Nangong Ling remained unaware of what had transpired below, but the Windhawk saw it all clearly!
The Silver-backed Great Peng hadn't perished from a spatial rift at all—it had been directly slaughtered and beheaded by that boy named Qin Yang!
With strength inferior even to the Silver-backed Great Peng, how could he possibly dare to engage Qin Yang in combat?
"Escape? Can you truly flee?"
Qin Yang chuckled, "Great Peng's Wingspan!"
His hands shot outwards, and in mid-air, true energy wings materialized from his arms. With a whoosh, he soared forward!
In the Zongshi Realm, one could control magical artifacts for aerial flight. But Qin Yang had copied the Great Peng's ability, needing no external aid—he could fly even faster through his own power!
"Spread wings and fly, but what about attacks?" Qin Yang reveled in the wind-racing speed, already planning to integrate this technique into his Dragon Soaring Steps.
"Great Peng's Wingspan as a martial art... it's essentially a movement technique."
"The true essence isn't flapping wings to fly, but channeling true energy to draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Like a fish entering the sea, one can roam freely."
"Since I've grasped the true essence, why be bound by form?"
Qin Yang smiled faintly, withdrawing his arms.
The true qi wings vanished, yet his speed increased exponentially!
A phantom of a divine dragon materialized around Qin Yang, enveloping him as he pierced through the wind.
He soared and dived with such grace, truly resembling a celestial dragon!
"You brat, how are you just like this old jade..." Dragon Jade suddenly muttered.
"Like me? Aren't you just a piece of jade? Can you even fly?" Qin Yang rolled his eyes. With a thought, the divine dragon phantom vanished along with his body. He had already entered hunting mode!
When he reappeared, he was already dozens of zhang away! Then he vanished again.
"Hmph, you'll find out eventually..." Dragon Jade's voice trailed off.
Meanwhile, the Windhawk fled without looking back, flying at full speed. Initially, Qin Yang had chased after it, scaring the beast half to death. When it saw the divine dragon phantom, the remaining half of its courage also vanished.
"You're supposed to be a Zongshi-level demonic beast? Look at how pathetic you are!" Nangong Ling seethed with anger. He had thought that by borrowing the power of the Silver-backed Great Peng, he could subdue the Windhawk and toy with Qin Yang until death. But the Windhawk's actions had completely shattered his dignity!
The Windhawk snapped out of its daze and cautiously checked behind. As expected, Qin Yang had vanished from its sight.
"Still just a human after all," the Windhawk sighed in relief. It berated Nangong Ling, "What do you know? That brat actually decapitated the Silver-backed Great Peng! How could you challenge him?"
"You can control wind power too! Use your ranged attacks! I may be weak, but after swallowing that pill, I can still support you with my archery!" Nangong Ling retorted, his face pale.
"Heh!" The Windhawk let out a dry laugh. "The Silver-backed Great Peng's mastery of wind far surpasses mine. If even it couldn't stand against him, how could I? As for your archery... you're barely managing to stay on my back! You think you can shoot now?"
"You!" Nangong Ling drew a sharp breath, his voice icy. "Daring to defy your master's orders? Do you want me to scatter your spirit with a single thought?"
The Windhawk wilted visibly, though it seethed inwardly: At this altitude, if I die, you're dead too. And killing me would only bring backfire on you.
The Windhawk fell silent, but Nangong Ling refused to give up. "Where are you flying? Even if we're heading to the Qin Family, this isn't the right direction!"
"The secret realm is vast. Why would you go to the Qin Family?" The Windhawk snorted coldly.
Nangong Ling felt his throat tighten. How can we find allies to kill Qin Yang if we don't go to the Qin Family? he thought. Besides, even if we don't kill Qin Yang, eliminating Jin Wanshan shouldn't be difficult, right?
"I order you to return! Back to the Qin Family!" Nangong Ling shouted.
Though unwilling, the Windhawk had no choice but to circle back, constantly praying they wouldn't encounter Qin Yang.
"What? Still trying to retreat? Going back to the Qin Family to summon some... 'rescue forces'?" Qin Yang's figure suddenly appeared behind Nangong Ling, standing on the Windhawk's back.
Nangong Ling felt as if he'd plunged into an icebound cave, his body frozen stiff with fear, too terrified to turn around.
The Windhawk trembled violently, nearly losing its balance.
"Steady!" Qin Yang roared.
The Windhawk forced itself to maintain balance, its speed slowing.
"Qin... Qin Yang? Impossible. How could you possibly catch up?" Nangong Ling's voice shook. In that moment, he finally realized how perilously close death had come to him.
