Chapter 48 - Crisis

Huang Chen felt as if he’d just come back to life when the Qianji Fire disappeared; the sensation of being on the brink of death was incredibly unpleasant.

His hair felt stiff after being burnt, and he could smell a hint of singed hair from both himself and his junior brother.

This was undoubtedly one of the greatest shames of his life.

Huang Chen lowered his head to look at the ground, with a look of fierce resentment in his eyes.

“Thank you, hero.”

Cai Xiangxiang looked at Jiang Tang with a joyful smile, her laugh becoming even more beautiful in that moment.

The girl’s gaze held admiration as she looked at Jiang Tang.

Jiang Tang felt somewhat embarrassed by the young girl’s adoring eyes; in his past life as a college student, he had been too shy and never had a girlfriend.

In this time and space, he still hadn’t found a cultivation partner.

Faced with the adoring gaze of a beautiful woman, he felt shy and blushed as he said in a low voice,

“You’re welcome, lady.”

Huang Chen and his junior brothers performed the same action, casting a Dust Cleansing Spell and then an Ice Mantra.

In an instant, they felt much cooler and no longer like meat roasting on a grill.

They restored their appearance to that of suave Daoist Immortal young gentlemen.

They had only surrounded Jiang Tang earlier and didn’t expect him to be so formidable.

At that moment, Huang Chen and his junior brothers exchanged a look.

They couldn’t let this matter rest; the two Exotic Flames were a must-have for them.

So, they quietly prepared their magical treasures, clutching all the talismans in their hands.

They set up the Big Dipper Formation and surrounded Jiang Tang in a tight circle.

“Thank you, young hero.

To repay you, prepare to die!”

“Everyone, attack!”

“Take him down!”

Huang Chen wasted no further words; they needed to take the initiative by seizing the moment when Jiang Tang was unguarded, aiming for his life.

“Senior brother…”

Cai Xiangxiang, distraught, tried to stop them but was frozen in place by a spell from Huang Chen.

“You all…”

Jiang Tang had not expected these individuals to resemble a story from his elementary school days, ‘The Man and the Wolf;’ you spare him, and he bites you in return.

He didn’t have time to think further and conjured both Exotic Flames, wielding them in each hand.

“Go!”

“Haha, you little rascal think you can sneak another trick?

Brothers, get him!”

Huang Chen and the others deployed all their magical treasures and talismans at once, hurling them towards Jiang Tang.

“Senior brother, don’t…”

Cai Xiangxiang could only attempt to intervene verbally, her beautiful face streaming with tears; she felt guilty, having caused the harm of a young hero, all because of her.

“Stupid wench, always taking sides against us!

After we deal with this boy, we’ll take care of you.”

Huang Chen harshly spat those words at Cai Xiangxiang.

Jiang Tang felt the pressure mounting; he cast all the magical treasures he had on him but was still trapped within the Formation.

The talismans that had come from his space ring had been lost during previous chases.

A rookie in the Cultivation World, yet to master Formation spells, couldn’t break out of the Formation.

While others could attack him, he couldn’t fend off their assaults.

Is fate determined to destroy me?

Just a few years into his rebirth, he had yet to fulfill major life goals.

The reluctance, the unwillingness was unbearable.

In the space, Eryao, who slept deeply, tried to open his eyes with all his might, but his Spiritual Power hadn’t recovered yet.

He remained small and was unable to cast spells.

“Daddy, sob sob”

Eryao could only cry inside the space.

The pitiful cries of Eryao caused the Little Blue Ox, who was busy plowing the field, to disregard its work and run around in the space, mooing anxiously.

The Little Blue Ox seemed to sense its master’s peril but could do nothing, consumed by urgency.

Jiang Tang couldn’t afford to respond to Eryao in the space as he, despite his Body Refinement at the seventh level, couldn’t resist the barrage of magical treasures and talismans.

Every one of them had a higher cultivation level than him, and the good luck he had before seemed to have run out today.

Despite desperately thinking of ways and means,

he couldn’t break through the enemy’s Formation.

