TopAppnovel Chapter 332 - 316: Pursuit
Chapter 332 - 316: Pursuit
Bursting with energy!
A brilliant light enveloped Wang Meng and the Little Flame. With a BOOM, the array exploded. Wang Meng felt like he’d been thrown into a whirlpool and tossed around. He had never been in such a terrible Teleportation Array.
BOOM...
Wang Meng felt himself being thrown out. He hastily channeled his Elemental Power to control his body. The Broken Heaven Edge carried him as it shot into the sky, saving him from the danger of being splattered into a meat patty.
Landing gently, Wang Meng rubbed his face and surveyed his surroundings... ’What the hell is this place?’
Judging by the Elemental Qi, this seemed to be the Great Yuan Realm, but his Star Ring... still wasn’t reacting. Wang Meng was frustrated. ’It seems the Star Alliance is all talk,’ he thought. ’They claim to be so amazing, but when I actually need them, they’re completely useless. At least give me a location. Now I can’t even find my way back.’
The Little Flame cautiously touched a nearby tree. In the Fire God Little Thousand World, the Five Elements Flame was so rampant that it had never experienced other attributes. Seeing the Little Flame’s curious expression, Wang Meng couldn’t help but chuckle. When the Little Flame’s hand touched the tree trunk, its round little face went blank for a moment before breaking into a wide grin.
"Master, it’s so..."
"’Fun,’ right? Don’t worry, there will be plenty more fun things in the future. But for now, we need to find a way back. It’s been a while since we left the Cultivation Academy."
Wang Meng considered his situation. His current rank at the Cultivation Academy wasn’t high enough for him to be running around freely. Besides, he still had that agreement with the Old Demon Dean. ’All of this is just one big hassle,’ he thought.
Wang Meng and the Little Flame flew into the air. As he gazed into the distance, his expression gradually grew serious. The surrounding area... was thick with killing intent.
SWISH...
A cold glint of light tore through the air. Wang Meng’s reaction was extremely fast. The moment he sensed the killing intent, he knew something was wrong.
This kind of killing intent wasn’t developed overnight. It could only mean one thing: he was in a very dangerous place.
Just as he landed, Wang Meng heard a soft "Huh?" The other party probably hadn’t expected him to dodge the arrow.
Immediately after, a blast of Sword Qi shot out. A figure darted out from the nearby woods. The man was clearly brazen. Otherwise, given the nature of a Bow Cultivator, there would be no need to fight a Sword Cultivator face-to-face—unless he was confident he had victory in the bag.
He was a middle-aged man holding a large bow. His Elemental Power was abundant, and his eyes were sharp and full of spirit, but his attire was completely different from that of the people in the Star Alliance.
The middle-aged man was delighted to see Wang Meng. "My luck is pretty good today. I actually ran into a little guy from the Cultivation Academy."
Wang Meng stared at the man. ’The pressure he’s giving off is intense. His Elemental Power is definitely above the Fortieth Layer.’ Beside him, the flame on the Little Flame’s head stood straight up; it too had sensed the heavy killing intent.
The middle-aged man’s gaze fell upon the Little Flame. He was stunned at first, then his eyes lit up with a glint of excitement. "Kid, where did you find this Essence of the Five Elements Flame? If you tell me, I’ll spare your life!"
Wang Meng lowered the Broken Heaven Edge, feigning hesitation. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Senior, where is this place? I’m a member of the Cultivation Academy, and I’m lost. If you can tell me the way back, I’m willing to tell you the origin of the Little Flame."
The middle-aged man kept his hand on his bow, ready to kill Wang Meng at any moment. Seeing that Wang Meng had taken the bait, he smiled faintly. "This is the Slaughter Space of the Great Yuan Realm. Sects from all the Small Thousand Realms fight here. You don’t need to know any more than that. Unless you can find your own Sect’s station, you can’t get out."
"Senior, how do I find my Sect?" Wang Meng asked, appearing somewhat timid.
