by Tinalynge
Things had changed when the previous king abdicated and gave his position to the current king; this king was not as strong as the others before her, and she was only capable of sitting on the throne because of the backup she had in court, alongside the innate potential from her five eyes.
Having understood the Baili family’s aim, Xue Wei was looking at the battle with renewed focus. Although he felt that the Gu and Yuan families should deal with the Baili family on their own, he was ready to jump in at any moment in time.
As he looked around, he noticed that the grand elder was like him, standing at the sidelines observing the battle, but where a small smile hung on Xue Wei’s lips, a grave expression marked the grand elder’s face.
The spiritual energy cultivators were being completely overpowered. Spiritual energy was not to be belittled, but one has to remember that these experts all had cultivated spiritual energy since they were young and thus had a natural defense against it.
On the other hand, the members of the Baili family were all just Heavenly Warriors or beneath in their Qi levels, so while they were generally slightly stronger in spiritual energy levels, the Baili family were much further behind in Qi levels.
As a result, the Yuan and Gu families were steamrolling over the Baili family’s guards and masters. The more they fought, the more their bloodlust was unleashed; the Yuan and Gu families had been oppressed for many many years, and now they had a chance to vent those frustrations.
While killing was not something that happened much throughout Yan Dalu, some people had still used their background to throw their weight around, bullying others, even going as far as to cripple them.
Some were crippled physically while others had their soul or mind irreparably broken so that they would not be able to think straight ever again. The more talented members of the oppressed families had particularly been the victims of such hardships.
The family members of these people were filled with a thirst for revenge, and a thirst for justice.
Xue Wei glanced at the two sides that were battling once again. At the start, the Yuan and Gu families held the advantage because of their surprise attack and their strong momentum, but as the Baili family soon realized that their weakness was that most Qi attacks were fairly short range, it turned into a big chase. The Baili family continued to retreat while the Gu and Yuan families advanced.
It was not until the two families had flooded into the compound that the grand elder started to move.
This was what Xue Wei had been the most worried about. The Gu and Yuan families were easily capable of blocking the rest of the guards and members, but as soon as it came to the grand elder, they would be at a disadvantage.
The grand elder was, after all, an Ordinary Saint. His strength was not something that anyone could look down upon, and although his body was his biggest weakness, he just needed to surround himself in a layer of spiritual energy, and then no one would be able to break through.
At the same time, if he started sniping them with his attacks, no one would be able to fight back against it, their minds would be broken, and their souls might even be ripped apart from the very powerful energy that would tear through them.
Xue Wei sensed that the soul power in the surrounding air was becoming more and more dense as more people started to die; their souls were being ripped apart by the grand elder.
He frowned. He knew that he was no match for the grand elder, but perhaps he could still fight him. If the grand elder was interested in his secrets, he would not kill him, but if he had lost all hope in Xue Wei, stepping up would be the same as asking to be killed.
Still, Xue Wei was willing to gamble. He was the kind of person who would not step back from any challenge, not to mention that these people had come to save him. Even though he had been uninvolved in the fight so far, watching them die one after another was in no way something he enjoyed.
The Gu and Yuan families were also enraged by how their members were being picked off, and they too fought with increased ferocity against the normal members, slaying them without holding back.
Xue Wei sighed and started cracking his neck. He was going to intervene.
He felt the energy within his body being released, his body rapidly undergoing some changes as the body itself started transforming into that of a dragon, and azure scales protruded from his skin. Another set of his clothes were ripped apart, and horns grew from his forehead.
The body was massive, a full fifty meters long, and he coiled up in the square. A few warriors of the Baili family were squashed beneath his enormous body, causing anguished wails to resound throughout the area.
Those who had been fighting were stumped when they saw the sheer size of this beast that suddenly appeared, their eyes widened in shock, and everyone retreated in fear. No one knew where this beast came from nor who it was fighting for, so they were all hesitant and alert.
Seeing the huge beast, Xue Wei’s friends grinned. Hei Gou suddenly growled, and his body also enlarged as he appeared in his mutated Celestial Dog shape.
Lin Xiao was averse to killing humans, but he had hardened his heart and was flashing his staff here and there, bashing anyone who came close to him. Even now, while the other people were stunned, he ran through their most clustered area and simply slammed the staff on their heads, knocking them unconscious with a single hit.
Bai Tianyi was grinning when he saw the massive beast, summoning spiritual energy around himself and coalescing it into the shape of swords which shot outwards and pierced the souls of all the people close to him.
Xue Wei knew they had expected this sight, so he was not too shocked, but when he saw a bundle stuck on Lin Xiao’s back, a gleam of anger appeared in his eyes. Who allowed this dumb monk to bring his cute little sister to such a dangerous place?!
Since Luoluo was here, Xue Wei was even more eager to end the battle as soon as possible. He had to stop or at least delay the grand elder for long enough that they could wipe out the other guards and members, and then they could overwhelm him with sheer numbers.
From the attacks he had seen earlier, Xue Wei could determine that the grand elder specialized in precise but deadly attacks, that pierced through only one person at a time. If he had attacks that could deal with multiple people at once, he would have used it long ago.
