Chapter 386: Let Me Count, How Many Are You Pretending to Be?
Chapter 386: Let Me Count, How Many Are You Pretending to Be?
"Brother Lu, I'm sorry. It was you who alerted us to the demon beast's ambush." Feng Yu apologized with a slightly embarrassed expression. He prided himself on his rich combat experience, yet he hadn't expected that Lu Xuan would be the first to notice the demon beasts' sneak attack.
"It's fine. Everyone, let's join forces to kill these demons together," Lu Xuan said in a hurried whisper.
"Brother Lu, you usually cultivate spirit herbs in the sect and rarely have the opportunity to fight demon beasts. It would be better for you to stay within the protective barrier and choose your moments to act," Feng Yu instructed, his expression turning solemn.
"Here they come!"
Before the words had left his mouth, the ground suddenly cracked, sending dirt flying into the air as countless demon beasts of various shapes and sizes shot out from below.
The entire camp resounded with the ferocious roars of the demon beasts.
"Boom!"
A gigantic elephant-like creature, its body a mix of blue and black, trampled the ground. Despite its massive size, it moved with unexpected speed as it charged towards the azure spiritual energy barrier above Lu Xuan and the others.
With each powerful impact, the spiritual energy barrier shook violently, trembling as if it could shatter at any moment.
"I'll take on that giant elephant demon beast," Zhang Ruiping declared, riding a golden-yellow flying sword that appeared in an instant beside the elephant.
A thick layer of dark yellow spiritual light emerged from his body, and from a fissure in the ground, a massive earth dragon made of mud and rocks surged out, entangling the blue-black giant elephant. In the air, a deep yellow cone-shaped spear, several dozen feet long, swiftly condensed and stabbed viciously at the elephant's head.
Wrapped tightly by the earth dragon, the giant elephant struggled but couldn't break free. Seeing the spear about to strike, it roared angrily, causing its body to swell rapidly, breaking free from the dragon's grip.
Knowing that he couldn't dodge in time, Zhang Ruiping released a surge of black spiritual light, creating layer upon layer of spiritual energy shields around his head.
The deep yellow spear pierced through the black spiritual light as if it were paper, stabbing deeply into the giant elephant's head.
"Success!" Zhang Ruiping exclaimed in delight as he saw the spear embedded in the elephant's body. He was about to turn his attention to the other attacking demon beasts when he suddenly sensed something strange coming from below.
He looked down and was astonished to see that the injured giant elephant seemed unaffected by its wounds. With fierce determination, it continued to ram into the spiritual energy barrier set up by Feng Yu as if it hadn't been hurt at all.
"How is this possible?" Zhang Ruiping wondered, confused. The demon beast had suffered such a serious injury that even if it somehow managed to survive, its movements should have been greatly affected. Yet, it behaved as if it weren't injured at all.
The other Tianjian Zong cultivators who had severely injured or even killed demon beasts felt the same way.
Despite the thunderous display of power, many of the demon beasts, though clearly mortally wounded, continued their relentless assault on the Tianjian Zong cultivators with a suicidal fervor.
"This situation isn't ideal. While the demon beasts aren't particularly strong, their numbers are overwhelming, and their fearlessness will work to their advantage if this drags on," Feng Yu analyzed swiftly.
Without hesitation, he took out a talisman from his storage bag, infusing it with spiritual power. The talisman soared into the sky, exploding into a spectacular display of fiery fireworks that sent a distress signal.
"Fellow disciples, I've sent a message to our comrades at the front lines for assistance. Hold on a little longer, and reinforcements will arrive soon," Feng Yu shouted, his voice carrying above the chaos. The talisman he had just activated was unique to the Tianjian Zong, and fellow sect members would be able to sense it from hundreds of li away.
"Brother Feng, these demon beasts seem to be connected to the strange spirit herbs I've been researching lately," Lu Xuan remarked.
"Their bizarre and abnormal behavior suggests that they've been parasitized by those spirit herbs. After their blood, flesh, and essence are devoured, their minds are completely taken over, turning them into puppet demon beasts.
"We can try using sound waves to attack these demon beasts. It might work," Lu Chen transmitted his reply to the Tianjian Zong group.
Immediately, an inner sect disciple took out a white jade flute from his storage bag. Crisp flute notes rang out, sending layers of spiritual ripples toward the multitude of demon beasts.
The flute's melody grew more high-pitched, and countless translucent crescent-shaped spiritual energies shot out, piercing the air.
In an instant, the movements of over a dozen demon beasts within their vicinity visibly slowed down under the sonic assault of the white jade flute.
"As expected, it works!"
Feng Yu and the others suppressed their excitement, seizing this fleeting opportunity. They unleashed a barrage of talismans, artifacts, and spells, effortlessly dealing lethal damage to all the demon beasts in a single exchange.
However, the surrounding demon beasts quickly reacted and continued their fearless assault on the Tianjian Zong cultivators.
"I'm not sure if it's because the spirit herbs have completely fused with the demon beasts' bodies, but while the sound wave attack still affects the mutated Tuyin Silk within them, its effectiveness is significantly reduced," Lu Chen observed calmly, scanning their surroundings and comparing the current state of the mutated Tuyin Silk to his experimental findings.
He recalled the information that had once appeared in his mind: "When not parasitized, the spirit herb is extremely sensitive to sound wave attacks..."
"However, even though it's not as lethal as before the parasitism, it still has some effect, which is better than nothing," Lu Chen added.
In his hand, the Wind and Thunder Sword pulsed with black wind, occasionally flashing with lightning. When it struck the demon beasts, it unleashed a tempest of wind and thunder, ripping their bodies apart and leaving charred wounds in its wake.
The Wind and Thunder Sword was a fourth-grade artifact, and Lu Chen had also obtained the Wind and Thunder Sword Scripture from the grass light group of the Wind and Thunder Sword Grass. The combination of the sword and the scripture, along with his cultivation of numerous Wind and Thunder Sword Grass, had led to his mastery of this powerful offensive technique.
Lu Chen's body transformed into a floating light, swiftly darting across the battlefield. His keen spiritual sense detected whenever a fellow disciple's spiritual power waned or they were besieged by multiple demon beasts, and he would instantly appear to aid them.
"Brother Lu, I never expected you to have such outstanding talent in swordsmanship as well," Feng Yu commented as he fended off several demon beasts, witnessing Lu Chen effortlessly slicing a giant scarlet scorpion into pieces with his sword.
"Brother Feng, my swordsmanship is a result of bitter cultivation over the years, leading to my current level of attainment," Lu Chen replied.
"But I had no choice but to cultivate. After all, being selected by the Sword Hall, if I didn't have the corresponding sword cultivation level, I wouldn't have been able to cultivate the sword grass," Lu Chen added, a hint of nonchalance in his tone.
Hearing this, Feng Yu stumbled slightly, almost getting struck by the massive saw-like forelimb of a mantis-like demon beast. He shot a resentful glance at Lu Chen.
Let me count, how many pretenses are you keeping up?
"Brother Lu is being too humble. I never expected you to be a disciple of the Sword Hall as well," Feng Yu said, his eyes narrowing.
To the Tianjian Zong disciples, the Sword Hall was the most powerful and mysterious entity within the sect, providing countless innately powerful swords to its members. And here was Lu Chen, revealing himself to be one of its disciples.
(End of Chapter)
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