The middle-aged man waved his hand impatiently. "The Saint Cultivator camp is to the north. This is Demon Cultivator territory. You’ve got bad luck, kid. Alright, now tell me, where did you get this Essence of Fire?"
Wang Meng smiled and patted the Little Flame’s head. The little creature clearly despised the Demon Cultivator before them.
"The Fire God Little Thousand World. They’re everywhere. There are at least a few thousand of them."
Wang Meng wasn’t lying. There were indeed thousands of sentient Seas of Fire. Whether or not those people had the ability to communicate with them, or convince a Sea of Fire Consciousness to transform, was their own problem.
The middle-aged man’s expression changed drastically. "You little bastard, you dare to trick me? Die!"
From the very beginning, the middle-aged man had no intention of letting Wang Meng go; he was just trying to squeeze some information out of him. And Wang Meng had never been naive enough to trust him. Both sides were just using each other.
BOOM...
Using the Seven-Star Step, Wang Meng dodged in an instant, and the middle-aged man’s arrow missed. Wang Meng now had a better understanding of the situation. ’So this must be the place where the major Sects fight. I remember Elder Kuchan came from here, and Elder Xu Huang probably came here too. Here, Demon Cultivators, Evil Cultivators, and Saint Cultivators are all locked in a chaotic battle. This is the truly dangerous part of the Great Yuan Realm. Why did that Teleportation Array send me here?’
Still, as long as he was in the Great Yuan Realm, he didn’t need to worry too much. Wang Meng had been more afraid of being teleported to some godforsaken place a hundred and eight thousand li away. Now *that* would have been bleak.
SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH...
After his first arrow missed, the Demon Cultivator’s body instantly flickered, leaving behind an afterimage as he fired off rows of arrows, pressing his attack relentlessly. Wang Meng had fought Qi Feiyu before, but this was a completely different style. This man was clearly a practical combatant. Every move was aimed to kill, with no flashy techniques and no holding back.
Wang Meng also unleashed his Elemental Power to its fullest. Faced with the pressure of an opponent with over forty Layers of Elemental Power, not going all out was a death sentence.
Wu Shu was getting frustrated. He had already used dozens of moves, yet he couldn’t take down a mere Twenty-Fifth Layer kid. The Star Rings on the hands of Cultivation Academy members fetched a high price on the black market. Moreover, a nascent Essence of Fire was even rarer—a priceless treasure. ’This foolish kid is parading it around in the open. He’s practically asking to be killed. Better for me to take it than someone else.’
Wang Meng began to fall back steadily; his opponent’s Elemental Power was clearly much stronger. Wu Shu felt it too. Those like him, who entered the Slaughter Space directly from their respective Small Thousand Realms, detested these Cultivators nurtured by the Cultivation Academy. These guys might not have an advantage in Elemental Power level, but their combat strength was several times that of an ordinary disciple. Every Sect placed immense importance on those who graduated from the Cultivation Academy. The standard procedure upon encountering one was to concentrate all forces to kill them immediately.
’This kid in front of me probably used the wrong Teleportation Array. Otherwise, he never would have come here.’
This was a gift from the heavens.
BOOM...
Wu Shu employed suppression, unleashing his full Elemental Power to completely pin down Wang Meng. He shot an arrow with a sinister grin. With such a huge disparity in power, the instantaneous burst of aura should have been enough to freeze the little guy’s movements.
But just then, his target vanished.
Wang Meng, who had been steadily retreating and was on the verge of being killed, had suddenly disappeared, dodging Wu Shu’s hair’s-breadth attack. Then, a Double Arc Sword Qi erupted with a roar.
After all, Wu Shu was a battle-hardened Cultivator who frequently hovered between life and death. The biggest difference such a person had was their reaction speed. Wang Meng’s feigned weakness earlier was all to create this very opportunity. If he were at the Cultivation Academy, this move would have been a near-certain hit. But Wu Shu actually sensed the danger. As ferocious as the Double Arc Sword Qi was, he managed to forcibly evade it. Still, it grazed him, tearing a gash in his arm.
