Posting in for Cherry (who disapeared the last 2 days). There will be 5 chapters this week! Second chapter of the week (July 14)
Volume 2, Chapter 55 — Inside the Dragontooth Cruiser to Discuss the Life and Death Situation and Rush Out
On the topmost floor of the pavilion on the Dragontooth cruiser, Zhang Yan, Xie Zongyuan and Liu Tao were sitting around a dry rattan green root table. Although there were three White Jade teacups on top of the table, but the cups were empty.
Apart from the gentle Spiritual qi in this place which overflowed from one"s heart inside out, there was nothing too eye-catching or moving beautiful scenes that could move one"s heart, giving off the feeling of a somewhat serene and peaceful aura.
Xie Zongyuan stood up as he cupped his fists to the other two and apologized, "This place is simple and crude, I"m really sorry that I cannot entertain the two brothers well."
Zhang Yan said with a smile, "Senior Brother, why would you speak like this? Finding something pleasurable amidst the suffering is also interesting in its own way. Besides, waiting for you, Senior Brother, in this Dragontooth cruiser, I do not fear being visited by any wicked guest, so why would I have any extravagant demands?"
Liu Tao, at the side, also said with a laugh, "Senior Brother Xie, to be on board of this Dragontooth cruiser, all in all, is a big merit in itself these days. I"ve been able to run away many times and preserve my life, and all were thanks for having this cruiser"s power."
"This cruiser is my uncle"s present as a gift…" Xie Zongyuan then sighed, saying with a regretful tone, "Originally I wanted to drive this cruiser and return to my home as a Profound Light Realm cultivator. I would have never thought that so many incidents would happen here."
The Azure Ocean Sect had set the rules that only Profound Light Realm cultivators had the rights to take the Dragontooth cruiser. The cruiser"s flying speed was comparable with Profound Light Realm cultivators. And in the last 10 days, Xie Zongyuan and the others were often able to avoid Li Weide"s chase, who wanted to kill them by relying on this thing.
The last time, they were responsible to lead away Li Weide, and because they had this flying cruiser, they were able to run away even if they lost.
Liu Tao looked at Zhang Yan as he sighed with emotion, "Senior Brother really has good fortune to have condensed your Profound Light Seed. I suspect that you won"t need more than a year or so to reach the Profound Light Realm."
Zhang Yan was perfectly aware that this was Liu Tao"s disguised form of asking his whereabouts in the past few days. He then showed a faint smile and said, "That day, under the Sea Eye, I encountered two Junior disciples from the Blood Soul Sect who chased and wanted to kill me. I was forced to hide into a remote cavern, and never would I have expected that it would such a good place to cultivate. So I cultivated hard in the past few days wholeheartedly. But I"m really lucky that I could condense my Profound Light Seed by the time I came out."
Xie Zongyuan clapped as he laughed heartily and said, "How could you say that it was only luck? It was clearly your opportunity that had arrived Senior Brother, so the others surely cannot envy you for it."
Liu Tao nodded. But in his heart, he did not think that this was caused by only "having a lucky opportunity" reason.
In the past few days, their group had been hiding here and there to avoid the chase from the Blood Soul Sect"s disciples. Even if the spiritual qi inside this Demon Hole was very rich and they also had Dragontooth cruiser and were not afraid of being caught, but their hearts had always been tightly knotted and burdened. They were truly unable to achieve a peaceful state of mind to cultivate.
However, Zhang Yan was but only one person, and he still was actually able to achieve this state. Thus, it could be seen that his heart and willpower was far about theirs. It was no wonder that he could become a true disciple. So Liu Tao could not help but have a self-retrospect that he was inferior than him in this aspect as well.
"Senior Brother Zhang, we"ll have a battle in this day 15th. Do you think we have a chance to win?" Since Zhang Yan"s cultivation base amongst the three of them was the highest, Xie Zongyuan then wanted to listen to his opinion.
Liu Tao also looked over as he listened attentively.
Zhang Yan contemplated for a moment and then slowly said, "Most likely we"ll win."
Xie Zongyuan said with a surprised expression, "So high?"
With a smiling expression all over his face, Zhang Yan replied, "Senior Brothers might think that my words are nonsensical. But I"ve been thinking about this, that as long as one person amongst us is able to rush out and run, we could be considered to have won this battle."
Xie Zongyuan stared blankly for a moment as a thoughtful expression surfaced on his face.