“Boom!

Boom!

Boom!”

Talismans smashed down, exploding one after another, creating pits all over the ground.

Jiang Tang was hopping around, and the dust and dirt on him had completely changed the look of his clothes.

His face was no longer discernible, covered in mud, feeling intense pain all over his body.

His hair had burned in places, and his body was marked with countless wounds.

His flesh was torn by magic treasures, and burns from the Spirit Fire Talisman scarred his skin.

In his struggle to survive, there was no choice but to endure the pain racking his body.

In the oasis forest, fireworks shot into the sky, and those who were undergoing trials outside, upon seeing the commotion here, realized there was a battle going on.

Some hoped to profit from the fisherman’s benefit; many people rushed over from all directions.

With a wave of his hand, Huang Chen and his younger fellows changed the Big Dipper Formation slightly, trapping Jiang Tang in a death position.

“Haha, boy, strut all you want now!

Weren’t you quite impressive just a moment ago?”

Huang Chen sneered, relishing his revenge, repaying the humiliation he’d just experienced.

“He can’t act haughty if he wanted to.

Just look at him, doesn’t understand formations, yet dares to mix in the Cultivation World.

Truly embarrassing.”

“Roar, and he claims to be a Disciple of the North City Immortal Sect?

He must be the trash of the Immortal Sect, right?”

“A piece of dog shit.”

As Huang Chen and his brothers lashed Jiang Tang with their Spiritual Power whips, they also hurled crude insults at him.

Once more, Jiang Tang realized the harsh reality of survival of the fittest in the Cultivation World.

Being too kind and too honest always leads to being bullied by others.

He really had forgotten the pain once the wounds were healed!

Eryao had reminded him repeatedly but failed to make him learn, and now it seemed the heavens wanted to annihilate him.

What goes around comes around?

Does that even hold true in this Cultivation World?

Isn’t there any law enforcement and governance here?

Does indiscriminate killing equate to the mighty?

Believing that he couldn’t escape, and with reluctance in his heart, Jiang Tang shouted into the sky, “Ah, Heaven wants to destroy me.

How utterly unjust.”

“Haha, this kid knows he’s going to die,”

one of Huang Chen’s Disciples laughed maniacally, feeling extremely gratified to be avenging a previous insult.

“He’s quite self-aware, isn’t he?

Trash with a seventh level of Body Refinement.

He used to strut in front of me, not realizing that I’ve already reached Great Perfection in Body Refinement.”

Huang Chen said sarcastically.

“Senior Brother, please, let him go!”

Cai Xiangxiang cried, her heart aching terribly as she watched Jiang Tang beaten and covered in wounds, and couldn’t bear to see her fellow Disciples kill him.

“Shut up, haven’t I dealt with you yet?”

Huang Chen grew even angrier; it was one thing for his Junior Sister not to plead, but now that she was pleading for an outsider, jealousy surged in his heart.

“Senior Brother…”

Cai Xiangxiang struggled to no avail against the barrier her Senior Brother had set around her, as her cultivation level was not as high as his.

“Brothers, let’s finish him!”

Huang Chen felt the night might bring more complications, fearing onlookers or someone coming to save Jiang Tang.

He was determined to have the treasures Jiang Tang possessed.

Various Talismans rained down on Jiang Tang without any sympathy.

They believed the two Exotic Flames were much more valuable than any magical treasures on him; they had to get the Spiritual Fire.

“Boom!

Boom!

Boom!”

Jiang Tang’s Spiritual Power had been drained, his Exotic Flame dimmed, and gradually floated back to him.

Defenseless, Jiang Tang was bombarded by the enemy’s magical treasures and Talismans, landing deep inside the pit.

Overwhelmed by the pain, Jiang Tang fainted, and as he fell into the pit, his body tumbled down.

Eryao, too, was affected from within its space.

As the covenant beast whose master had sustained severe injuries, it coughed up blood.

With all its might, it transformed into a beam of Spiritual Power, trying its best to support the falling body of its master.