Chapter 39: Interception
Qing Yiyi rode on the Golden-Crowned Thunder Eagle, while Qu Yi sat on a Wild Blue Goose, with nine more Wild Blue Geese following behind them. They flew straight back to Tianfeng Fort. In just three days, the two of them reached the skies above Tianfeng Fort.
The four fort leaders—Zhu Chen, Zhao Jing, Zhen Lan, and Zhuo Rui—had already received news from Qing Yiyi and knew that flying beasts had been found. Excited, they flew into the air to greet Qu Yi and Qing Yiyi.
“Wow, there really are flying beasts—ten of them!”
“It seems to be Wild Blue Geese. Their speed isn’t any slower than that of the Golden-Crowned Thunder Eagle.”
“Huh, it looks like those Wild Blue Geese’ beaks are broken. Could it be Qu Yi who broke them?”
“Great! With these Wild Blue Geese, attacking Tianchen Fort will be much easier.”
The four fort leaders couldn’t stop smiling as they saw the ten Wild Blue Geese in the sky and quickly flew over to greet them.
Qu Yi stood up on the Wild Blue Goose and said with a smile, “Four fort leaders, our speed is quite fast, right? It’s only been a little over ten days since we found these flying beasts.”
“Yes, yes! It’s true that your two have made rapid progress by going out together,” Zhu Chen shouted, using double entendres in his words.
Qing Yiyi immediately understood what Zhu Chen meant. This time, she didn’t blush but instead glared at him with hatred. Over these days, she had realized that she could never hold a place in Qu Yi’s heart.
Qu Yi simply smiled faintly, then jumped from the air and landed in front of Tianfeng Fort. Soon after, the five fort leaders—Zhu Chen, Zhao Jing, Zhen Lan, Zhuo Rui, and Qing Yiyi—also landed on the ground and followed Qu Yi inside Tianfeng Fort.
They sat around together.
“Has there been any activity at Tianchen Fort recently?” Qu Yi asked as soon as he sat down.
Zhu Chen laughed happily and said, “I’ve already received news. The people from Tianchen Fort set out today, and those from Tianyu Fort also left at the same time. Qu Yi, you’ve returned just in time. Now we have plenty of time to launch a surprise attack on Tianchen Fort.”
Once Tianchen Fort was eliminated, Tianyu Fort wouldn’t dare to attack. Then they would have time to deal with Tianyu Fort slowly.
“That’s great. With these ten Wild Blue Geese, you seven at the Divine Weapon stage can head there directly, capture the five fort leaders of Tianchen Fort, and by then, Tianyu Fort won’t be a match for us either,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
By taking advantage of the speed of the Wild Blue Geese to create a time advantage, Tianfeng Fort’s victory was already secured.
“Well then, we don’t need to rest. Let’s head there right away to stop Tianchen Fortress,” shouted Second Fort Master Zhao Jing immediately. Everyone nodded. Soon after, Qing Yiyi issued a soul call, summoning the hidden Yu Deming and Yu Chongxiu to the air, where they joined the six of them and headed south toward the Baizhai Mountain Range. Tianchen Fortress, located to the south of the Baizhai Mountain Range, was also on its way from that direction. ※※※ The five fort masters of Tianchen Fortress—Chief Fort Master Yue Ze, Second Fort Master Yu Zhuting, Third Fort Master Meng Yan, Fourth Fort Master Fei Changxia, and Fifth Fort Master Mu Wei—were leading two thousand members of Tianchen Fortress northward at full speed. Among these five fort masters, Yu Zhuting, Meng Yan, and Fei Changxia were female cultivators, and they were the three strongest female cultivators in the entire Baizhai Mountain Range. The five led the way, while the remaining two thousand members of Tianchen Fortress kept running at a fast pace without stopping. “Elder brother, have the people from Tianyu Fortress already set off?” asked Second Fort Master Yu Zhuting, who had a delicate face and elegant appearance, with a hint of concern. If Tianyu