Chapter 290: Final Moments

"Palace Lord Liu," The grey-skirted young woman performed a ritual to greet Liu An along with the man with a scar on his face.

"Palace Lord Pang, you're in-charge of these three Gigantic Vast Sea Boats. They are already at full capacity. So, you should set off," Liu An looked at the grey-skirted woman, and said.

"Palace Lord Liu, what about you?" the grey-skirted woman asked after a momentary hesitation.

"I and Palace Lord Luo will provide support to the last batch of disciples. So, you take your leave first. We will converge at sea at the right time," Liu An looked toward the Gloomy Corpse Mountain range while he was speaking. The mountain was still covered in mist.

However, the grey mist over there seemed to be less dense than before.

The grey-skirted woman hesitated a bit. But then, she complied in a low voice. She then turned around and boarded the No. 22 Gigantic Vast Sea Boat. Shi Mu was also on this ship.

"Set out!"

She stood at the bow of the ship, and gave an order in a loud voice.

The three mighty black ships spread their sails, and changed the direction in a slow manner. After that, they started to sail away from the seacoast.

The grey-skirted woman turned her hand, and took out a grey compass. She then mumbled something, and pointed her finger at the compass.

The next moment, the mysterious magic characters that had been drawn on the surface of these three large boats started to gleam, and vein-like green patterns started to emerge on the surface of the sails. The air started to flow out of nowhere, and propped-up the ships' sails.

The sailing speed of these three boats increased as a result, and they rushed forth at a lightning speed. They drifted further and further away from the sea coast as time passed.

"The last three ships still have to embark on their journey. Let's hope that we'll have enough time to get them ready for sail."

Liu An heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the three ships had gradually drifted far from the coast.

22 Gigantic Vast Sea Boats had successfully begun their voyage from this seacoast by now. This indicated that more than 4,000 elite disciples of the Dark Moon Cult had been packed off.

The Eastern Dark Moon Cult was struggling with a lot of internal problems as well as external worries these days... so much so that the Cult seemed to be on the verge of falling apart. In such a scenario, it was incredibly difficult to accomplish this mission without tumbling into any problems en route.

Therefore, Liu An had also paid a heavy price in this regard.

This was the reason why the Dark Moon Cult had still continued to preserve its inheritance even though the Xixia country was on the brink of demolition. However, the Cult was also desperate since they had a glimmer of hope when it came to staging a comeback someday.

"Palace Lord Liu, you should also leave. I assure you that the last batch of disciples will be sent off safely under my guidance," the scar-faced man retracted his vision from the three ships that were drifting away as he said.

"It's no bother. I have just received a message from the meeting room that the competition has marked its conclusion. So, the last batch of disciples is on their way," Liu An replied.

Liu An's voice had barely faded when sounds of footsteps was heard. They seemed to be approaching from afar.

The two people's gaze drew toward the source of the sound. They then saw that five-or-six hundred disciples were advancing towards them under the leadership of a grey-robed middle-aged man.

The grey-robed middle-aged man saw Liu An and the other man from afar, and his silhouette flashed and swept toward them... as if he was flying. Then, he cupped his hands toward Liu An and the scar-faced man, and spoke-up with a sense of deep respect, "Respected Palace Lords, the competition has marked its end. This is the last batch of disciples... five-hundred-and-sixty-seven people in total. These disciples have been brought here, while the rest of the people have stayed behind to take care of things in Qu Yang City."

"Very good! Make everyone board the ship as quickly as possible and set sail right away!" Liu An nodded and ordered.

"Yes!" the middle-aged man complied. He then gathered those five-hundred people in order to begin the boarding process.

Liu An's gaze shifted towards the Pangu Peak of the Gloomy Corpse Mountain range where the Dark Moon Cult's Main Altar was established, and his brows tightly creased. He didn't know why he couldn't shake off that trace of apprehension in his heart.

And, this feeling grew increasingly intense as time passed bit-by-bit.

He then turned his head and look toward the ships. He noticed that two of the three ships had already been filled even though only a little time had passed. And, the last few dozens of people were boarding the last boat at their full speed.

Moreover, the three Gigantic Vast Sea Boats that Shi Mu and the others had boarded... had already drifted far from the coast.

"It's the last few moments of this mission, but I'm still very apprehensive." Liu An withdrew his gaze. His facial expression looked calm at this moment, but he muttered to himself in a somewhat self-deprecating manner.

It could be said that the plan had gone smoothly so far. The main forces of Transcending heaven Immortal Cult and Heavenly Demon Sect ought to be dealing with the Main Altar of the Dark Moon Cult at this time. It couldn't be denied that the enemy was very formidable. But, the Great Formula for Mountain Protection was set-up there, and that should be enough to resist them. In addition, the Right Wing Minister was himself present there to lend a hand. So, it wasn't possible to break through the defense very easily.

