Two half-step Foundation Establishment! Even if it was Xu Yangyi, his complexion still grew austere. As for all the Xingtian Legion’s personnel, they came behind him. However, there was no sight of Zhan Twelve.

Two old men, appearing to soon enter the earth in eternal rest, flickered into existence at Nangong Xiaoran’s back. Unexpectedly, they were both dressed in a scholar’s changpao, one in black and one in white. The black changpao was embroidered with the picture of a white bird. The white changpao was stitched with the picture of a fierce black dog.

[1]

The faces of these two men were filled with wrinkles, and their hands were covered inside their sleeves. Their heads were hung low, and white hair loosely draped over their shoulders. Their eyes were so squinted that nothing could be seen, and they resembled already-buried corpses. And that was overlooking that they were still gasping for air.

“One…” Amidst his fluttering white hair, Qiao Wu slowly lifted up his corpse-like skull. Unburdened by a sliver of emotion, he looked towards Quan Ningyue and then turned to Mao Ba’er. “Two…”

“Three…” “Four…” Finally, Quan Liu brushed an eye over the unconscious Fang Cheng. “Five…”

“Five insects…” Quan Liu laughed coldly. “This Throne will send you all on your way.”

“This Throne?” Quan Ningyue burst into loud laughter. “You haven’t entered Foundation Establishment yet. I’m afraid that both of you won’t be able to step into this realm for your entire lives! But you dare falsely claim yourself as ‘This Throne’?”

Qiao Wu’s smile became even icier. “A man’s words are sincere as death approaches… This old man’s point of view isn’t wholly correct. In that case…”

“Allow This Throne to send you all off on a journey…” Quan Liu and him were like twins. Unexpectedly… both of them hung in the air by over a dozen meters!

This wasn’t the flight of Foundation Establishment Seniors, however, half-step Foundation Establishment already possessed some abilities of the Foundation Establishment realm. For example, partial short-distance flight. Another example… was the near end of physique arts and the complete use of spiritual force attacks!

“Commander, you go handle that eagle-headed guy.” Quan Ningyue gritted her teeth. “Leave them… to us!”

Xu Yangyi looked at the solemn-faced Quan Ningyue and then to Mao Ba’er, Li Zongyuan, and Zhao Wuye at the side. He said heavily, “Can you guys stop two half-step Foundation Establishment?”

“As much as we can…” Mao Ba’er used his paw to dig at the ground somewhat gloomily. “Such a hard and thankless task… How much cash is the damn cultivation equipment going to cost me alone?! You’re even willing to make an adorable embodiment of pikachu like me transform into mewtwo…”

[2]

Zhao Wuye’s expression was somewhat unnatural, but he also wasn’t an ordinary cultivator. Would an ordinary cultivator risk doing such a crazy thing like excavate a path to Danxia Temple? After his face changed several times, he clenched his teeth. “Since it’s come to this step… this old man will naturally risky his life and accompany the good sir… but after we get out…”

“In the next medicinal pill auction, I will choose the Zhao Clan.” Before Zhao Wuye’s voice even fell, Xu Yangyi replied indifferently.

Zhao Wuye’s gaze flashed. For these words… even if he was engaging in arcane combat with a half-step Foundation Establishment, what of it?

“Then I’ll have to ask everyone to do so.” Xu Yangyi deeply cupped his hands, and his gaze firmly nailed into Nangong Xiaoran.

“It seems… you still don’t understand the power of half-step Foundation Establishment very well…” Nangong Xiaoran jeered sinisterly. “Nevermind it… If you can scurry over here I’ll give you a chance to fight me.” 

Xu Yangyi laughed and said nothing. His silhouette had already transformed into an afterimage, cloaked in black flames that filled the sky. Without a modicum of hesitation, he leapt up, waved his blade, and slashed down at Nangong Xiaoran.

“You have good courage, young fellow,” Qiao Wu said faintly, “It’s a pity that you’re too young and inexperienced.” 

His hand suddenly flashed with drizzly azure light. Following a cry of “go”, a cerulean ray of spirit light fired straight in front of Xu Yangyi like lightning!

This was the greatest difference between Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation! The external release of qi! Upon arriving at Foundation Establishment, physique arts were no longer required. With the rise of a hand or the lift of a foot, a divine ability would leave the body and wound enemies. If a comparison had to be insisted on, it was the difference between a supreme swordsman and a first-rate swordsman. As the first-rate swordsman was still constrained by sword arts, the supreme swordsman was already using sword qi!

