Chapter 138: Changing Tides

When Wei Pei had started chasing after Su Chen, the battle at Jade Heart Island had also begun.

Facing Shen Yuanhong, Jiang Xishui didn’t say anything unnecessary. He directly activated his Bloodline Ability, causing the water around Jade Heart Island to began to roil, until a massive wave rose high into the air, continuing to increase in size. Finally, the wave morphed into a thick arm that smacked at Shen Yuanhong.

When they were in the Su Palace, Jiang Xishui could only conjure Luo You’s eye, but now he could conjure an entire arm. This wasn’t only due to the tempering he had gone through these past few years but also because they were near a body of water that he could use to best display the Jiang Clan’s Luo You Bloodline Ability.

Even Shen Yuanhong didn’t dare face the massive arm surging at him head on. He said, his expression serious, “Desolate Beast Bloodline!”

An illusory image of a Steel Tyrannosaurus appeared behind him. At the same time, Shen Yuanhong unleashed a palm strike, and an enlarged image of a palm shot through the air off of his strike and slammed into Luo You’s arm.

Even though the Steel Tyrannosaurus had the character for “dragon” in its name, it was actually a massive land-based creature with immense power[1. Dragons can fly, while Tyrannosaurs cannot.].

Jiang Xishui possessed a Primordial Beast Bloodline and had a terrain advantage, but he was only in the Blood Boiling Realm, two realms lower than the Light Shaking Realm. The Steel Tyrannosaurus was also extremely suited for head-on combat, so when the two collided, the Steel Tyrannosaurus actually possessed a slight advantage.

As the Tyrannosaurus howled, Shen Yuanhong’s iron-like palm slammed into Luo You’s arm.

However, the water there was unlimited and free-flowing. Luo You’s advantage was not that his attacks were extremely strong, invincible, or even peerless.

It was that as long as he was near a body of water, Jiang Xishui could keep reforming Luo You’s arm again and again.

A massive dragon made of water surged into the sky, morphing into Luo You’s arm as it flew through the air. Even though the Steel Tyrannosaurus was extremely powerful, it couldn’t wipe Jiang Xishui out when faced with this deluge of self-regenerating arms unless Jiang Xishui completely ran out of Origin Energy or the surrounding body of water was drained dry.

At the same time, countless pirates emerged from the water and began to shoot arrows and crossbow bolts into the sky. They also activated an Origin Formation that strengthened the force behind these projectiles, forcing even Light Shaking Realm cultivators to take them seriously.

Even more of the Origin Scholars grouped up together, gathering an immense of power and shooting into the sky under the direction of a peak Yang Opening Realm cultivator. This was a joint-attack Origin Skill from the Water Sheen Jiang Clan that could combine everyone’s strength and make good use of a numbers advantage.

As such, a third attack consisting of a razor-sharp blade edge arced towards Shen Yuanhong through the sky.

Shen Yuanhong had been prepared for this. He waved his left hand, and a simple, unadorned long saber appeared in his hand. He swung the long saber, parrying the blade edge and simultaneously stirring up a gust of wind that blew in front of him and dispersed the hail of arrows and crossbow bolts.

His right hand continued to pressure Luo You’s arm while the saber in his left hand once again arced through the air as he unleashed a strike against the pirates below them.

At the same time that he attacked, Jiang Xishui’s Luo You arm extended in a timely way, blocking that saber strike. Meanwhile, the pirates in command leapt into the air as brilliant light from the Hemolytic Totem began to radiate from them. A shockingly powerful blade edge flew at Shen Yuanhong once again, forcing him to back off and defend himself.

Shen Yuanhong had already come to attack the Jade Heart Island twice, so both parties were already familiar with the other. Even the way they fought displayed this tactic understanding of “I know what you are about to do, and you know what I am about to do.”

As such, Jiang Xishui’s mission was to restrict Shen Yuanhong as best as he could and protect everyone like a shield. The pirates were responsible for attacking so that Shen Yuanhong couldn’t go on an all-out attack.

It was by relying on this kind of teamwork that they had been able to force Shen Yuanhong back twice.

However, during the previous two battles, Jiang Xishui had also lost quite a significant number of troops. As such, the offensive capabilities of Jade Heart Island were already somewhat insufficient.

Amidst the unending barrage of attacks, this disadvantage slowly became more and more obvious, and it became harder and harder to endure.

Shen Yuanhong defended himself against a wave of the attacks and coldly laughed, “You’re all just a bunch of dogs and kittens. What can you do even with more numbers?”

He jabbed the saber forward. A shocking blade of light pierced downwards. Just as Jiang Xishui was about to stop it, it suddenly split into three blades. One of them was blocked by Jiang Xishui, and one of them was blocked by the power of the combined alliance. The smallest one, however, shot at the dense group of pirates.

