Chapter 359 – Rescue Party
Due to the urgency of the situation, after receiving the order, Mu Chen and Luo Li did not dare to spend much time mingling around. After saying goodbyes to everyone present, the two shot straight towards the location of the Punishment Hall.
Shooting across the skies above the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, Mu Chen and Luo Li were able to see the panic-stricken faces of quite a few students. The scarlet-red pillar of light in the distance was overly blood-red, causing uneasiness to radiate within the hearts of the people.
There were crouching tigers and hidden dragons within the Northern Heavenly Continent, whose danger levels were of extreme levels. Even something as strong as the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy wouldn"t dare to proclaim to possess itself as the overlord. Naturally, the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy have no intention of doing such a thing.
However, even without thinking about it, just possessing such strength would naturally make the other peak powers and influences dread and guard against the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. Those influences might normally not dare to do anything towards the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy; however, if an opportunity truly presented itself, hitting a person who was down would be something that they would do.
Therefore, the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy wasn"t as invincible within in the Northern Heavens Continent as people thought it would be.
After all, this Great Thousand World was too boundless, too vast and too expansive. Even the five Great Academies were just a drop in the ocean.
If this matter was not settled properly, it might become quite a big blow to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.
A grave expression appeared on Mu Chen"s face. The Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy was the place the he had started on his path. He had obtained nurturing at this place, and naturally felt grat.i.tude towards the academy. Therefore, he didn"t wish to see the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy suffer such a blow like that.
Seeing the grave expression on Mu Chen"s face, Luo Li extended her icy-cool jade-like hand and grasp onto his. With a faint smile on her face, she spoke out in a soft voice, "Relax, Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong are not normal people. Wanting to deal with them won"t be an easy matter."
Flipping his hand and grabbing onto her"s, Mu Chen replied, "I"m afraid that this matter might be dangerous…"
During the previous time, he had only followed Su Xuan and the rest to complete a Spiritual Treasure mission, and had almost lost his little life. As of now, the mission this time clearly had a level of danger far exceeding the previous one. Compared to a person like Mo Longzi, Bai Xuan was simply not worth a mention.
Therefore, the mission this time might be even more dangerous.
"I"ve followed along just because it"ll be dangerous. If not, do you think I would come here for no reason? If you"re afraid that something might happen to me, just protect me properly." replied Luo Li with a faint laugh.
"Relax. As long as you"re beside me, regardless of any danger, even if we die, I"ll die before you." grasping Luo Li"s small hand, Mu Chen gave his reply. Although his voice was very soft, one could hear the unmovable resolution contained within them.
Luo Li"s beautiful eyes gazed towards the youth by her side. With a faint smile present on her face, a water-like intent rippled within those clear and limpid eyes, causing her to look soul-stirringly beautiful. However, it was a pity that other people would forever be unable to see this, the most beautiful scene in the world.
When Mu Chen and Luo Li arrived at the Punishment Hall, they discovered that quite a few people from the Punishment Hall were already present. At the frontmost position of their group was, impressively, Lin Zheng, Zhou Qingshan and Gu Tianyan.
At this moment, grave and solemn expressions were present on the faces of the three. Obviously, they had also received the news about this matter.
"Senior Brother Lin Zheng."
As Mu Chen and Luo Li, descended, both of them cupped their fists while saying, "Hallmaster Mo You has requested for us to partic.i.p.ate in this mission."
Lin Zheng nodded his head and replied with a smile, " With Junior Brother Mu Chen"s help, we"ll be able to be more relaxed."
Beside him, Zhou Qingshan and Gu Tianyan were looking at Mu Chen with kind gazes. The Punishment Hall members in the surroundings were also looking at Mu Chen, albeit with curiosity. They didn"t show any contempt towards the latter due to his strength, which was at the level of Heavenly Transformation Stage Late Phase. This was because they had long known that the Freshman before them was able to fight with Gu Tianyan without determining a winner while he was at the Heavenly Transformation Stage Initial Phase. As of now, his strength had greatly improved. That meant that his combat abilities would definitely have become stronger.
Not long after Mu Chen and Luo Li had arrived, whoos.h.i.+ng sounds rang out from sky, only for everyone to see three streaks of light shooting over. Finally descending onto the gathering square, they revealed themselves to be He Yao, Su Xuan and Xu Huang.
Obviously, the three of them should have also received the same mission.
Upon seeing Mu Chen and Luo Li, Su Xuan and the other two didn"t feel surprised. After all, as of now, if one were to remove the absent Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong, the strongest people among the students of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy might be the pair of young lovers in front of them.
