Chapter 878: Giving A Wide Berth
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Za, za, za. Dang!.
Hundreds of feet away, the young man and the rest of the team watched the city gate close right in front of them, which followed by the activation of the formation. In the face of the formation that contained a sense of death, the black-scaled horses slowed down their paces and gradually stopped moving forward.
In an instant, the hopeful and joyful look was frozen on the people’s faces. They were overwhelmed by an enormous feeling of despair and sorrow. Although they had already got used to miserable situations, they could not help feeling hopeless at the moment due to such an unexpected setback.
Woo, woo, woo!
A mysterious sound was heard from their backs suddenly. It sounded like the howl of a wolf, or the sorrowful weep of a person. Coming one after another, the howls were so loud to the point of shaking the clouds.
The young man turned his head and looked to the horizon. In the early morning light, he saw the dark clouds merging together with the black fog, covering half of the sky.
The fog seemed to be made up of countless particles of smoke and dust. However, as the fog drifted a hundred miles nearer, the young man and the rest of the team could take a clearer look at it. Apparently, the fog was made up of numerous huge-sized demons and evil spirits. Some of them had terrifying blood-red eyes, some had their tongues sticking out that hung in front of their chests, some had bulging stomachs that made it difficult to see their heads and feet, some were just a lump of rotten flesh that was cluttered with hands and feet, some were naked with their breasts looking like a pair of sacks, and some had wings on their back that seemed to be strong enough to carry a lake.
Right under them, countless Nine-Nether soldiers were marching toward the Pingle City. Some were dragon-headed horses that spew black flames along the way, some were greenish-black creatures with three heads and six arms, some were having smoke-like bodies that looked elusive, and some had their mouths wide-open with shredded meats hanging on their tusks.
The Nine-Nether creatures were all over the mountains and fields, blotting out the sky and covering the sun. It was as though every single grass and tree had turned into a Nine-Nether soldier. The young man could imagine the horrible-looking drooling faces coming near to them in just a short while. He seemed to be able to smell the bloody foul odor from them already.
Woo... The panic-stricken young man heard a cry of grief. The black-scaled horse that he was riding was frightened by the terrifying scene and aura, so it knelt on the ground with limply legs. All the other horses in the team had also knelt down one after another, and none of them dared to move an inch.
“We’re in deep trouble...” looking at the demon crowd, the young man had limply hands and legs. He had lost the will to fight because they were doomed to die anyway.
The demons did not even need to attack – a spittle from each of them was enough to drown the whole team to death!
It was until then that they young man truly understood the ideas of horror and insignificance described in many drama scripts and novels. He could feel the extreme horror brought by the demos, and the insignificance of himself when facing the huge crowd of demons.
“There’s no way for us to survive...” Many children on the carriages had been fear-stricken to the point that they forgot to cry.
“There’s no way for them to survive...” On top of the city wall, the people of Exterior Realm and Orifices-Point Activation Stage who witnessed this scene sighed with pity. They were feeling sympathetic toward the people outside the city gate. However, if the demons made their ways into the city, they themselves, their families and friends would be waiting for death in despair, just like those people.
The crowd of demons was a nightmare for everyone who had experienced it. Unfortunately, if they were lucky enough to not die miserably, they would often experience several demon crowds in their lives. Therefore, following an emotional eruption, they would be stuck in depression, and often end up being numb.
The mayor of the Pingle City, Baozhen was standing on the wall above the city gate and looking at the demon crowd in the distance. Silently, he was estimating the intensity of the demon crowd’s attack this time around.
During the last attack, Baozhen was injured badly, thereby stucking in the realm of the seventh level of Heaven. Nevertheless, he was still one of the strongest martial artists in Pingle City.
“He’s coming too?” suddenly, the face of Baozhen turned pale as if he had a serious loss of blood. With a serious expression as though he was confronted by a formidable enemy, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the furthest point of the demon crowd!
At first glance, it looked like a hill. But after a careful look, Baozhen found that the grayish-white rocks were actually muscles, whereas the flowing river under the soil was a stream of blood. The blood was greenish-black in color, thereby looking extremely strange.