Like before, Shen Yuanhong wanted to slowly carve away at the Jade Heart Island’s power. Once that power fell to a certain level, the whole place would collapse. Under normal circumstances, Shen Yuanhong would need to come at least seven or eight times to accomplish that, but this time he had the help of another Light Shaking Realm cultivator. That Light Shaking Realm cultivator wasn’t here yet, but he would still put a lot of pressure on the pirates, causing their mental endurance to be much weaker.

Under these kinds of circumstances, a few attacks might be more than enough to force them to completely give up any thoughts of continuing to fight.

Shen Yuanhong continued to think along these lines as the saber strike glittered coldly, filled with killing intent.

At that moment, a figure suddenly shot out from nowhere and intercepted the saber strike in midair.

Clang!

The crisp, metallic sound echoed.

The blow that Shen Yuanhong was determined to land had been blocked just like that.

He gazed forward in shock. “Sir Cloud?”

The one who had blocked this saber strike was Cloud Leopard.

As Clear River City’s resident Secret Task Force member, Shen Yuanhong had obviously seen him before.

An instant later, however, Shen Yuanhong’s expression hardened. “You brat, do you think that being a Secret Task Force member allows you to do as you please?”

The wind began to blow again as the Steel Tyrannosaurus tilted its head back and howled. The saber of light appeared again, but this time Cloud Leopard was also one of its targets.

Cloud Leopard replied indifferently, “I have never used my identity as a Secret Task Force member to do as I please. If I want to do as I please, then I will simply rely on the blade in my hand and the blood flowing in my body.”

Shen Yuanhong replied with a palm strike filled with boundless energy, demonstrating the overbearing power of the Steel Tyrannosaurus.

Cloud Leopard leapt into the air, unsheathing the Limpid Light-Splitting Blade. Layers of light exploded forth from the blade, forcing this overbearing palm strike aside while continuing to charge at Shen Yuanhong. Shen Yuanhong was startled and unleashed another palm strike. The palm burst forth with energy, forcing Cloud Leopard’s blade strike back.

Even though he had successfully forced Cloud Leopard back and even caused him to spit out a mouthful of blood, Cloud Leopard’s single blade strike had been enough to draw out two palm strikes from Shen Yuanhong, giving him quite a shock. It was only now that he realized that Cloud Leopard’s blade was not normal, as was the case with his armor as well. Having realized what was going on, he said, “So you’ve equipped yourself with a bunch of top-quality Origin Tools. No wonder you dare to compete with me.”

Cloud Leopard ignored him. He growled and leapt into the air, attacking Shen Yuanhong along with Jiang Xishui and the pirates.

Iron Cliff similarly charged forward, swinging the Armor-Piercing Mountain-Cleaving Hammer. The face of the hammer boomed with a shockwave, its momentum surging forward unstoppably. Their weapons had all been specifically purchased to deal with a Light Shaking Realm cultivator, regardless of whether it was the Limpid Light-Splitting Blade or the Armor-Piercing Mountain-Cleaving Hammer.

Iron Cliff, who was also in the Blood Boiling Realm, was quite a bit more powerful than Cloud Leopard because of his innately powerful physique and his close-quarters combat ability. As the hammer swung through the air, it seemed to have a will of wiping out everything in existence, forcing Shen Yuanhong to retreat.

This was the first time Shen Yuanhong had been forced to retreat throughout the whole battle.

Both sides began to go all-out.

Jiang Xishui was mostly responsible for defense, while the combined alliance was responsible for attacking. Cloud Leopard and Iron Cliff naturally filled in any deficiencies. This combination put a lot of pressure on Shen Yuanhong.

The battle reached a stalemate. Neither side was willing to lower their head or admit defeat, so it was a contest of who was going to hold out until the end.

Shen Yuanhong snarled madly as palms continued to fly through the air, “But do you think that just a few Origin Tools are going to be enough?”

“It’s at least enough to delay you,” Cloud Leopard replied coolly.

Shen Yuanhong’s eyes glittered strangely. “Delay me? So you’re trying to delay until I run out of Origin Energy?”

During their last duel, Shen Yuanhong’s Origin Energy had run out and he had been forced to retreat. Shen Yuanhong believed that the opponents should be planning on making the same move.

But with Wei Pei present, he didn’t think that his opponents could delay for that long.

“Delay until you run out of Origin Energy?” Cloud Leopard chuckled coldly. “You think too highly of yourself. I’m not planning on waiting until then.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Shen Yuanhong asked angrily.

“He’s waiting for me!”

A voice seemed to cry out from the edge of the horizon. The Cloud Thunder Flood Dragon Emperor Shuttle suddenly pierced through the clouds like an arrow, slamming heavily into Shen Yuanhong’s midsection.