Chapter 172 - 87: Leave Now, and No One Will Get Hurt

Chapter 172: Chapter 87: Leave Now, and No One Will Get Hurt

Hoping to stall for time until he reached Acupoint Perfection, Jiang Xuan hung back far behind the brawling crowd from the three Daoist Schools, keeping a low profile and staying out of the direct confrontation.

Of course, while keeping his distance, he was also using the Celestial Heart Mirror to monitor the situation on the distant battlefield.

He then discovered that Yin Daoist School hadn’t just lost its leader, Chen Qianjun. The rest of their elites, spurred on by Chen Qianjun, had engaged the Fierce Beast Leader head-on and were now all heavily wounded after a desperate battle.

With their core combat strength damaged, the morale of the Yin Daoist School students crumbled. They were beaten back in a constant retreat, suffering heavy casualties.

However, as the disciples of Yin Daoist School fell one after another, the atmosphere between Qin Feng and Tang Yinzheng also began to change.

The reward for first place in this three-school joint examination was extremely generous, and the gap between it and second place was immense. If calculated in Spirit Stones, the difference was more than tenfold.

Such a vast gap in rewards meant there was absolutely no room for compromise between the two Daoist Schools, or even between the two prodigies.

Rooster Daoist School and Chen Daoist School, Qin Feng and Tang Yinzheng, were inevitable competitors.

Especially now, with Chen Qianjun on the verge of elimination, the gazes they exchanged were filled with vigilance and hostility, hiding a murderous intent.

Of course, under normal circumstances, the battle between Qin Feng and Tang Yinzheng would only begin after Chen Qianjun was well and truly dead.

But the Yin Daoist School wasn’t completely clueless about strategy. In the heat of battle, their remaining members didn’t just attack anyone they saw in a blind frenzy. They latched onto the people from Rooster Daoist School, fighting them to the death, while only defending against the Cultivators from Chen Daoist School without attacking.

This targeted approach sparked greed in Qin Feng’s heart. He subconsciously held back, slacking off and preparing to watch from the sidelines as the Yin and Rooster schools tore each other apart.

However, this behavior thoroughly infuriated Tang Yinzheng.

"Qin Feng, what are you doing?"

"I’m not doing anything."

As he gave his perfunctory reply, Qin Feng and his subordinates’ attacks remained just as half-hearted and sloppy, a complete charade.

’What an idiot. He fell right into their trap.’ Seeing this, Jiang Xuan, who was watching from afar, shook his head. It also made Fang Xiao, who was on the same battlefield, frantic with anxiety.

"Everyone, it’s a misunderstanding! We..."

"Shut up!" Before he could finish, Qin Feng’s expression darkened, and he barked coldly, "I’m the captain here. It’s not your place to speak."

As soon as he said this, the gazes of Tang Yinzheng and Qiao Yue turned completely cold.

A traitor is always more hateful than an enemy. Qin Feng’s tactic of sitting back to watch the tigers fight made Tang Yinzheng’s hatred for him burn even more intensely than her hatred for Chen Qianjun.

Especially since Chen Qianjun was already on the verge of elimination. This made Tang Yinzheng immediately shift her target.

"Yin Daoist School! Let’s team up and deal with Chen Daoist School. We’ll take that idiot out of the running first!"

"Agreed." Seeing a chance to relieve the pressure on themselves, the remnants of the Yin Daoist School immediately consented.

And just like that, in the span of a few breaths, the situation on the field shifted once again.

Qin Feng’s short-sightedness had turned the Cultivators of Chen Daoist School into the targets of a siege.

?!?!"

"Wait, don’t be rash!" This sudden turn of events stunned Qin Feng. He hadn’t expected this at all and was filled with regret and remorse. Not wanting to be besieged by two schools, he hastily tried to backtrack, "The people from Yin Daoist School might be faking! Let’s finish off Chen Qianjun for good first!"

"Heh..." Tang Yinzheng let out a scornful laugh. "Qin Feng, don’t you think it’s a little too late for that now?"

Of course, despite her decisive words, Tang Yinzheng was still wary of Yin Daoist School deep down.

