Chapter 1045 Victory Is in Sight
“Who?”
Yi Hou’s pupils contracted.
He knew that Zhang Hanyang must be in this group.
Upon a closer look, they found that the one standing on the side of the group was precisely the Seventh Princess of the Elemental Elf Clan.
“Seventh Princess!”
Mo Wen looked bewildered. He and his clansmen immediately rushed over. When they got closer, they eyed Nina from head to toe and found that she was not injured at all. Mo Wen breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he smiled bitterly and said, “Seventh Princess, the current situation doesn’t seem to be in our favor.”
“Good to see you, Uncle Mo Wen.” Nina smiled slightly and nodded to greet him.
“It’s not in our favor?” Instructor Liu glanced at the people present.
Although his expression was all fierce, he was actually having a panic attack.
“Holy c.r.a.p! There are so many machines!”
“Ahem.”
He then remembered that with Zhang Han here, there was nothing to be afraid of.
Before Jiang Yanlan could stop him, Instructor Liu took two big steps forward.
“Whoos.h.!.+”
A mace appeared in his right hand. He carried it on his shoulder and patted it hard with his left hand.
“Clap, clap!”
Wearing a proud and aloof look as if he were a supreme master, Instructor Liu remarked, “Alas, sixth-tier treasures are nothing special. Does any of you want mine?”
In an instant, the faces of several Yuan Ying Realm cultivators present changed slightly.
“d.a.m.n, are you challenging us?”
“Which of you is Zhang Hanyang?” Doane asked in a booming voice, as though he were superior to everyone on the scene.
“What do you want?” Zhang Han glanced at him.
“Haha.” Doane fixed his eyes on Zhang Han and said in a harsh tone, “Do you admit your crime?”
A t.i.t-for-tat confrontation was about to be staged!
All the people present involuntarily held their breath and focused their gazes on the people in the center of the field.
“Are you asking me?”
Zhang Han couldn’t help but laugh and pointed at himself with his right hand.
“Who else then?” Doane frowned hard, and his aura gradually became aggressive.
“Doane, calm down. We can talk this out.” Mo Wen could not help but step up. He said weakly, “We’ve all known one another. Let’s sit down and discuss the matter. We don’t have to get into a fight for this at the moment.”
“Who the h.e.l.l wants to talk with you?” Doane sneered. “You don’t have the right to chime in here.”
The muscles on Mo Wen’s face quivered. But in the end, he didn’t say anything to refute.
“It’s you who killed Hu Bin, isn’t it?” Hu Zhiqiang asked, looking hard at Zhang Han.
“Yes, it’s me.”
“You clearly knew that he was the prince of our Tiger Talisman Royal Family. Still, you killed him. Now, you’re our Tiger Talisman Royal Family’s enemy,” Hu Zhiqiang said unhurriedly. Now, he was actually not as impatient as before.
“Cut the c.r.a.p.” Instructor Liu tapped his mace again. Then he raised the mace vertically with his right hand and pointed at Hu Zhiqiang with a sneer. “How could your stupid prince get killed if he didn’t covet our treasures? Haha, I think all you can do is resort to sophistry in self-justification. Don’t waste our time with your fallacious arguments. If you wanna fight, just fight. Stop dawdling. All you’ve got are those sc.r.a.p metals? Mind you, I can smash them with one strike.”
“As long as you don’t fight back,” Instructor Liu added inwardly.
But he still chose to put on an imposing look.
As soon as he said that, Hu Zhiqiang’s face turned somber.
“How dare a mere Elixir Realm cultivator insult me in my face!
“Good, very good!”
Hu Zhiqiang’s rage flared. He said coldly, “I will kill you with my hands in a moment.”
“Oh, I’m so scared.” Instructor Liu took a few steps back and stood next to Jiang Yanlan, giving Hu Zhiqiang the finger.
“Where are Elder Nu and the others? Haven’t you met them?” asked another Yuan Ying Realm cultivator beside Hu Zhiqiang.
“You mean those 15 people? They’re all dead,” Mu Xue replied flatly.
“Hahaha.”
The mood on the scene became tense at first, but then some derisive voices were heard.