Wu Shu shot backward, his eyes filled with a mix of shock and uncertainty as rage flared within him. "You little bastard! You dare to ambush your grandpa? I’ll make you wish you were dead!"
Wang Meng abruptly pulled several red-glowing objects from his Qiankun Bag. "Eat my Celestial Fire Thunder!"
He hurled them at Wu Shu. By now, Wu Shu was quite wary. ’This little bastard is incredibly cunning,’ he thought. ’To possess a Five Elements Essence, he must be from a major Sect and definitely has defensive Magical Artifacts on him.’ The greatest weakness of a Bow Cultivator was their poor defense, so Wu Shu didn’t dare be careless. He instantly floated backward. The red-glowing objects hit the ground, and... Wang Meng had vanished without a trace.
Wang Meng dragged the Little Flame along as he sprinted for his life. ’Damn it all!’ he cursed internally. ’Comparisons are odious. The power of the Five Elements Body is indeed awesome, but the gap becomes obvious when you’re truly facing over forty Layers of Elemental Power, especially when your opponent is so experienced in battle.’
’What a waste of those Thousand Tempered Fire Spirit Stones.’ Wang Meng had picked some up intending to exchange them for a bit of spending money. And now he’d just thrown a handful of them away. ’It hurts, but it’s better than losing my life.’
Wu Shu stared, dumbfounded, at the Thousand Tempered Fire Spirit Stones on the ground. ’Damn! This is a super-fat sheep!’ he thought. ’He can just casually toss out a handful of Thousand Tempered Fire Spirit Stones!’ Wu Shu’s anticipation for what was inside Wang Meng’s Qiankun Bag surged. His figure flickered continuously as he scooped up all the Thousand Tempered Fire Spirit Stones from the ground and chased in the direction Wang Meng had fled. He absolutely could not let him get away, and he definitely couldn’t let someone else get this prize. He’d want to die if that happened.
’If I can strip this kid of everything he has, not only will my own strength soar, but if I offer just a small portion to the Sect Leader, my status will definitely rise a level.’
Wu Shu’s heart burned with greed. He spread out his Heart Spirit. ’It won’t be so easy to run away.’
Wang Meng could feel his enemy still locked onto him from behind, so he could only keep running. The Little Flame, on the other hand, was having a great time, completely oblivious to the danger.
"My little ancestor, stop bouncing around!"
"Master, why don’t we just kill that big bad guy!"
Wang Meng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "I want to more than you do, but we actually have to be able to kill him first."
Wang Meng didn’t dare to let his guard down. Based on what happened, when the man said the north, he was likely telling the truth. At that time, he must have been sure of his victory and had no reason to lie. As long as Wang Meng could enter the Saint Cultivators’ territory, he should be able to find the Holy Hall’s station.
Wu Shu was also in pursuit. He originally thought he could catch the little bastard within half an hour, but after all this time of stopping and starting, the kid was still running. This meant his Elemental Power recovery was remarkably fast and his foundation was very solid. ’The more this is the case, the more I can’t let him get back,’ Wu Shu thought. ’A Sect that can train such a disciple is, nine times out of ten, one of the top fifty. I must kill him.’
Wang Meng was indeed quite frustrated. If he had already completed the third stage of his Five Elements Technique, he could have killed this Demon Cultivator instantly. But he was still a long way off.
For the moment, Wang Meng couldn’t shake Wu Shu’s pursuit, but Wu Shu couldn’t catch up to him either. Wang Meng always maintained a certain distance.
He would only rest when his opponent rested. It had to be said, his Elemental Power and stamina were pushed to the breaking point each time. If his opponent pushed just a little harder, Wang Meng might have collapsed. But just when he was about to break, the man would stop, allowing Wang Meng a chance to catch his breath.
Wang Meng was also considering using the Flame Encyclopedia to kill the Demon Cultivator. However, a big move like that had to be a complete surprise. If the man dodged it, it would be like throwing a meat bun at a dog—gone for good with no return. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)