Seeing Su Xuan and other two arrive, Lin Zheng nodded his head, before proceeding to say in a deep voice, " Everyone, our mission this time will be extremely dangerous. Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong were in the process of chasing and dealing with that Mo Longzi, and were ambushed by the former, who had secretly gathered all the vicious people on the Bounty Board from the tenth to second rank. Since the two were heavily outnumber, they fell into an encirclement, before fleeing while suffering heavy injuries. As of now, their current situation is critical."
"Second to tenth rank on the Bounty Board…"
Upon hearing those words, even Mu Chen could not bear breathing in a mouthful of cold air. Every single person on the top ten ranks of the Bounty Board were all violent and vicious characters. Just dealing with one would, normally, already be extremely hard. They never imagined that nine of them would actually take action together.
This lineup was overly luxurious. No wonder why even Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong would be defeated and forced to retreat, and even fall into a crisis.
Grave expressions filled the faces of Su Xuan and the rest. The strength of their enemy"s lineup was already considered to be very strong, and was sufficient to wipe a first-rate powerhouse off the Northern Heavens Continent.
"This mission will be headed by me, with Zhou Qingshan and Gu Tianyan providing support to me. The five of you will follow us, while two Punishment Hall members of Heavenly Completion Stage Initial Phase and three Punishment Hall members of half-step Heavenly Completion Stage would also follow along. The time"s tight, and this is the strength that the Punishment Hall can immediately mobilise. The rest are either in closed-door training or are on other missions. Therefore, we need your help this time," said Lin Zheng in a deep voice.
Mu Chen faintly nodded his head. Looked like the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy was treating this matter with deep regard. Their lineup was rather tyrannical. After all, their opponents were super vicious people on the top ten ranks on the Bounty Board. If the strength of their group wasn"t sufficient, they would just become a burden if they were to head over. Therefore, the minimum requirement of strength was at the Heavenly Completion Stage.
Even Su Xuan and Xu Huang had great increases to their strength after experiencing the Spiritual Light Empowerment, both reaching half-step into Heavenly Completion Stage. As for He Yao, he had broken through to truly reach Heavenly Completion Stage Initial Phase.
Therefore, within their group, from the looks alone, Mu Chen, with his strength at Heavenly Transformation Stage Late Phase, appeared to be the weakest.
"This is some information about Mo Longzi and his group of people. You guys, take a look and know your enemy, so that we can reduce some dangers, at the very least." With a flick of his finger, numerous streaks of light shot towards Mu Chen and the rest.
With a grab, the streak of light became a scroll within Mu Chen"s hand. Tearing it open, he saw detailed information about Mo Longzi and his group written on it.
Mo Longzi, Rank 2 on the Bounty Board. Comes from the Demonic Dragon Palace. Vicious and Merciless; absolutely stunning talent; It"s said that his strength was about Heavenly Completion Stage Middle Phase, and might even be close to Heavenly Completion Stage Late Phase. Extremely Dangerous.
Mu Gu, Rank 3 of the Bounty Board. Comes from the Divine Bone Hall. Heavenly Completion Stage Middle Phase.
Gui Xiong, Rank 4 of the Bounty Board. No known school or sect. Obtained the inheritance of an ancient sect. Has a very vicious character. Heavenly Completion Stage Middle Phase.
Wu Jia, Rank 5 of the Bounty Board. Heavenly Transformation Stage Late Phase. Is also a Rank 5 Spiritual Array Master.
Dum Dum…
As Mu Chen and the rest looked over the information given to them, their expressions grew increasingly grave. This lineup was truly tyrannical. Even if Mo Longzi was considered a Heavenly Completion Stage Middle Phase, there were three other Heavenly Completion Stage Middle Phases, as well as five Heavenly Completion Stage Initial Phases and even a 4th grade Spiritual Array Master…
No wonder why even Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong would be forced into such a miserable situation. Their enemy"s lineup was too tyrannical.
"Leave Mo Longzi, Mu Gu and Gui Xiong to us three to deal with. As for the others, we"ll leave them to you guys. As long as we rescue Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong from their encirclement, dealing with them shouldn"t be difficult," said Lin Zheng in a deep voice.
Shooting a look at Lin Zheng and the other two, Mu Chen could sense from the Spiritual Energy fluctuations radiating out from their bodies that they seemed to be much stronger than before. Clearly, their strength had also increased during this period of time, reaching the level of Heavenly Completion Stage Middle Stage. No wonder why they dared to obstruct the three strongest people in the enemy"s lineup.
