Xiao Chen scoffed and ignored them. He hopped onto his bed and sat on it and began meditating. As he channeled and built his powers, he was interrupted by the creaking of floorboards, followed by the hushed voices of two or three people pa.s.sing by the room outside."I expect a greater turnout at this year"s Immortal"s Sword a.s.sembly than last year surely. I heard that the prospects from all five continents this year showed immensely promising talent."
"It was the Middle Continent who had snagged the top place last time, no? Four of the strongest ten warriors were all from the Middle Continent then, with the rest – two from the South, another two from the West and the last two from the North – from the rest of the Violet Manor."
"None from the East?"
"The Eastern Continent? I wouldn"t count on them. The East is nothing but only an impoverished land with a meager supply of talent. There"s not been anyone worth mentioning since the emergence of the Jade Qing Seven. I remember none of the schools from the East could even make it past the qualifiers during the last tournament."
"Who"s to say this time it might be different? There have continually been rumors of powerful youngsters this time from the East. Remember the young man Xiao Chen? Word has it that he had single-handedly annihilated the entire household of the Zuoqiu family."
If the two Envoys had heard anything, they certainly made no indication of it. They reserved the entirety of their focus in their food and ignored the discussion outside. But one of them noticed that Xiao Chen was listening and smirked, "Forget about joining the Immortal"s Sword a.s.sembly. The only place you"ll be is a cell in the gaols of the League"s stronghold. Enjoy your stay there for the next six months at least."
Xiao Chen"s forehead creased suppressed anger, but he made no response. He continued his meditation for an hour until the Envoys came to him. "By law, your meridian points are to be sealed for the night."
"So be it," Xiao Chen growled quietly.
The two Envoys shared a quick look. They had expected a certain degree of defiance and not this. Wordlessly, the two men shot a few auric projectiles all over him to seal and prevent him from channeling his powers.
Unbeknownst to them, Xiao Chen was doubling with laughter all inside. No magic cast by anyone below the level of the Nascent Soul Realm would hold him for long. His interest to squabble with the two fools was all but extinguished by the fatigue of his journey. He swung himself to the side and lied down to sleep.
The two Envoys took turns watching him through the night. They did not dare to sleep in fear of Xiao Chen escaping. Xiao Chen slept soundly until the odd rustling of gra.s.ses outside woke him up like the tolling of bells in the still hush of the night. Something was not right, he thought. He was about to flip himself up, when a dark, shadowy figure crashed through the windows and pounced at him.
The sudden appearance of the stranger surprised him and he instinctively tried to channel his powers to shield himself when he remembered his powers were still under the magical seal. Before he was able to undo the magic, the stranger had grabbed him and took off with him.
"Wake up! The subject has escaped!"
The Envoys, shaken awake by the stranger"s entrance, sprang to their feet and leaped out of the windows in pursuit. But they had barely got out when four or five destructive auric projectiles rained down on them, nearly reducing the entire inn into mere rubbles.
Xiao Chen was started by the powerful force that almost killed the two Envoys. Is this Zimo and Fengxi"s doing? Are they really thinking of breaking him out of captivity by force?
The stranger in black held on to him tightly, pulling him along as they kept their pace, leaping onto roofs and chimneys and bolting as quickly as possible. Winds brushed by Xiao Chen"s ears as he could only watch himself being being abducted before he heard footsteps behind them; the Envoys were getting close! But before they caught up, another group of four or five strangers in black appeared to block their path and held them off.
Flickers of Sword Qi danced about viciously in the air, painting the dark sky like an artist"s colorful palettes upon a canvas of black. With every Sword Qi deflected, stray auric bolts would crash into buildings and structures, and more innocents perished without even knowing what happened.
Unlike the strangers in black garb who had no reservations in spilling blood, the two Envoys of the Immortals" League could not unleash their full power and were slowly losing their grounds to the merciless and callous onslaught launched by the strangers.
At last, one of the Envoys abandoned the fight and took off into the air, riding on his sword to chase after Xiao Chen, leaving his colleague to deal with the strangers.
