Chapter 686: How could 686 possibly abandon her and leave
"You’re right, he is the only descendant of the master," Yue Ji’s face revealed a gentle smile as if recalling some long-buried past. Then she turned her head and yelled to Huayue, "Huayue, take your friends and run."
"Grandma..." Huayue looked at Yue Ji unwillingly to leave.
Although her appearance had greatly changed and the Yue Ji in front of him was nothing like the hunched old woman from before, in his heart, she was still the grandmother who had raised him through untold hardships—how could he possibly abandon her?
"Your parents, they died because of them. If you wish to avenge your parents, leave now. And do you really want to watch these two friends die with you?" Yue Ji shouted sternly.
Huayue trembled all over. He had no recollection of his parents, but Zirong and Jiang Yuzhe by his side were in this desperate situation because of him.
"Grandma, take care." Huayue bit his lip, his eyes brimming with hot tears, quickly kowtowed, then scooped up Zirong and Jiang Yuzhe, one in each arm, and dashed towards the temple wall.
Just as Huayue was about to escape the small temple, the Black-clothed Swordsman gritted his teeth and leaped high, lifting his longsword to slash towards Huayue in mid-air.
At the same time, a glow reappeared from his sleeve, and an invisible barrier once again enveloped Huayue and the others, trapping them like in a quagmire, their movements suddenly slowed.
"Hmph!" Yue Ji snorted coldly, raised her hand, and cast out hand formations. A black storm surged toward the Black-clothed Swordsman.
The storm enveloped the Black-clothed Swordsman, with countless semi-transparent Wind Blades spiraling towards him. In the blink of an eye, his clothes were shredded and blood spurted from his body.
"Break for me!" The Black-clothed Swordsman shouted, swinging his longsword with full force.
With a "boom," the storm was broken by his sword, and the Black-clothed Swordsman emerged, falling heavily to the ground.
Mu Hanyan then noticed that he was wearing an ancient-looking wrist guard on his wrist. It was densely decorated with patterns, and from its hue, it was clearly made from Meteorite Gold.
It seemed that her previous guess was correct; his barrier was indeed deployed with the help of an Alchemy Artifact. However, at this moment, the wrist guard was split in two, barely hanging on his wrist and was surely unusable.
"The Night Storm, indeed one of the Temple Priest’s top ten Forbidden Techniques, truly formidable." The Black-clothed Swordsman wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said with a cold smile.
"If you run now, you still have a chance," Yue Ji said, frowning at his cold smile.
"Run? Why should I run? You have Forbidden Techniques, but do you think I don’t have any?" The Black-clothed Swordsman slowly stood up, clenching the longsword with one hand, and drew a short spear from behind with the other.
The spear was no more than a foot long, exquisitely made, the entire body a reddish-gold color carved with ancient and Mysterious patterns.
"The Demon-breaking Spear, you’ve actually got the Demon-breaking Spear!" Yue Ji exclaimed.
"Yes, this is the Demon-breaking Spear. Did you think I had nothing to rely on when I left the temple, traveling thousands of miles to hunt down the traitor Hua Guanyu?" The Black-clothed Swordsman spoke with a fierce look on his face.
Evidently, the Demon-breaking Spear was an extraordinary Divine weapon, or perhaps, it was a Divine Artifact itself.
"Huayue, run!" Yue Ji yelled out, casting hand formations one after another, as black storms swept across the ground towards the Black-clothed Swordsman.
The storm wasn’t large in size, merely a bit taller than a person, but wherever it passed, it left nothing intact. Even stone stools over a foot in diameter, upon getting caught in the whirlwind, would instantly be ground into dust. It was easy to imagine the terrifying power contained within the storm.
"Divine Spear breaks demons, kill!" the Black-clothed Swordsman’s gaze sharpened, and suddenly a mist of blood burst forth from his body.
Phantasmal lights and shadows appeared around him, and his momentum continued to climb, quickly surpassing the realm of a Swordsman and reaching that of a Sword Master. Of course, this was in relation to the cultivation levels of the Holy Court Continent. In fact, the atmospheric pressure emanating from him was full of cold and murderous intent, which was quite different from the righteous aura of the strong on the Holy Court Continent.
With a thrust of his spear, the tip radiated Qi Light, instantly transforming. A fierce beast with a majestic figure and ferocious face stood in front of him.
"Boom... Boom... Boom..." A series of muffled impacts echoed as the dust flew. The several storms unleashed by Yue Ji and the phantom fierce beast transformed by the speartip’s aura dissipated at the same time, failing to harm the opponent in the slightest.
"So, this is your true strength," Yue Ji said lightly as she wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
It was clear that using the forbidden technique to tear open the spatial barrier between the Holy Court Continent and the Divine Continent had also caused her great harm.
However, since she had unleashed the forbidden technique, even if her opponent was a master comparable to the Sword Master realm, she was not the least bit afraid.
"No, you are wrong. Soon, you will see my true strength," the Black-clothed Swordsman said with a chilling smile.
Biting the tip of his tongue, he sprayed a mouthful of fresh blood on the spear, and in that instant, an earth-shattering momentum erupted from his body.
"Could it be, his true strength is comparable to the Sword Saint realm!" Mu Hanyan was shocked beyond measure as she felt his steadily escalating atmospheric pressure.
As the Black-clothed Swordsman’s momentum continued to rise, a dark light appeared around him, forming a lattice of intersecting light, like a vast net, restraining him within, and his climbing momentum suddenly came to a halt.
"Break, break, break!" the Black-clothed Swordsman’s face twisted fiercely as he abruptly raised his short spear.
Though the spear was no longer than a foot, it now flashed with a cold light, its aura as if it could pierce the skies.
In the mid-air, thunder cracked loudly, and one bolt of lightning after another struck down from the sky, hitting the Black-clothed Swordsman.
His body exploded with bursts of blood, and he was almost torn to shreds by the lightning. His face became even more distorted due to the extreme pain, appearing all the more ferocious.
But the latticed light that crisscrossed around him like a huge net began to dim significantly.
Yue Ji’s expression changed drastically, and she unleashed more black storms with all her might.
Countless Chaotic Wind Blades cut through the body of the Black-clothed Swordsman, and his already scar-riddled body was pocked with even more holes. However, the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his strength continued to rise.
"Seal!" Mu Hanyan finally realized the huge net was in fact a prohibition, a Seal restraining the Black-clothed Swordsman’s power.
Mu Hanyan saw the color of shock in Yue Ji’s eyes. Clearly, the Black-clothed Swordsman’s strength had exceeded her expectations, and even the Night Storm she had unleashed with the forbidden technique could not pose a lethal threat to him.
Mu Hanyan nearly couldn’t help but draw her sword, yet she forced herself to loosen the fingers that were tightly gripping the hilt.
It was not yet time; the Black-clothed Swordsman, although now without the alchemy artifact to deploy the barrier as before, still had the strength comparable to a High-level Sword Master. If she acted now, it would definitely not be to her advantage.
Wait, she had to wait for the best opportunity.