792. Pursuit

“National Teacher!”

The middle-aged man in the purple robe was wild with joy, his heart surging with excitement.

Just as he’d expected, Xu Pingfeng’s appearance here meant the fighting in the capital had already been decided.

In that instant, the middle-aged man in purple thought of many things, entering the Central Plains, ascending the throne as Emperor, donning the yellow robe from this day forth, becoming the lord of all under Heaven, reclaiming the rightful line, and putting to rest the regrets of his forebears.

The more he thought, the more excited he became. His blood rushed, and his spirits soared.

However, the bearing he had cultivated over many years in high office let him calm down quickly. He drew a deep breath, maintained his composure, and said:

“Has the battle in the capital ended? Has the National Teacher come to escort us into the capital?”

Xu Pingfeng did not turn round. He stared at the sea, where white foam kept churning up, and sighed:

“We were defeated. Your Majesty should prepare to put to sea.”

The middle-aged man in purple felt his head buzz, as if someone had struck him with a muffled blow. He staggered backwards.

His face turned deathly pale at once, his lips trembling, and then his hands and feet too, as if he couldn’t withstand the damp chill of the sea wind.

The middle-aged man in purple said, word by word:

“How could this happen? Where’s Baidi? Where’s Agaruka Bodhisattva? And Ji Xuan, Qi Guangbo, where are the others?”

Xu Pingfeng shook his head slightly:

“In the battle of the northern frontier, Xu Qi’an used the tribulation to advance smoothly to first rank martial artist. Baidi and Agaruka were no match for him. The former has already retreated overseas, while the latter, on behalf of the Buddhist sect, tore up the alliance with Yunzhou.

“Those who went on campaign all remained in the capital. Ji Xuan died at Xu Qi’an’s hands.”

The middle-aged man in purple’s mind went blank, and his heart seemed to stop.

When he’d abandoned his clansmen in Qianlong City, he had not hesitated in the slightest, at most feeling heartbroken for a moment. But on hearing that Ji Xuan had died in the capital, at Xu Qi’an’s hands, it was like a bolt from the blue. The pain in his heart was unbearable.

It wasn’t that he doted so much on this son born of a concubine, but this was a third rank martial artist.

How difficult was it to cultivate a third rank martial artist? And that blood pill which had given Ji Xuan his beyond-mortal body was one of the foundations of their lineage. Now it was simply gone.

“We have failed our ancestors, we have failed our ancestors!”

The middle-aged man in purple covered his face. His voice was heavy with grief, carrying a sob he could hardly suppress.

Xu Pingfeng did not offer words of comfort. In a cold tone, he said:

“Your Majesty should go to Turtleback Island first and recuperate. We were defeated in the capital today, but at worst we endure a while longer. In future, it may not be impossible to make a comeback. When Wuzong rebelled, the imperial ancestors of Your Majesty’s branch did exactly the same.

“Fortunately, we’d considered this possibility before. The stores of grain and silver on Turtleback can serve as the foundation for rising again.”

One had to prepare for every eventuality. Thus Xu Pingfeng and the Qianlong City branch had found an uninhabited island overseas, suitable for cultivation and rich in produce, and stockpiled part of their wealth and grain there.

If the rebellion failed, they would secretly withdraw to the deserted island and recuperate.

Now that line of retreat was finally being used, though it was hardly something to take pleasure in.

The middle-aged man in purple’s eyes were red as he muttered in reply:

“Is there still a chance to rise again?”

Xu Pingfeng gave a short laugh.

“Surely Your Majesty hasn’t forgotten what my eldest legitimate son relied on to make his name?”

The middle-aged man in purple was taken aback at first, then inspiration struck, and he blurted out:

“He has fortune within him, hence a lifespan no different from an ordinary man’s.”

As he spoke, the grief on his face turned to delight, and he said excitedly:

“That’s right. Even if his cultivation is heaven-defying, even if he’s already stepped into the ranks of first rank martial artists, he only has a mere hundred years of life.

