Chapter 530: The First Clash and Hidden Trump Cards — The Situation Stalls |
High in the sky, a black dot slowly materialized.
The black dot descended from the lofty heights, growing larger and larger as it drew near. Only when it was less than a hundred meters from the ground did everyone clearly see that the black dot was actually a burly, imposing old man dressed in a dark green ceremonial robe adorned with a crown.
The word 'burly' was probably the best description for him.
Humans in the Ice Abyss were generally larger in stature. Taking a fifteen-year-old adult male as an example, someone like Xia Hong, standing at 1.9 meters, could at most be said to have just passed the average height. Anyone shorter than 1.9 meters would definitely be considered short when standing in a crowd.
As for those under 1.8 meters—it was unclear about other places, but according to the simple understanding of the Xia people, only half-grown children who hadn't reached adulthood were that short. It wasn't that there were absolutely no adults under 1.8 meters; you might find two or three out of a hundred.
And this old man, currently standing in mid-air above everyone's heads, based on Xia Hong's rough visual estimate, was at least 2.1 meters tall.
The old man wore a square, silver-inlaid jade crown. Both the front and back of the crown were adorned with five strings of dark green jade beads, each string threaded with five pieces of green jade. The hanging beads partially obscured his face, adding a touch of mystery to his already imposing and majestic aura.
Although his exact features were unclear, the white hair at his temples revealed that his hair was almost entirely white, indicating his advanced age.
However, he showed no signs of frailty. His explosive, corded muscles filled out the ceremonial robe perfectly. He gazed down imperiously at Xia Hong below and all the Xia troops, exuding an immense sense of pressure.
When he halted his body, suspended in mid-air, there was hardly a trace of condensed, misty Blood Energy left around the entire camp.
Cai Qianshan, the Fang Bo of Caiqiu, a long-renowned Four Tribulations Body Realm expert of Mo'ao Chuan, had personally set foot in the Southern Foothills territory.
"Lord Leader Xia, take your Xia troops and withdraw. Since this old man has arrived, the two towns of Wuchuan and Jinshan no longer belong to your Great Xia..."
So young, this Xia Hong.
As Cai Qianshan spoke, he was also carefully observing Xia Hong. Upon clearly seeing Xia Hong's face, his heart gave a sudden jolt, and a glint of killing intent slowly surfaced in his pupils.
Youth meant potential. Xia Hong's face looked like he wasn't even forty years old. Even accounting for conversion, his age was at most fifty or sixty.
Such talent was no simple matter, even within the territories of the Four Feudatories.
Given Cai Qianshan's advanced age, Xia Hong's astonishingly brilliant talent naturally stirred deep-seated apprehension and unease within him.
"Fang Bo Cai speaks too boastfully too quickly. Be careful not to trip over your own tongue..."
Hearing Xia Hong's slightly mocking retort, Cai Qianshan's expression instantly darkened, and the killing intent in his pupils rapidly intensified.
"Audacious madman!"
"Southern barbarian scum, unaware you're already at death's door."
"Impudent brat! How dare you show disrespect to Fang Bo!"
...
Of course, he didn't need to respond to Xia Hong himself.
Cai Qiuhu and the group of Sun Manifestation Level experts behind him directly voiced their rebukes, their faces filled with anger. Their expressions alone showed how high the status of Fang Bo Cai Qianshan was in their hearts.
This was somewhat characteristic of the Ice Abyss.
Xia Hong directly raised his hand in a calming gesture, stopping Xia Chuan, Yuwen Tao, and the others from attempting a verbal response. He withdrew his gaze from Cai Qianshan and continued looking at Cai Qiuhu and his group.
To be precise, he was looking at Cai Shiqi behind Cai Qiuhu.
Ever since being singled out by Xia Hong inside the tent, Cai Shiqi had shown no trace of fear, clearly confident that Cai Qiuhu would never hand him over. Now, with the Fang Bo personally present, he was even more emboldened. His face was currently full of smugness. Seeing Xia Hong look his way, he even curled his lips into a contemptuous sneer.
Seeing the expression on Cai Shiqi's face, Xia Hong suddenly smiled.
He didn't laugh out loud, but he genuinely revealed a smile.
"Be careful!"
The first to detect something amiss was Cai Qiuhu.
The moment Xia Hong's face broke into a smile, he suddenly sensed something. With an angry shout to warn the others, he quickly turned, attempting to grab Cai Shiqi and ascend into the air to escape.
*Thud... Thud... Thud...*
"Loose arrows!"
The reactions of Sun Manifestation Level experts were swift. The moment Cai Qiuhu's angry warning shout was issued, the fifty men behind him immediately pushed off the ground, ascending into the air one after another, creating a series of sonic booms.
