Chapter 635: Rescuing the Captives

“Are we really going to talk about a deal?”

Luo Tian retorted.

Qin Aolan was taken aback. ‘He agreed so readily?’

“As my servant, any benefits you come across should naturally be offered to your master first. As for whether I decide to help you, that will depend on my mood.”

Luo Tian continued.

“…”

Qin Aolan’s eyes darkened, a cold light flashing within them. A repressive, icy aura began to emanate from her.

But just as quickly, she composed herself.

“First, tell me about these benefits,” Luo Tian instructed.

“I recall a special treasure located somewhere within the Wuji Saint Institute…”

Qin Aolan said, her words faltering.

“Of course, after so much time has passed, I can’t guarantee the treasure is still there. But I can offer you other forms of compensation.”

Qin Aolan added.

“Oh, right. First, give me a portion of the treasures from Venerable Biqing’s legacy.”

The mention of treasures reminded Luo Tian of this point. He had been thinking about it often.

“Venerable Biqing’s legacy Secret Realm isn’t located within the Pale Ring. Besides, there aren’t actually many true treasures inside. Before his death, Venerable Biqing sold off most of his collection to prolong his life…”

Qin Aolan explained.

This was the Pale Ring, and there were far too many powerful experts around.

A Martial Venerable’s Secret Realm could easily be discovered, which would bring disaster upon them.

Still, Qin Aolan knew that if she didn’t give Luo Tian something, he wouldn’t let the matter drop.

She had no choice but to take out a few treasures and let Luo Tian choose.

‘A Celestial Blue Purifying Fire Lotus… a rare Spiritual Material that can raise the Cultivation of a High Tier Celestial Pool Realm cultivator…’

‘This Mid Grade Defense Treasure Armor is pretty good…’

“Hmm, you even have Celestial Essence Pills?”

Celestial Essence Pills were Elixir Pills that assisted cultivators in breaking through from the Earth Element Realm to the Celestial Pool Realm. They were valuable, but obviously useless to Qin Aolan.

“I acquired them as spoils after killing a group of bandits I encountered.”

Qin Aolan explained impassively.

The bottle contained a full ten Celestial Essence Pills. Luo Tian had no use for them, but he could give them to his students as rewards.

After selecting a few treasures, Luo Tian looked at Qin Aolan again. “Alright, tell me. What is it you want from the Wuji Saint Institute?”

“A Jade Pendant.”

With a wave of her hand, a spectral image of a blue Jade Pendant materialized in front of her.

“Mm.”

Luo Tian nodded, memorizing the Jade Pendant’s appearance.

‘As long as it isn’t dangerous, I don’t mind helping her.’

“You’re a Mermaid, too. You’re not one of the Mermaid Race attacking the Water Blue Realm, are you?”

Luo Tian recalled something else.

“I am not like them!”

Qin Aolan stated with cold arrogance.

“You’re right, you are different. Your master is human, so strictly speaking, you’re on the Human Race’s side.”

Luo Tian nodded.

Qin Aolan’s eyelid twitched, but she didn’t respond.

Just then, an immense wave of Energy rapidly approached from the distance.

A Celestial Eye opened between Luo Tian’s brows, and he gazed into the distance.

He saw dozens of aliens. Most were from the Ghost Liao Race, but there were also members of the Mermaid Race and others.

In the center of this group of aliens was a massive, shimmering black bubble. Black smoke drifted within it, where over a dozen young women lay unconscious.

Luo Tian recognized at a glance that the young women were wearing the uniforms of Celestial Brilliance Academy students.

There were even two female Mentors among them. Coincidentally, the beautiful female Mentor who had arranged his accommodations and led him to Heaven-Burning Valley was one of them.

However, all the women’s faces were deathly pale, with faint black lines visible on their skin. They were deeply unconscious, clearly having been poisoned.

“Heh heh, what a great haul this time.”

“The masters are going to love seeing so many human women.”

“Even if the masters don’t take a liking to them, we can still sell them for a good price.”

A few of the aliens discussed amongst themselves.

Wherever there was war between the races, there were slave markets. Female slaves, in particular, were the most sought-after.

It was said that at least two million members of the Human Race were sold into slavery across the various realms each year, and most of them met utterly miserable ends.

“All of you, shut up! Hurry back to our territory, and watch out for Human Race pursuers.”

The leader, a member of the Ghost Liao Race wielding a Sky-piercing Halberd, barked authoritatively.

Everyone immediately fell silent, not daring to utter another word.

Suddenly, a cold voice came from directly ahead. “Leave the captives behind.”

The entire group immediately stopped, on high alert.

“Damn it, are the Human Race pursuers here already?”

“How could they be so fast?”

All the aliens grew vigilant, their eyes filled with ferocious killing intent!

However, when they saw a lone figure in white slowly emerge from the gray mist ahead, they realized it was just Luo Tian.

As a member of the Human Race, and a guest Mentor at Celestial Brilliance Academy, how could he possibly stand by and do nothing after seeing its students and Mentors taken captive?

Especially since he knew one of the captives.

But when Luo Tian appeared, the aliens all looked at one another before breaking into amused, mocking smiles.

“Son of a bitch, it’s just one guy. Scared the hell out of me.”

“Is this guy crazy? Trying to rescue the captives all by himself?”

“Maybe his lover is one of the captives. Ah, such a touching romance.”

All the aliens began to jeer and mock him.

The Ghost Liao Race leader’s white pupils narrowed.

‘For one person to be so calm… this is a little strange.’

‘Still, there’s no need to worry too much. We have over seventy people on our side!’

As the leader, his own Cultivation had reached the Peak of the Celestial Pool Realm’s Sixth Layer!

‘Even if Luo Tian is at the Seventh or Eighth Layer of the Celestial Pool Realm, our entire team working together can fight him.’

“Idiot. Since you’ve delivered yourself to our door, I’ll gladly relieve you of your head.”

A Mermaid flew forward.

His Cultivation was at the Third Layer of the Celestial Pool Realm, his body covered in dark green scales, and he wielded a black spear.

WHOOSH!

The Mermaid shot toward Luo Tian like an arrow, his spear surging with torrents of sinister, dark green water.

Luo Tian raised a hand slightly, preparing to deal with the enemy.

But just as the Mermaid came within a hundred meters of Luo Tian…

Suddenly, as if crushed by the weight of a mountain, his body plummeted and he fell to his knees before Luo Tian!

His attack vanished without a trace.

“This… How is this possible?”

The Mermaid looked up in terror, his pupils trembling!

Luo Tian paused, his hand still raised. ‘I didn’t do anything, though?’

He tilted his head slightly and understood why.

The alien troop in front of him was completely dumbfounded by this scene.

‘What’s going on?’

‘A Mermaid expert at the Third Layer of the Celestial Pool Realm, suppressed and rendered immobile with a mere lift of that human’s hand!’

Many of the aliens’ expressions turned grim.

The members of the Mermaid Race in particular had just felt a terrifying pressure originating from the depths of their bloodline, making them tremble with fear.

The Ghost Liao Race leader was also stunned by the scene.

But he keenly sensed that something was off.

“No wonder you dared to intercept our team alone. It turns out you have a master backing you up.”

The Ghost Liao Race expert chuckled. He was actually relieved now that he thought he understood the enemy’s situation.

WHOOSH!

The faint figure of a Mermaid appeared behind Luo Tian.

The alien troop wasn’t surprised by this.

Wherever there was conflict, there were traitors. Just as some humans worked for them, some of the Mermaid Race worked for the Human Race.

‘A highly cultivated Mermaid has extremely strong bloodline suppression over those with weaker Cultivation…’ the Ghost Liao Race leader thought.

‘The Mermaid behind Luo Tian must be powerful, but in the end, it’s just the two of them. We have strength in numbers; there’s no need to be afraid.’

“Kill them.”

The Ghost Liao Race leader commanded.

The entire troop of over seventy aliens launched their attack!

In this troop, about twenty were at the Earth Element Realm, while the rest were all in the Celestial Pool Realm!

As the troop charged toward Luo Tian, they were surprised to discover that the powerful Mermaid behind him seemed to have no intention of acting!

‘Perfect. We’ll deal with this human first, then take care of that Mermaid traitor,’ the Ghost Liao Race leader thought!

BOOM!

A sky-blotting barrage of attacks hurtled toward Luo Tian, erupting in a deafening explosion.

From within the explosion, nine identical figures suddenly shot out, making it impossible to tell them apart.

The nine shadows weaved through the crowd of aliens, instantly throwing their formation into disarray.

Among the nine shadows, only the original body possessed any real killing power. Luo Tian’s true form was quickly identified, and the aliens swarmed him!

“Perfect. I’ll use you all to test out my Sword Body Secret Skill.”

Golden light erupted from Luo Tian’s body as a piercing Sword Intent shot into the heavens, stirring the very clouds!

His body took on the likeness of gilded jade, radiating a blinding, sharp brilliance, as if he himself had become a Divine Weapon!

Myriad Sword Qi!

Luo Tian executed the Secret Skill, and combined with his Wind Sword Intent, instantly formed tens of thousands of densely packed streams of Golden Sword Qi around his body.

All the strands of Golden Sword Qi swirled rapidly with Luo Tian at their center, forming a tempest of Sword Qi that expanded outward!

SHIIING! SPLAT!

The few aliens closest to Luo Tian were instantly diced into pieces, blood splattering everywhere.

The aliens behind them tried to resist, but their True Essence Shields were shredded in an instant, and they too were obliterated by the Golden Sword Qi!

In the span of two breaths, ten aliens had died a gruesome death.

‘Each strand of Sword Qi is powerful enough to threaten someone at the Fourth Layer of the Celestial Pool Realm,’ Luo Tian murmured to himself.

‘A single strand of Sword Qi isn’t that strong, but the cumulative effect of so many is terrifying.’

“Retreat!”

“What a powerful Secret Skill! Get some distance!”

The aliens fell back in a panic.

But Luo Tian was faster, charging straight into the most crowded areas of their formation.

Anyone within a hundred-meter radius of him became a target, and those with a Cultivation below the Fifth Layer of the Celestial Pool Realm were completely powerless to resist.

Furthermore, Myriad Sword Qi served as both Attack and Defense.

“Kill him together!”

the Ghost Liao Race leader roared, the Sky-piercing Halberd in his hand erupting with a terrifying, blood-black light.

‘With so many of us attacking at once, we should be able to suppress his Myriad Sword Qi and then kill him.’

“Hmph!”

From deep within the gray mist, Qin Aolan let out a cold snort, her voice seeming to contain a mysterious power.

In that instant, all the Mermaids in the alien troop felt their True Essence freeze in their bodies. It felt as if they were suffocating, and they were rendered completely unable to fight!

“What?”

The Ghost Liao Race leader was utterly shocked!

He had thought the Mermaid traitor was strong, but he never expected her to be *this* strong.

With a single snort, even the Mermaid expert at the Peak of the Celestial Pool Realm’s Fifth Layer was completely suppressed and unable to fight!

With all the Mermaids having lost their ability to fight, the troop’s overall power was greatly diminished.

After Luo Tian cut down another seven or eight Celestial Pool Realm cultivators, the enemy fled for their lives, abandoning their captives.

“Go!”

Luo Tian flicked a finger.

The tens of thousands of Golden Sword Qi strands surrounding him all shot forth in unison, streaking into the distance!

“Aaargh!”

Among the fleeing aliens, those who fell behind were caught by Luo Tian’s attack. Four were killed, and five were injured.

‘Not bad. It’s good for both offense and defense in close combat, and it can also be unleashed from a distance.’

Luo Tian nodded in satisfaction.

He had used this group battle purely to test his Secret Skill, “Myriad Sword Qi.”

As for the other aliens who had escaped, Luo Tian couldn’t be bothered to give chase.

He walked up to the massive black bubble and swiped a finger through the air. The bubble burst, and the black smoke within dissipated.

A few breaths later, the two female Mentors’ eyelashes fluttered as they began to regain consciousness.

The beautiful female Mentor saw light and was ecstatic. Then, she saw Luo Tian’s handsome, calm face.

“We’re saved… Ma… Master Luo?”