Chapter 486: Chapter 52: Human Shield
Impossibly foolish.
Such a pity for the mercenary strongman Luo Ri, whose lifetime of glory is marred by such a son.
The accompanying mercenaries and soldiers all scorned him in their hearts.
Anyone could tell that Luo Yun was pretending to be more than he was, swelling his face to fill out fat, just to show off in front of Sha Xi by personally joining the battle.
The Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array is a Heaven and Earth Array Formation, its power extraordinary, certainly not a trifling matter.
Yue Jinghua watched secretly, noting that Li Ran and Feng Yan did not show excessive concern.
Upon seeing Luo Yun loudly summoning Dark Energy, an ice-blue battle axe materialized in his hand.
The axe had blades on both sides, and the chill it emanated instantly lowered the temperature within Dragon Court by several degrees.
The Ice Crystal Double-edged Axe; the old mercenaries within Dragon Court all showed astonished expressions, every one of the older generation knew of the Ice Crystal Double-edged Axe—it was the first axe crafted by Luo Yun after being called a mercenary strongman, made from the spine of a great blizzard bear.
Under the effect of Dark Energy, the double-edged axe, originally only as long as an arm, suddenly grew several inches. In just a moment, it transformed into a ferocious Ice Snow Giant Axe.
Luo Yun, as Luo Ri’s only son, had consumed various spiritual pills and delicacies since childhood, his constitution as strong as a giant bear. He had practiced the family’s Five-layered Ice Snow Storm Axe Technique to the Third Level. Paired with the Ice and Snow Double-edged Axe, it was a perfect match for him.
Seeing the Ice Snow Giant Axe, everyone understood why Li Ran and Feng Yan dared to let Luo Yun attempt to break the formation alone.
The Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array is of the fire element, and it generates and restrains effectively against the water-element Ice Snow Storm Axe Technique.
The might of the Ice Snow Storm Axe met the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array, one cold and the other hot, forming its perfect nemesis.
"Young Master Yun, let me assist you," Feng Yan said, and quickly began forming hand seals and chanting incantations. Soon, a green Dark Array and a yellow Dark Array rapidly enveloped Luo Yun.
The Light Wind Array, the Iron Armor Array—these two combined array formations instantly doubled Luo Yun’s movement technique.
The Assistant Array Master was indeed well-reputed.
Yue Jinghua silently assessed Feng Yan, knowing that to seize the treasure from Luo Yun’s hands, Feng Yan must first be dealt with.
With the protection of the array formation, Luo Yun turned into a bear possessed, and the Ice Snow Giant Axe in his hands emitted a dark glow as it formed another blue blade.
"Go," Luo Yun bellowed like thunder, and an axe shadow cut through the air, striking upon the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array.
The power carried by the Ice Snow Storm Axe against the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array was like a flood hitting a fierce fire. In that moment, the whole Dragon Court trembled as if experiencing an earthquake.
Ice and fire fought without yielding; the energy fluctuations within the Dark Fire Array seemed to be instantly solidified by the force of ice and snow, and suddenly, the Dark Energy inside the array stopped moving, as if it had been frozen solid.
The Sky Shrieking Sword, incessantly flitting within the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array, appeared to sense that it was about to fall into the hands of a privileged but unworthy successor and emitted a series of mournful sword cries.
"Haha, come to me, sword," Luo Yun laughed joyously upon seeing this. He reached out with five fingers, attempting to grasp the Sky Shrieking Sword and secure the Holy Sword within his bag.
But just then, the Sky Shrieking Sword trembled, its whimpers turning into a roar akin to an enraged tiger.
The Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array, as if awakening from a great dream, surged with even greater Dark Power. With a sudden rebound, it threw the previously imposed power of the Ice Snow Storm Axe back at its source.
This rebuttal was incredibly fierce; the power of the Ice Snow Storm Axe, now also carrying the intensely burning breath of Xuan Fire, surged back towards Luo Yun like an overwhelming wave.
The smile immediately froze on Luo Yun’s face; even though he had the support of the Light Wind Array beneath him, it was too late to evade the rebounding power of the ice and fire that was already enveloping his face.
In panic, he looked behind him and immediately saw Yue Jinghua not far from his side: "Kid, dying on behalf of this young master will be your good fortune."
His face twisted with ferocity, and he reached out his large hand towards Yue Jinghua, pushing her in front of himself.
"You!"
"Captain!"
"Luo Yun, how dare you!"
Everyone’s expressions changed drastically, but Sha Xi felt a surge of joy inside, thinking to herself that the damned young mercenary deserved to die.
While Sha Xi was reveling in her delight, she unconsciously noticed that the shoulder of Zong Shaoqing in front of her also stiffened for a moment, but soon relaxed again.
No one noticed why Yue Jinghua, who was originally a good distance away from Luo Yun, suddenly appeared right behind him.
Facing the fierce and unparalleled power of ice and fire, a strange smile appeared on the corner of Yue Jinghua’s mouth.
I’ve been waiting for you.
With that single axe strike, Luo Yun had already caused significant damage to the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array; his power of ice and snow was indeed the nemesis of the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array. If his father, Luo Ri, had been here, he would only need one axe strike to severely damage the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array.
It’s a pity that Luo Yun quit halfway, craving life and fearing death; with such behavior, how could the spiritually awakened Sky Shrieking Sword ever submit to him?
Yue Jinghua drew his sword with a swift backhand grip, the motion fluid and rapid, slashing with astonishing speed.
A flicker of white light, and a gap appeared above the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array.
Inside the Dragon Court, there was a sudden flare of bright light, and all people heard was a roar like dragons and tigers.
When everything returned to calm and they rubbed their eyes to have another look, they were all dumbfounded on the spot.
The Sky Shrieking Sword, like a shuttle, continuously swirled around Yue Jinghua, not needing explanation, it had confusedly recognized its master in that brief instant.
Unexpectedly, a mere two-star mercenary had managed to snag an advantage; flowers planted on cow dung, even precious swords can be shortsighted.
Filled with rage and resentment, Luo Yun glared at the young mercenary in front of him.
"Kid, you played a trick," Luo Yun said, burning with anger.
Only now did he realize that he had fallen just short of success, and currently, to make matters worse, the Sky Shrieking Sword had fallen into someone else’s hands, and he had lost an opportunity for nothing. This time, he was truly left with nothing.
"Mr. Luo Yun, what you said... I don’t even want this sword. How about I give it back to you, and next time it’ll be my turn to choose a Holy Artifact," Yue Jinghua said with a face of grievance, prompting laughter from the members of the July Mercenary Corps Group, and even Zong Shaoqing’s eyes couldn’t help but be filled with laughter.
"Mr. Luo Yun, what you did just now, we all saw it. Little Brother Yue was used by you as a meat shield through no fault of his own; if it weren’t for his auspicious fate, he’d be dead by now. The chance to claim the sword, I, Jin Nuo, will view as mine," said Jin Nuo boisterously. He despised the kind of person Luo Yun was, but out of consideration for the relationship with Luo Ri, he had to tolerate him this one time.
Luo Yun was so angry he was nearly fainting, but under the watchful eyes of everyone present, it wasn’t appropriate to cause a scene, so he had no choice but to fall back.
After two rounds, the strongest Divine Court and Luo Yun, who relied on his influence, had each obtained one Holy Artifact; yet the third round of treasure hunting was now turned over to the Five Saints Branch.