Xia Chuan's reaction was equally fast. After all, they were blood brothers. When Xia Hong's lips curled into a smile, he realized his Eldest Brother was about to make a move. Therefore, his order to loose arrows was issued almost simultaneously with Cai Qiuhu's shout.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh...*
Twenty pre-positioned Divine Machine Crossbows fired in unison, their targets unmistakably Cai Qiuhu and the fifty Sun Manifestation Level experts taking to the air.
*Swoosh!*
Leaving aside the clash between the Divine Machine Crossbows and the Caiqiu Sun Manifestation Level experts for now, Cai Qiuhu, who had issued the first warning, now heard a sharp, piercing shriek by his ear, and his expression instantly froze solid.
Because his hand had grabbed empty air.
He had realized Xia Hong was going to attack Cai Shiqi, so his first reaction was to warn the others, while he himself tried to grab Cai Shiqi and flee with him.
Given Cai Shiqi's strength, it was naturally impossible for him to miss. And this sharp, piercing shriek came from Cai Shiqi's body.
So, the result was already painfully clear...
Cai Qiuhu didn't flee. First, he cleaved through two silver Ten-Thousand-Forged crossbow bolts, each about ten feet long, in front of him. Then, focusing his gaze on Cai Shiqi, his frozen expression shuddered, and a towering inferno of rage ignited in his pupils.
Cai Shiqi was dead.
His body had been sliced cleanly in two at the waist by a sharp claw. The claw was so incredibly sharp that not just the skin membrane and flesh, but even the bones were severed cleanly. It happened so fast that the internal organs and flesh seemed unable to react in time, not even spilling out.
A Azure-Eyed Fire Qilin, less than half a meter in body length, hovered silently right above the corpse, its pair of azure pupils staring at him with absolutely no emotion.
Clearly, this Fire Qilin was the culprit.
Cai Qiuhu now turned his head to look at Xia Hong, his expression a mix of shock and fury. He was shocked that this Beast Emperor puppet had acted without a sound, and he hadn't detected it at all. He was furious that even though his father and uncle, Cai Qianshan, had personally arrived, Xia Hong still dared to strike, and with a single, sure blow, had directly killed.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh...*
The situation changed in the blink of an eye. Xia Chuan's order to loose arrows was synchronized with his warning. So, by the time he saw Cai Shiqi killed, the scene had already descended into complete chaos.
The continuous volleys of silver Ten-Thousand-Forged crossbow bolts from the twenty Divine Machine Crossbows, while not causing any fatal injuries to the Caiqiu Sun Manifestation Level experts, forced them to scatter and dodge in all directions, leaving them in disarray and looking rather disheveled.
"Xia Hong, you're seeking death!"
Witnessing the disheveled state of the Caiqiu group and realizing that Caiqiu's face had been utterly lost here, Cai Qiuhu finally lost his composure.
With a furious roar, he drew a green executioner's blade from his waist. Golden light erupted from his body surface as he instantly transformed into a thirty-zhang giant. He abruptly turned and lunged towards Xia Hong.
The green executioner's blade had an extremely wide blade surface. The powerful green edge it carved through the air split the airflow, condensing into a several-hundred-meter-long green blade aura that descended from on high, viciously cleaving down towards the top of Xia Hong's head.
The instant the blade descended, the air on either side of the blade surface seemed finally unable to withstand the violent cutting force, spontaneously generating intense sparks. The green blade aura, touched by the sparks, instantly erupted into a towering blaze, its power and momentum greatly amplified.
"You think killing a Yang Zun makes you think you can act lawlessly? If not for seeing you have some use to my Caiqiu, last night..."
*Clang!*
Cai Qiuhu was clearly extremely confident in this furious strike of his. His words were almost finished before the blade even struck Xia Hong.
Unfortunately, his words ultimately got stuck due to the clash with Xia Hong.
His large blade had actually been blocked by Xia Hong!
Xia Hong was using a long, narrow saber. He didn't even seem to exert much effort, merely raising his blade in a seemingly casual, light block at the moment Cai Qiuhu's blade descended.
It was this seemingly light block that made his blade edge utterly incapable of descending any further.
"Your strength... how is it possible... how is it possible..."
The full confidence on Cai Qiuhu's face vanished instantly after the forceful collision with Xia Hong. His pupils contracted sharply, leaving only shock, numbness, and a trace of unconcealable horror on his face.
With his Second Transformation of the Tribulation Body Realm cultivation, having manifested his golden Battle Body, and with the dual Wood and Fire Tribulation Qi enhancement, his strength had already surpassed 240 Jun. How could Xia Hong possibly block this strike of his?
