Chapter 471: "Consecutive Slaps - Second Form (5)"
"Who are you people?" Things had already come to such a stage and if Fan Jin still did not realise the intentions of the group of people before them, he would have lived his almost two decades in vain.
But he would never have expected that anyone would want to take his life!
"People who are here to kill you." The leader of the youths said with a cold laugh and his eyes swept over Jun Xie and the others around Fan Jin.
"If you guys from the branch division are not looking to die today, leave immediately. If any of you dare to mention a word of what happened here today, I will come after you!"
Qiao Chu and his companions looked at each other all around, with vicious smiles across all their faces. Qiao Chu craned his neck to ask Jun Xie: "And these?"
Jun Wu Xie's eyes narrowed. "Kill."
"Roger!"
Qiao Chu took the lead while Hua Yao, Fei Yan and Rong Ruo followed just a step behind him.
Qiao Chu cracked his knuckles loudly and stretched his neck to loosen his muscles. He stared at the group of youths and said: "Sorry. Not leaving, and neither do we want to die today. But you can choose to hand your lives over and we'll consider leaving your bodies intact."
The leader of the youth had not expected the trash from the branch division to be so arrogant and spew such scornful words. He was taken aback a short moment before he laughed out loud.
"You're just a bunch of trash! Do not overestimate yourself !"
That silver flash of lightning had been too fast and none of them had even noticed where it had come from. They had misunderstood Fan Jin's escape and the other youth's cut off fingers to be the work of Fan Jin's as Fan Jin himself had never been perceived to be a weak opponent, but this careless assumption and misunderstanding, had irrecoverably made the youths put their first foot into their graves.
"Little Xie, do we leave one alive?" Qiao Chu asked, tugging at his ears. He was not interested in the least to waste any more of his breath on a bunch of youths who were about to lose their lives.
"One." Jun Wu Xie replied.
"No problem !" Qiao Chu beamed widely at Jun Xie and before any of those youths could react, a figure had already streaked towards them and Hua Yao and the other two followed closely behind. Their lightning speed was too fast for any of the youths to be able to see them clearly.
The youths who had all been overbearing and their eyes filled with contempt just a moment ago suddenly saw the four figures disappear from where they had been standing. Their contempt and overinflated egos were suddenly smashed to pieces and before they realised what was happening, Fei Yan was already beside the leader of the youths and Fei Yan's heavy fist swung right into the leader's spine!
A loud hair raising crack tore through the air at that moment!
The leader of the youth gave a ear splitting howl and as his spine snapped in two at the impact, his body crumpled heavily to the ground and large quantities of blood spewed out of his mouth.
"We'll leave you alive." Fei Yan smiled sweetly at the leader of the youths and immediately turned with a raised foot that landed heavily on another youth who had been rushing to rescue their leader.
The clear crackling sound of bones breaking rang out once again and as if moving in a graceful dance performed with the spray and splattering of blood, the four figures moved and glided amongst the youths and in the next moment, only half of the initial twenty odd disciples were still standing!
Not a single one among them would have thought that the four disciples from the branch division that they completely disregarded would possess such overwhelming skills and power. Under the onslaught by Qiao Chu and his gang, all the twenty odd disciples had not been able to resist them even the slightest!
The first youth whose spine had been broken by Fei Yan was lying upon the ground, shocked beyond words at the bloody carnage before his eyes. He saw his companions being killed one after another with such ease that he thought he was seeing Death's scythe cutting them down and claiming their lives at that moment !
These four disciples from the branch division, what kind of monsters were they !?
How could they possibly be so ridiculously powerful!?
They had all so confidently assumed that among the members within the "weakest team" with Jun Xie, only Fan Jin alone would be a worthy opponent. But the blood filled reality before their eyes had slapped them strongly across their faces, proving to them how wrong they had really been!
Chapter 472: "Consecutive Slaps - Second Form (6)"
They had all been turned into a big joke!
Fan Jin?
Compared to these four Grim Reapers, Fan Jin was totally not even worth mentioning!
The leader of the youths could do nothing but watch wide eyed as his companions were getting slaughtered. Their blood flew and splattered all over his body. It was blood that they smeared over themselves in disguise previously but this time, it was their own warm and fresh.....blood.....
Fear and terror slowly crept into his heart. At that moment, he suddenly realised that they had all fully underestimated the might and power of this team right from the beginning.
They had all thought the Fan Jin was the only team member that was able to fight and if they took out Fan Jin, they would be able to slaughter the rest of the team effortlessly.
But now, the ones being slaughtered, were they themselves.....
When the last one among the youths fell in a pool of his own blood, the fear that gripped at the heart of the leader of youths was almost at bursting point!
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him, and a figure came into his vision. He hastily raised his head and his eyes saw a calm but cold and emotionless face.