"Those three words 'impossible' have made my ears grow calluses," Qin Yang chuckled mockingly.
"You... you can't kill me! You wouldn't dare!" Nangong Ling insisted, his voice trembling.
"Oh? Why can't I kill you? And why wouldn't I dare?" Qin Yang looked down at Nangong Ling, his tone dripping with contempt. "You can't even bring yourself to look at me. How dare you speak such words?"
"I am of the Nangong Clan, one of the Eight Divine Clans!" Nangong Ling shouted.
"Hmm, I know. I'm from the Qin Family, another of the Eight Divine Clans!" Qin Yang clicked his tongue.
"My grandmother is from the Temple of Heaven!" Nangong Ling cried out.
"Lower your voice, I can hear you perfectly!" Qin Yang frowned. Temple of Heaven? What the hell is that?
"Anything else?" Qin Yang asked.
"If you kill me, not just the Nangong Clan, but the Temple of Heaven itself will never forgive you!" Nangong Ling gasped.
Nangong Ling could never have imagined that Qin Yang had no idea what the Temple of Heaven was. Even if he did know, would Qin Yang spare him?
"Is that all you have to say?" Qin Yang asked quietly.
As if sealed by a death warrant from Yanluo himself, the hour of Nangong Ling's demise drew ever closer.
"You bear me no grudge," Nangong Ling whimpered, his composure shattered. "Why must you kill me?"
Qin Yang burst into derisive laughter. "No grudge?" He roared, "I merely placed a bet with you, yet you followed me to the Qinling Mountains! You even ordered the Qin Family's old servant to issue an Eight Divine Clans' execution decree against me! You've been hunting me relentlessly. Now you dare claim we share no enmity?"
"Fly to the arena!" Qin Yang barked.
Though the beast belonged to Nangong Ling, it dared not disobey Qin Yang's command.
The chase stretched across several hours. They'd deliberately avoided Wei Yu's grave during their earlier battle with the Jadeblood Mantis.
Qin Yang kicked Nangong Ling into the tomb's shadow, jabbing a finger at the gravestone. "Now tell me—did you and Wei Yu share no enmity?"
Nangong Ling trembled violently, prostrating himself before Wei Yu's tomb and weeping apologies.
Qin Yang drew a deep breath. "I'm not here to judge you. I merely mourn Wei Yu's fate. Your murder of him revealed the truth—I can't rest easy while enemies like you breathe."
"No, I won't! I'll never dare to oppose you again!" Nangong Ling hastily swore.
Qin Yang ignored him completely, his finger forming a sword-like gesture as a true qi divine blade instantly materialized.
As the sword-like gesture descended, Nangong Ling's head didn't fly off. Instead, there came a metallic clang!
"Another Qin Family elder?" Qin Yang's eyebrow twitched as a middle-aged man appeared, blocking his Shocking Sword Finger with a longsword.
The man's face showed initial surprise. When he finally saw Qin Yang's youthful appearance, his expression shifted to shock.
"You... you're one of the candidates for the Celestial Academy assessment?" The man's tongue seemed to tangle in his mouth. "Holy shit! Are all the young generation so fierce these days?"
Qin Yang frowned. From the tone of these words, this person wasn't actually from the Qin Family?
"Since you're not from the Qin Family, you don't need to die. Get out of the way!" Qin Yang said coldly.
The middle-aged man clicked his tongue in amazement, looking at Qin Yang as if examining a monster. Far from being angry at Qin Yang's tone, he smiled broadly and said, "You can't kill him."
"Why?" Qin Yang asked.
The middle-aged man spread his hands. "Can't help it. As an elder of a minor sect, I have to give face to Celestial Academy. I'm not deliberately opposing you. If it were you being killed, I'd save you too."
"What do you mean?" Qin Yang pressed.
The man explained, "Martial Heaven, Celestial Academy's teacher, rallied all Zongshi Realm cultivators to find this secret realm and rescue all test disciples. He specifically instructed us... to spare no effort."
He emphasized the last part, "Spare no effort."
"And if you can't save them?" Qin Yang chuckled softly.
"Remarkable, truly remarkable!" The man exclaimed repeatedly, pulling out a token from his robes. He caressed it like a precious gem, his expression intoxicated. "If only I were decades younger..." He coughed.
With a serious tone, he declared, "If I can't save them, then Senior Martial Heaven certainly can!"
Qin Yang took a deep breath. Too much pointless chatter, he thought. If I'd killed Nangong Ling earlier, none of this would have happened.