“This is probably the most hilarious joke I’ve ever heard.”
“The 15 Yuan Ying Realm masters are all dead? Who are you k-k-kidding… Wait! How do they know there are 15 of them?”
The laughter stopped abruptly.
A few people revealed a trace of shock and uncertainty in their eyes, including the members of the Cloud Shadow Sky.
“Did something really happen to those people?” Li Mu muttered with a particularly solemn look on his face. “It is possible. Zhang Hanyang is very mysterious and powerful. If he really killed those 15 people, the outcome of this battle may differ from what we thought.”
“Those people own several kinds of sixth-tier treasures. Also, they dare to overtly show the treasures in public. I strongly suspect that their backgrounds are very special. Young Master Li Mu, your decision is correct. We’d better not get involved in this battle,” said Yi Hou with emotion.
Li Mu was one of the Eight Great Young Masters in the Cloud Star Area. Although he was the youngest one, he had some really powerful means. In this respect, Yi Hou had thought highly of him.
“I was genuinely tempted at that time,” Li Mu admitted with a wry smile. “But I didn’t take action. It’s just because I restrained myself. Compared with robbing others’ treasures, I prefer to explore secret realms for treasures by myself. But those they showed us are sixth-tier treasures. How can anyone not be tempted? Yet, I can’t see through their backgrounds or strength. Under this circ.u.mstance, I’m rather reluctant to take part in the fight.”
“Just wait and see. I bet they won’t settle this matter amicably. In the face of Hu Zhiqiang’s large-scale mechanical troops, how will they find a way out?” Li Mu began to ponder.
Even he would have to swallow his pride and give way to Hu Zhiqiang when facing the numerous machines in the surroundings.
“It seems that you ran into those three teams, didn’t you?” Doane said, “But you managed to escape from all of them. I gotta say you’re kind of capable.”
“Tee-hee.” Mu Xue laughed coolly and ignored him.
“I’ve told you those 15 people were dead. If you don’t believe me, I can’t do anything about it.”
“You people…”
Hu Zhiqiang had noticed that when Instructor Liu took out his sixth-tier treasure, he fetched it out of thin air. Obviously, he also had a s.p.a.ce Treasure to store his treasures. The others were not seen carrying any treasures, either, which meant that these people with sixth-tier spirit weapons all had s.p.a.ce Treasures.
If a s.p.a.ce Treasure was broken, the items inside would also be lost in the secondary s.p.a.ce. Those items might reappear in a secret realm or a secret area after who knew how many years.
Thus, this was also quite tricky.
Hu Zhiqiang, of course, wanted those treasures. Hu Bin’s death had enraged him, but he was not really sad or emotional about it.
After contemplating for moments, he slowly said, “Give me your six-tier treasures, and I won’t hold the rest of your people liable.”
“Smack!”
A crisp sound spread throughout the canyon.
Instructor Liu roared with laughter and said, “The treasure is here. If you dare, come and get it yourself!”
“So you don’t want to hand the treasures over?” Hu Zhiqiang’s eyes turned flinty.
“I’ve already proposed such a generous offer, but the other party is still unwilling to yield. Do they really not take their lives seriously?”
“Daddy, there are too many machines around. I’m a little scared.”
Mengmeng held Zhang Han’s hand tightly. Hearing those people speaking one after another, the little girl was a little fl.u.s.tered.
“Well, the game is over.” Mu Xue and the others exchanged a look.
Now that Mengmeng had said that, Zhang Han certainly wouldn’t let others continue to bicker.
“Honey, go ahead.”
Zhang Han let go of Zi Yan’s hand and then held her waist.
“Sure.”
Zi Yan nodded slightly, ready to make her move.
“Hold on…”
Mo Wen’s expression changed drastically.
“What’s going on? Are they gonna fight? Don’t they need to think it through?
“The talk is going well, isn’t it? For heaven’s sake, don’t be so hot-tempered!”
Nina also darted her eyes at Zi Yan. She felt that Mengmeng’s mother didn’t have that kind of aura that a strong cultivator had. “Could she be a master who has concealed her power?”