"Useless bum." Jun Wu Xie stared coldly at the youth crumpled on the ground.
The youth struggled to keep his head up and as Jun Xie's cold chilly countenance fell into his eyes, the fear that still gripped at his heart spread throughout his entire body.
This was the very same coward that everybody claimed had holed himself up to hide from the rumours? This was the same Jun Xie that had lived clutching desperately onto Fan Jin's protection?
Even if you killed him then, he would never believe that the Jun Xie before his eyes was the same cowardly Jun Xie that everybody said he was!
After the bloodbath, Qiao Chu walked over and picked up the youth crumpled upon the ground.
The brutal and violent action made the youth moan loudly in pain, and his face was deathly pale.
Having been picked up, and turned to stare at Jun Xie directly, the fear in him suddenly intensified making it hard for him to breathe.
The boy was just a skinny and tiny sized youth but his cold and chilling pair of eyes made one feel as though they had been suddenly transported into the icy and snowy mountains and the biting chill had seeped painfully into their bones.
Jun Wu Xie turned to Fan Jin standing on one side and said: "You want to ask?" As the target of the set up trap was obviously Fan Jin.
Fan Jin clenched his jaw and looked at the deathly pale youth. "Why?"
The youth was drenched in sweat at the intense pain he was feeling. He had never thought that they would fail and after having witnessed all his companions slaughtered one by one, the arrogance and haughtiness had all dissipated into nothing and he only wanted to live, hence he was willing to divulge everything he knew.
"It was Yin Yan..... Yin Yan was the one who asked us to do this..... I beg you to spare me..... Whatever you want to know, I will tell you....." The earlier arrogance had disappeared and he was reduced to a useless wreck of fear and terror, crying buckets while he pleaded pitifully.
"Yin Yan? He wants to kill me?" Fan Jin had not expected the answer to be like this as he never had much interaction with Yin Yan and he did not know what could have caused Yin Yan to harbour such strong enmity towards him.
It had been the same with the incident in the dining hall. Yin Yan had come at him aggressively for no rhyme or reason and Fan Jin had not known the reason behind it.
"Yes. It's him. He made someone lure you to us and got us to pretend to be injured. And when you come, we were to surround and attack you." The youth said as he secretly eyed Jun Xie and the others.
The plan was supposed to be perfect. The youth that ran out was supposed to put up a convincingly act of a hapless and deeply terrorized disciple, that would definitely draw out the righteous and fiercely protective nature in Fan Jin that would bring him flying to them. Everything had worked out just as planned but for one major snag. They had thoroughly underestimated the skills and might of the branch division disciples with Fan Jin.
"He had said that if we succeeded in killing you, he would handsomely reward us. And if our ring spirits were to be injured in future, he would unconditionally treat them for us."
Chapter 473: "Consecutive Slaps - Second Form (7)"
Anxious to save himself, the youth spilled everything he knew.
Long before the day of the Spirit Hunt came, Yin Yan had approached them. The group was made up of seniors from the Beast Spirit and Weapon Spirit faculties. Their individual powers might not have been the cream of the crop, but their ring spirits had all possessed certain special qualities. Just like the first youth who had possessed the weapon spirit. If not for Fei Yan's interference, they would have successfully sealed Fan Jin's movements and the others would have completed the job the next moment.
Yin Yan had used his position as a disciple of the Spirit Healer faculty to promise those disciples many rewards and had hinted to them that once they successfully killed Fan Jin, their positions within the Zephyr Academy would become more stable.
"Everyone knew that Yin Yan had an extremely good relationship with Senior Ning and Senior Ning was the daughter of the Vice Headmaster. So Yin Yan's words were as good as it being Senior Ning's words. We..... we were blinded by greed! Senior Fan! Find the benevolence in your heart to spare me this one time. I will not dare to ever do it again." The youth pleaded in tears. If they did not think Senior Ning would have their backs, they would never have agreed to such a request from Yin Yan.
Do not forget that Fan Jin was also the adopted son of the Headmaster!
"Ning Xin..... How can it be..... How can it possibly be her?" When Fan Jin heard the name Ning Xin being mentioned, his face had turned white and he had staggered back a step in shock, unable to accept what the youth had just said.
Jun Wu Xie glanced at Fan Jin and turned to the youth to ask: "Besides all of you here, are there any others?"
The youth shook his head and said in a hurry: "No more! There is no one else! Yin Yan told us he will think of a way to force you to take part in the Spirit Hunt with Senior Fan and when Senior Fan is dragged down by such useless bag..... It would make it easier for us to complete the task." The youth glanced at Jun Xie and said fearfully.
"What?" Fan Jin's eyes widened with incredulity as he stared at the youth.