Fortress did not cooperate with Tianchen Fortress, Tianchen Fortress might instead be attacked by Tianfeng Fortress, which would be a serious problem. “Second sister, don’t worry. Before attacking Tianfeng Fortress, we will definitely meet up with Tianyu Fortress. Tianchen Fortress cannot attack Tianfeng Fortress alone; that would only give Tianyu Fortress an advantage. I won’t let them get away so easily,” replied Yue Ze calmly, reassuring the other fort masters. Then, the five fort masters continued flying silently northward. At that moment, several sounds of fierce beasts appeared above Tianchen Fortress’s large group. “Chirp!” “Quack, quack!” The sounds of Golden Crown Ravens and Fierce Green Geese rang out simultaneously, spreading throughout the mountain range and reaching the ears of everyone in Tianchen Fortress. “Bad news—there’s an ambush!” Yue Ze sensed danger immediately and shouted, flying to the front of the two thousand members of Tianchen Fortress to watch the sky warily. Naturally, the other four fort masters—Yu Zhuting, Meng Yan, Fei Changxia, and Mu Wei—also flew to Yue Ze’s side right away. Qu Yi, Zhu Chen, Zhao Jing, Zhen Lan, Zhuo Rui, Qing Yiyi, Yu Deming, and Yu Chongxiu rode on Fierce Green Geese and Golden Crown Ravens and descended, landing right in front of the people of Tianchen Fortress. “Zhu Chen, Yu Deming, so it’s you two. I get it now—Tianfeng Fortress and Langri Fortress have secretly merged,” Yue Ze shouted, his expression worried.
The opponent had seven cultivators at the Divine Weapon stage, plus Qu Yi whose strength was unknown, which gave Yue Ze a huge headache. Moreover, after seeing the eight flying beasts, Yue Ze realized that Tianfeng Fort was trying to gain a time advantage by first destroying Tianchen Fort before turning its attention to Tianyu Fort.
Zhu Chen smiled faintly at Yue Ze and exclaimed happily, “Yue Ze, the various fortresses in the Hundred Forts Mountain Area have been scattered for too long. It’s better to unite as one force. How about it? Now, your Tianchen Fort is weaker than our Tianfeng Fort. If you’re willing to submit to us, I’m not opposed to stopping and having a proper discussion. Otherwise, there’s no need to talk—let’s just fight.”
The message was clear: surrender or fight.
Hearing this, Yue Ze knew war was inevitable and smiled, saying, “Zhu Chen, don’t think that just because your Tianfeng Fort has two more cultivators at the Divine Weapon stage, you can easily overwhelm us. You should know that all five leaders of our Tianchen Fort are also at the Divine Weapon stage. If we can’t defeat you, we can still escape. Just wait for us five to take our revenge on you in the future.”
Given the current situation, the five leaders of Tianchen Fort really weren’t a match for Tianfeng Fort, so Yue Ze could only try to intimidate Zhu Chen with words.
At this moment, Qu Yi grew impatient.
“Elder Leader, talking is pointless. Let’s settle this with fists. Leave those two thousand members of Tianchen Fort to me alone. You seven, go deal with their five leaders,” Qu Yi suddenly spoke up, then immediately mounted his fierce green goose and headed straight for the back of Tianchen Fort.
“Since Qu Yi has spoken, let’s not wait any longer—attack!” Zhu Chen shouted immediately.
Soon after, Zhu Chen flew toward Yue Ze, Zhao Jing flew toward Yu Zhuting, Zhen Lan and Zhuo Rui flew toward Meng Yan, Yu Deming and Yu Chongxiu flew toward Fei Changxia, and Qing Yiyi flew toward Mu Wei.
Qu Yi arrived alone at the back of Tianchen Fort and immediately took out the divine artifact, Ruisi Wood, starting to swing it rapidly.
“Anyone who stands in my way will die!” Qu Yi roared.
As Ruisi Wood swung, strands of green silk emerged, dancing like thousands of threads, extremely sharp.
“Who the hell are you, thinking a divine artifact makes you great?”
“That’s right, brothers! Surround him and kill him!”
