Chapter 78: Bloody Battle

Chapter 78: Bloody Battle

Gu Lande's heart burned with fury. With a cold snort, he removed the Bronze Treasure Wheel from his back and pressed a Mystic Stone into the center of the wheel.

"Whoosh!"

The Bronze Treasure Wheel shot out, forming a tornado that spiraled into a wind column dozens of meters high, like a rampaging Wind Dragon.

This Bronze Treasure Wheel was a Second-Grade Mystic Artifact, forged from Wind Iron.

Wind Iron is born in the wind, nurtured by the wind, and carries the power of the wind!

Only those with exceptional luck can find fragments of Wind Iron that have fallen from the wind. However, once Wind Iron touches the ground, its spiritual essence vanishes, turning it into ordinary iron. For this reason, Wind Iron is exceedingly rare.

The Bronze Treasure Wheel, refined from Wind Iron, harnessed the power of the wind. By inserting a Mystic Stone into the groove at its center, the wheel could unleash the force of a hurricane.

As the top expert of the Four Great Martial Academies Alliance, Gu Lande unleashed devastating power the moment he activated the Bronze Treasure Wheel.

The leader of the twenty-four Black-robed Individuals stepped forward, spreading her hands. In her left palm, she condensed a mass of icy energy, while her right palm gathered a ball of flames. She then merged her hands together, forming a massive sphere where ice and fire swirled in tandem.

"Boom!"

The tornado was shattered.

The Black-robed Leader took a sudden step forward, her body transforming into a shadowy blur as she stretched out a pale, delicate hand to seize the Bronze Treasure Wheel.

Naturally, Gu Lande wouldn’t allow her to take it. He lunged forward, his arm instantly turning metallic in color.

"Diamond Arm!"

This was one of Gu Lande’s Martial Arts Divine Abilities. Once activated, his arm became as hard as metal, and his strength multiplied several times over, granting him immense power.

The Black-robed Leader sneered. With one hand, she snatched the Bronze Treasure Wheel, while the other struck out with a palm strike. Her palm turned crimson, wreathed in flames, and slammed into Gu Lande’s Diamond Arm.

"Bang!"

Despite Gu Lande’s formidable cultivation, he was no match for the Black-robed Leader.

Rustle!

The force of her palm sent Gu Lande staggering backward. The flames on her hand were so intense they nearly melted his Diamond Arm.

Gu Lande writhed in agony, his arm searing with pain as if his flesh had been roasted.

The Black-robed Leader let out a hoarse chuckle. "If I’m not mistaken, you’re the top disciple trained by the Great Dragon Martial Academy—Gu Lande, at the Second Level of the Divine Body Realm, just three months shy of twenty years old. Five years ago, you reached the Eighth Level of Profound Qi, yet you didn’t participate in that year’s assessment. You waited five years to lead the Great Dragon Martial Academy in this cycle. Your talent is indeed remarkable… but unfortunately, you’ve met me."

"How do you know all this?" Gu Lande asked in horror.

"Heh!"

The Black-robed Leader didn’t answer. Instead, she grabbed his wrist and violently tore—ripping off his entire arm.

Gu Lande’s face twisted in pain. Never in his life had he suffered such a crushing defeat, losing an arm in the process.

The other three leaders of the Four Great Martial Academies rushed over—Zijing, Xue Rihuo, and Dongfang Yi—all at the Second Level of the Divine Body Realm. They were young prodigies nurtured by the other three academies, forged through countless mystic medicines and resources.

Every major power would spend vast amounts of wealth to cultivate the most powerful young genius, who would become the representative figure of that power.

The black-robed leader stood at the center, calm and composed, and said, "Come at me together!"

"Too arrogant! Do you really think you can take on four of us alone? All four of us are at the Second Level of Divine Body Realm," Dongfang Yi said coldly.

The black-robed leader laughed. "Even within the Second Level of Divine Body Realm, there are distinctions. Though your cultivation is high, it was merely built up through resources. Among cultivators at this level, your combat prowess is only middling at best."

"Enough talk, let’s fight!" Gu Lande suppressed the injury on his arm and was the first to attack the black-robed leader.

The four great masters unleashed their Martial Arts Divine Abilities simultaneously, clashing with the black-robed leader in a battle that shook heaven and earth.

Murong Wushuang was stunned. "These black-robed individuals are too strong, especially their leader. She can actually hold her own against the four heads of the Four Great Martial Academies alone!"

"She’s a woman," Ning Xiaochuan said.

Murong Wushuang was surprised. "How do you know she’s a woman?"

Ning Xiaochuan replied, "Though she deliberately altered her voice and wrapped herself entirely in that black robe, her hand was exposed earlier. It seems this Emperor's Martial Palace assessment has many hidden experts. While Dark Emperor City and the Four Great Martial Academies Alliance are fighting, let’s escape this valley now."

Ning Xiaochuan glanced toward a nearby thicket, locking eyes with the small red dragon. Startled by his gaze, the dragon turned into a streak of red light and vanished in an instant!

It was truly persistent, always following Ning Xiaochuan.

Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang stepped out of the cave, intending to leave the valley immediately.

