Investigating the Divine Pillar

At the same time, the giant centipede, which was Qianzhang long, was less than a hundred meters away from the commander's tent. It suddenly lowered its body and swooped down, increasing its speed again. Any soldiers who were in its way would be killed without a trace if they were even grazed by it.

Despite being surrounded from both sides, Xing Daozhuang remained calm, showing no sign of tension, as he usually wore a very serious expression that made others feel nervous.

He completely ignored the giant centipede attacking from behind, focusing only on the swarm of insects in front of him. His demonic halberd danced wildly like thunder, emitting a buzzing sound to block out the noise of the insects, while clouds of mist swirled and lightning crackled.

"The vitality of the Nine Provinces depends on the wind and thunder!"

The demonic halberd danced, a fierce wind howled, and thunder roared. A series of sounds suddenly arose, becoming a unique symphony between heaven and earth. Dazzling lightning coiled around the halberd's body. Xing Daozhuang charged forward with the halberd, his body like a train that had lost control, creating a hurricane and a long, deafening shockwave. He crashed headlong into the swarm of insects. Wherever the lightning touched, there was only destruction and ashes. But then more insects would swarm in, trying to obscure the light.

Mengying slowly released more insects to block Xing Daozhuang's advance, trying to buy time until he could join forces with the centipede Demon Marshal. At the same time, he also released some insects to attack Wu Xiu, preventing her from rescuing people.

However, Wu Xiu clearly had no intention of making a move. She simply stood there leisurely smoking her pipe, exhaling wisps of smoke. The insects that stepped within three zhang of her perished instantly, their bodies piling up on the ground.

She turned her pipe upside down, tapped the ash, and said, "The person you need to be wary of isn't me."

"My strength could uproot mountains, my spirit could cover the world; but the times are against me, and my steed will not run."

Accompanied by a groggy sound as if just waking up, a figure that was not tall but exceptionally strong crawled out of the haystack. His body was covered in dry grass, and he had a straw in his mouth. He also pulled out a hammer as big as a millstone from the haystack. This person was none other than "Prison-Subduing Boulder" Shi Yuan.

Shi Yuan stood in front of the giant centipede, his eyes half-open, looking as if he hadn't woken up yet. It wasn't until the centipede Demon Marshal rushed to within ten feet of him that he showed a slight expression of excitement and spat out the straw in his mouth.

"I love a weak-minded monster like you who just charges around because of your strength. It's so satisfying to smash you."

Compared to the giant centipede that was Qianzhang long, Shi Yuan was as small as a speck of dust, not even comparable to one of its legs. When the two appeared in the same scene, the phrase "like a mantis trying to stop a chariot" would naturally come to mind.

However, this impression immediately changed when Shi Yuan's body sank and his feet sank into the ground. At that moment, he seemed to become one with the earth, becoming its messenger. Infinite power surged within him, and his instantly rising aura solidified into an earth giant behind him.

"Divine Astral Prison Break!"

Shi Yuan swung his giant hammer and struck head-on, the Gang Qi exploded, as if a hole had been smashed into the space. The hammer, carrying unparalleled power, rapidly expanded in the centipede Demon Marshal's eyes. At first, it was just a black star, but then it filled his field of vision, becoming enormous, like a towering mountain rising from the ground, transforming into a colossal giant that reached out and blocked out the sky. The hammer, like a mountain, cleaved through the heavens!

Although the centipede Demon Marshal's body was enormous, enough to easily smash through the city walls, it was nothing more than a thin line in the palm of his hand compared to the ground beneath his feet.

The moment the two sides collided, the earth trembled violently. Soldiers and Demon Beast within a ten-mile radius felt the earth shake and powerful, fierce energy surged outwards, forcing them to lose their balance and fall to the ground.

The centipede Demon Marshal let out a deafening howl of pain. Its carapace was shattered by the hammer blow, its head was bleeding profusely, and its body was shortened by a segment. Its massive body rebounded and flew out, crashing heavily to the ground, crushing countless people and Demon Beast to death. For a moment, it was unable to get up.

"Your last hope of turning the tide is gone, the Demon Race has lost!"

A dazzling bolt of lightning pierced through the dense swarm of insects, and Xing Daozhuang, his entire body enveloped in electric light, broke through the encirclement with his halberd, thrusting straight at Mengying. All the insects that touched him were electrocuted into charred remains.

The moment Mengying was stabbed, her body suddenly disintegrated, transforming into a swarm of insects, thus avoiding the inevitable blow. Meanwhile, the swarm of insects flying behind Xing Daozhuang gathered and deformed, solidifying into Mengying's figure, and struck Xing Daozhuang's back with a palm.

Xing Daozhuang immediately reversed his grip on the Eight Clouds Purple Thunder Halberd, passing it through his ribs and attacking from behind. However, Mengying changed positions even faster, and in the blink of an eye, she was on Xing Daozhuang's unprotected left side, striking his shoulder with a palm. Hundreds of chaotic and complex experiences, like insect bites, drilled into his meridians.

Xing Daozhuang grunted and flew out injured, but quickly regained his footing, channeled his inner energy, and charged into the swarm of insects, wielding the Eight Clouds Purple Thunder Halberd to fight against Mengying.

