Chapter 151: Failing

Shen Xu first used the unrivalled dissonant hammer art in the Black Turtle Mountain.

Back then, the first turn of the hammer art contained three hits in one.

However, years had passed since then.

After practising and familiarising himself with the hammer art, Shen Xu could now produce eight hits in one.

“First turn.” He muttered.

At the same time, old man Han looked at the sky filled with hammers.

’Which one is real?’ He wondered.

’I don’t have time to block them all.’ He thought.

However, the old man underestimated the speed of the attack.

Just when he was choosing a direction to retreat, he felt a heavy pressure above his head.

On reflex, the old man activated a level three shield and tried to resist the attack.

Unfortunately, everything was too late.

When the attack fell, the shield broke and the remaining force fell on the old man.

Logically, Shen Xu’s attack should have lost momentum after encountering the level three shield.

However, the attack didn’t dissipate.

By the time the old man realised something was wrong, it was already too late and he could no longer defend himself.

In the blink of an eye, seven subsequent attacks hit the person and the old man was flung seventy metres away.

Seeing this, the spectators fell silent but soon regained their vigour.

“This…” Someone muttered.

“Who said senior Shen is a weapon refiner? He is clearly a martial artist.”

“I have never seen such a ruthless double.”

“Senior Shen Xu is only an early-stage golden core realm cultivator but he defeated a late-stage golden core realm cultivator. What is talent? This is talent!”

“I can’t believe old man Han has fallen.”

“This is the end of the Han family.”

As the spectators talked, Shen Xu slung his hammer over his right shoulder and walked towards the body of old man Han.

’I hope there are many treasures in his space ring.’ He thought.

At the same time, he secretly activated his robe and began absorbing the spiritual aura stored within.

Although Shen Xu had learned to control the unrivalled dissonant hammer art, his qi consumption was still not low.

After killing two golden core realm cultivators, he barely had ten percent of qi.

’I can’t let anyone notice my qi consumption.’ He thought.

After all, cultivators were not saints.

There was no guarantee someone would not try to take advantage of him when he was weakened.

A moment later, Shen Xu reached the corpse and unceremoniously stripped it of its valuables.

After that, he activated a flame talisman, burned the corpse, and turned to watch Zhen Yuan’s fight.

’Brother Yuan is still hanging in there.’ He thought, his eyes narrowed into slits.

While watching the fight, Shen Xu removed a bottle from his space ring and began drinking spiritual water.

In doing this, he hoped to replenish his qi a little faster. That way, he would be able to assist Zhen Yuan if the need arose.

On the other battlefield, Zhen Yuan had a thoughtful expression.

’Formations…, talismans…, inscriptions.’ He thought, his eyebrows creased in a frown.

’Formation runes…, talisman runes…, inscription runes…’

’Runes. Runes. Runes.’

As Zhen Yuan thought, thousands of runes flashed in his mind.

At the same time, he felt an idea nagging at the back of his mind but the thought was shrouded in fog.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t find the common logic that tied his ideas into an actionable plan.

’Maybe the idea is not ready.’ Zhen Yuan thought and forced himself to focus on the fight.

At this time, a flaming arrow suddenly came barrelling towards him.

Seeing this, Zhen Yuan repeated his previous counterattack.

He dispersed some of the attack’s power, slightly deviated the arrow’s path, and finally defended using an earth wall talisman.

“Boy, how many times are you going to repeat the same move?” Ancestor Xiao taunted.

However, Zhen Yuan didn’t allow himself to be baited.

At the moment, he didn’t have a better way to deal with the nascent soul realm cultivator.

However, his mind was always turning and his eyes were always observing.

’thirty-six pieces rebound talisman formation is not enough to kill the old man in one shot.’ He thought, his eyes narrowed into slits.

Because of this, Zhen Yua didn’t attempt it.

After all, he would likely consume all his qi if he attempted the talisman formation.

If the old man didn’t die after the attack, Zhen Yuan would be in trouble and he and Shen Xu would have no choice but to escape.