At this time, Li Mu, Zhong An, and the hundreds of people who were there to watch the battle all stopped talking and looked at the scene in astonishment and disbelief.
“Well,” Hu Zhiqiang said with a sneer, “since this is the choice you’ve made, you shall not blame me for being cruel.”
He planned to kill a couple of those people at once.
The tens of thousands of mechanical troops around were instantly in action.
However, just as they were about to fire—
“Buzz!”
A buzzing sound echoed between heaven and earth. It was as if part of the s.p.a.ce had been crushed.
The beautiful woman in Zhang Hanyang’s arms lifted her right hand and reached out.
She cast the Sea Moon Fan!
A huge fan more than 200 feet wide suddenly came into being from the right side.
Before Zi Yan could fan it, the s.p.a.ce-shaking energy around the fan already shattered all the machines near it.
“Pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat…”
The metal pieces fell to the ground like raindrops.
“F*ck!”
“H-How could… W-What is it?”
“How can she cast a supernatural power so fast?”
“Without any warning, a huge fan has fallen from the sky!”
The crowd was staggered.
Even Hu Zhiqiang’s and Doane’s faces turned grave at the scene.
They had thought that they could crush Zhang Hanyang without effort. But to their surprise, besides Zhang Hanyang, there was another Yuan Ying Realm cultivator in this group.
And the attack that cultivator launched made their hearts tremble.
It was absolutely a mighty supernatural power!
“Let’s fight!”
“Kill her!”
“Get it!”
In an instant, Hu Zhiqiang and the several Yuan Ying Realm cultivators beside him all took action.
But what they didn’t expect was that the speed of the Sea Moon Fan was very fast. After smas.h.i.+ng up all the mechanical troops in front of it, it charged toward Hu Zhiqiang and his people.
“Whoos.h.!.+”
Hu Zhiqiang indeed lived up to his fame as a mighty cultivator. He instantly commanded all sorts of machinery and launched thousands of attacks. Coupled with the supernatural powers of the other Yuan Ying Realm cultivators, the Sea Moon Fan became paler and paler and eventually dispersed into thin air.
“Phew…”
Zi Yan’s one strike had taken down two percent of his mechanical troops. Although the number did not seem impressive, Hu Zhiqiang felt kind of stressed.
With the loss of every machine, his force diminished a bit. When he went back, it would also take him a long time to build new ones.
“You’re courting death!”
Duane’s eyes had turned fiery. He yelled and dashed forward.
When he was still on his way, a huge fan appeared out of nowhere.
It was the Sea Moon Fan!
“Destroy her attack first!” Hu Zhiqiang shouted.
He also started to fight. He and his people were extremely calm. This time, fewer machines were lost. At the same time, Hu Zhiqiang commanded other machines to besiege the group in the front while attacking.
But no matter how hard he tried, the siege could not be completed.
“Sea Moon Fan!”
“Sea Moon Fan!”
“Sea Moon Fan!”
“…”
Five minutes later.
Cold sweat coated Hu Zhiqiang’s forehead. One-tenth of his mechanical troops had been destroyed. The loss was severe. It pained him so much that he felt his heart was bleeding.
However, what he found more tricky was the supernatural power Zi Yan displayed.
“What’s with that attack? Why can it be endless?”
“I don’t believe she can keep casting that power again and again!”
“Kill her first!”
Doane and the other Yuan Ying Realm cultivators roared angrily.
“Haha.”
Zhang Mu and others found this scene quite familiar. Some time ago, the Wind Snow Temple’s Nan Qinghai and the other two Grand Masters had also experienced the horror of Zi Yan’s infinite attacks.
“You’ll soon understand the feeling of being put at somebody else’s mercy.”
“Kaboom, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom…”
The continuous strikes prevented them from getting close to Zi Yan. The huge fans came one after another. Unexpectedly, the secret skills they each displayed couldn’t take any of the fans out.
Each of them made five or six attacks on end. It took the combination of the dozens of attacks to fend off Zi Yan’s one strike.
“D*mn! What a monster!”
Seeing this, the hundreds of people around were rendered dumbfounded.
