Chapter 419 - 226: Defeating the Grandmaster

Chapter 419: Chapter 226: Defeating the Grandmaster

"You two Major Sects aren’t the only ones in the world with Grandmasters. The eight great families are all connected. Langya and Qing River also have experts who can debate the Dao with you esteemed masters."

Huie Jue chuckled.

"Connected? Do you even believe that yourself? The one lying down over there didn’t seem to give you a very warm reception, and his family only has a single Flying Dragon List Master whose life is flickering like a candle in the wind."

Yao Yilong’s expression darkened as he listened, but he offered no comment.

His original intention was to get the two juniors to stop interfering. If they were ordinary Second Transformation Realm practitioners, he could just ignore them, no matter how powerful their backgrounds. But as it was, he couldn’t completely disregard their attacks. While they weren’t a major threat, they were more than enough to distract him.

’I can’t attack them, but I can’t ignore them either. Where the hell did that bastard Xie Yuan find these human shields? So damn annoying!’

Yao Yilong’s face was grim. His gaze swept across the scene, not missing the slightest fluctuation, terrified that Xie Yuan might escape.

Huie Jue and Zhang Junyi charged forward again. Without even turning his head, Yao Yilong casually flicked his Long Sword. A wave of Sword Qi swept out, knocking the two young men back once more.

However, as Huie Jue retreated, a sliver of golden light seemed to lag behind, like a trailing tail of flame from his Golden Bell Shield, extending out on its own.

At first, Yao Yilong paid it no mind. But when he turned and saw this sliver of golden light, he discovered a shadowy figure hidden within it. A great axe, shimmering with a ghostly light, was already raised.

!

His pupils contracted. As he floated backward, he thrust his Long Sword forward, its tip landing precisely on the dark gleam of the axe blade.

The seemingly light tap contained the weight of a thousand mountains. Xie Yuan felt as if the axe were about to be driven into the earth’s core. With a furious roar, his muscles bulged and his Blood Qi surged. At the last possible moment, he unleashed the already-charged Army-Sweeping Slash!

Yao Yilong’s sword instantly bent into an extreme arc, looking as if it would snap at any second. His retreating figure was sent flying as if struck by a hurricane, crashing directly into a nearby house.

Xie Yuan also bore the brunt of the sword’s force. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger instantly split open and bled, and his arm trembled slightly. But seeing Yao Yilong crash into the courtyard of a house and vanish with a thunderous BOOM, a glint flashed in his eyes. He shot a look at Huie Jue and Zhang Junyi, then vanished from sight once more.

The two watched as dust and smoke billowed from the residence where the Elder Grandmaster had fallen, temporarily lost from view. They were both momentarily silent.

They understood Xie Yuan’s meaning: keep creating opportunities for him to land a sneak attack with that great axe.

Huie Jue had experienced it firsthand and knew the boundless power of that axe technique. Zhang Junyi, however, looked utterly astonished, wondering what kind of move Xie Yuan was using to repeatedly succeed in sneak attacks against a Grandmaster!

’In my opinion, we should create an opening and Xie Yuan should just take the chance to escape. I can’t believe he’s not willing to give up so easily. Is he still thinking about rescuing that Mr. Qian?’

To be so daring in the face of a Grandmaster... even Zhang Junyi, who had always been reckless himself, thought Xie Yuan was being a bit *too* reckless.

From within the dust cloud, Yao Yilong shot into the sky, his face so dark it looked like it might start dripping ink.

Xie Yuan’s sneak attacks were devilishly unpredictable, but a Grandmaster was a Grandmaster, after all. He wouldn’t just let an axe strike his body at will.

But in his haste, Yao Yilong had still taken the full force of that axe’s power. He was already retreating, which only resulted in him being blasted away even more directly.

Although he wasn’t seriously injured by the blow, the humiliation was immense. It was rare to be sent flying so pathetically even in a fight against a peer, let alone by a young Second Transformation Realm Martial Artist. If word of this got out, not only he, but likely the entire Yao family, would become a laughingstock.

If not for the fact that he couldn’t touch this monk and this Daoist, Yao Yilong would have been tempted to silence them permanently... Especially seeing the faint, mocking smile on the face of that gleaming Great Monk, his chest tightened with frustration.

’This can’t go on.’ Yao Yilong didn’t even know what other embarrassing situations would arise if this entanglement continued.

He hovered high in the air, casually dissipating the force of the duo’s attacks. His gaze enveloped an area dozens of *zhang* around him, focusing specifically on the indistinct, moonless patches of shadow.

Suddenly, a glint flashed in Yao Yilong’s eyes. He abruptly swung his sword toward a corner of a wall, and a blast of Sword Qi shot out, instantly blasting a large crater into the spot.

Seeing no movement, he snorted coldly. He then turned to another suspicious-looking spot beneath the eaves of a house and, with another casual swing of his sword, blasted a crater into that building as well.

However, neither strike revealed Xie Yuan’s location. Yao Yilong was half-guessing, half-testing.

’Xie Yuan is definitely hiding nearby. The kid’s got guts, he actually didn’t think to run.’

’Then don’t even think about running!’

Yao Yilong swung his sword relentlessly, sending stream after stream of Sword Qi into the surrounding hiding spots. Any place he thought might be concealing Xie Yuan was first met with a blast of Sword Qi.

In an instant, several surrounding homes were destroyed, and faint cries of alarm and even wails of agony could be heard from within!

Both Huie Jue and Zhang Junyi’s brows shot up in anger. Zhang Junyi roared furiously:

"You old bastard, how dare you!"

He slashed out with his sword, but with the vast distance between the ground and the sky, it posed almost no threat to Yao Yilong.

The Elder Grandmaster casually shattered Zhang Junyi’s Sword Qi with a flick of his hand and said nonchalantly:

"If you don’t surrender, you’ll implicate the common people of Jinling. I wonder, will your masters and elders back home blame you for that?"

The golden light in Huie Jue’s eyes flared, and he roared with unprecedented fury:

"Amitabha! Yao Yilong, what kind of twisted logic is that! As a noble family of Jinling, you not only fail to protect its people, but you have the audacity to play the victim!"

Yao Yilong chuckled and said:

"If you weren’t causing trouble, would any of this be happening? It is precisely because we are in Jinling that I must capture the court’s wanted fugitive, Xie Yuan, as soon as possible, to prevent him from committing further evil. That is the true way to protect the people. As for any damage during the capture... well, that is naturally caused by your interference!"