Chapter 360: Ye Xiuwen’s Departure, An Unconscious Jun Xiaomo
In her fury, it slipped Xiang Guqing’s mind that Jun Xiaomo’s overbearing formation array was still active and suppressing her abilities right above her head. As long as she remained within the domain of the formation array, her abilities would be greatly reduced, and she would not even be able to muster a tenth of the strength that she would otherwise be able to.
Besides, Ye Xiuwen’s abilities were hardly weak to begin with. He was already in the advanced-tier Nascent Soul stage of cultivation, and he naturally stood a good chance against Xiang Guqing, even when Xiang Guqing was at the peak of her abilities.
Under the influence of the vile energies within his body, Ye Xiuwen held nothing back as soon as he saw Xiang Guqing charge straight towards him. After a mere ten moves or so, Xiang Guqing found herself reduced to her final breaths once again. In fact, her injuries were even worse than they had been before.
By the time Xiang Guqing’s disciples collected themselves and managed to react to the sudden developments in the situation, they realized that their master had already been beaten to the ground, heaving and gasping for breath.
Ye Xiuwen raised the spirit sword in his hand. Just as he was about to deal the final blow to Xiang Guqing, all of her disciples rushed forward and knelt before Ye Xiuwen, shielding their master and begging Ye Xiuwen, “Senior Ye, we sincerely entreat you to spare our master. She was a victim of Martial Sister Shuyue’s schemes as well. She’s already learnt her lesson, and she will never lift a finger against you ever again.”
Ye Xiuwen was still a young cultivator. Based solely on his age alone, he shouldn’t have been referred to as a “senior”.
That said, his cultivation was already on the same level as Xiang Guqing’s. Thus, it was still justifiable for Xiang Guqing’s disciples to be addressing him as a “senior”.
Ye Xiuwen cast an indifferent gaze at the disciples. Truth be told, he could hardly care less about empathizing with this group of disciples and their master. The only thing running through his mind right now was whether it was worth his time going through all the trouble to kill off all the disciples kneeling before him in exchange for a more uninterrupted course of action.
Just as Ye Xiuwen stared at Xiang Guqing’s disciples, they also felt a chill go down their spine, as though something vicious and poisonous were staring at their plump, juicy necks.
Just then, Chen Feiyu’s voice resounded from some distance away, interrupting the tense atmosphere between Ye Xiuwen and Xiang Guqing’s disciples.
“Little Martial Sister! Wake up…”
Chen Feiyu and the other Heavenly Peak disciples had run over towards the spirit tool as soon as Ye Xiuwen left the its side. Even though they were unable to open the spirit tool and release Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan, they were nevertheless able to stare into its projection and yell at Jun Xiaomo.
Inside the spirit tool, Jun Xiaomo lay completely motionless. Her body was covered in fresh, bloody wounds, and she appeared to be limp and lifeless. The Heavenly Peak disciples’ hearts constricted with fear.
Ye Xiuwen’s ears twitched slightly, and pangs of heartache began to emanate from his heart for some strange reason. The aching sensation was extremely faint, yet he was unable to shake it off no matter what he did.
Acting on the tug of his instincts, Ye Xiuwen turned around and began to make his way back to the spirit tool. Xiang Guqing’s disciples immediately heaved a sigh of relief as they scrambled to their feet and helped their master up, before plying her with several recovery pills.
Truth be told, this battle had dealt their little Sect an incredibly heavy blow. Not only did they come out with no gains at all, they had even lost two disciples of theirs.
Nevertheless, it was a good thing that they had managed to escape with their lives intact. At the very least, they would learn from their lesson and not presumptuously step on others’ toes without properly assessing their odds of success first.
As for Zhang Shuyue’s corpse, Xiang Guqing’s disciples had decided to leave it as it was for now. After all, they would not have invited such calamity upon their Sect if not for Zhang Shuyue’s instigation to begin with.
Furthermore, they had all witnessed how Zhang Shuyue had turned a blind eye to their master and their sect when they all needed her most. This had thoroughly embittered their hearts.
Thus, they neither thought to exact vengeance for Zhang Shuyue, nor were they willing to allow their master to make a move against Ye Xiuwen again. After all, they had learnt with their bodies that Ye Xiuwen was a person that they could not afford to offend.
As soon as Ye Xiuwen arrived back at the spirit tool, he immediately turned his gaze towards Jun Xiaomo’s body in the projection.
“Martial Brother Ye, will you please let Martial Sister Xiaomo out of the spirit tool quickly? I think she’s not going to be able to last much longer in there. Her injuries are life-threatening, and she hasn’t even consumed a single recovery pill yet!” Chen Feiyu begged Ye Xiuwen.
