History's Strongest Senior Brother c1-1474
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Yan Zhaoge took out the jade sword and tapped its blade lightly before pondering deeply.
After a moment, his true essence surged on the blade of the sword before he lightly slid it across his finger, a drop of blood instantly staining the blade’s surface.
The muscles on Yan Zhaoge’s finger twitched, the blood instantly ceasing to flow as even the wound was no longer visible.
That small droplet of blood on the blade of the sword instantly transformed into a thread of blood, traversing the entire surface of the jade sword.
The next moment, a bloodred glow enveloped the entire sword. Yan Zhaoge waved his hand, the sword entering the bright starlight ahead before he himself followed within as well.
Amidst the radiance, he saw a streak of bloodred light flash by. After having walked some distance after it within the starlight, the streak of bloodred light suddenly shook before emerging from a certain spring source.
Following that bloodred light, Yan Zhaoge emerged from that spring source as well, grabbing onto that jade sword once again as he scanned the surrounding region of sea, “It should be somewhere around here.”
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 528: You have standards
HSSB528: You have standards
The surrounding region of sea was completely enveloped by starlight. The sensory abilities of both Yan Zhaoge and the Northern Ocean Clone were affected greatly.
They could basically only sense where their eyes could see.
Still, looking down at the jade sword within his hand, Yan Zhaoge could barely feel some changes seemingly having occurred with it.
This proved that he had not failed in the most critical step. Shi Jun should have left via this spring source.
Like this, Shi Jun’s possible location had been narrowed down greatly. Looking for him would no longer be such a difficult thing.
Following the guidance of the jade sword, Yan Zhaoge began searching the surrounding area.
As they looked, Yan Zhaoge discovered that there were also Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners in the vicinity. Still, they were behaving the same as their peers elsewhere as they were just roaming about randomly searching for clues.
While there were many of them, virtually being spread throughout the entire area as they searched, wanting to locate just one or two people within the Star Shifting Sea, especially people that could possibly be in hiding, it would never be enough however many of them they were. It was really like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Still, while they seemed not to have any clues at all, Yan Zhaoge felt that it was not purely luck that had brought them here.
He silently moved past these Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners, their discussion also vaguely falling within his ears.
“Wanting to find people in environments like the Bewildering Maze Sea and the Star Shifting Sea is really too hard.”
“However hard it is, we still have to find them. That kid injured the grandson of Elder Nian and abducted the Chief’s daughter. Even we have to make the ground three feet lower, we still have to dig him out of here!”
“That’s right. Let alone him merely being a disciple of a guest Elder of Changli Mountain, even if he was really a disciple of Changli Mountain, we would still have to dig him out all the same.”
“Speaking of which, Elder Nian has left seclusion and hurried over with the Chief to the Star Shifting Sea. Slowly limiting the radius of the search with a secret technique, they should be able to locate that damnable bastard and junior apprentice-sister Shen very quickly.”
Hearing these discussions, Yan Zhaoge raised his brows slightly.
After having arrived at the Vast Ocean World, Yan Zhaoge had been continually paying attention to and gathering various types of information in other to better understand the world and its situation.
After having arrived at Changli Mountain, he had then performed extremely systemic research.
While the people of the Blood Dragon Sect had not clearly specified who it was that they were talking about, Yan Zhaoge was still able to identify who they were.
Nian Chen, the Grand Elder of the Blood Dragon Sect and also its previous Chief. He was the number one expert of the Blood Dragon Sect and also controlled their Sacred Artifact, the Nine Dragon Fingers.
Nian Chen was ranked third amongst the top ten Transcending Mortality experts of the Vast Ocean World.
Of course, this ranking did not take Sacred Artifacts into account.
Ten years ago, in order to achieve his breakthrough sooner, Nian Chen had stepped down from managing the daily affairs of the sect and handed the position of Chief over to his disciple, Shen Shicheng.
Still, Nian Chen’s word in the Blood Dragon Sect still held virtually ultimate authority.
Those who were not on good terms with the Blood Dragon Sect often mocked Shen Shicheng to be the Disciple Chief with a Grand Chief above him.
Shen Shicheng himself did not really mind this, Nian Chen trusting him quite a bit as well as he had handed the various matters of the sect both major and minor over to him to handle all these years, himself focusing on cultivating.
Still, from the looks of it, having originally been in secluded cultivation, Nian Chen had specifically made a trip to the Star Shifting Sea this time as well.
“The Blood Dragon Sect disciple whom Jun’er injured was Nian Chen’s grandson?” Yan Zhaoge stroked his lower chin, remembering that Nian Chen’s son had died young, only leaving behind a grandson Nian Wei, this being something that everyone of the Vast Ocean World knew of.
As he pondered, Yan Zhaoge heard those Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners continue speaking, “Senior apprentice-brother Nian having yet to recover completely from his injuries, he is already going all around looking for senior apprentice-sister Shen. It must be hard on him.”
“Senior apprentice-brother Nian and junior apprentice-sister Shen are really a perfect match for each other. With junior apprentice-sister Shen having come to the Star Shifting Sea this time, senior apprentice-brother Nian specifically came over to escort and protect her. Who would have thought that such a thing would have happened; of course senior apprentice-brother Nian would be unable to sit easy.”