The summit was his head, and the two deep cracks were his eyes. In spite of the ravines, the skin on his race seemed to be quite elastic.
Boom, boom, boom!
As the hill made of flesh moved forward step by step, the earth shook repeatedly as if an earthquake had occurred.
“The Roushan Demon!” a person of Exterior Realm next to Baozhen blurted out.
Yes, he is the Roushan Demon – the one who had injured me severely during the last attack of demon crowd! Baozhen clenched his hands into a fist, and he looked into the eyes of the Roushan Demon in the void.
Crack. As their Qi Ji crashed into each other, a lot of sparks were bursting out.
Baozhen remained still. His aura was as calm as a vast ocean without waves.
Learning from the lesson last time, Baozhen had decided to hold fast to the defense and waited patiently for internal strife among the demons as they had never worked together. By then, it would be the best timing to drive them back to the Nine Nether!
As for the Roushan Demon, Baozhen had no idea of how to defeat him. He, being as powerful as a Guru of the Ninth level of Heaven, had been the mainstay of the last dozen demon crowds.
As the humans did not know how the demons addressed him, they had been referring him as the Roushan Demon. Although he appeared to be heavy and huge, he was a good user of demonic magic who was extremely talented and thereby hard to be defeated.
With the help of the formation, Baozhen cut off the entangled Qi Ji, and dispersed his spirit into every corner of the Pingle City. He wanted to be wary of the possible accidents that might be caused by the upcoming battle with the demons.
Given the fact that the Roushan Demon had already appeared in the first wave of attack, the demon crowd this time around must be very hard to dealt with. In fact, a demon crowd of this level had not even occurred in the last five hundred years!
“Fortunately, the crack isn’t large enough for the truly powerful Evil Gods and Demonic Lords to pass through. Otherwise, the human race doesn’t even have the slightest chance to survive...” Baozhen sighed.
Just then, the farmers – dragging along their wives and children – came down from the carriages and rushed to the city gate. However, they dared not touch the forbidden enchantment. The only thing they could do was to kowtow repeatedly and plead the people inside the city to open the gate.
Dub, dub, dub. The foreheads of the adults and children were already bleeding, but the people standing on top of the city wall were not moved at all.
To protect the people inside the city, they had no choice but to be cruel!
Dub, dub, dub. The people continued to kowtow. Just then, a hoarse and trembling voice came to their ears, “All of you, run up the hill. Whether you can survive, it depends on your luck. I’ll stay here and bring up the rear.”
The people turned their heads in shock and saw the young man pulling out his sword. Standing behind all of them, his eyes were red and his legs were trembling, but his back was straight without bending even a little.
Bringing up the rear? When the young man finished speaking, he looked back at the demon crowd and showed a bitter smile. Being attacked by a huge amount of demons like this, he would be like a tiny stone falling into the ocean, perhaps not even leaving a ripple.
I hope I can at least attract some of the demons’ attention!
Holding a sword, the young man was standing in an unyielding manner outside the city. Slowly, he was surrounded by many companions. All of them had a tanned skin and a determined expression.
The demons were getting closer and closer. Along with a chill that ran up their spines and made them feel limply, the young man and his companions had been sunk in various illusions.
The young man closed his eyes and tried to get rid of the illusion. A few scenes had come to his mind – his mother who was always working around the stove; his father who was coughing all the time but never stopped urging him to practice martial arts; and his sister who always looked at him with admiration. These scenes had given him a warm and relaxed feeling, but sadly, he could no longer see them anymore.
“I’m going to die soon. Please, live a good life after I’m gone...” mumbled the young man in a low voice. With red eyes, he felt like turning around and kowtowing three times to the direction of the Pingle City in order to pay a debt of gratitude to his parents.
Just then, his vision blurred for a second, and six people had appeared in front of him. The foremost person was an old-looking man dressed in a green robes.
Just before the city gate closed, Meng Qi and his teammates had rushed out of the city at a lightning speed. Qin Shuanglian was following behind them closely. Qin Shuanghua, who was deeply attached to her elder sister as they had been living together for many years, had also followed them.
