Chapter 103: Chased by a Soul Exalt!
The streets behind them were completely clear of people without a trace of their pursuers to be seen.
“Did we lose them?” Jing Mingfeng asked in doubt.
Bai Yunfei was suspicious as well. Before he could speak, his eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he looked straight up into the air a hundred meters behind them.
At the same time, Jing Mingfeng had realized the sight a hundred meters behind them as well. Standing a dozen meters in the sky were two figures that were leisurely walking toward them.
“Skywalking, they’re Soul Exalts!!” Jing Mingfeng’s face immediately grew deathly pale as he shrieked. He nearly tripped as a result. “This aura... they’re the two that were discussing something in that room! They were actually Soul Exalts!”
Bai Yunfei’s was startled as well. Skywalking was a result of becoming incomparably adept at harnessing the elemental force. One would then be able to walk upon the elements condensed into a platform. To be able to pull off such a technique would mean one had to be a Soul Exalt at the very least.
“They’re individuals just as strong as brother Hong Yin!” Bai Yunfei’s face hardened even more with his eyes flashing with light. “They’re clearly chasing to kill us, but seeing how they’re walking so slowly, that must mean... they’re trying to see if we have anymore ‘accomplices’. If they appear, then they would just kill us all together.”
“Jing Mingfeng.” Bai Yunfei turned to look at the fork in the road and whispered, “We’ll split up. Whether we can run away or not, well, you’d better start praying for more luck...”
Jing Mingfeng blankly stared for a moment before realization hit him back to awareness. With the four items given to him by Bai Yunfei, his speed had improved by a decent amount. With these two Soul Exalts following them, they would die without a doubt if they tried to run together. However, if they split up, then the Soul Exalts would have to split up as well. By then, he could use his secret techniques to try and escape with his life...
In this moment of understanding, Jing Mingfeng expressed his resolve. With a nod of his head, he replied, “Okay, it’s every man for himself! Bai Yunfei, I really apologize for involving you in this! This wasn’t my intent at all. Should we get out of this, then know that you will be a friend to me!”
“Go f*ck yourself! If I could choose, I’d rather never be able to see you again instead!” Bai Yunfei rolled his eyes before speaking irately, “Save those words for later then. Don’t even try to trick me again you shameless framer! I’ll make sure to beat some sense into you later!”
“Haha, then we’ll talk later!”
After a speedy exchange between the two, they gave a slight nod as they approached the fork in the road. With a stamp of their feet, the two split the paths as quick as possible.
......
“Eh? They’ve split up? Did they think that they’d be able to escape like this?” The violet-robed man grimly laughed.
“This is nothing more than the final struggle of a rat. We’ll go after one person each. If they don’t have any accomplices help them, just kill them.” The black-robed figure was still talking in a calm voice as if he was talking about killing a mere rat instead of a human.
Having said that, the two figures split off left and right as well. The middle-aged man chased down Jing Mingfeng while the black-robed youth chased after Bai Yunfei.
......
Bai Yunfei had already pulled out several speed-enhancing accessories to wear on his person. With the Wave Treading Steps, he was already running at such a fast speed that mirror images were left behind in his desperate escape.
His speed became so fast that even his chaser was startled for a moment. With a sneer, the black-robed man sped up his footsteps so that he was constantly within a few hundred meters of Bai Yunfei.
“Damn, damn, damn it all!!” Bai Yunfei didn’t even want to look back. He knew that the man chasing him was doing so with ease. Biting his lips, Bai Yunfei continued to circulate his soulforce into his feet at a steady rate so that they exploded with power and gave his speed another boost. At this moment, he could see that the city gates were less than a hundred meters away.
Bai Yunfei’s eyes flashed with inspiration. Increasing his speed by another spurt, his right hand shook before a ear-piercing sound could be heard. With a “thuck!” sound, a dagger had lodged itself halfway up the wall, leaving behind only the hilt of the weapon sticking out.
At the same time the dagger was inserted into the wall, Bai Yunfei leaped off the ground several meters forward into the sky. Then, borrowing the hilt of the dagger to increase his momentum, he flew over the wall without stopping, leaping out of the city.
With a sneer, the black-robed figure began to climb up an imaginary set of stairs without concern. In an instant, he had escalated the wall just in time to see Bai Yunfei slip into the stone forest in front of him.
The black-robed figure stood on top of the wall for a moment as he scanned the area in front of him. He had finally lost his patience. Nobody else appeared to save him so he was prepared to kill this rat to save time.
The golden light underneath his feet brightened for a moment as he deactivated his skywalking technique. With a gentle leap, he stepped onto a dozen meter tall stone boulder and gave two mighty stomps!
“Bang!” A two meter crater could be seen underneath his feet in the boulder before it collapsed. Before it fell apart, his body had been sent jetting toward Bai Yunfei at a speed that was several times faster than Bai Yunfei!
In a few seconds, he had already cut down the gap between them so he was barely two hundred meters away from Bai Yunfei!
Just at that moment, Bai Yunfei suddenly whirled around from his attempt to flee. At the same time he whirled around, four chilling rays of light could be seen shooting toward the black-robed man!