Xue Wei’s body moved like waves, roiling towards the grand elder, who was also shocked by the sudden appearance of a beast he had never seen before.
Primordial Beasts were not that rare in Yan Dalu, but for one to have such an overwhelming aura, that was rare—even rarer was it to see one with such strength and momentum.
The grand elder looked at Xue Wei with a shrewd expression in his eyes, before his gaze moved towards Lin Xiao, who was running around knocking out person after person with a smile on his face and constantly blurting out words of apology, and that the victims would praise him later.
The grand elder’s greed was getting the better of him, and he raised his voice, “Capture the staff-wielding monk fast!” he yelled out, and all the Baili members returned to their senses. They did not understand the reason for the order given by their grand elder, but an order from him was unquestionable, so they rushed towards Lin Xiao as he was engaged within a horde of experts.
“Oh no!” Lin Xiao, who had been deep behind enemy lines, felt that something was wrong, and he quickly turned tail and ran. While he had previously moved unfettered and effortlessly through the enemies, he was now being chased by a group of maddened men.
“I am doing it for your own good!” Lin Xiao called out while running. “I will only knock you out; the others want to kill you! Show some love towards a poor monk!”
Bai Tianyi couldn’t help but burst into laughter seeing Lin Xiao and his desperate pleas, he was even laughing so much that he forgot that he should fight, but Hei Gou quickly jumped next to Lin Xiao to assist him in his escape.
“Thank you! I knew you were a good brother!” Lin Xiao said as he looked at Hei
Gou with gratitude.
“Wei will kill you if something happens to Luoluo,” the big dog snorted, as if the only reason he had jumped in was for the sake of the child.
Xue Wei had instantly guessed the thoughts of the grand elder when he heard that they were to capture Lin Xiao and his draconic eyebrows knitted together. He was especially concerned when he saw the sleeping girl on his back, bouncing up and down with every hastened step he took.
“I better help them,” he muttered to himself and raised his head high into the sky.
Azure Dragon Roar!
A roar tore through the skies, the ground trembled, space almost collapsed, and everyone fell to the ground in shock as their minds went buzzing, their eyes blackened. Anyone who heard the roar was filled with reverence, and any beasts present could not help but kneel by instinct.
Chapter 40 - Battle of Giants
The roar had the intended effect, as the ones who had been chasing Lin Xiao all faltered. Some collapsed, others kneeled and yet some—the stronger ones—were just stunned momentarily, but this moment was enough for the monk to retreat safely.
Seeing that Hei Gou, Lin Xiao, and Luoluo had reconnected with the army from the Gu and Yuan families, Xue Wei was feeling much more placated, so he got ready to face the grand elder.
Truth was that before this, he had not had much faith in his ability to survive. He knew that the grand elder had made the decision within the dungeons to kill him, but now it seemed that his luck had turned.
After seeing Xue Wei taking on the beastly shape and connecting it with the rumors about Lin Xiao’s ability to tame beasts, it was as if he had rekindled his notion of getting the information out of Xue Wei.
After all, if they could tame him, he would be at their beck and call, doing their bidding without any rebellion. He had just forgotten that Lin Xiao was on Xue Wei’s side. Would he really work together with someone else to enslave his friend?
Not to mention, Xue Wei was not a Primordial Beast. He was half a Sovereign Beast, a beast that could not be tamed anyway. So even if Lin Xiao did attempt it, he would fail. Unfortunately, the grand elder had never before heard about a Sovereign Beast.
Xue Wei was moving rapidly towards the grand elder. His body was flashing everywhere, leaving a trail of afterimages in the air. Although the body was massive, it was not difficult to move, neither was he slow or clumsy.
The grand elder dared not directly attack his soul as he feared that the soul would be destroyed. He was after all an Ordinary Saint, and if he accidentally killed Xue Wei, would he not lose this unique opportunity?
Instead, he materialized the spiritual energy in the air and made it take on the shape of swords. Fighting someone was different from sparring. Usually, when in a real fight, one would go for dispatching their opponent as fast as possible, which usually meant to aim for the soul. If they were sparring, they would aim for their opponent’s bodies instead.
Right now, the grand elder was treating the confrontation with Xue Wei as a sparring match. He was not being serious about fighting him; neither was the elder eager to kill him. All he wanted was to injure him enough to make him incapable of fighting back so that the taming would happen smoothly.
Xue Wei was relieved with this result. He felt a wave of thousands of blade come crashing down like a tidal wave towards him, threatening to drown him, but with a flick of his body, Xue Wei vanished from his location and appeared again twenty meters to the side, managing to avoid the majority of the spiritual energy blades.
Still, it was not enough to avoid them all. Blood started flowing from the scales that had been punctured, and the flesh beneath was showing ghastly gashes from the swords. The moment they came into contact with the flesh, they had detonated like small bombs, causing some serious injury to Xue Wei’s body.
He was surprised; he had not expected that a Saint was this powerful. It was clear his opponent was not using the full extent of his abilities, but even so, his attacks were devastatingly lethal. Although he had no intention of killing Xue Wei, if those swords had all landed on his body, then his body would have been completely torn apart.
