Jiang Chen laid prostrated on the back of one of the Goldwing Swordbirds, and had refrained from using his true qi up until now. He was currently absorbing the medicinal effects of the Heavenly Karma Pill and Vast Ocean Pill in order to recover from his injuries and to recover the true qi within his body.
That situationally-reversing blow just now, had expended too much of his true qi, and had overloaded his meridians and body beyond their capacity.
Through the aid of these two pills, Jiang Chenâs injuries were finally mostly healed.
He knew that Yu Jie had continuously refrained from making a move, not because he didnât want to, but because he was injured. The injuries within his body made him cautious in taking action, and made him hold back from using his full strength.
If it wasnât for Xu Zhen crying out for help, Yu Jie would have likely continued stalling for time.
However, Jiang Chen wouldnât let Yu Jie stall any longer.
He crouched on the back of the Goldwing Swordbird, both to absorb the effects of the pills, and to construct a strategy. He knew that even with the Eight Trigrams Assimilation Formation, the Swordbirds were deploying it as they learned it â and could only bring into play the merest bits of the formation.
If it wasnât for the Goldwing Swordbirdâs overwhelming strength in numbers, Jiang Chen would have absolutely no advantage in confronting two spirit dao practitioners.
Therefore, Jiang Chen didnât wish to delay and cause undue troubles.
He had to first eliminate one of the two spirit dao practitioners, and prevent them from working in collusion.
If he had eight or ten days to practice the âEight Trigrams Assimilation Formationâ, that would be more than enough to take on Yu Jie and Xu Zhen with his numbers in Goldwing Swordbirds.
But deploying a formation that they had just learned... it would be difficult to avoid having flaws appear if their opponent rushed against it.
Killing a spirit dao practitioner sounded quite incredible. If any other practitioner within the Eastern Kingdom had this thought, then it wouldâve been because theyâd gone completely mad.
But, Jiang Chen wasnât the same as other people.
He had the ability to, and his trump card.
The first target he wanted to kill wasnât Yu Jie, but Xu Zhen.
He could tell that Xu Zhenâs level of training was lower than Yu Jieâs, and at this moment, he was already embroiled in the center of the formation. Xu Zhen was flailing about wildly trying to handle the waves of attacks.
Jiang Chen knew that he was still a bit far off from killing Xu Zhen through his own attacks alone. But he had more than sufficient ability to distract Xu Zhen.
When Yu Jieâs Autumn Water Sword was readied to strike at him, Jiang Chen suddenly stood up and released his already prepared bow.
The arrow was like a shooting star as it flew towards Xu Zhen in the middle of the formation.
At this moment, Xu Zhen was already complaining incessantly to the high heavens. He hadnât ever thought that he would run into danger in a common kingdom, and fatal danger at that.
Before heâd left the sect, Xu Zhen had set off with a mindset of throwing his weight around in a common kingdom, and stepping on others. He felt that when a sect disciple arrived in a common kingdom, everything should be easily crushed as easily as breaking away dead branches.
Except, the scene in front of his eyes filled him with remorse beyond words. He really did regret getting involved in this mess. Why had he come with Yu Jie to this forsaken place?
Just to curry favor with a future genius?
âSenior brother Yu, Iâm going to go down if you donât make a move!â Xu Zhen ignored the pride and dignity of a sect disciple, and called out loudly for help.
It was at that moment that a frightening sound broke through the air, and sounded by his ear.
âAmbush?â Xu Zhen was already unable to cope with the situation, and was in a quandary. The waves and waves of attacks had left him greatly weary.
Although he heard the sound breaking through air, he also knew clearly that if the rhythm of his movement changed, even slightly, he would be ground to death by the waves of attacks.
There was nothing for him to do but to grit his teeth, bend slightly to the side and take the blow from the arrow.
Xu Zhen knew that this sound was absolutely a result from Jiang Chen attacking with a bow and arrow. He had once destroyed one of Jiang Chenâs arrows when theyâd fought one on one before.
Except, the current Xu Zhen tragically didnât even have the opportunity to dodge.
