Chapter 591 - Violent Night Battle
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The few remaining survivors reacted quickly. With a loud roar, they raised up their blades and pounced towards Ling Tian with a crazed madness. Ling Tian's gaze swept past these survivors and realized that all of them had martial arts no weaker than his Blood Iron Warriors. With a hearty laugh, he raised his sword to receive their attacks.
Right at the moment when Ling Tian charged forward, Li Xue's 'man and sword as one' splendor flashed past Ling Tian's body and landed right behind Ling Tian, panting heavily with her face pale.
Li Xue's inner qi was naturally far purer than others but when compared to Ling Tian she was still lacking. After such a long period of exhaustion, especially with her opponents not being weak, she would naturally exhaust a large amount of inner qi! Even with Ling Tian's profound cultivation, he was also nearing his limits not to mention the slightly inferior Li Xue. Even though she was protected by her 'man and sword as one', such a level of exhaustion was something which she could not endure.
If not for the fact that she held the treasured Black Iron Sword in her hands, she might not have been able to fight until the very end!
Ling Tian swept his sword out and the few remaining survivors who had just pounced forward were already reduced into a puddle of blood. Li Xue shut her eyes in meditation and was well guarded by Ling Tian.
With the two of them killing two paths of blood out, the 500 Above Heavens experts had immediately lost 200 of their comrades! There wasn't a single individual who was only injured. Being victims of Ling Tian and Li Xue's man and sword as one, there wouldn't be any casualties but only fatalities. Furthermore, they would all die without a complete corpse!
The remaining men gathered together with rage all over their faces. They glared at the man and woman before them, hating the fact that they could not swallow the two individuals before them alive.
"You are Ling Tian?!" A white-robed elder clenched his teeth and glared at Ling Tian with viciousness.
"It is this young noble indeed." Ling Tian let out a carefree laugh and replied politely, "All of you have traveled a long distance before arriving at Sky Bearing. Ling Tian is here to act as a good host."
"Act as a good host?" A burly man cursed, "This daddy will f**k your ancestors! What a bullsh*t host! You d*mned b*st*rd who deserves to be sliced into a thousand pieces!"
Ling Tian's eyes turned cold and he sneered, "You guys indeed live up to having a thousand years of history. The only thing you guys inherited is a mouth full of curses. Not bad indeed."
The burly man's face turned purple and he sneered in response, "Ling Tian, you are only a profligate young noble from some third-grade family and you actually dare to spout such words of arrogance? Apart from ambushing us from behind, what other abilities do you guys have?!"
Ling Tian did not get angry but smiled instead, "This young noble is no longer a profligate brat anymore and the world will naturally have its assessment of me. On the contrary, there will always be some with an inflated ego indulging in their glory from a thousand years ago. I wonder who is the foolishly conceited frog in the well. I believe that the world will also have its assessment about that."
Just when that burly man wanted to retort, the white-robed man beside him scolded, "Shut up! Back down now!" The Above Heavens troops quickly split themselves into five groups with an elder leading each group glaring at Ling Tian with hatred in their eyes.
Tens of torches were lit up at the same time.
Li Xue was right behind Ling Tian, seated cross-legged without a single care in the world. She was silently circulating her inner qi to quickly replenish her exhaustion as though the remaining three hundred enemies did not exist.
Despite all of them being filled with the urge to tear the man and woman before their eyes into shreds, not a single one of them dared to make a move. The situation was extremely tense and on the verge of exploding at any moment.
Ling Tian looked at the five leaders coldly and said with an amiable voice, "What's the matter! There are actually five leaders? Haha, with only three hundred men left, are so many leaders useful? In case you guys end up fighting for merits because you guys aren't split up nicely, let me give all of you a hand. I believe that as long as another two to three of you are gone, there wouldn't be any more arguments!"
All of their faces changed and a bearded old man took a step forward, "Ling Tian, you are also someone with status. Do you only know how to wag your tongue before a battle?"