Liu Tao"s eyes flashed and asked in a solemn tone, "True, the reason why those Blood Soul Sect"s disciples want to intercept and kill us, is because they want to prevent and cover the news to the outside that they are able to enter this Demon Hole. If one person amongst us is able to run, it naturally makes no sense if they want to chase and kill anyone else after it happened."
Zhang Yan nodded, "Senior Brother Liu"s words are correct. Once the Sect has heard about this news, they will certainly dispatch a cultivator with a profound cultivation base to this place. If those cultivators from the Blood Soul Sect still linger around this place, then they could foresee their expected fate."
Xie Zongyuan endorsed further, “That"s really reasonable. But according to Senior Brother Zhang"s view, who would be amongst us… who would be the most appropriate to go out?"
Zhang Yan glanced at them as he said with a faint smile, "This issue cannot be decided by me. If everyone wants to go out, then n.o.body would be able to go out. But if we can reach an agreement beforehand, we could do our best to send 1 to 3 people out. However, this is not an issue that the few of us can decide. If we have no escort from Senior Brother Fang with his Five Rings Flame Divine Weapon to open the way, who would say that anyone dares to go out?"
Xie Zongyuan then thought for a moment and spoke in a solemn tone, "Yes. It seems like that we cannot decide this difficult issue ourselves. So we might as well meet Senior Brother Fang and discuss this issue together. We also cannot delay further, so I will find him now."
When he was about to get up, Liu Tao held him firmly and said, "Senior Brother Xie, you don"t need to call them by yourself, I"ll call them to come here."
Liu Tao then went out. In less than a meal"s time, Fang Zhen and his group had all come. Not only that, he also called Cheng An, Madame Chen, and the others. In addition to Zhang Yan and Xie Zongyuan, there were 10 people who gathered on the cruiser.
Having waited for everyone to sit down, Xie Zongyuan and Zhang Yan then told them their previous discussion.
After having said that, the people in the surrounding were silent. After all, everybody also hid their intentions and n.o.body wanted to be left on their own.
Seeing such a dull scene, Liu Tao let out a laugh and said, "Hahaha, everyone, you don"t need to worry that remaining behind would kill us. We still have this Dragontooth cruiser. At the most, half a month later, the entrance to the Sea Eye will open again and our Senior Brothers with profound cultivations will come down here to save us."
Although he said that, but they, after all, would still be trapped in a dangerous place. So it was natural that everyone still wanted to go out.
Moreover, n.o.body here was a fool. Not to mention that there was presently a Profound Light cultivator as well as a Blood Soul that was only able to be deterred by Fang Zhen. It was certain that their cultivation was stronger. If that Blood Soul came, even if they relied on the Dragontooth cruiser to escape, that was without a doubt was a moron talking some nonsense in a dream. Fang Zhen then sneered as he turned his head to stare at Zhang Yan and spoke with a strange voice and manner, "Senior Brother Zhang, you are a true disciple, I presume that you want to be the first one to go out, yes?"
As Fang Zhen spoke like this, even though everyone present already knew Zhang Yan"s ident.i.ty, it was to be expected that his expression was full of strange changes.
In everyone"s eyes, Zhang Yan was a true disciple, and his cultivation was the highest amongst them. According to their thinking, he naturally had the qualifications to go out, but which one amongst them was truly willing to say that?
But who would have thought that Zhang Yan would only smile as he replied, "Senior Brother Fang, what"s with your remark? I naturally won"t go!"
“What the…”
Everyone was surprised, as even Fang Zhen was also stunned.
While looking at them, Zhang Yan spoke with an awe-inspiring tone, "I am a true disciple. I usually sit idle and enjoy the fruit of everyone"s hard work in the Sect. But regardless, how could I ever abandon my fellow apprentices from the same Sect? The world has never revolved around this principle!"
His strong sense of righteous, for a moment, made everyone look at him with ashamed expressions, as some were looking at himwith admiration, while others had mocking expressions.
However, only Fang Zhen"s heart was pierced by Zhang Yan"s words. He felt that that Zhang Yan was being sarcastic, ridiculing him in secret, as he flinched in the battle in the Lesser Waves Mountain. His face suddenly turned ugly, but the situation was not good for him to flare up.
But n.o.body had ever thought that Zhang Yan had long made a firm resolution that he would never leave this place if he did not reach the Profound Light Realm!