How was it possible...
Cai Qiuhu's mind was too shaken. At this moment, his head was filled only with these words. He even momentarily forgot to retract his blade, thus overlooking Xia Hong's sudden action of withdrawing his own saber.
"You think just because you come from a Feudal Town, you can act lawlessly in my Southern Foothills territory? If not for seeing your Caiqiu has use for my Great Xia, with just your little 'Little Fang Bo' title, did you think you were worthy of conversing with this Lord Leader last night?"
The words Cai Qiuhu hadn't finished saying were now spoken by Xia Hong, almost verbatim. Cai Qiuhu's rather handsome face instantly flushed crimson, his rage soaring to its peak.
*Whoosh...*
However, Xia Hong gave him no chance to retort.
The withdrawn blade, in less than an instant, was swung forward again.
To be precise, it was thrust straight forward.
Yin-Yang Reverse Blade Technique!
This Martial Art could be called the unparalleled choice for defensive counterattacks. As long as one could parry the opponent's attack, the counterattack made by leveraging the opponent's force was almost impossible for anyone to react to in time.
Cai Qiuhu, even as a Tribulation Body Realm expert, was no exception!
*Swoosh...*
With the blade tip thrust straight at his face, the panic in Cai Qiuhu's pupils flashed and vanished. His body jolted violently, and then his hundred-meter-tall golden Battle Body rapidly began to transform into a transparent state.
*Whoosh...*
It wasn't just a visual effect; it became genuinely transparent.
Although Xia Hong's blade pierced into it, there was no sensation of breaking through skin membrane or flesh, let alone the bones inside.
"You think you can hurt me?"
"A Tribulation Body Realm expert also needs to rely on trickery to fight? Trash!"
After Xia Hong's blade thrust in, seeing that Cai Qiuhu merely sneered at him without making any substantial counterattack, he immediately realized that this trick of turning his body transparent was merely a life-preserving technique, not something usable for offense.
So he didn't hold back either. Lifting his blade, he continued thrusting forward. While cursing "trash," the Yang Xu Cauldron within his body suddenly blazed forth.
*Boom...*
The sole condition for using the Frost Beast Stake was that it had to be within the irradiation range of the Yang Xu Cauldron. Therefore, during the brief moment he struck to kill Cai Shiqi, Xia Hong had activated the Yang Xu Cauldron within him.
To avoid detection by Cai Qianshan in the sky, he had immediately deactivated it after killing Cai Shiqi. Now that Cai Qiuhu was using trickery to fight him, he naturally could no longer hold back.
The moment the Yang Xu Cauldron blazed forth, meridians slowly began to appear within Cai Qiuhu's transparent body, followed by bones, flesh, skin membrane...
And throughout this process, Xia Hong's Dragon Sparrow Saber had never been withdrawn.
*Thud...*
Once Cai Qiuhu's body completely solidified, Xia Hong's blade was genuinely embedded within him. Skin membrane and flesh were successively pierced through, and blood spurted out with a *squelch*.
When Xia Hong's blade tip pressed all the way to the bone, a power surpassing his own transmitted from the blade tip. Only then did a trace of genuine panic flash in Cai Qiuhu's pupils.
The golden Battle Body was unbreakable and indestructible. No matter how powerful the force, it could at most injure him. Someone who didn't wield Tribulation Qi wanting to kill a Tribulation Body Realm expert was fundamentally impossible.
Therefore, it wasn't death he feared; Xia Hong couldn't possibly kill him no matter what.
What he feared was his father and uncle, Cai Qianshan, in the sky above.
The matter of the Southern Foothills territory was something he had actively taken responsibility for. Upon receiving the message from Cai Shiqi and the others, he had confidently assured his father and uncle that he would surely use the ongoing war ignited by Great Xia's rise, with the two towns of Jinshan and Wuchuan as stepping stones, to install Caiqiu's proxy and allow Caiqiu to smoothly take control of the entire Southern Foothills territory.
However, five days had passed. Not only had he accomplished nothing, but now his strength was even being suppressed by Xia Hong before him.
He had three highly capable older brothers above him and many talented younger brothers and sisters below. Many eyes were coveting the position of 'Little Fang Bo.'
With this strike from Xia Hong, not only would he lose all face, but his father and uncle Cai Qianshan would likely be extremely disappointed in him. At that time...
"Enough!"
Cai Qianshan, who had been coldly observing from the sky all along, finally spoke when Xia Hong had already forced Cai Qiuhu into retreat.
Previously, whether it was Xia Hong's sudden violent action, Cai Shiqi's death, or the Caiqiu Sun Manifestation Level experts being forced into a disheveled retreat by the Divine Machine Crossbows, Cai Qianshan had merely watched, seemingly uninterested in intervening.