Ling Tian burst out laughing, "Should I not wag my tongue? When I was swinging around my blade just now, where were the five of you hiding at? Only after I killed two blood paths out and slaughtered about 200 of your subordinates did you guys appear without a single injury. You guys truly have extremely profound martial arts. I am truly in admiration of such martially skilled leaders!"
The five elders in the lead flushed completely red. With the two invincible sword lights charging at them like a speeding train, just brushing past the sword lights would mean their definite doom. So what if their cultivations were profound? That sword light was the epitome of sword arts, the state of man and sword as one! Thus, all of them fled as quickly as they could with the fastest movement technique that they could muster. Now that Ling Tian had openly criticized them for their fear of death, be it whether or not they were forced by circumstances, they felt extremely embarrassed.
The bearded elder in the middle roared, "Ling Tian! Regardless of whether or not both our families are enemies, you should come at us in the open. How is ambushing us in such a despicable manner the actions of a hero! Aren't you afraid of tarnishing your name?"
Ling Tian's eyes narrowed, "Who are you?"
"The old man is the vice sect head of Above Heavens, Meng LingXiao!" The bearded elder glared at Ling Tian and said proudly, "We are martial artists from the pugilistic world and our grudges should be settled by the rules of the pugilistic world. Ling Tian, you are the direct descendant of a Great Family on the continent. Aren't you afraid of becoming a laughing stock in the world by ambushing us in such a manner?"
Ling Tian sneered, "You are indeed someone from a thousand-year-old sect. Even without a reason, you are actually able to quibble with the facts. Didn't the lot of you just say that my Ling Family is a third-rate family and that I am a profligate brat? Why are you talking about the rules of the pugilistic world now?! You really don't know what shame is! Furthermore, we are currently fighting for the hegemony of the world. What is the point of talking about the rules of the pugilistic world? What a joke! What kind of grudges do I have with your Above Heavens? Ridiculous."
The bearded man roared in exasperation, "So you think that you can massacre the innocent with the excuse of fighting for hegemony in the world?"
"The winner is king while the losers will become thieves! This logic holds true from the ancient times until now." Ling Tian smiled with mockery, "Massacring the innocent? Are any of you innocent? What a joke! If I allow all of you to enter Sky Bearing, what will all of you do? At that time, the ones to be massacred will probably be the citizens of my Sky Bearing Empire! D*mmit, only you guys are allowed to do evil but you can't accept it when others kill you? Old Man, you already have a full beard and should be sixty at the very least, right? Have you lived all of those years for nothing? Is this the bearing of a thousand-year-old sect?"
The bearded man was angered to the point his body was trembling all over. With his breathing heavy, he glared at Ling Tian with a deathly expression and enunciated word by word slowly, "Good! Good! Good! If that's the case, then don't blame this old man for being vicious!" He then took a step back and roared, "Everyone from my Above Heavens is to go all-out to kill even at the cost of your lives! Tear this little b*st*rd into shreds and take revenge for our brothers!"
"Revenge!"
"Revenge!" The 300 burly men roared in unison and their eyes had all flushed red!
The only reason why the bearded elder would drag the matter on for so long was so that his terrified subordinates could regain their cool and unleash their strongest battle force. Now that his objective had been met, even if Ling Tian didn't provoke him, he would never let Ling Tian go. Just like what Ling Tian had said, their objective for traveling to Sky Bearing was to take revenge. If they were to really enter Sky Bearing, the things that they would do would definitely be far worse than Ling Tian.
With Ling Tian's wisdom, how could he not tell what the bearded man was planning? However, if the bearded man wanted to stall for time, Ling Tian was extremely happy to play along with him. After all, Li Xue had also exhausted a great deal of inner qi previously and had yet to fully recover. If the other party charged forward without considering the consequences, then it would truly be troublesome for Ling Tian. Besides that, he had also agreed to meet up with Ling Jian here and the appointed time was past but Ling Jian was not here yet. There might have been some changes and so Ling Tian needed to delay some time for both Ling Jian and Li Xue.
Behind him, Li Xue gradually stood up and looked at the 300 warriors in front of her as though they were 300 corpses. She was not injured at all but had only overly exhausted her inner qi. After circulating her inner qi, she had mostly recovered already. While she wouldn't be able to unleash her 'man and sword as one' again, an ordinary fight wouldn't pose a problem for her.
