Chapter 569 - Forest Ambush
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
Ling Tian muttered irresolutely, "We can't compare like this. While Yu ManLou's martial arts are indeed deep and profound, they are also extremely crafty. Not only is his cultivation above Li Xue and mine's, he probably practices another sort of demonic martial arts which has a high strength and killing power! However, what I'm referring to is not just purely martial skills, but rather referring to people who are not afraid to get assassinated. In this point, only Justice who has reached the epitome of martial arts is unafraid of any sort of assassination attempts that might come his way! Yu ManLou might possess great martial strength but he is unable to reach the same state as Justice. However, if you were to try to assassinate him, even with careful planning you're likely to be the one buried instead! This is also the reason why I'm not allowing you to do so, understand? In contrast, Li Xue has another advantage compared to Yu ManLou that allows her to be unafraid of assassinations while he might be."
"What sort of advantage?" Ling Jian pressed on. He found it impossible to believe that the little lass that looked like some frail chick could actually possess martial skill to this extent!
Ling Tian had a meaningful smile on his face as he slowly said, "She has two millennia worth of experience that Yu ManLou does not have, maybe more." Finishing this weird sentence which had no head nor tail, Ling Tian laughed at Ling Jian's puzzled expression, flashing away in an instant.
"Extra two millennia of experience?! What does he mean? She's not even as old as me, what more experience?" Ling Jian shook his head, repeating Ling Tian's sentence, before melding into the darkness with a mind full of doubts.
Right now, Wang Bo, or Great Noble Wang, had a belly full of repressed anger.
Having fought to be able to welcome the pinnacle experts from the Above Heavens, furthermore a peak expert said only to exist in legends, this Great Noble Wang had long ago planned and schemed in his heart how to utilize the hard work that he had contributed to his family to be able to be accepted under the master's tutelage. Let's not talk just about cultivating, but allowing him to go out and snatch a few ladies to play with in the future should be as easy as waving a hand, right? Right now, his body constitution wouldn't even allow him to carry a bucket of water without needing to rest for half a day. He had heard that an expert could just transfer ten years worth of cultivation to you as though they were giving out chump change, but this would allow him to become a first-rate expert!
'Why was Ling Tian so outstanding? Wasn't it because he paid respects to a good teacher? That expert must have passed a lot of cultivation to Ling Tian. If not, he would still be like Daddy Wang here, a profligate! So long as I, Wang Bo, manage to cling on to the leg of a good teacher, would I still lose out to Ling Tian in any way?'
His own family had gone through years of fear and difficulty, helping the Xiao Family so much. To ask such a thing should not be too overwhelming, right?
To fulfill this beautiful dream of his, the young noble Wang Bo had been pestering his father non-stop to allow him to undertake this task on his own. He even swore a military vow that he would complete his task perfectly. Wang TaiBo, upon seeing his son's incessant pestering, finally relented in a helpless manner.
However, the 200 kilometers they traveled on horseback already filled this young noble Wang with so much pain that he was beginning to regret it. The bleak and miserable conditions of eating and sleeping in the wilds filled this young noble with much bitterness. However, when young noble Wang finally met with the fabled expert from the Above Heavens, his heart was totally frozen.
That Above Heavens leader and top expert, Meng RuoYun, had stared at our Young Noble Wang as though he was nothing more than a turd or a heap of rubbish. He didn't even bother to speak with him, let alone give him the opportunity to get into his good graces. The rest naturally followed in the lead of their Grand Elder Meng and treated Wang Bo like a slave.
This made the originally proud and lofty, arrogant and domineering Wang Bo to have a belly full of anger! This daddy here must be really cheap to you, having run out here tens of kilometers just to fetch you, and you actually treat me like so! If not for this daddy and his father, who would help you pieces of trash successfully get past the Sky Bearing checkpoints to this place?! F**k! A bunch of ungrateful trash! What bullsh*t!
On the way back, Wang Bo constantly pulled his hair, even forgetting about the matter of paying respects to a teacher. His only wish was to settle this bunch of mongrels before rushing back home, as his poor legs were already screaming in pain now. Dammit, he didn't even have a chance to make out yet with the little beauty he had just snatched, but how was he going to do anything in this condition?
He could already see the edges of the forest in front of him. Just a little more, and it would be his followers… Even if the number wasn't large, at least they all listened to him. Wang Bo spat out a mouth of turbid air, looking at the line of troops snaking behind him as he smiled to himself. When he had gathered all the men under him, he would then wave good riddance to this group of riff-raff. What sort of people did they think they were?!
