Chain Array

In the desolate forest, if a group of people wielding swords and sabers suddenly appeared, who would you think they were?

Mercenaries? Adventurers? Bandits? Murderers?

Any of those were possible, but after the surrounding area had already been massacred by the Blood Wolf Bandits, anyone who still dared to roam the wilderness was rather suspicious...

Liu Bai watched the five-man squad pass beneath the tree where he was hiding. Though they were not wearing the distinctive blood-red clothing, the heavy stench of blood still confirmed their identities to him.

Of course, the main reason was that these people had appeared at the previous battlefield and had even carried away half a corpse left behind by the Blood Wolf Bandits. That gave Liu Bai a ninety percent certainty of who they were.

Traveling swiftly under the cover of night, the group failed to notice Liu Bai following them all the way. This allowed him to silently trail them to the valley where the Blood Wolf Bandits' temporary camp was located.

Watching the ever-increasing guards at the checkpoints, he knew he could not continue following them inside. He needed to find a more reliable method.

Using the dense forest for cover, Liu Bai quickly investigated each entrance to the valley. However, every passage was guarded by Blood Wolf Bandits, who were clearly far more familiar with the area.

"No. The valley is surrounded by sheer cliffs, with nowhere to hide. If I try to climb over them, these bandits will definitely spot me!"

This was different from the Crimson Flame Wolf Valley, so Liu Bai could only abandon his infiltration plan.

Just as Liu Bai was considering how to enter, movement arose within the valley. Soon, dozens of disguised Blood Wolf Bandits rushed out and quickly scattered in every direction.

The valley, which had already been heavily guarded, immediately became even more tense.

"After learning that Blood Blade was killed, these people didn't mobilize in force to take revenge. It seems the Blood Wolf Bandits know more than just killing people..."

In that case, he could only use force.

Liu Bai's eyes rolled, and he swiftly headed for the most dangerous of the valley's three entrances. Precisely because it was surrounded by mountains, cliffs, ravines, and abyssal drops, with no reason for anyone to come here, the Blood Wolf Bandits seemingly did not think anyone would attempt to infiltrate from this direction. The guards stationed here were the fewest as well.

"Six men. Killing them all as quickly as possible without making any noise is impossible. Looks like I can only use a spirit array to disrupt their senses first."

The Chaos God Array combined with the Spirit Rain Array—Liu Bai was increasingly convinced that this method had miraculous effects against people weaker than himself.

"Huh? Damn it, why is it raining in this weather?" Feeling drops of cold rain land on his face, one bandit immediately cursed.

"What's so strange about rain? Stay alert, all of you! If the boss holds us accountable, I'll chop you useless trash apart first!" A fat man built like a wall waved the massive hammer in his hand and cursed at his underlings.

The lackey who had just complained about the rain immediately shrank his neck. He wiped the rainwater from his hair and promptly focused on the narrow passage below.

The rain grew heavier and heavier, soon forming a curtain of rain that drenched all six men to the bone.

This time, several lackeys could no longer endure it. They said to the fat squad leader, "Boss, the rain is so heavy. I think we should find somewhere to take shelter first... Besides, this place is so remote that even our own people rarely use it. What blind fool would barge in here?"

The others immediately echoed his words.

The fat man hesitated. He felt his underlings had a point. They were not afraid of getting rained on, but no one wanted to stand around stupidly in the downpour.

"Fine. But one of you will stay behind in rotation to keep watch. The rest will come with me to take shelter..." In the end, the fat squad leader still did not let everyone leave. He left one man behind.

Liu Bai, hidden in the shadows, smiled faintly at this. These people really were cautious.

However, concealed by the rain curtain and the Chaos God Array, Liu Bai easily slipped past the unlucky man left on watch. He could even hear the fellow muttering curses under his breath as Liu Bai silently infiltrated the valley.

After entering the valley, Liu Bai quickly saw smoke rising from its center. The vegetation there had been completely cleared away, with tents scattered across the open ground.

"I didn't expect there to be far more Blood Wolf Bandits than Uncle Liu's intelligence suggested. There are at least two hundred people in this valley alone!" Liu Bai silently gathered information with a grave expression.