The electric dragon fought fiercely with the swarm of insects. With each Blink light, a large number of insects died, but the insects emerging from the body of the Mengying were endless, as if they would never die.

Mengying clearly had the upper hand, but facing the countermeasures of Thunder Method and demon halberd, it was difficult for him to turn his advantage into a decisive factor. He was destined to be unable to defeat Xing Daozhuang in a short time, let alone kill him. Xing Daozhuang also kept Mengying closely at bay, not passively defending. He made his opponent unable to use his ultimate moves through relentless attacks.

Upon observing that some Spirit Transformation Grandmaster were rushing towards the commander's tent, Mengying had to admit that the operation had failed. He forced Xing Daozhuang to retreat, then took a deep look before transforming into a swarm of insects and fleeing. Before leaving the battlefield, he did not forget to take the Centipede Demon Marshal with him.

As Xing Daozhuang watched the swarm of insects gradually disappear, he knew that his strategy had succeeded. He had truly become a hero of the Human Race and was about to ascend to the altar worshipped by thousands. An indescribable emotion welled up in his heart.

"Moth Emperor, for the future of our race, you must succeed..."

A secret outpost of the Mohist Knight Guard in Nation of Valor.

"The demon army has been defeated? Why so suddenly?"

Si Ming took the newspaper from Yu Shuying and saw that the first page had the words "Demon Army Defeated" written in large characters. There was no other text, only pictures of firecrackers and fireworks celebrating the victory. He quickly flipped to other pages to read the details.

Yu Shuying said, "No need to look. Actually, it was just that Uncle Xing asked my master to make a poison that works on the corpses of Demon Beasts. By taking advantage of the fact that Demon Beast feed on the corpses of their own kind, they poisoned most of the Demon Beast. Although the results were brilliant, if you look closely at the source, it's just that simple. There was no complicated strategy from beginning to end. The only difficult part was finding this poison."

Murong Qing agreed, "Most of the credit this time should indeed be attributed to Senior Wu."

Yu Shuying snorted, unappreciating the gesture, and said, "This victory is undoubtedly good news for the people of the Northern Continent, but not necessarily for us. Don't forget, Nation of Valor refused to join the allied forces, they didn't get the 'Blood-Rupturing Powder,' and the Demon Beast army in the Nation of Valor theater is still alive and well. With this unforgettable lesson, the Demon Race will not fall for the same trick again. Therefore, Nation of Valor will face even greater pressure."

Si Ming asked in confusion, "Why? Ninety percent of the Demon Beast in other war zones have already been eliminated. They should have ample troops to help Nation of Valor share the burden."

Yu Shuying explained, "Firstly, Nation of Valor's refusal to join the allied forces embarrassed the other nations, so everyone is happy to see it suffer. Secondly, the leader of the Nation of Valor army is the War God Ba Shenhuang, a proud man who would never accept anyone's sympathy. Thirdly, the Demon Race has no hope of occupying the Northern Continent. Even if Nation of Valor falls, the other nations are capable of driving out the Demon Race. With external pressure gone, it means internal strife will begin, and I think the nations of the Northern Continent would love to see Nation of Valor and the Demon Race both weakened. Fourthly, if the Demon Race notices this situation, they will transfer their troops to Nation of Valor in order to find an opportunity to break through the defenses."

Sitting in the corner, Ji Shichen closed the book titled "Old-Fashioned Warmheartedness" and concluded, "In short, Nation of Valor is in trouble."

Chapter 692 Investigating the Divine Pillar

"Is this level of disguise enough? Not even a disguise is needed?"

Si Ming looked in the mirror. Apart from a small mustache on his upper lip and his thin eyebrows being drawn into thick ones, the person in the mirror was unchanged. He immediately felt like he was watching a boring period drama from his past life.

In those period dramas, if the female lead changes into men's clothing, no one can recognize her as a woman, even if she has a fuller chest, wears makeup and lipstick. All the characters, including the male lead, seem to be blind to her.

Of course, this kind of ridiculous plot device is not limited to period dramas; it is also prevalent in Republican-era and urban dramas. For example, people might stick on a small mustache or a hairy mole on their face and then no one would recognize them.

Si Ming asked Ji Shichen, "Is there any Divine Arts in this world that can make someone face-blind?"

Ji Shichen didn't realize it was a joke and thought for a moment, "Prosopagnosia has two types: one is not being able to see other people's faces clearly, and the other is losing the ability to recognize other people's facial features. The latter is more difficult; it requires interfering with a person's cognitive abilities without damaging their nervous system. The former is much easier; just circulate your True Qi to the stratum corneum of the face to disrupt the reflection of light, making it impossible for other people's eyes to receive it."

"There's another way!"

Si Ming suddenly thought of the methods those big shots often used to show off, describing it from an outsider's perspective: "I clearly saw him, but I just can't remember what he looks like," or "I looked closely, but his face was a blur," or "Nobody can remember what he looks like." These descriptions sound very profound, but in reality, they're just like that.

"So that's the principle behind the 'face blindness halo' effect. Then I should be able to do it easily too."

The "Blazing Yang Battle Art" involves absorbing solar energy to transform True Qi. In terms of mastering light, Si Ming believed he was second to none, and immediately activated the Method Formula.