Chapter 159: The Ruthless Mo Baiye
"Very simple," he said. "Let my disciple go, and you can take Mo Hong away!"
Zhang Xuan looked over. "Liu Mingyue is just a small fry in the Dharma Form Realm. His cultivation is not high, and his strength is lacking. Keeping him is meaningless to you. On the other hand, this Mo Hong is your direct Senior Disciple. His cultivation has already reached the pinnacle of the Galaxy 3-dan and could break through at any moment. Which is more important, I don't need to say more, do I?"
Elder Bai Ye did not take up his offer and snorted coldly, "Do you really think I won't kill you for coming here alone?"
With that, he took a step forward and, in the blink of an eye, was less than ten meters away from Zhang Xuan.
"What are you doing? If you dare come any closer, I will kill him..."
In Zhang Xuan's hand, the Mo Dao was pushed forward with force. In the blink of an eye, a fresh red blood mark appeared on Mo Hong's neck.
"Feel free to kill. It's just a disciple. As long as I can break through, what does it matter if all my disciples die?"
Elder Bai Ye was completely unfazed by the threat and continued to walk forward.
"Teacher..."
Seeing that his teacher was so heartless and didn't care about his life or death, Mo Hong's eyes filled with deep disappointment.
"Mo Hong, I've raised you since you were a child. I've passed on my cultivation method to you, given you strength and power. Now it's time for you to repay me... rest assured, after your death, every year on Qingming and Mid-Autumn Festival, I will offer paper money for you, still acknowledging you as my disciple."
With a snort, Elder Bai Ye's Mo Dao abruptly appeared in his hand and he slashed towards Mo Hong.
Spontaneously seeking to kill his own disciple to avoid being threatened...
"Teacher, you..."
Mo Hong had not expected the other party to be so ruthless and decisive. As soon as Elder Bai Ye made his move, it was utterly merciless. Mo Hong felt his world collapsing in an instant. As he prepared himself to embrace death, he felt the strength that had been binding him suddenly dissipate, and a force hit his waist, kicking him away into the distance.
Bang!
Thrown over ten meters, he crashed into a large tree. The glint of the saber from his teacher's strike passed by his face, leaving a deep ravine in the ground in a moment.
"He saved me..."
Knowing that if that strike had landed solidly on his body, he would undoubtedly have been killed on the spot, Mo Hong gratefully looked towards the youth not far away.
His enemy had saved him, while his own master sought to kill him...
It all seemed so fantastical.
With one strike hitting air, Elder Bai Ye's gaze flickered. He raised his Mo Dao and swept it toward Zhang Xuan in the distance. The move was swift. Before the saber even arrived, the saber qi was already there, splitting the air and emitting a wailing sound.
Zhang Xuan seemed to have anticipated this move. He leaped violently, retreating backwards.
"Think you can escape?"
After a single exchange, he immediately discerned the youth's cultivation level, Galaxy 2-dan Peak... Not a weak strength, but far from his own.
Changing from a horizontal slash to a thrust, the massive Mo Dao in the air drew out a pattern and thrust swiftly towards Zhang Xuan's lower body.
One had to admit, this move was quite exquisite.
At Galaxy 2-dan, one couldn't fly yet. This thrust came just as Zhang Xuan's old strength had been spent, and new strength had not yet emerged. Unintentionally, the saber qi and his descending body would align perfectly, which is to say, although the thrust aimed for the lower body, at the point of the saber's arrival, it would pierce straight through Zhang Xuan's heart.
Truly worthy of being the founder of Mo Dao. His response to battle techniques and on-the-spot decision making were countless times stronger than Min Jiangtao or Mo Hong.
"Ah..."
Mo Hong on the side hadn't expected his teacher to act so quickly. The benefactor who had just saved him was about to die before his eyes, and he couldn't help but exclaim in shock. Before his words had finished, he saw the youth in the air point his Mo Dao forward violently. The long blade glinted like Flowing Light, falling upon the back of the opposing blade.
Using the momentum of that point, he soared backwards through the air, drifting over ten meters like a falling leaf, and landed gently.
"Ah..."
Mo Hong exclaimed again.
Though it was the same exclamation of "Ah", the first carried shock and regret, while the second held genuine surprise and joy. The emotions were completely different.
