Chapter 420: Battering Away
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
The Rain Emperor was still the Rain Emperor—dominating, unwavering like an Emperor, and with a firm resolve.
Elder Nine Clouds quickly manipulated the Corpse Soldier to receive the oncoming barrage of attacks. Pu, pu, pu, pu . Endless muffled noises were heard. The Rain Emperor's punches battered the Corpse Soldier, but only left behind multiple very light wounds.
It was indeed a Level Three Silver Armored Corpse; this defense was comparable to the best kind of Level Six forging materials. Even Fist Ray practically left no damage.
However, the Rain Emperor paid it no mind. He had the dominating character of an emperor. His punches continued to rain down, determined to batter the Corpse Soldier into dust.
Elder Nine Clouds smirked. If they were only talking about defense, this Corpse Soldier was even stronger than the Demonic Ape, and only lacked power and destructive ability. But there was no need for him to kill the Rain Emperor. It was enough to contain him.
"Young man, are you still going to flee now?" He smirked. The fact that he possessed a Spirit Tool that could contain living creatures was an unbelieavably shocking secret; he did not believe that Ling Han would dare to use it in front of the Fist Emperor.
In this manner, he had gained a chance.
Ling Han smiled and said, "No!"
"Haha, so you are prepared to die?" Elder Nine Clouds' killing intent intensified.
"No, I still have a helper!" Ling Han looked towards the northwest and called out, "Brother Ao, please lend me a hand."
"What!?" Elder Nine Clouds followed Ling Han's lead and looked towards the direction he was looking at, but did not detect any movement. He scoffed, "Brat, don't make this unnecessarily complicated."
"Hoho, a grand cultivator of the Flower Blossom Tier, and yet the sensory abilities are beneath Spiritual Ocean Tier one's? Does the Thousand Corpse Sect all consist of such trash?" Laughter resounded, and a person walked forth in midair. It was Ao Feng.
Elder Nine Clouds instantly frowned. Why was there another cultivator of the Flower Blossom Tier? Though this man, too, had just broken through to the Flower Blossom Tier recently, who knew how many Battle Stars he possessed? Most importantly, for members of the Thousand Corpse Sect, their personal battle prowess was really not that remarkable.
Otherwise, one who was in the fifth layer should have absolute confidence in his victory against an opponent in the first layer.
"Grandmaster Ling is indeed an extraordinary genius!" Ao Feng complimented. He, too, had witnessed Ling Han run into the midst of the Demonic Qi but did not suffer the slightest bit from its effects, which was something that left him shocked. Furthermore, he had been standing so far away to observe the battle just now, but Ling Han had still discovered his presence. This kind of divine sense was really terrifying.
…One had to understand that Ling Han had been in the Heaven Tier in his last life, and even if only a sliver of the divine sense of the Heaven Tier was left behind, if one were talking about sensory abilities, not even someone in the Spiritual Infant Tier could catch up to him.
"Thank you for your praise, Brother Ao." Ling Han smiled, then began to fervently egg him on, "Brother Ao, this is one of the dregs of the Thousand Corpse Sect. Please help to eliminate him and remove this poisonous tumor for the world's peace."
"Of course!" Ao Feng nodded, seeming to be very righteous. However, internally, he was extremely displeased.
His original intention was to allow the Rain Emperor and Elder Nine Clouds to battle to the point that they were both severely wounded—he would then step out to calmly deal with the situation. He had never thought that Ling Han would call him out ahead of time. After all, he had only just broken through to the Flower Blossom Tier, and unlike the Rain Emperor who had formed Fist Ray and was a real ruler, his battle prowess was only slightly above two or three Battle Stars.
Against Elder Nine Clouds, it would really be difficult to decide the victor.
However, the Thousand Corpse Sect actually dared to set up a branch right beneath the nose of the Winter Moon Sect, obviously with devious plans in mind; as an elder of the Winter Moon Sect—since he had broken through to the Flower Blossom Tier, he was naturally promoted from Attendant to Elder—now that Ao Feng had seen a member of the Thousand Corpse Sect, what logic was there in simply standing by and watching?
His right hand shook and a plain-looking sword appeared, covered with an obscure pattern.
Ling Han's eyes lit up. This was a Level Six Spirit Tool; he surmised that it had to be a family heirloom of the Ao Clan. Most importantly, the forging materials to create a Level Six Spirit Tool were really too rare, so such a Spirit Tool could only be passed down the generations. One could not simply forge a new one as one liked.
Elder Nine Clouds' expression became serious. His arms spread out and moved. A grayish Corpse Qi came to being, which slowly twined around his figure.