Boom!

 The spirit light didn’t strike Xu Yangyi’s body, and he didn’t even stop at all as a result. In this time, he needed to believe in his legionnaires. 

A spinning Eight Trigrams plate continuously vibrated in the air and resisted the spiritual light. Zhao Wuye’s complexion was ashen, and both of his hands hastily formed seals. In the sky, the Eight Trigrams plate then launched an endless amount of white light. At the same time, he shouted, “GO!”

“Trifling skill.” Qiao Wu ridiculed as he glanced at the Eight Trigrams plate, and his finger softly tapped. “Break!”

BOOM!

 The entire Eight Trigrams plate answered and broke, yet in the next second, Qiao Wu’s smile froze up by a fraction. This was because… following the Eight Trigrams plate’s fracture, an expanse of misty fog sprinkled down between him, Zhao Wuye, and Mao Ba’er. It took the shape of a white formation.

The formation extended rather swiftly. At the beginning, it was a mere dot, but immediately, it became a domain! Several tens of meters… A hundred meters… Even upon reaching over 400 meters it still didn’t stop!

Sister Nine, who was manipulating her corpse puppet to attack Yi Old Five, suddenly felt the side of her foot grow chilly. She quickly vaulted back and looked on in astonishment at the Xingtian Legion. “That’s…” Her gaze shimmered. “The Nangong Clan’s two old dogs?”

The sword arts that Xuan Chengzi was assaulting Ye Old Four with seemed to quickly churn out sword after sword. At the same time, the qi wave caused him and Fahui to both happen to look over, and he said incredulously, “Using essence blood to extend an Imprisonment Formation?”

“This formation… Unless the formation controller takes the initiative to open it, no one will be able to get out from the inside… It can be said to be a deadly wrestling arena…” Fahui’s gaze faintly stirred. “It seems… this benefactor wants to divide himself from the Nangong Clan by life and death…”

Qiao Wu’s gaze flickered, and he probingly flicked out a streak of qi light. However, the same time that this spiritual light touched the formation’s edge, it immediately disappeared. Eventually, his expression completely iced over, and he watched Zhao Wuye like he was looking at a dead man. “Since you want to die, I’ll help you succeed.”

The formation was a full 600 meters in size. Not waiting for him to finish speaking, a strange growling noise quietly entered Qiao Wu’s ear all of a sudden.

Mao Ba’er’s entire body was swiftly magnifying in size. As he swelled, he roared viciously, “PI—KA—CHU—EVOLVE!!!”

Several seconds later, a giant three-headed dog, thirty to forty meters in size, shockingly emerged. A hair-raising sulfuric smell gushed out from the three dog heads. The fur all over its entire body carried raging flames!

Qiao Wu’s expression finally revealed traces of solemnity. However, not waiting for him to finish lamenting, he surprisingly discovered another considerable spiritual force now erupting!

“Hundred Soldier Hall…” Zhao Wuye’s belly bulged like he was inflated with air, and even his eyes started to become bloodshot. He bellowed loudly, “Thousand Mountain Snow!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

 From his mouth, countless flying blades of white qi shot towards Qiao Wu like raindrops. Simultaneously, Mao Ba’er turned to the sky and let loose a long howl. His three heads unexpectedly spouted out flame columns that were over a dozen meters long! In concert, these flames burned towards Qiao Wu!

All of this took a while to explain, but in fact didn’t exceed ten-plus seconds. Xu Yangyi took everything into his eyes and his speed increased dramatically! He understood very well that his legionnaires and Zhao Wuye were giving their all to grant him this stalling time!

At most… he had no more than sixty seconds to slay Nangong Xiaoran! Otherwise, under the pressure of half-step Foundation Establishment, the others wouldn’t last a minute!

“You want to leave?” At the same time, Quan Liu’s sneer resonated at the border of his ear. “Stay!

His left hand faintly beckoned, and a dazzling golden spirit-cloud emerged in his hand. Soon after, it transformed into countless qi needles, swiftly firing at Xu Yangyi!

Xu Yangyi still didn’t halt. Nangong Xiaoran arrogantly stood in his original position with his arms crossed. With two half-step Foundation Establishment present, Xu Yangyi didn’t have the ghost of a chance in reaching him. 

The latter wanted to just rely on the insignificant troops of the Xingtian Legion, feeble shrimp soldiers and puny crab generals?

