Chapter 486 - 328: Battle without Ling Xiao

Chapter 486: Chapter 328: Battle without Ling Xiao

Shangguan Yutong shook her head, her voice laced with worry. "The problem now is we don’t know if those children are still alive. If they are, it’s one thing. But if... something happened to them, how are we going to explain this to Ling Xiao when he returns?"

Just then, someone announced a visitor from outside. Quefeng strode in and said bluntly, "I’ve found the three children! But the killer was too cunning and managed to get away."

"How are the children?" Su Xue asked anxiously.

Quefeng’s eyes dimmed slightly. He said in a low voice, "Two of them are already dead. The one who was just taken today is still alive, but... from the wounds on the others, it looks like they were killed by having their Essence Blood drained. The killer probably just didn’t have time to finish with the last one."

"The East Sea Qin Family?" Meng Li blurted out, utterly furious. All of Ling Xiao’s core followers knew about the Qin Family Cultivating Evil Techniques.

"Bastards!"

Su Xue’s and Shangguan Yutong’s eyes immediately reddened as they cursed in anger. Although the children were mischievous and difficult to manage, both women had grown very fond of them, even viewing them as their own. The sudden news that two of them had died was naturally a huge blow.

Su Xue gasped for breath a few times, then looked at Meng Li. "Tell Ling Wu to lock down the entire city and prepare for a grid search! Yutong, go activate the arrays for the Inner and Outer Cities! Elder Quefeng, you’ll monitor from the air with me! I refuse to believe someone can commit such evil right under our noses!"

No matter who the culprit was, their actions were a direct attack on Ling Xiao’s legacy and a stain on the Shushan Sword Sect’s reputation. If this was allowed to continue, it wouldn’t be long before no new blood would join them. Even the parents of the current children would be scrambling to take them home.

What parent wouldn’t worry about their child? Those who would sacrifice their children for personal gain were, after all, a tiny minority.

Shangguan Yutong suddenly said, "Wait, before Ling Xiao left, didn’t he set up a grand array in the Inner City called the Mist Array? It was to prevent people from causing trouble. But this kind of Array affects us just as much as our enemies. Anyone who doesn’t understand the Array would get lost inside, which is why we never activated it. As things stand now, I think we should activate it. In the future, when the children leave for holidays, we can just organize them and guide them out in groups!"

Su Xue nodded. "That’s a good idea! But right now... I’m going to find that murderer! I’ll tear him to shreds!"

The residents of Penzes New City soon received a warning and locked themselves in their homes. At the same time, within the Inner City, the Ice Blue Water Light Array began to glow. Its ethereal blue light was captivating in the night, with waves of light flowing to form a net that enveloped the entire Inner City. This gorgeous Array was enchanting to look at and simple to activate, but it was essentially just a protective barrier. Those inside couldn’t get out, and those outside couldn’t hope to get in!

The Mist Array, however, was completely different. It was laid out according to the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, and from the outside, it looked completely normal. But if someone who didn’t understand arrays took a single step inside, they would be instantly lost. Without a guide, they would be trapped until they died!

This was precisely why Su Xue and Shangguan Yutong, who weren’t experts in arrays, had never activated it. But now, it seemed they had no choice. The enemy was already operating right under their noses, and it was highly likely their foe was extremely powerful.

Otherwise, the people from Mrs. Ling’s intelligence department couldn’t have failed to find a single clue. Especially with someone like Meng Li here, who specialized in assassination and tracking, ordinary surveillance was a joke in his eyes. The enemy’s counter-surveillance skills might not have been strong, but if their power level was far above Meng Li’s—on a completely different tier—then he naturally wouldn’t have been able to detect them.

The enemy was clearly aware that the Shushan Sword Sect possessed arrays. Just as the Ice Blue Water Light Array of the Inner City flared to life, a figure shot into the sky. Moving like a bolt of lightning, they vanished into the vast night just before the main array of Penzes New City could activate.

Likewise, two other figures—Quefeng and Su Xue—swiftly followed in hot pursuit.

Thirteenth Master, Fourteenth Master, and Tiger received the news and joined Ling Wu’s men in the city-wide grid search. To their surprise, they flushed out five Sword Emperor Realm powerhouses!

Three were from the Zhe Family and two were from the Jingwu Family. All of them had been exposed by the residents of Penzes City, who acted without fear for their own lives. In Penzes City, Ling Xiao was like a god! If anyone wanted to harm their Lord, the common folk were truly willing to risk death to expose them.