"You're quite fast, and you react well, but it's a pity, your cultivation is too weak..."
Elder Bai Ye did not pursue but instead put away his saber and stood, looking over indifferently.
His three consecutive strikes, ones that even experts of the same level would have had a hard time evading, were effortlessly escaped by the opponent who was merely at Galaxy 2-dan Peak and did not sustain a single injury. Just this battle awareness alone was impressive.
Indeed worthy of a Mandate Chaos Master... truly extraordinary.
"Had it been before, I would have had difficulty dodging your moves just now. Lucky for me, my cultivation has plummeted recently; otherwise, I might have just died!"
Zhang Xuan smiled lightly.
"You..."
Mo Baiye's face trembled.
The other party spoke the truth; the legacy had been "stolen" by him, resulting in a backlash, and his cultivation plummeted, which was why he failed to kill him on the spot. Otherwise, the first strike would have cleaved him in half.
"Teacher, did you really want to kill me just now?"
At this moment, Mo Hong walked over, his eyes still filled with disbelief.
"So what if I did? What if I didn't?" Mo Baiye looked over indifferently.
Mo Hong shook his head, "You are my teacher; you raised me since I was young. You are the person I respect the most. I don't believe... you would strike at me without hesitation!"
"As long as you can think like that, it's not bad. The reason I attacked you just now was to avoid being threatened, to save someone. Now it seems that you have been saved, and my plan has succeeded!"
Mo Baiye nodded.
"Is that so?"
Mo Hong hesitated, "But... your strike just now was unstoppable. If it hadn't been for Lord Zhang Xuan pushing me away, I might already be dead..."
"What? You doubt me?"
Mo Baiye's expression darkened.
"Disciple wouldn't dare..." Mo Hong quickly clasped his fists.
"Hmph! It's best if you don't dare!"
After speaking, Mo Baiye strode over to Mo Hong, "Alright, stop thinking nonsense. Just remember, your teacher has raised you since you were young and would never harm you..."
"Be careful..." Mo Hong nodded and was about to say something when he suddenly heard an urgent cry from beside him, and immediately after, he felt a sharp saber qi rushing towards his face.
His hair stood on end, and Mo Hong paid no heed to further thought, dodging swiftly.
Phyt!
Find adventures on empire
The glint of the saber fell, and Mo Hong felt an intense pain in his right arm, which was then sent flying through the air, severed by a single slash.
"My arm..."
His vision darkening, Mo Hong's body shook uncontrollably. Looking up, he saw that the person who had struck was still his teacher, his gaze now cold and ferocious, gone was the previous kindness, only a stranger's visage remained.
"Quite a fast reaction..."
Seeing that he had not yet killed his student, Mo Baiye let out a cold shout and swung the Mo Dao again, chopping horizontally.
Having managed to dodge once was merely luck; so up close, unleashing another strike, especially while injured, Mo Hong held no hopes, he prepared to close his eyes and await death – when suddenly, he heard a series of "clanging" sounds by his ear.
He urgently looked up to see Zhang Xuan, wielding the Mo Dao, looking somewhat ragged but still managing to defend against his teacher's attacks and saving him once again.
"Killing you once has already made you doubt; you'll definitely not be wholeheartedly with him anymore. With that being the case, how could I possibly let you leave alive..."
Seeing that at this moment he still harbored hope, Zhang Xuan let out a speechless cry of indignation.
"Yes!"
Mo Hong suddenly realized.
Having spent so much time with his teacher, how could he not know his personality?
Since his teacher had murderous intent, he would never abandon the deed halfway, so all that was said before was false; the only purpose was to make him lower his guard for a sure hit.
"So what if you've realized this now? Do you really think that just the two of you can stop me?" Mo Baiye snorted coldly.
His cultivation had dropped an entire major realm due to the backlash, but his understanding of skills and grasp of combat remained, and he was much higher than the young man before him by nature. Killing him wouldn't be too difficult!
"Who said there were only two of us?"
Zhang Xuan gave a faint smile, "Come on out!"
Rustle!
Accompanying his words, four elders emerged slowly from the deep forest.
They were the Elders who had come from the Fu Family.