With so many Blood Wolf Bandits, if he had to kill them one by one with his fists and feet, he probably would not finish even after exhausting all his spiritual energy.

After all, these were not pigs waiting to be slaughtered. They were a pack of bloodthirsty wolves!

"It seems I'll still need arrays to wipe out the Blood Wolf Bandits..."

Liu Bai currently possessed quite a few offensive spirit arrays. Moreover, he was hidden in the dark, so he could completely set up several spirit arrays without a sound before luring these people into the trap!

Although the system still rated Liu Bai as only a Second-Grade Spirit Array Master, as long as he had sufficient spiritual energy, he could control more than fifty Spirit Seals. Thus, he already fully qualified to become a Level 3 Spirit Array Master. If he only set up First-Grade Spirit Arrays, he could control up to five of them!

Liu Bai did indeed possess the array diagrams for five First-Grade Spirit Arrays, but the Chaos God Array and Spirit Rain Array were more suited for support, so he did not intend to use them this time.

That left the Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array, Wolf Spirit God Striking Array, and Nine Heavens Thunder Spirit Array. Of these three great arrays, the first was Liu Bai's specialty and had helped him defeat many powerful enemies before.

As for the Nine Heavens Thunder Spirit Array, it had appeared in the original story. It was one of the spirit arrays Mu Chen's father had gathered for him in the Northern Spirit Realm. Though it was a First-Grade Spirit Array, the complete array required twenty Spirit Seals. Its power was not inferior even to a Second-Grade Spirit Array.

The remaining Wolf Spirit God Striking Array was also formidable. Its power was only slightly weaker than the Nine Heavens Thunder Spirit Array. Once activated, it could form nine wolf spirits, and each wolf spirit was no weaker in battle than the three flame serpents.

The only pity was that Liu Bai had not fully mastered either the Wolf Spirit God Striking Array or the Nine Heavens Thunder Spirit Array. He would inevitably be somewhat unskilled in controlling them, which meant he could not arrange the Five Wheel Sky Splitting Array as well.

After preparing everything, Liu Bai strode openly out of the forest and immediately struck with the Mountain Shaking Divine Fist.

Dozens of meteor-like boulders fell from the sky, crashing down with the fist shadows upon the Blood Wolf Bandits' tent area.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Because Liu Bai had deliberately controlled his spiritual energy consumption, the Mountain Shaking Divine Fist was not as powerful as when he killed Blood Blade. Even so, the caught-off-guard Blood Wolf Bandits suffered dozens of casualties.

Naturally, that included some of the pitiful women who had been abducted...

"Enemy attack?!"

Blood Wolf, inside his tent, was instantly startled. He grabbed his enormous saber and rushed outside.

When he saw the one-meter-wide rocks scattered across the chaotic ground, Blood Wolf immediately recalled the news he had received that very morning.

"Killing people with falling rocks... Is this the person who killed the second boss?!"

The enemy truly had come for them...

As he realized this, Blood Wolf was consumed with rage.

He had repeatedly ordered these people to remain alert and vigilant, yet the enemy had still so easily found their lair. It was a blatant slap in his face!

In truth, this was not entirely the fault of his underlings. This valley was only one of their temporary camps. If the second boss had not met with an accident, they might have already left by now. Naturally, they had not built any defensive fortifications.

Under such circumstances, even with guards posted, accidents were unavoidable.

At this point, Blood Wolf had no time to assign blame. The most important thing was to immediately gather his men and kill the bastard who dared attack them. Everything else could wait.

"Everyone, gather around me!"

His furious roar calmed the chaotic camp considerably. Blood Wolf Bandits rushed in from all directions, all gathering before Blood Wolf.

At that moment, someone naturally spotted Liu Bai...

"Boss, someone's running into the forest!"

Blood Wolf narrowed his eyes, and a crimson glint flashed through them.

"Chase!"

At his command, more than a hundred Blood Wolf Bandits howled as they charged out, surging into the forest like a tide of blood.

"Quick, he's here! Brothers, tear him apart!"

"He dared cause trouble for the Blood Wolf Bandits? Kill him!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Amid the bloodthirsty cries, Liu Bai watched the approaching figures. He could even clearly see the twisted expressions on their faces.

"Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array, rise!"

Boom!

Three flame serpents over thirty meters long erupted forth, turning the area within a hundred meters into a sea of fire!

The people charging at the front did not even have time to scream before they were swallowed by the flame serpents and burned into charred husks.

Though the scene was spectacular, not many bandits were truly killed. After all, every one of them possessed cultivation in the Spirit Movement Realm. Unless they were struck head-on by a flame serpent, they still had a chance to escape.

But Liu Bai had gone to great lengths to lure his prey into the trap. Naturally, he would not let them escape so easily.

The next moment, Liu Bai changed his hand seal. The Blood Wolf Bandits fleeing in disarray were once again enveloped by a cyan spirit array dozens of meters wide.

"Wolf Spirit God Striking Array!"

"Awoo!"

With a deep wolf's howl, wolf spirits condensed from cyan spiritual energy charged out of the great array.

The wolf spirits rode upon the breeze, surrounded by invisible wind blades. Even when they merely swept past the bandits, they tore their prey into pieces.

"Two spirit arrays?!" Blood Wolf, who had been observing everything from the rear, was startled. Someone capable of controlling two First-Grade Spirit Arrays at once—could the enemy be a Level 3 Spirit Array Master?

But if he was such an expert, would he need to go through all this trouble to kill them?

"Could he possess a Spiritual Artifact capable of controlling spirit arrays?"

Blood Wolf had never seen such a thing, but he had heard of it. Some powerful Spirit Array Masters engraved low-grade spirit arrays onto special Spiritual Artifacts. They could activate them whenever needed, which not only made them useful for self-defense but also allowed them to be sold at a good price.

While Blood Wolf was guessing, forty or fifty of the bandits who had rushed in had already died in the two arrays. The number of injured was more than double that, and nearly half of the Blood Wolf Bandits had lost their ability to fight.

Even so, Blood Wolf's expression did not change in the slightest.

To him, these lackeys were mere expendables. If they died, they died. At worst, he could recruit more later. These days, even within the Nine Great Domains, plenty of people wanted to live as outlaws. He had never worried about manpower.

Even if all these lackeys died, their loss would not affect Blood Wolf as much as Blood Blade's death.

After all, what true late-stage Spirit Wheel Realm expert would willingly abandon a stable life to keep company with a group of Bandits?

After the two arrays, the forest within the valley had been completely destroyed. The remaining bandits lucky enough to survive had been frightened out of their wits. They no longer dared charge forward recklessly and began retreating one after another.

Liu Bai quickly spotted the figure in the distance. Judging by his appearance and weapon, that man should be Blood Wolf.

"Letting his men die first? It seems Blood Wolf is not only bloodthirsty, but cunning as well..." Liu Bai thought.

It appeared impossible to lure him into the spirit arrays. In that case, he would clean up these annoying lackeys first...

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

Having made his decision, Liu Bai changed his hand seals again. Streaks of lightning began to emerge from the air, and a series of hums filled the space before him.

"Everyone, don't retreat! Kill him, or we'll all die!" Seeing this, especially the range covered by the lightning, one Blood Wolf Bandit captain howled at everyone.

Many present were already injured. Even if they wanted to run, they could not escape. This was clearly the enemy's trap—the great array had been set up long ago. If they wanted to live, they could only fight to the death. The more they fled, the faster they would die!

"Kill him!"

"Damn it, if you won't let me live, I'll drag you down with me!"

"Kill!"

Everyone present was a ruthless bandit with blood on their hands. Driven into a corner, they did not lack the courage to perish together with their enemy.

Once their killing intent erupted, they no longer cared whether they would die. Only one word remained in their minds.

"Kill!"

"Nine Heavens Thunder Spirit Array!"

Liu Bai watched it all with icy eyes. Changing his hand seals, he suddenly shouted coldly.

Boom!

As Liu Bai's shout fell, the lightning spirit array fully activated. Thunder rumbled through the air, and then the array trembled. A bolt of lightning over thirty meters long roared out like a Thunder Dragon, tearing through the sky with lightning speed as it viciously blasted toward the charging bandits.