Battle Through The Heavens Season 5
Ch.6 - Black Ranking, Black Storm

A fleet of wagons quickly passed through this black plain, lifting up a faint yellow wisp of dust before finally disappearing at the end of one's sight.

Xiao Yan sat cross-legged inside the somewhat bumpy horse carriage. The person in front of him was the one who replaced the merchant convoy named Duo Ma. This group of traders was indeed not very strong, as he mentioned. Among them, the strongest person seemed to possess the strength of a five star Dou Shi. Of course, as the leader of the guards hired by Duo Ma, that person naturally felt displeased at Xiao Yan who had suddenly joined them. However, after Xiao Yan ‘ accidentally’ dropped him from the horse carriage with a palm as they rushed through the journey, he became much more honest. It was also because of this palm that Duo Ma's warmth towards Xiao Yan became much stronger. It even resulted in him even directly inviting Xiao Yan to sit in his carriage to receive it properly. After all, under the danger of them being robbed anywhere, one would feel much more confident if there were strong people sitting among the convoys.

The current Duo Ma had taken out a map, which was rather old and yellowed, from his chest pocket. He placed it on the table in front of him and slowly pulled it open. His finger pointed to the red dot and he smiled as he said, "This is our goal, ‘Black-Mark City'. According to our speed, we should have arrived by noon tomorrow. "

Xiao Yan's gaze stared intently at the yellowed map. His gaze stopped at the point for ‘Black Mark’ City for a moment before slowly moving along the route upwards and finally seeing the blue-colored star right in the middle.

"That's supposed to be Jia Nan Academy, right?" Xiao Yan looked at the blue-colored star. His face did not change in the slightest as he asked carelessly.

"Ah, it is the Jia Nan Academy that is famous throughout the Dou Qi Continent. My daughter's in it. Ke ke's. " Duo Ma nodded. When she mentioned her daughter, her face swelled with pride.

Xiao Yan quietly nodded. He planted that route firmly into his heart. Following which, his once-fighted gaze swept out toward the black-colored region that surrounded the outside of the Jia Nan Academy. The black-colored region was divided into several areas, all of which differed in size.

"’The current Black-Corner’ Region has basically been completely divided by several large factions. Although they still repeatedly fought and killed each other for territory, there shouldn't be any major changes in a short period of time." When he saw Xiao Yan's gaze, Duo Ma, who was a merchant, was naturally able to grasp some of Xiao Yan's uncertainty. Although he could guess that Xiao Yan should be the new person who had just arrived at ‘Black-Corner’ Region for the first time, the shrewd one did not mention a single bit about this. Instead, he smiled explaining the situation.

"’Black-Mark’ City, which we are currently heading to, is controlled by ‘Eight Gate’. ‘Eight Gate’ is an old faction within ‘Black-Corner’ Region and its strength is great. It is said that the strength of their leader, Yuan Yi, can be ranked in the top ten ‘Black’ Rankings in ‘Black-Corner’ Region. Big Auction Exhibition on ‘Black-Mark’ City was also held by their ‘Eight Gate’ this time. " Duo Ma's finger pointed to a small circle surrounding ‘Black Mark’ City, which was engraved as he smiled again as he spoke.

"Black Rank?" The foreign term caused Xiao Yan to be confused as he muttered softly to himself.

"Ke Ke, ‘This Black’ rating is not much different from the ranking of strong people in several countries. It's just that the competition for ‘Black’ Rankings here far outstrips any other competition in other kingdoms. This is because, in just less than two years, the last three positions in ‘Black’ Rankings were instantly taken over. It was said that the three people who replaced them were all strong people in the Dou Wang class." Duo Ma shook his head and sighed.

"Oh?..." Xiao Yan's face seemed moved upon hearing this. Keep in mind that the Ten Strongest Jia Ma Empire would have at least a decade before there was any rotation or change. However, in this place, even a strong Dou Wang was eliminated this fast. It is hard to imagine how brutal the competition is.

"Who are those ranked among the little ‘Black’ Rankings? What is their strength like?" Xiao Yan asked softly. His voice was rather curious.

"Not many people saw the two people who were ranked first and second because they were so mysterious. Therefore, I don't have much knowledge about them. However, the person who was ranked third was a very strong person. It was said that his strength was already at the peak of the Dou Huang class. In addition, he was very proficient in medicine refining skills and could be called the best in ‘Black-Corner’ Region in terms of refining medicine. Therefore, many people call it as ‘Medicine Emperor’. " Duo Ma voiced his thoughts.

"Medicine Emperor? Such a name is quite heavy. " Xiao Yan smiled faintly and said, "What is his real name?"

"Ah, let me think. I thought he was called Han Feng." Duo Ma rubbed his head and spoke with a smile.

The chi!

The moment those words came out of Duo Ma's mouth, the finger of Xiao Yan, hidden in his sleeve suddenly shook violently. Several thick white flames involuntarily erupted from the black-colored ring on his finger. Finally, his finger landed on the carriage board and the high temperature instantly burned a small hole through it.

The sudden change in the ring also caused Xiao Yan's expression to slightly change. However, lucky with the cover of his sleeves, the Duo Ma in front of him did not find this unexpected change.

"Teacher, what happened to you?" Xiao Yan's finger gently rubbed the black ring as he gently asked in his heart. The change within the ring earlier was clearly due to Yao Lao's sudden burst of emotion within it.

Xiao Yan did not receive an answer to his question. The current Yao Lao seemed to be completely silent.

