might send. After a moment’s thought, she recalled that everyone had concealed their cultivation levels while in Xichui Town. Even when they killed the red-dressed woman and the others, though they had revealed their cultivation levels, it was for a very brief moment. People around might not have been able to discern their true cultivation levels. Based solely on the fact that they had killed someone at the Second Layer of Qi Refining Stage, the Hai Family sending a disciple at Qi Refining Eighth Layer was probably giving them significant attention. It was likely they wouldn’t send more experts immediately.

Thinking this, Xu Ziyan felt slightly more at ease. She withdrew her gaze from Xichui Town and examined the nine people who were currently in Meditative Rest. She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: their cultivation levels were still too low. Such levels might be sufficient for ordinary times, but for fleeing and survival, they truly had no ability to protect themselves! Should she give them some of the Elixirs that the Scarred One-Armed Man had given her to improve their cultivation? Just as this thought crossed her mind, she heard a rumbling sound coming from the direction of Xichui Town…