Chapter 70: Cooperation

The Martial Artist holding the Crescent Moon Scimitar gave a cold snort. For experts fighting for their lives, attacking from the air like this was purely a death wish. He was confident that as long as he could block this strike, the girl jumping in mid-air would lose her footing and her balance would surely be unstable, allowing him to easily launch a counterattack. Even if he didn’t want to clash head-on, he could temporarily dodge to the side and attack her from the rear or side just as she was about to land, thereby seizing the initiative.

She just had a scary aura; it turned out she was a fool!

The Martial Artist with the Crescent Moon Scimitar took a step to the side, but suddenly discovered that the giant blade had already flown above his head. How could it be… this fast?! He had just seen the opponent leap from the rock, and in an instant, she had already closed in. It felt as if a small segment of his time and memory had mysteriously vanished; he could see the beginning and vaguely see the end, but he simply could not remember the process.

But there was no time to think more now. He let out a roar, operated his Battle Formula with all his might, and the Crescent Moon Scimitar emitted a dazzling light before meeting the giant blade.

Clang… The Crescent Moon Scimitar actually broke as if it were made of paper, and the dazzling light was shattered at the same time. The Martial Artist only felt a chill pierce through his entire body starting from the top of his head, and then his consciousness began to blur.

Thump… Xi Xiaoru landed on the ground, propped her left hand on the earth, and sprang up again like a leopard, her dark black blade pointing from a distance toward the second Martial Artist.

Seeing his companion defeated in the blink of an eye, the Martial Artist gasped. However, he knew that showing even a hint of fear at this moment would surely mean death. The girl’s movement was as fast as thunder and her blade style was incredibly fierce; there was no escaping. When meeting on a narrow road, the brave one wins; fighting with everything he had might leave a sliver of survival.

The Martial Artist suddenly took a step forward and flicked the tip of his spear, dancing out thousands of spear shadows to meet Xi Xiaoru head-on.

He had already taken Xi Xiaoru’s speed very seriously, but only when they actually clashed did he realize that his seriousness was still far from enough.

After Xi Xiaoru released her Demonic Breath, her movement became extremely special. When she first exerted force to leap, her speed was not the fastest. There seemed to be an extremely powerful force hidden within her body that allowed her to continuously accelerate during her flight; the farther she flew, the faster she became.

This was the Starfall Formula of the Xi Family! However, the Starfall Formula was a double-edged sword; used well, it could kill enemies, but used poorly, it would harm the user.

At a height of only eight or nine meters, Xi Xiaoru could no longer maintain her balance when she landed on the ground and had to use her hand to prop herself up before she could leap again. This already revealed the hidden danger of the Starfall Formula.

The Martial Artist’s spear had just started to dance and his Battle Formula had just begun to operate when the thousands of spear shadows were cut short in mid-air. While the Martial Artist was staring blankly at the broken spear in his hand, the blade light flashed again, and his head flew high into the air.

Xi Xiaoru’s figure continued forward, her cold gaze locked onto the old man sitting cross-legged in mid-air. He was her true opponent; the others were merely a group of insects.

The old man frowned. Seeing that Xi Xiaoru had already shot into the air and was pouncing toward him with an unstoppable blade style and a Malevolent Qi that was faintly becoming physical, he was forced to take her seriously.

The old man flipped his wrist, and a sword light shot out from the entanglement of the Tree of Destiny’s roots, flying rapidly toward Xi Xiaoru.

Xi Xiaoru unfolded her long blade and met the sword light without any fear.

Boom… A deafening explosion suddenly echoed in mid-air. The Martial Artists no longer had the heart to continue struggling with the roots of the Tree of Destiny; they all left the battlefield and looked upward.

The old man’s move appeared relaxed and effortless. None of them expected that a single collision could produce such a startling boom.

Xi Xiaoru’s face turned slightly pale, but she continued to shoot toward the old man, while the sword light was blasted back into the air. In the first clash, it could be said that Xi Xiaoru won.

The old man was stunned and then became furious: “Bastard!!” He then raised his hand and pointed toward Xi Xiaoru, and two more sword lights flew from the roots of the Tree of Destiny, shooting toward Xi Xiaoru one after another.

Boom… The second sword light was also blasted away by Xi Xiaoru. However, Xi Xiaoru’s movement showed an obvious delay; her Starfall Formula had finally been broken.

The essence of the Starfall Formula was to continuously accelerate and accumulate terrifying kinetic energy. Once a collision occurred with an enemy, all that kinetic energy would be released through the blade style. However, if the enemy’s strength far exceeded hers and bounced her blade style back, she would have to bear the damage of the kinetic energy herself.

The third sword light arrived. Xi Xiaoru suddenly flipped her blade to block it in front of her.

Boom… Xi Xiaoru’s body flew backward like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the ground and splashing sand and stones.

In the second clash, Xi Xiaoru lost with absolute inferiority.

The old man recalled the two flying swords that had been blasted away by Xi Xiaoru. Compared to the other flying swords, the luster of these two had obviously become dim. The old man’s brows and beard trembled with rage; he was clearly pained to the extreme. He then roared: “What are you standing there for? Kill her, kill her for me!!”

