Book 4: Chapter 20: Bian Linghan’s First Life Taken

“Not enough time?” Yunqin Emperor frowned.

The silver-armored Central Continent guard leader understood the emperor’s nature extremely well, so without any apprehension, he respectfully explained, “Thunder Academy’s last student is going to encounter them soon. Even if we set out now to signal the end, the people in the mountains won’t be able to stop it in time. The exact situation can already be seen on the observation stage.”

Yunqin Emperor stared blankly for a moment, and then no longer said anything, instead directly following these silver-armored Central Continent guards.

A terrace built from pine wood extended far out of the cliff, as if a stairway of heaven reached into the sky. At the very end were several large scale ‘Hawkeyes’.

The extreme elevation looked extremely terrifying, but this emperor who received the most respect in the entire world wasn’t worried that he would fall from this seemingly shaky platform at all. He directly walked up to this platform’s highest point, standing in front of a Hawkeye.

A hundred meters below the terrace was an even larger platform, quite a few Thunder Academy students dressed in golden uniforms gathering on it.

The three academies’ students were all the pillars of the empire, while most of Thunder Academy’s students were hand picked by the emperor, raised under his orders, so in a sense, they were also his disciples.

That was why these Thunder Academy students who came together with Helan Yuexi had the fortune of coming here to the same peak the emperor resided in.

The platform these Thunder Academy students were on also had Hawkeyes, but because of the limitations of height and terrain, they could only see the scenery of the mountain forest in front of the camps below.

It was because regardless of whether it was Yunqin Emperor or Green Luan Academy, neither one of them wanted to expose the true talent and strength of some of their top level students. According to Yunqin Emperor’s intentions, as the emperor’s disciples, they only had the privilege of personally seeing who the ultimate victors were.

The flash of brilliant yellow that appeared above them filled these Thunder Academy students with fear and excitement.

For almost everyone in this entire world, the might of the emperor truly was vast and mighty.

While carrying true respect and the attitude of being in the presence of a deity, these Thunder Academy students knelt down, calling out ‘long live the emperor’.

Normally, Yunqin Emperor might be extremely happy to receive the greetings of these students he personally picked, because while displaying dignity, these students would also see how generous and warm he was. However, for some reason, right now, these students’ cries of ‘long live’ made him slightly frown in discontent. He didn’t say anything, only moving his eyes towards the crystal lens Yunqin’s true master craftsman spent endless time polishing.

All of the Thunder Academy students below didn’t know what he was thinking, momentarily entering a somewhat awkward state. They didn’t know if they should continue kneeling or if they could get up again.

It was the Central Continent elites who were extremely familiar with the emperor’s nature who saw through the emperor’s current state, knowing that right now, his mood wasn’t all that great. Out of fear that these oblivious kneeling students would do something to make the emperor even more upset, one of the Central Continent elites made a gesture towards these Thunder Academy students without batting an eyelid, indicating that they could get up, but to not make any noise.

At the same time, even these Central Continent elites didn’t know what exactly was happening right now to make the emperor personally ascend to the observatory. Under the powerful urge of curiosity, these Central Continent elites also immediately silently walked up to the edge of the observatory, starting to raise the Hawkeyes they carried on them.

There wasn’t much blocking their view. The cold winds were like blades.

Yunqin Emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, able to clearly see Lin Xi and the others sprinting towards a camp with a simple and crude support rack made from spruce wood.

Because they didn’t know that the emperor and Vice Principal Xia had already agreed to stop this type of competition, this simple and crude stretcher not only carried Yuhua Tianji and Wanyan Muye, it also carried Wang Jianyu who wasn’t a cultivator, thus couldn’t keep up.

Lin Xi, Gao Yanan, and Bian Linghan were breathing heavily, their bodies covered in sweat, releasing heat.

They already weren’t far from one of the camps, so even if they used inferior quality Hawkeyes they could see three individuals running into their line of sight, the Central Continent guards and Thunder Academy students’ breathing stopped slightly.

Then, everyone saw that all three were Green Luan Academy students.

“That’s Lin Xi who landed a blow on Brother Wanyan in Half Snow Gray Plains!”

“Brother Wanyan!”

Even though the current emperor was at the very top, exuding an unmatched sacred presence, even after already being reminded by Central Continent Guards’ elites, Le Pinjiang and other Thunder Academy students who met Lin Xi before at Half Snow Gray Plains, after recognizing Lin Xi and Wanyan Muye who was entirely covered in dried pine leaves, only his face exposed, still couldn’t help but release an extremely alarmed cry.

So much time had already passed, yet the ones who ran before their eyes were three Green Luan Academy students, the powerful Wanyan Muye’s life or death unknown… then where was their unmatched Helan Yuexi? What was he doing these past few days?

“The last Thunder Academy student, Liu Chengen, is precisely a hundred or so steps under the snow before them.”

The Central Continent Guards’ silver-armored commander who wasn’t able to explain everything before respectfully stood behind the emperor, quietly explaining, “This child’s will is resolute, and he has long set the resolution to bring up the rear, ambush any Green Luan Academy students who might come out. From the first day he entered, after going underground, he never came out again. Moreover, based on my observation, he should have dug up many criss-crossed holes in this region, wind and snow already covering all traces. Unless it is a State Knight or higher level cultivator, no one is able to detect where he is hiding.”

“He has always been hiding in the ice and snow these days, what is he relying on to support himself?!” The emperor released a suppressed roar, his voice actually shaking a bit.

Central Continent Guards’ silver-armored commander stared blankly for a moment. With the emperor’s wisdom and intellect, he normally definitely wouldn’t ask such a foolish question… However, right now, he instead asked this type of question, making him understand just how intensely the emperor’s heart was fluctuating right now.