"Kill!" A well-built knight waved his spear and led fifty to sixty men to charge at Ling Tian. The moment he charged forward, a chain reaction was ignited and the others rushed forward to surround the two of them as well.
"You go left and I go right. Go all-out to kill, there isn't a need to show any mercy." Ling Tian instructed in a low voice. Li Xue nodded her head and her figure drifted out while unleashing her Divine Ice Formula at full force!"
The surrounding hundred feet around Li Xue was immediately assaulted by a bone-piercing chill. With the sudden change of temperature, a large fog spread out from with Li Xue at the center!
"Ah?!"
"Who? Ah…" Just when both parties were prepared to take action, miserable groans were heard one after another. Three figures like dragons split up into three different directions while unleashing a massacre. A boorish voice could then be heard laughing, "Haha! I can finally kill to my heart's content!"
Ye QingChen and the white-robed scholar held onto a gleaming sword each and following closely behind them were two rows of men collapsing on the ground.
"People from Beyond Heavens?!" The bearded elder was angry to the point that his nose was crooked. He never expected that when facing the two asuras before them, they would actually be stabbed in the back by their thousand-year-old enemies.
"Third junior brother, fourth junior brother, and ninth junior brother, quickly take men to block the three of them. Kill them without mercy! Don't let them break our formation."
The three leaders acknowledged those orders and their figures shot out like shooting stars.
"Kill without mercy? Meng LingXiao, after not seeing you for twenty over years, your martial arts haven't improved by much but your ego has truly been inflated greatly!" The white-robed scholar replied without a tinge of anger in his voice and a bloody flower was created with a single stab of his sword, "With just all of you? You must be dreaming. This old man is only here to warm my body up."
"Bai ZhenTing you old fogey!" the bearded man cursed in anger.
"Bai ZhenTing? What a good name." Ling Tian almost burst out laughing, "No wonder he wasn't willing to mention his own name. I see."
Hearing Ling Tian's muttering to himself, Li Xue was curious. With a bright sword light, she landed beside him and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"Bai ZhenTing ah…" Ling Tian said with a mischievous smile, "White (Bai), real (Zhen) and straight (Ting). Hehehe, his name truly makes my blood boil!"
"Pervert!" Li Xue exclaimed before charging out again with her face completely flushed red. This time, she did not turn around again as she cursed, All men in the world only know how to think with the lower half of their body. A pretty majestic name had been completely twisted to become a dirty novel!
"Bai ZhenTing… pervert…" Ling Tian had a weird smile on his face as he muttered, "It is truly a match made in heavens."
More than ten burly men charged to Ling Tian's side and were completely puzzled. It wouldn't be much if this brat didn't bother avoiding them at all, but why did he have such a weird smile on his face?
Ling Tian finally snapped out of his daze and sped forward with his Heaven Splitter. Two of the burly men felt the weight in their hands lighten and their blades were reduced to scrap metal. They then felt a tinge of cold in their necks and their heads were lopped off. As for Ling Tian, he was already unleashing a massacre behind the two of them!
A white figure flashed past and Meng LingXiao landed in front of Ling Tian with seven to eight sword shadows smashing down on him. Ling Tian did not even attempt to avoid the sword and welcomed it with his sword. With a loud clang, Ling Tian's figure shook and he took half a step back. At the same time, he waved his sword and sliced off the two front legs of a horse. Stabbing out, he then killed the knight who was on the horse.
Meng LingXiao was shaken by the shock of the clash and he made a somersault in mid-air before stabbing down with a brilliant splendor.
From the sword strike which he exchanged with Meng LingXiao, Ling Tian knew that the sword in the hands of this old man wasn't an ordinary item. Furthermore, with the profound inner qi of Meng LingXiao, it was very likely that Meng LingXiao would be able to exchange a few blows with him. It wouldn't be anything if this was during an ordinary period, but with Ling Tian facing enemies from all directions and him being the strongest fighter on his side, if he were to be tangled up with Meng LingXiao, it wouldn't be good for the overall situation.
