Chapter 144: The Perilous Moment

Translator: Minotauruz

Since time immemorial, the cultivation world had always been a place where the strong had devoured the weak.

By now, Jun Xiaomo had already lost track of how long she had been battling it out with the assailants. The stench of blood assaulted her olfactory senses to no end, and the visible vicinity was completely stained with spatters and splotches of blood.

Round after round of combat gave rise to wave after wave of dead assailants. There was no end in sight to their battle right now.

It was as though Jun Xiaomo had returned to her previous life. Day after day, she would plod on dangerously along the precipice between life and death as she fended off the persecution of the self-proclaimed sanctimonious and dignified sects.

She truly detested such a lifestyle. She had sworn never to live life like that again.

She was already extremely tired. If not for the fact that battling had become almost second nature to her through her previous life’s experiences, she might not even have been able to last through the second wave of assailants.

A fresh drop of blood fell out of nowhere and landed Jun Xiaomo’s face. As it slid across Jun Xiaomo’s cheeks, she roused from her combat stupor and regained some measure of clarity of mind.

This blood is...

Two figures immediately entered Jun Xiaomo’s mind. One was sturdy and well-built; while the other was tall and lanky.

Rong Ruihan and martial brother Ye... That’s right. I’m no longer fighting on her own. If I fall right now, where would that leave Rong Ruihan and her martial brother Ye? They would never choose to flee for their lives if that happens.

Having thought things through, she shook off the remaining stupor and sharpened her mind. The sword intent flowing out of her body also began to condense slightly and become more incisive.

Situ Cang and his group of lackeys bided their time as they observed the trio from afar. Qin Lingyu and the other disciples were located just beside him.

When Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen broke free from their earlier encirclement with the aid of the smokescreen created by Jun Xiaomo’s pellet, Situ Cang discovered that the Authentication Array presented by Jun Xiaomo was a complete dud. Jun Xiaomo had completely fooled everyone present then.

At that time, Situ Cang had ripped up the Authentication Array in rage, rallied all of his troops, and ordered all of them to comb the area for Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen.

Eventually, one of the search teams discovered Jun Xiaomo and immediately engaged them in battle. At the same time, the search team’s leader took it upon himself to notify Situ Cang.

Once they received the team leader’s report, Situ Cang and his men hastily made their way to the battlegrounds and arrived just as the first round of battle had concluded.

With a simple gesture from Situ Cang, a second wave of assailants charged into the fray and locked in combat with the Jun Xiaomo trio again.

Situ Cang was not going to give the trio any breathing room anymore. He was determined to see the trio die before his very eyes today. He was going to get revenge for his son!

“I never thought that a person at the third level of Qi Mastery would be able to hold out for so long.” Situ Cang remarked. His tone of voice was almost expressionless.

However, his eyes revealed the true intentions of his heart –

In his eyes, Jun Xiaomo and the others were no different from three corpses – no matter how much they struggled, their death was going to be inevitable.

“She is the Heavenly Peak Peakmaster’s daughter after all. She won’t die that easily.” Ke Xinwen responded viciously, “Perhaps she might even possess some life-preserving treasures on her body too.”

As soon as Ke Xinwen commented about the possibility of treasures on Jun Xiaomo’s body, Situ Cang’s lackeys immediately looked at Jun Xiaomo with a different gaze in their eyes.

Their eyes were now filled with greed and avarice.

Qin Lingyu had remained silent as he continued to observe the trio fending of the encirclement of assailants. Due to his silence, no one was able to tell what contemplations were on his mind right now.

Squeak squeak... The little packrat’s squeaks were hardly noticeable amidst the chaos. It glanced anxiously at Jun Xiaomo as she barely hung onto her life, and it once again berated itself for being unable to do anything to help. It could only stand at the side and worry for the trio.

Just then, a surge of demonic energy erupted form Rong Ruihan’s body. This outburst of demonic energy instantly reduced all the assailants within a three-meter radius from Rong Ruihan’s body into nothing more than pieces of blood and gore. They were utterly and thoroughly dead.