“When he dies of old age, we can join hands again with the Buddhist sect and Baidi. And by then, the Jianzheng will still be sealed. What can the court of the Great Feng possibly use to fight us?”

Xu Pingfeng smiled.

“Exactly.

“So at this moment, we must put to sea and seek out Baidi, and plot this matter together with it. Your Majesty should go to Turtleback Island first. The sea is vast, and the island also has formations I personally laid down. It won’t be easy for him to find it.”

At that very moment, a deep and grating rumble came from the crystal-clear sky, like thunder rolling past.

The armoured soldiers and experts in the Azure Dragon fleet looked up in astonishment. Then their faces turned ashen, their expressions terrified, like mortals awaiting the end of the world.

A figure swept over at incredible speed. When first seen, he was still at the horizon. In the blink of an eye, he was already before them.

Xu Qi’an!

He had caught up.

Xu Qi’an’s voice rolled across the heavens:

“Xu Pingfeng, you can’t escape. If you hide overseas, I’ll hunt you overseas. To the ends of Heaven and the depths below, I’ll kill you.”

Xu Pingfeng’s expression changed drastically. After Xu Qi’an had rushed to the capital and intercepted Ji Xuan, this was the second time he had shown such an obvious change in mood, his control over his expression utterly broken.

“What, didn’t expect me to catch up so quickly?

“You’re too conceited. You think you’ve got everything under control, that all the heroes under Heaven are within your calculations. You think you’ll always have a way out. After your defeat, you decisively abandoned the forces in the capital, returned at once to Yunzhou, and prepared to take the last hope out to sea.

“You schemed against me, harmed me, treated me like a pawn, but did it ever occur to you that through these repeated clashes, I’d already figured out your habits and temperament, figured out your character of always keeping one hand in reserve.

“Did you really think everyone was a fool for you to toy with in the palm of your hand?

“The more often you made your move, the more certain your death became.”

Xu Qi’an mocked him to his heart’s content, cursed him as he pleased, and vented the pent-up fury in his chest.

He had wanted this day for a long time, to drive Xu Pingfeng into a corner, to trample all his easy composure underfoot, and tell him that he was nothing but a jumping clown.

Today, Xu Qi’an had done it.

Xu Pingfeng had failed to foresee his plan to use the heavenly tribulation to advance to first rank, and that directly doomed the Yunzhou army.

After that, Xu Pingfeng had still failed to foresee that he would catch up this quickly.

From the moment Xu Pingfeng left the capital, Xu Qi’an knew he would come to Yunzhou, take the last hope out to sea, avoid the edge for now, and make a comeback in the future.

This was a deduction based on Xu Pingfeng’s consistent character. From his past conduct, it was not hard to analyse his “steady” nature, and his habit of always leaving himself a way out and never letting himself fall into a desperate situation.

Moreover, among the Twenty-Eight Constellations, the Azure Dragon Constellation had never appeared. According to the Yunzhou prisoners captured in Qingzhou, the Azure Dragon Constellations was a naval force.

This naval force had not joined the fighting from beginning to end. What had it been kept for? The answer was obvious.

In truth, it wasn’t only Xu Qi’an who had guessed it. Wei Yuan had guessed it too, which was why he had left the Huntian Divine Mirror in the camp. It was for Xu Qi’an to use in searching for Xu Pingfeng in the boundless sea.

“National Teacher, he’s here, he’s here!”

The middle-aged man in purple was scared out of his wits and screamed:

“Quick, take us away, quick…”

In flight, how could Xu Pingfeng possibly take a burden with him?

Azure light rose beneath his feet, and in an instant he vanished from everyone’s sight.

Xu Qi’an was not flustered in the slightest, because during his mocking speech just now, he had already locked onto Xu Pingfeng, collapsing all qi and reining in all emotion.

Between Heaven and earth, a yellow sword-light flashed and vanished, fleeing into the void.

The three stages of Broken Jade:

Locking on—gathering force—strike!

