His other hand, its fingers spread wide apart, filled up Xiao Shen’s vision as it clamped down on the top of his head.
Yan Zhaoge’s palm pressed down on Xiao Shen’s head as he laughed coldly, “Oh, I’m so scared.”
Saying thus, he abruptly tightened his fingers as he made an upward motion of his hand.
The violent power of his fleshly body, coupled with his powerful, abundant aura-qi, erupted simultaneously.
A blood of rain once again erupted and descended as Yan Zhaoge wrenched at Xiao Shen’s neck and took his really great big head off.
Xiao Shen remained staring wide-eyed, unable to rest in peace.
The entire Spirit Wind Canyon instantly fell silent.
Everyone stared dazedly at Yan Zhaoge, lifting Xiao Shen’s head up high as he stood unyielding in midair.
“Yan Zhaoge!”
The next moment, the Sacred Sun Clan martial practitioners simultaneously let out enraged roars.
With that Martial Grandmaster at their head, they all rushed towards Yan Zhaoge together.
Within the valley, Zhao Shicheng was calm and silent as he formed a fist with his left hand and a palm with his right, hitting forward simultaneously.
Golden dragons of light began rampaging between the heavens and the earth, their scales heaving and their roars shocking the heavens, as though real dragons had descended upon the world.
The Sacred Sun Clan martial practitioners were sent into continuous retreat by the power of the grand formation as unleashed by Zhao Shicheng, unable to take even a step closer to the Spirit Wind Canyon.
Xu Chuan and the Martial Scholars of Broad Creed Mountain and the Eastern Tang Kingdom began moving from defence to attack.
“Retreat!” That Martial Grandmaster of the Sacred Sun Clan roared despondently, having no choice but to lead his fellow clan members into retreat.
Blood oozed from the corner of Zhao Shicheng’s mouth, green and red flickering intermittently on his face.
He retracted his palm, as the others also ceased in their pursuit of the enemy.
Carrying Xiao Shen’s head, Yan Zhaoge descended to the ground, turning and returning to Ah Hu’s side.
Ah Hu was sitting cross-legged on the ground, the radiance of the Black Nightmare Armour on his body having dimmed. On that black armour of light were densely dotted numerous golden needles.
All the golden needles had penetrated deeply into the armour.
Ah Hu had a rather sooty and defeated look on his face. Luckily, his accompanying spirit artifact, the Black Nightmare Armour, was also a defensive tool. Even when it could both attack and defend, its defensive power was still shocking.
Otherwise, when simultaneously engaged in battle with three Xiantian Martial Scholars earlier, having been sneak attacked by Xiao Shen’s Sun Rain, he would have died for sure.
Even so, while the Black Nightmare Armour had been able to hold off the dense rain of Divine Sun Needles, Ah Hu had also been injured by the force of their qi penetrating his body.
Although the Divine Sun Needles themselves had not directly penetrated into his body, it was like Ah Hu had endured thousands, tens of thousands of heavy blows in that instant.
Yan Zhaoge came before Ah Hu, placing his palm on his back to assist him in adjusting his body’s condition.
The others all now came to look at Yan Zhaoge with complicated expressions on their faces.
While Xiao Shen had also moved with the intention to kill, meaning that Yan Zhaoge had been totally justified in killing him, really seeing Yan Zhaoge kill Xiao Shen, all their spirits had wavered momentarily.
Especially with such a vicious and brutal method of killing.
Earlier, when Yan Zhaoge had clashed with Xiao Shen, however badly he had beaten him, it could still have been discounted as Xiao Shen having been the weaker side in their sparring match.
However, with both sides similarly being an elite of their respective clan’s younger generation, seedlings with much potential on whom their clan devoted much effort to rear, deciding superiority with a spar and straight out killing the other party were two completely different concepts indeed.
Moreover, Xiao Shen’s grandfather was one of the few ultra bigwigs of the Sacred Sun Clan.
As Xiao Shen had said, this having happened, the Sacred Sun Clan would definitely not let it go so easily.
This matter, as compared to taking in the other side’s disciples who had betrayed their clan, was even greater.
