Chapter 442: Magnificent Power.
Arthur didn't think it was a good idea to want to join the fight going on outside between the two golden figures. He thought to himself, "I bet you will be shredded to bits as soon as you step out of this boat."
The boat was already bouncing about as if it were on a rowdy ocean. He could already imagine how bad things would be outside the boat without the protection of the energy shield.
He was thinking about being flayed to bits layer by layer if he went outside the boat when Elder Storm Hawk said wistfully, "The two of them possess too much mana. And it is high-quality mana too. A single brush with their mana can damage our life seeds and foundation. Their mana is like poison."
Her voice was full of admiration. He didn't think anyone could admire anything more than that, but the Battle Furnace managed to beat her admiration as he said, "Yeah. Such power. Magnificent."
He looked away because he wasn't seeing anything interesting anyway. Then he decided to sit down and hope that the person from their side will win the fight.
While he was sitting down, he couldn't help but touch his neck again. The injury he sustained earlier baffled him. He couldn't understand how he was injured even though nothing touched him.
While he was thinking, the flying boat moved farther and farther away from the battle. This caused it to sway less and for the energy shield to flicker less.
He was planning to wait until the outcome of the fight was determined. But Arthur eventually couldn't hold back from voicing his thoughts.
He asked, "Are sword disciples so strong? Or is it common for those at the fourth mortal coil to injure someone without touching them? I almost lost my head without being attacked."
Elder Storm Hawk frowned and said, "It is not common at all. Usually, I would expect something like that from a nascent soul patriarch. But the person was clearly at the golden core."
When she said "clearly," he didn't know if things were so clear that the person was at the golden core. After all, all he could see was a golden cloud.
He doesn't even know if the person was male or female. Not that it mattered. But he didn't voice his thoughts about the certainty or uncertainty of their power level.
His silent contemplation allowed Elder Blood Spider to interject, "Sword cultivators are very powerful actually. They have a high upper limit for power and used to be the most powerful kind of cultivators, so it is understandable why a golden core elder could do something that only nascent soul patriarchs should be able to do."
Elder Storm Hawk agreed with a nod and said, "It is true. Sword cultivators are very strong. They could have achieved the effect through their sword intent. A shield might not be able to block the effect of their sword intent, but they would have to be very strong to do so."
They spoke some more about the possible reasons for the unnatural attack. Throughout their conversation, Elder Battle Furnace didn't speak. He was too entranced looking at the fight to join in the conversation.
Arthur became solemn the more he heard them speak. He said, "If this sword cultivator is so strong, our helper won't have an easy fight."
What he said caused the atmosphere to become quiet and solemn. They began to worry about their fate, and it was mostly because of what he didn't say.
He didn't say it, but his words implied that with the sword cultivator being so strong, the chances of their helper winning are small, and the chances of the sword cultivator coming over to finish what he started are high.
They couldn't help but worry about the outcome of the fight. Unfortunately, worrying didn't help much. In fact, it didn't help at all.
The fight took longer than they expected, though. They left the vicinity of the fight and even stopped being able to see the fight after a while.
This meant that they wouldn't be able to immediately tell the outcome of the fight. They could only worry and hope in ignorance.
As the boat moved along silently and peacefully, its occupants couldn't feel any peace. They were all tense because it seemed that a guillotine was hanging above their heads.
The guillotine could fall at any time. They don't know if it will fall at all, and they know when it will fall if it ever falls. So there was no way they could relax and be at peace.
This continued for hours. During those hours of flight, they kept looking backwards, waiting for a sign of their fate. The worst part of the wait was that the sign for both the good and bad outcomes would be the same.
No matter who won, a golden figure will approach them quickly. This golden figure might come to tell them that they are safe, or the golden figure might come to behead them. There was nothing to do but wait.
So when the golden figure appeared on the horizon, the four of them jumped onto their feet both in fear and anticipation. They were anxiously waiting to see if the guillotine would fall and behead them.
As they waited, they didn't sense that sharp, heavy aura that weighed on them when the sword cultivator appeared. But that didn't mean everything, so they waited for more information before they made up their minds.
The golden figure quickly approached them and bypassed them. They went in the direction of the Blood Skull sect without stopping. But they did drop a message.
"Thanks a lot. Now I've killed a talented elder of the Sword Way sect and offended them again. This is all your fault."
The message made Arthur relax and begin breathing again. It was as if a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
Even the other three became visibly relaxed. Then they looked at each other and smiled.