As he hatefully scolded inside himself, he respectfully led one of the three great experts of Above Heaven, Meng RuoYun, into the forest.
In order to ensure that their sneak attack would be a success this time, the Above Heavens sect really paid out in blood. Not only did they employ the Xiao Family's secret troops, 3000 of the Violent Dragon Guardians, but they also brought out twelve inner disciples from their sect, as well as a hundred outer sect disciples! Other than those who were deployed to Bright Jade City, this group of people comprised about half of their total fighting force, and their prowess was not to be underestimated. From the words of the Sect Master Meng PoTian, other than the Yu Family inside the Heavenly Star Continent, there was no other force that couldn't be defeated within two hours. As such, it was a guaranteed success against the Sky Bearing's Ling Family!
The troop of men and horses slowly pierced into the forest, and Wang Bo estimated that in another few hundred meters they would reach the clearing designated by their men. That large clearing should be enough for this group of people to pitch their tents, right? Then his mission would also be considered completed and he would bolt at the first chance, going back to Sky Bearing to play.
Walking at the very front was Meng RuoYun, his white robes billowing around him as he carried this elegant demeanor, walking into the forest like an otherworldly immortal. His eyes were half closed, occasionally opening to survey his surroundings. The group consisting of over a thousand tracked into the forest in perfect order.
"Stop! Everyone stop moving!" Suddenly, Meng RuoYun felt something amiss. This was a warrior's intuition. How was it that, even after so many people had entered the forest, they had not frightened off any birds along the way? This was out of common sense. Heightening his awareness, Meng RuoYun's divine sense immediately became extremely cautious!
"This forest is a little strange! Why is it reeking of blood? What sort of bloody smell is this? Sniffing repeatedly, Meng RuoYun suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed Wang Bo's neck, his expression turning stern. "Kid, what sort of mischief are you up to?!" He did not even put the noble imperial tutor Wang in his heart, as though he was the Xiao Family's guard dog. In his eyes, maybe they weren't even akin to dogs!
Wang Bo had long been used to living a carefree life, so how would he understand what the smell meant? He stared blankly, but before he had the chance to answer, there came the sound of wind whooshing. From all directions the vines on the trees shot out huge arrows, with the arrowheads on them having been sharpened to the point they resembled arrows used by the Gods and Devils of the Ninth Heavens. In that instant they skewered through the group of Above Heavens troops. The arrow shafts, which were in fact logs, were no light twigs, and if rammed into someone at that speed would certianly result in said person ending up with broken bones. A direct hit meant death, and even a graze would cause injuries! Every arrow's momentum did not stop even after piercing through the first person, continuing to pierce through person after person behind like a kebab!
Simultaneously, screams of misery filled the entire forest and fresh blood inundated the entire area, turning it into a scene from hell. Limbs and organs flew all over the place and the horses stampeded around in a panic. Just the first round of 'arrows' already caused three to four hundred casualties!
The offensive brought about by the huge logs had yet to end when 'sou sou' sounds were heard as the sky was blanketed by a multitude of arrows! The life-reaping arrows heartlessly pierced into the bodies and hearts of the troops present, and under the frantic stampede of everyone scrambling to run away, a grayish fog was stirred up from the ground.
Putong Putong… Those lucky ones who survived the assault from the huge logs now mysteriously fell on the ground after breathing in the fog! It was as though their legs had turned into jelly…
"Everyone is to hold their breath! This fog is a little strange!" Meng RuoYun held onto Wang Bo's skinny body as he twirled it around like a windmill, using him as a shield. In seconds, our young noble Wang had sadly turned into a human-sized porcupine! The rain of arrows however ceaselessly poured down, and the enemies hidden within the darkness had yet to reveal themselves, yet the Above Heavens had already suffered losses of near a third!
Meng RuoYun let out a long shout, his figure lifting off the ground as he threw away his human shield. His right hand shook and a resplendent sword appeared in his hand. At the same time, a few others from the Above Heavens Sect also followed his actions, rising from the ground. While the arrows were sharp, they couldn't do much harm to someone of Meng RuoYun's level.
Since there was a poison fog on the ground, then they could only choose to perch in the trees in order to avoid the land and air pincer attack. This thought appeared in everyone's minds and they immediately flew up without any discussion.
The sounds of metal clashing sounded all over as the Above Heavens Sect pulled out their swords and deflected the arrows headed towards them. The other hand reached towards the nearest sturdy branch on the trees above them. So long as they were to pull themselves up, then they would be able to get out of their current scenario!