Chapter 160: Startling Them Away (Request for Monthly Votes)

During the second synthesis, Xu Wen's movements grew increasingly skillful and effortless. He quickly melted the components, separately resolved the two types of medicinal pills, stripped away unnecessary impurities, and then fused the two liquids together. In a short span of time, they condensed into a pill that was pinkish with a vibrant emerald-green annular stripe.

Slightly twitching his nose to catch the faint medicinal fragrance escaping from the cauldron, Xu Wen quickly broke into a relaxed smile. The necromancer flame rapidly lowered its temperature, sealing the medicinal properties within the newly and swiftly condensed pill. The moment the cauldron was opened, Xu Wen finally withdrew his complete focus from the cauldron and the pill.

Taking a swift glance at the ninth-grade powerhouse, who was getting closer and was about to bring the Darkwind Condor into attack range, he furrowed his brows. Leaving the cauldron unattended, he grabbed the Rapid Berserk Pill and shoved it into Little Black's mouth, making it swallow.

This scene was clearly witnessed by Sky Hawk.

Along with it were the emerald-green pills being held in Bi'er's hand and poured out from a porcelain bottle.

Swiftwind Pills!

Sky Hawk was deeply moved... While marveling at the immense wealth of the young alchemist riding the Darkwind Condor, he also secretly furrowed his brow, cursing the sheer wastefulness of these individuals.

Seventh-grade Swiftwind Pills were regarded as supreme treasures even by him, things he wouldn't dare to consume lightly, yet the other party was feeding them like beans to a fifth-grade flying magical beast.

Sky Hawk quickly swallowed his last Swiftwind Pill, maintaining his speed at an extremely high level... He had no intention of giving that young girl another opportunity to waste Swiftwind Pills!

As long as he captured the people on the Darkwind Condor, wouldn't all the Swiftwind Pills on them belong to him? And that alchemist youth, who was valued so dearly by the ninth-grade dark mage, should have even more pills on his person.

It was just a pity... Right now, the Blood Coral Worm was of even greater value; otherwise, given the alchemist youth's methods just moments ago, he could have completely recruited him into the pirate crew and worshipped him like a living Buddha.

In the flash of a thought, Sky Hawk unconsciously stimulated his battle qi once again, simultaneously unleashing the Wind Spirit Movement Technique, further consuming his battle qi to accelerate... Because ever since the alchemist youth fed that strange pink pill to the Darkwind Condor, the bird's speed had actually increased once more.

"Damn it!"

Seeing the pursuer behind him accelerate as well, Elder Xie turned pale, and the glimmer of hope that had just risen in his heart vanished like a bubble once again. "A wind-type practitioner..."

As everyone knew, the greatest characteristic of wind-type practitioners was speed.

Previously, the opponent must not have wanted to consume too much battle qi, which was why he hadn't used an acceleration battle skill. Now, the opponent had been driven to genuine fury, which also demonstrated his resolve to kill the five people on the Darkwind Condor at all costs.

Damn it!

Xu Wen let out a rare internal curse.

However, this negative emotion surfaced and then rapidly vanished.

The effects of the Rapid Berserk Pill were gradually manifesting, and even Sky Hawk wouldn't be able to catch up immediately.

His gaze flickered rapidly twice, and Xu Wen suddenly paused, murmuring under his breath:

"A wind-type swordsman..."

"A wind-type practitioner."

His brain raced, his gaze shifting back and forth between the thin layer of battle qi radiance on Sky Hawk in the distance and the Darkwind Condor, finally resting on the sea surface below.

He had a plan.

His eyes narrowing, Xu Wen abruptly released the two pairs of armguards on his arms, tossing them to Wang Xiaoshuai to refill with phosphorus powder. He gave brief instructions to Elder Xie, Wang Xiaoshuai, and Ku'er. The three of them nodded solemnly and executed his orders meticulously, exactly as he had instructed.

Unable to divide his attention right now, Xu Wen immediately put away the medicine cauldron, pulled a pile of porcelain bottles from his treasure-storing belt, and lined them up in order on the back of the Darkwind Condor. Then, he poured his heart and soul into magical summoning...

