Chapter 277: Crisis
“If you want a part of the spoils, come get it yourself.”
With a swing of his hand, Zhou Donghuang casually lopped off the heads of both beasts. He then had the body stored separately, and he looked at the young man mildly.
The two beasts might have exchanged blows with the young earlier, but they had been holding back against him. They had practically depleted close to none of their energy and were still very much at their peak.
He had killed both beasts on his own, and now the young man wanted a share from him?
Was there free lunch in this world?
Although the gaze he tossed at the other man had been mild, there was a threat underlining it.
“You…”
Ultimately, the young man did not lift a hand, because he knew that there was no way he would win even if he tried to lay a hand on Zhou Donghuang.
He was a late Dharma adept like his opponent, and his opponent had already mastered the Dharmic possession technique.
On the other hand, he had only begun to grasp that technique not too long before the start of the Alliance Hunt. Even at his best, the young man feared that he was no match for his opponent, much less the state he was in now.
The young man sucked in a deep breath before speaking with a forced chuckle, “My lord, I am Zhong Chengcai, son of the Yuanyin Order’s Vice-Leader, Zhong Wuyan. I’m not sure how I should address you or what sect you’re from.”
“Why? Are you asking for my name and history so you have a target for revenge?” Zhou Donghuang retorted with a mild gaze.
“Absolutely not.”
Zhong Chengcai tried his best to suppress the anger that was building up in him. With much difficulty, he forced a smile on his face. “I would have been in deep trouble if not for your a.s.sistance today… I just wish to find out more about my savior.”
Zhou Donghuang fixed Zhong Chengcai with a firm gaze. His gaze was a sharp one, as if he could see through everything. “Whether or not you’re being sincere, or if you actually want to seek revenge, I, Zhou Donghuang, will take it in stride.
“I will probably still be in the Lightning Sword Sect in the next two years to come. If it is revenge you seek, you can look for me there.”
As soon as he said that, Zhou Donghuang made to leave immediately without waiting for the other man to respond. He was like a white shooting star, disappearing from the sky in a flash.
“He’s that Zhou Donghuang from the Lightning Sword Sect?!”
Zhong Chengcai’s eyes constricted and he called out subconsciously, “He… He’s already at the late Dharma stage?”
The genius disciple from the Lightning Sword Sect, Zhou Donghuang, was already a mid Dharma adept when he was only 24 years old. He had mastered the Dharmic possession technique and easily defeated the one they referred to as a once-in-a-century genius disciple, Han Yuzheng, from the Thunder Knife Sect.
This piece of news was something Zhong Chengcai had heard of long ago.
The only thing was that he had never expected, not even in his wildest dreams, was for the very same Zhou Donghuang to have already moved to the late Dharma stage within two years. He was only 26 years old this year, no?
“A late Dharma adept who’s 26 years old… This is quite the rare sight, even if you pit him against the two Transcendental Forces, right?” Zhong Chengcai remarked silently.
At the same time, he was secretly breaking out into a cold sweat. “It’s a good thing I didn’t come off too strong earlier. But… I won’t let this matter rest.
“Zhou Donghuang, you better watch out… Otherwise, I’ll have you die a graveless death!”
There was something terrifyingly cold about Zhong Chengcai’s gaze, and he looked so vicious it seemed like he was about to devour Zhou Donghuang.
From the moment he found out who Zhou Donghuang was, he knew that there was no way he could march up to the Lightning Sword Sect to seek revenge. Even an idiot could tell that the sect would definitely be s.h.i.+elding Zhou Donghuang.
A martial arts talent like Zhou Donghuang, even if he did not come from an esteemed family, he was still not someone to be messed with, even if Zhong Chengcai was with the Yuanyin Order.
Even if his father was the leader of the Yuanyin Order, there was no way that would be allowed.
At the very least, he and his father would not dare pull any stunts in broad daylight.
…
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, it had already been two months since the Alliance Hunt had commenced.
In another month, the disciples from the allied sects who were currently on the Guiyao planet would have to take their leave soon.
The two months they spent on the Guiyao planet had been a trivial task for the more competent of the disciples.
For the ultimate Dharma disciples from the big sects of the alliance, spending time here was akin to taking a vacation. Even without having mastered the Dharmic possession technique, they could breeze through the killing off a bunch of ultimate Dharma beasts on the Guiyao planet solely by relying on their spirit weapons.
It was near impossible for them to acc.u.mulate enough points to place in the first few ranks. As such, their mission upon entering the planet was focused more on helping the weaker disciples of their sect acc.u.mulate more points.
As of now, the ultimate Dharma adepts of the various sects were more or less all following a specific early or mid Dharma disciple from their sects. Either that, or they were trailing behind several people at once.
There were some late Dharma disciples who had ultimate Dharma disciples they were on good terms with, and the latter had wanted to help the former. This was more or less a one-on-one sort of help.
All in all, the Alliance Hunt hinged somewhat on whether there were people willing to help without expecting anything in return, as much as it did on the personal strength of an individual.
That said, even if someone did decide to help another person kill a beast, the beast had to be one they could kill off on their own. If not, that would not count towards their own results, and they would be punished by having their results forfeited.
This was why an ultimate Dharma disciple could only kill off a mid Dharma beast at most, even if he wanted to help an early Dharma disciple.
“Luo Qinghan, we really are bound by fate.”
Yuan Zheng had never expected that he would run into Luo Qinghan here, not when the Guiyao planet was so big. For a moment, his eyes were practically green.
As for Luo Qinghan, she could not help the twitch in her eye when she saw him, but she quickly calmed her expression.
Even if Yuan Zheng was now at the Dharma stage and had obtained from the Tiansong Sect the right to partic.i.p.ate in the Alliance Hunt, it did not necessarily mean that he was stronger than she was.