“Hmph!” The man sneered. Without moving to dodge, he waved his right hand so that a yellow halo encircled his hand. Four crisp echoes could be heard soon after. The daggers that Bai Yunfei had thrown with all his might had immediately been reduced to scrap!
Without decreasing in speed, the man drew even closer to Bai Yunfei with his right hand ready to strike Bai Yunfei down.
“Clang!”
Following the sound of metal hitting metal, the man’s fist impacted against Bai Yunfei’s right shoulder. Despite the Flameblade Bracer’s defensive ability, Bai Yunfei could almost sense it shattering apart from the monstrous blow as he was knocked to the ground.
The man’s speed had paused for a moment as well. However, with a push of his right leg, he continued his chase and lashed out with another right fist!
Bai Yunfei’s pupils dilated in fear as he clenched his right fist so tightly that his veins began to bulge out for a single punch.
Ninefold Fist Force!
“Bang!”
Bai Yunfei was sent flying away with bewilderment. He felt as if the bones in his right fist had been reduced to dust. A series of sharp blades of elemental energy seemed to begin to cut away at his innards before a burst of elemental fire from the Flameblade Bracer prevented them from growing any more.
His opponent had paused after that second impact with a slight utterance of a gasp. Bai Yunfei’s second strike to defend himself seemed to surprise him.
Gravely, Bai Yunfei shook his right arm to regain sense in it. Steadying his body with his mind thinking at tremendous speeds, Bai Yunfei’s eyes scanned the area only to see the black-robed figure. Sizing him up, he immediately turned around without the intent of stopping and flew past a huge rock to flee.
The same moment Bai Yunfei started moving, the black-robed man moved as well with a speed that was even faster! As Bai Yunfei took two steps past around the rock, the other man had already reached the very same boulder.
In this split-second, Bai Yunfei took one more step before pivoting around on his right leg. Following up, the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his right hand and stabbed out at the boulder!
Ninefold Thrust!
“Krsh.” A nearly undetectable sound could be heard as the Fire-tipped Spear inserted itself into the giant boulder. With a gleam in Bai Yunfei’s eye, he rotated the spear.
“Bang!!”
Following a heaven-shaking explosion, the giant boulder began to violently crack right underneath the startled eyes of the black-robed figure. A crimson light spilled out as several fragments of the flaming boulder began to shoot in every direction — primarily in his direction however!
This was the biggest change in momentum the man had made yet. Taking a step back to avoid the boulder fragments, he brought up both hands and drew an empty circle in the air around him. A golden light exploded from his palms and immediately materialized a disk in front of him.
“Bang bang bang!!” A series of concentrated hits could be heard as the flying fragments struck the golden barrier. Unable to penetrate through, the fragments crumbled one after another in front of the black-robed man.
However, Bai Yunfei’s attack had not yet ended!
Completely ignoring the spasms of pain brought forth from the backlash of the Ninefold Thrust down his right arm, Bai Yunfei’s eyes glistened with a berserk light. Leaping straight up, his spear had been put away and his right fist rose up into the air. A red light circled around the fist as a rich elemental fire began to show itself.
“Bang!” A puff of fire immediately flew out from Bai Yunfei’s right shoulder sleeve before revealing the crimson Flameblade Bracer shining underneath. A single two meter long blade made of fire could be seen materializing on the back side of his shoulder, forcibly lifting the temperature of the surrounding area up several degrees.
Flamed Winged Blade!
This was the +12 additional effect of the Flameblade Bracer and it would be the very first time Bai Yunfei would use it on an enemy. By using all of his soulforce at once, it would become his strongest attack!
With hardened eyes, Bai Yunfei swung his right arm violently. The flame blade left behind a scorching path as it flew toward the man who was currently blocking himself from the boulder fragments!
The black-robed man’s body gave a violent tremble at the sight. Although his face could not be seen clearly, there was still a noticeable amount of shock. No longer caring for the fragments that were shooting at him, he observed the incoming blade of fire. With a final sweep of his right arm to block the boulders, his entire body lit up with a golden light before it flew out from his body with a sudden spurt of speed. Even the boulders coming at him were delayed for a single moment after coming in contact with it.
“Boom!!!!”
The flame blade made contact with the golden light before becoming overwhelmed by it. A layer of fire covered the entire area before dispersing into a wave of flames that burned the surrounding grass to ashes. With the fiery-red and the golden-yellow colors mixing, it became rather hard to see anything clearly within a ten meter radius of the impact.
To describe everything was to complicate the matter. From the time it took Bai Yunfei to whirl around with his spear, explode with fire, leap into the air, summon the winged blade, impact it against the enemy, and cover the entire area with the aftermath had only taken less than ten seconds!
Suddenly, a figure came retreating back from the light. The movements of the figure were unsteady and the left arm of the owner clutched at the right arm, which was shaking nonstop. Retreating ten meters away, it was only when his back came to a rest next to a wall that the figure stopped moving. With a grim expression, the figure looked at the area where the fire and golden light was only starting to dissipate.
The figure was Bai Yunfei!!