Chapter 299: A Transcendent Encounter

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Yun Yang felt a heart-wrenching agony. The purplish-golden liquid within his dantian instantly boiled away; his spiritual soul was shaken and a bleary despondency suddenly fell upon him. He came close to dispelling his wind manifestation, with the risk of falling from a high alt.i.tude.

The power of the black-robed elder was aimed directly at one’s spiritual being, a force which consumed the soul and corroded the spirit to the point of no return.

Yun Yang was concurrently manifested as wind, cloud, and thunder; a portion of him was condensed into a gale, half of his sentience formed the cloud while a sliver of his consciousness turned into lightning. It was the same for his deific consciousness and spirit; they had splintered into three unequal parts.

The tornado was only half of Yun Yang’s cultivation base. Otherwise, the sudden slash of the sword was enough to have chopped Yun Yang into two, like a tornado that had been split in twain!

Even then, Yun Yang had still suffered from a severe injury; his spiritual soul was gravely damaged. After all, it was no joke to have his manifestation of a tornado violently split against his will.

Yun Yang forced the flow of the Endless Divine Art while Emmie delivered an air of vitality continuously, to support his efforts. He used up the rest of his remaining energy for one final attempt. The tornado charged into a higher alt.i.tude with an ear-splitting boom.

The elder’s momentum with his sword ended; he had lost his chance to strike again.

With a hiss, the tornado dashed across the sky and swiftly disappeared.

A cloud came drifting in the sky, cus.h.i.+oning the tornado as it rose several thousand feet into the air. They pierced the snowy clouds before vanis.h.i.+ng without a trace.

Silence.

The elder in black robes landed slowly, descending from the high alt.i.tude while holding his sword; shock was evident in his eyes. The middle-aged young lord who was on the ground had his eyes widened as well, staring at the ominous clouds; his gaze spoke of intimidation!

Who was that? What cultivation method had he used?

Both of them had struck out in an effort to block the person; they had given their all and the acc.u.mulated force would have been sufficient to turn the scenario to their advantage but it did not seem to have affected the tornado in the slightest!

At least, the other party had looked at ease and had left the scene gracefully.

"What cultivation method is this? What mythical power have we just witnessed?" the young lord asked uneasily.

"This…" The elder in robe chuckled dryly, "...is something I have never seen nor heard before."

The young lord frowned deeply and asked, "Was that a person?"

The elder in black robes wore a grim expression and did not answer, speechless for a long while.

The tornado was man-made and the person behind it was diffused into the wind and clouds – that much was certain! However, who had the ability to entirely turn into wind – without a hint of his physical body?

His attack earlier had only chopped off half the tornado, but from what the other party had displayed, the entire tornado should have been his physical manifestation. Chopping half of it meant chopping part of the person’s form, but why was there only the dissipation of mystical Qi and not a solid wound to the physical body?

Such a cultivation method was terrifying and altogether surprising, not mention bizarre.

With the elder’s extensive experience, cultivation methods of wonder that could turn one into wind and thunder in a short amount of time were not common, within his knowledge. However, he knew that the term ‘turning into wind and thunder’ was only a metaphor.

No matter how dazzling the performance of the cultivator or how similar to wind and thunder it looked like, the physical body still had to exist.

If an opponent slashed at the physical body, the term ‘turning into wind and thunder’ would mean absolutely nothing.

Nonetheless, someone had indeed arrived, turned into the wind and landed without showing his true self. He had then collected the two ladies by wrapping them up in a tornado before shooting into the nine heavens!

Even when the person had been struck with a disembodying strike, only part of their mystical Qi was separated but the real self was not damaged at all; the physical manifestation of the sudden interloper had not materialized.

How could this not shock and petrify the man and elder?

"I didn’t expect the girls to have such a strong force behind them."

The middle-aged young lord heaved a long sigh and said, "No wonder they kept persevering and waited for help, never giving up… This had to be the reason behind their perseverance."

He frowned then, and said, "For such a character to intervene… I’m afraid all our arrangements prior to this have been wasted. Even if we were to find them, how can we fight with such a legendary expert?"

Other than the heavy disappointment lacing his tone, there was a tinge of genuine fear. Although he was vehemently reluctant, he had acknowledged the turn of events and did not wish to tempt fate.

Suc ha skill was barely fathomable; was it not seeking death to go against such a person?

"Young lord, there might be a loophole in this matter. We can't say for sure that this won't benefit us." The elderly mused and said, "From what I see, our set up might still be effective."

The young lord’s expression was grim as he replied, "Oh? How so?"

