The hellfire’s might was too great. No matter how reluctant Bao Da Tong was, he had no choice but to toss aside the ordinary peachwood sword and use the bloodwood sword to block!
“Woah, he’s for real this time!” Despite being occupied, he still didn’t drop his commentary.
Perhaps the bloodwood sword had given him confidence, but he wasn’t as flustered compared to the previous time. He gave the bloodwood sword a carefree flourish in his right hand while his left hand formed a seal and pointed at the blade.
The bloodwood sword was already glowing red after being filled with spirit power. Now that Bao Da Tong activated it using magic, along with the incoming evil aura, its beautiful glow became dazzling. The faint blue hellfire mixed with pale green and blue lights arrived. Bao Da Tong swung his arm and the beam of red light drew an elegant arc in the air, slashing into the hellfire.
Above the crowd, blue, green and white colors tangled around a brilliant red, violently twisting. From a distance it looked like festive fireworks. However, fireworks never lasted long and the scene here was also only for an instant. The an earsplitting bang, the tricolored ball of light suddenly vanished. The red light was like a newborn dragon, brandishing itself smugly in the air before swopping back into the sword.
“It truly gets stronger based on the opponent!” The sword’s temporary owner felt his chest go numb at the shockwave, almost spitting out a mouthful of blood. However, he was inexplicably excited at the sword’s might, wishing nothing more than to hug it and give it a few kisses.
The hellfire had previously returned to Zhang Xiao Hua’s hand like a boomerang. This time, it had completely vanished after the collision. The bloodwood sword used evil to suppress evil, and had completely turned it into nothing!
Before Bao Da Tong could express his passion in such a way, he realized that despite Zhang Xiao Hua using his full strength this time, which he had blocked with the bloodwood sword, the target still wasn’t him. He had been aiming to save Zhang Hong Yu.
The bloodwood sword had been pointed at the little fiend girl the whole time. The red glow made her afraid to move, so Zhan Xiao Hua acted to force him to block with the sword. That allowed Zhang Hong Yu to act.
The moment she was free, she swiftly withdrew instead of attacking the nearby Xiao Xia. She caught Zhang Xiao Hua, who had been knocked into the air by a lightning palm. She held him up and asked, “Bro, are you ok?”
Zhang Xiao Hua shook his head, glaring hatefully at Ruan Zhan. He had never encountered such a troublesome opponent. He actually injured his true form. Unforgiveable!
He had expected to become a target when he attacked Bao Da Tong to save Zhang Hong Yu. However, he knew Wan Li was injured and wouldn’t recover that quickly. He only needed to guard against Ruan Zhan. Therefore, he had kept a bit of his power in front of him, forming a protective barrier. However, he had underestimated Ruan Zhan once again. The barrier hadn’t been able to block the burst of blue sparks, and he could only watch as it broke through!
It had still been some distance away, but he could already sense the sparks contained the pure heat that was lacking in his hellfire. He felt as if he were melting. Instinctively, he used the power of the two red lotuses in his eyes to resist. Although he was successful in diverting the lightning palm’s force to the nearby rubble, he was still knocked backwards. Luckily Hong Yu had caught him. Otherwise, he would have crashed to the ground, embarrassing himself before these detestable humans!
“Hong Yu!” He shouted, his tone commanding. With their telepathic connection, Hong Yu knew very well what his plan was. Therefore, she had to act immediately. If they failed to seize the opportunity, they would be unable to turn the tables.
Hearing his voice, Hong Yu didn’t dare delay. Her two twisted hands swiftly formed seals before she opened her mouth and spat her corpse breath all around!
This time the corpse breath was different from before. Not only did she use her full strength, it was also not aimed at anyone, but rather at specific locations. It was extremely practical under the circumstances. The space inside the Grand Radiance Formation looked to be the same as the surroundings, but it was actually its own domain. It was like an enclosed space covered by a glass cage. The people inside couldn’t get out and the people outside couldn’t get in. Therefore, the appearance of such a large amount of corpse breath couldn’t be thoroughly resolved unless the Life Gate was opened. If it was, the corpse breath would scatter in the air, but then the formation would also be broken.