When he sensed Yao Lao's total silence, Xiao Yan also wisely did not continue to ask. However, he firmly remembered the name ‘Han Feng’ in his heart. This person seemed to have a very great relationship with Yao Lao in the past.

"Mr Yao Yan, are you okay?" Seeing Xiao Yan's expression suddenly change, the Duo Ma opposite him couldn't help but ask somewhat doubtfully.

Hearing the exclamation from outside, Duo Ma's expression changed slightly. However, he did not show extreme panic. He faced Xiao Yan and said, "Master Yao Yan, let's get off the carriage first. As long as we take the necessary steps for protection, this Black Storm, which is not considered too great, will likely not cause too much harm."

Xiao Yan nodded his head, pulled the curtain of the carriage and jumped down. He raised his head and looked only to find that the clear sky ten minutes ago was now strangely covered by the black fog. His gaze was fixed to the front but his gaze was seriously obstructed. It was only then that he realized why Duo Ma would say that if one were to encounter the Black Storm, it was useless, even if one had a map.

"Ke Ke, Mister Yao Yan, you don't need to worry. I have felt the wind and the storm not too strong. This could be considered great luck in an unfortunate situation."

Duo Ma stood beside Xiao Yan and smiled as he said, "Although the Black Storm is a weather phenomenon in the Great Plains of the Black Region, which causes people to feel despair, it is the case that, it was much better compared to those brutal dark bandits. . At the very least, if one's luck was a little good when meeting the Black Storm, one could still save his life. However, if one were to meet a large army of bandits numbering in the tens of thousands, it seemed like one could only give up and pray for their death to be quick. "

Xiao Yan nodded slightly. He was just about to say something when he discovered that the originally dusky sky had instantly become pitch-black without any prior warning. Not long after, a strong wind suddenly came sweeping over. Instantly, some people with weaker bodies were blown by the wild wind until their bodies started to sway. It frightened them until they hurriedly picked up some objects beside them.

A black colored wind came sweeping out from the sky which was a dark mass. It was like a demon that seemed to open its huge mouth, ready to swallow anything it encountered.

The cortices connected to each other are arranged in such a way that they form a circle where the head and tail are interconnected; everyone hides inside the circle. The weapons in their hands were firmly put into the ground, firmly tying their bodies like spikes.

Darkness, where no one could not even see his fingers, enveloped everyone. Amidst the strong winds, no one could sense whether there was anyone present beside them.

Xiao Yan half knelt on the ground. He roughly inserted his Heavy Xuan Ruler into the ground and hid his body behind the body of the great ruler. He heard a crackling sound as the wind blew into the body of the ruler. His expression changed a little too. It was unexpected that the so-called Black Storm was actually powerful so far. Moreover, this was the small-scale storm that Duo Ma had mentioned. If they were to encounter something a little bigger, wouldn't it directly sweep through the entire person?

The darkness and wild winds went on for a long time unnoticed. During this time, Xiao Yan, who was inside the darkness, suddenly slightly furrowed his brows. He turned his head and turned his gaze somewhere in a certain direction that he was unaware of. In that place, there seemed to be a strange red light flashing. Moreover, there was a faint and fuzzy sound being sent from that place.

Xiao Yan blinked his eyes and felt a wild wind around him that seemed to indicate a weakening trend. He hesitated for a moment and suddenly half-bent his body and quietly moved towards the blurred red light.

The movement seemed to have lasted for several minutes in the darkness before a strange red light finally appeared in Xiao Yan's sight. He borrowed that slightly weak red light and was somewhat stunned to realize that the body that was releasing that red-colored light looked like a hazy human form. 'Didn't that hovering appearance seem similar to the moment Yao Lao appeared?'

"Huh? This person actually has a spirit body? It's just that he looks very weak. Dou Ling class. Nah! It seems like something is hiding in the dark. Little boy, Don't Move!" Suddenly, Yao Lao who was caught in silence seemed to find something and hurriedly shouted.

Xiao Yan was stunned when he heard this. His body was lying on the ground with ‘crack’ and he did not even dare to breathe out.

"Who are you all? Why are you chasing me? I don't seem to have any grudges against you!" The red-colored spiritual body swayed and moved in a wild wind. He was now facing the darkness of the storm. His face was somewhat distorted and frightened.

"Jie Jie (ha ha)"

A laugh that made people shiver suddenly sounded from within the darkness. Immediately, black-colored chains suddenly shot out from within the darkness. It was like a black snake and was extremely agile as it wrapped around the red-colored spirit body.

"Jie Jie." -." That energy chain, which seemed to be agglomerated from an extremely strange energy, had just touched the red-colored spirit body when waves of white smoke started seeping out from the spirit body. A sharp and pitiful shout immediately sounded. However, regardless of how the spirit body struggled, he even summoned some sort of red-colored flame in the end, he still had no solution to deal with that black-colored chain. In the end, he could only see his own soul becoming increasingly weaker with his own eyes before finally being wrapped up by the black light spewing out from his chains.

"Jie Jie, no matter how great or powerful you were while you were alive, as long as you have become a spirit body, you are a hunting target for our ‘Hall of Souls’."

That terrible laughter gradually moved away in the darkness until it completely disappeared.

On the grass in the darkness, Xiao Yan almost completely protected his breath. Cold sweat drenched his clothes. He had not expected that he would meet the mysterious organization that was chasing Yao Lao in this Black Storm. Moreover, the thing that caused Xiao Yan to feel shocked was that the mysterious person before did not even need to reveal his body when he captured the Dou Ling class spirit body with the latter unable to put up a fight. Was this kind of strength not too frightening?