"Yes."
Mu Chen and the rest also nodded their heads.
"Since there"s no other questions, let"s immediately make our move. Our time"s tight, and we have to rescue them as quickly as possible."
With a wave of his hand, Lin Zheng didn"t continue speaking, taking the lead and shooting off. Zhou Qingshan and and Gu Tianyan immediately followed suit, with the other Punishment Hall members also sweeping out.
"Let"s go."
Nodding his head towards Su Xuan and the rest in indication, Mu Chen followed suit and shot out.
Their group quickly shot out of the inner region of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. In the next moment, they noticed countless students standing in the air above the academy"s outer region, with their gazes all locked onto their group.
Within a short span of a moment, the news about Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong asking for help in a life-or-death situation had already spread across the entire Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. Therefore, upon seeing Lin Zheng, Mu Chen and the rest in a group, all of them knew what their mission was about.
Upon seeing this horde of students, Mu Chen and the rest faintly lowered their speed.
"Senior Brother Lin Zheng, Junior Brother Mu Chen, slaughter that Mo Longzi and rescue Senior Brother Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong back!" Some students started roaring in loud voices.
After all, Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong were ranked first and second on the current Heavenly Rankings. They"re a kind of benchmark of struggle for many students. If the two were to lose their lives in Mo Longzi"s hands, this would result in an extremely huge impact on the morale of those students.
Looking towards those students who were looking at their group with hopes and antic.i.p.ation present within their eyes, Mu Chen and the group shot a look at each other, before their expressions all turned grave. They knew that if they were to fail in their mission, when they returned, the entire Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy might totally sink into a period of darkness. Wanting to recover that vitality from before would take an unknown amount of time.
Lin Zheng took a deep breath of air. Not choosing to reply, he only slowly cupped his hands towards the countless students before him. Behind him, Mu Chen, Zhou Qingshan, Gu Tianyan and the rest had also silently cupped their hands.
"Let"s go!"
With a low roar, Lin Zheng waved his hand, before proceeding to shoot off. The group transformed into ten streaks of light, rus.h.i.+ng out of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.
Before the Great Hall at the peak of a mountain, Dean Tai Cang, as well as numerous other Elders, was presently standing there. Looking towards Lin Zheng, Mu Chen and the rest of the figures in the distance, chilling intent flashed within their eyes.
"Make sure to stare at the Demonic Dragon Palace. Once their Elder-level characters take action…"
The deep and abstruse eyes of Dean Tai Cang"s eyes turned abnormally cold at this moment. A slight pause presented itself within his words as his hands slowly clenched together.
"Kill them all without any mercy!"
Chapter 360 – Western Desolate Territory
White clouds fluttered around the azure horizon, appearing exceedingly languid. Sunlight pierced through the cloud layers, illuminating the earth, leaving behind dim gigantic shadows all around.
Whoos.h.!.+
On the horizon totally devoid of sound, hurried whoos.h.i.+ng sounds suddenly resounded. In the next moment, ten streaks of light explosively shot over from the far side of the sky. Their speed was extremely fast. Howling over in a split second. Due to the wind pressure created by such high-speed movements, huge scars were ripped apart from the layers of clouds in the sky.
This group of people was, naturally, Lin Zheng, Mu Chen and the rest that had come from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.
Due to the urgency of the situation, they had seemingly not taken any sort of breaks, traveling at their utmost speed for the entire journey.
"Senior Brother Lin Zheng, how much further do we have left?" Mu Chen asked while following closely behind Lin Zheng. Looking in front of him, his voice, wrapped in Spiritual Energy, rang within the latter"s ear.
"From the fluctuations radiating from the Blood Toll Bell, they should be at the Western Desolate Territory, towards the northwest of the Northern Heavens Continent. With our speed, we would need a day and a night of time, at the very least, to reach there," replied Lin Zheng.
"That long, huh…?" muttered Mu Chen as his forehead started to faintly wrinkle. A day and a night. He was just afraid that there might be some unforeseen changes. After all, since the beginning, Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong"s situation was not that good.
"Relax. Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong aren"t people that can be easily pinched to death. Even with Mo Longzi and his lineup, wanting to kill the two of them won"t be an easy thing to do." Lin Zheng understood Mu Chen"s worry, and thus, said some consoling words.
"I hope so."
Mu Chen nodded his head. Looking at the distance, the skies over there seemed to be covered in black clouds. This mission wouldn"t be easy at all.
Western Desolate Territory
When Mu Chen and the rest had rushed over, it was already a day later.