If what the youth said was true, that it was Yin Yan's intention to force Jun Xie to take part in the Spirit Hunt, that would mean that those people who had broken into the bamboo grove to curse and swear at Jun Xie were instigated by Yin Yan?
A revelation appeared in Fan Jin's mind at that moment and he covered his face with his hands, cold sweat running down his back.
If all those wicked and vicious rumours surrounding Jun Xie had all been spread because he had mentored Jun Xie, and they had targeted Jun Xie just to hit out at him.....
That would mean that the person who had been helplessly implicated and dragged into an endless mess was not him! But it was he himself, who had unknowingly dragged Jun Xie into the mess instead!
The sudden realisation made Fan Jin's head spin and he almost lost his footing.
Fan Jin was not able to talk for a long while and Jun Wu Xie asked the youth a few more questions. After being certain that the youth had no more useful information to give, Jun Wu Xie shot Qiao Chu a look.
Before the youth could even plead any further, Qiao Chu immediately lopped off the youth's head.
Upon seeing the lifeless figure crumble back onto the ground, Fan Jin's eyes showed that he was still rather confused by all the things that were happening. He looked up suddenly and turned to Jun Xie. "Little Xie, you knew all this while that this was a trap?"
Jun Wu Xie nodded.
"From the moment the injured disciple had first appeared before us, you already knew?" Fan Jin stared at Jun Xie, his eyes looking intense.
"It was not possible for a seventeen or eighteen year old disciple to be in the branch division." Jun Wu Xie replied calmly. That injured disciple's act might have been a little convincing but it was his age that made it impossible for him to be from the branch division. And the fact that a disciple from the branch division was able to recognise Fan Jin for who he was at first glance did not seem logical, was the second giveaway.
Chapter 474: "Venomous Lady (1)"
If such a big number of people were really injured, the scent of blood in the air would have been much stronger and Jun Wu Xie only needed to sniff the air lightly, before she was certain that the scene before her eyes then was just an act.
Fan Jin bit on his lip. "When you agreed to come here, your real intention was to find out who was behind all this?"
Jun Wu Xie nodded again.
Fan Jin was suddenly silent. When he saw the reactions of Qiao Chu and the others, he believed they must have known everything all this while, but they had pretended not to know and walked right into the enemy's trap, and the fact was that the target of that trap had been the only ignorant one among them all, himself.
All this time, he had proclaimed to be Jun Xie's protector. Fan Jin finally realised that all the attacks that Jun Xie had suffered under, had almost all been because of himself. The guilt he felt in his heart at that moment, suffocated Fan Jin greatly.
"What do we do next?" Qiao Chu saw Fan Jin's gloomy face and tried to change the topic, feeling a little sorry for Fan Jin.
Jun Wu Xie narrowed her eyes and suddenly called out: "Ye Sha."
Just as Jun Wu Xie's voice trailed off, a black shadowy figure suddenly appeared just behind her.
That man speed was so fast that even Hua Yao who was standing next to Jun Wu Xie was shocked. And when Hua Yao and Qiao Chu saw Ye Sha's face, they immediately froze.
"You..... you..... Aren't you....." Qiao Chu would never forget that face his whole life. If it had not for this man's self sacrifice by blowing his ownself up in the Cloudy Peaks that had held the two men back, he might not be alive now. But on that fateful day in the Cloudy Peaks, he was sure he had seen the man blow himself up completely, so how is it possible that he is here now, still in one piece?
Ye Sha's eyes were fixed on Jun Wu Xie and there was no expression on that face. Ye Sha did not give Qiao Chu and Hua Yao even one single glance.
"This is not him." Jun Wu Xie said suddenly.
Qiao Chu's mouth opened and closed as he stared at Ye Sha in perplexity, but no sound came out of his mouth.
"Find me Ning Xin's location." Jun Wu Xie turned to Ye Sha and ordered.
"Yes!" The figure of Ye Sha shimmered and he disappeared completely from his spot.
Fan Jin, who had already been devastated with his earlier epiphany, suddenly found that he could not make his face show a more shocked expression anymore.
"Little Xie, you are going after those people called Ning Xin and Yin Yan next?" Fei Yan asked with a sweet smile as he looked at Jun Xie. From what the youth had said earlier, the whole gang had finally understood the whole situation and they had naturally identified the mastermind behind this assassination attempt.
"No rush." Jun Wu Xie said as she shook her head slightly.
After all that Ning Xin had done to Fan Jin, it had become like a fuse cord, that had led Jun Wu Xie to some clues to an unraveled mystery that had been on Jun Wu Xie's mind. She intended to gather more clues from it, for her to arrive at the answer that she seeked.
