Chapter 172 - Five

“What’s the situation?” Ye Wei spoke using Runic badge. Ye Wei and Lu Feng had not seen each other for a few days, but they kept updating each other.

The badge in Ye Wei’s hand gently vibrated. Lu Feng’s voice sounded in his head. “I am safe here at the Lu’s, but one of the returned prime level elders is missing, and reliable sources informed me that they are sending eight ten-star condensed prime Warriors from the headquarters to Green Moon City for reinforcement.”

Lu Feng’s voice conveyed his anxiousness, “I assume they will be going straight to North Hill Bay.”

“Eight of them…” Ye Wei grumbled and frowned. He was tightly clenching onto the Runic Badge. ‘I can deal with one but eight of them!? I don’t think I am prepared for that.’

“A returned prime Warrior is missing?” Ye Wei felt slightly concerned. His mind was clouded by the potential threats. ‘I have to breakthrough before any of them enter the North Hill Bay area; or else, I’m afraid their arrival will be the end of our mission.’

Ye Wei paused and continued, “how about the Du’s? How did they react after learning about their people’s deaths?”

Lu Feng heard a noise close to him. After moving to a quieter spot, he replied. “The Du’s? Pfft, I will deal with the Du’s. Don’t worry about that for now. They didn’t link it to the Ye’s; your family is fine!”

His gaze became cold. ‘Since three years ago, the Du family knew more than they should have. I guess I have to take them out altogether just to be safe.’

After briefly bidding their farewells, Ye Wei put his badge back into his inside pocket and continued practising the Peerless Sword Qi. When dawn arose and dyed the sky orange again, Ye Wei jumped into the water to cultivate again.

‘Time is of the essence!’ Ye Wei thought to himself. He was feeling insecure. He wondered whether the Lu’s would send their elites to North Hill Bay, and he suspected the returned prime Warrior was also on his way.

While Ye Wei was cultivating; he trying his best to breakthrough. The news of Lu Ren being missing, and the Du’s death spread quickly in Green Moon City.

Of course, the citizens all believed it was the result of a wild beast attack. They all surmised a pact of powerful, vicious rare beasts were involved. The wild beasts’ attack logically explained the state of the Du’s when they were found and the disappearance of Lu Ren. All the martial family squads sent to search North Hill Bay felt nervous and demoralized. They were too scared to even enter the woods. Every time they heard the howling wind, they flinched thinking a beast would come and attack them.

After a few days of regrouping and planning, the Lu’s interrupted the awkward atmosphere lingering in Green Moon City. Their reinforcement, eight ten-star condensed prime Warriors, were immediately deployed to the North Hill Bay area by the Lu’s elder based in the City Lord’s castle. The Lu’s reinstatement of authority restored the locals’ confidence.

Now that the Lu’s had over thirty condensed prime Warriors, in total, patrolling the North Hill Bay area including the local martial families’ cultivators, the Lu’s could actually manage a high-grade rare beast attack.

All the squads eventually overcame their fear. They became more efficient in their search again, feeling safe under the watch of the extra eight ten-star Warriors.

“Finally! They are here!” Lu Feng stood high up on a tree. He was watching the Lu’s condensed prime Warriors from a distance. Despair appeared in his eyes.

‘All eight ten-star condensed prime Warriors, and their puppets are heading to the Dreakhead’s direction!’ Lu Feng was feeling more and more helpless. ‘I don’t see how Ye Wei can deal with all of them.’

‘They are covering this area as if Lu Zhong doesn’t exist. I guess it makes sense. The two elders in charge of the operation here won’t be happy if Lu Yong’s brother gets all the credit for uncovering the Drakehead.’ Lu Feng smiled bitterly and mumbled to himself, “four weeks… No, two weeks at most until they will find the pond or in less than half a month at this rate.”

“I cannot just give up like this!” He bit his lips. “Dad might be able to buy me more time!”

Since Lu Feng began cultivating by the pond, he saw the Drakehead area as his own hideout and became attached. He knew better than to let his emotion takeover, however. He began to look for other ways out. He was ready to put his pride down for a greater cause. ‘Eight more ten-star condensed prime Warriors, the Lu’s are using all the stronger cultivators in the region! Who can I count on now?’

Ye Wei was fifty feet deep in the pond, cultivating, he felt the badge vibrating, took it out and activated it with his will-force. Lu Feng’s grave voice sound in his mind.

“Ye Wei, the Lu’s men are here, We don’t have more than half a month. They will find the Drakehead in three weeks time at most if we don’t do something now to slow them down. I can confirm they have sent eight extra ten-star condensed prime Warriors to North Hill Bay!” Lu Feng held his Runic Badge and spoke urgently. “With this many powerful cultivators, they will be able to secure the Drakehead. We will have no way to regain control of the pond once they found it and figured out what it is!”

