The Six Immortals Chapter 34

The sound of Thunder

(Mustang: This is Friday’s regular release. Have fun.

Announcement: Hi guys, some of you might have noticed that the length of individual chapters has increased to twice or even more than that in some cases. So keeping in mind the time constraints, I will continue to release chapters in parts for the time being.)

Bi Fan was in a state of shock, the fear of the beast that inhabited the ravine still lingered in his head. Maybe the beast wasn’t as strong as he had antic.i.p.ated, or maybe the it was, who knows, could even be a goblin.

Even though there were many precious herbs and Panacea inside the valley, Bi Fan, for the fear of the monster that lurked the valley, decided to suppress his desire of going back in and continued to walk his way out through the pa.s.sage.

Bi Fan had an amazing memory; just following the leopard on the way in, was enough for him to memorize the path. But walking out now, he was careful, so he could make sure that he wouldn’t forget this route, as it was definitely something that he would want to come back for, later in the future.

There were many extremely rare and expensive herbs and Panacea inside the canyon, and that was something that Bi Fan couldn’t ignore. His heart just yearned for the day when he would be strong enough to take on the demon that possessed the valley, and when that time comes, Bi Fan would return to this mysterious valley once again.

Once he had exited the secret pa.s.sage that had led to the valley, Bi Fan climbed up the tallest tree that he could find, and carefully tried to identify the location, so that he would never forget this place’s location.

There were tall and towering trees everywhere, remembering directions in a place like this was a very difficult task, so Bi Fan decided to mark the tree with a seal for reference.

Once Bi Fan was sure that he had memorized the location of this mysterious canyon, he decided to leave. He turned around and looked at the pa.s.sage one last time; he was still reluctant to leave.

Fortunately, the Long Diao was still asleep, had he seen so many precious herbs, he would have never wanted to leave that place.

He hadn’t walked away too far from the entrance of the valley’s pa.s.sage when he saw some humans at a distance.

There were three of them, teenagers, walking carefully through the jungle. They all seemed reasonably strong, and he could tell that they were around the ‘inner organs’ layer mark.

“I really don’t like this place, I don’t want to stay here for long, and I’m already missing the beautiful world outside.” One of the teenagers, dressed in bright colored clothes muttered.

A st.u.r.dier looking teenager stated: “Ling Shao, unless we become disciples, we will never be able to enjoy the company of the beautiful women we all want.”

The bright-clothed youngster smiled as said: “Imagine if we could get the rewards that Jiang Sheng has offered for the head of that boy, and all the magical weapons that boy possesses! We would all be very rich, just imagine the life we could all have then!”

“I know, but it’s so difficult to find people inside the devil’s territory.”

“But as long as we can find him, we should be able to kill him easily.” The st.u.r.dy looking youngster replied confidently.

Bi Fan was hiding at a fair distance from those boys, but he could hear what they were talking about clearly enough.

“It appears that Jiang Sheng is desperate for revenge, so much so that, he is even willing to spend money on a reward for my killing.” Bi Fan thought to himself, feeling humbled, moved by emotions.

However, after all the practice that Bi Fan had gotten since entering the devil’s territory, his effective strength was as good as ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, attributing to his amazing skill set, so he wasn’t really scared of these guys.

Bi Fan knew nothing about these three youngsters, and he didn’t feel like making any more enemies for no good reason, so he decided to let them go.

But maybe the heavens above disagreed with him, and suddenly a black, bucket-thick python snaked up behind Bi Fan. A python that size could be a very difficult enemy to deal with.

Bi Fan had taken a Sunset Jade pellet some time ago, which should still be giving him protection, but he decided to not take any chances, and popped in another one.

In addition to being extremely strong, a python has another very powerful weapon in its a.r.s.enal, poison.

The minute Bi Fan saw that big bad python, he knew that it was no longer possible to hide anymore; he quickly got out of his hiding spot and made a dash, in an attempt to get away from the viper.

He wasn’t very far away from the three youngsters and they heard the commotion he had just made. As soon as they heard the sounds, they ran in to check out the situation.

When they saw the python, they instantaneously decided to flee as well.

“Look, isn’t that the same guy that Jiang Sheng wanted dead?” The st.u.r.dy looking teenager exclaimed loudly.

“Yeah, he looks exactly like the boy in the picture!” The bright-clothed boy agreed, surprised.

“Ling Shao, what do we do now?” The st.u.r.dy looking teenager asked the bright-clothed boy. It seemed that the other two youngsters were relying on the leadership of this one.

The leader’s eyes were fleeting, fists and teeth clenched and he seemed to be making up his mind about the course of their action and eventually said: “Let’s follow the python around, sneakily. That way we can collect the valuables from its victims.”

“Ling Shao, you have one amazing brain my friend, what a wonderful idea you have just come up with.” The third and somewhat plump boy praised his comrade.

The three of them hid in the under bushes nearby and silently watched as the python caught up with the escaping Bi Fan, and the fight ensued.

