NOVPUB
Chapter 415: Chapter 411: Calamity Strikes
"I am Lan Yuxian, the captain of the Sweeper Team in the Southeast Region. From today onwards, the five Sweepers from the Martial King’s trainees and the other four Sweepers from the Martial Arts Academy are all members of my team. Do any of you object?"
Lan Yuxian said indifferently.
Her skin was fair, her figure slender, and with her delicate face and hair that fell to her thighs, she looked like a proud fairy.
And indeed, she was known as the Jade Fairy in Wind and Rain City.
Her status in the Lan Family was far greater than Jin Yuhai’s in the Jin Family.
Devas represented long life and extraordinary potential.
If one could demonstrate excellence in the future, receive a Divine Weapon, and become its master, they would be at least of the Void Immortal Realm.
And Jin Yuhai, even at his best, could only become a Martial Saint.
Although the Martial Saints had begun to explore the path of the Human Immortals, no one knew how long it would take to fully traverse this path, let alone whether it would be as powerful as they hoped, once traversed.
In this situation, as soon as Lan Yuxian finished speaking, her gaze fell directly on Jin Yuhai, who was huddling with a small group.
It was clear that she knew if it weren’t for her arrival, Jin Yuhai would have been the most likely to become the captain.
Facing Lan Yuxian’s gaze, Jin Yuhai’s face turned green and then white.
But in the end...
He did not have the courage to confront Lan Yuxian.
Firstly, this was an order issued by the Dean himself and was almost impossible to change.
Secondly, the Jin Family behind him might not be willing to offend the Lan Family and the Dean just to fight for this captain position for him.
"I..."
After a moment, Jin Yuhai clenched his teeth and said three words: "No objections."
"Very well..."
Lan Yuxian said indifferently.
Her voice was ethereal, as if carrying a breath that was detached from the mundane world.
But before she could continue speaking, a thunderous voice sounded: "I disagree!"
Pan Dali suddenly stood up, his aura churning continuously: "The Sweeper Team deals with powerful Out-of-Controls and Demonic Cultists. Incompetent leadership can doom the entire team. Unless you’re stronger than me, I disagree!"
He shouted loudly, accompanied by the unleashed and violently oppressive Martial Arts Will.
This scene caused some Martial Kings who were deeply wary of him to shudder.
Even Jin Yuhai’s pupils contracted.
Too reckless.
This Pan Dali was simply...
"Pan Dali, I know you. You consolidated Martial Arts Will within less than forty years of entering martial arts, a courageous warrior. You think my strength isn’t enough and therefore you disagree?"
Lan Yuxian did not waste words. She stretched out her hand, a golden pagoda shining appeared in it, and her figure quickly soared into the sky.
"Then I’ll have to subdue you!"
"With just you, a newly ascended Deva!?"
Pan Dali roared, his Martial Arts Will bursting forth, drawing upon his extremely cultivated physique, as if transforming into a ferocious Ancient Beast, and fiercely lunging at Lan Yuxian.
Vaguely, it seemed as if a terrifying storm was brewing behind him, within which a demonic shadow was nearly forming and threatening to break through.
Clearly, what he had refined was not merely Fierce Beast Essence Blood, but a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure of even greater value, nurturing stronger Divine Skills, aiming at the path of the Heaven and Earth Demigods after becoming a Martial Saint.
"Come down here!"
Pan Dali threw a punch in the air, and from the churning storm in the void, there seemed to come the rumbling of thunder, the roar of an ancient Demon God, shaking everyone’s Divine Sense.
If there were ordinary people in the courtyard at this moment, they would likely have their souls shattered by this roar and die on the spot.
This was the power of the Martial Arts Will.
Gu Jinlai even felt that this power was not inferior to his own Great Sun Divine Light when he manifested his Great Sun True Demon Body.
Lan Yuxian was somewhat affected, the harmony between her and the Heaven and Earth Power slightly disrupted.
But at this moment, the Treasure Jade hanging from a transparent thread around her neck, nestled between her collarbones, flickered with light.
Under this glow, she quickly recovered.