Corpse Qi and Demonic Qi were different methods that could achieve the same result. Demonic Qi could cause one to go mad, whereas Corpse Qi was poisonous. Even if one in the Flower Blossom Tier inhaled it for too long or was exposed to it for too long, his whole body would similarly rot, or even transform into a Corpse Soldier.
Ao Feng waved his sword and advanced, not daring to keep any of his power in reserve. Eight flashes of Sword Qi danced, fully displaying the might of a ruler.
Ling Han nodded. If he were being honest, Ao Feng was indeed a genius, and though Ling Dong Xing was not an idiot, either, the latter did not have as much talent as the former. If the two of them battled on the same cultivation level, Ling Dong Xing would definitely lose.
Therefore, it was necessary to have a dominating advantage in terms of cultivation level in order to allow Ling Dong Xing to emerge victorious against Ao Feng. For anyone else, this might be a very difficult thing to do, but for Ling Han, it was practically a piece of cake.
The Spirit Herbs in the Black Tower were becoming more abundant, and he had absolute confidence that he could help Ling Dong Xing soar to the peak period of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier in three years' time, and break through to the Spiritual Infant Tier in twenty years' time. However, above that, his advance would slow down to the speed of a tortoise's crawl.
After all, after the breakthrough of one's cultivation to the Spiritual Infant and the Deity Transformation Tier, alchemical pills would only be effective in helping to accumulate Origin Power. Without enough comprehension of the cultivation level, no matter how many alchemical pills you were given, it would be a waste.
Only genuine natural treasures had the amazing effect of assisting one in comprehending the great Dao; this was a blessing from nature.
The matter of vengeance could be advanced slowly. Rescuing his mother from prison had to be the priority now. If he had to wait until Ling Dong Xing possessed enough power, then his mother would have experienced too much suffering.
Ling Han thought. The battle happening in front of him now was very exciting, but as someone who had once been in the Heaven Tier in his last life, it was not to the level that would interest him. He would not be inspired or draw inspiration from watching.
Ao Feng had the help of a Spirit Tool and obviously had the upper hand. But the Rain Emperor was gradually falling into a disadvantage. The defense of a Level Three Silver Armored Corpse were practically invincible, so how was he to continue playing this game? If the Rain Emperor was in the late period of the Flower Blossom Tier, then he would still have a chance to win, but currently, he was too far from that.
The situation was very delicate. If the Corpse Soldier could kill or force the Rain Emperor to retreat and then join forces with Elder Nine Clouds, then they would definitely be able to subdue Ao Feng easily. However, on the other hand, if Ao Feng managed to kill Elder Nine Clouds first, then the result would similarly be decided.
So would it be the Rain Emperor who would first fail to hold on, or Elder Nine Clouds?
Without a doubt, it was Elder Nine Clouds who would first beat the drums of retreat! What a joke, for someone as dominating and forceful as the Rain Emperor, the stronger the opponent, the more his battle spirit would blaze. He was the standard type that would use battle to cultivate his own battle spirit, and make use of a bloody battle to break through his own limits; how could he possibly give up on such a good opponent like a Level Three Silver Armored Corpse?
Elder Nine Clouds fled, and the Rain Emperor and Ao Feng were hot on his heels. However, after a while, the two of them returned. Naturally, they had lost track of him.
After all, Elder Nine Clouds had too much of an advantage in terms of cultivation level. Running away only depended on one's speed, and the ability to battle an opponent stronger than oneself was not of much use here.
Ao Feng exchanged some pleasantries with Ling Han, and also invited him to visit the Winter Moon Sect as a guest. Then, he conversed with the Rain Emperor too before begging his leave and departing. It was unknown whether he was heading back to the Winter Moon Sect, or continuing on his quest to find "Han Lin".
"Grandmaster Ling, we have not seen each other for several months, and you have indeed once again made me see you in a new light." The Rain Emperor smiled. His voice was filled with ruefulness.
He was certain that Ling Han would definitely become an Earth Grade alchemist, but he had not foreseen that it would happen so quickly.
A young man that was still over a month away from reaching eighteen years old was shockingly already an Earth Grade alchemist; who would dare to believe such a thing?
"Congratulations to you for breaking through to the Flower Blossom Tier and casting off your mortal shell, Rain Emperor," Ling Han smiled in return.
(TL/N: Decided to change 'Your Majesty' address to 'Rain Emperor' because I think it fits the MC's character better. He doesn't seem like the type to use a reverent address for anyone, unless someone he truly respected…. Plus the both of them are already out of Rain Country, so would be reasonable if MC addressed the Rain Emperor respectfully only in the bounds of Rain Country since MC was still living there, but now that the both of them had left, they should be at a more equal level.)