"Who is this Ning Xin?" Jun Wu Xie asked, turning to the gloomy Fan Jin. When that youth had mentioned Ning Xin earlier, Fan Jin's face had displayed great consternation. It was as if that having Ning Xin being the mastermind behind all the treachery was more unacceptable to him than if it had been Yin Yan.
"She is Ning Rui's daughter and Ning Rui is my father's junior fellow disciple, currently taking up the position of Vice Headmaster in the Zephyr Academy. He is very close to my father and Ning Xin could have been said to have grown up together with me and Little Zhuo. Moreover..... Ning Xin and Little Zhuo are engaged in marriage but due to Little Zhuo's health condition, he needed to recuperate and they seldom met. Ning Rui had initially spent a lot of time and spared no effort to seek treatment for Little Zhuo's illness and even Ning Xin had often taken care of Little Zhuo them..... How could it possibly be her?" Fan Jin scratched furiously at his head in frustration. He really could not make himself picture Ning Xin to be a conspiratory and manipulative lady and link that to the soft spoken and gentle image he had always had of her in his mind.
Although Fan Zhuo and Ning Xin were not yet married, but Fan Jin had long seen her as his sister-in-law.
Chapter 475: "Venomous Lady (2)"
Fan Zhuo had always suffered from a weak constitution and been very sickly since young. Fan Jin was always very protective of his often ill little brother. Fan Qi and Ning Rui were fellow disciples and Ning Xin had grown up together with the Fan brothers. When they were very young, Fan Jin had treated Ning Xin like a little sister who had a very sweet temperament and who was very caring towards Fan Zhuo, leading to Fan Jin to think Ning Xin as his future sister in law.
But now, after hearing the youth, Fan Jin was utterly devastated, struck by a bolt out of the blue.
Although he had naturally known that Ning Xin was Yin Yan's mentor all this time, Fan Jin still could not believe that his little sister would ever want to kill him.
"Could there be any misunderstanding behind all this?" Fan Jin asked through gritted teeth.
Jun Wu Xie looked at the deeply conflicted Fan Jin and did not give him any reply. Fan Jin's character was just like that. Candid and generous, upholder of justice. Or he would not have stood forward to defend Jun Wu Xie when everyone else had turned against her.
A person like this, usually had an pure and untainted heart, a righteous person. If such a person lived his life in peaceful times, he would undoubtedly become the hero that everyone respected and revered. But the same person, would have an immense weakness. He would be too trusting of people and one would only need to show him a little kindness and one would win his absolute trust. To put it kindly, he was an innocent person, but bluntly, people would call him dumb.
If all this had been directed just at Jun Wu Xie, she would have just killed the enemy. But she was not the real target and she felt Fan Jin should be the one to decide who lives and who dies.
But if Yin Yan and Ning XIn did not learn their lesson and further provoked her, she wouldn't mind settling some scores with them herself.
"Little Xie, can you agree to one thing?" Fan Jin asked Jun Xie suddenly.
"Speak." Jun Wu Xie said without emotion.
"Before the facts of the matter are all cleared up, spare Ning Xin just this once." Fan Jin said, his jaw still tightly clenched. After witnessing Qiao Chu and the rest of the gang's skills and prowess, he was well aware of the fact that it would not take much effort if Jun Xie wanted to kill Ning Xin. And if all that Jun Xie was put through in the Zephyr Academy was truly due to the urgings of Ning Xin from behind, Jun Xie had every reason to want to kill her.
But.....
When he thought back to the image of the little girl always tottering behind him and always looking up to call him "big brother Jin" and that Ning Xin might die, Fan Jin could not help it but feel an ache in his heart. He had to numb himself to the facts before him and wished fervently that it was all just a big misunderstanding.
"Once." Jun Wu Xie said, looking at Fan Jin, surprisingly acceding to Fan Jin's request.
The first time she had acceded to a similar request like this was to Mo Qian Yuan, and she had wanted Mo Qian Yuan to learn a lesson. As for Fan Jin, it was to repay him for his unwavering protection that he had shown to her all this while.
Jun Wu Xie might not know much about human relationships, but she knew one thing at least. Whoever treated her kindly, would receive more kindness back from her.
In reality, she had come to the Zephyr Academy with a specific objective. After Hua Yao and the others managed to locate the map, and retrieve it, they would not stay within the academy any longer. And the feud between the Fan Family and the Ning Family would not concern her. She had dirtied her hands now as the scheme had spilled onto her and also for the fact that both the Fan brothers had been extremely kind to her.
"Thank you." Fan Jin said, heaving a sigh of relief. Only after having entered the Battle Spirits Forest had he realised that Jun Xie was never as weak as he had thought him to be. He might be cold and withdrawn, but he was one person not to be trifled with.
You wouldn't know it if he remained silent, but any retaliation from him would make you never forget it for life!