“He should be relying on some insects underneath the ice and snow, together with some snow water… so he should be able to maintain his stamina.” This Central Continent Guards’ silver-armored commander still replied without batting an eyelid.

The emperor didn’t give any response after hearing this.

“So these are the students that I chose? … these students are all actually valiant and persevering to this extent!”

No one knew what the emperor was truly worried about right now, no one knew that even himself, when he saw these students he picked himself die, was thinking ‘Are these still students?’.

Under his overcast gaze, the huffing and puffing Lin Xi, Bian Linghan, and Gao Yanan entered the death trap the last remaining Thunder Academy student set up many days ago.

…

Lin Xi, Bian Linghan, and Gao Yanan were also approaching their limit.

From the start, the three took turns dragging this simple and crude tow stretcher. However, after frantically running for a long time, dragging some weight and not dragging any weight, for the three of them, it already didn’t make too much of a difference.

It was because what the three of them persisted with right now was willpower, the willpower to not let Yuhua Tianji die before their eyes.

When one reached the pinnacle of fatigue, some parts of their body would instead become more sensitive.

A mysterious shaking came from below their feet, yet in Lin Xi’s dantian and arms, there was immediately a mysterious shaking, detected by Lin Xi who now had a deeper level of understanding of the vital energy and flow of wind in this world.

Because he experienced Wanyan Muye’s assassination last time, Lin Xi almost intuitively jumped, throwing himself forward. At the same time, he released a desperate scream that made even his own heart tremble, “Hurry and run!”

The moment his legs left the ground, a black spear stabbed through the white snow, almost brushing past his feet, thrusting up viciously.

The tow stretcher made from pine wood, immediately flipped over under Lin Xi’s jump, the unconscious Wanyan Muye and Yuhua Tianji, as well as Wang Jianyu fell on the ground. Meanwhile, both Bian Linghan and Gao Yanan had no idea what was going on. After a brief pause, they both unconsciously jumped forward, but they were already half a step late, only supporting an empty overturned stretcher, their stance in the air appearing extremely strange.

Snow erupted from the ground. The short, entirely dirt covered Liu Chengen leapt out from underground with a black spear in hand.

His body flickered with yellow light.

His cultivation level was at the initial stage Soul Expert level, a level higher than even Wanyan Muye. He was precisely Thunder Academy’s city gate guarding great general, defending these snowy plains.

Meanwhile, even someone as powerful as him couldn’t go against Helan Yuexi’s orders, he also had absolutely no idea that Helan Yuexi was already dead. Right now, he only knew that he had to obey Helan Yuexi’s orders, that he had to immediately kill Lin Xi the moment he saw him.

With how freakishly strong Helan Yuexi was, he actually wanted to deal with this person, so this Liu Chengen felt like there was definitely something special about him.

Even though he was shocked that Lin Xi could actually avoid his first strike, right now, he didn’t feel the slightest hesitation. The instant he leapt up, the spear in his hands thrusted out again, the one he aimed at was still Lin Xi who didn’t fall yet.

Lin Xi’s cultivation was still not at a level where he could change his trajectory in the air, there was absolutely no way for him to evade Liu Chengen’s spear.

Bian Linghan and Gao Yanan were also on the other side, unable to block the assassination of an initial stage Soul Expert at all.

Wang Jianyu wasn’t a cultivator.

However, he was a true border army medical doctor, someone who had experienced endless life and death struggles. Moreover, right now, he was right next to Lin Xi, Wanyan Muye right next to him.

With reactions fostered through fighting between life and death, the moment Liu Chengen leapt out from underground, he used all of his strength, using Wanyan Muye like a sandbag, fiercely pushing him in front of Lin Xi.

Liu Chengen’s pupils contracted. He knew what this deliberate complication implied, but when facing three Green Luan Academy students, he instantly made his choice. The black spear in his hands still stabbed forward without any hesitation.

A muffled pu sounded.

The black spear pierced through Wanyan Muye’s chest, coming out of his back, as if it went through a bundle of rice straw, still stabbing viciously at Lin Xi.

However, the flesh body blocking the way still bought Lin Xi a bit of time. Without the time to adjust his own center of gravity at all, when his footing was not even slightly steady, he fell towards where Gao Yanan landed.

He still couldn’t stop a Soul Expert level attack, but he knew Gao Yanan definitely could.

Liu Chengen’s black spear stabbed straight at the middle of Lin Xi’s back.

Just a few more inches and it would pierce through Lin Xi’s flesh.

Right at this time, a small fine white hand covered in yellow light reached out, grabbing the speartip.

Then, Liu Chengen just felt as if his spear encountered a great mountain, unable to move forward even an inch, nor could he pull it back.

Even though Gao Yanan’s body still wasn’t stable, Lin Xi’s body even rushing into hers, Liu Chengen wasn’t that dauntless Great Mang cultivator. There was a huge difference between initial stage Soul Expert and mid stage Soul Expert, and Gao Yanan was even a unique cultivator.

Liu Chengen immediately abandoned the spear, wishing to jump back into the underground hole and escape.

Gao Yanan only directly pushed out the spear she gripped without any tricks.

The spear smashed heavily into Liu Chengen’s chest. With a muffled groan, his entire body shook, a mouthful of blood spurting out.

Whoosh!

A black arrow suddenly appeared in his right eye, passing through his brain.

Bian Linghan couldn’t control her center of gravity, falling backwards, but the instant she fell, her hands still maintained a strange steady stance, the black stone strong bow’s bowstring shaking slightly.

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