Chapter 159: Interception
Gong Chenying's group wasn't moving very fast, but now that there were no more restriction attacks from the surroundings on their path, they still managed to keep the black shadow in the sky far behind them.
However, this peaceful advance didn't last long before they ran into significant trouble.
As this small team moved forward, Gong Chenying instructed everyone to hide their auras as much as possible. Gong Chenying also continuously scanned a small area ahead with her divine sense. Only after confirming the path was safe would they quickly pass through the scanned safe section.
But even if you don't seek others, others won't let you go. While carefully sneaking, they eventually encountered the sweep of two intersecting divine senses. Just as they dodged the first sweep and were about to rise and rush out of the area, they failed to evade the sudden arrival of the second divine sense.
The instant they were enveloped by the opponent's divine sense, Gong Chenying sighed inwardly. She had no choice but to follow this person's divine sense back in the opposite direction. A moment later, her pretty face was filled with gravity.
Then, she simply let her divine sense spread out instantly over a large area, simultaneously giving a clear, sharp command.
"Advance with full power!"
Gong Chenying patted her storage bag at her waist, and various array plates and array flags were already in her hands.
In her reverse divine sense sweep just now, she had already ascertained the opponent's situation. The opponent made no attempt to hide, instead seeming to be constantly searching for prey.
This was a four-person team, with the leader appearing deranged, his eyes blood-red. It was none other than Wang Lang of the Ten-Step Court.
The moment Wang Lang's divine sense detected Gong Chenying's group, he disregarded the huge disparity in numbers, having only brought three Qi Condensation stage cultivators. He was already flying rapidly towards them, taking the lead.
They were only about three hundred li apart. If he hadn't considered the three Qi Condensation cultivators, he alone would have only needed a dozen or so breaths to arrive.
Although Wang Lang was filled with anger and unwillingness regarding the inexplicable change in the previous stage, he hadn't completely lost his mind and hadn't abandoned the three Qi Condensation disciples.
Otherwise, after he left, the three disciples would surely die. He hadn't made any attempt to hide his aura just now, so when he scanned others, several divine senses also scanned him.
After a quick scan, some divine senses changed direction, clearly not wanting to engage a Pseudo-Core stage sword cultivator at this time. But two divine senses, after scanning Wang Lang's group, were already rushing rapidly in his direction.
In his haste, Wang Lang didn't carefully identify them, because he had just sensed the aura of the Wraith Sect, and the leading cultivator apparently looked heavily injured. This immediately stirred his killing intent, and with a sweep of his body, he led the three in hot pursuit towards Gong Chenying's direction.
As Gong Chenying's group sped forward, her jade hand continuously waved, and array flags and array plates fell into the grass. Her divine sense range had expanded to its maximum.
But to her disappointment, the auras of Bai Liyuan and Gan Shi did not appear within her divine sense. Perhaps their location was beyond the coverage of her divine sense.
Within her divine sense, there were only two small teams within four hundred li. Aside from Wang Lang, who flew towards her without hesitation, the other small team chose to dash towards the center.
Just as Gong Chenying was feeling disappointed, what she didn't know was that a few hundred li away in Wang Lang's other two directions, two other small teams were also rapidly approaching Wang Lang.
One of these was precisely Bai Liyuan's team. However, it was clear that Wang Lang could only detect those at the very edge of his divine sense on either side, and thus couldn't detect Gong Chenying, who was further away.
Within Gong Chenying's divine sense, Wang Lang's group was moving extremely fast, constantly closing in.
Gong Chenying frowned. She understood the problem: she was slowing them down now. Every movement currently aggravated her injuries, making it impossible for her to execute her movement techniques for advancement. Instead, she was slower than Mei Caichu and the others.
"You all, led by Mei Caichu, proceed diagonally left for a hundred li from here, then go straight towards the center. Try to hide your auras along the way, and for now, follow Mei Caichu's orders."
Gong Chenying didn't hesitate, her voice still cold as ice. Her action was clearly to stay and intercept Wang Lang's group.
The reason she told Mei Caichu and the others to go diagonally for a hundred li was to take advantage of the fact that the previous divine sense was no longer sweeping, allowing Mei Caichu and the others to move as far out of the opponent's divine sense range as possible, and then head towards the central sphere.