Seeing that Pan Dali’s Fist Force was breaking the sky and approaching, her eyes became extremely cold.
"You’re courting death!"
With a gesture of her empty hand, a Crystal Jade Shield appeared. The tremendous Heaven and Earth Power was drawn upon, and the shield seemed to bloom into a crystal flower with several meters in diameter, unfolding layer by layer.
Even though Pan Dali’s airburst Fist Force caused petals of the crystal flower to fall continuously, disturbing the Primordial Energy between heaven and earth, creating surging whirlwinds at a height of a hundred meters, it still failed to breach the blockade formed by the crystal flower.
"That’s the famous Endless Flower of the Lan Family! Its power is said to be not much inferior to that of a genuine Dao Artifact!"
Someone exclaimed the name of this Treasure.
"The Endless Flower alone is nothing special, but that golden pagoda-like treasure in her hand is the true Supreme Treasure... it’s a Dao Artifact! The Xuanhuang Zhenyue Tower! In a time when even Saints might not possess a Dao Artifact, the Lan Family actually gave one to Lan Yuxian, who is just a Deva!?"
"With a Dao Artifact... even if Lan Yuxian has not developed any Divine Skills or reached the pinnacle of control over Heaven and Earth Power, just with the might of the Dao Artifact, she is no less formidable than any high-level Deva!"
"The Lan Family values Lan Yuxian so highly!? But it also makes sense, she is one of the only two Devas in the Lan Family, if they don’t give the Dao Artifact to her, whom else? Now Pan Dali has kicked the iron plate!"
Whispers filled with amazement from the Martial Kings echoed through the crowd.
After blocking Pan Dali’s airburst Fist Force, Lan Yuxian pressed down, and ripples emanated from the Xuanhuang Zhenyue Tower she had first brought forth.
Waves after waves, visible to the naked eye like shockwaves, blasted towards Pan Dali, who was attempting to ascend into the void.
Instantly, Pan Dali’s figure was violently shaken, his clothes seemingly torn by invisible blades.
And as the shockwaves swept over, even the sturdy ground of the Martial Saint Institute’s lecture hall ejected chips of stone, as if about to be torn apart by the shockwaves.
Dean Wu Tianya of the Martial Saint Institute seemed intent on allowing Lan Yuxian to establish her authority with Pan Dali and did not interfere. He simply stamped his foot, with ripples spreading outward, dissipating the destructive effect of the shockwaves from the Xuanhuang Zhenyue Tower on the ground.
"Dao Artifact!"
Pan Dali roared in a low voice, his figure swiftly expanding until he had transformed into a ten-meter-tall giant in the blink of an eye.
His skin turned obsidian black, as if covered in a layer of obsidian armor, and a fierce, violent aura emanated from him, spreading outwards.
Upon witnessing this scene, Lan Yuxian’s expression of disdain remained unwavering.
Her figure stood in the void, her long hair fluttering.
With each successive invocation of secret techniques, she harnessed the power of Heaven and Earth within a few hundred meters, causing shockwaves from the Xuanhuang Zhenyue Tower to bombard downwards in concentric circles.
Even though Pan Dali had become a ten-meter giant, with greatly increased strength, defense, speed, and life, he still struggled to advance under the relentless suppression of the shockwaves.
It felt like an ordinary person walking against a hurricane with an umbrella overhead.
Moreover, as time passed, cracks unexpectedly appeared on Pan Dali’s obsidian-like body.
As the crack appeared, it spread and widened rapidly, threatening to sweep across his entire body in no time.
"You win with the Dao Artifact, I am not convinced!"
Pan Dali bellowed.
But his voice was soon crushed by the following shockwave.
However, Lan Yuxian seemed to understand his meaning, and she let out a cold laugh, utterly lacking any intention to explain.
What about the Dao Artifact?
The Dao Artifact is also a part of a cultivator’s strength.
Just like City Lord Zhao Hua and Demon Slayer Hall Master Jin Fantian, if they fought to the death disregarding equipment, the odds of victory were fifty-fifty. Yet, because Zhao Hua possessed a divine weapon and had become the National Guardian Saint, he consistently had the upper hand over Jin Fantian.
