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Chapter 222: Mysterious Black Clad Young Lady (2)

Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations

As compared to the excitement outside the cave, it was deadly quiet within the cave itself. The four coloured lights shone over the large cocoon, energy rippling forth in strange patterns around it as black and blue lines could be seen subtly fluctuating around. At first, it seemed like the blue lines were more powerful, but as time passed, the black lines seemed to be stimulated, growing in power until it matched the blue lines.

As the two twisted and undulated around each other, the four lights also grew stronger.

…

The Fei Li Battle team's luck was still considered relatively good. As Lin TianAo had said earlier, being so close to the main official roads of the Zhong Tian Empire, there weren't that many Heavenly Beasts. Of course, there were many more Heavenly Beasts deeper in the forests, but it was quite a distance from where they were, and the aura that the little white tiger would give off when evolving had a limited range.

After the two attacks from the Blood Blaze Lion and the Dark Demon Ape, it was another six hours before a third round of attacks from Heavenly Beasts arrived. After which, they were attacked every few hours, but with smaller scale attacks. Although it was extremely tough, they still managed to pull through.

At the same time, the team members also realised something important – the Heavenly Beasts which attacked them had all lost control, in some sort of an unstable frenzy. That was also the main reason why they had not been able to make use of their full power. Also, these Heavenly Beasts were mostly either all Zong Stage, or led by Zong Stage Heavenly Beasts.

…

Time seemed to fly, and soon three days had passed. During that time, they had been constantly attacked at intervals, and the toughest fights were when they were attacked by two High Level Zong Stage Heavenly Beasts. At the last moment, Shangguan Bing'er had released the two Icy Soul Heavenly Bears to help out, and they had finally managed to hold their own. With much teamwork, and the sacrifice of several members sustaining heavy injuries, in the end they barely managed to finish off the High Level Zong Stage Beasts.

Little Four sat on the ground heavily, panting and gasping for breath. "I can't make it anymore Boss, I'm dead beat. If this continues, even if we don't get killed by Heavenly Beasts, we'll go crazy!"

For the last three days, they had spent every single second tensed up and with their nerves frayed, not knowing when they would be attacked by Heavenly Beasts. They had to maintain a high alert at all times, and as they fought wave after wave of Heavenly Beasts, it had taken a huge toll on them. After all, these Heavenly Beasts were all frenzied, and although that had helped a lot in reducing their intelligence and skill, it had also caused them to not be able to be chased off, and they could only fight to the death.

The wounds on their bodies and the constant drain of Heavenly Energy was taxing, but the worst toll was on their spirits. Three days and nights of constant fighting and limited rest, even the toughest person would feel exhausted and low in spirit. For someone firm and resolute like Lin TianAo, or someone whose character was rather thick skinned 1 like Crow, it was still relatively okay, but the rest of the team members were almost on the verge of breakdown.

At this point, it was also clear the difference in overall power and character amongst the entire team. The first one to fall was not the one with the lowest cultivation level, Shangguan Bing'er, but Ye Paopao.

Although Ye Paopao was a four-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, as the son of the prime minister, he had lived an easy life of luxury since young. Despite his cultivation, he had never had much actual combat experience, let alone such high intensity fighting. At this moment, he was leaning against the cave entrance, unconscious.

As for the second person who was having trouble was still not Shangguan Bing'er After her two years of tough training and experience in the Heavenly Bow Unit, this was not her first rodeo facing such tough battles. Furthermore, the person they were protecting was her precious Little Fatty. Under such a circumstance, she would never give up no matter how exhausted she was, just through sheer will. Shangguan Bing'er might not be extremely powerful, and against Zong Stage Heavenly Beasts, she could barely do anything but harassing attacks. However, if it was a Zong Stage Heavenly Beast leading several Zun Stage Heavenly Beasts, she turned into one of the most important keys of the team defense. Just her rapid firing archery alone could suppress a large number of Zun Stage Heavenly Beasts, allowing her companions time to leisurely deal with all the enemies.

By now, Little Four was nearing the end of his stamina. His job was to run around to wherever needed help the most, and any issue that cropped up, his speed was usually the key to a successful save or support.

At the same time, he also had to go around scouting. Naturally, the drain on his spirit was also extremely huge.

Lin TianAo furrowed his brow, glancing back at the cave entrance. As a team leader, how could he not be worried? Looking at the weakened condition of his team members, as well as the constant attacks, he grew increasingly worried as time passed. As soon as a Heavenly Beast which they could not deal with attacked, that meant they could possibly all fall here. Taking a deep breath, Lin TianAo made his decision, a resolute look crossing his face as he said solemnly: "Crow, Drunken Bao, both of you lead the rest away and head for the city. I will stay here to defend the cave."

As soon as everyone heard that, they were shocked. Drunken Bao said urgently: "How could we possibly do that? To leave you here alone?!"

The past three days, the person who had taken on the most pressure was definitely Lin TianAo. Every single Zong Stage Heavenly Beast was taken on by him, and it was only because of his Rock Like defense and stable fighting skills that had allowed their team to last for so long. In terms of energy consumption, who could be more exhausted than him!

Lin TianAo said solemnly: "This is an order. With your numbers, you will still be able to attend the Heavenly Jewel Tournament. Even if Zhou Weiqing and I do not make it, it should not affect the entire team. Hurry up and leave this place. As long as you do not stay near the cave entrance, you should be safe. If Zhou Weiqing and I make it, we will catch up with you."

"Big Bro Lin, I definitely will not leave. I will stay here and defend the place with you." Shangguan Bing'er said unhesitatingly. With her Little Fatty still inside, how could she possibly leave?

Little Four summoned all his energy and propped himself up in a sitting position. "I will not leave you here alone as well, Boss. If we leave, what will happen to you? If you want to leave, we will leave together, but I think we should all stay. I can still last a while more." If it were anyone else, he might have suggested that everyone leave together, and abandon Zhou Weiqing. However, Zhou Weiqing had done him and Drunken Bao such a huge favour, and they could have been said to be in his debt. Although Little Four's character was probably the most casual amongst the entire team, at this point he couldn't help but say he would stay to defend Zhou Weiqing.

"Nonsense. I said, this is an order!" Lin TianAo cried out angrily, showing the dignity and aura of a leader.

Alas, at this moment, no one would listen to this order. Crow turned her head to look away, stretching lazily as she worked out the kinks in her muscles. It had to be said that Crow was definitely worthy of her name of the Gold Crow Tribe's top genius; after three days and nights of furious battles, she was the only one who seemed unaffected. Any time a Heavenly Beast appeared, her attacks were always the most ferocious. Despite some wounds on her body, she still looked unconcerned and relaxed. Perhaps, in terms of cultivation level and power, she might not be as powerful as Drunken Bao or Xiao Yan who were five-Jeweled. However, if it was a fight to the death, the likely final result would her victory. After all, the Gold Crow Tribe was renowned for their battle prowess, and she was considered the top genius of her generation! Even amongst her tribe members, not counting her Heavenly Jewels, she was famous for her physical strength alone.

Little Four kept his mouth shut, while Drunken Bao sat on the ground resting, humming a tune to himself. Xiao Yan just looked at Lin TianAo and said resolutely: "We are a team."

All of a sudden, a clear crisp voice rang out. "Waaah! So many corpses! So scary!"

Everyone started upon hearing the voice. For the past three days, they had faced so many Heavenly Beasts, but this was the first time they had met any other humans. After all, this was quite a distance from the road, and even if any traveller were resting at the side of the road, they would not head so deep into the forest.

Along with the bell-like voice, a young lady walked out from the trees. She looked to be even younger than Shangguan Bing'er, about sixteen to seventeen years of age. Two black braids of hair at her sides, she looked the picture of the girl next door. Her large eyes were bright and touching, but the thing that caught their attention the most was her pupils, which were a dim grey colour. That was definitely something rare.

The young lady was not very tall, about 1.6 metres tall or so. However, she was pretty well-proportioned, in the bloom of puberty, full of the attraction of youth. Wearing a long black dress, she looked attractive. However, the strangest thing was that although they were in the forest, her feet were naked, yet she did not seem to feel anything as she walked across the forest ground.

At this moment, she was looking at the blood in the area, and the mass of dead Heavenly Beasts. Patting her chest, her large eyes widened as she blinked, a picture of fear.

Crow laughed and said: "Little sis, where did you come from? Where are your parents? It's dangerous to come into the forest alone."

The black clad young lady looked at Crow, face full of surprise as she said: "Wow! Big sis, you are so tall! I have never seen a sister so tall like you, much much taller than me!" As she said that, she used her hands to motion the difference between their height.

Crow laughed again, walking towards the girl, lifting her hands as if to pat her on the head. However, just as she was about a yard from her, her hands suddenly shot out, striking out towards the girl's neck.

At this point, for such a strange young lady to appear all of a sudden, how could anyone not be suspicious. Although Crow was thick-skinned 2, she was definitely not stupid. In fact, the reverse was true, with her hiding her intelligence behind a seemingly foolish appearance. With her taking action so suddenly, not only was the black clad girl caught by surprise, even the rest of the team were also taken aback.

How strong was Crow? With her strength, even if Lin TianAo at his higher cultivation level was caught by the neck by her, he would probably not be able to resist.