[3]

Two middle Qi Condensation and two demons still at the initial stage. Their strength was so dreadfully low, yet they tried to stand before him in vain? Nangong Xiaoran didn’t see, but Li Zongyuan now started to completely expand like a balloon. His entire face sprouted warts, and his mass had long since inflated up to around four to five meters. As for Quan Ningyue, she had jumped onto his back at some unknown time!

Even more strangely, both of Quan Ningyue’s hands had fully split apart into segments. She hadn’t been dismembered by someone, but it was rather due to her internals opening! The inside was jam-packed… with ring after ring of talismans personally carved by a grand artificer, originating from the late Foundation Establishment Grandmaster Gao Muya!

In order to save her life from the Nine Yin Extremes bloodline, Gao Muya had to exchange her entire body’s meridians! Rather than saying Quan Ningyue was a human, it would be more appropriate to say that she was a cyborg!

At this very instant, the talismans on her arm radiated silver light. A torrential spiritual pressure that could compare with the Foundation Establishment realm swept across the entire battleground in a flash! 

This

 was her hidden ace!

Without missing a beat, Quan Liu went motionless, and the total sum of his bodily qi stopped cycling. In the air, all the needles transformed into golden qi and dissipated.

Everyone else was completely stunned! Even Bloodblade’s coffin suddenly lifted open as well. An incomparably old hand stretched out.

This… was true Foundation Establishment spiritual pressure!

Yi Old Five looked at Quan Ningyue in bewilderment. At the same time… he also looked at the transformed three-headed demonbeast Mao Ba’er and Zhao Wuye who had filled the scene with chaotic flashes of white light. 

In addition… they saw the rotating Quan Ningyue who was standing on top of the head of a thirty to forty-meter-long toad. Both her arms were completely spread open, and rings of blue runes pervaded the front of her hands.

“This is…” Yi Old Five inhaled heavily. Reticent, he withdrew from the scene. Never had he expected that the Xingtian Legion and the Nangong Clan’s battle would actually be a true mortal struggle!

Fahui didn’t spare a word. His kasaya trembled and formed a golden tornado that protected the front of him. He gazed deeply at the hefted Falling Moon and the body of Xu Yangyi that had already become an afterimage. “This Benefactor Xu… wants to kill Benefactor Nangong?”

Nangong Xiaoran was also shocked. In an instant, Qiao Wu had been trapped. Quan Liu was faced with the menace of Foundation Establishment qi!

This didn’t make any sense! In no way had he expected… that two middle and two initial Qi Condensation could truly trap two half-step Foundation Establishment!

These moves… were evidently their hidden trumps! Their killing moves in reserve! At this moment, everything had come out. This meant...

A shiver made its way down his body. Without the slightest hesitation, all of his spiritual force revolved. The giant bow appeared again.

“Young Master, be careful!!!!” Two angry bellows rang out. Qiao Wu and Quan Liu roared together. However, their cries were drowned out by a young girl’s high-pitched yell!

“Spirit Extermination Canon!” Right now, Quan Ningyue’s soft, tender face was without a hint of purity and cuteness. Instead, she glared daggers at Quan Liu and both her hands shockingly formed a cannonesque object. She enunciated each of her words clearly and concisely, “If you dare to move, I’ll dare to attack. Care to try?”

Presently, Quan Liu was truly slick with perspiration! These insects… were honestly risking their lives to trap them! These insects… were actually able to allow their commander to face-off against the sixth young master!

Closer… even closer…

 In the night, Xu Yangyi’s silhouette was trailed by a long afterimage. Containing a thread of blood in his eyes, he locked down on the hawk-headed figure of Nangong Xiaoran!

Slaying a man at every ten paces, ceaseless until a thousand li was traversed!

[4]

1. For better imagery: the person with the dog-emblem long gown is Quan Liu. His name is literally: “Dog Six”. Person with bird emblem is Qiao Wu. His name is literally Bird/Sparrow Five. These… are not very good names to give to your kids.

2. This line took me a while to wrap my head around. In case you don’t know, Pikachu and Mewtwo are both pokemon.

3. “Shrimp soldiers and crab generals” - idea of useless troops as stated. In legend, this is the army of the Dragon King.

4. Poem from Tang Poet Li Bai, perhaps translated as “The Knight-Errant’s Journey”. The imagery is to keep killing one man every ten paces for 1,000 li, but the meaning behind this part of the poem is to describe one’s sword skill as excellent and courageous.

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