Liu An only needed a little time so that the last batch of disciples could enter the Yellow Sea. After that, no matter how fierce the two major forces were... they couldn't do anything to them. Instead, they would feel powerless and frustrated at their incompetence.

Some time passed...

The last disciple had finally boarded the ship. The scar-faced man leapt onto the last boat, and looked at Liu An.

"Palace Lord Liu, everyone has got on the ships!"

"Set off at once!" Liu An also got on the ship, and stood alongside the scar-faced man. Then, he issued an order.

"Evildoer, stop running away!"

A stern and loud voice spread from afar. The voice seemed to be filled with dignity, while blazing with wrath.

After that, a thick beam of white light flew over from the distant horizon at an inexplicably fast speed. An astonishingly formidable spiritual aura also swept over the ships as this happened. And, it shrouded thousands of feet of the surrounding space in a fraction of a second.

Then, a massive blue bottle gourd appeared before them. It was curled up in a mass of white light. Three or four persons' silhouettes could be vaguely seen on top of that gourd. The leader of this group was a crane-like white-haired elderly man. He had a baby-like face, and was clad in a blue Taoist robe. He held a horsetail whisk, and his eyes were glistening with an exquisite gleam.

"Old Man Wu Chen!" Liu An's complexion profoundly changed.

The scar-faced man stood beside Liu An. A flabbergasted look flashed through his face as soon as he heard this name.

"Palace Lord Luo, I will hold Old Man Wu Chen here. The disciples of these three ships are your responsibility now!" Liu An didn't even take a moment to think as he stated this.

"But..." The scar-faced man hesitated.

"There's nothing to speak of. It's too late!" Liu An's body darted out like an arrow to meet the white light while he was in the midst of speaking.

The scar-faced man gazed at Liu An from behind. Then, he stamped his foot and turned around. He then shouted at the top of his voice, "Set out at full speed!"

The managing disciples who were in-charge of controlling these three boats moved into action at once. The magic characters drawn on the surface of these boats lit up within a few breaths. After that, the boats slowly turned, and advanced toward the deep sea.

Liu An was in midair when he opened his mouth and spouted a tiny dark-red banner. Then, a blood-red light flashed, and the banner started to extend until it reached five feet in length.

A pattern of a pale-golden ghost's head was engraved in the center of the banner; it looked vivid and lifelike. The ghost's head was surrounded by various kinds of spirit patterns. It rendered a rather strange and mysterious feeling.

Liu An held out his hand to grip the pole of the banner. He then raised it against the wind!

Bang!

The banner flew out of his hand, and began to expand against the wind until it reached several feet in size. After that, a blood-red magic character rolled in its centre, and turned into a mass of red billowing flame. The flame was exuding a faint creaking and groaning sound... as if someone was mourning and wailing inside it in grief.

Then, the massive head of a pale-golden ghost emerged amid the blazing red flame along with an astonishing spiritual pressure. The ghost's head surged-up, and proliferated in all directions; it was twenty-or-thirty feet in size. After that, the blood-red banner vanished into thin air.

Then, a "Chi Chi" sound rang out!

The pale-golden ghost's head opened its large mouth, and spurted out a blood-red column of flame. This column of flame was as thick as a barrel of water. The blood-red column then rushed forth to receive the white light.

The Individuals whose silhouettes could be seen in the white light were startled by this. And, they immediately stopped moving the light.

However, a green ancient sword darted from the white light. It began to inflate at an incredible speed until it had reached several dozen feet in size. After that, it took a spin, and transformed into a bulky sword-shadow.

The sword-shadow and that column of blood-red flame collided with each other the next moment. Two magnificent halos — one red and one green — also bumped into each other in the air as this happened.

A loud and shrill whistling sound soared into the sky as the air vibrated intensely by the impact of this collision. In addition, this explosion set off two strong winds — one green and other red. These winds then proliferated in all directions.

The trees and weeds within a range of dozens of feet couldn't escape this strong gale, and got uprooted one after another. Then, countless cracks split open in the ground, and clouds of dust sprang up everywhere. In fact, it seemed as if a layer of sand had been ploughed by force.

The three large boats that had just departed the shore were also affected by the gust of strong wind. Bursts of exasperation were heard as they shook violently.

These spirit-tool-class gigantic vessels had some sort of defensive barrier. Moreover, they were considerably far from the range of explosion. Therefore, they didn't get affected very strongly by the explosion.