As he neared the Azure Dragon fleet, Xu Qi’an had used the chance to mock him and lock onto Xu Pingfeng. From that moment on, Xu Pingfeng could no longer escape his Broken Jade.

After unleashing Broken Jade, Xu Qi’an threw out the Sovereign Sword and Taiping Sabre, and ordered:

“You two, kill everyone on the ships. Find me when they’re all dead.”

The Taiping Sabre and the Sovereign Sword whistled away, becoming one dark-gold and one yellow stream of light, weaving through the air as they plunged into the Azure Dragon fleet.

In an instant, heads flew one after another, and warm blood splashed in spray after spray.

“Xu Qi’an…”

The middle-aged man in purple cried out, wanting to tell Xu Qi’an that he was willing to surrender, willing to submit, willing to follow him back to the capital. But he only had time to shout the three words “Xu Qi’an” before the Sovereign Sword pierced his chest, and the Taiping Sabre sent his head flying.

The purple robe was stained with blood.

I’ll come back later to summon your soul and interrogate it…

Xu Qi’an took out the Huntian Divine Mirror and ordered it to survey everything within a thousand li, searching for Xu Pingfeng’s position. Then, amid a deafening sonic boom, he vanished into the horizon.

…

Xu Pingfeng didn’t have a martial artist’s danger sense, but he knew disaster was bearing down on him, because Xu Qi’an had drawn his sabre on him.

He had gathered all the intelligence on his eldest legitimate son. Everything before second rank, Xu Pingfeng knew like the back of his hand. His combat power, trump cards, magic artefacts and so on were all within Xu Pingfeng’s grasp.

So Xu Pingfeng knew better than anyone just how terrifying his eldest legitimate son’s “intent” was.

Once he locked onto you, the only thing left was to gamble your life against his, in mutual destruction.

However severe the injuries he inflicted on you, they would be reflected back onto himself at the same time.

There was no dodging it, no blocking it with a magic artefact. There was only… gambling with your life.

His only possible response now was to flee with teleportation. Teleportation involved space itself, and apart from Vaidurya Bodhisattva, it was the fastest spell in the world.

Over the vast sea, Xu Pingfeng blinked away again and again. Behind him, a yellow sword light pierced through space, rapidly closing in, hounding him like a ghost of death.

Closer and closer, closer and closer…

A savage look slowly surfaced on Xu Pingfeng’s face. The instant that yellow sword light was almost at his back, he made a snap decision and separated his primordial spirit from his flesh body in an instant.

This was the only reasonable way Xu Pingfeng could think of to evade Broken Jade.

It was also Broken Jade’s only flaw, it only possessed the power for a single strike.

Between the flesh body and the primordial spirit, it could only choose one.

Between sky and sea, two white-robed figures appeared at the same time.

The sword intent that was about to strike the flesh body suddenly veered aside and instead slew towards the slightly illusory primordial spirit.

Within the sword light, Xu Pingfeng’s primordial spirit shattered and dissolved inch by inch, vanishing together with the yellow sword light above the boundless ocean.

At that moment, from the sachet at Xu Pingfeng’s waist flew out a pitch-black banner. It was an imitation Soul-Summoning Banner, possessing only a tenth or perhaps a little more of the true item’s power, enough to summon souls within ten li.

“Rustle rustle!”

The Soul-Summoning Banner shook, yin wind gusting in waves. Before long, Xu Pingfeng’s scattered primordial spirit slowly gathered together, taking shape as an almost transparent figure.

That figure was extremely fragile, swaying in the sea wind as if it might collapse at any moment.

Without the slightest hesitation, the primordial spirit immediately threw itself back into the flesh body.

The body promptly opened its eyes. Then he put away the Soul-Summoning Banner, took out a porcelain bottle from the sachet, pulled the wooden stopper free, and swallowed in one gulp all the pills inside that nourished the primordial spirit.

Only then did he barely manage to stabilise his spirit.

Luckily, a martial artist’s methods against the primordial spirit can only be called average.