This is not right, Xiao Chen thought, Fengxi would never be so destructive and merciless and disregard the safety of the innocents! Realizing that they could be enemies from the Devil"s Practice, he snarled, "Who are you, people!"
The stranger ignored his question, focusing only on putting as much distance as possible between the Envoys and them. Even on foot while carrying him, the stranger was quick; so quick that they were almost beyond the city limits. Nevertheless, one of the Envoys managed to catch up to them. With a swing of his sword, he conjured a serpent of flames that lunged at the stranger, trying to coil around him. But with just a simple side-step, the stranger managed to evade cleanly.
"Let me go!" Xiao Chen snarled.
"Rest a.s.sured, Young Master! I"ll have you safely out of here in no time!" A hollow voice responded. The stranger used his True Qi to alter his voice!
"Stop, Xiao Chen! You"ll never get away!" The Envoy bellowed from behind, hearing what the stranger said, while sending another Sword Qi projectile at them.
d.a.m.n it! Xiao Chen cursed that this is a plot to discredit me! He would be branded as a fugitive if he allowed himself to be taken!
"I DON"T KNOW THIS MAN!" Xiao Chen yelled as loud as he could, "It"s all the fault of you fools! You have cast the seal on my powers for nothing!"
With anxiousness and distress churning inside him, he was getting worried; he needed time to break the magical seal. To make matters worse, another group of strangers, all similarly clad in black, appeared to engage the Envoy. Another group, waiting here to ambush any pursuers!.
Not long later, they were joined by the other Envoy and his a.s.sailants. More than ten strangers in black garb surrounded the Envoys as more violence ensued. "Take the Young Master with you and go! Leave these two to us! We"ll catch up once they have been dealt with!"
Hearing this, one of the Envoys roared, "I see! So the rumors are true after all, Xiao Chen! You are indeed one of the evil folk!"
The situation was getting worse for Xiao Chen; the two Envoys would surely report Xiao Chen as a member of the Devil"s Practice after this! Panicking with anger, he screamed at them, "YOU FOOLS! I DON"T KNOW THIS PEOPLE AT ALL!"
But his shouts fell on deaf ears; the Envoys swung their swords and tried to attack him instead, only to be held back by the black-clothed a.s.sailants. The darkness in the night was illuminated by flaring auric projectiles as the fighting grew intense. But the two Envoys were struggling against the greater numbers against them.
"Who are you?" Xiao Chen snarled at the stranger still holding him. With his powers still sealed, he was but merely a helpless rag doll in the hands of his mysterious captor. Still, he kept on trying to break the magical seal, hoping that he could free himself in time.
"There"s no need for you to know who we are," said the man in black. He turned to his cohorts, "KILL ONLY ONE AND RELEASE THE OTHER!" He spoke to Xiao Chen again, "With that, you will be a fugitive of the Immortal"s League. You will be hunted like dog until your death. Joining us will be the only option for your survival!"
"I see, this is a plot to force me to join the Devil"s Practice!" But his thoughts were cut short suddenly; a ray of light streaked through the air, racing towards them! So fast and powerful was the bolt of light that it smote at the stranger like lightning from the sky, forcing the stranger to release his hold of Xiao Chen and leap to safety.
Free at last, Xiao Chen scampered away. Perfected Immortal Qing Chen appeared beside him suddenly to keep him safe. With a flail of his sleeves, he delivered an auric blow as powerful as the force of a broken dam, sending the rest of the men in black crashing to the ground. Seconds later, Yu Yifeng and everyone else arrived to help.
"LEAVE!" The leader of the men in black barked to his subordinates and the whole contingent of them immediately fled, vanishing into thin air.
The Mentor of the Jade Qing Sect approached Xiao Chen and tapped him with his fingers, sending a burst of aura into him. Xiao Chen felt an electrifying sensation coursing through his meridian points; the magic that sealed his powers was undone.
"Who are they?" asked a worried Yu Yifeng, his brows wrinkled into a frown.
Qingluan and Ziyun"er came to his side, with the little Murong Xian"er hot at their heels. The first thing they did was to inspect Xiao Chen to see if he was injured.