Thus, she didn’t actually lead her people to besiege Chen Daoist School.

However, she was a bit smarter than Qin Feng. So, instead of blatantly standing by, she addressed the people from Yin Daoist School, "I’ll go clean up the stragglers on the periphery first... You don’t want us to fight like the snipe and the clam, only for some bystander to reap the rewards, do you?"

"Fine."

After this exchange, the main force of Yin Daoist School began clashing with the main force of Chen Daoist School, led by Qin Feng.

Tang Yinzheng and Qiao Yue, meanwhile, led the people from Rooster Daoist School and turned to clear out the unaffiliated, wandering Cultivators on the edge of the battlefield.

And Jiang Xuan found himself targeted by the group led by Tang Yinzheng.

As for Rooster Daoist School’s other prodigy, Qiao Yue, he went off in pursuit of Xie Hanyan.

"...It’s true what they say. An incompetent general gets his entire army killed."

Qin Feng’s short-sightedness and incompetence had resulted in Chen Daoist School becoming the first to be surrounded and attacked. The scene left Jiang Xuan speechless and taught him a lesson.

’Personal strength is important, but you also have to fight for your position within a faction. I don’t want to get dragged into a siege like this a second time.’

As he reflected on this, he watched Tang Yinzheng lead her team before him, his expression as indifferent as ever. He spoke, "If I told you this was all Yin Daoist School’s scheme, would you believe me?"

"’A bystander sees the game most clearly. The Yin Daoist School Cultivators you just surrounded and killed were merely their outer members. Their core personnel are all still alive. There are exactly seventeen of them, no more, no less. Add Chen Qianjun, and that makes eighteen... And there are only eighteen ranked spots in this joint examination. Those are the Yin Daoist School’s true core seeds. The rest were just sacrifices to mislead you.’"

Jiang Xuan called them sacrifices because, by now, he completely understood Yin Daoist School’s plan. They knew they would be viewed with apprehension by the other two Daoist Schools, and that this apprehension would be difficult to dispel.

Without some kind of preemptive maneuver, it was almost a certainty that they would be besieged by the other two schools.

Seeing this, Yin Daoist School decided to use it to their advantage. They had Chen Qianjun act reckless and valiant, constantly fighting on the front lines, and finally, even faking a ’severe injury’ to lower the guard of the other two schools.

Then, they used the Cultivators outside of their core eighteen as sacrifices, making Qin Feng and Tang Yinzheng believe that Yin Daoist School was no longer a threat, which in turn conveniently stoked the conflict between the other two schools.

Furthermore, through the Celestial Heart Mirror, Jiang Xuan could see that from within the ’gravely injured and near-death’ Chen Qianjun’s body, crimson ripples, invisible to the naked eye, were constantly emanating. The aura of these ripples was like blood; just smelling it would cause one’s Blood Qi to surge and rage to swell, giving birth to a murderous desire in their heart.

The reason Rooster Daoist School and Chen Daoist School had such an easy falling out was that Chen Qianjun had been secretly releasing this Blood Qi to deliberately guide them.

Even as he laid everything bare, Jiang Xuan, who saw the whole picture, didn’t hold out much hope. The reason was simple:

Giving Jiang Xuan a surprised glance, Tang Yinzheng nodded. "Your reconnaissance abilities are indeed impressive."

After her sigh of admiration, Tang Yinzheng, having heard Jiang Xuan’s analysis, showed no surprise at his words. "We were aware that Chen Qianjun was feigning weakness. That’s why we didn’t join Yin Daoist School in attacking Qin Feng."

"Our withdrawal was just to give them a chance to cripple each other."

These words let Jiang Xuan know that Yin Daoist School’s strategy had, in the end, worked.

Heavily injured, in a state of Weakness, and having expended a great deal of energy, Chen Qianjun’s threat level had dropped significantly in the eyes of the other two Daoist Schools.

Even though they knew Chen Qianjun still had tricks up his sleeve, both Daoist Schools believed that after fighting so long and hard, he couldn’t possibly be at full strength.