Chapter 476: "Venomous Lady (3)"
As Fan Jin was discussing things through with Jun Wu Xie, the disciple who had lured Fan Jin and his team into the laid trap had speedily escaped into another area with his wounds.
In another part of the dense forest, a team of Zephyr Academy disciples had just successfully hunted a medium grade Spirit Beast. The large sized Spirit Beast's lifeless body lay on the ground and a tall youth stood over it with a foot on the Spirit Beast's head, digging for spirit stones within its broken skull.
A beautiful young girl stood at the edge of the group, staring at the gory sight with a frown on her face and covering her nose with her sleeve.
"Senior Ning, water for you?" Yin Yan stood at her side, offering the waterskin in his hand to Ning Xin, as adoration and worship filled his eyes.
Ning Xin glanced at Yin Yan and shook her head, and turned her eyes to look into another direction.
Suddenly, she saw another figure approach. She gestured to Yin Yan with a look in her eyes and Yin Yan immediately understood. Yin Yan turned and silently slipped away, to meet up with the approaching youth.
Ning Xin shifted her position inconspicuously to an angle that would allow her to discreetly see Yin Yan's interaction with that youth. She observed quietly, her face completely calm. But the flash of anxiety in her eyes betrayed what she was feeling inside.
Shortly after, Yin Yan ran back to her.
"How was it?" Ning Xin struggled to maintain a calm composure, trying to appear nonchalant as she asked.
"Fan Jin was successfully lured in, there should not be a problem. We have not seen any distress signal released, I think they have all been taken care of." Yin Yan spoke with his head lowered, trying very hard to hide the wide smile split across his face.
Their target had only been Fan Jin and they had not given any specific orders for the others in Fan Jin's team. But they had nevertheless hinted that if the others were to resist, they were to be killed and have their bodies disguised to look as if they had been killed by high grade Spirit Beasts. And if any of Fan Jin's teammates were still miraculously alive, they would have released their distress signal flares.
"Those guys wouldn't have wanted their identities to be known and would naturally not have spared Jun Xie and the others." Ning Xin said with a smile. She had only given instructions to kill only Fan Jin, but those people would not be dumb enough to leave any witnesses alive after that.
If they spared anyone from Fan Jin's team, that person would be able to testify against them in the crime. And to protect themselves, it would be best if they eliminated all witnesses.
"You are right Senior Ning, one has to eliminate the root of the problem or it might fester and grow to become a problem once again. Only by shutting all the mouths of the witnesses permanently and completely can the matter remain an eternal secret, and only like this, would nobody ever find out how and why Fan Jin died. All those people who played a part in the assassination would never dare breathe a word of it to anybody." Yin Yan said with a laugh. Although he was not able to see Fan Jin's dead body, but hearing news of Fan Jin's death pleased him to to end just the same.
Ning Xin waved her hand dismissively. "Things that have outlived their usefulness would naturally need to be disposed off properly. In this world, only the when they are dead, would people be able to keep a secret."
Yin Yan felt a sudden chill and he raised his head to stare at Ning Xin.
"Senior Ning, you don't mean....."
Ning Xin's eyes drifted towards a particular direction and her eyes did not look too far away. Her eyes stared at the area where the disciple was hidden, treating his own wounds, and she said with a seducing smile: "Every time the Spirit Hunt comes along, there are always some deaths among the Zephyr Academy's disciples, and some had always gone missing without any reason. I'm afraid the death toll this time round might increase quite a bit, like maybe by another fold." As Ning Xin said those words, her eyes were actually lit with joy when she turned them to look at Yin Yan. That was when Yin Yan felt the chill crawl up his spine and he shivered.
Chapter 477: "Venomous Lady (4)"
"Little Yan, are you feeling alright? Is the wind getting too chilly for you?" Ning Xin asked with a smile as she stared at the Yin Yan who had turned very pale, her smiling face as gentle and sweet as always.
Yin Yan regained his composure and hurriedly said: "Yes, it is a little cold."
It must be his imagination. Senior Ning was such a perfect girl, how could she possibly have such vicious thoughts?
Ning Xin just smiled and did not say anything more.
On the other side, the disciples were still cleaning up the battlefield and another youth was running over to the tall disciple who foot was still stepped upon the large Spirit Beast's head shouting: "Senior Lu! Senior Lu!"
Lu Wei Jie turned his head and his face was graced with nice features, that held a tinge of arrogance. He jumped off the Spirit Beast with elegant flair and threw the blood stained spirit stones that he had dug out to another disciple standing on one side.
"What is it?" Lu Wei Jie asked as he wiped off the blood from his hands.
The youth replied hurriedly.