"Where do you think you're going?" Two black-robed individuals charged toward them, their bodies shrouded in black Profound Qi, transforming into two black afterimages.

They leaped into the air, each unleashing a Martial Arts Divine Ability.

Green Fire Eagle Claw!

Blazing Fire Nine Heavens!

Ning Xiaochuan’s eyes narrowed as he halted his steps. Lightning coiled around his arms, and his fingers pierced through both techniques, seizing the two black-robed individuals by their throats and lifting them into the air.

Crack!

Ning Xiaochuan snapped their necks, and their bodies instantly went limp.

Thud! Thud!

He tossed the corpses to the ground.

Originally, Ning Xiaochuan could have used the power of the Demonic Sword to devour the blood of the two black-robed individuals to enhance his cultivation. However, there were too many warriors here. If he used it, they might suspect him of being a member of the Blood Devouring Demon Sect.

Practicing the Blood Devouring Demon Art would draw the ire of all warriors.

The deaths of the two black-robed individuals drew the attention of the others. Twelve more black-robed figures rushed over in fury, surrounding Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang.

"Damn it! We didn’t lose a single person while slaughtering so many warriors from the Four Great Martial Academies, yet you killed two of ours. You’ve got some nerve!" roared one of the black-robed individuals, tall and burly.

At the valley’s entrance, corpses littered the ground. The warriors of the Four Great Martial Academies had suffered heavy losses, nearly wiped out, with only the four heads still locked in a desperate battle against the black-robed leader.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "Answer me one question, and I’ll spare your lives. Where have you taken Princess Qianxi?"

"Are you from the Golden Roc Prince's Manor?" one of the black-robed individuals asked suspiciously.

The black-robed leader floated over, her body as light as a leaf, landing swiftly in front of Ning Xiaochuan. "He is Ning Xiaochuan from the Jian Pavilion Marquis House. Originally at the First Level of the Divine Body Realm, he has now reached the Second Level. Three months ago, he was a worthless sickly weakling. Three months later, his name shakes the world. The Greatest Love-Obsessed Fool in the World—am I wrong?"

Ning Xiaochuan stared at the black-robed leader as if facing a formidable enemy, his Profound Qi circulating endlessly within him. "Not a single mistake. You’ve even memorized my records."

"Haha! I memorize the records of every young martial artist with decent cultivation. Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated," the black-robed leader said confidently.

Murong Wushuang interjected, "Then do you know who I am?"

The black-robed leader fell silent.

Murong Wushuang immediately slumped in disappointment. "So I’m really that unnoticeable."

Gu Lande, Zijing, Dongfang Yi, and Xue Rihuo also arrived, battered and bruised from their earlier defeat at the hands of the black-robed leader. If not for Ning Xiaochuan’s intervention, it would only have been a matter of time before she killed them.

The valley entrance was completely sealed off by twenty-two black-robed individuals.

There was only one way out—to fight their way through.

"Four defeated losers!" the black-robed leader sneered. "Earlier, I said your combat prowess at the Second Level of the Divine Body Realm was mediocre at best, and you refused to believe me. Now that you’ve witnessed the strength of the Greatest Love-Obsessed Fool in the World, you should finally realize how far behind you are."

Gu Lande and the others had indeed seen Ning Xiaochuan in action—slaying two black-robed warriors of the Divine Body Realm in a single move. Such skill was beyond their capabilities.

Ning Xiaochuan’s eyes turned cold. He knew the black-robed leader was trying to drive a wedge between him and the four leaders, isolating them for defeat.

"Don’t listen to her nonsense. Fight together and carve a bloody path out!"

Ning Xiaochuan spread his hands, and dozens of lightning bolts crackled to life in the air around him, tearing through the atmosphere as he launched an attack on the black-robed leader.

The leaders of the Four Great Martial Academies were no fools. They followed Ning Xiaochuan’s lead, unleashing their own divine abilities to break through the black-robed encirclement.

Ning Xiaochuan and the black-robed leader clashed first.

The black-robed leader possessed both ice and fire attributes, making her physique exceptionally unique and her combat power terrifyingly formidable. She had already mastered her second divine ability to Great Perfection, with the Third Divine Source emerging within her—on the verge of stepping into the Third Level of the Divine Body Realm.

In truth, her cultivation surpassed Ning Xiaochuan’s.

"It’s an honor to fight the Greatest Love-Obsessed Fool in the World. And it’s an even greater honor to kill him," the black-robed leader rasped, her strikes ruthless and lethal.

A towering inferno gathered in her palm as she struck toward Ning Xiaochuan.

Ning Xiaochuan’s palm, wreathed in lightning, met hers.

"Boom!"

The Flaming Palm Strike and Lightning Palm Strike collided, erupting into a dazzling explosion of fire and lightning in the air, shaking the ground and sending dust and stones flying.

The powerful impact lifted a corner of the black-robed leader's robe, revealing a pair of slender, snow-white legs adorned with white jade anklets. Her skin was flawless, her calves smooth and perfectly sculpted.

The glimpse was fleeting.

Her alluring, flawless legs were immediately concealed once more by the black robe.