Although Zhang Hong Yu’s spirit power and mana couldn’t be compared to Zhang Xiao Hua, she had still cultivated for three centuries. Therefore, her corpse breath was also unusual. It wasn’t colorless or faintly black. It was a dense black cloud that contained the smell of blood. It was like a black fog that swiftly covered everything.
Seeing the situation, Ruan Zhan immediately waved and conjured a barrier in front of himself and Wan Li, preventing the corpse breath’s corrosion. At the same time, he shot out a flaming handprint into the air. It hovered there, not doing any damage, merely illuminating the black mist. To the left, the tattered banner’s dark red glow was still flickering faintly, indicating Wan Li was safe. To the left, the glow on the bloodwood sword was still present, signifying Bao Da Tong was also fine.
Xiao Xia was furthest away from them all, but he already knew she would be fine. He wouldn’t have allowed her to participate if he couldn’t guarantee her safety. Despite that, he still glanced at the Yang position she occupied. Seeing the milky light flickering, seemingly incomparably pure and holy in the black fog, his heart felt even more at ease. It was the reactions of the jade trigrams around her to the evil aura.
“What should we do? We attacking?” Bao Da Tong’s voice rang out, not forgetting to speak for even a second!
“Hold on.” Ruan Zhan replied.
“Be careful.” Wan Li added.
This time, Bao Da Tong didn’t argue. He knew they were right. They wouldn’t be able to win via pure skill, and shouldn’t waste energy on useless actions. The corpse breath wouldn’t be able to last too long. Waiting was the best option. It was fine as long as he defended his position and helped the nearby Wan Li, preventing the fiends from breaking out and escaping.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes…
Time passed by seconds at a time. The fiends didn’t make any moves at all, not even harassing Xiao Xia’s side. This instead made the three men uneasy. There was no way they wouldn’t put up a resistance. This silence meant they were putting together an even more powerful counter. The black fog in the formation slowly faded, gradually revealing the situation inside.
Looking over, the three felt their hearts tighten. A bunch of children had appeared in the empty field. They had known the fiends could clone themselves, but didn’t realize they could create so many. Each of the larger pieces of rubble on the ground had probably been put to use, and there were several hundred of them. They stood there in a dense crowd, looking all alike, silent and unmoving. The three men couldn’t tell which ones were their true bodies and which ones were clones.
What should they do? If those small shades attacked at the same time, the chaos might cause them to fall for a trap, or even allow the two fiends to break the formation. If they insisted on blocking each one that came at them, they would probably get exhausted. Although the clones didn’t have much power, they had come from the fiend children. They wouldn’t be that easy to deal with.
Teehee…
Another androgynous childish giggle rang out. The three tensed, preparing for battle. Yet none of the shadows moved, each one only joining in the giggling. It was late in the night, a thunderstorm imminent. On a field of rubble behind a dark building that seemed like a haunted castle, the sound of countless children’s mindless giggling rang out. No matter how brave the three were, they couldn’t help but feel creeped out.
“How about this?” Zhang Xiao Hua’s voice rang out from within the laughter.
Ruan Zhan focused his gaze using his innate Yinyang Eye, but still wasn’t able to find their true bodies.
“Pretty good.” Bao Da Tong responded. “I even thought you were making a terracotta army!”
Terracotta army? Zhang Xiao Hua didn’t know what that was. He had been buried the whole time. After entering the world for five years, he had never strayed too far from here. He naturally hadn’t heard about some Terracotta warriors. However, seeing Bao Da Tong’s mocking smile, he still got enraged. It was finally time to turn the tables. He was not only going to break the formation, he was definitely going to make them suffer.
He ignored Bao Da Tong and silently chanted a spell. He manipulated the clones into attacking the Grand Radiance Formation on all sides!
The formation wasn’t purely defensive, and it also wasn’t the most powerful. Yet it could both attack and defend, and was a solid and developed “orthodox” formation. They had been inside for a while, and had started to sense the extremely uncomfortable frostburn aura underfoot. He and Zhang Hong Yu were spiritual entities after all. Despite having inherited power and cultivated until they could neutralize Ying and Yang, they still had limitations and requisite conditions. They weren’t completely fearless, which was why they couldn’t directly face the sun.