The youth had a weapon spirit and his ring spirit had the ability to transform into a pair of combat boots. Those boots enabled him to greatly increase his speed and jump ability and hence he had been assigned with the task of locating Spirit Beasts. He had been searching for their next target in an area deeper into the forest when he had chanced upon and witnessed a grand and magnificent battle. He had seen with his own eyes, a group of people kill a high grade Spirit Beast and the spectacular skills and power of those people had really been a feast for his eyes.
"Hunted a high grade Spirit Beast?" Ning Xin walked over slowly, after hearing the interesting bit of news.
Lu Wei Jie turned to look at Ning Xin, and when his gaze fell on her curvy figure, the arrogance within those eyes faded, replaced by one of adoration.
"Yes, those people really managed to kill the high grade Spirit Beast." The youth who brought them the news nodded excitedly.
Lu Wei Jie frowned slightly. It was not easy to take down a high grade Spirit Beast. As the second in rank in the Zephyr Academy's Spirit Tournament, his skills and power was deemed to be only inferior only to one person. And even with the team he led, that had been tagged as being the strongest strike team over all the others in the Zephyr Academy, they were still not confident that they can successfully take down a high grade Spirit Beast.
Spirit Beasts that belonged to the higher grades were not only much more powerful and stronger than those belonging to the middle grades, they also possessed a certain level of intelligence, and battled with logic, and would even escape.
To defeat a mid grade Spirit Beast, one only needed strength and power and a cohesive team spirit. But the requirements needed from the team to take down a high grade Spirit Beast were different and extremely harsh.
Till now, not a single team in the history of the Zephyr Academy's Spirit Hunt had been able to successfully hunt down a high grade Spirit Beast.
"What kind of people were they?" Lu Wei Jie asked.
"I approached them to ask after they took down the Spirit Beast. They did not seem to know about the Zephyr Academy and its disciples and the people looked to be in their twenties. They said they were on an expedition and searching for a certain herb, but they were unfamiliar with the terrain in the deeper reaches of the Battle Spirits Forest and were a little lost. They had even asked me if I knew the area well." The youth shared everything the men had said readily.
The frown on Lu Wei Jie's brow finally smoothed out after hearing the youth's words.
As long as those people were not from the Zephyr Academy, then he was not that worried.
If there was a team within the Zephyr Academy that could single handedly take down a high grade Spirit Beast, that would be a big threat to him.
Lu Wei Jie was aiming to achieve first place in this Spirit Hunt.
"Oh?" Ning Xin said when the youth finished, an idea forming suddenly in her head.
Chapter 478: "An Opportunist (1)"
"Little Xin, did you just think of something?" Lu Wei Jie asked.
Ning Xin smiled sweetly and replied: "Isn't our Senior Lu gunning for the top spot in this Spirit Hunt? If we successfully hunt down a few high grade Spirit Beasts and recover the spirit stones from them, you would not be first just for this year's Spirit Hunt alone but go down in history to become the first person to ever successfully kill a high grade Spirit Beast in the annals of the Zephyr Academy's Spirit Hunts."
Lu Wei Jie's eyes sparkled brightly at the thought. No sane man would reject such a tempting suggestion. But.....
"I am still not capable of taking on a high grade Spirit Beast yet." Lu Wei Jie had to admit, that he was nothing before a high grade Spirit Beast.
Ning Xin smiled alluringly, "We don't need our Senior Lu to dirty his hands. Didn't some people just come to us to offer their assistance?"
Lu Wei Jie was confused.
"You mean....."
Ning Xin turned to look at the youth who had brought them the news and gave him a sweet smile: "Go tell those men that we have a map covering the larger part of the Battle Spirits Forest and if they are willing to kill a few high grade Spirit Beasts for us, we can lead them to any part of the forest that they want."
The young youth was suddenly taken aback as he stood there frozen on the spot. He stared at Ning Xin and then turned his eyes to look at Lu Wei Jie in consternation.
Lu Wei Jie was feeling rather torn, their team had dared to venture into the mid sections of the Battle Spirits Forest this time because Ning Xin was holding a copy of a rough and ill defined map of the Battle Spirits Forest. The map however encompassed a much larger area than what the disciples were given by the Zephyr Academy and the major regions of the Battle Spirits Forest were marked out. It seemed that Ning Xin intended to make use of the map to enlist the help of those men in exchange for them to effortlessly acquire the high grade Spirit Stones.
"Hurry up and go. What are you waiting for?" Ning Xin coaxed gently.
The youth then turned and ran off in a hurry, to discuss further with those men on their business trip.
After the youth left, Lu Wei Jie decided that Ning Xin's suggestion was just ingenious and heaped bundles of praise on her, making Ning Xin laugh out shyly.
While Yin Yan on the other hand, was left to tightly clench his fists silently, as he stared viciously at the back of Lu Wei Jie.