Seeing the strange scene on the Darkwind Condor from afar, Sky Hawk's already darkened half-face turned even inkier.

The primary function of the Wind Spirit technique was evasion and temporarily boosting speed. Its effect during sustained flight wasn't very significant, and the Darkwind Condor's speed was becoming increasingly astonishing. He hadn't caught up yet, but he had already consumed a considerable amount of battle qi and pills. If this continued, falling further behind the vagrant while exhausting more battle qi would likely lead to unexpected complications over there.

Yet the people on the Darkwind Condor seemed to have hatched a new plan... No wonder Sky Hawk's expression was so unsightly.

Ever since advancing to the ninth grade, this was the first time he had encountered such a thorny situation.

Had he known the Darkwind Condor was so difficult to catch, he wouldn't have come over in the first place. The ninth-grade dark mage might not have dared to seek out trouble with him and the vagrant, or ruin a good thing.

Now that he had chased them this far and wasted quite a bit of battle qi and Swiftwind Pills, he was riding a tiger and found it hard to dismount; backing out was already too late, yet catching up in a short time seemed terribly difficult.

This was troublesome!

As for the five people on the Darkwind Condor, they did not dare to harbor the slightest bit of carelessness. Every action they took was aimed at further widening the distance between them and Sky Hawk, buying more breathing room for survival, and forcing the opponent to retreat in the face of difficulties.

"Release!"

Sky Hawk was extremely sensitive to sound and air currents.

The subtle sound reaching his ears was immediately detected by him. Twelve not-so-weak gusts of wind were successively shot out from the back of the Darkwind Condor, and immediately afterward, a massive expanse of powdery substance rapidly diffused between him and the condor.

"Phosphorus powder? Child's play!"

True to being a ninth-grade powerhouse, he saw through it instantly, recognizing that these twelve gusts of wind were formed from ordinary phosphorus powder. Without reducing his speed or changing his direction, he charged straight into it.

At the Darkwind Condor's speed, the moment the phosphorus powder fully diffused in the rear, it had already officially left the attack range of the five people. Therefore, he couldn't even be bothered to dodge or blow the phosphorus powder away.

Yet... *Swish! Swish!*

Two even faster piercing sounds rang out!

Amidst crisp and piercing metallic clashing, two small metal arrows struck sparks within the air dense with phosphorus powder.

*Boom!!*

The vast expanse of air surrounding Sky Hawk seemed like natural gas encountering a spark; the air within a radius of dozens of meters was completely detonated, and massive sheets of flame formed small infernos in the sky.

The situation of the five people on the Darkwind Condor vanished from Sky Hawk's sight along with this sudden eruption of flames. The latter had no choice but to summon his battle qi defense the instant the firestorm erupted.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye... The sea of fire appeared quickly and dissipated just as fast.

Sky Hawk emerged from the coverage of the sea of fire almost simultaneously, though a thin layer of cold sweat had also crept up his back.

At such a perilous juncture, the other party was actually able to think of using the ultra-long range of heavy crossbows and metallic collisions to create sparks to ignite the phosphorus powder. It was truly extraordinary.

What surprised him, however, was that right after the sea of fire, a vast expanse of dark mist appeared before his eyes.

Dark magic.

Appearing one after another, they blocked a large portion of Sky Hawk's field of vision ahead. While concealing the whereabouts of the Darkwind Condor, they also resisted Sky Hawk's spiritual detection.

Recalling how he had almost been ambushed by the phosphorus powder just now, Sky Hawk became much more cautious this time—he didn't dare to immediately dismiss his battle qi defense, his gaze cold and stern as he repeatedly pierced through the area shrouded by the dark mist.

Putting aside the strange actions of the five people on the Darkwind Condor, Sky Hawk had an intuition that the other party had no intention of accepting their fate just yet; they were racking their brains to buy time in a bid to escape from his clutches.

Behind the dark mist, there had to be some other small tricks hidden... Surest enough!

A few seconds passed... The dark mist vanished.

The view before him suddenly cleared up.

Eight massive bone dragons with ferocious appearances flapped their skeletal wings and flew toward Sky Hawk with roaring cries.