Mu Chen and the group descended towards the edge of the Western Desolate Territory. Looking at the region before them, it was in a state of complete disorder. Gigantic deep gulches akin to being created from meteors descending from the sky were present, with gigantic cracks tens of thousands of metres long extending from them.
There were a few mountains originally present here. As of now, all of them had completely collapsed, with gigantic stones scattered everywhere across the area.
Obviously, an extremely intense battle had taken place at this territory.
Staring at the totally chaotic and disordered region, Lin Zheng slowly said, "Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong had met an ambush at this place."
The group swept their gazes across the region, before their expressions slowly turned slightly grave. Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong had fought against nine vicious people from the top ten ranks on the bounty list. It was hard to imagine exactly how bitter and desperate this battle was.
"After this fight, Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong should have already suffered injuries. After fleeing deep into the Western Desolate Territory, Mo Longzi and his group should"ve been relentlessly pursuing them, with no thoughts of giving up."
Lin Zheng"s eyes turned frosty as he looked towards the depths of the Western Desolate Territory while saying, "We should get closer to them as fast as possible."
"Everyone, be more careful. Our enemies this time aren"t simple people." Lin Zheng reminded. In the next moment, with a wave of his hand, he shot towards the depth of the Western Desolate Territory, with Mu Chen and the rest immediately following closely behind.
However, this time, everyone had tensed their bodies up. They knew that not too long from now, they would land in a head-on confrontation with a luxurious lineup fully comprised of vicious people.
The depths of the Western Desolate Territory. This place was covered all year-round by thick Spiritual Mist. The Spiritual Mist hadn"t dissipated nor scattered for many, many years, causing any senses to be greatly reduced within it.
Living within the Spiritual Mist were numerous kinds of special and unique Spiritual Beasts. These Spiritual Beasts relied on the cover of the Spiritual Mist to appear and disappear like ghosts. This made them extremely hard to deal with. Therefore, there would be very little experts from the Northern Heavens Continent who would come over here in search of treasure.
At this moment, at the stone peak within the depths, were ten figures. A thick baleful aura covered the bodies of these ten figures. From a single look, people would be able to know that they weren"t any kind-hearted or good-natured folks.
At the very front of the group was a male dressed in black robes. A longsword strapped across his back, while the malevolent marking of a black dragon was present on his forehead, displaying his ident.i.ty. He was the target that Lin Zheng, Mu Chen and their group was looking for, Mo Longzi.
"Tsk, tsk, Mo Longzi, we"ve already investigated. That Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong are treating their injuries while hiding in that misty valley. This time, they"ll definitely have nowhere left to go!" A male in grey robes standing behind Mo Longzi gave a high-pitched laugh before speaking out. Those deep pair of eyes were sparkling with an ominous and cunning glint, while dark and extremely tyrannical Spiritual Energy fluctuations radiated from his body, causing the Spiritual Mist to be unable to enter a radius of ten metres around him.
This vicious person was the 7th Rank on the Bounty Board, w.a.n.g Yingui. His strength had reached Heavenly Completion Stage Initial Phase.
Upon hearing his, Mo Longzi gave a faint smile and replied, "I think that the rescue squad from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy should be arriving very soon."
"To be in such a hurry, their manpower shouldn"t be much. However, it can be a.s.sumed that they would be their best ones. The three Great Generals of the Punishment Hall will definitely come," said a person dressed in greyish-white robes. The body of this person appeared to be as thin as a matchstick, with only a layer of skin covering his bones, making him look akin to a skeleton. At this moment, a thick fog appeared within his skeleton-like eyes as he spoke out with an indifferent voice.
"Hehe, what"s the matter? Could it be that you, Mu Gu are afraid?" said a male whose physique was st.u.r.dy and strong, like a bear, with a giant blood-red axe on his back, making a droning laugh.
"Gui Xiong, caution is the parent of safety. That time, your head was almost obtained by Lin Zheng. Could it be that you"ve still not learnt your lesson?" replied Mu Gu indifferently.
"Previously, I"ve only been too complacent. If I see that Lin Zheng today, I, your father, will cleave him into two halves!" roared Gui Xiong, his eyes opened wide as a baleful aura gushed from him.
"That"s enough. Don"t argue at this place."
Mo Longzi spoke out while wrinkling his forehead. Waving his hand, he looked towards a male in green who had yet to speak. The latter"s eyes appeared normal. However, chilling rays of light erupted and sparkled from within, as if a poisonous snake was lurking within their depths.
"Wu Jia, are the preparations complete?"