However, just as her hands were about to reach the girl's throat, the girl seemed to slide aside like a puff of smoke. Seemingly slow, but easily sliding out of the grasp of Crow without any problems. Her large eyes seemed so innocent as they misted over, looking over at Crow with a wronged face.

It was afternoon, and the sun was shining bright above, streaming down through the trees, bringing a gentle warmth to everyone amongst the shadow of the leaves. However, accompanying that easy sidestep of the black clad young lady, everyone's heart was suddenly gripped by a deep chill.

Chapter 223: Mysterious Black Clad Young Lady (3)

Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations

The reason for the sudden chill was because they could clearly see six deep red Physical Jewels glowing around the right hand of the black clad girl, showing a large contrast with her black outfit.

Amongst Physical Jewels, the Red Jade referred to coordination, and the pure colour also signalled that she was a Heavenly Jewel Master. None of the team members had expected that someone so young like her, looking only sixteen years old, could have such a powerful cultivation level! Furthermore, with her movement like a black mist earlier, it showed that her Elemental Jewel had at least the Darkness Greater Attribute!

Something out of the ordinary definitely signified something was up, and a sense of danger sparked in all their hearts. Lin TianAo quickly shouted. "Crow, come back!"

Accompanying Lin TianAo's shout, although everyone was extremely exhausted, they gathered their energy and quickly gathered together, blocking the cave entrance. Though Crow was vexed that she had not succeeded, she followed his instructions, quickly jumping back and taking her position with the rest of the team.

The black clad girl who still had a wronged look on her face just a moment ago suddenly giggled as she looked them, saying: "Oooh, you guys are so vigilant! Am I that scary?"

As she said that, she took a step forward, her body seeming to fly ahead close to the ground, and in a matter of moments, she appeared right in front of Lin TianAo, her ivory palm moving towards his chest…

Without question, this black clad lady was an enemy, and not a friend. In the short time, she had already determined that Lin TianAo was the leader of their team.

With a flash of white light, Lin TianAo had released his full five-shield Assembly Set. However, as compared to three days ago, its glow was a lot dimmer. No matter how tough Lin TianAo was, how much he focused himself now, fighting with all his might for three days and night had definitely taken his toll, and he was barely able to unleash fifty percent of his full power.

A soft *poof* sounds rang out, followed by a ear-splitting crash. That seemingly simple palm had actually managed to leave a small grey palm imprint on Lin TianAo's Ultimate Shield! As for Lin TianAo himself, his entire body shuddered as a icy cold, evil air invaded his body through the shield. If not for the fact that his shield had taken the brunt of the blow, perhaps this attack alone might have finished him off. Even so, his already wounded body was once again damaged, and a sweet taste rose in his throat as he vomited out a large mouthful of blood. As the blood flew in the air, it turned into an icy mist, finally coalescing into a solid red ice ball and falling onto the floor. However, Lin TianAo had managed to expel this extravasated blood, and barely warding off more damage from her blow.

"Eeh?" A hint of surprise appeared in the girl's eyes, clearly taken aback that her palm had not finished off Lin TianAo. In the next instant, her body had turned into black smoke and wafted aside for an instant. Crow's axes smashed right through the black smoke, and right after that, a golden barrier appeared, surrounding the girl.

Everyone could clearly tell that the black clad girl definitely had the Darkness Attribute, and naturally the best attribute against that was the Light Attribute. However, her power was just too strong. Ignoring the fact that she seemed to be able to easily avoid physical attacks with her mist skill, which was clearly at least from a King Stage Heavenly Beast or higher, just her strange offensive power on Lin TianAo had stunned everyone.

A flash of grey light appeared, and although the golden barrier had totally enveloped the black smoke, it was quickly swallowed by the grey light.

The black clad girl's voice, sounding like silver bells, rang out once more in the air: "You have the nerve to use such a puny amount of Light Energy to face me? All of you… Die!"

As the voice rang out, her body reformed once more in a strange flash, swiftly avoiding Xiao Yan's Chain Fireball attack. As she landed on the ground, she had already appeared beside Drunken Bao, and a swift palm shot towards his head.

Facing such an attack, the team members' faces changed. After all, even Lin TianAo with his ultimate defense had been wounded by her palm. If she managed to hit Drunken Bao, he would likely be killed.

However, at this moment, Drunken Bao also showed his power as a Five-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master. Earlier, when he had attacked the girl with his Light Attribute Skill, he had already guessed that he would be the next target. After all, the Light Attribute was the natural enemy or counter to the Darkness attribute. As such, although he wasn't in prime condition, he was still ready for the attack.

When the black clad girl descended from the sky and struck out at him, Drunken Bao's body swiveled around in a circle, his Consolidated Equipment actually all kept back, with both palms held together in front of his chest, forming a cross with his arms. In the next instant, he pushed his palms outwards, and a brilliant gold light exploded out from them, forming a huge gold pillar all around his body.

Another flash of surprise once again showed on the black clad girl's face, but her palm did not stop, striking forward, and hitting Drunken Bao's palm. At that moment, the brilliant gold light pillar around Drunken Bao expanded out instantly, covering everyone in the area.

Instantly, as everyone was bathed in the gold light, a warm, sunny feel enveloped them as the brilliant Light Heavenly Energy entered their bodies, causing them to perk up immediately, rejuvenating them both physically, mentally, and even their Heavenly Energy seemed to pick up.

However, for the black clad girl, she noticeably stalled as soon as she was enveloped by the gold light, her palm striking out obviously weakening. Even so, Drunken Bao still let out a muffled grunt as their palms met, and his entire body flew back like a rubber ball, flying almost thirty yards back as he smashed through trees before landing.

The Skill that Drunken Bao had used was called 'Brilliant Light – Heaven and Earth', and it was the skill stored in his fifth Jewel. It was a support skill, and when using this skill, it would increase his defense three-fold for a single second, extremely useful in blocking any powerful enemy attacks. However, that was not its only effect, as it was also able to buff his companions in the vicinity, giving their attacks an additional Light Attribute, and also giving a small healing and rejuvenation effect. Although the healing power of the Light Attribute was not as strong as the Life Attribute, it was still pretty decent.

At the same time, this was also an especially useful skill against enemy Darkness Attribute Heavenly Jewel Masters, having a minor offensive attack, as they were opposing attributes.This was also why he had barely managed to survive the attack from the black-clad girl. Even so, being struck back into the forest, Drunken Bao vomited a large amount of blood, frantically using his Light Attribute Heavenly Energy to suppress the ice cold energy which flowed in him. In doing so, he barely managed to survive, and it was clear he was not able to join the fight any further. Was the six-Jeweled level really that scary? No, what wasn't scary was the six-Jeweled cultivation level, but his black-clad girl! From the two small clashes, Lin TianAo had already been able to judge that this young girl did not simply have the Darkness Attribute alone. After all, the Darkness Attribute alone did not have such a powerful penetrating power, offensive capabilities, and that evil air.

The black clad girl was not in any hurry, but failing two attacks caused her to feel a little discontent. Standing there with a pout on her face, she muttered: "You guys truly have some power, no wonder you were able to kill so many Heavenly Beasts. Alas, you all are barely at fifty percent of your powers, otherwise, I might be in a little trouble."

At this point, two of the Fei Li Battle Team members exploded into action. A thick yellow light along with a heavy aura, and the imprint from the girl's blow earlier started to vanish from his shield. The five Elemental Jewels socketed on the shield shining brilliantly. Immediately, one of the inbuilt set Skills of the shield was activated, causing the already huge shield to grow even larger and heavier.

At the same time as Lin TianAo took action, Xiao Yan also launched his own attack. Amongst the entire team, he was the most silent. At the same time, he was also the one who Zhou Weiqing had deemed most dangerous when they had first met. In such a dangerous time where their lives were all on the line, he finally erupted out with his full power.

With a loud shout, the fire staff in his hands disappeared, turning back into the Physical Jewel. In the next moment, a strange, almost miraculous scene occurred, as all ten of his Heavenly Jewels, Physical and Elemental alike, flew outwards away from his wrists. The five Physical Jewels on the outer ring, and five Elemental Jewels within.

A brilliant fiery red light shone from from within, and Xiao Yan's face turned ashen. With his hands in front of his chest, he made a strange motion, and a white flame spat out from his mouth.

The black clad girl blinked her eyes in surprise. "Wahh, you sure are putting your life on the line! Flame of Life, Dance of the Heavenly Jewels! Looks like I have underestimated you all, for you to actually know and use such a skill!" Despite her words, she did not seem worried, not rushing to attack Lin TianAo. Instead, she vaulted back two yards, looking at Xiao Yan curiously.

In the middle of the thick red light, Xiao Yan's face clearly had an ugly expression. His ashen pale face slowly turned a sickly yellow, then green. At the same time, the light around him was growing stronger and more brilliant. All of a sudden, he gave a huge shout, and the ten Heavenly Jewels around him rose up along with the light. In the next moment, a strange cry rang out, sounding like that of a phoenix, and a huge three metre long gold-red phoenix fully created from flames actually rose from the light.

Xiao Yan pointed towards the black clad girl, and after doing so, he collapsed onto the ground, spewing out blood.