Only now, when Cai Qiuhu was about to have his bones injured by Xia Hong's blade, did he finally speak up.
The continuous volleys of silver Ten-Thousand-Forged crossbow bolts from the twenty Divine Machine Crossbows, while not causing any fatal injuries to the Caiqiu Sun Manifestation Level experts, forced them to scatter and dodge in all directions, leaving them in disarray and looking rather disheveled.
These two words, coming from his mouth, should have carried immense weight.
However, Xia Hong acted as if he hadn't heard at all. There wasn't the slightest sign of relenting in his hand. The blade tip pressing against Cai Qiuhu's bone began its final gathering of force before suddenly surging forward.
"Arrogant brat..."
Witnessing the disheveled state of the Caiqiu group and realizing that Caiqiu's face had been utterly lost here, Cai Qiuhu finally lost his composure.
*Roar...*
The Fire Qilin puppet, which had been hovering motionlessly in mid-air, moved.
Moving alongside it was the Three-Headed Wolf Emperor that suddenly shot up from the ground.
Two Five Luminaries Realm Beast Emperors struck simultaneously, directly positioning themselves in front of Xia Hong.
"Single-Element Beast Emperors think they can stop me?"
Seeing the two Beast Emperors blocking the way, Cai Qianshan sneered with a rhetorical question. His movements didn't slow in the slightest; the palm wind continued its downward slash, reaching the two Beast Emperor puppets in an instant.
*Thud... Thud...*
He struck with both hands, left and right, successively slapping the bodies of the Three-Headed Wolf Emperor and the Fire Qilin Beast Emperor puppets.
It must be noted that these two Beast Emperors had already manifested their combat forms, each with a body length of around two hundred zhang. Compared to their massive bodies, Cai Qianshan, who hadn't manifested a golden Battle Body nor used any other trickery enhancements, was utterly a tiny speck.
Yet, it was this tiny speck who, striking left and right with both hands, managed to send the Wolf Emperor and the Fire Qilin flying several kilometers away with just one blow each.
With the two Beast Emperors knocked away, there was nothing left blocking Xia Hong's front.
Cai Qianshan's face beneath the crown showed traces of anger. His body didn't pause for even a moment as he continued raising his hand, gathering force in his palm. Aiming at the crown of Xia Hong's head, a glint of killing intent flashed in his pupils as he slapped straight down.
Xia Hong seemed completely unaware of him, continuing to use the Dragon Sparrow Saber to relentlessly suppress Cai Qiuhu. Even as Cai Qianshan's palm wind reached overhead, he remained as he was, with no intention of withdrawing his blade.
Was he relying on having something to fall back on?!
*Roar...*
...
Indeed, just as Cai Qianshan guessed, Xia Hong did have something to rely on.
When Cai Qianshan's palm wind was still over ten meters from the top of Xia Hong's head, ten consecutive roars suddenly erupted from the ground below. Immediately after, ten beams of intense light shot skyward.
Four of them directly positioned themselves in front of Xia Hong. The remaining six swiftly rushed towards the six directions around Cai Qianshan: above, below, front, back, left, and right.
Those six beams of light had actually turned the tables, surrounding Cai Qianshan instead.
As the intense light faded and the entities at their cores manifested their true forms, shadows fell upon the ground one after another, growing larger and larger, their coverage expanding wider and wider. Instantly, the expressions of everyone present froze solid.
And 'everyone' here didn't refer to just one side!
Whether it was the Xia troops soldiers, Cai Qiuhu and the Sun Manifestation Level experts from Caiqiu, or even high-ranking Great Xia officials like Xia Chuan and Yuwen Tao, all were the same.
Looking up at the ten massive, sky-obscuring beast shadows in the sky, their pupils trembled uncontrollably. Then their expressions slowly turned excited, their faces filled with exhilaration.
Cai Qiuhu and the forty-nine Sun Manifestation Level experts, their pupils also trembled violently. But after the trembling, their faces were filled with terror, horror, and a trace of disbelief and astonishment.
"This... this..."
"Gulp..."
"It can't be real? How can there be so many Beast Emperor puppets?"
"It's not just the number. Look at those few, are they... dual-element?"
"Look at that white flood dragon above Fang Bo. That's a triple-element, right?"
"Fire, Metal, Water... triple-element. That's a triple-element Five Luminaries Realm Beast Emperor..."
...
Cai Qianshan, surrounded by the six Beast Emperors, also had a stiff expression now.
Clearly, this scene had far exceeded his understanding of Great Xia's strength.
Twelve Beast Emperor-level puppets, and one of them a triple-element Beast Emperor...