“Senior apprentice-sister Shen has been abducted for such a long time, her whereabouts unknown. I’m just afraid…”
“Silence! Don’t you know how to watch your words?”
Yan Zhaoge had to smack his lips at that, “Good kid, you’ve dealt with the two people of the Blood Dragon Sect’s younger generation with the deepest backgrounds at the same time. No wonder the Blood Dragon Sect’s completely blown up.”
“You have standards, I like that.”
As he soundlessly and covertly passed over the heads of those Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners, Yan Zhaoge’s mind drifted randomly.
Whatever Shen Ying resisted marriage, had love at first sight together with Shi Jun whereupon they eloped together…
Whatever Nian Wei had untoward intentions, with Shi Jun bravely charging in, rescuing Shen Ying and escaping, with Nian Wei instead maligning him as having abducted her in retaliation…
He was naturally biased towards Shi Jun, all of his thoughts viewing him in a good light.
“Thinking is useless. I’ve got to find them first,” Yan Zhaoge ceased in those thoughts that were all over the place and turned back to focus on the jade sword in his hand.
The people of the Blood Dragon Sect had a secret technique as well, currently gradually locking down the target area to draw near to this place. Not being able to ignore them, Yan Zhaoge had to find a way to locate the two missing people as soon as possible.
Following the guidance of the sword, Yan Zhaoge tried to locate the correct direction and coordinates yet was unable to find anything despite a great amount of time having passed.
Yan Zhaoge frowned, coming to where the sword had reacted the most intensely. Sinking into the depths of the sea and examining the reefs there, he still failed t
o make any discoveries.
After pondering for a moment, Yan Zhaoge slowly rose upwards, yet did not immediately surface as he instead searched around the hidden undercurrents between the bottom as well as the surface of the sea.
“To think that it would be here!”
After a while, Yan Zhaoge smiled slightly, moving alongside the flow of the seawater as a whirlpool shockingly appeared before his eyes. This was a whirlpool that lay parallel to the seawater, strangely pointing upwards as it formed an inconspicuous stretch of empty space within the seawater.
Here, the reaction of the jade sword was exceptionally intense.
Yan Zhaoge broke through the flow of water, traversing that empty stretch of space where no water existed and continuing past it, stepping directly into the whirlpool.
Passing through the centre of the whirlpool, Yan Zhaoge shockingly entered a formless passageway and was sent into a foreign dimension.
Just having entered the foreign dimension, Yan Zhaoge knit his brows slightly as he saw that his surroundings were filled densely with a faint purplish fog.
This fog was like grease as it was very viscous, being very hard for one to move within.
Yan Zhaoge tried it out and found that moving forward was easier than moving backward. While moving back was not hard for him, if one was not a Martial Grandmaster, it would be hard for them to leave this foreign dimension as they would only be able to struggle continuously forward.
“Jun’er and the girl should indeed be trapped here,” Yan Zhaoge thought as he broke through the encirclement of the purple fog and entered the foreign dimension proper.
A deep, massive valley appeared before Yan Zhaoge, which he promptly entered only to feel wary, “There are traces of more than just one or two people. Other than Jun’er and the girl, there were others as well.”
Entering the depths of the valley, Yan Zhaoge saw a messy scene as though the entire place had been swept through by some kind of powerful force.
A dense smell of blood permeated the air. As Yan Zhaoge gazed around the area, he saw that there were a few corpses lying on the ground, all of them in the garb of Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners.
Beside one of these corpses was, shockingly, a damaged spirit artifact. While everyone else had been damaged badly with detached fingers and broken bones, there was only this person whose corpse was still generally intact due to having been protected by the spirit artifact.
Drawing near, Yan Zhaoge looked down to see that it was a youth with seven lines of sword scars running across his chest.
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 529: Well and properly trapped
529: Well and properly trapped
Scanning the deep valley, Yan Zhaoge saw that one of its entrances had completely collapsed.
There seemed to be signs of a flash flood having occurred there, sweeping through the entire valley with immense destructive power as it brought death to all the people located within.
Those were no mere floodwaters. Instead, they were like the spurting of the starlight springs yet much more intense, the starlight turning into floodwaters before decimating all that stood in its path.
Looking downwards, Yan Zhaoge saw that the corpses lying at the bottom of the valley had already been broken beneath the mighty assault of the starlight as they were riddled with wounds.
Still, with Yan Zhaoge’s vision, he could still tell that two of them had not died to the starlight, instead having already been killed before having been impacted by the starlight.
One of them was this youth whose corpse had been protected in its entirety by the spirit artifact.
At first glance, Yan Zhaoge was already able to tell that those seven sword scars across his chest were the handiwork of the Big Dipper Sword.
Such a major starlight flash flood having occurred, this had basically eliminated the possibility of anyone else having fabricated the wounds.
“Shi Jun did it?” Yan Zhaoge’s spirits first rose as he knew that Shi Jun had likely been here just earlier, just having first been discovered by these Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners.
In the ensuing combat, Shi Jun had slain two of his enemies yet had been unable to overcome their overall numerical advantage.