"Boom" the sounds of a loud explosion was heard again!

That column of blood-red flame collapsed and dispersed in the air with a loud rumbling sound. The green ancient sword was also shot and sent flying in the air.

Liu An waved his hand, and the pale-golden ghost's head flew over. Then, it started to hover around the top of his head.

The white light on the opposite side finally stopped, and Old Man Wu Chen's silhouette came into appearance. He was seated crossed-legged on the blue gourd. Three persons stood behind him at the rear of the bottle gourd. One of them was a refined Taoist priest, while the other one was a young Taoist man with pure and distinct facial features. The third one was a beautiful Taoist nun.

"A Heavenly Ghost Banner... I haven't seen this in ages!"

Old Man Wu Chen looked at the pale-golden ghost's head on the top of Liu An's head, and muttered to himself.

"Old Man Wu Chen, you've arrived here very quickly. But, you'll have to stop at this point," Liu An spoke-up.

"He He, Dong Fang Xian Tian had also used his Heaven-ranked cultivation to propel this treasure in those days. Still, he couldn't become a competent match for this old fellow. Now, you're daring to overrate yourself while attempting to do something impossible. It's daunting to think that the younger generation could surpass the older generation!" Old Man Wu Chen streaked his arm in the void as he spoke. The green ancient sword seemed to have induced its master's mood. It revealed a fit of faint tremors, and then changed its direction. It was pointed straight at Liu An now.

Liu An chuckled, and the pale-golden ghost's head dashed straight toward Old Man Wu Chen. Simultaneously, an enormous blood-red beam rolled out of that ghost's mouth, and hacked toward Old Man Wu Chen's head.

Old Man Wu Chen waved his hand, and the green sword changed into a mighty green sword-shadow. Then, it rushed forth to receive the pale golden ghost's head. After that, he said to the three people behind him, "Leave this person to me. You three go forward and block those ships!"

The three people complied. Then, their silhouettes flashed, and they rushed toward the ships.

Liu An was appalled by this. And, he started to mumble something. After all, he wanted to stop those three people by using any means necessary.

However, Old Man Wu Chen clasped his fingers, and many green lights flew out of his fingertips. They then merged into his green sword one after another.

After that, a miraculous radiance flashed on the surface of the green sword. Then, a tiny wisp of green silk-like sword Qi coiled around the pale-golden ghost's head, and restricted its movement.

Liu An felt as if a shiver had ran down his spine after he saw this. However, he immediately collected his thoughts since he couldn't dare to harbor any useless negative ideas at such a crucial point. He then centralized all of his thoughts to resist the old man.

Liu An opened his mouth, and spouted a fine strand of blood essence. Then, the blood essence submerged into the pale-golden ghost's head.

After that, numerous small magic characters appeared, and started to flow on the surface of the ghost's head. A luminous blood-red flame also flared out with a loud "Bang" sound. It burnt down the greater part of the green sword Qi, and got Liu An out of this hard-pressed trouble.

"I've always looked down on you!" Old Man Wu Chen snorted in a cold manner when he saw this scene. He then revealed the contemptuous feeling that he had been harboring against Liu An this entire time.

After that, a blue and a white silhouette shot up to the sky, and began fighting. They'd flutter up and down in the air while fighting over the time that followed. Earth-shaking loud sounds were being produced from their battle from time to time.

On the other side...

The refined Taoist priest and the other two Earth-ranked warriors pounced toward the boat that was nearest to the shore like a bolt of lightning.

The Gigantic Vast Sea Boats had used magic power to actuate the wind force. Therefore, the speed of these ships' sail was far beyond any ordinary ship. However, this speed was far inferior to the speed of an Earth-ranked powerhouse. Consequently, these three people caught up with the ships in a matter of moments.

The refined Taoist priest waved his hand, and a purple light shot up to the sky. Then, it flashed and transformed into a flying purple sword. The sword emitted strong waves of spiritual energy. It was clearly a spirit tool.

The flying purple sword suddenly emitted a crisp and clear sound, and then spurted out a glaring purple sword Qi. The sword Qi condensed into a gigantic purple sword-shadow that was several feet in size, and hacked down toward one of the ships.

The complexion of the two-hundred disciples on board turned deathly pale. They knew that the ship would shatter into pieces once the gigantic purple sword-shadow fell on it. And, all of them would be met with a violent death if that happened.

"Stop!"

A grey silhouette flashed before that huge purple sword-shadow to block its way; it was the scar-faced man.

His voice had barely faded when a streak of black light darted out of his hands. And then, a bone-white ring flew out of that black light. The ring appeared to be refined with a beast's bone.