Once again, Qin Shuanghua was confronted with the crowd of demons. Nonetheless, this time around, it was even more horrible as she was not protected by the forbidden enchantment and the city walls anymore. The overwhelming number of demons – along with the aura so strong that it could shake the earth – had made her feel a deep despair.
They are unbeatable enemies!
“Why... why do you come out?” Qin Shuanghua could not help asking, feeling as though her heart was held tight by a demon’s hand.
At the same time, she was feeling a little sad after thinking about her ancestors and master who did not flinch from such a terrifying demon crowd. At the end, they had died with honor. They were just like the morning sun of the human race!
“If we don’t, how are we going to find the cracks of Nine Nether and seal them?” Meng Qi answered casually.
Seal them? Are they really going to seal the cracks of the Nine Nether? Qin Shuanghua was lost in thoughts.
Well, since they have chosen to come out instead of staying in the city, they are certainly not a human spy or a disguised demon.
Meng Qi turned to take a look at the young man and his companions. Then, he said to Jiang Zhiwei, “Protect them. I’ll go to the other side to try out how strong the demons are.”
“M-hm,” Jiang Zhiwei nodded without an objection. Although she wanted to try out the power of her sword by fighting with the demons, Xiao Meng would be a better person to spearhead an attack.
Meng Qi patted his robes, touched his jaw and looked at Ruan Yushu with a smile.
“Play a piece of music to accompany my attack.”
After that, without waiting for Ruan Yushu to reply, Meng Qi clasped his hands behind his back and walked toward the crowd of demons. His body flashed more than a dozen miles away following every step he took. Although he appeared to be so relaxed as if he was walking in a courtyard, he was going nearer to the horizon in just a few breaths.
Ruan Yushu’s lips were slightly parted, revealing a row of teeth that was as white as shells. She bit her lower lip slightly and made the Phoenix-Perching Zither float in the air. Both of her hands were pressing on the strings.
“Who is that?”
“What is he going to do?”
The people on the city wall had a puzzled expression on their faces when they noticed a green-robed person walking toward the crowd of demons.
Judging from his proficiency in using the Ground-Shrinking Technique, he must be a powerful martial artist. Was he going to risk his life by putting up a desperate fight with the demons due to the fact that he could not enter the city? Or was he being too confident that he could kill part of the demons and retreat unharmed?
Leader Li, on the other hand, had killed the demon. Being badly wounded and exhausted, he was lying on a stone beside the road and watching the demon crowd coming closer and closer!
Suddenly, he saw a green-robed person appeared in front of him. Before he could react to it, the person waved his left hand lightly that made him fly backward. He felt as though he was drifting in the clouds. For a very long time, he was not touching the ground at all.
Thomp. The next thing he knew was that he was stepping on the ground safely, and his familiar teammates were right in front of him!
What... immediately, he turned around and looked at the direction of the demon crowd.
In front of Meng Qi, there were tens of thousands of demons. It was as though they had covered every inch of land.
Just then, a sound of music played by zither was heard. It sounded soothing at first, but a sense of heaviness was hidden in the music. It felt like the calm before a storm, as if something intense was going to erupt at any time.
Every step taken by Meng Qi was going along the rhythm. In a split second, he had entered the attack area of the demons. All kinds of arrows, axes, scales, horns, and black light soared up and shrouded the sky like a huge buzzing mosquito swarm. Their shadows had covered Meng Qi completely.
Without drawing his blade or defending against the attacks, Meng Qi continued moving forward in a leisurely manner.
Ding-dong, ding-dong. Along with the sounds of clashing, many black arrows landed on the ground. Meng Qi was not hurt at all. Stepping into the demon crowd, he looked as if he was swallowed up by the sea of demons.
The crowd was still rushing toward the Pingle City. The attacks of various weapons, flame, and black mist by the demons was the only sign that showed Meng Qi was alive.
“What on earth is he planning to do?” the people on the city wall were utterly confused. If the green-robed person was planning to kill the demons, he should have launched an attack long ago. If he was aiming high to assassinate the leader of the demons, he had to grab the chance of the leader being unguarded and take action as soon as possible!