"Buzz, buzz!"
Lan Yuxian kept channeling the force of Heaven and Earth into the Dao Artifact, the Xuanhuang Zhenyue Tower, transforming it into waves of shockwaves that hammered down on Pan Dali.
Instantly, the cracks on Pan Dali’s obsidian-like body grew larger.
Seeing that he might soon be crushed if this continued, Pan Dali roared, "You can’t make me, Pan Dali, bow down with such tactics! Sweeper Team!? You can play by yourselves; I’m done cooperating!"
As he bellowed, he burst forth with Essence Blood, seemingly activating some secret technique. Amidst surging blood flames, he suddenly charged forth, breaking free from the repressive range of the Xuanhuang Zhenyue Tower.
Succeeding that, the power beneath his feet erupted, and like a cannonball, he shot up into the sky.
"Boom!"
With a series of thunderous roars, his figure quickly vanished from the Martial Arts Academy.
Lan Yuxian considered giving chase, but then, as if remembering something, her expression indifferent, she retracted the Xuanhuang Zhenyue Tower and descended from the sky.
"Gathering Martial Arts Will is akin to having a Martial Saint Seed... unless one loses control or colludes with the Demonic Sect or devils, they are not to be killed on a whim."
Zhuang Ying expressed regret beside Gu Jinlai.
His face also held a trace of worry.
Gu Jinlai observed as Pan Dali disappeared and gained a new understanding of the handling styles of Wind and Rain City’s upper echelons.
It turns out that when martial power reaches a certain level, rules don’t matter one bit.
He had naively thought that Wind and Rain City’s system would be like the one he had implemented in Lingxiao City, governed by laws.
"So that’s how it is..."
Gu Jinlai said to himself inwardly.
"Delusions of grandeur."
Lan Yuxian said dismissively.
Her gaze then swept over the crowd below, "I am the captain of the Southeast Team, any objections?"
Jin Yuhai, despite his unwillingness, knew from the fact that Lan Yuxian possessed a Dao Artifact how highly the Lan Family valued her.
If he truly fought to the death with Lan Yuxian, even with the backing of the Jin Family, he would ultimately be at a loss.
Consequently, he bowed his head and paid his respects, "I see the captain."
With Jin Yuhai bowing, nobody else dared to confront Lan Yuxian, and they also bowed and said, "I see the captain."
"Hmm."
Lan Yuxian’s gaze swept over the crowd, "Each team will also have two deputy captains; the first deputy captain will be Black Sword, and the second deputy captain..."
Her gaze fell on Dong Yuji, "Rumor has it that you are the second-best among the trainees; you shall be the second deputy captain. You all have one day to prepare; in a day’s time, come to report at my residence."
Having said this, she nodded towards Wu Tianya and flew away, vanishing from sight.
"Let’s disperse."
Wu Tianya also chose not to continue the class and stood up to leave.
After he had left, the remaining people in the academy looked at each other, not knowing quite what to make of the situation.
After a while, Xia Ruyi turned to Jin Yuhai, "Martial King Jing, although things were a bit rough, we’ve always stood by you. I’m not sure about what I asked for..."
"What you asked for?"
Jin Yuhai gave Xia Ruyi a chilling glance.
He didn’t want to provoke Pan Dali and couldn’t afford to offend Lan Yuxian, but Xia Ruyi was someone he didn’t take seriously at all.
"I said, after I became the captain, I’d give it to you. Am I the captain now?"
Jin Yuhai stamped his foot in frustration, "I didn’t even manage to become a deputy captain; how dare you still ask me for it?"
"Martial King Jing, to support you we completely turned Pan Dali against us. Given his way of doing things, he will definitely not let us off. You backing out now..."
Zhuang Ying also stepped forward with dissatisfaction, ready to argue his case.
But before he could finish, he was cut off by a furious reprimand from Jin Yuhai, "Get lost!" 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
With that, he turned away, paying no heed to the two people left pale-faced and departed from the Martial Saint Institute.