Therefore, he didn’t dare delay. Even if they couldn’t break out right away, he had to harass the three somehow and prevent them from driving the formation. They had clearly used the Grand Radiance Formation before, but the main wielder in the past definitely hadn’t been them. Therefore, they might not know the extent of its powers. Otherwise, he and Hong Yu would be roasted instead of merely trapped.
He pondered this while urging their clones to attack. Hong Yu’s clones were relatively weaker, so they attacked Yue Xiao Xia and Wan Li while his attacked Ruan Zhan and Bao Da Tong. He was confident that with Ruan Zhan being only thirty or so years old, he wouldn’t be able to tell where his true body was. He would blend in with the clones and get a critical hit while they were distracted!
With the rapid changes in the situation and the shadows rushing over, the three initially calm men were temporarily flustered. Xiao Xia was still fine as she continued sitting like a statue, focusing on guarding her Yang position.
Zhang Hong Yu’s clones still held a grudge as they flocked over. Since Zhang Hong Yu’s true body no longer had strength left to spit out corpse breath, her clones weren’t able to do so either. They merely snarled and pounced over, seemingly intent on devouring Xiao Xia. Although she didn’t react, those clones seemed to collide with an invisible wall when they got within a meter of her. They were immediately knocked back. Furthermore, the wall seemed to be extremely powerful as Zhang Hong Yu’s clones evaporated like steam after being knocked into the air. What had seemed to be the easiest position to attack ended up causing them the most casualties. The clones were mindless to begin with, but Zhang Hong Yu ended up feeling some trepidation and slowed her attacks. A dozen or so of them surrounded Xiao Xia, but didn’t make a move!
Wan Li’s Yin position corresponded to Xiao Xia’s. He had just suffered some injuries and the position he guarded also caused his Yang energy to be slightly weakened. However, he had the tattered banner guarding his back and sides while he protected his front with the specially-crafted peachwood sword and his spell. Therefore, despite being unable to fully utilize the treasure’s potential he was able to hold on without falling.
Bao Da Tong wielded the bloodwood sword and Xiao Hua’s clones didn’t dare approach. Therefore, his strategy there was to gather those clones and have them launch hellfire attacks at him. There was a ton of hellfire coming at him and he also couldn’t tell which one was Zhang Xiao Hua’s true body. Therefore, Bao Da Tong didn’t dare overlook any of the incoming attacks. He flourished his sword like the wind, becoming more flustered and out of breath over time. Yet since he was up against Zhang Xiao Hua whose reserves were still quite full, he couldn’t just turtle up behind a barrier. Otherwise, he would be letting the enemy have the initiative!
Compared to the three of them, Ruan Zhan was facing even greater pressure at the Life Gate. Zhang Xiao Hua had sent the most clones over to that side, and Ruan Zhan also had no treasures protecting him. The clones didn’t need to be wary of much so he was surrounded by Zhang Xiao Huas. He could only tough it out.
Zhang Xiao Hua’s main spell was the hellfire, but he accompanied it with other spells as well. There was corpse breath, fingers as swords, and even animating nearby objects to attack. The flaming red lotuses in his eyes were even more threatening. Being struck by their light caused the body to turn numb. If it weren’t for Ruan Zhan’s abnormal calm and the power of his lightning palm and flaming handprint, he would have long since fallen.
“Let’s see how long you all can last.” Zhang Xiao Hua’s true body called out from within the clones.
The brief battle had already resulted in the destruction of over half the clones, but apart from Xiao Xia, Ruan Zhan’s side was showing weariness. At this rate, both sides would suffer losses.
No one responded to Zhang Xiao Hua.
“Even if I get heavily injured, I will break this formation. Then, we will make our escape. As for you? You are all mortals, the most useless things. You won’t be able to pursue us, and your strong opening will have been wasted. We won’t be so easily fooled the next time. What will you do then?” Zhang Xiao Hua continued to pressure his opponents. “Most terrifying of all, our powers are profound and will definitely recover faster than yours. I don’t need to tell you what will happen then, or what kind of retaliation you all will face!”
“Give it up! So what if your schemes are good? In this world, power trumps all. Your loss tonight is assured!”
