Chapter 188: On the Brink of Disaster

"Such an intense surge of battle qi!"

Xiao Xie, in the central estate of Maple City, halted the practice of his peerless sword technique and looked solemnly toward the direction of the Jia Nan Academy. A fluctuation this powerful had to be at the level of a Battle Venerate. Yet in the Black-Corner Region, the strongest expected had always been only a Battle Sect. Could something have happened at Jia Nan Academy? Had the guardians taken action?

"Anuo, stay here and keep watch. Qing Lin, Little Fairy Doctor is still in seclusion, and you remain here as well. I am going to see what on earth has happened," Xiao Xie instructed Anuo and Qing Lin.

"Yes, Young Master."

"Understood. Qing Lin will stay here and wait for Young Master to return."

Xiao Xie took out the bone bead of the Heavenly Phoenix Ship and summoned it forth. At once, a Heavenly Phoenix vessel more than ten meters long, like a fusion of bird and aircraft, appeared in the sky.

Xiao Xie rose into the air and sat upon the white bone seat at the ship’s back. With a thought, he controlled the Heavenly Phoenix Ship to fly toward the source of the battle-qi fluctuation.

"Although this turtle shell cannot be broken in a short time, I still ought to keep a close eye on you!" The black-robed man, hovering in midair, looked down with an amused expression at the three girls within the light barrier below.

Ling Ying glanced at the black-robed man outside the barrier, then said to Xun Er, "Miss, it seems this fellow will not attack the shield for the time being, but we still need to think of a way. If the Soul Clan experts arrive first, then things will be truly dire!"

Ling Ying had already prepared himself to sacrifice even his own life in order to buy them a brief delay. But if the strong members of the Soul Clan truly came, then even if he gave his life, he feared he would not be able to hold them back for even a second.

"Oh? A few little fellows have come." The black-robed man turned his gaze toward the direction of Jia Nan Academy. More than ten streaks of light approached from afar, led by an old man in white robes with white hair.

The newcomer looked at Xun Er and the others inside the barrier, and his expression changed. He addressed the black-robed man, "I am Hu Gan, vice dean of the Outer Academy of Jia Nan Academy. May I ask why Your Excellency has made a move against our Jia Nan Academy students?"

"It is my grandfather, and the elders of the academy. They have come to save us!" Hu Jia recognized the newcomers and shouted at Xun Er with excitement.

"Miss." Ling Ying was also somewhat delighted. This place was quite near Jia Nan Academy’s Outer Academy, and for Hu Gan and the others to arrive so quickly, since people from Jia Nan Academy had intervened, perhaps matters still had a chance to turn around.

But when Xun Er saw Hu Gan and the others, her expression instead turned grim. Though Hu Gan and the rest were Battle Emperors, the difference between them and the Battle Venerate of the Soul Clan opposite them was far too great. If this were an ordinary time, the Soul Clan fellow might still take Jia Nan Academy into account. But now, in order to eliminate her, the Soul Clan would likely spare no cost, not even if it meant offending Jia Nan Academy.

Xun Er shook her head at Ling Ying and said, "The guardians within Jia Nan Academy will likely not appear unless the academy itself faces a life-or-death crisis. Vice Dean Hu Gan and the others are in danger."

When Ling Ying heard Xun Er’s words, the joy on his face faded as well. He had been too optimistic just now. If the guardians of Jia Nan Academy truly acted, this crisis could naturally be resolved. But with only Hu Gan and the others, a few Battle Emperors and Battle Kings, they could not possibly deal with that Soul Clan Battle Venerate.

"No way!" After hearing Xun Er’s words, Hu Jia seemed unable to believe it. Did this black-robed man truly dare, right outside Jia Nan Academy, to strike dead the vice dean and a host of elders? Then would not her grandfather be in danger?

The black-robed elder gave a sinister laugh and said darkly, "Originally I would have spared a thought for the dean of Jia Nan Academy, but the experts of my clan will be here soon. Let them worry about that. As for you little fellows, keep me company and help pass the time!"

As his words fell, the black-robed elder struck out with a palm through the air. A black hand tens of meters wide, formed from dark mist and carrying a raging, ferocious momentum, slammed toward Hu Gan and the group of elders.

The aura emanating from that black giant palm was far too terrifying, far beyond Hu Gan’s imagination. He had originally thought the black-robed elder was only a Battle Sect, but now it seemed he was a Battle Venerate.