“Not good! The first prince has gone mad again!” Situ Cang’s lackeys cried out as they took a few steps back in fear.

Demonic energy was something that was incredibly difficult to control to begin with. This difficulty was compounded even further when the demonic cultivator grew agitated and his emotions destabilized. Often times, this would lead to demonic energy uncontrollably bursting out of the demonic cultivator’s meridians. While the demonic cultivator would experience a surge in his combat abilities, he would invariably also lose his rationality and become nothing more than a killing machine.

Rong Ruihan had lost his rationality on a number of occasions by now. Each time he did, Situ Cang’s lackeys would always get beaten up to a pulp as they retreated in fear. Those who were fortunate enough to survive Rong Ruihan’s frenzied state were nevertheless left with a lingering fear.

They were extremely reluctant to continue tussling with this god of war. Furthermore, Rong Ruihan’s present demonic outburst seemed to be even more powerful than any of his previous outbursts. He looked far more dreadful and horrific right now.

Rong Ruihan had found himself thoroughly triggered and agitated by the sight of Jun Xiaomo battling while soaked in blood. Reliving this scene in reality had reminded him of the abject sense of helplessness and despondence he had experienced time and again in that illusory world.

When he had been trapped in those illusions, he had resolved in his heart to rescue the lady in red in the next iteration of his dream every time he saw her die before his very eyes.

But this was no longer a dream. They were currently locked in a battle of life and death. Once they perished, there was no longer a “next time”.

As the battles wore on, that overwhelming sense of helplessness festering in Rong Ruihan’s heart had somehow developed into a trigger in his heart. As soon as it activated, the entire world became dyed red in colour, and bloodlust would swell up from within his heart.

Power! I need much more power!

Demonic energy billowed around his body as though he were a frenzied demonic beast. The crimson-red colour of Rong Ruihan’s eyes turned scarlet, before deepening even further into an extremely terrifying garnet colour. The garnet colour in his eyes coursed and swirled along the depth of his pupils. It was an incredibly peculiar yet horrific sight.

Not good! Jun Xiaomo noticed Rong Ruihan’s condition, and she immediately yelled at him, “Rong Ruihan, it’s dangerous! Stop it now!”

Such demonic outbursts were never a good thing. Even though the cultivator would experience a temporary surge in his combat abilities, these outbursts would invariably damage the cultivator’s meridians and Dantian – sometimes even irreversibly!

Unfortunately, the present Rong Ruihan could no longer process Jun Xiaomo’s warnings. He turned his gaze towards the group of people observing them from a distance, let loose a blood-curdling howl, before charging straight into their midst.

His target was none other than Situ Cang and the group of people around him.

Situ Cang chuckled coldly. He immediately retrieved a formation diagram from his Interspatial Ring and tossed it onto the ground.

As soon as the scroll unraveled, a defensive formation array instantly activated, enshrouding Situ Cang and the others around him. Rong Ruihan was sequestered from the rest of them, and he could only batter the defensive formation array with demonic energy infused blows. Dull thuds continued to ring out as Rong Ruihan attacked, but to no avail.

Situ Cang’s lackeys and the Dawn Sect disciples heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

Then, Situ Cang glanced over at the Dawn Sect disciples nonchalantly as he mocked them, “Didn’t you say you were going to help this Sovereign capture the first prince? What’s the matter? Do you only know how to hide behind this Sovereign now?”

The Dawn Sect disciples were incredibly embarrassed with themselves right now. They had nothing to say in response to the Grand Vizier’s mockery, and they could only lower their heads and pretend not to have heard the Grand Vizier’s words.

“Ah, I guess Dawn Sect isn’t worth mentioning after all.” Situ Cang continued to mock them.

Situ Cang knew that Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen were from the Dawn Sect as well. Thus, despite the fact that the other Dawn Sect disciples were standing on his side, he couldn’t help but vent on the rest of these disciples his anger against Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen.

Before he could kill Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen, these Dawn Sect disciples would have no choice but to bear the brunt of his frustrations.