The Roushan Demon at the furthest point had two tattooed greasy arms that were hanging down on both sides of his body. His cold grayish-white eyes were looking at the area where the green-robed person was flooded by attacks. Despite feeling a little doubtful, he was not making any moves yet. One of the reasons was that he was curious of what the person wanted to do. After all, judging from the huge number of demons, he was very sure that the person had no chance to survive. Another reason was that he had confidence in his own power. Even if something unexpected happened, he would be able to stop it in time!
The demons were getting closer to the Pingle City after a while. Both Leader Li and the young man could already see the hideous faces of the demons clearly. Apart from feeling anxious, Qin Shuanghua was surprised by the calm expression of the teammates of Meng Qi.
Just then, Meng Qi stopped moving forward. He nodded slightly, feeling that the distance was just right.
Bone knives and black thorns were attacking Meng Qi from all directions, leaving no gaps at all. He ignored all of them and put his right hand into the left sleeve. Slowly, he pulled out an orange-colored long blade that was surrounded by flames.
Suddenly, the mood of the music played by Ruan Yushu changed. It revealed a sense of long-suppressed excitement. As the music pierced through the cloud, a furious storm had come.
Meng Qi raised his long blade and gathered the flames at one point. He then did a violent downward strike that seemed to have hit nothing.
Once he had gone deep into the crowd of the Nine-Nether demons, not a single one of them could escape from being beheaded!
Along with the explosion of a golden flame, the demons that were nearest to Meng Qi had turned into hard coke in an instant.
It was as though the flames had been repressed for a long time. Once unleashed, they were spreading rapidly and swallowed up the whole land that was covered with demons.
The wrinkled face of the Roushan Demon was trembling. He only had time to put up a shield of black water in front of him. Right after he did that, he could feel the horrible heat and impact brought by the flames. Despite travelling a long way, the power of the flames did not weaken at all!
The golden flames leaped at a four-winged demon and ignited it. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a bright torch and fell to the ground. Bang. It was just ten miles away from the young man, Leader Li, and the rest of the people.
Thomp, thomp. The demons in the sky were falling to the ground as if they were dumplings that were put in boiling water. Being burned heavily, their huge bodies shrunk and turned into hard coke.
The hard coke piled up like a hill, but none of them was within ten miles from the city.
This scene could be described with a poem, “On the night of the Lantern Festival, the east wind was blowing away thousands of flowers on the trees, and the fireworks were falling from the sky like a shower of stars.” Staring at the scene, the young man felt like he was having a hallucination.
The flames soon subsided, leaving behind a scorched and blackened land. Countless demons had turned into ashes. Meng Qi seemed to have created a border between life and death ten miles away from the city. Anyone who was within the border would live, whereas those who was outside would die!
The land had turned from being densely-packed to empty – the huge contrast had left everyone in awe.
Baozhen retrieved his spirit from all parts of the city and looked at the war zone in a stunned expression.
Just with one strike, the man has wiped out the whole crowd of demons that came out from this crack?
This is definitely an unprecedented move. I believe no one in the future will be able to do that too!
On the open land, only two people were left. One of them was Meng Qi, whereas the other one was the Roushan Demon.
The mood of the music changed once again. Zeng zeng. It sounded like pieces of metal being struck together, and there was a little pause between the two sounds.
Zeng!
Meng Qi took a step forward with his right foot. In the next moment, he appeared a dozen miles away.
After the Roushan Demon recovered from shock, he let out a roar that shook the sky. With both of his hands raising, all the tattoos on his arms were lit up one after another. Several black dragons made up of demonic flame appeared in the sky. Their horns were sharp, and their mouths were wide open.
Nine black dragons were formed successively. After soaring into the sky, their bodies connected to each other end to end, and a monster-like giant dragon gradually took shape. Then, it flew toward Meng Qi!