After she calmed her expression, she swept a cold glance over the man. She did not acknowledge him, choosing to continue on her own path as she ignored him.
“Luo Qinghan, I heard from a few of the Jihan Sect disciples on my way here that there’s an ultimate Dharma disciple from your sect who wants to help you acc.u.mulate points, but you rejected him?” Yuan Zheng chased after Luo Qinghan and asked with a smile.
But Luo Qinghan paid him no mind.
Indeed.
Earlier on, they were preparing to enter the Guiyao planet to partic.i.p.ate in the Alliance Hunt. There were quite a number of ultimate Dharma disciples from the Jihan Sect who had made it clear to her that if she wanted, they were willing to help her acc.u.mulate points by taking out the beasts without anything in return.
However, Luo Qinghan had turned that down.
She knew very well that those ultimate Dharma disciples were not being sincere when they said they would do it without expecting anything in return.
They had only offered to help her so they could get to know Zhou Donghuang through her, or even curry favor with him.
With the results that Zhou Donghuang had demonstrated today, there was little doubt that he would become a huge figure in the Hengliu galaxy as long as he did not give up halfway through!
An existence like his was destined to rise to the top as long as he persisted, and it was the dream of many to rub shoulders with him before he blew up.
“I cannot owe him any more favors.”
After rejecting the bunch of ultimate Dharma disciples from the Jihan Sect, Luo Qinghan had but this one thought in her head.
Yuan Zheng’s smile slowly faded from his face when he realized that Luo Qinghan was ignoring him. He remarked callously, “Luo Qinghan, what are you doing pretending to be all high and mighty when we’re already at this point?
“At the start while we were still on the Tianxuan planet, you acted as if you were some saint. You had no wants and you could not be bothered with me. But now, you’re all over that Zhou Donghuang.
“You’ve only been accepted into the Jihan Sect for a few years. Even if you knew him, how long could you have possibly known him for? Have you known him for longer than you have known me?
“Can you truly say that you’re not only so chummy with him because his martial talent and future achievements have caught your eye?”
Luo Qinghan had been keeping her back to Yuan Zheng. At this point in his rant, her face fell completely, and she stopped in her tracks.
“One more word out of you, Yuan Zheng… Don’t blame me for what I’ll do next!” Luo Qinghan said somberly. Her hands were curled into tight fists, and her eyes were gleaming with fury.
“Alright, then…”
Yuan Zheng, on the other hand, chuckled at her words. “Just as well, I wanted to see for myself just how strong you are now.
“I’ll be honest—I was quite surprised to see that you could take part in the Alliance Hunt.”
Almost right before Luo Qinghan turned, Yuan Zheng tossed a black bead that he had concealed in his palms. The bead was flicked high up into the sky, and the horizon was aglow with resplendent fireworks.
“Hm?”
Luo Qinghan noticed the fireworks going off above her head at the same time she turned. Her face s.h.i.+fted a little. “Are you calling for the disciples from the Tiansong Sect to come?”
Without any hesitation, Luo Qinghan turned to leave.
She was already uncertain if she could take on Yuan Zheng just as he was.
He would definitely not be a match for her if another Tiansong Sect disciple joined the fray!
“Where are you rus.h.i.+ng off to, Luo Qinghan?”
Yuan Zheng laughed blandly. With a twist of his body, he stepped in front of Luo Qinghan to prevent her from moving forward anymore.
At the sight of this, Luo Qinghan had no choice but to retrieve a similar black bead from her s.p.a.ce ring. She wanted to launch this one into the sky.
Since Yuan Zheng wanted to call the closest Tiansong Sect disciples to him, then she had no choice but to do the same and call for the closest Jihan Sect disciples to come to her.
The disciples of all the allied sects had their a.s.signed signal flares.
But Yuan Zheng was one step ahead of her; he stopped her from getting her way. “Luo Qinghan, don’t you dare call for people right in front of me.”
As her face twitched yet again, she had no choice but to brandish her spirit weapon to exchange blows with Yuan Zheng. After she hit at him enough for him to retreat a little, she would have a window to launch the signal flare.
The only problem with this plan was that Yuan Zheng was not actually weaker than her. The two of them were rather well-matched in strength, so she would not have the chance to launch her signal flare.
Judging by his strength, Yuan Zheng would be able to wound and defeat her the moment she was distracted with launching the signal flare.
Once she was wounded, she would become a slab of fish on Yuan Zheng’s chopping block.
That was something she absolutely refused to watch happen.
As such, she could only resist as best as she could.
“Luo Qinghan, I didn’t launch the signal flare to call for people to help me defeat you… If it’s just you, I’m more than strong enough to deal with you.”
Yuan Zheng chuckled darkly, “I launched the signal flare to call for Senior Brother Mo… Senior Brother Mo, he’s not too far from here.
“Tsk, tsk… I really am looking forward to sending you tumbling into his embrace and letting him own you. I wonder how he’d thank me for helping him get back at Zhou Donghuang for the humiliation he was subjected to.
“With him backing me, my future in the Tiansong Sect will be a smooth sailing one!”
Yuan Zheng believed that the heavens had been looking out for him when they had him cross paths with Luo Qinghan, allowing him to redeem himself.
It was important to note that he had indirectly embarra.s.sed Mo Yitian, the top of the younger generation in the Tiansong Sect. This was something other man had despised him for.
Two days ago, when Mo Yitian met him, the former had thrown him a cold glance.
It was not difficult to imagine that Mo Yitian might have killed him if not for the fact that they were both under the same sect.
But today, he had finally found the opportunity to repair his relations.h.i.+p with Mo Yitian.