"This old servant is shocked at the wonder of the person’s manifestation earlier, but in my opinion, if this person did really possess such a formidable cultivation base… for lack of better words, since this person is acquainted with Ji Lingxi and Yue Rulan, how would he let this rest, seeing the ladies being hara.s.sed like this by young master?" the elder said.

"Your words make sense." The young lord said worriedly, "What should we do if this person comes for revenge? With such a stealthy expert… our family…"

"Young master has misunderstood me. This old servant doesn’t mean so."

The elder's hunched body, clad in a black robe, straightened ever so slightly as he said, "This old servant meant to say… if he was indeed so capable, he should’ve killed us all just now."

"From the skill we’ve seen and the mind-boggling cultivation method of manifesting into various natural phenomena, these abilities have surpa.s.sed the standards of this continent. It shouldn’t be a difficult task to kill us. Even when his goal was to prioritize saving the two ladies… it still shouldn’t be much of a problem to put an end to us. However, he did not do so!"

The old man continued, "Not only did he waste the opportunity to strike us down, he has not revealed himself to us."

"For a such a skilled expert, isn't this odd behavior?"

"Perhaps he was here just to save the ladies, without even contemplating revenge. This is a puzzle that doesn’t make sense."

"Since he has come such a long way to save them, I believe their relations.h.i.+p must be unusual. Since it’s unusual, then he should be thirsting for our lives if he were to possess such a transcendent ability!"

"Yet, he did not do so. It’s not that he didn’t do it or he didn’t want to do it, it’s because he can’t do it! He’s incapable of doing it!"

"Furthermore, there was another odd thing. It was only an instance that we exchanged attacks just now. Our understanding of each other is limited, but throughout the process, the person gave this old servant the impression that he was very rushed… like he came in haste and left in a hurry. It’s this feeling I get, not the confident, domineering aura nor a disdainful and reckless aura."

The young lord listened to the elderly’s a.n.a.lysis attentively; he even cut him mid-sentence and made him repeatedly narrate the a.n.a.lysis. The more he listened, the brighter his eyes grew; the fear that lurked deep in his eyes began to fade.

"That tornado looked frightening but it wasn’t at all lethal to us. At least, its power was about as insignificant as it could be, far from our a.s.sumptions."

"If the other party is really a transcendent expert and possessed such mythical cultivation methods, he could’ve used the tornado to kill us all – it’s honestly not all that difficult. If our positions were switched, we would never have let someone who a.s.saulted our relatives to this extent go..."

"Therefore, this old servant’s judgment is that despite the remarkability of the cultivation method used, perhaps the person’s skill or cultivation base is still shallow. Who knows, perhaps it’s insufficient as well. Either way, it's only bl.u.s.ter; I doubt it could be used to kill."

"The interloper's goal was only to save the girls!"

"From how hastily he’s come and left in such a hurry after saving them, it might not be that the other party holds no resentment against us, but he is incapable of acting upon it!"

The black-robed elder said, "It’s been a very long time since our family has stepped foot on this secular Tianxuan Continent. We don’t know what changes have occurred since."

"However, if this old servant’s guess is correct, and such a cultivation method did exist, then the person must be someone famous on this continent."

"As long as we ask around, we’ll most probably get the information. Then, we’ll be able to decide on our next move."

The young lord listened while nodding, a smile back on his face.

"That’s right! Even if we were sure that the person is an expert of a level that we can’t fight with, or that he has other seniors or powerful ones behind him, we still have room for escape. If all else fails, we can return home anytime. As long as the spiritual Qi pa.s.sage is sealed, we’ll be carefree even if the other party is superbly mighty."

"However…" An insidious glare glinted in the young lord’s eyes.

"If the person is not a transcendent expert or that he has no other skilled ones supporting him…"

The elder smiled and said, "Then this old servant will congratulate young lord… Not only can the Pure Yin of Chaos be retrieved with a bright future that beckons, the young lord can even obtain a unique cultivation method that will be the one and only in the Bound of Universe!"

"Exactly so!"

…

The snow fell incessantly. It was like the mountains had lost their valleys, covered entirely in blurry swirls of ice.

In a small city not too far from the forest, the black-robed elder and the middle-aged young lord were seated in an alehouse, listening to the chatter of the people attentively.

The snow had placed its seal on the mountains, the routes were all closed off; other than courageous martial experts who had left, fueled by their skills, ordinary people could only search for taverns and inns nearby to rest and avoid the heavy snow.

Each tavern in the area of the snow was full of guests. It was simply too easy to find out information currently.

"Were the Nine Supreme Lords so powerful? Wouldn't that make them immortals?"

The black-robed elderly looked on curiously at the rotund man who was intoxicated and bragging outrageously to anybody who was willing to listen.