Chapter Ninety-Two: A New Nascent Soul Expert

The battle still raged on in full fury, and the soldiers were fighting with all they had. Black-armored troops kept plummeting from the sky; some blew themselves apart, while others simply burned away their own lifespan to gain a fleeting peak of power, using even their lives to give meaning to their existence.

One after another, those fallen lives had only moments before been brimming with vitality; in the next instant they had already stepped into the cycle of reincarnation, awaiting a new birth.

If one recalled each of those fallen lives, which of them had not once stood at the summit of a clan or sect, earned the honor of entering the Heavenly Origin Sect, and dreamed of great success in cultivation and glorifying the family name one day?

And yet, before any ambition could truly take shape, they had somehow become black-armored soldiers. In truth, this had once been an immensely glorious thing, but it had happened to coincide with a war of fire and blood rarely seen in a thousand years.

Who they were fighting for, and who they were dying for, none could say. It is said that a man should be willing to die on the battlefield, that such a death is the finest end of all; yet what man truly wishes to die, abandoning the parents and kin waiting for him at home?

Human beings are born with a rebellious bone in them. If you want to kill me, then I will kill you first.

Thus the soldiers from the prefectural governor’s mansion fought with particular ferocity. Outnumbered as they were, and lacking command, they still managed to slaughter the black-armored troops of Luo City, killing and wounding them by the countless.

"Avenged the general!"

Such cries rose from the mouths of every cultivator who self-destructed by burning away their lifespan, and from every small group that charged at the Nameless One.

The sorrow and righteous fury in those voices were beyond description, stirring involuntary admiration.

Because Luo City had the Nameless One, they would not yield in the slightest. It was a brutal battle; more than half of the prefectural governor’s forces had fallen, while only a few thousand remained on Luo City’s side.

Far from the battlefield, in a forest hundreds of miles away, a violet sphere of light streaked rapidly past ancient trees towering into the clouds.

Behind the violet sphere followed a red shadow. It was a woman, her face grave and her killing intent dense, her target unmistakably the violet sphere ahead.

Yet between them a fixed distance always remained. Even when the woman used the instant-shifting art of a Nascent Soul cultivator, she still could not catch the violet sphere.

The violet sphere seemed to possess some extraordinary treasure, moving at astonishing speed, nearly comparable to a Nascent Soul cultivator.

A closer look would reveal that a dark gray afterimage coiled around the violet sphere. Faintly, one could make out that afterimage as a dragon—more precisely, a dragon shadow of extremely fierce killing intent.

Within the dragon shadow was wrapped a man who could not be called handsome. He wore violet from head to toe, his body veiled in purple mist, his eyes closed, seated cross-legged.

Before him floated a delicate jade pendant, covered in all manner of strange symbols. On its two sides were two different beasts, though the image was blurred and indistinct, impossible to identify.

The youth surrounded by the jade pendant suddenly twitched a finger, opened his eyes, and leaned forward sharply, coughing up a mouthful of blood mist.

At once the violet mist grew even brighter, scattering streaks of blood through the void.

Behind him, the red shadow raised a hand to touch the blood traces and let out a cold laugh. In a low voice, she said, "After such severe injuries, let me see how much longer you can run."

The youth in the purple mist remained seated cross-legged, his pale face stiffened by injury slowly easing as he gave a faint, bitter smile.

He murmured to himself, "Am I really going to die at the hands of this idiot today?"

"No... that’s not right. She’s not an idiot. On the contrary, she’s very clever. She intentionally acted that way so Nameless would ignore her, and she could use Nameless to kill me."

"But why does she want to kill me? Is it the old man in red’s intention? No, that doesn’t make sense either. If the old man in red wanted to make a move, there would have been plenty of chances."

He no longer had time to think about why, because his speed could no longer increase, and the red shadow behind him was drawing closer and closer.

The red shadow gave a cold laugh and called out, "Junior Brother Su, stop already. Let us talk properly."

The youth snorted coldly, seized a handful of pills, and tossed them into his mouth, trying to recover some of his cultivation so he could keep fleeing.

A trace of disdain appeared on the red shadow’s face as she rapidly formed hand seals and shot out a streak of red light.

A scorching heat surged toward the youth, making his expression grim. The red light was swift, and it was about to strike the center of his back.

He gave a soft snort, turning into a blurred afterimage as he slipped past the red light, but that light clung to him like a maggot to bone, following closely at his heels.

Suddenly, the gray shadow coiling around him lunged at the red light. The red light immediately dispersed, but the gray shadow was not spared either, dimming into a languid state. The youth could not help feeling pained; with a wave of his hand, he drew it back into his storage pouch.

Without the gray shadow’s help, he could no longer fly and had no choice but to wait for the red shadow to catch up and butcher him at will.

A cold gleam flashed in the youth’s eyes as he abruptly turned around and said sharply, "Hong Lan, what do you mean by this?"

Hong Lan smiled lightly. "To kill you."

The youth’s voice turned icy. "I already said, Hong Yuan..."

Hong Lan cut him off. "It has nothing to do with Hong Yuan. Besides, Hong Yuan and I are not very closely related."

The youth said, "I truly do not understand. Why do so many people want me dead? I am only a small cultivator with nothing remarkable about my cultivation."

Hong Lan replied, "There is always a reason. I just will not tell you."

The youth said, "I am about to die, and you still refuse to tell me?"

Hong Lan looked around and smiled. "Of course you are going to die. But someone else will hear it too."

The youth looked suspiciously toward the swaying leaves and tall trees not far away. There was no sign of anything unusual.

"Indeed, the first disciple of the Heavenly Origin Sect is not famed without cause."

The words came from the very patch of leaves the youth had just looked away from.

The youth was overjoyed at once, because he knew that voice extremely well. Was it not Qin Yu?

He turned toward the source of the voice and smiled faintly without speaking.

A green figure then came striding forward with a sword. A long sword hung on his back, and spiritual light shimmered about him, giving him a solemn, righteous air.

He smiled at the youth and said, "Su Fan, it has been a long time."

Su Fan replied calmly, "A long time? It was only yesterday."

Qin Yu chuckled. "Then let us go."

Hong Lan’s expression changed at once. She shouted, "Who allowed you to leave?"

Qin Yu still wore a smile. "Senior Sister, I can look after Su Fan. You should go handle the important matter."

Hong Lan said gravely, "No."

Qin Yu’s fingers suddenly formed a hand seal, and the long sword flew into his grasp. He cried, "Then let us decide whether we stay or leave by a battle between the two of us."

Hong Lan sneered. "Even if both of you came at once, it would be useless, let alone with Su Fan already at death’s door."

Qin Yu’s expression darkened. He said, "Rumor has it that within the Heavenly Origin Sect there are seven great Nascent Soul experts. But after the Yellow Branch’s Yellow-robed Uncle was assassinated, another Nascent Soul cultivator appeared. It is said that he was specially cultivated by the sect master to take over the Yellow Branch.

"Presumably, Senior Sister and Hong Yuan are the best candidates. But it seems Senior Sister is the more astute one and secured that opportunity."

Hong Lan laughed. "Indeed. To know all that, it seems your relationship with the old man in green is far from shallow."

Qin Yu said, "I am the closed-door disciple of the old man in green of the Green Branch."

Hong Lan said casually, "A pity. Such outstanding people as the two of you will both die today."

"Is that so?"

The voice was not Su Fan’s, nor Qin Yu’s, but came from the sky.