And since he had Han Ji"s help, that Dan Transformation Realm cultivator would not be coming to this place for at least a month. As he recalled back, for that Profound Light Realm cultivator to chase and kill him, not to mention that he had a Dragontooth cruiser, at the worst case, he could also find a hidden cavern to hide inside. He did not believe that the enemies would be able to find him inside a big place such as this Demon Hole.
At this time, a faint sigh sounded amongst the crowd. Everyone then looked as they saw that Madame Chen limped her brows and said with a soft voice, "These days, this woman has been taken care by everyone and really feels extremely grateful. My purpose in coming to this Demon Hole is to find my husband. I have yet to find him and thus I won"t leave also."
Upon listening to her words, a burst of warm feelings surged inside Feng Ming"s heart. He felt that he was also the disciple of the Azure Ocean Sect. But when he was about to speak, Liu Tao then coughed and said, "In my opinion, amongst from our group, we should let Senior Brother Xie go out first."
Fang Zhen then said with a sneer, "Liu Tao, I do remember that you are of the Waning List Family, when have you become a lackey for the Xie Family?"
Liu Tao replied with a solemn tone, "I"ve considered the matter in and of itself. What I"ve said is what my heart feels true! Senior Brother Fang, why did you have to speak with such a ridicule?"
Fang Zhen laughed with a sneer. He leaned back his body and said, "Fine. I"ll listen to your words, see if your words make sense or not. Speak."
Xie Zongyuan was also frowning as he said, "Junior Brother Liu, don"t you think this is improper?"
Liu Tao actually said lightly, "Senior Brother Xie, you are a member of the Xie Family. Only if you were to go out will we feel at ease. The others are not a good choice."
Xie Zongyuan spoke with a puzzled expression, “What do you mean?”
Liu Tao cupped his fists over him and said, “Senior Brother is a member of the Xie Family. After the situation in this place has been reported to the Sect, the Sect would be unable to respond for a while, but you are still able to go to your family and mobilize the experts in your family to rescue us."
Cheng An, who had always been quiet, suddenly spoke at this time, "This reason makes sense."
Then, he stretched out his hand to his sleeve and handed over the Agarwood Ship"s talisman as he spoke with a solemn tone, "Senior Brother Xie, take this with you. I"ll wait here for you to save me. We"ll rely on you, Senior Brother."
Xie Zongyuan did not take it immediately and instead looked at Fang Zhen, saying, "Senior Brother Fang, what do you think?"
Fang Zhen let out an "hmm" voice and said, "Senior Brother Xie, take it! Liu Tao"s words are justified."
Since he approved, the few people behind him could only give their approval, albeit reluctantly.
"Fine!" Xie Zongyuan nodded heavily and received the Agarwood Ship. He looked around in a circle and solemnly said, "If I, Xie Zongyuan, am able to go out of this Demon Hole, I will never let everyone die here!"
Fang Zhen"s eyes glittered a bit as he curled his lips and said, "If only Senior Brother Xie leaves this Demon Hole, I think it"s quite improper. In my opinion, Junior Brother Feng must also be counted, since he is Elder Xun"s disciple in the Sect. Everyone, what do you think?"
“Senior Brother Fang, this Ming…" Feng Ming stared blankly for a moment as a touched feeling was immediately cast on his whole face and said, “Senior Brother, you go first…"
Fang Zhen laughed as he patted his shoulder and said, “I have the Five Rings Flame Divine Weapon in my hands. What must I fear of? Relax, you can feel relieved."
Zhang Yan glanced at Fang Zhen with a great, profound insight as he said with a smile, "Junior Brother Feng"s talent is naturally outstanding, and has boundless future. You really cannot die here. So I think I can approve this."
Xie Zongyuan glanced at Liu Tao and saw that he did not object it. Then, he said, "Such said, then we have decided that, 5 days later, I will set this arrangement in motion!"
Upon seeing it was approved, Fang Zhen"s group got up and left. Cheng An and Madame Chen also did not stay as they also turned around to go back to their dwelling place.
The ones remaining inside the pavilion were only Zhang Yan, Xie Zongyuan and Liu Tao, as the latter then spoke in a solemn tone, "Fang Zhen complied too happily, I can tell that this definitely will become problematic. This person is narrow-minded and has a small heart, and holds a heavy grudge inside his heart. By that time, he is highly likely to set his tricks into play. Senior Brothers, by then, you two must be very careful and aware of him!"