If someone like that fought another desperate battle with Chen Daoist School, his strength was bound to take another major hit.

At that point, with his remaining dregs of strength, he would be powerless against either of the other schools.

This line of thinking was the root of why Qin Feng had slacked off to watch the show earlier, and it was the core reason why Tang Yinzheng was now standing by and doing nothing.

"’Feigning a severe injury to appear weak was indeed a brilliant move... If he hadn’t shown such a weakened state, none of you would have dared to relax for even a moment.’"

While Jiang Xuan was expressing his admiration, Tang Yinzheng, wanting to stall for time so that Qin Feng and the Yin Daoist School could fight without restraint for longer, didn’t rush to act. Instead, she calmly told Jiang Xuan something, "Our plan to encircle you was actually predetermined. According to our original plan, after we jointly eliminated Yin Daoist School, we would then clean up the scattered members of Chen Daoist School."

"And as for any Rooster Courtyard students who didn’t follow our orders or contribute, Qin Feng would have sent people to deal with them."

"So, there’s no need for you to feel sad or regretful. Your elimination was always inevitable. I’m just moving up the timeline."

Tang Yinzheng said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world, which made Jiang Xuan shake his head and let out a laugh.

"Regretful? Sad? Sorry, I’ve never felt those emotions."

At this, Jiang Xuan glanced at Tang Yinzheng with a hint of pity. "The one who should feel regret, actually, is you."

"According to your original plan, you could have lasted until the end and secured a spot in the top eighteen."

"But facing me ahead of schedule is your greatest misfortune."

As he said this, thinking about the information she had just given him, Jiang Xuan felt a rare sense of pity and offered her a way out. "Retreat now, and no one gets hurt. But if you dare take one step forward, then..."

"Then what!"

"Yeah, I’m taking a step forward too. What can you do about it..."

Hearing Jiang Xuan’s words, the first to react were not Tang Yinzheng, but the few subordinates she had brought with her.

They were all speechless at Jiang Xuan’s matter-of-fact attitude of seeing himself as the stronger party, and they felt a surge of anger from being looked down upon and underestimated.

So, they all began to sneer and mock Jiang Xuan.

Tang Yinzheng did nothing to stop them.

In fact, the reason she hadn’t responded first was that she too was left speechless by Jiang Xuan’s completely self-assured tone.

"Jiang Xuan, is it? If I were you, I’d recognize the reality of the situation. Right now, you’re the one at a disadv—"

HUMMM—!

Before Tang Yinzheng could finish her sentence, a pressure as heavy as a mountain suddenly erupted from within Jiang Xuan’s body.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Caught completely off guard by the sudden and incredibly heavy gravitational field, Tang Yinzheng’s subordinates had no time to react. In an instant, their bodies were crushed to the ground by the immense pressure.

Tang Yinzheng, however, lived up to her reputation as a genius. She was able to remain standing under Jiang Xuan’s Gravity suppression.

But now, the calm, leisurely expression on her face, the one that suggested she had everything under control, had vanished without a trace.

All that remained was shock and solemnity.

’What he said was actually true. He really is a powerhouse! He didn’t make it this far on luck—it was all strength!’

Tang Yinzheng’s expression was trembling with disbelief, but amid her shock, she managed to maintain her composure.

’This aura... it’s strong, but I can fight it. Besides, it’s five against one. The advantage is mine!’

As the recognized prodigy of Rooster Daoist School, she naturally had the strength to back it up.

But just as she thought she could contend with Jiang Xuan with the help of her subordinates, something happened the next moment that made her pupils shrink.

WHOOSH—!

Following the mountain-like Gravity, as Jiang Xuan performed his Breathing technique, a piercingly cold, icy intent surged from his body and rushed outward with a howl.

The moment the cold tide emerged, the temperature between Heaven and Earth plummeted drastically. A visible gray-white mist of frost exploded outward with Jiang Xuan at its center.

[Guicang Annihilation Sword: Winter is Coming]

As he unleashed this move, the vast battlefield, in the instant of Jiang Xuan’s single thought, transformed from late autumn into a frigid, bitter winter!