The fire phoenix spread its wings in the air, its shrill cry filling the air as it flew towards the black clad girl. The air in the entire area heated up considerably, nearly a hundred metre radius, and the air seemed distorted in a shimmering look.

By now, the black clad girl had a serious look on her face. Lifting both her hands, a short grey blade appeared in her hands, only one chi long. It looked rather strange, with one side black and the other side grey. At the same time, two layers of light arose from her body, and she seemed to glide forward towards the fire phoenix.

Chapter 224: The Powerful Little Witch (1)

Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations

Xiao Yan was a powerful five-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, and when he put his entire life on the line to power this Skill, one could imagine the sheer power of it. Even the black clad girl who was a whole level higher than him could not dismiss it easily. After all, Xiao Yan's teacher was the strongest Heavenly Jewel Master in the entire Fei Li Empire, a King Stage powerhouse!

As Xiao Yan released his ten Heavenly Jewels, the colour of the Physical Jewels were totally overshadowed by his Elemental Jewels. As a Fire Attribute Heavenly Jewel Master, his Elemental Jewels were the blindingly brilliant Star Red Rubies. As compared to ordinary red rubies, the Star Red Rubies were brighter and more brilliant, at the same time they seemed to outline show the brilliant lines of a red star, and that was the reason for its name.

The five Star Red Rubies seemed to explode, rising in flames behind the fire phoenix, and the already hot temperature continued rising, causing ripples in the air in the hundred metre radius.

"Blue Rain Hibiscus Mutabilis!" The black clad girl struck forward with her black-grey blade, at the same time crying out softly.

A large Hibiscus Mutabilis, glowing a brilliant blue, bloomed swiftly from behind her, and rays of blue light floated out like small rays of rain, looking soft and gentle, but as they flowed out, the increasing heat in the air slowed down to a standstill.

*Weng*

A huge buzzing sound roared out in a strange picture, as the thick flame met with the uncountable blue lights, intertwining with the fire phoenix which was flying towards the girl.

It had to be known that this fire phoenix was made of pure energy, and was at an unbelievably high temperature! Yet, at that moment, for it to be able to be suppressed by the frail looking blue lights! At the same time, the black clad girl's grey blade struck forward in an arc.

A bright flash ensued, before the air darkened as the fire phoenix scattered into innumerable bright glows. At the same time, the blue Hibiscus Mutabilis also disappeared slowly.

"You actually used your Flame of Life to attack me! Little Witch is getting angry!" The black clad girl pursed her lips, her entire person disappearing in a flash.

Earlier, the Flame of Life that Xiao Yan had unleashed had also been imbued with the Light Energy from Drunken Bao's ''Brilliant Light – Heaven and Earth' Skill. Although this black clad girl who called herself Little Witch was extremely powerful, such a clash had taken its toll on her energy as well.

However, with Xiao Yan fainted, the situation had also turned dire for the Fei Li Battle Team. Currently, the only ones who were still able to fight was Lin TianAo, Little Four, Shangguan Bing'er and Crow.

Alas, facing Little Witch's skill of turning into mist, their physical attacks would not be of much use. Their hearts sank rock bottom. None of them had expected for it to end like this for their entire team. After holding strong for three days, they had not been done in by the hordes of Heavenly Beasts, yet it looked like they would die at the hands of this young girl.

As the black mist gathered once more, this time the target was Lin TianAo. The grey blade indistinct, appearing and disappearing in the midst of the black mist, like a vicious fang seeking and waiting for a chance to strike at any moment of weakness.

Lin TianAo remained calm, his face cold and impassive. The five-shield Assembly Set slammed down onto the ground, as the five Elemental Jewels socketed in the middle lit up at once, covering him with a thick stony armour.

Unexpectedly, Lin TianAo suddenly closed his eyes. Without hesitation, the huge shield danced around in the air, as he moved his feet slowly, stably receiving Little Witch's attack

*Ding* *Ding* Clashing sounds mixed with ear-piercing screeches of metal against each other rang out. The black mist was also slammed around by Lin TianAo, spreading and gathering constantly.

At the same time, a loud cry sounded out. Little Four had been gathering his power the whole time, and at that moment he descended swiftly from the sky, his entire body enveloped in a thick silver light, making his entire body look like a huge silver ball of light. In a flash, he had joined the fight, making use of his swift movement to its maximum.

A blade grasped in hand, Little Four's wings flapped swiftly, controlling his movement in the air, pouncing down to attack and swooping away. His entire person seemed like a silver whirlwind, slicing around and dancing about the black mist as he attacked at great speed.

Little Witch could easily ignore ordinary physical attacks. However, she still had to respect Little Four's attacks which were imbued with a massive amount of Spatial Energy, not to mention the minor buff from Drunken Bao earlier. Although her main focus was still Lin TianAo, the harassing attacks from Little Four definitely affected her as well.

Crow also took action as well. Knowing that her powerful melee attacks would be useless against the mist, she finally revealed her Elemental Jewels for the first time.

Just like Xiao Yan, Crow's Elemental Jewels were the Star Red Ruby of the Fire Attribute. However, in terms of her Skills, she did not actually have any that were actually offensive, instead they were all support-types! Even so, she showed her true power on the path she had chosen.

The two huge legendary axes actually flew into the sky, and it could clearly be seen that the two axes were actually attached to a bright red chain. The chain was about ten metres long, and under Crow's control, they flew up and down as if part of her hands, swiftly changing positions and slashing at the black mist from various angles.

By now, the legendary axes had turned a full fiery red. Crow's strength was in close combat melee, and her Skills were all tailored to improve that. Her Fire Attribute Skills were all the rare Support Skills in the Fire Attributes, and they were certainly not used often. As for the chain, it was actually her Physical Jewel Consolidated Equipment, and was specialised to link to and control her Legendary Axes, imbuing them with the Support Skills.

Currently, what Crow was using was one of the secret combat axe styles of the Gold Crow Tribe: Ten Thousand Beast Shatter Strike. This axe style had been used by their ancestors to great effect, killing many Heavenly Beasts. It could be used at a close distance or ranged combat, and it was extremely powerful.

Shangguan Bing'er also took action. This time, she kept her bow and arrows, instead choosing to release her second Physical Jewel Consolidated Equipment, the socketed Wind Wielding Boots.

With the boots on, Shangguan Bing'er with her Ultimate Agility was like a gust of wind herself, speeding around at insane speeds around the outer periphery. As she ran, she constantly kicked out a large Wind Blade, each made up of seven small wind blades. Although she did not have such a skill like Xiao Yan to compress all his Fireballs together, but the seven small wind blades were all close together, striking forward at the same time. Even though its offensive power was not great, it was still sufficient to harrass Little Witch.

Although Shangguan Bing'er was only at the three Jeweled cultivation level, with the socketed Wind Wielding Boots and her full power, her speed was even faster than lightning. Facing the various attacks from various directions, Little Witch could not catch deal with her easily.

In that moment, the four remaining members of the Fei Li Battle Team surrounded Little Witch, attacking her from all angles with all their might. They knew that this was their last chance. As long as she managed to take down one more person, especially someone so important like Lin TianAo, then they would all be doomed.

With the four of them using their full power, adding to that the Light Energy from Drunken Bao's ''Brilliant Light – Heaven and Earth' Skill, it was certainly a deadly combination. Even a Zong Stage Heavenly Beast would not be able to deal with this easily.

However, Little Witch showed to them that human minds were definitely incomparable to ordinary Heavenly Beasts, at least humans which had such unique abilities like hers, such a powerful Heavenly Jewel Master.

Facing the attacks by all four of them, Little Witch was not flustered at all. All of a sudden, the black mist solidified, revealing her original form once more, and her left palm struck out at Lin TianAo's shield.

Another ear splitting explosion occured, and Lin TianAo's expression changed as he took three steps back involuntarily. Another palm imprint appeared on his shield, even deeper than the previous one! Just as he caught his balance, fighting to deal with the Evil Aura that had invaded his body once more, the imprint on the shield suddenly exploded. The intense explosion was at such an opportune time that it not only destroyed an incoming attack from Shangguan Bing'er, it also caused Lin TianAo to get knocked back five more steps, causing him to spurt out a few mouthfuls of blood. His entire body turned cold as his face paled rapidly.

After striking out with the palm and knocking Lin TianAo back, Little Witch did not stop to admire the results. Without any hesitation, she moved swiftly, the grey short blade in her hands flickering out like lightning, striking thirteen times. Each of the strikes landed on the Legendary Axes, and it could clearly be seen that the fiery red light around the axes were slowly diminished as the grey light overtook it, before finally being overwhelmed with the grey light. That grey light then continued on through the chain, flowing down towards Crow. Even all the Energy that Crow had infused into the chain was not able to halt the progress of the grey light, and the axes fell down, smashing heavily onto the ground as Crow lost control.

Right at the same time, Little Witch spun on her feet like a black whirlwind, taking on Little Four's onslaught. In a series of swift clashes, Little Four gave a strange cry, as he was slammed back nearly twenty feet before catching his balance again. Pausing, blood flowed out from his mouth, the Consolidated Wings behind his back vanishing. His face was grey and ashen, and the buff from Drunken Bao's ''Brilliant Light – Heaven and Earth' Skill had been eliminated from him.