“That’s right, Martial Brother Ye, do you know that while you were trapped in the Death’s Gorge, Martial Sister Xiaomo had often stood by the window, gazing into the horizon as she shed tears for you? Her feelings for you run incredibly deep. It’s something that all of us have witnessed with our very own eyes.” Another Heavenly Peak disciple chimed in, persuading Ye Xiuwen to act quickly.
Ye Xiuwen’s pupils quivered slightly, and an indescribable sensation swelled up from the depths of his heart.
This sensation was vastly different from the previous overwhelming rage that threatened to destroy all traitors. At this very moment, his heart had begun to show traces of anxiety and concern.
His attention turned to Jun Xiaomo once more. From the projection, he could see that Jun Xiaomo was hardly even showing signs of breathing.
Ye Xiuwen’s gaze darkened, and he stretched out his arm and reached for the spirit tool once more.
Chen Feiyu and the other Heavenly Peak disciples reflexively thought to stop Ye Xiuwen. After all, if Ye Xiuwen’s rage manifested again, Jun Xiaomo would most certainly perish with the slightest of attacks given the condition she was presently in. However, when they noticed how Ye Xiuwen’s disposition appeared to be slightly different from how it had been just moments ago, they held back.
Thus, Ye Xiuwen picked up the spirit tool, and he slowly shut his eyes.
As he began to suffuse the spirit tool with his body’s spiritual energy, the spirit tool began to hum faintly, and the ancient seals on the spirit tool began to shift about slightly.
Chen Feiyu and the rest watched on with bated breath. A glimmer of hope shone brightly in their eyes, and they sincerely prayed for the best.
Then, a bright line exploded from the spirit tool before fading away quickly. In an instant, Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan vanished from the spirit tool’s projection, leaving only a puddle of murky blood where they had been just moments ago.
Yet another bright light exploded beside them. This time, as soon as the light faded, Chen Feiyu and the rest noticed Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan appearing just beside them.
Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan were still completely still and motionless right now. The skins of their bodies had already been burnt off by the onslaught of fireballs earlier, and blood continued to trickle from their wounds, dyeing the dry patch of grass under them a deep, striking red.
“Xiaomo!” Chen Feiyu and the others rushed towards Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan, attempting to separate them. Unfortunately, they discovered that whether Rong Ruihan or Jun Xiaomo, both were holding onto the other in an incredibly tight, vice-like grip, and none of the disciples were able to separate one from the other.
Back then, both Rong Ruihan and Jun Xiaomo were already on the brink of death, yet the only thought on their minds were to protect the other from the onslaught of the fireballs. It was therefore completely natural that they were holding onto each other so tightly.
Ye Xiuwen began to make his way over to Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan slowly. As the nauseating stench of blood wafted over towards him, it began to stir the vile energies swirling about in the depths of his eyes once more.
As soon as Chen Feiyu and the other Heavenly Peak disciples discovered Ye Xiuwen’s approach, they immediately stood in front of Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan, adopting a defensive posture.
They knew that Ye Xiuwen would never be able to stand how Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan looked right now.
Unfortunately, Ye Xiuwen was still far too powerful. A chilling gaze flickered across in eyes. In just an instant, Ye Xiuwen flicked his sleeves and sent Chen Feiyu and the rest flying and slamming into the ground a distance away. Several Heavenly Peak disciples spat out huge mouthfuls of blood.
Ye Xiuwen finally made his way to Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan’s side. Then, when he finally noticed how tightly the two were holding onto each other, his gaze grew incredibly bitter and icy.
That said, he neither hurt Jun Xiaomo any further, nor did he kill Rong Ruihan. He simply squatted down and placed his hand on Jun Xiaomo’s wrist, before swiftly dislocating it. That way, Jun Xiaomo’s wrist would no longer have the strength to cling onto Rong Ruihan.
Then, he did the same to Rong Ruihan.
Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan appeared like two effigies that were covered in blood right now. No matter how Ye Xiuwen manhandled them, none of them aroused from their present comatose.
Finally, Ye Xiuwen managed to extricate Jun Xiaomo from the tight embrace, and he lifted her gently into his bosom. Jun Xiaomo slumped lifelessly into his bosom. Her aura was incredibly faint.
Ye Xiuwen lowered his head slightly and cast a deep, abstruse glance at Jun Xiaomo.
“I’m taking her away.” Ye Xiuwen accounted to his martial brother as he retrieved a Teleportation Scroll from his Interspatial Ring.
Before the Heavenly Peak disciples could even scramble to their feet, a bright light exploded from where Jun Xiaomo had been just moments ago. As the light faded and vanished, so did the Teleportation Scroll on the ground, together with Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo.
Ye Xiuwen had left without any warning, and none of the disciples were able to do anything about it.
The Heavenly Peak disciples exchanged glances sheepishly. None of them had expected something like this to happen, and none of them knew what they were going to do next.