"But why would a Battle Venerate attack Hu Jia and the others? Could it be because of her?" Hu Gan thought to himself. As the vice dean of Jia Nan Academy’s Outer Academy, he knew a little of Xun Er’s background. It seemed that this time Hu Jia had been caught up in an undeserved calamity.

"Everyone, use all your strength and work together to block it!" Faced with the black giant palm bearing down on them, Hu Gan had no time to think further and shouted loudly.

At his words, every elder unleashed their own unique techniques. Palms, claws, fireballs, wind blades—more than ten kinds of brilliantly colored and immensely powerful battle-qi attacks surged toward the black giant palm.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Those battle-qi attacks collided with the black giant palm, producing successive violent explosions. Yet they only shaved away a little of the black mist; they had no effect whatsoever on the enormous palm itself.

Hu Gan and the elders could not help but show despair. Their combined attack was strong enough to withstand even the full-force strike of a Battle Sect expert, but it could not block a casual blow from the black-robed elder. The terror of a Battle Venerate was truly beyond belief.

"I never imagined I would die at the gates of the academy. How ironic."

Hu Gan thought bitterly. He had imagined that one day he might die in battle, but never that he would perish not far from the academy gates.

Boom!

"No!"

The black giant palm did not slow. Amid Hu Jia’s cry of despair, it smashed down fiercely upon Hu Gan and the others. With a thunderous roar, everything within a radius of three kilometers was flattened into barren ruin beneath that single palm strike.

Xun Er and the others, though protected within the barrier and untouched by the blast, could still see from the countless cracks spreading across the ground around the shield just how devastating the attack had been. Hu Gan and the others, having taken the blow directly, were likely reduced to nothing but dust and ashes.

"Grandfather!"

Hu Jia stared in despair toward the direction where Hu Gan had stood. Though she usually acted indifferent before him, the bond between the two of them had always been close. Yet today she had personally watched her own grandfather die before her eyes. For the first time, she hated her own weakness so deeply.

As the smoke and dust gradually dispersed, Hu Jia abruptly widened her eyes in disbelief. While tears still streamed down her face, she laughed out loud. "Grandfather and the others are fine. T-that is just wonderful!"

"How is that possible?" Xun Er looked at Hu Gan and the others, who were completely unharmed, and could not help covering her small mouth. How could they possibly have emerged unscathed from that blow?

Hu Gan and the elders were likewise filled with relief. Just moments ago they had been utterly despaired, but suddenly a vast wind wall had appeared and shielded them. After blocking the black giant palm, the wind wall itself dispersed, which was why they remained perfectly unharmed.

"Who is it?"

The black-robed elder frowned and looked up toward the distant sky. In the formerly empty heavens, a gigantic bone bird had appeared.

A white figure flew out from the back of the bone bird. It was Xiao Xie, who had hastened over in a white cloak.

"It seems I made it in time," Xiao Xie said with relief upon seeing Hu Gan and the others unharmed. The great wind wall just now had been unleashed by the Heavenly Phoenix Ship. If the ship had not been swift enough to release a wind wall from such a distance in time, Hu Gan and the others would truly have been lost.

"Brother Xiao Xie!"

Seeing who had arrived, Xun Er could not help but call out. Although she knew Xiao Xie was only a Battle Sect, for some reason, the moment she saw him, she felt an inexplicable sense of ease.

"Young Master Xiao Xie has come. Wonderful."

Ling Ying also breathed a sigh of relief. He did not know Xiao Xie’s true strength now, but back when Xiao Xie was still only a Battle Emperor, he had already been able to easily slay a Soul Clan Battle Sect. With his current Battle Sect strength, dealing with a Soul Clan Battle Venerate should not be beyond him, right?

For some monstrous geniuses, challenging above their level was as simple as eating and drinking. Not to mention, Xiao Xie was the genius among geniuses, the monster among monsters. Even if one stepped back and assumed he could not win, he should at least be able to hold a Soul Clan Battle Venerate in place.

"Is that Xiao Xie?" Hu Jia murmured as she looked at the white figure standing in the sky. She had heard his legendary deeds many times before, but this was the first time she had ever seen him in person—and at the very moment he had saved her grandfather from despair.

Watching Xiao Xie’s somewhat roguish smile, his arms crossed before his chest, his white cloak lightly stirred by the wind, Hu Jia could not help but think, "He really is different from other men."