Xue Wei felt a cold chill run down his draconic spine. He might have overestimated himself, but when he glanced behind, he saw that the two grand elders of the Gu and Yuan families had finally made an appearance.
From the look of them, it seemed they had also broken through to the Earth Saint rank; although it was clearly at a lower layer than the Baili grand elder as he had been at the rank for much longer and had better control over his strength.
The Baili grand elder had not noticed that the two other grand elders had appeared. All his mind could think about was pacifying Xue Wei, to get him tamed, and to claim all his strengthening methods for himself.
A manic smile appeared on the lips of the Baili grand elder, and he began laughing hysterically as if he had just imagined something glorious.
Xue Wei felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw this maddened expression, but he hardened his heart and advanced forward. He had various innate abilities that he had never tried before, and now was not the time to hold back.
So far, when in his dragon shape, he had mainly relied on the Azure Dragon Roar, an attack that reached a large number of people at once and caused them to be pressured by the Sovereign Beast’s aura.
Now he realized that this attack had its limits. Those with a strong soul were not as harshly affected as he wished. Back in Chang’an, he had seen people explode from the pressure, yet here in Yan Dalu, they had at most collapsed—and those who did collapse were all weaker than him. The rest had become disorientated but nothing more than that.
Azure Dragon Claws!
Xue Wei launched an attack that utilized his long and razor sharp claws to cut and slice at the Baili grand elder, but the attack was blocked by a protective layer of spiritual energy that the elder had formed in front of himself. It became clear that he would not even be able to puncture the elder’s protections. Xue Wei’s face darkened.
The Baili grand elder was not just a realm above him—Xue Wei was an Earth Knight while the Baili grand elder was an Earth Saint—it was akin to the difference between the Heavens and the Earth; it was simply not possible for him to retaliate.
Realizing this, Xue Wei changed his tactics. Since there was no use attacking back, he would just catch the Baili grand elder’s attention and try to distract him to buy time for his more capable allies to wound him. Unfortunately, if he could not touch the Baili grand elder even with his beast form, then his old plan of having them overwhelm him with sheer numbers was suicidal—his only hope now relied on the Gu and Yuan grand elders. Those two elderly men would be the only ones capable of matching up to the Baili grand elder.
Sensing his plans, the two elderly men also started moving towards the Baili grand elder. Their faces were solemn, and all their focus was aimed towards the man they hated from the bottom of their hearts.
Although killing was frowned upon in Yan Dalu, this man had been responsible for the crippling of many of their genius descendants. It had gotten to the point where the Gu family’s most talented genius in the younger generation was a woman, and the Yuan family’s most talented youngster was a naive young boy—two figures that the Baili family never expected to cause them problems later on as their personality or gender was in the way.
Ripples of energy were starting to pick up in the area where the grand elders were converging, so Xue Wei started retreating to the side. Although he was rather confident in himself, he was also realistic. Now, he understood the difference between himself and an Earth Saint; he would be squashed into a meat paste if he stayed in the middle of their fight.
Since he was no assistance in the fight between giants, Xue Wei’s body flashed like a snake in water as he rushed towards the constantly dwindling numbers of lesser Baili family members.
Everywhere he passed, blood flowed in rivers, bodies collapsed, and anguished cries sounded out. With the help of him and
his friends, every one of the weaker Baili family members were soon dead or knocked unconscious.
The members of the Gu and Yuan families gathered in the middle of the blood tainted square with Xue Wei and, looking at the battle in front of them where the Earth Saints were fighting.
“We gave all the Rainbow Pills to our grand elders,” Gu Bing’er said when she saw how Xue Wei’s eyes were focused on the battle, but it was near impossible to follow what was happening.
“Both our grand elders have been on the verge of breaking through to the Earth Saint levels for a long time, but they never had the final breakthrough—the bottleneck was simply too overwhelming.
“When they used the Rainbow Pills, some of the pills increased their Qi levels, and a single one increased their bodily condition, cleansed the marrow and clearing his meridians, but the rest increased their spiritual energy. These Rainbow Pills truly are wondrous.
“With the help of the Rainbow Pills, they managed to break into the Earth Saint rank. At the same time, they managed to solidify their cultivation base, so even though they are only at the second layer while the Baili grand elder is at the fourth layer, our Elders are working together, and causing a problem for the Baili grand elder.”
Having explained how the Gu and Yuan grand elders had gained such a rapid increase in strength, Gu Bing’er turned around and looked at the men and women she had brought with her.
“Gather the Baili men in one corner of the courtyard and our men and women in another. We deserve to give them a proper burial!
“Those Baili men and guards who have been knocked unconscious, kill them all!”
Gu Bing’er understood the idea of uprooting the weed before it could sprout new problems. If they allowed someone to survive, was it not the same as asking for trouble later on? If they did not later seek revenge, then that was fortunate—but it was smarter to assume the worst.
Sensing the hesitation of her men and women, Gu Bing’er’s eyes turned cold. “They wanted to kill us all. If you let them live, who is to say they will not try again later? Re-releasing a captured tiger into the mountain will only hurt yourself in the future!”