“How mighty she is!”
“She is both beautiful and strong, isn’t she? Is she a queen?”
“Oh my, she has subdued Hu Zhiqiang and all the others on her own. In the face of her attacks, Hu Zhiqiang’s mechanical troops are forced to eat the humble pie. This is frightening!”
“How many attacks has she launched? But she can still continue to strike? Th-This isn’t logical.”
“…”
It could be said that everyone’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. If they didn’t see this first-hand, they would never believe that the always invincible Tiger Talisman Royal Family and the well-known Hu Zhiqiang could be suppressed like this.
The group of the Cloud Shadow Sky was watching this from the back.
Li Mu’s face was a little pallid.
“Sure enough, sure enough! They must have come from a high-end place. The Sea Dragon Star Area can’t have such incredible cultivators. Fortunately, I didn’t let the sixth-tier spirit treasures cloud my judgment earlier. Rationality surely matters most. Now I… I feel that what they said before is true. The 15 people may really have died. Zhang Hanyang is very powerful. But I never knew that his wife could also be so fierce.”
“Phew…”
Yi Hou seemed to have held his breath for several minutes. After hearing the words, he came to his senses and exhaled deeply.
Then, he said in amazement, “What horrible attacks! It should be a supernatural power! A very terrifying one! If she can continue to fight for a while and then let Zhang Hanyang come out to wrap up, they will win this battle!”
Mo Wen was standing next to Nina.
His eyes were as round as saucers. He looked at the Sea Moon Fan and then flickered his eyes to Hu Zhiqiang and the others, to the composed Zi Yan, then to the Sea Moon Fan again… His head repeatedly turned left and right, for he was completely stunned.
“Mengmeng’s mother…”
Nina was in a daze. Her heart trembled in awe. “No wonder she is called Moon Empress. How powerful is she! With such strength, she can be considered one of the top figures in the Sea Dragon Star Area.”
She had been chatting and playing with Mengmeng these days. During the time, Zhang Han and Zi Yan were constant around.
From the few days’ interactions, Nina felt that the two were very easygoing, cheerful, and optimistic. Sometimes, Mengmeng’s mother would be naughty. Also, she appeared to be a young lady and was very nice to Nina. But now, Nina abruptly found that Mengmeng’s mother actually had a very tough side.
“No wonder Uncle Zhang listens to her all the time. It turns out that she is more powerful than him,” Nina thought to herself.
If Zhang Han knew what she was thinking, he would probably burst out laughing and would not take it seriously.
Zi Yan would do the same. In the eyes of outsiders, this family of three was always like this.
They lived a very casual and unrestrained life. Yet, in the past, Zi Yan was not so powerful, nor was Mengmeng so cheerful. They had become who they were now because of the changes Zhang Han brought them after his return.
In other families, those in the Elixir Realm and the Yuan Ying Realm stage all felt that they were extraordinary. Those people were arrogant and domineering at home.
But in Zhang Han’s case, he was always the same kind and loving man whether he was in the Innateness Realm, the Elixir Realm, or the Yuan Ying Realm.
Zi Yan could tell that strength was not his biggest pursuit.
No matter where he was, no matter what happened, she and Mengmeng were always his priority.
This kind of life was something that Zi Yan couldn’t even dream of having.
When she thought of it occasionally, she felt extremely happy and gratified.
Right now, she was leaning in Zhang Han’s arms while fighting. This feeling was so good.
She was not worried at all. Without hesitation, she continued to cast all kinds of Sea Moon Fans.
Although she was not any bit concerned, Yue Wuwei, who was watching them from above, was a little anxious.
“She’s doing it again.
“What should I do now?”
Yue Wuwei scratched his head.
“How about I go down there and handle all those people? Lest she break the balance.
“But it doesn’t seem a big deal to let her fight once. Well, never mind. She’s enjoying herself. I shall let her continue.”
“Greed is a sin.
“People’s desires are really horrific.
“Sometimes, a single decision can decide whether one can live or not.”
“I wonder if anyone can acquire the legacy of the Heavenly Lord this time. This is already the ninth time. Master, the will you left only appears when someone obtains the legacy of the Heavenly Lord. It has been such a long time since I saw you last time…”
Yue Wuwei sighed deeply.
