I Can See Your Combat Power

Tang Luo could feel the trembling in Gong Zheng’s shoulder. Even though he was wearing a black spiritual armor, the powerful spiritual art was hardly a comforting presence. After all, two strong figures from the Fierce Realm had already been restrained by thousands of tendrils the size of arms, and there were far tens of thousands to face.

The descending willow tendrils formed a cage out of iron; the pressure felt inescapable and unavoidable. Merely being in its presence was enough to instill terror into anyone.

“Don’t panic.” Tang Luo squeezed Gong Zheng’s shoulder, calming him down. The strongest member of the Du Family, after all, had not yet taken action.

Du Sha, who had been standing silently behind Tang Luo like a stone statue, burst into action. He stared wide-eyed at the cascading emerald scene while pumping his Stone Heart Bloodline’s energy from his feet into the ground.

If his performance in Da Lin City was simply a small demonstration of his abilities, then this time, Du Sha was fully committed. As the ground trembled under his feet, a giant red crystal figure rose from the ground above everyone’s heads.

The towering red crystal figure, tenths of yards high, assumed the form of a stinging nettle. It was as red as cinnabar fire, boasting six legs and four wings. The figure’s head was in chaos, and it roared silently at the Divine Wood.

Its two pairs of bat-like wings, crafted entirely from Red Crystal, were sharp as blades. In a flurry of twirls, they sliced through thousands of willow tendrils lunging at the crowd. But the sheer mass of tendrils was overwhelming. Though many were destroyed, even more entangled the figure’s body, managing to score cracks across the Red Crystal-covered construct amidst distressing creaking sounds.

As the defending titan above everyone’s head seemed on the verge of breaking under the relentless willow strains, another figure, a tiger-headed human with two feet and four arms, burst out from the ground. Each arm was a blade made of Red Crystal. The moment it emerged, the figure drew its bladed arms, attempting to sever the willow tendrils ensnaring the first figure.

But how could the Divine Wood in the sky afford to give it such an opportunity? A willow tendril burst into dazzling green light, transforming into a robust green wooden python, and immediately wrapped around the four-armed giant, suspending it high above.

The Mi Clan Great Elder was truly formidable. Even without rooting the Divine Wood into the earth to draw minerals, his vast spiritual power could easily suppress several Fierce Realm powerhouses, much to everyone’s astonishment.

However, after restraining two Fierce Realm powerhouses and two giant figures, the Divine Wood’s tendrils were depleted. It seemed that Mi Yang would be unable to launch any substantial attacks for a short while.

Though the Divine Wood currently could not afford to target Tang Luo himself, the incessant creaking from the titan above everyone’s heads was a constant reminder that this sanctuary would fall soon. The Divine Wood was still the master of this battlefield. Gong Zheng acutely caught on to this fact, and promptly turned to Tang Luo: “Clan Leader, now is the perfect time to retreat. Please leave quickly!”

“Yes, Young Master!” Hua Ji turned deathly pale, trembling all over in fear. He stammered in agreement: “You should go first, I will cover your retreat.”

“Hrnph..” Despite the crisis, Tang Luo couldn’t help but chuckle. He sized up Hua Ji, who claimed he would cover his retreat, and said: “Your courage is commendable, but it’s not needed for now.”

The battle of four Fierce Realm powerhouses in the sky had enveloped the entire space in violent spiritual power waves. What was leaking was not only the remnants of the spiritual art collisions but also the intense energy of the Fierce Realm. Being in such a battlefield required at least a unity of spirit and intent. Unfortunately, neither Gong Zheng nor Hua Ji was up to the mark, so the ones needing to retreat were not him.

“Gong Zheng.” Tang Luo commanded the terrified leader of the Righteous Gang “Take Hua Ji and hide at the central peak.”

Despite the appearance of Mi Yang being a surprise, Tang Luo retained his confidence in the three elders of the Du Clan and Du Sha. Even if they could hardly budge Mi Yang when tied together, when it comes to withstanding attacks, these fighters would do an even better job than the Tang Clan’s Martial Ancestor.

The Red Cloud Skill is a technique with excellent resistance against spiritual art. Essentially, any powerful spiritual art used against the Du warriors will only have a tenth or two-tenths of the expected effects. This means Mi Yang could only harm the Du warriors using a skill that combines force and aura or a purely physical spiritual art.

The Mi Clan Great Elder’s body technique may be excellent, but most of outstanding prowess lies in his manipulation of the Green Purity True Skill with the fusion technique for bloodlines. With the Divine Wood manifestation not being able to draw Spiritual Power from the ground in the Red Cloud Mountain’s desolate mine, Tang Luo refused to believe that he could cleanly defeat several Fierce Realm powerhouses from the Du Clan.

However, if Tang Luo chooses to flee, Mi Yang would quickly pursue his back foot, and the Du Clan members would not be able to stop him in time. From their journey to Da Lin City, Tang Luo had already noticed that the Du Clan’s Red Cloud Skill was only distinctive in its toughness. All other aspects barely even met the standard, even his Immortal Wind Cloud Body Technique exceeded the Du Clan members significantly in speed, let alone the body art of the Mi Clan Great Elder.

Keep in mind, even with Tang Luo’s keen senses, he was not able to detect Mi Yang’s presence. This truly showed how swift and subtle the Great Elder’s body technique was.

While Gong Zheng may believe that now is the best time to retreat, in Tang Luo’s eyes, there was no worse decision than to retreat at this moment. That’s why he wanted Gong Zheng to take Hua Ji and leave first.

But Gong Zheng and Hua Ji lacked Tang Luo’s strategic vision. They could only believe that the young master was acting out of youthful arrogance and found it difficult to accept the option of fleeing. They could only earnestly persuade Tang Luo, “Clan Leader, this is not the time to act recklessly. Mi Clan’s Great Elder has been a legend in Xiling for a hundred years; there’s no need to confront him directly. Once your divine abilities are perfected, you could easily crush someone like Mi Yang. Why rush at this moment?”

“Yes, Young Master!” Hua Ji echoed again “You mustn’t act impulsively!”

Having overly loyal followers can sometimes prove to be a problem, as they will worry about your safety based on their understanding and will try their best to protect you. Given the circumstances, Tang Luo did not have the time to explain the full intricacies to the pair, and just as he was about to forcefully order Gong Zheng, he saw Du Sha turn his head towards him and say, “You can’t leave.”

Hua Ji immediately flared up with anger, and Gong Zheng directly accused Du Sha, “What do you mean by that? Are you planning on betraying the Clan Leader?!”

Du Sha ignored their anger and explained to Tang Luo, “We can’t hold them back, nor can we catch up.”

The advantage of using fewer words shined at that moment, as just nine words outlined what Tang Luo had intended to explain at length. It also enlightened Gong Zheng and Hua Ji on how severe the situation was.

“Then what can we do?”

Upon hearing Du Sha’s words, Hua Ji fell into a panic: “We can’t run, and the titan is about to collapse. Doesn’t that mean any decision the Young Master makes is extremely risky?”

In this desperate situation, Gong Zheng acted quickly. He dismantled the spiritual armor he was wearing into a spiritual gem and stuffed it into Tang Luo’s hand, “Clan Leader, please remove your clothing, put on this spiritual armor. It can cover your entire body. I’ll put on your clothing and run in the opposite direction; maybe it’ll fool Mi Yang..”