After a short while, the youth came running back once more and following behind him, were ten other men.
The ten men were all covered in cloaks and when you looked at them from afar, you would not be able to see their faces. But by just looking at their outlines, seven of the men looked to be extremely big and strong, and compared to the disciples of the Zephyr Academy, those men looked to be towering as a mountain before them.
"Senior Lu, Senior Ning, these are the friends who needed to use our map." The youth hurried to introduce them.
The leader of the men removed his cloak. His big and tall build towered over them suffocatingly. The sun shone upon a stalwart and good looking face, unlike the delicate and pretty features of youth, that face was one filled with the indomitable air of masculinity, handsome tinged with the additional attractiveness of maturity. What really drew people to notice him most, was the eyes on that face. Sharp as pointed knives, that made one very conscious when under that gaze.
The man was just standing there plainly without moving, but he gave out an overwhelmingly oppressive aura.
Lu Wei Jie, who had been standing with an air of arrogance about him, suddenly found his ego deflating and his shoulders lowered before the man's presence.
"I am just a humble bodyguard of this convoy on a business expedition. You can call me Escort Long." The handsome man said without an expression on his face as he looked at the youths before him.
Lu Wei Jie's eyes were transfixed on the man for quite a while when he suddenly snapped back to his senses. He hurriedly covered up his awe for Head Guard Long and struggled to put up a forced front of looking unaffected and said: "Lu Wei Jie from the Zephyr Academy's Weapon Spirit Branch, and this is Ning Xin."
Chapter 479: "An Opportunist (2)"
Escort Long acknowledged with a slight nod of his head and his calm but penetrating gaze made the youths feel slightly overwhelmed by those eyes.
He obviously had a good looking countenance but he somehow made people retreat unknowingly in reverence.
"In regards to your suggestion, I have heard about it. How many high grade Spirit Beasts do you need?" Escort Long asked plainly, straight to the point.
Lu Wei Jie's heart leapt when he heard that and judging from tone, their terms had been accepted. He was just about to speak when Ning Xin shot him a look and he shut his mouth.
Ning Xin took a step forward and beaming as bright as a flower, she said: "That would depend on which part of the forest you intend to go to. To be honest, the map is extremely important to us and we hope you will pardon us that we cannot show the map to you. Wherever it is that you need to go, we'll lead you there. As to the remuneration, it depends on where the place you need to go to is."
Escort Long stared coldly at Ning Xin and hesitated a moment before he said: "We want to go to the Spirit Moon Lake."
Those herbs they needed, only grows near the Spirit Moon Lake.
Ning Xin smiled.
"Five high grade Spirit Beasts."
Escort Long's brow furrowed. This little girl was rather voracious, he was only asking to be lead to a destination and she had unhesitatingly asked for five high grade Spirit Beasts. He knew that one lone spirit stone of any high grade Spirit Beast would easily fetch them an alarming price out in the market.
After considering it a moment more, Escort Long finally said: "Alright."
Ning Xin nodded with a smile and exchanged a quick glance with Lu Wei Jie. Lu Wei Jie reorganized his team, and placed Ning Xin to lead Escort Long and his men, as they made their way towards the Spirit Moon Lake.
Escort Long brought up the rear of the team in stoic silence. Several other men in his team had heard what Ning Xin had unabashedly asked for in repayment for leading the way and were feeling rather resentful.
"General Long, these pipsqueaks are too ruthless. Asking for five high grade Spirit Beasts just for leading the way. That's outright robbery!" One of the men complained, whispering softly.
Escort Long frowned. If it wasn't for the fact that the herb they needed was so extremely rare, and they only could be found in the vicinity around the Spirit Moon Lake, he wouldn't have agreed to such an unreasonable request.
"Master Mu has requested for it, and moreover, this herb would help the Rui Lin Army greatly in raising our power, it wouldn't hurt us much to let these kids get a good deal out of this just once." Escort Long..... To be precise, it was Long Qi, disguised as bodyguard of a trade convoy, said helplessly.
Not too long ago, Mu Chen came to the Lin Palace with a group of disciples from the Cloud Treading Peak and the incident had greatly surprised Jun Xian and Jun Qing. It had not been too long ago that they had just received news that the Qing Yun Clan had been obliterated and never would they have ever thought that Mu Chen would actually bring his disciples to come seek asylum from the Lin Palace. What shocked them further was when they heard from Mu Chen that it was all arranged by Jun Xie.
Throughout the period that Mu Chen joined the Lin Palace, he led his disciples to spare no effort in developing and producing medicine that would improve the veins and arteries of the soldiers in the Rui Lin Army. Due to the elixirs that Jun Wu Xie had given to the Rui Lin Army previously that had completely transformed them, Mu Chen was faced with quite a daunting and difficult task to improve them further.