Sweat poured down Xu Pingfeng’s body. There was no joy in having escaped death, only lingering fear, fury, and a crushing sense of helplessness.

He, a dignified peak second-rank Arcanist, had only just barely managed to take a single sabre strike from Xu Qi’an.

Forget contending against him, even fleeing for his life had been this difficult.

For the proud and arrogant Xu Pingfeng, this was intolerable, naked humiliation.

A flash of azure light, and he fled again with teleportation.

Xu Qi’an wouldn’t let him off. He would keep hunting him to the ends of the earth.

The only one who could save him now was Baidi. This god or demon had a background far from simple. Baidi was only a puppet, its true body belonged to someone else entirely.

Xu Pingfeng didn’t even try to conceal Heaven’s secrets around himself, because Xu Qi’an was already a first-rank martial artist, one rank above him, and because the karmic entanglement between father and son ran too deep to be forcefully obscured.

Paying any price necessary, he cast teleportation again and again, and finally, following the aura of the scale in his hand, reached his destination.

At the same time, he saw Luo Yuheng at the end of the coastline.

…

“Hm?”

Xu Qi’an, speeding through the air, suddenly halted. He felt a burst of intense pain from his body, as though it came from the depths of his soul.

“Broken Jade’s backlash isn’t right…”

He immediately sensed that something was wrong.

After stepping into first rank, essence, qi, and spirit had fused into one, and the primordial spirit and flesh body were no longer distinct from each other.

Yet he could still sense that the damage to his primordial spirit was severe, while the flesh body had suffered only light injury, and that was merely a linked effect from the fusion of body and spirit.

After a moment’s thought, he roughly guessed what Xu Pingfeng had done.

Like a difficult childbirth, save the mother or save the child, that sort of manoeuvre.

“Hmph, let’s see where you can run to.”

The Huntian Divine Mirror was like a radar, illuminating everything within a thousand li. After flying for half an hour, Xu Qi’an hadn’t caught sight of Xu Pingfeng. Instead, he saw his little aunt.

Luo Yuheng held the divine sword in one hand, standing between sky and sea. Her feathered robe fluttered, her beautiful hair streamed in the wind. She was as graceful as an immortal from the Nine Heavens, cold and exquisitely beautiful.

She frowned as she gazed at the seabed, seemingly confronting something.

The moment the Huntian Divine Mirror fell upon her, Luo Yuheng sensed it too and turned her head to look over.

The two locked eyes through the divine mirror.

Two seconds later, Xu Qi’an plunged down sharply and arrived before Luo Yuheng, saying in a deep voice:

“Where’s Baidi?”

Luo Yuheng lowered her eyes to the sea surface, her voice cold and clear:

“I chased Baidi’s soul all the way here. It entered the sea from this spot. I followed it down and saw an undersea trench. Inside the trench was an exceedingly terrifying existence. I sensed its aura, so I came back up.”

An exceedingly terrifying existence, Desolation’s true body? Xu Qi’an frowned.

“How strong?”

Luo Yuheng pondered for a moment, then said:

“If I fought it alone, I wouldn’t have the slightest chance of winning.”

That strong… Xu Qi’an sucked in a breath of cold air. Even in the ancient age when gods and demons were active, beings like the Gu God, capable of matching a Beyond-rank, had been exceedingly rare.

And this Desolation, though merely a descendant of gods and demons, was actually stronger than first rank?

Then how terrifying must its ancestor have been?

Luo Yuheng added:

“Xu Pingfeng is down there. He only exchanged a glance with me, then teleported to the seabed. His primordial spirit seems to have been badly injured. Your doing?”

So he’s down there. He really did throw in his lot with Baidi. The man and beast must have formed an alliance long ago… Xu Qi’an took a deep breath and looked at Luo Yuheng’s stunning face.

“The two of us join forces and go down to meet it? While we’re at it, let’s also see whether that old thing, the Jianzheng, is dead or not.”

The Jianzheng was still in “Baidi’s” hands.

…

792. Pursuit

Page Comments