His body shrunk back slightly and he dodged to the right before weaving back into the ranks of the enemy. One after another, the horses collapsed onto the ground and Ling Tian's figure would never stop. He would go to the left sometimes and the right sometimes. He would advance and retreat without any fixed rhythm and would target the places where the number of enemies would be the most. Every time his figure weaved through the ranks of the enemies, a couple of lives would be wiped out.
Meng LingXiao let out a series of roars and followed closely behind Ling Tian but he would always be a short distance away from Ling Tian. In a fit of rage, he could only let out a series of furious roars of desperation. However, Ling Tian could not be bothered about Meng LingXiao at all and since he was surrounded by enemies all around, he would just kill to his heart's content. However, Meng LingXiao could not do that. Everyone around him was either the disciple of his sect or his loyal subordinates. How could he possibly go all out like Ling Tian without any restraint? As such, the many experts of Above Heavens had become the greatest obstruction to Meng LingXiao's speed! In fact, this was also Ling Tian's objective. Not only would he be able to tangle with the strongest fighter of his enemy to weaken the pressure on his side, he would also be able to frustrate his enemy. If not, how would it be possible for Meng LingXiao to even follow after Ling Tian with Ling Tian's speed?
On the other side, Li Xue was already completely surrounded in fog and the temperature surrounding her was still declining rapidly. Ye QingChen who was originally opposite Li Xue had already changed directions and joined forces with the white-robed scholar, Bai ZhenTing.
Ye QingChen was no fool. After Li Xue unleashed her white fog, the whole region had turned into her personal domain. Regardless of how high his martial arts was, he would be blinded after entering the fog. Ye QingChen wasn't willing to go in and blind himself, even if he was a fortune teller.
In the thick fog, miserable groans sounded one after another without a single pause in between them! It could be seen just how quickly the people inside were being massacred. Ye QingChen, who could clearly hear what was going on inside, was covered all over with goosebumps. Who would have imagined that the frail and delicate looking lady beside Ling Tian would actually be such a vicious character who was completely numb to killing?
Ye QingChen asked himself, even if he was facing a herd of pigs, would he be able to kill as swiftly as the lass before him? Furthermore, she was killing a bunch of Above Heavens experts! He then looked over at Ling Tian and muttered to himself, "Birds of a feather flock together indeed. Ling Tian is indeed a perverse individual who would find someone like her to be his wife."
As for the woodcutter, he held a shiny axe in his hands which was the size of half a door. The moment he swung his axe, he was like a mini thousand-bladed chariot. He went left and right and roared out loudly with the intoxication of battle. Of the three Beyond Heavens individuals, he was the one with the most powerful killing force. Although he couldn't be compared to Ling Tian or Li Xue, the number of those who perished under his hands was also a respectable figure. At this moment, there were at least thirty who had died in his hands.
From far off, a black-robed figure sped forward like a speeding arrow. As this speeding figure heard the battle coming from afar, his figure sped up even further and his calm appearance gradually became laced with a cold killing intent. The sword by his waist also let out a shrill sound that was filled with dense killing intent! It was as though his sword had a spirit of its own and wanted to join in the massacre.
Ling Tian burst out into laughter and began teasing Meng LingXiao to provoke him. At the same time, his movement techniques were filled with endless variation. Whenever Meng LingXiao was about to catch up to him, he would suddenly dodge to the side. With one chasing and another escaping, countless individuals died under Ling Tian's sword.
"Ling Tian, stop for this old man if you are a man. This old man will have a one-on-one battle to the death with you!" Meng LingXiao was angered to the point his innards were on fire! His original bearing and elegance had completely disappeared as his teeth were clenched and his eyes were bloodshot. The other party was leading him in a cat and mouse chase but he was always a step behind. At the same time, he had to watch as his sect disciples were killed under Ling Tian's hands and turned into cold corpses. Such a feeling was definitely a horrible one.