The arrow penetrated Xu Zhenâs back with strong momentum.
Much of the powerful true qi was dissipated by the spirit armor, but a small amount still poured into his body, making Xu Zhenâs internal organs tremble and vibrate.
âWhat? Thereâs more?â Just as Xu Zhen was heaving an easy sigh of relief, he suddenly discovered that the sounds of breaking air hadnât stopped.
Another arrow, with the same tempo, the same curve, and the same path.
âThis is bad!â Xu Zhen abruptly realized that Jiang Chen actually had ingenious control over his rapid fire arrows. The second arrow had been concealed behind the first arrow visually, auditorily, and even by feeling, making even an expert like Xu Zhen overlook it.
The second arrow arrived just when Xu Zhen felt things had taken a not too encouraging turn.
Another arrow landed squarely, in the same position.
Although the spirit armor afforded great protection, the destructive power of a blow landing in the same place twice was drastically different.
Hiss. Xu Zhen hastily sucked in a breath. When the true qi invaded and attacked his body, he almost wanted to vomit immediately.
Although the attack wasnât fatal, it made his body suddenly withstand an exceedingly great amount of pain in an instant.
It was this momentary pause that allowed a streak of golden colored light to descend upon, and blast into Xu Zhenâs chest.
He was finally unable to evade the more terrifying blow.
Xu Zhen spewed out fresh blood as his eyes went bloodshot, the chain knife in his hand flying furiously as he roared out madly, âYou want to kill me? You feathered animals and creatures like ants dare to kill me, a spirit dao practitioner?â
âDie! Yin Yang Lotus, cleave through all in the air!â
Xu Zhenâs chain knife whirled furiously like a mad demon, the intention to fight to the death having been goaded out of him. Although heâd taken a blow to the chest, it had stimulated his bloodthirsty fighting tendencies as well.
When Jiang Chen saw this, he wasnât surprised, but was rather happy.
If it was a fight between single opponents, Xu Zhenâs brutal counter attack could shock his opponentâs heart, and have a slight deterring effect.
But within this attack formation, Xu Zhen wasnât facing a single entity, but hundreds of Goldwing Swordbirds that didnât even have human emotions.
The violent natures of these Goldwing Swordbirds were thoroughly stimulated when they saw their own kind being slaughtered ceaselessly.
So when they saw Xu Zhenâs counter attack, these Goldwing Swordbirds didnât retreat. Their violent natures were in fact heightened, as wave after wave of concerted attacks rained down endlessly.
Xu Zhenâs counter attack in his death throes didnât even have the chance to fully gain steam, before he was drowned in a sea of formation attacks.
Another wave of attacks landed on Xu Zhen.
The boundless attacks tossed Xu Zhen back and forth like a ball.
âAh...â Xu Zhenâs ghastly screams sounded out continuously, nursing resentment and hatred. He had nowhere to expend his strength in the face of this formation. His dire cries grew lower and lower beneath the waves of attacks.
At this moment, Yu Jieâs attacks still hadnât penetrated the formation from the outside.
The âEight Trigrams Assimilation Matrixâ could both attack and defend. When Yu Jie was mobilizing his attacks from the outside, Jiang Chen had already adjusted the formation structure. Four sectors would attack and four sectors would defend.
Within the main inner attacking sectors, they would increase the frequency of attacks with the goal of coming to a quick resolution and getting rid of Xu Zhen.
For the main outward defending sectors, they were to prevent Yu Jie from fighting into the interior at all costs.
All of this had been within Jiang Chenâs calculations, and his successive arrows had been adding fuel to the flame, hastening the speed of Xu Zhenâs demise.
When Xu Zhenâs body flopped, and fell from the sky, a weight was lifted off of Jiang Chenâs heart.
Although this fight had been dangerous and chancy, he could now at least be assured that he wouldnât be defeated.
Within the formation, Jiang Chen pulled on his bow and shot an arrow towards Yu Jie on the outside.