Perhaps it was a mechanism that Shi Jun himself had set up beforehand, or perhaps the grand starlight tide had inadvertently been triggered during their battle.
Whatever the case, Shi Jun had successfully broken out of his encirclement under the cover of the grand starlight tide while these Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners had taken the brunt of the impact, having been consumed by the grand tide.
After checking around solemnly and confirming that Shi Jun’s corpse was not to be found here, Yan Zhaoge then relaxed greatly.
These marks indicated that all of this had happened not long ago. Meanwhile, the jade sword in his hand also indicated that he was not far away from Shi Jun. If he continued on his search, he should be able to locate Shi Jun very soon.
However…
Yan Zhaoge’s expression was rather strange as he looked at that youth with seven sword scars across his chest.
Having died by Shi Jun’s hands, he didn’t look old at all, likely only being a Martial Scholar who had yet to reach the Xiantian stage.
Already having a low-grade spirit artifact despite not having reached the Xiantian stage, this person’s identity must definitely be extraordinary.
Yan Zhaoge had already confirmed that the artifact forging standards of this Vast Ocean World were similar in their entirety to that of the Eight Extremities World.
Even for a major sect like the Blood Dragon Sect, having a spirit artifact whilst not yet being at the Xiantian stage was already a special case.
Either one was fortunate enough to have obtained it by chance outside or their family background was extraordinary.
Yan Zhaoge stared at this youth for a moment, thinking, “…It can’t be that much of a coincidence, right?”
Lightly patting his head, the corners of Yan Zhaoge’s mouth arched upward, “If it really is that Nian Wei, they shouldn’t have let him run around on his own at a time like this. Even if he wanted to personally search for Jun’er and Shen Ying, there should logically also have been an expert of the Blood Dragon Sect accompanying him.”
“That place just now was one in which Martial Grandmasters could still move backwards. Like this, the people of the Blood Dragon Sect outside could have obtained information regarding the existence of this place as well.”
Amidst his ponderings, the gaze of the Northern Ocean Clone beside Yan Zhaoge now flickered slightly.
Yan Zhaoge connected their minds, “Someone has just entered this foreign dimension? Also, his cultivation base…is very high!”
The next moment, Yan Zhaoge himself was also able to feel the area before the entrance of the foreign dimension shaking intensely.
The other party’s movements were rapid to the extreme, not thinking of concealing his movements in the least as he directly forcibly ripped apart the purple mist blocking his way and charged in.
The person was as fast as flying as he quickly arrived at the entrance of the deep valley.
Yan Zhaoge curled his lips. Raising his head and gazing upwards, he saw a silvery-haired old man currently gazing predatorily over.
Seeing the corpse of that youth on the ground, this silvery-haired old man instantly released an enraged howl that was agonised to the extreme, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot.
Feeling the powerful aura that emanated from this silvery-haired old man, Yan Zhaoge stroked his lower chin, “Nian Chen?”
The experts of the Blood Dragon Sect that commandeered the Nine Dragon Fingers would always break off the thumbs of their left hands.
Yan Zhaoge’s gaze fell on the left hand of that old man, seeing that it was thumbless with only four fingers present.
He smacked his lips, “It really is him.”
Nian Lei stared intently at Yan Zhaoge w
ith rage that seemingly could not be quenched as he angrily forced out the words, “You are…Yan Zhaoge?”
This Blood Dragon Sect Grand Elder had only just left seclusion not long ago over the matter of Shi Jun, Shen Ying and Nian Wei, having been in secluded cultivation and detached from worldly matters before this.
After having left seclusion, he had focused wholeheartedly on searching for Shi Jun.
Yan Zhaoge’s name really being too resplendent, those of his sect had naturally reported Yan Zhaoge’s accomplishments and known history to him.
However, having always been used to getting his way, with the heat currently rushing to his head as well due to the death of Nian Wei, Nian Chen suddenly roared like a dragon, numerous streams of bloodred light flying outwards from his body.
The more furious he was, the less likely Nian Wei was to underestimate his enemy. Even though the Northern Ocean Clone was standing quietly by Yan Zhaoge’s side like a statue, Nian Chen had also noticed its presence.
Numerous streams of bloodred light transformed into numerous dragons in mid-air before finally condensing into a massive silhouette.
This draconic silhouette had just one arm, the massive claw that extended from it clearly being nine-fingered.
Yan Zhaoge chortled as he watched Nian Chen calmly, “If I were to act, do you think a Martial Scholar would still have his full corpse intact? You wouldn’t think that a mere low-grade spirit artifact would have been able to protect him, right?”
Nian Wei extended his hands, his nine fingers glowing simultaneously with light as a sharp-tipped glove that was red as blood and flickered with a golden light appeared on them.
Having put on the glove, Nian Wei’s hands resembled the sharp claw of a dragon.
He now retracted his anger which instead turned completely into coldness, “Those seven sword scars were the work of that little beast, Shi Jun!”
“Even if it was not your handiwork, it is definitely related to you!”
Other Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners now appeared beside Nian Chen, one of them being a middle-aged man with a special air about him. He was a late Essence Talisman Martial Grandmaster.