But amidst their complicated feelings, the Broad Creed Mountain and Eastern Tang Kingdom martial practitioners also felt a strong sense of excitement.
In recent years, the Sacred Sun Clan had been pressuring them closely with every step, having already been arrogant and unbridled for very long.
Allowing you to move in for the kill, while not allowing my Broad Creed Mountain to retaliate?
That wouldn’t conform to logic at all.
At this moment, Yan Zhaoge had already regained his former calm.
The Jade Dragon Sword was still serving as the core of the reversal formation, working in synergy with Zhao Shicheng’s grand formation.
With a wave of his hand, the Radiant Sun Wheel returned to Yan Zhaoge’s hands once more.
Looking at the Radiant Sun Wheel, everyone was suddenly snapped out of their reverie.
“The Broad Creed Young Master killed Xiao Shen just now, in but a short instant.”
While both of them were late outer aura Martial Scholars, Yan Zhaoge had directly crushed Xiao Shen till not even dregs were left of him.
An Eastern Tang martial practitioner swallowed his saliva, “Xiao Shen was definitely not someone ordinary outer aura Martial Scholars could compare to ah.”
Of the Sacred Sun Clan martial practitioners who had attacked this time, there were those who had a higher cultivation than him.
However, at the same cultivation level, no one could say for sure that they could defeat him.
“The Radiant Prince of the Sacred Sun Clan is hailed as one of this generation’s Four Young Masters alongside Young Master Yan, while Xiao Shen and the Radiant Prince are part of the Sacred Sun Clan’s Four Rising Suns, precisely the face of the Sacred Sun Clan’s younger generation.”
However, such a Heaven’s favoured son had been attacked and killed by Yan Zhaoge so easily.
“Xiao Shen was so easily defeated by Young Master Yan; for other people, would it also…”
Someone exclaimed in a low tone, “Yan Zhaoge is even stronger than rumoured ah!”
Earlier, rumour had it that Yan Zhaoge had surpassed levels to beat Xiao Shen while only in the mid outer aura Martial Scholar realm.
As none of them had witnessed it personally, they had still been a little sceptical about this.
But now, there was no question about it.
The handsome, graceful young master and the iron-willed, ferocious martial practitioner-both of these identities now perfectly reconciled within their minds.
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 83: Plans cannot keep up with changes
HSSB83: Plans cannot keep up with changes
Everyone’s discussions were heard by Yan Zhaoge, but at this moment, he wasn’t in the mood to boast of his success.
While helping Ah Hu to adjust his body’s condition, a part of Yan Zhaoge’s mind was still focused on the reversal formation.
At this moment, Zhao Shicheng’s features had already returned to normal. With the power of the entire grand formation supporting him, it was much easier for him to recuperate from his injuries.
Seeing this, Yan Zhaoge also set his heart at ease.
Ah Hu’s breathing recovered to normal as the Divine Sun Needles clattered to the ground all around him.
He opened his eyes, grimacing as he said, “Luckily, in coming out this time, I wore the spirit artifact bestowed to me by the Family Head. Otherwise, I would really have been finished.”
Seeing that he was already fine, Yan Zhaoge laughed, “H
ow was the taste of the Sun Rain?”
Ah Hu grinned, “Pretty vicious.”
Yan Zhaoge retrieved a cylinder, precisely that very Sun Rain, “This thing is insidious. Although it will be a little troublesome having to refill it every time it is used, is power is indeed something.”
“You can take it out to play in the future; whoever you launch a sneak attack on, you can even let the Sacred Sun Clan take the blame for you.”
Hearing this, everyone didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
Ah Hu, however, accepted it over happily, “Young Master, this plan is good.”
“In the future, whoever Young Master doesn’t like the look of, I’ll give him a good one.”
Naturally, the two were only kidding.
Yan Zhaoge came before Zhao Shicheng.
From his appearance alone, there were already no abnormalities whatsoever on Zhao Shicheng, as if he had already made all but a complete recovery from his injuries.
Having helped to treat his injuries earlier, Yan Zhaoge had already imparted to him a portion of the Heaven-Thwarting Mantra.