In the short span of time, Little Witch had beaten back three of the team members. At that point, her beautiful face was stained in a red flush, as a brilliant blue light expanded outwards, and the Blue Rain Hibiscus Mutabilis appeared once more, floating in midair.

At that moment, Shangguan Bing'er tried to retreat, but it was already too late. She felt that her entire body was surrounded by an icy cold aura, slowing her movements by a huge margin. Before she could react, her body had been engulfed by the blue light, freezing her in place.

Little Witch twirled around in a half circle, the grey blade in her hands slashing down towards Shangguan Bing'er, and a grey light seemed to split the air between them. If Shangguan Bing'er were hit by this, she would undoubtedly perish immediately.

Chapter 225: The Powerful Little Witch (2)

Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations

This all happened so quickly. From the time that Lin TianAo had been knocked back, to everyone else being struck down, to Shangguan Bing'er facing her death, it had barely been the time taken to take two breaths. At this moment, no one would able to save her!

All of a sudden, a brilliant gold light shot forth from within the cave, smashing into the grey light that Little Witch had struck out at Shangguan Bing'er. With a loud explosion, both lights disappeared at the same time. It was only at this point that everyone abruptly realised that unknowingly, the white shield of light at the entrance of the cave had dissipated.

Seeing that her attack had been blocked, Little Witch was shocked. Her gaze turned to the cave entrance, before she sighed and said softly: "So, it really is you… What a pity… I really came too late. Since you've already succeeded in evolving, then that's it for today. I will catch up with you one day!" Lin TianAo and the rest were puzzled by her words, but she ignored them as she glanced around at the injured team. Breaking into a brilliant smile that seemed so lovable and innocent, she then disappeared in a buff of black smoke and vanished into the forest.

From the time that Little Witch had appeared to the end of the fight had been a very short period of time. However, in those few minutes, this young girl had left a profound impression on all the members of the Fei Li Battle Team. Besides Ye Paopao who had already been unconscious when the fight started, out of all the other six, only Shangguan Bing'er and Crow had escaped injury. Lin TianAo, Drunken Bao, Xiao Yan, Little Four, all four of these main team members had sustained severe injuries.

Presently, Crow was sitting on the floor, panting and gasping for breath. It was true that she had immense strength, but she was after all still a three-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master. Facing Little Witch had put her under immense stress, especially the last thirteen strikes on her axes, and the Evil aura that had invaded her body from that, had indeed put a huge pressure on her. In fact, all of them were now enduring the different degree of Evil Aura's invasion.

Shangguan Bing'er also collapsed on the floor, exhausted. With the massive exertions in the last three days, and facing such a close shave with death moments ago, she felt entirely drained, and she couldn't even head into the cave to have a look like she wanted before she collapsed.

Within the cave, the four coloured lights and the cocoon had both disappeared. Zhou Weiqing was lying on the floor unconscious, the black tiger tattoos on his body slowly dissipating. However, he was covered in a shimmering white light about three inches from his body, giving forth a light suction power, drawing Energy from the atmosphere around and into his body.

Tian Er, totally naked, stood right beside Zhou Weiqing, her back to him as she faced the cave entrance. Her purple eyes glowed indistinctly, and it could clearly be seen that the original six Heavenly Jewels around her wrists had now turned into seven. The blue tiger tattoos around her body had already disappeared, and her alluring body was fully revealed in the air, though no one was around to witness the sight. Her white hair fell down along her back down her entire body, and she gave forth a rather cold, profoundly mysterious, even holy aura.

"She was actually nearby… this time I am really in debt to this scoundrel's companions." Tian Er muttered to herself. As she did so, she turned back to look at Zhou Weiqing who was sleeping soundly, and a complicated look appeared in her eyes.

"Why! Why can't I kill him! I obviously can, and should kill him, to get the most benefit from him. That was my plan all along… but why can't I do it? I've followed him for two years, and that scoundrel has kept bullying me! I should have taken the fruits of my labour in this level up! Sigh… yet I am still unable to do so? Furthermore, during this level up, it wasn't just me who benefitted greatly, he has also benefitted quite a lot? Hmph, that rascal has gotten the advantage again."

Squatting down slowly, Tian Er examined Zhou Weiqing closely again, her eyes unclear. Lifting her hand, she placed it gently on Zhou Weiqing's face, and feeling the warmth of his skin, she flushed lightly.

"This scoundrel, hmph, he dared to catch me and force me to bathe with him. I want to kill him, really!" As she said that, she gave his face a savage pinch and twisted it.

Suddenly, she burst out giggling: "This rascal is really the worst that I have ever seen. Fine, I'll let him live for now. When I break through the King Stage, that's when I can get the greatest benefit from his death, at that point I will be able to harden my heart. Yes, that's right." 1

Having made her decision, Tian Er seemed to relax, her face showing her relieve. Looking at Zhou Weiqing's body who was coming into sight as the black tiger tattoos vanished, the blush on her cheeks deepened. Lifting her right hand, she tapped his forehead with her index finger, and a pale purple light entered his head. At the same time, she was enveloped in a bright white light, and her body shrank slowly. By the time she reappeared, she was in the form of the cute little white tiger once more.

Looking at him exasperatedly, she opened her mouth and bit Zhou Weiqing hard on the arm, before huffily climbing onto his chest and lying down to sleep.

Deep in sleep, Zhou Weiqing did not know that he had been bitten by little Fat Cat, but he certainly felt the pain. Shuddering, he slowly regained consciousness.

When he opened his eyes, he felt rather dizzy, as if his brain was muffled. Looking around in the cave, he was totally at a loss at what had happened.

Where am I? Why am I here? What was I doing? What happened?! He stared dazedy at the surroundings for a moment, before his memory started to return.

Oh! I should be with Fat Cat, protecting it while it levelled up! Zhou Weiqing leapt up abruptly on that thought. Alas, that caused Fat Cat, who had just settled down comfortably, to fall down, and as her soft body tumbled down Zhou Weiqing's body, he did not think much about it. However, when her body fell down to his legs, it was stopped by something…

As she opened her eyes, she saw that 'ugly thing' right in front of her, and was almost enraged to death. Zhou Weiqing! I will kill you! Just as she was about to lift her little claws to thwap the 'thing' in front of her, she suddenly felt her body rising up.

Zhou Weiqing had grabbed Fat Cat right in front of him, looking at it in the eyes, he asked curiously: "Fat Cat, you succeeded in levelling up?"

Fat Cat closed her eyes, twisting her mouth, as her little ears flopped down, totally an image of 'I'm ignoring you'.

"Ehh? I say. Don't you have a conscience? I just helped you to level up, and you treat me like that?!" Zhou Weiqing said exasperatedly, pinching Fat Cat's soft little butt. Looking down again, he then realised that he was actually totally naked.

Instantly, his eyes widened. "What's going on? Where's my clothes?! Fat Cat, what did you do to me? My… my… virtue! Ahh!" This shameless rascal looked at the little tiger in his hands with a sorrowful face, pulling its ears as he said: "Fat Cat, why did you get rid of all my clothes? Did you do something unspeakable to me? You perverted cat, how could you be so shameless, you must take responsibility for me! Why are you glaring at me like that?"

Fat Cat finally opened her eyes, finally enraged to the breaking point by the scoundrel, and a killing intent arose in the air. She truly felt that she had really made a wrong decision by sparing this fellow, she should have torn him into shreds earlier!

"Ehh… Never mind, who asked us to be together for so long. Sigh, I'll just suffer in silence, and not pursue the matter anymore." Zhou Weiqing, cunning as he was, could naturally sense that the atmosphere was growing bleak for him. Thinking about Fat Cat's power, he naturally decided to back down.

Taking a fresh set of clothes from his Spatial Necklace, he put Fat Cat back in his arms before heading out. Fat Cat glared angrily for a while, before closing her eyes huffily.

Earlier, he had not noticed anything different, but as soon as he moved and his blood circulated, he was shocked to find that his body had gone through a considerable change!

Ever since he had swallowed the black pearl, his body had been changed from within, and was already much tougher and stronger than any ordinary Jewel Master.

However, a comparison had to be made, it was as if his previous body was formed out of thin steel wires, and now, it was formed out of thick steel wires!

From deep within all the way to the outside, from skin to bone, meridians, internal organs, all of them gave him the impression of being complete reborn. Concentrating inwardly with all his senses, Zhou Weiqing could sense that his entire body, down to his cells, seemed to be enveloped in a thick wrap of purple energy, and it was this purple energy that had massively improved his body.

Originally, Zhou Weiqing could always feel the remaining residual energy from the black pearl in his Dantian, but this was totally gone now. His internal organs were all refreshed, almost glowing even, and every breath he took seemed allowed the internal organs to release a burst of energy throughout his entire body. Muscles, bones, meridians, everything seemed a lot tougher, even tensile. Just taking the single step forward, he felt as if he was lighter than before, almost stepping two yards far in that single bound.

At the same time, Zhou Weiqing realised that his final Death Acupuncture Point of the second portion of his Immortal Deity Technique, for the waist-back area, had been broken through! It was the WeiLu Acupuncture Point 2 at the caudal vertebrae. This meant his second portion of the Immortal Deity Technique was finally complete, and more importantly, the eight Death Acupuncture Points were all linked up properly and in proper circulation.