These were the only two teams she could confirm within her divine sense range. As for Mei Caichu and the others being detected by other divine senses after going diagonally for a hundred li, that could only be fate. The only thing she could do now was to delay Wang Lang's group.
"Martial Aunt, this approach is improper."
"Martial Aunt, let us stay and set up arrays together. It might not be impossible to take the lives of those who come."
"Martial Aunt…"
Upon hearing this, Mei Caichu and the others instantly understood Gong Chenying's intention. For Gong Chenying, in her current severely injured state, to stay and block the enemy meant certain death. But they were not people who feared death.
Gong Chenying's jade-like face slowly darkened upon hearing this. These people staying would only increase casualties. Mei Caichu and their pills and poisons had already been depleted by about ninety percent in the previous stages.
If they ran out of poisons and venom, with just these few people, they might be able to kill the three Qi Condensation cultivators from Ten-Step Court in a group attack, but what then? The wrath of a Pseudo-Core stage cultivator would be completely ignited, and they simply wouldn't be able to withstand a single blow from a Pseudo-Core stage cultivator.
In her divine sense, although Wang Lang's robes were stained with blood and his chest and abdomen seemed heavily injured, his aura was calm and steady. He had clearly used a secret technique or taken some pill to suppress his external injuries.
His condition was several times better than hers. Moreover, her cultivation was two minor realms lower than his. Even at her peak, she could only rely on arrays to trap him.
"Hmm? How dare you defy a superior?"
Gong Chenying's slender eyebrows knitted, her voice now bone-chillingly cold, and her Foundation Establishment stage aura subtly fluctuated.
Seeing the chilling aura emanating from Gong Chenying, Mei Caichu and the others had no doubt that their Martial Aunt would unleash lethal force upon them in the next moment. They immediately became as quiet as cicadas in winter, their clamor slowly subsiding.
"Why are you still not leaving!"
Gong Chenying's long halberd was already erupting with azure light, subtly hinting at its power, and a wave of pressure bore down on the Qi Condensation disciples.
"Yes… Yes, aunt…"
"Martial Aunt, take care!"
Mei Caichu and the others could only turn to face Gong Chenying in unison, bowing respectfully with clasped fists to their overly beautiful Martial Aunt. Cheng Jingnian's eyes even welled up with tears, his voice laced with sorrow.
"Go quickly, I'll follow shortly. Don't dally here!"
Gong Chenying's face was devoid of expression, and she snapped sternly. In her divine sense, Wang Lang and his group were already within a two hundred seventy li radius. She slapped her jade hand on her waist, and a spirit-storage bag flew towards Mei Caichu.
Mei Caichu and the others were stunned. When they saw what flew towards them, their hearts were filled with even greater sorrow. Gong Chenying's action clearly indicated that she was prepared for a near-certain death.
After receiving the spirit-storage bag under Gong Chenying's sharp gaze, they could only turn and quickly flee.
After Mei Caichu and the others disappeared from sight, Gong Chenying muttered to herself.
"I can only accompany you this far. The rest of the journey you must undertake yourselves, each according to your fate!"
Then, a keen light flashed in her eyes. She reached into her storage bag at her waist, took out a few pills, and swallowed them. As she secretly refined them, her body flew rapidly back along the path she had come. She wanted to set up an array as best as she could, an array that could trap Wang Lang.
Wang Lang's body paused, his star-like eyes sweeping in all directions. His brows furrowed into the character "川(river)" as he had felt something was amiss a few breaths ago.
In his divine sense, he had already sensed that Gong Chenying had actually split into two groups: Gong Chenying herself remained in place, while several Qi Condensation cultivators quickly departed on another path. He couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
"Hmph, although we are both severely wounded, you are clearly more so than I. You want to block my path with your own strength? I'll show you the difference between a Pseudo-Core stage and a mid-Foundation Establishment stage."
Wang Lang continued to sneer inwardly. He charged towards Gong Chenying's location without any hesitation, immediately leaving the three behind. The three Qi Condensation disciples behind him couldn't help but complain bitterly.
Under Wang Lang's extreme flying speed, after dozens of breaths, he was only about a hundred li from Gong Chenying. The three behind him had disappeared along the way. At first, he didn't pay attention, but as he continued to advance, he slowly realized something was wrong.
Originally, with his charge, he quickly arrived within a hundred li. But as he continued to push forward, in his divine sense, he was getting farther and farther from the female cultivator of the Wraith Sect, and the whereabouts of his three companions behind him were unknown.