“The Nine Dragons of Demonic Flame!” Baozhen took a deep breath. During the last fight, he had suffered a lot from this demonic magic – the dragon was actually covered with poison. Once the poison came into contact with human body, it would penetrate through the mana and form, seep into the body, and burn the internal organs. Even though he had suppressed the poison and extinguished the flame, he ended up being infected with a fire poison that was hard to be detoxified. Every noon and midnight, he would suffer a pain in the Primordial Spirit, as if he was pierced by ten thousand needles.
When the giant dragon began to fall, Meng Qi was still looking straight ahead. He held the long blade in his right hand and took another step forward.
Bam! The dragon hit him, and the demonic flame was dropping down like a waterfall.
Zeng!
Along with the sound of the zither, Meng Qi appeared a dozen miles away again. His green robes was swinging, and his skin was surrounded by a pale golden radiance, making him look like a god or a Buddha. He was safe and sound.
The attack of the dragon did not do any harm to him.
“This...” Baozhen was dumbfounded.
The grayish-white eyes of Roushan Demon were burning with rage. He clapped his hands together, and slowly separated them. Along with the terrifying sounds of cracking, a black lightning suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
The lightning was stretched to a foot long. Then, it suddenly leaped out and struck toward Meng Qi rapidly.
“The Thunder of Spirit Destruction!” once again, Baozhen thought of the last demon crowd when the Roushan Demon used this attack to break through the city’s defensive formation. It almost destructed the whole Pingle City.
The speed of the black lightning was very fast. In just a flash, it had got close to Meng Qi. Leaning his body to one side, Meng Qi pushed his shoulder forward to take the attack.
Bang! The black lightning split apart. The pale golden radiance on Meng Qi’s shoulder soared up and engulfed all the broken lightnings.
Zeng!
When the zither sounded again, Meng Qi continued to use the Ground-Shrinking Technique. The long blade in his right hand did not even move an inch – it seemed like he was not planning to fight back with the blade.
The Roushan Demon was enraged. With a wave of His hand, a dark cloud appeared and hung over Meng Qi. Numerous lightnings were striking down successively. At the same time, the Nine Dragons of Demonic Flame, the blood-red shadows, and the filthy black air attacked one after another.
Zeng!
Meng Qi broke through all kinds of demonic magic and stepped into the area within a hundred miles of the Roushan Demon. In other words, he had entered the guru boundary of the Roushan Demon. However, aside from having a few minor scratches and burned marks on the body, he did not appear to be injured!
Seeing this, the Roushan Demon suddenly stomped his feet fiercely. Along with the shaking ground, a lot of black air soared up. Looking like vines or snakes, they wrapped around Meng Qi from all directions to weaken his power. Being one of the abilities of his guru boundary, the Demonic Rattan of Nine Yin could effectively restrict, weaken and block the opponent’s attack.
As the opponent had already entered his guru boundary, the Roushan Demon had decided to fight with full force.
Zeng!
Despite the obvious killing intent in the sound of zither, Meng Qi walked forward in a leisurely manner. As his muscles bulged, the black air was torn apart – still, he was not using the long blade in his right hand.
The Roushan Demon had finally felt alarmed and fearful. This enemy is too hard to be beaten!
Actually, as Meng Qi got closer to the Roushan Demon, their guru boundaries should have overlapped already. In other words, Meng Qi could have attacked with his long blade long ago.
But Meng Qi did not do so. Instead, he was approaching the Roushan Demon step by step along with the sound of the zither. It was as though every step he took was signifying an impending death, which made the Roushan Demon feel stressful and panic.
“Roar!” the Roushan Demon let out a tremendous cry as he could not take it anymore. At the next second, his body shrunk sharply, and he condensed a black light on his palm. The light was flat and thin like a disc. With a sharp edge, the disc of light seemed to be able to cut anything.
The Roushan Demon threw it out with great effort, and it instantly arrived in front of Meng Qi.
Baozhen had never seen the Roushan Demon using this demonic magic. Nonetheless, just at the first glance of the disc of light, he was already having a thrill. It seemed that the disc was having a greater power than the Nine Dragons of Demonic Flame and the Thunder of Spirit Destruction.
In the face of the disc of light, Meng Qi had finally taken a move. He raised his left hand that was fair as a jade, and flicked his finger on the edge of the disc.