âYu Jie, this is the performance of you sect disciples? You sent your peer up to spearhead the attack, whereas you were cowardly and afraid of death, cowering in the back.â
Rivers and seas were also being overturned in Yu Jieâs heart at this moment, and his mind was completely upset and confused.
He hadnât thought that they would meet such an obstacle on this trip to the Eastern Kingdom â an obstacle big enough that junior brother Xu Zhen had lost his life.
Although Xu Zhenâs potential and strength had been ordinary, he had still been a disciple of the spirit dao and of the sect. If word got out that he had been killed in the common world, he would likely become a joke amongst the sects.
Jiang Chenâs mockery also made him unable to voice his bitterness.
He hadnât truly wanted to send Xu Zhen to his death. His original intention had been for Xu Zhen to distract the Goldwing Swordbirds so that he could kill Jiang Chen in peace, without fear of intervention.
Except, he hadnât thought that Xu Zhen would make his way into a death trap with this move.
Who wouldâve thought that these feathered and clawed beasts would understand attacking in unison â Would understand the dao of formations? Even sect disciples would find this point incredulous.
âHow is this Jiang Chen an ordinary practitioner? Is this kid a wolf in sheepâs skin, a spy from another sect in the common world?ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Yu Jie almost gave birth to this misconception.
How could a common practitioner be so strange and bizarre? Yu Jie couldnât believe this at all, and wouldnât accept this at all.
He could come up short in front of other sect disciples, but he would never accept being disadvantaged by a common practitioner.
âJiang Chen, I swear Iâll kill you!â
A great change had taken place in Yu Jieâs mindset. Hatred and shame intertwined and churned continuously in his mind.
It was as if Jiang Chenâs every move and gesture, every blade of grass and tree in this Second Crossing was mocking him, jeering the high and mighty sect disciple.
âAutumn Waters Fill the Sky, cut!â
âQi of Heaven and Earth, explode!â
One had to say, Yu Jieâs strength was more than double Xu Zhenâs. It was truly astounding when his divine abilities were continuously deployed.
A domineering sword aura filled the air, cutting so that the empty air trembled, the clouds scuttled away, and the fog scattered.
But, the âEight Trigrams Assimilation Formationâ grew stronger when it met stronger opponents. Under Jiang Chenâs continual guidance, the Goldwing Swordbirdsâ confidence grew continuously, as they comprehended more and more of the formation. Their teamwork grew more and more well practiced.
In this way, the battle strength that had grown manifold as a result of Yu Jieâs explosion, was dispersed and negated by the continual increase in formation strength.
Yu Jie became more alarmed the more he fought.
He wasnât even thinking of avoiding injuries, damage to his meridians, and negatively impacting his future training anymore. The fighting capability that was exploding out of him was absolutely at least three times Xu Zhenâs.
However, even such frightening destructive power and divine abilities were unable to break through the weird formation that the Goldwing Swordbirds had created. He was unable to rush into the formation and kill Jiang Chen.
In actuality, Yu Jie had continuously revised his expectations. He didnât even want to be further entangled with these Goldwing Swordbirds anymore. He only wished to rush into the formation and annihilate Jiang Chen, so that he could offer an explanation to Long Juxue and for the dead Xu Zhen.
He would also have an acceptable explanation when he returned to the sect.
However, he discovered tragically that he couldnât even rush through the outward defenses of the formation, not to mention dashing to the center to kill Jiang Chen.
âThis Jiang Chen is so strange, that if he is allowed to develop further, heâll become a thorn in the side of my Shuiyue line. Iâll find it hard to sleep and eat at ease in the future, if I donât kill him.â
Yu Jie had thought through his emotions by now, but heâd reached the limits of his power unless he threw caution to the winds, and used his blood essence to trigger the secret arts.
Triggering the secret arts could increase his fighting capabilities by another level.
However, the price of triggering the secret arts was also astounding. It would certainly cause grievous injury to him, not to mention impacting his future training.
If even the secret arts couldnât break through this formation, then even a true qi master would be able to take his life when he was so injured.
Deploying the secret arts meant gambling with his life, and his future.