"Array formation!"
Wang Lang's body halted abruptly. His eyes narrowed as he looked forward. In his divine sense, Gong Chenying had actually put nearly three hundred li between them.
"Illusion array, mere trifles. With your current strength, what kind of powerful array formation can you possibly set up? Let your arrays be chained, I'll just smash my way through!"
With this thought, Wang Lang formed a hand seal. From his Niwan Palace, five small swords flew out, growing larger with the wind. In an instant, each small sword had grown to a massive ten zhang.
Then, Wang Lang pointed his hands like swords, separating them. The giant swords spun and danced, flying out to slash in all directions with piercing shrieks. The next moment, earth-shattering roars continuously reverberated, and for a time, sand and stones flew everywhere, and the heaven and earth underwent a sudden transformation.
Looking at Wang Lang, who was directly crushing his way through with unparalleled momentum, Gong Chenying couldn't help but sigh inwardly. In truth, she was only about thirty li from Wang Lang at this moment.
And a few dozen li behind Wang Lang, in a patch of grass, three unconscious Qi Condensation cultivators from the Ten-Step Court lay. Each held a tightly gripped long sword, but they had long since perished.
With Gong Chenying's methods, as long as she could separate the opponents with an array, she had dozens of ways and hundreds of potent poisons that could instantly take the lives of Qi Condensation cultivators.
However, this Wang Lang was not someone she could contend with. If she hadn't been severely injured at this moment, the array she set up would make it extremely difficult for Wang Lang to escape. Even if she couldn't kill Wang Lang, trapping him for an hour or so would be possible.
But now, her body was extremely weak, her spiritual power more than half depleted, and many of her techniques and divine abilities could no longer be used. Even her most powerful small golden axe could not be unleashed at this time.
Seeing Wang Lang break through the array in such a barbaric manner, Gong Chenying could only let out a long sigh in her heart.
"This method is precisely the fastest way to break through the array I've set up at this moment. Many changes within the array cannot be enacted due to my weakness. Otherwise, no matter how much his sword qi raged, he would have to honestly stay for an hour or so."
Gong Chenying struggled to stand up and sped in a direction different from Mei Caichu's. However, her so-called "speeding" was only thirty percent of her usual pace.
About half a cup of tea after Gong Chenying left, a thunderous explosion sounded, followed by a hearty laugh from the smoke of the explosion. Then, a figure shot out, it was Wang Lang.
At this moment, Wang Lang's eyes were even redder. After emerging from the array, he swept his divine sense around and discovered the corpses of his three disciples in the grass a hundred li behind him. He couldn't help but let out an enraged roar. After briefly identifying the direction, he pursued straight in one direction, the direction Gong Chenying had fled.
Before leaving, Wang Lang glanced in the direction of Mei Caichu and the others, letting out another cold snort.
"Not one of you will escape; you will all soon be dead!"
As Wang Lang swept his divine sense around, he discovered Bai Liyuan and Qiu Jiu in the other two directions. The two groups simultaneously detected Wang Lang's divine sense, and the two teams of cultivators flew directly towards Wang Lang.
However, before they could get close to Wang Lang, the two teams had already met. Facing each other from a distance, Qiu Jiu was greatly surprised after seeing Bai Liyuan's team. Two Foundation Establishment stage experts had actually joined forces.
And currently, there was only her side and Wang Lang's team nearby. The most sensible course of action was naturally to quickly converge with Wang Lang.
But as she pondered, Wang Lang seemed to completely disregard her and Bai Liyuan's divine senses, instead flying off in another direction.
This made Qiu Jiu feel that Wang Lang might have discovered the Wraith Sect's last team and didn't have time to converge with her. She gritted her silver teeth, feeling even more strongly that she couldn't let Bai Liyuan and the others pass.
She then adopted a delaying tactic. This greatly frustrated Bai Liyuan and the others. As soon as they flew towards Wang Lang's direction, they would be attacked from long range by Qiu Jiu and her team. But if they stopped, Qiu Jiu and her team would flee far away, completely avoiding direct confrontation.
This made Gan Shi so angry that his yellow hair flew wildly, and his face looked terrible. He was currently in the weak period of the "Aging-Reality Pill," unable to exert too much strength. Otherwise, if he and Bai Liyuan attacked from two sides, Qiu Jiu would surely die.
...