Situ Cang continued to glare at Rong Ruihan with an incredibly frigid gaze. His peculiar garnet-red eyes, his frenzied state, and his billowing vicious demonic energy hardly fazed Situ Cang one bit.

This was because his cultivation was already at the secondary-tier Immortal Ascension stage of cultivation. There was no reason for him to fear a simple, young sprout whose cultivation had not even reached the Golden Core stage yet.

“It’s about time to end it all.” Situ Cang calmly stated. A sinister smile crept up the corner of his lips.

Then, Situ Cang stretched out both his hands...

Bang! Just then, a thunderous crackle rang out, and the entire battleground tremored slightly.

Situ Cang and his lackeys momentarily lost their auditory functions, and all of them reflexively brought their hands to their ears. At the same time, a red silhouette dashed over behind where Rong Ruihan was located.

“Little Han, look here!” Jun Xiaomo called out to Rong Ruihan.

Jun Xiaomo would always address Rong Ruihan as “Little Han” whenever he lost his senses, because he would only to respond to pet names such as “Little Han”.

Jun Xiaomo felt extremely uneasy about the present situation because Rong Ruihan’s present outburst of demonic energy had simply been too immense. It had been so unusually great that even Jun Xiaomo was uncertain whether Rong Ruihan would still respond to her call right now.

Fortunately, Jun Xiaomo’s gamble paid off, and her call proved effective.

Rong Ruihan turned his head as he obsequiously glanced at her. As soon as they locked eyes, Jun Xiaomo discovered that Rong Ruihan’s eyes was completely devoid of any human rationality at this moment.

Jun Xiaomo retrieved a Stupefaction Talisman and slapped it on Rong Ruihan’s head.

In the blink of an eye, Rong Ruihan’s eyes rolled up and he fell unconscious, collapsing onto Jun Xiaomo’s body. Then, Jun Xiaomo yelled anxiously to Ye Xiuwen, “Martial brother Ye!”

At the same time, she retrieved the final Teleportation Scroll within her Interspatial Ring.

Ye Xiuwen had been fending off his share of the assailants while barely hanging on to his life as well. When Jun Xiaomo’s anxious yell rang out from behind him, he immediately understood Jun Xiaomo’s thoughts.

This was the tacit understanding between them as a result of their countless battles together.

Ye Xiuwen immediately operated his Windwalk technique and leapt over to Jun Xiaomo’s side in the shortest time possible. Along the way, he conveniently took the lives of three more assailants as he stabbed them cleanly and concisely through their chests.

Jun Xiaomo supported Rong Ruihan with one hand, while she stretched out her other hand to Ye Xiuwen. As soon as Ye Xiuwen got close enough, she immediately grabbed onto his arm.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

Our gamble has paid off! At this moment, there was only a single thought in Jun Xiaomo’s mind.

She had earlier thrown all caution to the wind when she made her way over to Rong Ruihan’s side, and there were several fresh wounds on her body right now as a result of her reckless actions.

The Teleportation Scroll would take effect within seconds. Once that happens, they would temporarily be safe and sound.

But just then, an ice arrow aimed straight at Jun Xiaomo’s chest was loosed! Jun Xiaomo hands were full right now – one was supporting Rong Ruihan, while the other was holding tightly to Ye Xiuwen. She had absolutely no way to avoid this.

Ye Xiuwen discovered that arrow at the same time that Jun Xiaomo did. Just as he was about to block that arrow, “someone” else moved quicker than he did!

Squeak squeak! The little packrat scampered over with immense speed, before leaping off the ground with great strength.

Shk! The ice arrow plunged straight into the little packrat’s body. The little packrat squealed as it fell back to the ground limply. Nobody could tell whether it was dead or alive.

“Little Packie!!” Jun Xiaomo’s eyes widened in horror as she yelled out in disbelief. She was about to reflexively squat down and pick up her little packrat when an intense blue light burst out. Then as the light faded, Jun Xiaomo, Ye Xiuwen and Rong Ruihan had completely vanished from where they had been moments ago.

The Teleportation Scroll had activated. Unfortunately, the little packrat was not located within its area of effect.

It had once again been left behind.