At this moment, able to draw on the power of the grand formation, Zhao Shicheng’s rate of recovery was naturally very quick. While he had still yet to fully recover, his earlier wounds already no longer hindered him.
Zhao Shicheng gazed at Yan Zhaoge, slowly nodding his head, “Zhaoge, it was all thanks to you this time; if not for you, I wouldn’t have been able to wrest back control of the Jingyang Grand Formation so quickly.”
Everyone was jolted by his words, as the gazes with which they looked at Yan Zhaoge were now filled with praise as well as marvel.
It was precisely Yan Zhaoge’s methods which had allowed this situation to make a complete turnaround, almost to the point of bringing one back from the dead.
Not mentioning the fact that his personal strength as well as talent was far above the rest, he had also displayed an ability to turn the raging tides through his vigorous efforts. Really, they should no longer view this youth as a member of the younger generation who rose to prominence rather late.
Such methods, such personal value-how could they be something that an outer aura Martial Scholar could weigh?
Yan Zhaoge bowed towards Zhao Shicheng, “Uncle is erroneously praising me; it all still depended on Uncle’s role as a central pillar earlier.”
“This reversal formation is just something that I happened by by chance; while it might be useful now, it might not always be useful in the future.”
Zhao Shicheng said, “If you want to talk about central pillars, you should first look at your side’s Elder Qin, Elder Kong and them.”
“If their fight with the East Rising Lord is decided within a short period of time, the situation will still change greatly.”
Pondering deeply, Yan Zhaoge suppressed his voice with his aura-qi, sending over a sound transmission to Zhao Shicheng, “Uncle, I have a feeling that something is wrong, that we have to leave this Spirit Wind Canyon as soon as possible.”
Zhao Shicheng’s gaze flickered slightly.
Yan Zhaoge said in a low tone, “The attitude that Xiao Shen had on before he died did not seem like he was blustering and making empty claims, or perhaps cursing me due to his anger. It seemed like he was truly completely sure that I would follow in his footsteps very quickly.”
“This makes me very concerned. I know that having just gotten back control of the grand formation, you still need some time to stabilise it. However, I’m afraid that we’ll have to leave this place first.”
Ah Hu had also only just gotten back his breath, the extent of his injuries still unknown. However, Yan Zhaoge also did not leave any time for him; they could only see about that after they had left.
Zhao Shicheng glanced at Yan Zhaoge, not asking any questions as he directly agreed, “Alright, let’s leave first.”
While the Eastern Tang Kingdom martial practitioners were worried about Zhao Shicheng’s condition, they also hoped that he would quickly return to Jingyang City to oversee its affairs, where it would be convenient to cleanse the kingdom of Prince Jin, Zhao Shilie and his group of insurgents.
On the other hand, it was also in Jingyang City that Zhao Shicheng could completely unleash the power of the grand formation at its maximum level.
Moreover, the movements of Infinite Boundless Mountain were still unclear.
Though, most likely, there was probably a Martial Grandmaster expert stronger than that Elder He lying in wait somewhere within the lands of the Eastern Tang.
Not wasting any time caring about rest, they departed immediately.
As they were walking, Yan Zhaoge looked towards Xu Chuan, sending him a sound transmission, “Elder Xu, those in the valley who know about the secret of the Cloud-Veined Crystals…”
Xu Chuan smiled, “Young Master Yan, you can rest easy. Before you lot arrived here, I already sent them collectively away, finding a safe place to settle them down.”
As long as the secret was not exposed, even if the enemy let out their frustrations on the Spirit Wind Canyon, destroying its various installations, the quarry that was located deep underground could still be re-opened and mined in the future.
Yan Zhaoge nodded. Xu Chuan was an extremely alert person, also possessing a strong decision-making ability. Helping him up previously had indeed been a right choice.
If Xu Chuan’s cultivation could reach an even higher level, his father could indeed devote some effort to grooming him, helping him to walk up to even great heights.
Yan Zhaoge instructed, “While we have already retreated, closely keep an eye on the movements within the Spirit Wind Canyon.”
