Mo’er’s jaw dropped at what she was seeing. “He… headmaster… aren’t… aren’t they all Basking Moon students… how…”
“Haa, silly girl, you don’t understand,” Sun Baoran sighed. “On the Immortal path, the struggles are fierce, with no quarter given. What does it matter that they’re from the same school?”
“But Tang Jie stole our school records and that Ye Tianshang has declared that he’s going to chase him through our academy. Headmaster, are you not concerned?” She was rather angry over having been gruffly pushed aside by Ye Tianshang.
“The records are a small matter, and we just need to replace what was lost. Let them do what they want. Some things just aren’t our business. Haaa, True Person Changfeng’s mission has truly given us a lot of trouble.”
“But you’re at the Mortal Shedding Realm. Can you not even control them?” Mo’er asked in disbelief.
Sun Baoran bitterly chuckled. “It’s true that I’m at the Mortal Shedding Realm, but they’re from the Basking Moon Sect. It’s not like we’re those crazies from the Heavenly Extinction Sect. When visitors come from the upper sect, who among us would dare to show disrespect? So long as they don’t go overboard, we just have to tolerate it. These students are competing against each other, not with us, so there’s no point in wasting that strength.”
“Does that mean that my Cloudflow Academy is just of a lower class than Basking Moon Academy, that even its esteemed masters are lower than Basking Moon Academy’s students? I don’t believe it!” Mo’er shouted.
“Silly girl.” Sun Baoran sympathetically glanced at her. “Why else do you think other people try so hard to get into Basking Moon Academy? Everyone knows that, besides the people from the other five major sects, only the people of the Basking Moon Sect can deal with the Basking Moon Sect! Forget it, forget it. You’re still young, so it’s best if you don’t think about such things.”
The girl was still unconvinced, and loudly said, “I won’t accept it! I won’t… I… I, Lin Mo’er, vow that if I have a chance to achieve the Great Dao, I will bring glory to my sect and raise the prestige of my Cloudflow!”
Sun Baoran shook his head and chuckled. This girl was young and had ambition, but he didn’t take her words to heart.
“So you’re saying that this is all you know.”
Elsewhere in the academy, Shi Meng was asking about Lin Lang while earnestly taking notes as Tang Jie had ordered him to.
“Yes, I’ve told you everything I know,” that student helplessly said. “That’s really all I know, so let me go already. I still have things to do.”
“Mm, then be on your way.” Shi Meng let the student leave, and just when he was going to find the next person, he saw Tang Jie running out.
“Tang Jie!” Shi Meng shouted. “I was just about to find you! I’ve basically asked everyone…”
“Run!” Tang Jie rushed over, grabbed Shi Meng, and ran.
“Hey, what happened?” Shi Meng asked in confusion.
He heard a rush of air behind him. Turning around, he saw that several people wearing moon-white robes had appeared in the distance.
“Basking Moon students?” Shi Meng yelped in alarm, even his tone changing. It was as if these Basking Moon Academy students were actually vicious enemies.
The students noticed them and shouted in unison, “Over there!”
“Run!” Tang Jie shouted, pulling Shi Meng along.
Only now did Shi Meng realize what was happening, and he quickly took off after Tang Jie.
As they rushed out of the academy, Tang Jie pointed ahead. “Get on a horse!”
The two of them made flying leaps and landed on two horses that were standing outside the academy.
With two slices, Tang Jie cut the ropes tying them down and then kicked them into a gallop. At the same time, he threw out some needles, killing all of the other horses.
When Ye Tianshang’s group came out and saw the two of them riding away, a student shouted, “Senior Brother Ye, they killed all our horses!”
Anger erupted in Ye Tianshang’s eyes. “They won’t escape!”
Forming hand signs, Ye Tianshang barked, “Windcloud Step!”
Winds and clouds stirred beneath his feet!
Ye Tianshang began to run in pursuit of Tang Jie and Shi Meng, and a tornado rose up beneath his feet.
The other students looked at each other and nodded. “After them!”
They unsheathed the swords on their backs, and all the students mounted their swords and flew off, catching up to Tang Jie and Shi Ming by air.
Shi Meng glanced backward and fearfully said, “They’ve caught up!”
“I see it. Shit, they’re all veteran students with a few years under their belt. They all know how to fly,” Tang Jie sullenly said. “Shi Meng, use the Windwalk spell!” he yelled.
“Understood!” Shi Meng began to form the hand signs for the Windwalk spell.
The Windwalk spell was rather similar to Qi Shaoming’s Windwalk Form. The only difference was that the Windwalk Form affected only the user, but this was in return for smaller cost and greater effect. The Windwalk spell could be used on other targets.
Tang Jie had decided that Shi Meng should be a support specialist from the start, so he had really learned a variety of support spells.
As their horses galloped forward, Shi Meng used Windwalk twice, increasing the speed of their mounts.
Alas, this acceleration had a limit. While the horses were running faster, Ye Tianshang was getting closer and closer.
The howling of the tornado grew louder and louder. Though it was traveling on the ground, it was moving much faster than those students on their swords.
“He’s catching up!” Shi Meng shrilly cried out.
With his level of strength, any one of those students could have him bowled over and looking for his teeth on the ground with a single blow.
Tang Jie sighed, “Truly troublesome.”