’I have to think of another way.’ He thought and the runes appeared in his mind again.

This time, Zhen Yuan didn’t suppress them.

Instead, he allowed himself to fall into a semi-trance state.

While dealing with the old man, he also tried to figure out the runes.

An incense stick later, his eyes suddenly became cloudy.

Soon after, Zhen Yuan swung his brush and a silver circle with a diameter of one metre appeared under the old man’s feet.

However, the old man didn’t seem to notice it and continued to attack Zhen Yuan.

As usual, Zhen Yuan defended but didn’t stop there.

After defending, his long brush shrunk into an ordinary brush and Zhen Yuan began drawing runes in the air.

Unlike before, these runes didn’t linger in the air.

Instead, they mysteriously disappeared and soon reappeared in the circle under the old man’s feet.

Still, ancestor Xiao didn’t notice anything.

“Senior Zhen has been acting strange for a while now.” Somone said and the surrounding cultivators immediately nodded in agreement.

“I didn’t know what he was doing but I was afraid to mention it lest I expose my ignorance.”

“Me too.”

“It started with that big swing.”

“True. Nothing happened after that big swing and now he is drawing runes in the air but…”

“What is he trying to do? Why is he trying to draw runes in the air? I have never heard of such a thing.”

“I heard he successfully drew runes in the air when in the secret realm.”

“True?”

“It’s the truth. I also heard it.”

“Maybe he is trying to do it again but is failing at every turn.”

“Why insist on it when he keeps failing? He will exhaust his qi at this rate.”

As the spectators watched, Zhen Yuan kept ’failing’ in drawing runes.

Seeing this, ancestor Xiao burst into laughter and the Xiao family couldn’t help but be complacent.

“He has lost his mind from desperation.” A female cultivator said, her eyes filled with disdain.

“Watch how my Xiao family avenges sister Wan’er.” Another said and several others nodded in agreement.

In fact, most of the young clan members were happy that Xiao Wan’er was dead.

After all, Xiao Wan’er was domineering and not as talented as some of the other youngsters but she received the most resources.

Now that she was dead, the other young clan members would receive more resources and have a chance to shine in the family.

However, although they were grateful to Zhen Yuan for killing Xiao Wan’er, they also hated him.

After all, they were still members of the Xiao family and couldn’t tolerate a person who looked down on their family.

“Zhen Yuan, this is what happens to those who oppose my Xiao family.” Someone roared.

“Sister Wan’er is still waiting for a servant to serve her in the afterlife.”

“You will die without leaving an intact body.”

“Zhen Yuan…”

The Xiao family continued to taunt but Zhen Yuan was not fazed.

Instead, he continued his business and acted as if he didn’t hear the taunts.

However, Shen Xu couldn’t stand.

In his heart, his brother Yuan was an inviolable existence.

When he heard such rude words, Shen Xu was tempted to rush over and directly smash the Xiao family.

Fortunately, reason prevailed.

First, his qi level was dangerously low. Even if he rushed over, he could only smash two or three before he bottomed out.

When that happened, he would be lucky to escape with a breath of life.

Second, Shen Xu knew Zhen Yuan.

Although he didn’t know what Zhen Yuan was doing, he knew it was a big move.

From experience, Shen Xu knew that each big move was accompanied by qi exhaustion and a period of weakness.

Knowing that, how could he dare to move too far away from Zhen Yuan?

It was also because of this reason that he didn’t dare to exhaust his qi.

As long as he had a trace of qi, he had a way to grab Zhen Yuan and escape from the clearing.

While Shen Xu was thinking, Zhen Yuan suddenly stopped his drawing and looked at him.

Seeing the look, Shen Xu raised his eyebrow and Zhen Yuan smiled.

At the same time, Zhen Yuan sent two voice transmissions.

One transmission was to Chen Yi and another was to Shen Xu.

When Shen Xu heard the transmission, his eyes widened and he looked confused.

[Run as far away as you can.] Zhen Yuan repeated.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep