Chapter 55: Battle Spirit

　　The silence was broken by the Duan family first. Duan Gucheng’s lower abdomen and arms were still bleeding profusely, so if they delayed any longer, those injuries could be enough to kill him. Even if they didn’t, his future potential would definitely be affected, and he may be unable to progress to the Spirit Martial Stage.

　　“Alright, if you release Gucheng and disappear forever from the Celestial River County, I promise that we won’t trouble you ever again,” Duan Xilai conceded with narrowed eyes.

　　Qi Ying chuckled with disdain. “Hehe, that’s a nice little scheme you’re planning there. You want me to leave the Celestial River County, then send people to hunt me down right? Besides, your Duan family is at fault, so why do I have to leave the Celestial River County? I want a guarantee that the Duan family will never stir up any trouble again! I want to see if your Duan family is going to concede to someone like me!”

　　Gasp…

　　Everyone on the riverbank burst into chatter upon hearing that.

　　It was quite clear that Qi Ying would not be easily fooled. He was much smarter than he looked! The Duan family had two options; they could either kill Qi Ying at the expense of Duan Gucheng, or save Duan Gucheng and leave Qi Ying alive, in which case their reputation would be severely dented.

　　What choice were they going to make?

　　Right at that moment.

　　Another burst of commotion erupted from outside.

　　“Make way!”

　　“We have been deployed by the mayor; make way, everyone!”

　　Everyone dispersed once again to allow another group of people through. It was a group of warriors in green armor; the man at the forefront wore a set of short feather robes, with a scimitar in a golden scabbard hanging from his waist, and a pair of black official boots on his feet.

　　He was the guard leader of the mayor’s official residence, the Ninth Energy Martial Stage warrior, Zhang Wuleng!

　　“Who is one committing an offense here?”

　　Zhang Wuleng clasped his hands behind his back.

　　Everyone burst into chatter once again. The mayor’s forces had arrived! Qi Ying was holding a hostage and had violated the laws of the kingdom. As a result, he had to be detained!

　　Duan Xilai’s expression relaxed as he yelled, “Qi Ying, release Gucheng! The Duan family won’t press any charges!”

　　He could kill Qi Ying in a thousand different ways after being taken into custody.

　　However, Qi Ying immediately retorted. “The Duan family are the ones committing an offense here! They all ganged up on me, and I’m just defending myself! The entire academy can act as my witnesses; Duan Gucheng was the one who barged into the classroom with a bunch of disciples, and forced me to come here with them!”

　　“Huh?” Zhang Wuleng turned to the man beside him and asked, “Is that the case?”

　　“Er, I do believe so,” Gu Shiwei replied.

　　Everyone suddenly discovered that they had unintentionally viewed Qi Ying as the perpetrator, when it was actually the Duan family that was at fault!

　　The members of the Duan family were also stumped. They were already used to being able to do whatever they wanted in the Celestial River County, and killing an underprivileged brat was like stomping on an ant to them. As such, they didn’t feet like they were doing anything wrong. However, when they thought about it, it did appear that Duan Gucheng was the one who had broken the law, not Qi Ying. All of Qi Ying’s actions had been part of justified self-defense.

　　Zhang Wuleng turned to Qi Ying and said. “Alright, I’ll accept the fact that you were acting in self-defense. Now, release Duan Gucheng and let us take care of everything else!”

　　“I concur,” Duan Xilai chimed in.

　　Their top priority was to save Duan Gucheng. As for Qi Ying… they could hunt him down after he released Duan Gucheng! Even if they killed Qi Ying, the officials wouldn’t be able to do anything to the Duan family aside from handing out a fine.

　　Laws were nonexistent to those who were powerful enough.

　　“Release Duan Gucheng at once! If he dies, you will not be exempt from punishment!” Zhang Wuleng yelled.

　　“Hmph.”

　　Qi Ying knew that if he were to release Duan Gucheng, the Duan family would instantly try to kill him on the spot, no matter the price. Duan Hongxue and Duan Xilai were both Spirit Martial Stage warriors, and there were also countless other powerful beings in the Duan family. Even if the academy principal were to try and stop them, it would still come to no avail… As such, he had to wait.

　　He had to wait until his backers arrived!

　　Thus, Qi Ying replied, “Wait for a while longer.”

　　Duan Xilai: “…”

　　Duan Gucheng: “…”

　　Zhang Wuleng: “…”

　　Everyone else: “…”

　　‘What the hell?’

　　‘Wait for a while longer… Are you going to release him or not?!’ Why was he bartering as if he were buying vegetables?

　　“I’ll give you eight minutes.”

　　Duan Xilai assessed Duan Gucheng’s injuries before conceding in a cold voice.

　　If they waited any longer than that, Duan Gucheng’s future cultivation potential would be affected! In that case, they would have to take some risks to try and insta-kill Qi Ying.

　　“Alright.”

　　Qi Ying nodded.

　　When that time came, Master Thirteen and Lu Feifei should have already arrived on the scene… With them there, the Duan family wouldn’t be able to do anything to him!

　　All of a sudden, Qi Ying was struck by a sense of dizziness. He had expended quite a bit of True Energy just then, and his left hand was relapsing again.

　　‘Dammit, why now of all times…’

　　Qi Ying cursed internally. They were at a critical juncture, and just the slightest lapse in concentration could present an opportunity for Duan Xilai to insta-kill him.

　　Thankfully, Xuan Yu was standing right beside him.

　　“Mother Yu, feed me some pills.”

　　“Alright.”

　　Xuan Yu was standing silently beside him the entire time, and she fished out a jade vial, within which were a few Great Strength Pills that could temporarily relieve the symptoms of his left hand.

　　However, right at that moment, Qi Ying suddenly sensed a flow of warm energy making its way into his body through his left hand! Even though the vast majority of that energy had been taken by his left hand, there was still quite a lot surging into his body! In fact, that source of energy was even more effective than consuming Energy Explosion Pills!

　　“What’s going on?”

　　Before Qi Ying had a chance to make sense of the situation, he heard an enraged roar erupting from the other riverbank. “Gucheng!”

　　Whoosh!

　　Duan Xilai suddenly sprang into the air.

　　Eh?

　　Qi Ying looked down to find that Duan Gucheng was suddenly in critical condition. He was bleeding profusely and struggling to breathe a moment ago, but his cultivation base was keeping him alive and he didn’t appear to be at risk of dying anytime soon. However, all of a sudden, his pallor had turned gray, his body was cold, and it appeared as if he was on the brink of death.

　　Just as he was caught in a slightly stunned stupor.

　　“Roar!”

　　An explosive roar erupted, and a vast expanse of black light suddenly appeared behind Duan Xilai. Within the light, a tiger outline that was several dozen feet in size appeared, before instantly materializing into a massive black tiger with a pair of black wings.

　　Whoosh!

　　All of the Energy Martial Stage and Strength Martial Stage warriors, including Qi Ying, were struck by a sense of dizziness from that roar.

　　Gu Shiwei’s expression changed slightly as he remarked, “Battle Spirit, Black Winged Tiger!”

　　Duan Xilai had sprung into action in a flash. As a top-tier warrior who had progressed to the Spirit Martial Stage several decades ago, his Black Winged Tiger Battle Spirit was even capable of insta-killing a Ninth Energy Martial Stage warrior.

　　Thud!

　　Duan Xilai was like gliding falcon, appearing instantly above Qi Ying as one of the massive paws of his Black Winged Tiger came crashing down.

　　In that instant, Qi Ying recovered from the sense of dizziness, and his heart jolted with shock as he sensed the peril descending from above. He immediately released Duan Gucheng and raised his left hand!

　　Duan Gucheng’s life was cheaper than that of a dog’s in his eyes; it was completely incomparable to Mother Yu’s safety!

　　Boom!

　　Silver light flashed as Qi Ying’s left hand crashed into the paw of the Black Winged Tiger with a resounding boom.