While Xu Chuan found this a little weird, he still went to pass down these instructions.
Having heard Yan Zhaoge’s words, Zhao Shicheng asked him through a sound transmission, “You are worried that there are even stronger experts of the Sacred Sun Clan nearby. But if there were such people present earlier, why did they not make a move?”
Yan Zhaoge narrowed his eyes, saying in a light tone, “If there really were experts who could launch an attack within a short period of time, that would correspond with Xiao Shen’s unusual behaviour before he died.”
“If it is like that, I think I can guess what they want to do.”
Yan Zhaoge sucked in a deep breath, “Keep from moving beforehand to avoid startling us, but lay in ambush nearby, in case Xiao Shen and the others are unable to kill us. I having killed Xiao Shen was only an accident in their eyes.”
“Originally, it was only meant as a supplementary move in case anything went wrong. However, due to the reversal formation, we turned the tables on them in an instant, killing off their first wave into retreat without the situation even falling into a stalemate, whereupon they retreated immediately.”
“They wanted my death to look a little more natural, as if it was only caused by the personal enmity between me and Xiao Shen.”
“That would be beneficial towards obscuring their true goal.”
Zhao Shicheng looked at Yan Zhaoge, “True goal?”
Yan Zhaoge’s gaze was deep and distant, “We have possibly still underestimated their appetite.”
“Killing me would only be a beginning; even the Eastern Tang would only be something they conveniently got along the way. What they want, is far more than I had predicted.”
The Sacred Sun Clan’s people had only been temporarily forced into a retreat. Seeing Yan Zhaoge and the others leaving the Spirit Wind Canyon, they hurriedly attempted to pursue and attack them.
They did not care about killing or injuring Yan Zhaoge and his party; it was only to get ahold of their trail and not lose track of them completely.
Seeing the way they looked, Yan Zhaoge now felt even more certain that the Sacred Sun Clan most likely had a peak expert in the vicinity, having already hurried over here.
If they could not lose their tail, with the other side’s superior speed, they would definitely catch up in not too long
a time.
However, this was, after all, the land of the Eastern Tang, within the Heaven Domain.
With their stronger ability as well as their desire to avoid battle, they quickly made use of the surrounding geography to lose their pursuers.
After that, some news were transmitted over via a secret channel.
Almost as soon as Yan Zhaoge and the others had left, high-ranking experts of the Sacred Sun Clan had entered the Spirit Wind Canyon!
Counting in the time they had used to shake off their pursuers, they had cut it really close indeed.
Yan Zhaoge let out a long breath, his gaze becoming firm and bright, smiling as he looked towards Zhao Shicheng, “Uncle, let us move separately here on out.”
“The enemy’s target is me, but you too have to be careful.”
“Returning to Jingyang City would be equivalent to giving the enemy a definite target.”
Zhao Shicheng’s gaze froze, “I could also be targeted, yet not because of the Eastern Tang? If it’s like this…”
Yan Zhaoge nodded, “It’s good that you know; do not spread the matter.”
“If the Sacred Sun Clan wants to play it big, then let’s just play with them,” Yan Zhaoge smiled, “As the old adage goes, plans cannot keep up with changes.”
Hearing this, Zhao Shicheng’s gaze shook slightly, as he stared silently at Yan Zhaoge.
As Yan Zhaoge met his gaze calmly, Zhao Shicheng nodded slowly, “Alright. Remember to be cautious in all matters; do not forget about your own personal safety.”
“Zhaoge firmly remembers Uncle’s teachings,” Yan Zhaoge answered, “I will properly pay attention to and grasp the balance between concealing our movements and drawing the enemy’s attention.”
Watching as Zhao Shicheng departed, Yan Zhaoge sent a sound transmission to Ah Hu, passing him a few instructions.
The Ah Hu who would definitely not head west when the Young Master said to head east or catch a chicken when the Young Master said to beat a dog, fell into a slightly dazed state.
As if he had bitten his own tongue, his voice continuously stuttered, “You…Youn…Young Master, isn’t this a little…”
History's Strongest Senior Brother c1-1474 Page 58
