Bang!
An incomparably majestic surge of water element energy erupted, instantly creating a small gap in the surrounding crowd. Qi Lan, dragging Jiang Sheng, fled into the mountain forest.
Feng Xiu, his sword strike missing, stared at their retreating backs. He was stunned for a second, then flew into a rage and pursued them.
"All of you, chase them! Chase them with all your might!"
"Whoever captures them, I will bestow upon them peerless divine skills!"
At these words, the psionicists who had followed Feng Xiu erupted in a frenzy. With hoots and hollers, they unleashed their most powerful psionic skills, catching up to Qi Lan in an instant and launching attacks.
"Get lost!"
Qi Lan, pulling Jiang Sheng with his right hand, raised his left hand from the river, summoning a roaring water dragon to blast away the pursuer. But the latter was no pushover, immediately unleashing a torrent of brown energy that directly dispersed the water dragon.
"What!"
Qi Lan's expression turned grave. Not only had the brown energy torrent scattered his water dragon, but it had also softened the abundant water elements in the air, drastically reducing his escape speed!
"You can't escape!" Feng Xiu chased after them with a crazed look, his iron-ringed saber unleashing a black-brown blade energy that instantly absorbed and withered everything it touched, including the water elements and the brown energy torrent.
"Shark Realm!" Qi Lan roared, his expression heavy. The river around him surged furiously, and countless enormous sharks instantly surged forth, tearing and devouring everything in sight before being sealed within a water prison.
With this move, almost all the pursuing psionicists were trapped. They struggled for a few seconds before barely breaking free, but Feng Xiu and another psionicist remained unaffected, still hot on their heels.
"Hahahaha, the more you unleash your psionic powers, the stronger my saber becomes. Come on, unleash more if you dare!" Feng Xiu sliced through several approaching sharks, then roared with laughter, his voice echoing through the entire forest.
Qi Lan did not reply, merely fending off attacks with his psionic powers while fleeing at full speed, his face growing pale.
It wasn't just Feng Xiu; he had to contend with the strange and diverse psionic abilities of over a dozen other psionicists. Some could restrict his speed, while others possessed immense power. With only one hand, and carrying Jiang Sheng, dealing with them was exceedingly difficult.
"Brother, you should just let me go. If this continues, neither of us will make it out," Jiang Sheng said suddenly, looking at their surroundings.
"Shut up! If it weren't for you, I would have been long gone. Why did you have to come out?" Qi Lan snapped back. His body then trembled violently amidst a roaring sound, and the river around him evaporated. He was almost struck down by a massive fireball!
"I just wanted to save you. After all, you were brought here by Brother Mu Xu. I didn't expect you to be so strong," Jiang Sheng said with a weak, wry smile. He had thought he was coming to save Qi Lan, but now he had become a burden.
"My apologies."
"Don't say that. Since I've taken you with me, I won't abandon you easily," Qi Lan said, his water elements surging madly from within his body. Countless bubbles floated in the air in all directions, so densely packed that anyone who touched them would trigger an explosion.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
A series of explosions rang out in succession, the terrifying detonations seeming to shake the entire Green Mountain. Yet, after the explosions subsided, Feng Xiu and the others immediately caught up, their momentum unbroken and their spirits high!
"Truly troublesome."
Qi Lan's expression was grim. Although his strength was considerably greater than theirs, facing so many attackers while carrying Jiang Sheng severely limited what he could exert.
Furthermore, his energy would undoubtedly be depleted faster than theirs, and they could absorb his psionic energy. With this disparity, it was likely they wouldn't escape today!
"Brother, let me down. When you get out, find someone named Qian Qian and tell him to avenge me if he gets the chance!" Jiang Sheng weakly gathered his psionic energy to fend off an approaching psionicist, then said feebly.
When he had first acted, he had already prepared himself for death, believing it would lessen his guilt.
But clearly, Qi Lan did not want Jiang Sheng to die.
"I, Qi Lan, never do things halfway and give up! If I can't even save you today, how can I be the head of the Qi family in the future!" Qi Lan roared, his voice deep. Simultaneously, the river under his feet surged upward, instantly propelling him and Jiang Sheng into the air.
The Azure Wave roared, surging with turbulent tides. Qi Lan's long hair flew wildly, his eyes emitting an eerie blue light. An incredibly terrifying pressure drove back all the pursuing psionicists. Some cultivators who were accidentally caught in the tsunami were instantly torn to shreds.
Feng Xiu gazed at Qi Lan, suspended high in the sky, his eyes splitting with rage. He could not fathom how Qi Lan could utilize third-stage psionic abilities, and with such immense power!
"Fortunately, he's only using this move to escape. If it were an offensive attack aimed at me..." In the crowd, some had stopped chasing Qi Lan and Jiang Sheng, their steps faltering. They had been awestruck by Qi Lan's psionic ability, the threat of death looming, and no one dared to move rashly.
"Damn it!" Feng Xiu gritted his teeth and exerted all his strength, barely keeping pace with the tail end of the tsunami. However, the rate at which he absorbed water elements could not match the speed of its furious outflow.
"Boss, this is a psionic ability of the Huacai realm. He's too strong, we should give up!" The young psionicist who had momentarily slowed Qi Lan with his brown energy torrent said, his face pale.
Feng Xiu was also regretting his decision. Had he known Qi Lan was this strong, capable of using third-stage psionic abilities across realms, he wouldn't have provoked him.
But the situation had come to this. If he gave up now, how would others view Feng Xiu!
"It's not just you who can cross realms, I can too!" Feng Xiu declared, holding his saber in his mouth. He then slammed both hands onto the ground, and instantly, countless forbidden sigils appeared on his body, even covering his face, resembling ink strokes drawn by a child.
But no one dared to mock him, for Feng Xiu was emanating an incredibly terrifying pressure. The black-brown energy distorted space itself, and the sea-like expanse created by Qi Lan was instantly devoured by that terrifying seal, the water elements within the space rapidly diminishing!
With such monstrous psionic power imbued in the iron-ringed saber, Feng Xiu laughed maniacally, closing in on Qi Lan and Jiang Sheng.
Logically, Qi Lan now had only two choices: either abandon Jiang Sheng and flee alone, or unleash even more powerful psionic abilities to turn the tide. But he did neither; he simply stopped dead in his tracks, ceasing his flight.
Seeing this, everyone was stunned. Liu Hao and the others were filled with questions, wondering if Qi Lan intended to die with Jiang Sheng. But there was no need for that, especially since they had only just met!
"Hahahaha, why aren't you running anymore? Did you freeze from fear?" Feng Xiu laughed maniacally, quickening his pace and drawing ever closer to Qi Lan.
The latter, however, calmly turned around, his expression serene.
Qi Lan's face was peaceful, and so was Jiang Sheng's, even carrying a hint of release.
Release typically had two meanings. The first was to face death calmly with full knowledge of the outcome. But while Jiang Sheng might have wished for death, Qi Lan clearly did not.
Therefore, this expression could only mean one thing.
They believed they were saved.
"I didn't expect he wasn't dead after all."
Qi Lan and Jiang Sheng exchanged glances, a pale smile appearing on their weary faces.
Then, a dark golden figure burst forth from behind them, shattering the towering waves with a thunderous roar, carrying an irresistible force like Mount Tai crushing down.
One punch, and Feng Xiu's saber was shattered!
...