These eight Death Acupuncture Points of the waist-back which were now broken through quickly linked up with the five of the limbs which had been broken through in the first portion. Just like a constellation in the sky, they were linked in a formation, a total of thirteen energy whirlpools with the QiHai Acupuncture Point as the central point. Every breath Zhou Weiqing took, it felt as if every pore of his skin had a life force of its own, under the direction of the thirteen energy whirlpools, they drew a huge amount of Energy from the atmosphere, being stripped, purified there before circulating around the body and returning to the QiHai in his Dantian.

Along with the fact that his meridians were toughened, more flexible and widened considerably, Zhou Weiqing's Heavenly Energy had definitely grown by leaps and bounds. The liquid-state Heavenly Energy was plentiful, and he had finally official reached the first stage of the Heavenly Shen Energy.

Chapter 226: The Powerful Little Witch (3)

Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations

In that moment of distraction, Zhou Weiqing couldn't help but look down at his chest. He knew that without question, the change in his body had to be connected to Fat Cat's level up. Although he did not know what happened when he was unconscious, but it was obvious that he had definitely gained a lot from Fat Cat, not to mention that he had not experienced any of the usual pain when breaking through to this key Death Acupuncture Point.

Lifting his hands, he stroked Fat Cat on the head, and said with much emotions: "Thanks, Fat Cat. So you got rid of my clothes in order to help me… Thank you."

Fat Cat, who had been stewing in anger, was startled by the sudden touch. Hearing his words, she did not know why but she suddenly felt an unspeakable sense of warmth. Such a feeling was new to her, not having even felt that from her father.

As they spoke, Zhou Weiqing had walked out of the cave. At first, he had been planning to praise Fat Cat more, but the moment he stepped out and saw the scene in front of him, his entire body shuddered in shock. In a flash, he charged forth to Shangguan Bing'er, who was lying on the ground.

"This… what happened?" Zhou Weiqing held Shangguan Bing'er in his arms, blood-red flashing into his eyes, and a fierce killing intent erupted from his body. As he held her, his Heavenly Energy poured into her.

The scene in front of him had indeed given him a big shock. The floor was filled with blood and littered with corpses of Heavenly Beasts. In the Heavenly Bow Unit, he had attended several missions facing Heavenly Beasts, and he naturally had a lot of experience in dealing with them. On first look, he could already tell how powerful these Heavenly Beasts were. Furthermore, each and every one of his companions were sitting or lying on the ground, wounded, how could he remain calm!?

With the infusion of Zhou Weiqing's Heavenly Energy, Shangguan Bing'er recovered a little. Amongst the team members, she was one of the rare few who had remained injury free, and the reason she collapsed was because of sheer exhaustion and the stress of the previous battle. Seeing that Zhou Weiqing was in front of her, safe and well, she heaved a sigh of relief. Snuggling in his arms, feeling his warm embrace, she finally relaxed as her eyes reddened.

"Little Fatty, I thought I'd never see you again. It's great that you are okay."

Zhou Weiqing held her closely, a strong sense of fear filling his heart, causing his face to go pale. He could not imagine losing Shangguan Bing'er, and he had never felt such terror before.

"Little Fatty, I'm alright, just a little exhausted, you should go look at the rest. These three days, in order to protect you and Fat Cat, we have gone through at least a few dozen battles. Just a moment ago, there was this black clad young girl, she almost killed us all."

Zhou Weiqing quickly cleared his head; he was no fool after all, and had only just been distracted by the sight of Shangguan Bing'er on the ground. He immediately understood that these Heavenly Beasts attacks had been due to Fat Cat���s Level Up, and the rest of the team had spent the last three days fighting to defend them. Three days! For Shangguan Bing'er to be so exhausted to fainting, he could imagine how tough the fighting had been.

Carefully, he placed Shangguan Bing'er back onto the ground in a comfortable spot, before quickly heading to Lin TianAo.

It had to be said that Lin TianAo was indeed worthy of his title as the leader of the team. His injuries were serious, but he was still the only one who managed to sit there cross legged, meditating and cultivating to heal himself.

Just that resilience and determination alone, it was far beyond anyone.

"Leader, how is it?" Zhou Weiqing looked to Lin TianAo concernedly. He was rather taken aback, as Lin TianAo was currently pale and ashen, with uneven breathing and his muscles twitching, clearly in a large amount of pain. Zhou Weiqing knew very well how powerful his defense was, and for him to take such damage in the fight, it was clear how violent the fight had been.

Zhou Weiqing did not have the Lie Attribute, and could not help heal Lin TianAo. The only thing he could do was the infuse him with Heavenly Energy, to help him in his process of self-heal.

Sitting behind Lin TianAo, Zhou Weiqing placed both his palms onto Lin TianAo's broad back, slowly infusing his own Heavenly Energy.

As soon as he did so, Zhou Weiqing found something peculiar. In Lin TianAo's body, there was a strangely familial energy, and as Zhou Weiqing infused his own Heavenly Energy, the feeling grew stronger.

Very quickly, a cool refreshing energy returned through Zhou Weiqing's palms into his body, and the attribute wheel in front of his eyes automatically rolled to the grey area, signifying the Demonic Attribute.

"What's going on?" Zhou Weiqing was caught by surprise. Could it be that when he broke through the second portion of the Immortal Deity Technique, he could control the Devour technique outside of the Demonic Change? But… it was Lin TianAo in front of him, he did not want to Devour him!

Just as Zhou Weiqing was trying to puzzle things out, the cool energy entering his palms grew stronger. Furthermore, he quickly realised that this energy was not what he first thought; it was definitely not Lin TianAo's Earth Attribute energy, but an icy cold Demonic Heavenly Energy!

As the Demonic Attribute Heavenly Energy was drawn away by Zhou Weiqing, he could obviously feel that the tensed muscles on Lin TianAo's back relaxing a little, and he was also able to sit up straighter. This pure Demonic Heavenly Energy was also mixed in with some Darkness Heavenly Energy, and as soon as Zhou Weiqing drew it in, it was absorbed by his thirteen Death Acupuncture Points, being transformed into his own, and Zhou Weiqing could feel that his Heavenly Energy had actually grown, along with his cultivation level!

"I'm alright now." Lin TianAo released a breath. Earlier on, when Little Witch had struck his Assembly Shield with her final blow, it had almost been destroyed. These three days, Lin TianAo had been the mainstay of the entire team, the pillar holding them together, and the drain on him was just too immense. If not for that, Little Witch would not found it so easy to deal with him. After sustaining such a heavy injury, the thing that was of the greatest problem to Lin TianAo was just that cold Demonic energy. As soon as it had invaded his body, it had started nibbling away at his energy, damaging his meridians. He had to spend a large amount of Heavenly Energy just to suppress it, but was unable to clear it. With that, he was unable to put his focus on healing the other injuries. He knew that if this continued, even if his other wounds were healed, the Demonic Energy would remaining in his body, continuously leaving him with a major injury.

Just as he was getting worried, Zhou Weiqing arrived, and as his hands were placed on his back, Lin TianAo could feel the hugely problematic cold energy get drawn away by Zhou Weiqing. Without that Demonic Energy, he heaved a sigh of relief, as he could now focus on healing the rest of his wounds.

"Weiqing, head over to the other side to look at Drunken Bao. He sustained the heaviest injuries, and he is also plagued by the Evil Energy. Save him first, then Little Four and Crow. Ye Paopao is just exhausted, and Xiao Yan burnt his own life energy to summon the Flame of Life, and he can only slowly recuperate by himself."

Even at such a time when he was so heavily injured, Lin TianAo was still a responsible team leader. He knew it wasn't time to ask Zhou Weiqing about how he was able to deal with the ice cold Evil Energy in his body, and it was much more important to deal with everyone's injuries.

In the next hour, Zhou Weiqing finally managed to draw all the Demonic Energy within all his companions' bodies, alleviating much of their injuries. At the same time, the mass influx of Demonic Energy was also like a tonic to himself, giving a huge boost to his cultivation level.

As the team gathered together, only then did Zhou Weiqing realise the seriousness of the matter. Among the seven of his companions, the only one who remained uninjured was Shangguan Bing'er. Ye Paopao had just awoken, but he had sustained some injuries during the past three days of fighting. However, both he and Crow's injuries were still relatively light. Especially Crow, whose main toll here was the invasion of the Demonic Energy, which was already drawn out by Zhou Weiqing. However, the rest of the team was in dire straits.

Drunken Bao was severely injured, and although Zhou Weiqing had helped him draw out the Demonic Energy in his body, it had already one the damage within. Added to his other injuries, it would take a long time for him to recover. The next worst was Xiao Yan, whose meridians had sustained quite a serious injury. In order to fight with Little Witch, he had burnt his life force to summon the Fame of Life. He did not sustain a lot of injuries, but it had drained his vitality and life force, and both he and Drunken Bao were in a coma. Little Four was only slightly better than the other two; just like Lin TianAo, he had sustained internal injuries and would require some time to recover.

Out of the entire eight members of the Fei Li Battle Team, four out of the five main team members were heavily injured. Yet, it was barely twenty days to the Heavenly Jewel Tournament! Twenty days was definitely not enough time for the four of them to complete their recovery.

Zhou Weiqing slowly and quietly harvested the various materials from the dead Heavenly Beasts. Despite knowing that his team members were safe now that he had drawn the Demonic Energy from their wounds, his brow was still furrowed. In order to protect him and Fat Cat, these seven companions had not abandoned him, fighting with all their lives for three whole days. No matter what happened, this put him in severe debt to them. More importantly, in order to protect him, with the four main team members injured, especially Lin TianAo, what would they do for the Heavenly Jewel Tournament?! They had come to this tournament with high hopes to enter the top four, especially for Lin TianAo who was already twenty nine years old, it could be said that this was his last chance, and something he had worked towards for the past few years. It had been that final thing he wanted to accomplish before returning to Zhou Weiqing to be his Lifetime Follower.

…

Since Fat Cat had already completed her level up, the aura drawing the Heavenly Beasts was no longer up. As such, they rested in the clearing for the next three days, managing to recover from the worst of the situation. Xiao Yan and Drunken Bao finally woke up, and though no one blamed Zhou Weiqing, he could still see the depression in all their eyes.

As night dawn, they sat around the fire, eating the dinner that Zhou Weiqing had prepared. Everyone remained awkwardly silent.

All of a sudden, Drunken Bao who had his head lowered down with a slight reddish tinge in his eyes raised his head and said: "Leader, let's go back home."

With so many injuries, how could they possibly continue attending the Heavenly Jewel Tournament?!

Chapter 227: Let me be the mainstay (1)

Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations

"Leader, let's go back home." Such a simple line, yet it caused everyone's face to change, their expressions turning ugly. Little Four's fist gripped tightly, a vexed look upon his face. Xiao Yan closed his eyes, sighing softly. Crow was still relatively okay, as she was still extremely young and could always join the next Heavenly Jewel Tournament, but she still looked disappointed.

Lin TianAo looked at Drunken Bao, and after a while, he sighed deeply, shaking his head. Softly, he said dejectedly: "Man proposes and Heaven disposes. You are right. Rather than forcefully go ahead and be humiliated, we might as well go back. I will take full responsibility for this matter."

"Wait!" Just at that moment, Zhou Weiqing suddenly stood up in an abrupt motion, looking around at the disappointed faces of his companions. He said solemnly: "We can't go back like this, we need to attend the Heavenly Jewel Tournament."

"En?" Drunken Bao looked at him, brow furrowed. "Under such a circumstance, what's the point of attending? Our purpose isn't just to attend. With our injuries, I'm afraid we will not even be able to get past the first round, let alone the later stages, or even dream of the top four. It would be a humiliation."

Zhou Weiqing drew in a deep breath. He had already thought the entire thing through before speaking up. He knew how important this tournament was for the five members of the Heavenly Jewel Master Academy, especially the seniors, and it could be said to be their dream. Yet, this dream was almost dashed because of himself and Fat Cat. If they went back like this, he would never be able to live with himself, and the rest would have to live with this regret as well, and this was definitely something he did not want to see. At that point, the heroic character that he had inherited from Admiral Zhou rose up in his chest for the first time, and he made up his mind that he would definitely attend this Heavenly Jewel Tournament, even if he had to reveal his Alexandrite Cat's Eye Jewel. It might bring him a lot of trouble, but if he didn't do it, he would regret it for life.

Of course, he had also pondered through the possibilities before finally coming to his decision. After all, the mysterious white haired young lady Tian Er had said previously that the Heavenly Snow Mountain had their eyes on him. If he got into trouble from the Alexandrite Cat's Eye Jewel being revealed, he could either join the Heavenly Snow Mountain or even the Heavenly Demonic Sect if there was no other choice.

"We shall continue to join the Heavenly Jewel Tournament. I will be the mainstay member." Zhou Weiqing said solemnly.

As soon as he said that, everyone looked at him in surprise.

Little Four's eyes revealed a hint of appreciation, but he sighed and said: "Bro, it's ok. I know that you feel terrible about this situation, but it is not your fault. No one expected this to happen, and sometimes bad luck just strikes."

Zhou Weiqing shook his head. Currently, his eyes did not have the usual mischievous light within, instead a cold calculating brightness as he said: "We have eight of us in the team, and from the looks of things, the four of you are heavily injured. However, both I and Shangguan Bing'er are totally uninjured and will have our full combat powers. Crow and Ye Paopao should also recover in a few days. As such, by the time the Tournament starts, the four of us will be able to fight in the tournament. From the look of your injuries, Leader should take about a month or so before he recovers to prime condition, and Little Four, you should be about the same as well. As for Xiao Yan and Drunken Bao, they are much more severely injured, and will probably take a longer time. As long as the four of us are able to get pass the first two rounds, then our entire team's combat ability will have recovered to at least eighty percent. If we can last til the top eight, we would have recovered almost ninety percent. Who's to say we will not have the ability to forge on into the top four by then? The most difficult fights for us will be the first two rounds, but if we get relatively lucky with draws, we might get some weaker teams. We definitely still have a chance."

Listening to his analysis, everyone's face changed, and a glow of hope seemed to rise in their hearts.

Zhou Weiqing continued: ���Senior Ye Paopao is a four-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, and his cultivation level is definitely enough to attend the Heavenly Jewel Master. Crow, with her natural abilities, can be almost compared to a five-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master in terms of direct attacks. Bing'er might not be extremely powerful, but as a ultimate agility Heavenly Jewel Master, her speed is way beyond most non agility Five-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Masters. Furthermore, though her offensive capabilities might not be too powerful, but she can pretend to be a Beastmaster to bring a Low Level Zun Stage Icy Soul Heavenly Bear on the field, coupled with her archery, that is a formidable force already."

Drunken Bao said solemnly: "Even so, that might not be enough. You know how important this tournament is, even if we ignore the top teams, those smaller Empires will still send their best and most brilliant Heavenly Jewel Masters."

Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and said: "There's still the mainstay member – me. I have the confidence that as long as we are facing any team that isn't backed by one of the Great Saint Lands, I will be able to suppress two or more of our opponents. Although I do not wish to deal you a blow, I have to say now that Senior Little Four, previously when I beat you, it was not luck at all."

As soon as Zhou Weiqing said that, Little Four's expression turned strange. "Weiqing, are you trying to comfort me or provoke me?! Are you saying that you think you are stronger than me?"

Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: "Heh, definitely stronger than you!"

Little Four said with a glum look on his face: "You, this fellow, you're bullying me that I am injured now and can't test the truth of your words for myself. I know that your intentions are good, and you want us to join the tournament, but we cannot bet your lives on such a chance. After all, in the Heavenly Jewel Tournament, in order for the competitors to be able to be able to unleash their full powers, killing is not against the rules."

Besides Lin TianAo, who looked to be deep in thought, and Shangguan Bing'er, who was sitting down calmly and expressionless, the rest of the companions looked at Zhou Weiqing with a look of disbelief on their face. Even Ye Paopao was no different.

Previously, Ye Paopao had felt that his power was not bad. However, in the last three days of fighting, he had realised that there was just an immense, almost insurmountable gap between his power levels, and the members of the Heavenly Jewel Master Academy. Their unity, teamwork, their awareness, reactions, combat abilities, even powerful skills, those were something he sorely lacked. At this point, hearing Zhou Weiqing saying that he was more powerful than Little Four, he did not believe it at all.

"Crow." Zhou Weiqing ignored Little Four, turning to Crow instead.

"What?" Crow replied, sitting on the floor and looking at him uncertainly. She had not sustained injuries in the fight, and had only been affected by the Evil Energy of Little Witch. Since it had been drawn away by Zhou Weiqing, coupled with a whole day of rest and her strong physique, she had pretty much recovered already.

Zhou Weiqing looked at her, his mouth curved in a smile as he said: "Let's compete in physical strength."

"What?? You want to compete in physical strength with me?!" Crow's eyes bulged. Her expression was clearly saying 'Bro, are you ill?!' She was not the only one, all the rest were staring at Zhou Weiqing with a similar expression.

Chapter 228: Let me be the mainstay (2)

Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations

Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: "Come on then! My Physical Jewel is also the Strength Attribute. We're both at the three-Jeweled cultivation level, why not compete?"

Little Four laughed heartily and said: "Weiqing, you are asking for trouble? Isn't it just a tournament? Crow's legendary hammers… even boss will get a headache!"

Right at point, Lin TianAo suddenly spoke out. "Crow, go ahead. Compete with him."

"Ahh?" Everyone looked at Lin TianAo with surprise.

In truth, Zhou Weiqing's analysis had really tempted Lin TianAo. Just like what Zhou Weiqing had thought, this Heavenly Jewel Tournament was extremely important to Lin TianAo, and could be said to be his goal these last few years. Three years ago, when he had attended the Tournament for the first time, he had been left with an extremely deep impression. The next three years he had spent working his heart out, all so that he could once again ascend the stage and bring honour to the Fei Li Empire.