He swung his hand, sending out a flash of silver: the Silver Cloud Needles.
“Puny tricks!” Ye Tianshang bellowed. The sword in his hand unleashed a gale that sent all the needles flying.
“The Galefury Sword? Fuck, it’s Ye Tianshang!” Tang Jie was in such a panic that he even cursed.
Just like Tang Jie and Qi Shaoming, Ye Tianshang was a celebrity student of Basking Moon Academy. He had a seven-cycle Jade Gate, and while this wasn’t the best talent, he was still an incredible fighter. He was particularly formidable when it came to close combat, his attacks incredibly sharp and vicious. His combat prowess was unsurpassed among the students of his class.
His Galefury Sword was similar to Cai Junyang’s sword technique in that they were both fast and unrelenting. But when he used the Galefury Sword, the surge of wind he created had all the force of a solid attack.
He had blocked the needles purely through spiritual pressure.
They were both celebrities, but one was a celebrity who had just entered his second year while the other was a celebrity who had entered his sixth year. This difference in years had created a clear difference in strength.
Even in a duel, Tang Jie wasn’t confident that he could win.
“Shit, I’m not afraid of someone who’s smart or someone who’s strong, but someone who’s both smart and strong!” Tang Jie cursed.
Who could have imagined that he would run into this spot of trouble while he was still in the clue-gathering stage?
After knocking away the needles, Ye Tianshang charged out, instantly catching up to the two. His sword flashed as he unleashed lightning at the two. “As we’re from the same school, I won’t kill you if you leave behind the clue!”
In response, Tang Jie jumped into the air, turned around, and slashed at him.
Bang!
As their attacks clashed, Ye Tianshang paused in the air. Meanwhile, Tang Jie borrowed the momentum to fall back and land on his horse, shouting, “Keep running and don’t stop! They’re using spell arts to pursue, so they’ll run out of spiritual energy eventually!”
“I’ll catch you before that!” Ye Tianshang bellowed, his left hand striking the ground.
Rumble! The earth began to quake, halting the two horses and causing the riders atop them to sway.
This delay allowed the students in the air to catch up.
One of them pointed downward and shouted, “Flying sword, go!”
A sword on the student’s back flew out and slashed at the pair.
Tang Jie swung the Heartbreak Saber, striking the sword and knocking it back with a clang.
But at this moment, another student cast out a gray net to enclose the pair.
The student laughed as if he could already see Tang Jie and Shi Meng being caught in his net.
Tang Jie’s eyes erupted with light. As the net descended, he leaped right into it.
Just when the net was about to enclose him, Tang Jie flicked his left hand, and a golden light flew out from between his fingers. This was the golden grain, worn on his hand in the form of a ring. It had now become a blade that sliced through the net.
Sssst! The net tore apart like paper, cleaved in half by Tang Jie.
“My Earth Net!” The student groaned.
This was the most valuable treasure this student owned, and it excelled at capturing people, but Tang Jie had destroyed it in a flash.
Tang Jie jumped through the net, but the moment he did, two more swords shot toward him. All Tang Jie had time to do was raise his saber to block, upon which he was knocked back down to the ground.
Despite this, the horse wouldn’t wait for him and had run off on its own. Tang Jie landed on the ground, and Ye Tianshang was lunging at him before he could get to his feet.
He didn’t intend to kill, so he simply placed the tip of his sword at Tang Jie’s throat to threaten him into talking. But to his surprise, Tang Jie punched the sword tip, bending Ye Tianshang’s Autumn Leaf Sword into an arc.
Ye Tianshang was aghast at what had happened to his beloved sword and quickly drew it back. Tang Jie jumped away and used the Violet Lightning Lunge to rush off to the side. At the same time, he shouted, “Shi Meng, take that thing to the young master! And don’t let them catch you!”
“What?” Shi Meng was alarmed, thinking to himself, When did you give me anything? I don’t even know what the hell you got.
But as Tang Jie shouted, Ye Tianshang called out, “I’ll go after that one. The rest of you, go after this guy!”
He didn’t completely believe Tang Jie’s words, but regardless, there was a chance.
Moreover, with Tang Jie serving as a distraction for a moment, Shi Meng had managed to create some more distance. Thus, he was only the one who would be able to catch him, so he tasked the other students with holding down Tang Jie.
Seeing Ye Tianshang coming after him, Shi Meng understood what Tang Jie was doing. He shouted in anger, “Tang Jie, you’re not human!”
“‘Tang Jie’?” Ye Tianshang was startled at the mention of this name. He finally realized who he had been chasing. “So it was him!”
But he didn’t stop, continuing to madly pursue Shi Meng.
Tang Jie shouted as he ran, “What are you so angry about? We’re all Basking Moon students, and we’re just fighting for an opportunity. He won’t kill you. If you die, I’ll report it to the academy!”
“But the problem is that he’ll beat me!”
“It’s not like you’ll die. Experiencing the power of a fifth-year senior will be good for your growth…” Tang Jie irresponsibly shouted as he gradually began to draw away from Shi Meng, such that Shi Meng wasn’t able to hear the rest of what he had to say.
Looking back, Shi Meng saw that Ye Tianshang was getting closer and closer. Clenching his teeth, he took out a dagger and stabbed the horse in the buttocks, spurring the horse to run even faster.