The Martial Artists woke as if from a dream and rushed toward the motionless Xi Xiaoru lying there.

Just as they took a step, Xi Xiaoru suddenly jumped up and spat out two mouthfuls of blood. Then she slowly raised her head, and a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth again. However, there was still blood remaining on her lips, making her smile look exceptionally sinister.

In the next moment, Xi Xiaoru leaped up and pounced toward the old man once more.

“Wench!” The old man was furious. His figure drifted away from the Tree of Destiny to meet Xi Xiaoru: “I will slaughter you first!”

At this time, Su Tang’s figure appeared on the rock. He had been beaten miserably by Xi Xiaoru and was powerless to resist, only able to be dragged away by Fang Yizhe and the others. However, the moment Xi Xiaoru drew the Heavenly Fiend Blade, he suddenly felt the Sword of Taisho vibrate inexplicably, and the Spiritual Qi contained within the sword continuously merged into his body, allowing him to recover quickly.

Su Tang’s mind had cleared. Precisely because he was clear-headed, he had to come back. He was the one who found the trouble and led the way; he could not bring himself to flee regardless of whether Xi Xiaoru lived or died.

Su Tang jumped down from the rock, but his movements were much clumsier than Xi Xiaoru’s. Carrying the Sword of Taisho in his hand, he almost knelt on the ground upon landing, and the Sword of Taisho also fell to the ground.

Su Tang did not act rashly. Earlier, he had pulled the Night Cry Bow repeatedly but failed to cause damage to the enemies; he already knew that the strength of those Martial Artists was very high.

Su Tang deliberately bypassed the Martial Artists and ran toward the Tree of Destiny. “Mom…” That voice appeared in his mental realm again. Su Tang didn’t know if he should be angry, as that voice had led him into this predicament, but complaining now was useless. He tried to speak in his mental realm: “Can you hear me?”

“I can, very clearly. Mom, I…”

“Listen to me, are all these roots yours?”

“Yes.”

“This is simply nonsense, now do as I say!” Su Tang turned and rushed toward a Martial Artist holding two battle-axes.

The Martial Artist immediately noticed Su Tang’s movement and met him with a cold sneer. Xi Xiaoru had already shown her power, so they didn’t dare provoke her, but Su Tang looked much weaker, unable to even hold his sword steadily, appearing very pathetic.

“Now! Use your roots to bind him!” Su Tang roared in his mental realm.

Countless roots burst from the ground in clusters, rushing toward the Martial Artist with the double axes. The Martial Artist was shocked and immediately swung his axes, hacking at the roots with all his might. Upon reaching the Battle Fighter stage, one could release Spiritual Qi; combined with the axes dancing like windmills, the roots wrapping around his front and back were either shaken off or chopped apart.

However, there were places he couldn’t defend, which were his feet and legs. As many as thirty or forty roots wrapped around his legs and gradually spread upward. Against these roots, the Martial Artist was powerless, as he couldn’t use his axes to chop himself.

“Mom… it hurts…” The voice wailed. It was a form of life, so it naturally felt pain when damaged.

“Endure it!” Su Tang roared rudely in his mental realm.

Soon, Su Tang approached the Martial Artist, suddenly raised the Sword of Taisho, and hacked down violently.

The Martial Artist’s arms and neck were completely wrapped in roots, leaving him unable to move. He could only roar and barely lift his double axes to block the Sword of Taisho.

If Xi Xiaoru were holding the Sword of Taisho, she would have cut through all obstacles, including the axes, the roots, and the Martial Artist’s body. Su Tang could not do that; his full-strength strike only made the Martial Artist wobble a few times.

The Martial Artist continued to roar, preparing to launch a counterattack, but the roots tightened further, fixing even his arms into an arc, leaving him completely unable to move.

Su Tang took a step back and thrust the sword toward the Martial Artist’s heart. If hacking didn’t work, he would use stabbing; let’s see how you block this?!

The Martial Artist felt extreme frustration and could only watch helplessly as the long sword pierced into his chest.

Other Martial Artists were encircling this area, but Su Tang flicked his body backward and disappeared into the dense roots.

The Martial Artists were unwilling to give up, chopping the obstructing roots while searching for Su Tang’s trail.

Within a range of forty or fifty meters around the Tree of Destiny, there were likely over a hundred thousand dancing roots. Finding a person here was almost impossible. Moreover, Su Tang’s movement and vision were not affected at all; he could clearly see the movements of every Martial Artist.

Furthermore, the Tree of Destiny had been using its roots to stop the Martial Artists from approaching. Its intention was simple to the extreme: just don’t get close. It didn’t know at all how to use the roots to kill or wound enemies, but the successful cooperation with Su Tang just now made it understand many things instantly.

“See that guy with the big blade? Yes, bind him!” Su Tang shouted in his mental realm.

The Martial Artist was very alert. The moment the roots burst from the soil, he immediately leaped high. But the roots were faster, chasing straight up and binding the Martial Artist’s ankle, then violently dragging him back. Su Tang appeared immediately after and stabbed the Martial Artist twice in the body.