This person was, unexpectedly, Wu Jia, 5th Rank of the Bounty Board, and was the only 5th Grade Spiritual Array Master amongst their ranks.
Hearing Mo Longzi"s words, that Wu Jia smiled, and nodded his head while replying, "I"ve long completed my preparations, with the only thing left is for the fish to enter the net."
An extremely sinister smile appeared at the corner of Mo Longzi"s mouth as he said, "That"s good."
"Why don"t we just capture Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong first?" asked Mu Gu with a frown.
"Just relax. They"re unable to run away," replied Mo Longzi with a gentle and chilling smile. Looking towards the deepest part of the thick mist, he replied, "Do you think that I was truly unable to capture them over these last few days?"
Mu Gu"s eyes narrowed before saying, "Are you purposefully luring the rescue squad from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy over here?"
The smile at the corner of Mo Longzi"s mouth grew even more bloodthirsty and crazy. Licking his lips, he replied, "Do you think that just a Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong would be enough to satisfy me?"
"Haha, they aren"t enough…"
"I also want to eat this rescue squad!"
"Haha. I truly don"t know how big of an upheaval this would cause within the Northern Heavens Continent. I think that the face of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy should be very nice to watch then, right? I"m truly antic.i.p.ating it…"
Mu Gu and the rest shot a look at each other as a faint tremble shook their hearts. This Mo Longzi was truly very vicious and merciless. If this elite rescue squad was to be completely defeated, the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy might truly explode.
Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+
Ten figures shot across the desolated plains at lightning speed. Spiritual Energy erupted from their bodies, with some people even clenching Spiritual Weapons in their hands. Their bodies were taut and tense, ready to enter their combat states at any time.
This group of people was, naturally, Lin Zheng, Mu Chen and their group who had entered the depths of the Western Desolate Territory.
Along the way, they had increased their speed, and had also tried their utmost to restrain their Spiritual Energy fluctuations to avoid being detected. Any Spiritual Beasts met along the way by them would be avoided to their greatest possible extent.
Under this full speed, it took them only a measly half an hour to enter the depths of the Western Desolate Territory.
Mu Chen"s gaze swept across his surroundings, before faintly narrowing his eyes. This stretch of the world seemed to be permeated by a thick mist, of which Spiritual Energy fluctuations could be felt within.
"The depths of the Western Desolate Territory are covered by a Spiritual Mist throughout the year. Once one enters it, one"s senses would drop. Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong must have known about this, and have, therefore, fled towards this direction." Lin Zheng spoke out.
Mu Chen faintly nodded his head before saying in a soft voice. "However, it"s extremely easy to get lost in such an environment."
Lin Zheng nodded his head in approval. After gently making a hand sigh, everyone nodded their heads slightly, before increasingly their vigilance.
Moving close to Luo Li, Mu Chen said in a low voice. " Follow me tightly at all times. Regardless of the situation, don"t ever leave my sight."
As they entered the depths, he was faintly able to sense some slight unease, but was unable to put them into words. However, regardless of that, being more careful was a must.
Luo Li nodded her small head.
Just as Mu Chen was talking to her, the surrounding Spiritual Mist grew increasingly thick. At that moment, their vision had become extremely impaired, so had their senses.
Ten figures skimmed over the land as they shot over, furiously rus.h.i.+ng into the thick Spiritual Mist.
However, a split second when they rushed into the Spiritual Mist, Mu Chen"s expression furiously changed. He could feel strange fluctuations radiating from within the Spiritual Mist that appeared to be similar to Spiritual Arrays.
"Careful!"
Mu Chen"s eyes faintly narrowed. With an explosive roar, he wrapped Luo Li within his bosom.
At the same time, the Spiritual Mist started to crazily squirm about, causing distortions to seemingly form in the surrounding s.p.a.ce. Transforming into something akin to giant mouths of evil demons, they devoured Mu Chen and their group completely. As the Spiritual Mist pervaded over, everyone had disappeared without a trace.
Within the extreme depths, on the top of the stone peak, Wu Jia"s eyes sprung open as a malevolent smile flashed across his eyes.
"The fish have entered the net."
A smile surfaced at the corner of Mo Longzi"s mouth. Taking a step forward, he disappeared within the thick mist.
"It"s time."
As he disappeared, a sinister voice br.i.m.m.i.n.g with cruel killing intent rang out within the thick mist.
Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+
On the stone peak, eight figures stood up. Laughing malevolently, they shot out simultaneously.
The most elite rescue lineup from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy?
This time, we"ll kill every single one of your people! Let"s see if there"s anyone else that dares to offer a bounty for us!