Although the five Sword Emperor Realm powerhouses weren’t of a particularly high rank, Ling Xiao’s own Sword Emperors weren’t overwhelmingly strong either. For a time, they were forced into a steady retreat. The five enemy Sword Emperors saw that two of Penzes City’s protectors had given chase, and they knew the city had a total of six Sword Emperors. Emboldened by this, their courage turned malicious. They decided to join forces and kill the remaining four, including Shangguan Yutong!

The great city barrier was already active. Even if Quefeng and the others returned now, they wouldn’t be able to get in unless they used the secret passage to enter the control room directly—but that would risk exposing the passage.

Four against five, their chances were slim. The only reason they were still alive was that the enemy was constantly on guard for that terrifying fellow, Ling Xiao, to suddenly appear. Otherwise, the five would have used lightning-fast tactics to pick them off one by one and kill them all.

Left with no choice, Shangguan Yutong’s group retreated into the Shushan Sword Sect’s area within the Inner City, luring the two Sword Emperor Powerhouses from the Jingwu Family in after them. The three Sword Emperors from the Zhe Family, however, were wiser; sensing something was amiss, they immediately turned and fought their way out. By the time Shangguan Yutong’s group finally managed to navigate their way out of the array, they were silently vowing to master its secrets.

The Lightning Legion had already lost several hundred members to the three Zhe Family Sword Emperors!

The casualties among the residents of Penzes were even more devastating. When a Sword Emperor Realm powerhouse intended to kill, a single stream of Sword Qi could turn an area over a hundred meters square into rubble!

It was only thanks to Ling Wu, Lingzhi, and the Lightning Legion’s Deputy Commander Zhang Danian seeing how bad the situation was and ordering an immediate retreat that more weren’t killed. Although the Lightning Legion’s Vajra Demon Subduing Sword Array was already perfected, this group of men—whose strongest were only Demon Swordsmen—could at best fight a Sword Sect expert. Against a Sword Emperor, they didn’t stand a chance.

Watching their subordinates being slaughtered, the few Lightning Legion Commanders’ eyes were wide with fury. They charged forward, their eyes bloodshot, attacking with crazed desperation.

The three Zhe Family Sword Emperors had clearly done their homework on the Ling Family. One of them spotted Lingzhi and shouted, "That’s Ling Xiao’s biological older brother! Kill him!"

The three Sword Emperors abandoned the desperately attacking men of the Lightning Legion and charged at Lingzhi in unison!

"No!"

Ling Wu and Zhang Danian suddenly dove for Lingzhi, their movements nearly identical! They fiercely tackled him, pinning him beneath their bodies.

Lingzhi roared from underneath them, "Damn it, let me go!"

The two of them pretended not to hear. Ling Wu roared, "Chief, although the Third Young Master is my master, you have also shown me immense kindness! If I can’t repay you in this life, I’ll repay you in the next!"

Zhang Danian, for his part, gritted his teeth. "If I die, I’m counting on you to take care of my brothers, Boss!"

"You two bastards!" Lingzhi bellowed from underneath, his voice a tearful roar. "Let me go, damn it! They’re after me!"

It all happened in the blink of an eye. The three Sword Emperor Realm powerhouses were as fast as lightning! A sinister, ice-cold Sword Qi shot out dozens of meters from their blades! They sneered at the scene below. ’What a bunch of ignorant fools,’ one thought. ’Do they really think that can protect him?’

The Sword Qi struck the ground. A tall building was split in two down the middle! The people inside screamed in terror as they tried to flee, but upon seeing the horrifying scene outside, they scrambled back in, only to be crushed by the collapsing structure. The earth was carved with a massive trench over ten meters deep by the Sword Qi, sending rubble and dirt flying everywhere.

A Zhe Family Sword Emperor sneered, "You’re all going to die!"

Just then, Shangguan Yutong and the others charged in wildly from behind, their Sword Qi chillingly sharp, even pushing past their own limits!

If the three Zhe Family Sword Emperors didn’t turn to defend themselves, even if they succeeded in killing Lingzhi, they would suffer grievous injuries, if not death!

"Damn it!"

One of the Zhe Family Sword Emperor Powerhouses spun around abruptly, re-engaging Shangguan Yutong’s group in battle.

And now, it was four Sword Emperors against the Zhe Family’s three!

The situation... seemed to have turned around.