“Also, in a month’s time the sandalwood box is going to stop working. When Lu Ren’s jade token reconnects with his spirit candle flame, the Lu’s will know about his death and North Hill Bay will be swarmed with their force.”

‘Half a month. I have to be prepared in half a month. I have the iron talisman fully charged, but I need more than that to fight that many!” Ye Wei though of the vermilion runes, thought about the Glacial Temple, but soon realized he did not have enough time to seek solutions from these directions while he had to improve his cultivation as quickly as possible.

‘Cultivating here means I am absorbing and processing primal energy twenty times than usual, but that is not enough.’ Ye Wei looked down into the darkness as he thought to himself.

It was clear to him since he investigated the pond that the deeper he was, the quicker his body absorbs the surrounding energy. He also workout out that forty-five feet was his body’s limit without Supernova stance.

‘The runes are ready.’ Ye Wei ground his teeth, and activated the amplification stance, to endure pain and cultivate in the blistering cold was the most efficient way to become stronger.

“Bang”

The rumbling burst of Qi was muffled by the water pressure, Ye Wei swam downwards, carried by the water current his stance created.

Sixty feet.

Ninety feet.

Hundred and twenty feet.

‘This is the limit!’ The cold and the pressure stung every inch of Ye Wei’s skin, his lips were turning purple and his body began to shiver.

‘The Supernova stance will only last half an hour, I will have to think of a way to make the best out of it.’ Ye Wei closed his eyes, used the Falling Star form in the dark and quiet.

Ye Wei was trying to push his cultivation speed, surprised to know how much quicker he was it was now for him to fill up his meridian space. ‘Thirty-three times quicker!’

‘Ten days, with this speed I will definately breakthrough!” Ye Wei’s eyes shone a determined glint. ‘If I become a five-star Warrior my, the Peerless Qi Sword should work effectively even if I have to fight eight ten-star condensed prime Warriors on my own, given that I use the stance under the second evolution’s effect.

Excited by the possibilities, Ye Wei began to train non-stop with a new interval, half an hour at hundred and twenty feet under, two hours at forty-five feet and finally half an hour of resting and consolidating his cultivation on land.

On the seventh day of training, Ye Wei could feel the significance of his intense routine, he felt the Qi in his body did not only get denser, but also warmer.

His Qi eventually burst out. Span around his body, creating a vigorous whirlpool in the otherwise calm body of water.

“Bang!”

Ye Wei could feel his Sentient expanding, the excruciating pain was twisting his face. The Mystic Mount presence shone bright, helped processing the energy surges Ye Wei overloaded himself with.

Three days before schedule, Ye Wei had broke through with the extra compression he pushed upon himself.

The Progenitor had be watching all along, thought that he had to let the clan know about the threat somehow, as one of the best human cultivators he had encountered in terms of cultivating speed.

‘Five-star condensed prime level!’ The exhaustion on Ye Wei’s face vanished, replaced by an air of curiosity. ‘Now I can see how deep this pond goes!’ His eyes shone bright as he said.

The last time Ye Wei heard from Lu Feng, he was told that the Lu’s were sacrifising speed for thoroughness, and that it would have taken the Lu’s one more week until they reach the pond. Ye Wei was therefore realatively relaxed, knew that he had until the night to consolidate his cultivation. And then he could tell Lu Feng the good news, plan how they should work to slow the Lu’s.

‘I just broke though, there is nothing much I can do on the cultivation end that will make a more powerful fighter, I should be at peak ten-star condensed prime level when I use Supernova stance.’ Ye Wei thought to himself, calculating. ‘However the second evolution is not going to do a lot now.’

‘Even if I become a six or even seven-star condensed prime Warrior, the amplification effect won’t be able to push me through to returned prime Warrior level.’

Condensed prime Warriors’ Qi, silvery ball in their dantian and their life energy will transform once they breakthrough to become a returned prime Warrior.

While the Qi of Warriors and condensed prime Warriors glow silver, returned prime Warriors’ Qi glow gold. The latter is ten times denser.

That difference seperated the combat power of returned prime Warriors to the lower ranked. Cultivators.

‘I will need to evolve the Supernova stance again to make an impact, I will not be able to deal with the Lu’s elders in charge in Green Moon City otherwise.’

Pu Yuan had once told Ye Wei that he it will take more than ten years for him to learn the third Supernova stance evolution. However, when Ye Wei’s body went through great pressure when he was struck by a demon king, during which the eighty percent of the runes on his bones were transformed.

Ye Wei revisited his memories, of how strong Commander Shi and Ning City’s Lord Chen were. ‘I will study the Supernova stance now, that is the only way, to possess the power a returned prime Warrior! Even just for thirty minutes!’