The python was indeed a formidable creature, he was using his thick and powerful tail in a sweeping motion to attack Bi Fan, his strike was so powerful that it was uprooting all the bushes and shrubs in its path. Not something Bi Fan seemed very happy about.

Moreover, the python had an extremely rough and strong skin, Bi Fan tried to defend the strikes with his sword, but his light-ray sword didn’t seem to be doing anything to the snake’s skin. It appeared that the best Bi Fan’s weapon could do was scratch the viper, and would by no means, cause any serious harm.

Bi Fan was being forced to retreat, constantly. He was defending with all his might, using ‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ technique to his best ability.

In fact, Bi Fan was so focused on the fight, that he forgot all about the three youngsters from earlier and had no idea that the three of them were watching him.

“Bang!” All of a sudden, the python’s sweeping tail hit Bi Fan.

Bi Fan went flying into the air and blood splashed out of his the spot where the tail had struck him.

The minute he hit the floor, Bi Fan quickly mustered his strength and rolled over, picked himself up and tried to make another attempt to flee, this time, in the direction where the three teenagers were hiding.

“Don’t tell me, does he know that we are hiding here? Is he trying to lead the python to us?” The bright-clothed boy frowned.

“No way, just look at him, he seems to have sustained some serious injuries, he is definitely panicking and making a run to save his life, that’s all.” The st.u.r.dy looking boy reasoned.

“I hope you are right!” The boy replied: “Thankfully he is injured now; otherwise he would have been a handful to deal with.”

The moment the python saw Bi Fan escaping, he started after Bi Fan, not ready to let go of his prey so easily.

The trio could no longer conceal themselves at their present hiding spot and quickly taking advantage of the diversion, stormed out of their hiding spot and attacked the snake’s body.

In actuality, the three of them wanted to kill Bi Fan first, but since, Bi Fan was running in a random, haphazard fashion, they ended up attacking the python first.

The teamwork of these three was quite exquisite, their blows, very powerful. But even then, they couldn’t inflict any fatal injuries to the python but still at least managed to gash the python’s belly.

“HMMPPHHH” The python violently swept his tail again, uprooting every spec of flora that obstructed its path.

The chubby boy wasn’t quick enough to get out of the way and unfortunately took the hit.

He flew into the air, hit a tree and fell to the ground.

It appeared that he might not be able to fight any further, which meant that it was just the two other boys against this lethal viper now.

“Fatty!” The st.u.r.dy looking youngster called after his friend.

The bright-clothed boy’s face showed no emotions what so ever, his eyes were fixed on the python, his heart cold, but not his feet.

This python was in the ‘brave’ layer, at least. This meant that he was going to be extremely difficult to deal with.

 

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The fat teenager had injured himself rather seriously, which meant that the pressure on his two standing comrades was much higher now, and the odds were stacked against their favor.

Bi Fan had managed to find himself a hiding spot and was now watching the fight from a distance, having injured himself in the action.

His heart was yearning to find out who wins the battle that was enraging in front of his eyes.

The python suddenly emitted a gas, which was poisonous in nature. The two youngsters quickly popped a purifier each and retreated to get themselves out of the cloud of this poisonous smoke.

The python’s thick and brutal tail continued to sweep left and right, splitting and smashing everything in its path.

The two youngsters were finding it hard to breathe and were being forced to constantly retreat.

The bright-clothed youngster looked furious, he gnashed his teeth and shouted: “Go to h.e.l.l!”

Just then, he threw a small, dark spherical object, only as big as thumb in dimension, at the snake and quickly retreated.

“Fall Back!”

The st.u.r.dy looking youngster really didn’t need to fall back this time, but it seemed that he was sensing that something terrible was about to happen.

The chubby one was injured and immobile, his facial expression depicted a shade of helplessness.

Bi Fan had no idea what this small, dark object was, but seeing the others retreat, he too quickly moved further away from the fight.

“Boom!” A loud noise erupted from the scene.

An enormous explosion detonated, which reached as high as the trees. The force of the explosion was such that, the two youngsters, who were retreating, were thrown away.

The chubby youngster was much worse off, several shards found their way to him and were buried into his body, injuring him further and reducing his chances of survival.

Bi Fan was at a fair distance from the fight, so he wasn’t thrown away but its force, but his ears were buzzing from the sound of the explosion, and he could barely hear anything apart from the ringing sound from the side effects of the explosion.

“That was…. Was that?! The five sounds of thunder!” Bi Fan looked on, in a state of absolute horror.

The five sounds of thunder was weapon that was synthesized by some of the martial art schools, and even though it didn’t carry the strength of an actual person, it’s effect was devastating, like that of a bomb.

The strength and effect of the five sounds of thunder was almost the same as that of the strike of an ‘enormous strength’ layer martial artist.

Bi Fan had heard about this devastating weapon from Jing Feng, but now, he had seen its effect first hand.

The python was at the center of the explosion and it was very highly improbable that he survived it. The smoke and dust from the explosion hadn’t cleared out yet, so it was difficult to make out the actual situation.

“Auhh…” The bright-clothed and the st.u.r.dy teenagers pulled themselves to their feet.

The st.u.r.dy teenager looked at the other one and said: “You used the five sounds of thunder… that was our only insurance. It’s a very expensive weapon and costed a lot of money….”

“As long as we can get the rewards from killing that boy that Jiang Sheng wants dead or get a crystal nucleus from this python’s dead body, we should be able to recover our losses and then some.” The bright-clothed teenager replied.

The St.u.r.dy teenager said: “I don’t know what happened to chubby; he had already been injured pretty severely, not sure if he survived that one.”

The two of them were so excited at the moment, that they didn’t seem to care at the very least for their companion. They didn’t seem much bothered with him and it appeared that they were considering him extra baggage at present, irrespective of him being dead or alive.

Soon enough, the dust settled down a bit, and the center of the explosion was faintly visible.

The python was dead; his dead body was surrounded with flesh and blood. At the center of his carca.s.s was a shiny crystal, just lying there in all the blood.

“The python is dead and still there is a crystal nucleus!” The bright-clothed youngster exclaimed.

The two of them were completely unaware that Bi Fan was following them, as they sprang towards the pit to collect their reward from the battle.

Crystal nuclei were very precious. The python had been fighting for some time now, but that didn’t exhaust his nucleus, for it was filled with aura. While they had managed to obtain a nucleus, they had still used up the five sounds of thunder, but still on the whole, they stood to make a small fortune in the end.

The bright-colored teenager was preparing to go into the pit to pick up the crystal personally.

Bi Fan suddenly saw his opportunity, jumped up from behind them and into the pit and took the crystal away, right from under their nose.

“Boy, you dare s.n.a.t.c.h our crystal! You’re dead!” The st.u.r.dy youngster announced his judgement in fury.

Bi Fan grinned slyly: “Well, even if I hadn’t taken your crystal, would you have not tried to kill me for the bounty on my head?”

“Since you already know, go die in h.e.l.l!” The bright-clothed boy whooshed in Bi Fan’s direction, his sword ready to stab Bi Fan.

His companion acted harmoniously and attacked Bi Fan from the other side, cutting him off and forcing him to retreat.

Bi Fan dodged, and dodged again, and then with his sword in his hand, charged for his bright-clothed opponent.

‘Rainy-fly sword!’

He cast out his most powerful sword attack, and with all his strength.

Before Bi Fan had s.n.a.t.c.hed the crystal, he had already made up his mind about killing the witnesses.

In the preceding fight with the python, the bright-clothed boy had used up more than half of his energy, and on top of that, he had sustained some minor injuries when their bomb detonated.

He tried to draw his sword to block Bi Fan’s incoming attack, but he was half a beat slower in response.

The light-ray sword slipped past his block and went smoothly into his throat. The youngster’s mouth was open; his angry eyes stared at his killer, full of regret.

“Ling Shao!” The st.u.r.dy teenager shouted: “You’re alright, just pretend that everything is okay, you will lead us out of here and we will be rich soon!”

“Yes, well, it’s a little too late now.” Bi Fan smiled.

The immortal finger! Prancing tiger!

With two quick and consecutive attacks, Bi Fan stormed violently for his remaining opponent.

The st.u.r.dy teenager went into a shock, as he realized that he was too slow to avoid Bi Fan’s strikes. The immortal finger pierced straight through his chest, poking a b.l.o.o.d.y hole in it, and scarlet colored blood drained out his body.

Then, Bi Fan’s fist followed in to the hole made by the immortal finger, making the hole even bigger and killing the last standing man of the trio.

Bi Fan lightning fast attacking had ended this fight in the blink of an eye.

Amongst these three teenagers, only the bright-clothed boy had a Yin Yang pouch. Bi Fan quickly collected everything that was of use and decided to go elsewhere before looking into his rewards.

Bi Fan tossed the bodies of the three youngsters into the pit and covered their remains with some dirt, in the hope of concealing them from the wild animals, for he didn’t want them feeding on their bodies.

He wasn’t being compa.s.sionate, but nonetheless, his morality didn’t allow him to leave their bodies for the wild animals to feed on.

After collecting everything, Bi Fan quickly left the scene.

So much noise was very likely to attract other people and various demons to this location, and Bi Fan needed to recover his strength.

Just because the fighting had ended quickly didn’t mean that he hadn’t consumed any energy.

While leveling the trio to the ground and previously fighting the python, Bi Fan had spent a good amount of energy and had also sustained some minor injuries, so it was very important for him to recover and restore his body state to normal.

There was a constant threat to life inside the devil’s territory, whether from humans or demons, so it was very important to keep yourself fit and ready for a fight at all times, if one wished to survive this place.

Bi Fan quickly disappeared into the jungle, searching for hiding place so he could practice and revive.