Crow stood up slowly, looking at Lin TianAo curiously: "Leader, are you sure? Although he has some meat on him, but… to compete in strength with me…"

*Poooh* Ye Paopao had been drinking water at that time, and he spat out a whole mouthful in laughter, his mouth twitching. "What do you mean, has some meat on him…"

Lin TianAo smiled faintly and said: "I have my reasons for doing so, just try for yourself and find out."

As they spoke, all of a sudden, Crow lifted her right hand, striking out towards Zhou Weiqing abruptly.

Zhou Weiqing was close by to her, and with her height, she barely needed to take a step before reaching him.

Zhou Weiqing did not dodge, instead swiftly stepping to the left with his left foot, bending down in a slight crouch as he positioned himself. With a low grunt, he also lifted his right hand, fingers spread out as he received Crow's hand with his own.

Their palms struck together with a meaty slap, and their fingers interlocked tightly.

Everyone's gaze fell upon the two, as they silently watched the struggle.

Crow had absolute confidence in her strength, and grabbing onto Zhou Weiqing's hand, she pulled hard, thinking to fling his entire body up.

"En?" As soon as she exerted strength, a look of surprise appeared on her face. Despite her pulling, Zhou Weiqing did not budge at all, his right hand steady as bedrock, with nary a motion.

As a member of the Gold Crow Tribe, and an outstanding one, Crow had a terrifying strength. Although she had pulled rather casually, it was already more than several thousand jin of power. This was more because of her own estimation of Zhou Weiqing's capabilities as a three-Jeweled Strength Heavenly Jewel Master.

Regarding Crow's surprise, Zhou Weiqing's mouth twitched upwards in a small smile.

Crow's competitive spirit was aroused, and she shoved her right leg firmly on the ground as a pivot, shouting out: "Come here!" Her entire body rippled as she focused her strength, her right arm flexing as she pulled back hard in a burst of power.

Zhou Weiqing also gave a low shout, his eyes glittering as the muscles of his entire body tightened, his arm muscles taut as his entire power was focused on his right hand.

*Bang* A small explosion rang out as the clothes on Zhou Weiqing's right arm actually shredded into pieces, revealing a strong, robust arm. Currently, the muscles were rippling, full of power and beauty.

Facing Crow's sudden explosive pull, Zhou Weiqing only swayed a little, yet was not pulled back at all.

At this point, shock was displayed on all the members of the Heavenly Jewel Master Academy, as well as Ye Paopao. If the first time could be explained by Crow underestimating Zhou Weiqing, the second pull was clearly already with a considerable amount of power, yet it had still been easily blocked by him. The members of the Heavenly Jewel Master Academy had all experienced Crow's terrifying power first-hand; and just those two pulls alone was definitely beyond what any normal Strength Attribute Heavenly Jewel Master could withstand.

Not only did Crow inherit the power of the Gold Crow Tribe, she had also inherited the power from her father's side, the strength of the barbarian tribe. In this marriage of strength, her physique was one of the most outstanding in the tribe, yet she had still not managed to move Zhou Weiqing.

"Again!" Zhou Weiqing shouted out. Facing Crow's power was also extremely strenuous for him; before the benefits he had gained during Fat Cat's level up, he would definitely have been moved by Crow by now. However, this time, all of Zhou Weiqing's potential had been drawn out, allowing the remaining power of the black pearl to be completely diffused into his body, fusing together with him. As such, Zhou Weiqing had finally completely inherited the powers of the black pearl. With the huge boost to his physique, his strength was no weaker than the top genius of the Gold Crow Tribe, Crow.

Zhou Weiqing's shout also awoke Crow's battle thirst. She had never lost in a contest of strength before, and with a shout, the sleeve of her right arm also shattered, as her entire arm was covered in a layer of gold light. Taking a huge gulp of air, her entire body seemed to expand a degree.

The power of her pull increased yet again, and this time, both their hands gave a faint creaking sounds as their bones strained.

Icy Mist glowed as their Physical Jewels both appeared around their wrists. Without question, their strength had been boosted to their max, all the way including their Physical Jewels.

In truth, by this point, everyone had a clearer understanding of Zhou Weiqing's true strength.

However, Crow was still Crow after all, and under her full power, Zhou Weiqing's body was slowly pulled forward, his upper body slowly moving towards her direction. Although it was just a little movement, but without question, in terms of pure physical strength, Zhou Weiqing was still inferior by a tiny margin. Just as everyone thought that she had won this match, all of a sudden, a blood red light shone forth from Zhou Weiqing's eyes, and in the next moment, a clear black layer of tiger tattoos slowly enveloped his arms. His already huge, taut muscles grew even larger, and even his palms seemed bigger.

Stamping his feet on the ground so hard that the ground seemed to reverberate, a terrifying strength exploded forth. At that moment, it seemed as if Zhou Weiqing was lifting an entire mountain, as he forcibly pulled Crow over to his side as his arms flexed in a push pull motion, then an abrupt upward swing, as he actually lifted up the over six hundred jin heavy Crow!

Ye Paopao, Drunken Bao, Xiao Yan, Little Four, all four of them stared in disbelief at the scene in front of them, their mouths gaped open as they couldn't trust their own eyes. In a while, Little Four muttered to himself: "A monster… is this a monster?"

It was exactly because they knew Crow's strength so well, having witnessed her immense unyielding power along with her legendary axes and that insane offensive power, that it caused such a visual impact on their senses to see Zhou Weiqing beat her in a strength contest!

With a swipe of his right arm, Zhou Weiqing threw Crow over to the side, and as Crow landed heavily on her feet with a loud thud, only then were the shocked spectators jolted from their reverie.

At the moment, Crow's face was also a mask of disbelief as she stared at her hands, stunned. Looking at Zhou Weiqing, and then back at her hands, she was temporarily unable to process the situation.

A Heavenly Jewel Master of the same cultivation level… she had lost in terms of strength?!

As the tiger tattoos subsided and slowly disappeared from Zhou Weiqing's arms, he shook his head. In truth, he did not know how they managed to appear in the last moment to provide him with the last burst of required explosive strength, as he normally had to fully enter the Demonic State to access such power. At that instance, he had felt as if his strength was sufficient to topple mountains and fill the seas.

Shaking his arms to stretch his muscles, Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: "How about that? Bro Little Four, if you had bet with me again just now, don't you think you would lose again? Heh heh."

Indeed, in comparison to his first victory over Little Four, this victory of his over Crow in a feat of strength was even more unbelievable to the audience.

Little Four struggled to defend himself: "This… this… Even if you have the strength, it still isn't the same! Crow has her legendary axes, you have seen their power, it is that combination that destroys everything in their path!"

Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: "I may not have axes, but I have my hammers! Look!" As he said that, he extended his arms, shrugging them in a swift motion, and a brilliant dark-gold protective shroud of the Legendary Equipment burst forth as his twin hammers appeared in his hands.

As the twin hammers glowed brightly, the smiling and crying face enameled on them giving forth a powerful aura. Holding the huge hammers in hands, the 1.9m tall Zhou Weiqing looked like the bronze statue of a war god, standing proud and tall in front of them valiantly.

Just in terms of looks alone, the twin legendary hammers were slightly smaller than the legendary axes, but were in terms of design, they looked better.

Little Four muttered: "How can those compare with Crow's Legendary Axes? Is it silverware which looks good but made out of wax, great to look at but useless?"

Xiao Yan glanced at him and said passively: "It's terrifying to be so uncultured. That light just now showed that those hammers are Consolidated Equipment created by God Tier Consolidating Masters. I agree to join the Heavenly Jewel Tournament." After saying that, he closed his eyes, sitting back with a faint smile on his face for the first time since the battle in the forest.

Drunken Bao said with a helpless look on his face: "These youngsters nowadays are absolutely terrifying. One pair of hammers, one pair of axes, if they stand at any entrance, they can be the guardian spirits, it will definitely be a good sight. I also agree to continue with the Tournament."

Zhou Weiqing hefted the hammers meaningfully as he grinned at Little Four: "Bro Little Four, do you want to try out the feel of my hammers?"

Little Four quickly shook his head: "Don't, don't… I agree alright! Damnit, I'm tricked by you, this scoundrel, once again. Sinister and crafty! That's you in a nutshell!"

Just as Zhou Weiqing was grinning smugly to himself for getting the team's approval, all of a sudden, Crow walked over to his side. The two metre tall, top beauty of the Gold Crow Tribe, looked at him exuding tenderness and feeling in her eyes as she said sweetly: "You… you hurt my arm just now 1 Weiqing, come to our Gold Crow Tribe. Although I already have a fiance, there are still many unwed girls in the tribe! They love such strong men like you. It doesn't matter, they will not ask you to take responsibility, you just need to leave your seed in the tribe. How about that?"

Zhou Weiqing's face muscles twitched as he looked at Crow. After a moment of silence, he finally said with a glum, woebegone look on his face: "Big sis, I'm terrified. Please let me go."

Hearing his reply, everyone burst out laughing, and even Shangguan Bing'er was giggling to herself. Little Four was laughing so hard he almost burst open his wounds again, hurting yet laughing until tears ran down his cheeks. However, in that moment, their battle spirit had been invoked once more. Heavenly Jewel Tournament… here we come!