But Mu Chen fully intended to keep his promise. Since he had promised Jun Xie to do everything he can, he spent months researching and developing and finally managed to develop an elixir that would further improve on the soldiers' veins and arteries. But that elixir required a rare and unique kind of herb and although the Qing Yun Clan had it, he had brought the whole stock of it over to the Lin Palace. The Rui Lin Army was too numerous in number and he did not have enough to cultivate one hundred thousand elixirs for every single one of them.
Besides within the Qing Yun Clan, the herb only grew in the vicinity of the Spirit Moon Lake within the Battle Spirits Forest. For this, Mu Chen sent out three of his disciples to come to the Battle Spirits Forest in search of the herb and to ensure the safety of the disciples, Jun Xian sent Long Qi and six of the Rui Lin Army to go with them as bodyguards.
Chapter 480: "An Opportunist (3)"
Although the Battle Spirits Forest bordered the Qi Kingdom on one side, Long Qi and his group did not know much about the inside of the Battle Spirits Forest. They had gotten themselves lost when they entered the Battle Spirits Forest and had been attacked several times by Spirit Beasts. Long Qi and his team's journey into the Battle Spirits Forest could be said to have trodden through blood.
The Lin Palace was not in need of spirit stones and within the Qi Kingdom, after Mo Qian Yuan ascended the throne to become the Emperor, he placed great trust on the Lin Palace and he allocated most of the kingdom's supplies to the Rui Lin Army, giving them first priority. Long Qi had intended to hand the spirit stones he had gained on this journey to Jun Qing and have him decide what to do with them.
But now, in order to gain the location of the Spirit Moon Lake, he had no choice but to agree to Ning Xin's unreasonable demand.
"General Long, we've really brought you much trouble." Rong Heng said between gasps, as he struggled to keep up with the team. He had followed Mu Chen to the Lin Palace and they had started from learning to adapt to a new environment to having established a rather good relationship with the Rui Lin Army now.
The disciples who had come from the Cloud Treading Peak did not possess strong spiritual powers. Besides their proficiency at treating and developing people's veins and arteries, they were not much different from the commoners. The current situation called for them to traverse across this dangerous and dense forest and it was getting to be a rather difficult task for them. If not for Lord Lin's good foresight to have arranged Long Qi and his men to escort them, they might very well have been reduced to a pile of bones before they could even see the Spirit Moon Lake.
"You men are here seeking herbs to produce medicine for the Rui Lin Army, this is the least we must do." Long Qi replied stoically, his tone flat which would usually make people feel unusually stern. But after having associated with them for some time, Rong Heng and the other disciples knew that that was just how these stalwart men who lived by the sword were.
"I hope we would be able to find enough Aqua Spirit Grass to produce sufficient elixirs." Rong Heng said, barely managing a smile with the pace.
Long Qi nodded slightly and he signalled to the six Rui Lin Army soldiers. The other six men immediately split themselves into pairs and moved to come beside the Rong Heng and the other two disciples. They suddenly grabbed the panting disciples and continued the pace, lifting the disciples off their feet.
"Thank you so much." Rong Heng thanked the soldiers again.
Ning Xin who had been leading the group observed the situation behind her silently. Lu Wei Jie picked up his pace and caught up with Ning Xin, asking her softly: "Little Xin, those guys do not look like herb merchants with their armed escorts." He wasn't completely certain about other things, but just picking on Escort Long's overwhelming air, he knew that he was no ordinary guard. Lu Wei Jie had been able to achieve second place in the Zephyr Academy's Spirit Tournament and he at least knew power when he saw it.
And just by standing before Long Qi, Lu Wei Jie had been awed by Long Qi's oppressive presence and that oppression had not just been the disparity between their spiritual power and ring spirit but had come from the man's aura that surrounded him.
That man's presence inspired both respect and fear and his sharp eyes made one turn away, unable to look at him straight.
"Would an ordinary herb merchant come all the way into the Battle Spirits Forest? That would just be seeking their own doom. If my guess is not wrong, if these people are not from one of the countries, they must belong to one of the mighty powers throughout the lands." Ning Xin narrowed her eyes, "Look at those men who are taller and well built, their bodies are ramrod straight and their faces hardy. They must have undergone some form of rigorous training. They might be dressed in plain clothes but the weapons hanging from their hips are no ordinary swords. But no matter what they are seeking for, we know one thing for sure, they are strong and powerful enough."
Ning Xin trusted that her own foresight, and she knew the men were definitely more than they appeared to be.
"Why then did you ask for five high grade spirit stones?" Lu Wu Jie asked, puzzled. If they were truly extraordinarily powerful, wouldn't it be better to try to win them over? But Ning Xin had asked for such an astounding repayment from them instead.