"Forget it, old man. I am facing 300 of you alone but you still cannot gain the upper hand. You still want to fight me one on one? Did you take the wrong medicine today? As for whether or not I am a man, do you think you can make the final decision? Do you think that you are a peerless beauty?!" Ling Tian retorted and his figure flashed past five feet in front of Meng LingXiao. Sending out a palm strike, he crushed a head like it was a watermelon. The moment blood sprayed out in all directions, Ling Tian had even arrogantly shaken his ass in Meng LingXiao's direction.
"Ling Tian! You despicable coward! You b*st*rd!" Meng LingXiao was angered to the point he puked blood and his eyes almost fell out from their sockets. "Come at this daddy if you have the guts. You only know how to attack the weaker younger generation! You… can you even be considered to be the ruler of a region?"
Ling Tian happily waved his sword before turning behind to look at Meng LingXiao, "Younger generation? Old man, you better be clear about something. All of them seem to be at least ten to twenty years older than me. This young noble has to face them alone and this young noble is now the one bullying the younger generation? The words of someone from the thousand-year-old Above Heavens is interesting indeed. No wonder you are able to live until you have a full beard on your face. You are truly an optimistic fellow who likes to joke. With you always being in such a good mood, it would be difficult for you to not lead a long life."
Ling Tian had a look of admiration as he said to Meng LingXiao while blinking his eyes, "Do you agree? Old fogey? However, it wouldn't be good for you to live for too long either. What a waste of food. This young noble shall do some good and send you back to your old home!" As he said that, he laughed out loud and his figure darted away, dodging the dozen of palm strikes that Meng LingXiao had just sent out.
Meng LingXiao's face flushed red and with a loud shout, his figure shot up to the sky. Spinning around in the air, a brilliant ball of sword light was formed. With a lagging trail of sword light behind him, Meng LingXiao charged forward at Ling Tian with an unstoppable momentum.
"What the f**k! Man and sword as one? You also know how to do that?" Ling Tian's words angered Meng LingXiao to the point he almost fell from the air.
What does it mean by 'you also know how to do that'? Should I not know? Could it be that you are the only one in the world who is allowed to know man and sword as one?
"Oh my goodness." Ling Tian stuck out his tongue and sped up even further. He charged forward in an S-shaped pattern, and with every step that he took he would hide behind an Above Heavens disciple. He would then use his hands to push them, his shoulders to shove them, or nudge them with his ass, sending all the Above Heavens disciples flying into the incoming sword light like a moth flying into the flame of a candle.
Meng LingXiao, who was in the sword light, clenched his teeth and regardless of the number of Above Heavens who were reduced to mincemeat when they crashed into his sword light, he wasn't willing to stop.
He knew that Ling Tian wanted to make use of such a method to exhaust him or make him stop his attack. However, he had already steeled his heart. With the large exhaustion of the 'man and sword as one' skill, Meng LingXiao would only be able to unleash it once. If he were to unleash it a second time, he would end up like a lamp out of fuel and would die on the spot.
Thus, even at the expense of his sect disciple's injuries, he would take Ling Tian down with this strike of his! At this moment, Meng LingXiao hated Ling Tian to the bones!
He would never rest until he had killed Ling Tian.
However, this little brat was like a slippery eel. Despite having unparalleled martial arts, Ling Tian would only avoid the battle and set his sights on his disciples. This was unforgivable! Ling Tian's speed was obviously only a little bit faster than his, but even after he unleashed his man and sword as one and had his speed doubled, he was still slightly slower than Ling Tian. How was this possible?! He didn't know that Ling Tian had not unleashed his full speed but had purposely played him like a fool!
"Haha… Meng LingXiao, sect master Meng, truly has divine martial arts. You are able to kill your own disciples as though you are dicing up vegetables! Ling Tian is truly filled with admiration. It turns out that the sword of Above Heavens is trained with the blood of their own sect members! It is a thousand-year wonder indeed! Hahahaha." Ling Tian's loud laughter could be heard and he sent out another three kicks to send three disciples towards Meng LingXiao.
As everyone in the battle heard Ling Tian's maniacal laughter, they all turned around to take a look, only to see three Above Heavens experts being reduced to mush under Meng LingXiao's sword light.