In the canyon, the huge Sea Moon Fan appeared again.
By this time, more than half of Hu Zhiqiang’s mechanical troops had been crushed. Hu Zhiqiang was so mad that his eyes turned red. He was furious but also a little unnerved.
“I don’t believe it!” he snarled.
Then, he waved his right hand. Once again, a large number of mechanical troops appeared.
They were his last trump card.
Still, they couldn’t stop the Sea Moon Fan, which seemed to be able to suppress heaven and earth.
“No, we can’t stop it!”
Doane shouted in horror, “What should we do?”
The implication was whether they should run or not.
They wouldn’t benefit from this fight if they let it continue.
The other Yuan Ying Realm cultivators also wanted to retreat.
“How can this fight continue?”
“There is no winning at all.”
Hu Zhiqiang also started to wonder if he should let the fight go on.
“Hu Bin is already dead. Now, so many of my mechanical troops have also been destroyed. Shall I continue to fight?
“Oh, right, fleeing is a solution. I gotta run. The fleet I brought here is in the void of the universe. Once the main vessel’s Energy Cannon is activated, they won’t have a chance to resist it.”
At that thought, even Hu Zhiqiang also had the intention to retreat. But the strongest feelings he had were still wrath and resentment.
Right at this moment—
Zhang Han’s lips moved as he secretly said something to Zi Yan with the Designated Voice-transmitting Technique.
Zi Yan was slightly stunned. With a dismayed look, she glanced at Zhang Han from the corner of her eye and then understood what he meant.
She then employed her acting skills.
“Wait! She is losing her power! Hahaha, she is finally about to be worn out!”
Doane suddenly noticed Zi Yan’s expression. Her big s.h.i.+ning eyes were a little blurred, and her face seemed to be a little pale and feeble. She was biting her lower lip as if struggling to hang in there.
In an instant, Doane was in high spirits again.
He shouted to his companions, “Kill her! She can’t withstand more than a few of our strikes!”
Hu Zhiqiang also made up his mind decisively. Now, he finally saw the hope to win. After suffering such heavy losses, if he didn’t seize some sixth-tier treasures as compensation, he would have no way to soothe his pained heart.
“Boom, boom, boom…”
The attacks became more powerful.
After Zi Yan performed another three Sea Moon Fans, about 70% of Hu Zhiqiang’s mechanical troops had been knocked down.
At this time, Zi Yan wobbled slightly. Biting her lower lip, she cast another the Sea Moon Fan.
“Go all out!”
Since the fight had reached such a white-hot stage and the other party’s strength was already declining, they no longer wanted to retreat anymore.
Another three Sea Moon Fans were launched.
Zi Yan stroked her forehead with her right hand.
“Mummy!” Mengmeng was startled. Seeing her mummy like this, she was really scared. Her expression instantly turned worried.
But at this time, she heard a light cough, so she flashed her eyes to Zhang Han and found that he was winking at her.
“Huh?” Mengmeng was stunned. Her big sparkling eyes even stopped moving. But after thinking about it, she immediately took the hint. Then, she quickly shut her mouth, in case her words disturbed her mummy’s acting. It would be awkward if others found out about the truth.
“Ma’am, Ma’am, how are you? Why don’t you stop? Just stop!” Mu Xue called out in alarm.
“Master!”
Jiang Yanlan and Zhao Feng both looked at Zhang Han.
Zhang Han was showing a torn look… Of course, in the eyes of outsiders, it was a torn expression.
But as Zhao Feng, Zhang Guangyou, Dong Chen, and others saw it, they couldn’t help but think, “Your expression is really awkward!”
They instantly understood what was going on. To help Zi Yan, they all screamed with anxiety.
“Han, come on, Yan can’t take it anymore!”
“Ma’am!”
“…”
No one paid attention to what they were shouting. However, to Hu Zhiqiang and his people, those words were like the most beautiful melodies in the world.
“Victory is in sight!”
Doane laughed wildly and launched another strike with his supernatural power.