But Xiao Chen suffered no more than a scratch from the incident. In contrast, the two Envoys were badly bruised and battered. It was fortunate that they were able to survive the ordeal at all. But they were far from relieved and happy. "XIAO CHEN!" One of them spat hatefully, "We"ll see about this! You, fraternizing with the enemy!"
"We"ll make sure the Leader of the Immortals" League hears about this!" said another coldly.
"Ignorant b.a.s.t.a.r.ds," Xiao Chen hissed quietly. But his thoughts quickly wandered back to the band of black-clad strangers. Who were they and what were they up to? None of them were obviously members of the Corpse Refinery Sect for its members were known to exude a distinct aura of death and decay.
Xiao Chen sighed morosely. He was now an outlaw hunted by both sides of the spectrum of Evil and Good. Hardly a promising future from himself.
"Perhaps it is better that you dawdle no more," Perfected Immortal Qing Chen interjected, "You should go now."
The Envoys traded a look and summoned their Flying-cloud Stone. But before he could step, a dread crept into his mind suddenly, "These two Envoys... Are they really agents of the Immortals" League, or could they be actually working in secret for the Evil folk?"
The night"s events continued to torment Xiao Chen for the rest of the journey; he could no longer sit back and relax while enjoying what was left of his freedom anymore before his imminent incarceration. Finally, at evening, they finally reached a huge and magnificent city. A city that was so large and wide that it filled the entire horizon.
Thousands of floating islands hovered among the clouds that shrouded the skyline of the city like whales in a sea. There were numerous buildings, pavilions, and gazebos on the islands that joined to each other by bridges and chains. Mythical beasts and birds glided in the air, weaving lazily between the floating islands and the thick mists that shrouded the sky. Xiao Chen could only look in awe at the entire scene that looked like Paradise upon Earth.
Xiao Chen heaved in a gulp of the chilly air, looking in awe at the size of Tianyuan City which could easily dwarf almost all the cities of the Qing Province put together. The city reminded him of the Tier 3 cities he had visited during his previous lifetime, for the countless floating islands would require an astounding amount of fuel to sustain.
The two Envoys took notice of his amazement and sneered contemptuously, "This is merely a corner of Tianyuan City. Just wait till you see how big it actually is, you country b.u.mpkin!"
The entire airs.p.a.ce above the City was a strict no-fly zone in order to prevent any collisions with the floating islands. Hence the Envoys steered their flying conveyance to the ground and prepared to land.
The architecture of the buildings and structures were stunning and imposing and the streets busy and crowded with mobs of visitors and travelers from everywhere: blond, blue-eyed foreigners, richly-robed merchants, and coquettish alluring females from the more exotic nations of the world who had never stopped batting their eyes at him amongst all.
"You may look handsome," the Envoys jeered viciously, "But you"re a no more than a prisoner like common bandits and murderers!"
The two Envoys looked more noticeably arrogant and proud since stepping into the City which also served as the seat of the Immortals" League. They enjoyed themselves by shoving and pushing him around, hissing vindictively at him, "Move on quickly! Quit looking around!"
But Xiao Chen took in their shenanigans with nothing more than a dry chuckle. The crowd immediately parted to let them pa.s.s, knowing that the Envoys were agents of the League performing the duties of their office. None dared to suffer their wrath.
Minutes later, they arrived at a large and palatial structure that perched atop a platform thousands of steps high. Every step was furnished with pearly-white jade and sentries stood sternly on guard at every twenty-step interval. This indomitable structure could only be one building: the stronghold of the Middle Continent Chapter of the Immortals" League. To most common folk, this building was commonly regarded as the princ.i.p.al seat of the Immortals" League, more so, since the actual princ.i.p.al stronghold of the League was a secret closely guarded by the upper echelons of the League.
The two Envoys grinned smugly at the success of their mission and were already hoping for a fat reward. They nudged Xiao Chen up the stairs to the wide square that opened just before the entrance of the Chapter stronghold when a man, dressed in robes of flaming red, stopped them halfway up the stairs.
The two Envoys immediately halted. But their expressions were ones of anxiety and fear, Xiao Chen noticed.