In an instant, the usually fierce members of Tianchen Fort picked up their magical weapons and charged at Qu Yi viciously.
The green silk moved swiftly—sometimes like flowing hair, other times like a sudden gust of wind.
“Ah, ah, ah.”
The Razor Vine got its name because of its extremely sharp green strands. Those monks who couldn’t endure loneliness and failed to complete their planting tasks fled their villages to join Tianchen Fort. They knew very little about the divine realm. As a result, even these 2,000 members of Tianchen Fort were unaware of the fame of the Razor Vine.
Each time a thousand of those green strands flew out, they could pierce the bodies of a thousand members of Tianchen Fort. Although they couldn’t kill them with a single strike, they did injure them, greatly reducing their mobility.
Under Qu Yi’s attacks with the Razor Vine, every two rounds, a blood hole would appear on the bodies of the 2,000 members. Qu Yi’s attacks were unstoppable, and his Razor Vine would rapidly emit another thousand strands, continuously shooting at the bodies of the approaching members of Tianchen Fort.
Undoubtedly, in a short time, each of those 2,000 members had at least ten blood holes.
If Qu Yi hadn’t intended to kill them, he would have already slaughtered them all, but for now, he only injured them without killing them.
At this point, the 2,000 members of Tianchen Fort finally realized that they didn’t even deserve the chance to approach Qu Yi, let alone confront him.
“You brats, still trying to show off your bravery? If you don’t want to die, kneel down now! Otherwise, I’ll kill you right away!” Qu Yi roared fiercely, his eyes glowing menacingly, enough to make anyone’s soul tremble.
The 2,000 members of Tianchen Fort didn’t want to die. Hearing Qu Yi’s words, they immediately sat down. These bandit members had joined a stronghold to escape their planting duties in search of cultivation resources. It didn’t matter whether they joined Tianchen Fort or Tianfeng Fort; they had no sense of honor.
Seeing the 2,000 people sitting on the ground, Qu Yi smiled slightly before turning his gaze to the two groups of cultivators at the divine weapon stage fighting in the air.
Zhu Chen had mastered the laws of metal and earth. Holding a blade-shaped divine weapon, he moved violently, firing waves of blade energy infused with the laws of metal and earth at Yue Ze.
As the leader of Tianchen Fort, Yue Ze was naturally extremely powerful, slightly stronger than Zhu Chen. He had mastered the laws of water and earth. Holding two beads—one blue and one yellow—he could create a massive sphere with just a touch, ready to counter the incoming blade energy.
Although Yue Ze was stronger than Zhu Chen, his divine weapon had weaker attack power, forcing him to constantly endure Zhu Chen’s attacks. It was difficult to determine which of these two chief leaders was superior at that moment. On the other side, a clear one-sided situation had emerged. Qing Yiyi flew toward Mu Wei; both being the fifth chief leaders of their respective clans, they made a perfect match. Mu Wei had initially thought he could hold his own against Qing Yiyi, but after fighting, he felt like he wanted to die. Qing Yiyi wielded the divine weapon Qing Shui Jian, which aligned with the principles of wood and water, allowing her to unleash powerful sword energy with each attack, making Mu Wei feel constant coldness. What made Mu Wei want to die even more was Qing Yiyi’s soul technique—each time she attacked, she also used this technique, making Mu Wei feel as though his body was moving slower and his willpower weakening. Thus, in their battle, Qing Yiyi completely dominated Mu Wei. Zhao Jing and Yu Zhuting, both second chief leaders, were locked in a stalemate, with no clear winner in sight. Zhen Lan and Zhuo Rui fought against Meng Yan, with Zhen Lan and Zhuo Rui constantly attacking while Meng Yan struggled to defend. It seemed only a matter of time before Meng Yan was defeated. Yu Deming, originally a chief leader of one clan, ranked among the top five in the Hundred Clans Mountain Region. Now, he and Yu Chongxiu attacked Fei Changxia, who could only keep flying away to avoid attacks, with no ability to counter. Seeing this situation, Qu Yi smiled and said, “It’s my turn to act. Tianchen Clan will disappear today.”