"A necromancer?"

Sky Hawk's heartstrings finally experienced a subtle tremor. His gaze contracted, tracing along the necromantic aura on the bone dragons back to the alchemist youth perched on the back of the Darkwind Condor.

The Darkwind Condor had somehow descended to an altitude grazing the surface of the sea, and Xu Wen was grasping a basin-sized white fireball in his hand, slowly pushing it down toward the ocean.

This bizarre behavior once again sent a chill through Sky Hawk's heart, leaving him without a shred of hesitation. The long sword on his back flashed into his hand, cutting through the sea surface like a stunning rainbow breaking the sun, effortlessly tearing apart the bodies of several bone dragons attempting to approach.

Sixth-grade undead, bone dragons—though domineering and terrifying in appearance, to a true powerhouse, they were mere paper toys posing no threat whatsoever.

However, the very instant before the bone dragons were instantly torn apart, Sky Hawk faintly heard a series of distinct, crisp sounds of porcelain cracking.

Following the sound, his gaze quickly locked onto the shattered porcelain fragments breaking apart from the jaws of the eight bone dragons and plunging toward the sea, as well as the emerald-green liquid rapidly materializing before his eyes.

Just as he witnessed this... Xu Wen accelerated, pushing the fiery-white fireball condensed by seventh-grade fire magic into the sea.

The calm sea surface hadn't even made contact with the fireball when vast columns of white steam billowed up from the water. The intense high heat caused the surrounding waters to instantly become boiling water!

Upon complete contact, the massive clouds of steam swelled dozens of times over.

With the rapid flight of the Darkwind Condor, the fireball dragged a spectacular trail of white steam across the sea surface. The white mist formed right behind the Darkwind Condor, once again obstructing Sky Hawk's vision.

Had Sky Hawk been cautious at this moment, he might have noticed that the direction and trajectory of the eight shattered bone dragons were meticulously arranged... They were aligned diagonally, maintaining a straight path at the very same altitude as Sky Hawk.

Yet they were positioned precisely right above the rising momentum of the raging steam... Propelled upward by the rising steam, the rapidly volatilizing "Drifting Breeze" quickly formed eight distinct segments within the pathway of steam, swiftly diffusing and spreading all around.

Imperceptibly, the eight regional segments successfully connected. Sky Hawk, charging straight into it, only felt an unusual fragrance enter his nose, and his mind blanked for a fraction of a second.

In that instant, his battle qi quietly dissolved, and a strong sense of warning surged in his heart!

*Not good!*

Sky Hawk's heart tightened. He rapidly reassembled his battle qi to purge the exotic fragrance while fleeing the steam-shrouded area without a second thought... The porcelain bottles shattered by the eight bone dragons truly harbored lethal intentions, and that bizarre fragrance had almost caused even him to fall victim!

The fear of the unknown and the wariness toward the alchemist youth ultimately caused Sky Hawk to fall into the trap unconsciously.

Sky Hawk did not know this.

Drifting Breeze spread along with the air, evaporating quickly, but for lifeforms with powerful spiritual force, it would only produce a slight initial impact upon first contact.

As long as one remained vigilant, it would have no further effect afterward.

Unfortunately... Xu Wen had precisely seized upon the excessive vigilance and fear of the unknown harbored by the seasoned Sky Hawk, successfully startling him out of his pursuit trajectory.

The Darkwind Condor advanced at a steady speed, and with Sky Hawk's deviation, the distance between the two sides instantly widened once more.

Acting like a clever imp with an unchanged expression, Xu Wen instructed the others to pour bottle after bottle of Drifting Breeze into the sea... pouring it directly into the seawater affected by the fireball.

A trace of emerald-green mist, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, immediately mingled into the steam, rapidly dispersing. This scene caused Sky Hawk—who hadn't yet figured out what was contained in those porcelain bottles—to change his expression once again!

Coincidentally at that very moment, a distinct burst of red firelight erupted on the eastern horizon.

Sky Hawk paused, a complex look crossing his face. He hesitantly glanced at the rapidly retreating Darkwind Condor, gnashed his teeth with a cold snort, and changed direction.

(To be continued)