Buzz. The disc of black light disintegrated, fell to the ground and created several deep cracks!
Meng Qi rubbed his middle finger – that appeared to be a little red – with his thumb. While looking at the Roushan Demon, he said with a smile, “Not bad. Finally, your attack has made me feel a little painful.”
Zeng!
The sound of the zither had been maintaining the same rhythm, which created an aesthetic feeling. Again, Meng Qi took another step and got a dozen miles closer to the Roushan Demon.
Panic-stricken, the Roushan Demon immediately turned around and attempted to escape.
Where on earth did this monster come from?
This person is even more powerful than the Demon of Pure Gold who is famous for his strong body!
Zeng zeng zeng!
Suddenly, the sound of the zither quickened, so did Meng Qi’s walking pace. Dragging the Fire Blade of Ling Bao behind him, he almost took all three steps at the same time. In an instant, he was right behind the Roushan Demon.
The Light of Luxuriance appeared, and it covered the body of Roushan Demon.
Clank!
The sound of the zither changed again, which broke the silver shield at once. The water was bursting out, and the killing intent was soaring up into the sky.
Meng Qi slashed the orange-colored long blade forward that seemed to have solidified the void. The Roushan Demon was slammed into an invisible wall and then rebounded right away.
Sizz. The Fire Blade of Ling Bao pierced through the Roushan Demon from his back. Following the occurrence of a line of red fire, his protective shield made up of black air was melted, his grayish-while muscles was burned, and his huge body was penetrated by the long blade.
From bottom to top, a deep wound appeared at the back of the Roushan Demon. Through the wound, the people could even see the unharvested crops in the distance. As the golden flame spread on his body, his internal organs were burned. Along with the continuous cracking sounds, it was as though his body oil was spilling out.
The Roushan Demon turned his head in disbelief to look at his own back, only to find that his body was almost cut into half.
A Heavenly Weapon?
Feelings fearful and unreconciled at the same time, the Roushan Demon fell to the ground slowly. Thump. The earth shook violently.
On top of the city wall, all the people – including Baozhen – fell into silence. The Roushan Demon, who had killed countless people of Pingle City and brought nightmares and despair to everyone, had been killed in such an effortless manner.
Although the young man and Leader Li could not see what happened exactly in the fight, their minds went blank after witnessing the fall of the huge body and feeling the violent shaking of the earth.
Qin Shuanglian heaved a sigh of relief as she thought, The senior is indeed a powerful person. Apparently, he doesn’t even need to make an all-out effort to kill the Roushan Demon. Qin Shuanghua, on the other hand, had a mixed expression on her face. She was feeling shocked, confused and a little sad.
A man wearing the mask of Purple Star was standing at the peak of a mountain in the distance. Having witnessed the battle, he suddenly turned around and said in a deep voice, “Let’s leave. We’d better not be his enemy.”
The orange-colored Fire Blade was too eye-catching, so it was not difficult to guess the identity of the blade user. Since Su Meng had decided to use this blade, he was certainly not afraid of exposing his identity. However, at present, not many Samsara Travellers had the ability to beat him.
Therefore, after witnessing the battle, the Master of the Purple Star had decided to give a wide berth to Su Meng to avoid conflicts. He and his teammates would only focus on completing their tasks!
The woman wearing the mask of the Queen Mother of the West looked back at Meng Qi with a strong hatred in her eyes. Then, following behind the Master of the Purple Star and her teammates, she left the place.
Meng Qi turned around. After a twist of void, he suddenly appeared beside Jiang Zhiwei and the others. He spoke to Qin Shuanglian and Qin Shuanghua,
“The crowd of demons of this place is over. Bring us to the the nearest crack of the Nine Nether.”
Although the crowd of demons had ended for many times, the cracks of the Nine Nether still existed. Apparently, the cracks were not easy to be sealed. Perhaps they were guarded by the Evil Demons of the Dharmakaya realm!
“The crowd of demons of this place is over...” Qin Shuanglian and her sister mumbled to themselves in a daze.
It’s over before the demons could even attack... as tears rolled down from their eyes, they felt like having a good cry.
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