Chapter 229: A Dual Dose. (1)

Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations

When the Fei Li Battle Team resumed their travels, they had changed to three horse carriages, which Zhou Weiqing had ran to the closest town to purchase. In truth, they only numbered eight, and a large horse carriage should have been sufficient. However, since there were four wounded, Zhou Weiqing decided to just splurge a little and buy three. Crow, with her immense weight, and Shangguan Bing'er would share one as the only two females. As for the other two carriages, each held three members, with Zhou Weiqing and Ye Paopao each taking care of two injured companions. This way, they would be able to get sufficient rest during their travels, and also heal faster.

At this time, Zhou Weiqing found that he missed Ming Hua. How good it would be to have a Life Attribute Heavenly Jewel Master with them right now, to help with all the wounded.

Even though the horse carriages were each pulled by four strong horses, the speed of travel was naturally a lot slower than on horseback. By the time they reached the ZhongTian City, fifteen days had already passed, and it was only five days til the start of the Heavenly Jewel Tournament.

In the distance, a large canyon was right ahead, and there were obviously a lot of people crossing it. According to the carriage driver, they were about to reach the ZhongTian City.

Lin TianAo gave the instructions to the carriage drivers to stop all the carriages, and got everyone to get off.

"Boss, are't we about to reach the ZhongTian City soon? Isn't it better to rest once we reach the city?" Drunken Bao asked curiously.

Lin TianAo smiled faintly, and said: "Raise your heads and look up, I want to let you all know where the Heavenly Jewel Island is."

Only then did everyone look upwards, and when they did so, an intense shock impacted them deeply.

They were currently on the main road, and from their position, they could clearly see about a few dozen li away, a huge, thick stone pillar rising up into the sky and disappearing into the clouds. Just with the naked eye, they were unable to truly estimate how huge the stone pillars were, but just standing there seeing sixteen of these huge pillars rising into the sky, it was a rather stunning scene. Even the Little White Tiger, Fat Cat, peeked her head out from Zhou Weiqing's bosom to stare at the scene, a cold light flashing in her eyes.

That is the ZhongTian Mountain, and it is the greatest landmark of the ZhongTian Empire. Within the sixteen Heavenly Pillars lies the entire ZhongTian City, while right on top of the sixteen Heavenly Pillars is the Heavenly Jewel Island of the Heaven's Expanse Palace. The ZhongTian Empire has always been proud to call themselves the Center of the Mainland, and they indeed do have the right to be proud. Such a miraculous scenery is truly only found here.

"That is too shocking. These huge pillars are like a chain linking the world to the skies, the name of Heavenly Pillar is indeed apt." Little Four exclaimed in admiration.

Zhou Weiqing stood there with his head raised, thinking to himself. No wonder the ZhongTian Empire was considered the strongest empire in the entire mainland. From the ZhongTian City in the belly of the hill, to the Heavenly Jewel Island at the top, they could be considered the most miraculous places in the world. He felt a greater sense of expectancy towards the Heavenly Jewel Tournament, and couldn't help but wish they could get into the fight soon. No wonder everyone was so eager to get to the top four! Even if there wasn't that insane prize, everyone would still be eager to ascend the Heavenly Jewel Island to have a look! What kind of strange sights would they see?

Lin TianAo said passively: "We are about to reach the ZhongTian City, and we have barely a few days left before the tournament starts. I will now proclaim Zhou Weiqing as the temporary team leader, and the tournament matters will be determined by him."

Zhou Weiqing looked at Lin TianAo in surprise, and he nodded back, giving an encouraging look.

Drunken Bao said: "Boss, that isn't necessary right? Even if your wounds aren't healed, there would be no affect on directing everyone!"

Lin TianAo shook his head and said: "No, now that Weiqing is the mainstay, he is the clearest about his own and Bing'er's powers. I will be at his side to give advice, but I trust that he will not do anything that he does not have confidence in. I think he is very suitable to be the temporary leader."

After the last dozen or so days of rest and recovery, the entire team was in much better state. However, the few with serious injuries, especially the internal ones, were still not in any shape to fight. Even though Heavenly Jewel Masters had strong physiques, it was still impossible to recover from such injuries in a short period of time.

Lin TianAo nodded to Zhou Weiqing and said: "For the Tournament, each round is held every three days, allowing contestants to have some rest between rounds. From the state of our injuries, it will take at least ten days to recover. Xiao Yan and Drunken Bao are in worse shape, so they will probably take much longer. As such, you will have to lead the uninjured members to get through at least two rounds. This is extremely difficult, but I hope that you will be able to do so. Perhaps, our team can ride on your high personal luck, and we will not meet any tough teams too early."

Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: "There is no point making any guarantees to everyone, but I will definitely do my utmost. Come on, let's get into the ZhongTian City and find a place to stay, so we can have a good rest."

In the past few days, although they had been on the road the entire time, but it could be said to be the most hardworking Zhou Weiqing had ever been. Since he had pledged to be the mainstay, he felt a huge weight on his shoulders. Even though his Heavenly Energy had raised up a level to the first stage of Heavenly Shen Energy, he was still after all a mere three-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master. From the state of the members of the Heavenly Jewel Academy, he could tell that those who joined the Tournament would likely be at least four to five Jeweled, and perhaps even greater.

Even though it was sharpening one's spear only just before entering battle 1, it was still good to work hard and improve every bit he could before the fight started.

Although they could already see the Heavenly Pillars, the distance was rather deceptive. By the time they reached the ZhongTian City, it was already late in the evening.

As they finally reached close to the city and saw up close how huge the sixteen thick pillars were; each pillar was at least a few thousand metres in diameter, and the ZhongTian City's walls were using these sixteen pillars as a base and built around. Without even guessing, everyone knew that this was definitely the largest city in the entire mainland. As they neared it, they could not even see the borders. Zhou Weiqing was extremely sure that even the entire Heavenly Bow Empire was not as huge as this city, which was more than five thousand square kilometres large!

For most cities in the world, farming and other agricultural industries were all outside the city walls. However, this ZhongTian City was just too huge, and even their agriculture industries were within the city! Just the huge, thick wall alone was at an unknown, immense cost, and the entire ZhongTian City was just like a small empire of its own right. The air above the city was currently shrouded in mist, and the sun could only shine in through the sides, and no one could see the Heavenly Jewel Island right high above.

After reaching within range of the ZhongTian City, it was already dark by the time they entered the inner city. The inner city was the heart of the entire city, and just the inner city portion was already much larger than the Fei Li Empire's capital city, Fei Li City.

When the entire team had settled down, it was already past midnight.

As the temporary leader of the team, Zhou Weiqing had chosen an unassuming looking, small inn for them to settle down. The reason for this was not to save money, but to ensure that they could have peace. Without question, with the Heavenly Jewel Tournament nearing, the entire ZhongTian City was bustling and busy. With the young powerhouse of the world gathering here, they were all rivals after all, and if they met, there was bound to be friction between them. With so many of them injured, especially Lin TianAo, it was definitely not the right time for them to get into any unnecessary clashes. As such, Zhou Weiqing would rather stay in a simple, ordinary inn, allowing his injured teammates to get their required rest. After all, there was still five more days until the Tournament started.

Their first night in the ZhongTian City was uneventful, and the next morning, after everyone had their breakfast, Lin TianAo called everyone to his room. He was the only one who had attended the Heavenly Jewel Tournament before, and it was time for him to inform the entire team about the rules and things to be noted, especially to Zhou Weiqing, who was now the temporary leader.

Lin TianAo looked at his companions seated around him, and said seriously: "The Heavenly Jewel Tournament is about to start. Xiao Yan, Little Four, Drunken Bao, for the first two rounds of the Tournament, you all do not to attend. My wounds are slightly lighter, and I will join Weiqing and the rest to attend. Of course, I will not take any action unless absolutely necessary, lest my wounds worsen."

"In the entire mainland, there are over thirty Empires, small and large. Out of those, to be able to find and gather at least five young Heavenly Jewel Masters, there are about twenty or so Empires. The entire tournament is split into two sections, the preliminary heats and the finals. In the preliminary heats, all the teams will be split into four large groups by drawing lots. Each group will have a seeded team, which will be consisted of the Four of the Five Great Saint Lands, with the exception of the Heavenly Demon Sect. Of course, to the outside world, the proclamation is that the seeded teams are from the previous champions. Of course, all these years, the top four has always been amongst those supported by the Great Saint Lands. In the preliminary heats, it will be a round robin series. That is to say, in a group, every single team will have to fight with every other team in that group."

"In the preliminary heats, each group will have the top two teams with the best results advancing into the finals, that is the top eight of the entire Tournament. After which, they will fight once more to determine the top four. The finals between the top four will be held in the Heavenly Jewel Island itself."

Zhou Weiqing said: "It seems the Tournament is rather straightforward then."

Lin TianAo smiled and said: "Indeed, it is very straightforward, yet at the same time, extremely difficult. The seeded team in each group usually gets the first in the group to advance, and the other Empires will have to fight their might just to get the second position in the group. Three years ago, we fought for all our might, at the cost of two seniors becoming permanently disabled, before barely making it to the second round. Without question, we were easily beaten in the top eight match. In order to safely enter the second round, we definitely have to beat every other team in the preliminary heats."

As a notion struck him, Zhou Weiqing said: "Do you mean to say, we will forfeit the match against the seeded team of our group?"