A Counterattack That Struck Terror into Their Hearts

"Kill!"

Hearing his eldest uncle's order, Kong Wenxuan did not hesitate. He was the first to unleash his three divine swords, charging at the Lang Household cultivators and wolf demons trapped in the illusion.

Third Aunt, Fifth Uncle, Ninth Uncle, Eldest Brother, and the others, apart from those helping Eldest Uncle operate the illusion array and activate the Peacock Spreads Its Tail killing move, also attacked the enemy one after another.

But since the Lang Household had chosen to send cannon fodder ahead to scout the way, they had naturally made preparations.

Kong Wenxuan had just killed two wolf demons and one Lang Household cultivator with his three divine swords when a series of shrill wolf howls rang out in the distance.

The Lang Household's main force was following behind. When they saw the Blue Peacock use Peacock Spreads Its Tail again, they knew the clansmen and wolf demons they had sent ahead were trapped in an illusion, so they howled repeatedly, hoping to wake them.

Unfortunately for them, fast as the Lang Household cultivators' howls were at waking their allies, they still could not match the speed at which the Kong Household members killed.

Kong Wenxuan was a veritable killing star. With all three divine swords attacking at once, he cut down enemies trapped in the illusion, who knew neither to dodge nor defend, with essentially one sword strike apiece. Easily and swiftly, he alone killed more than half the cannon-fodder cultivators and wolf demons sent to scout.

The remaining cultivators and wolf demons, less than half their original number, were swiftly killed by Third Aunt, Eldest Brother, and the others working together.

Kong Wenxuan and the others even had a little time to clear the battlefield, collecting the cannon-fodder cultivators' Storage Bags and the corpses of the wolf demons they had killed.

This time, because of the "vermilion fruit tree," they had provoked the notorious "Gray Wolf" Lang Household and had even been forced to retreat toward Demon-Suppressing Pass, fighting and killing as they fled their pursuers.

But those battles and killings had not been without gains: the Lang Household cultivators' Storage Bags, materials from the slain wolf demons, and so on. If they fought and killed a few more times like this and Kong Wenxuan and the others successfully retreated to Demon-Suppressing Pass, the spoils alone would probably exceed what they had gained from the "vermilion fruit tree."

After quickly clearing the battlefield, Kong Wenxuan and the others withdrew into the illusion array and vanished from sight. Only the Blue Peacock remained, its tail spread as it stood in midair, intimidating all around it.

Everything seemed just as it had been on the battlefield in the persimmon grove.

Thus, this time, before a quarter of an hour had passed, the furious Lang Household cultivators fired another wolf-fang arrow at the Blue Peacock in the air. Sure enough, it was another illusion, and the arrow pierced and dispelled it.

"Damn the Kong Household! Ball-less cowards! After them!"

Seeing this, the burly Lang Household man in the lead cursed and gave another order, leading the remaining cultivators and wolf demons in pursuit once more.

Screech! Screech!

But when the Lang Household cultivators and the wolf demons they drove reached the spot where the Blue Peacock had vanished and tried to track the direction in which the Kong Household had fled, another clear peacock cry suddenly rang out.

The next moment, the Blue Peacock that had just vanished like a bubble reappeared in the air. It raised its head and cried out, spreading its tail as a terrifying illusion swept out in every direction once more.

This time, most of the pursuing Lang Household cultivators and the wolf demons they drove were within range of the Blue Peacock's Peacock Spreads Its Tail illusion.

"Not good!"

"No..."

"Liars!"

Startled cries and screams rang out at once. The Lang Household cultivators tried to pull back and escape the area covered by the illusion, but for most of them, it was already too late. Most of the cultivators and wolf demons were drawn to the Blue Peacock spreading its tail in the air, then fell into the illusion and began slaughtering one another.

This was a deliberate counterattack by Eldest Uncle and the others. The Blue Peacock phantom shattered by the Lang Household cultivator's wolf-fang arrow had also been a layer of illusion, intended solely to lure the cultivators and wolf demons of the Lang Household's main force over. Only by killing them until they hurt, feared, and scattered could the Kong Household avoid being continually harassed and pursued afterward.

Kill!

Without the slightest delay, once most of the Lang Household's main force and their wolf demons had fallen into the illusion, Kong Wenxuan and the others charged out of the illusion array again, attacking the Lang Household cultivators and wolf demons trapped inside, unable to dodge or defend themselves.

This time, Kong Wenxuan first set his sights on killing the burly Lang Household man in the lead.

He had recognized the man as the leader of the four Lang Household members who had first arrived at the persimmon grove and threatened him by saying, "Everyone who sees it gets a share." He had not expected the man to have survived this long, and judging by how he had led the main force in pursuit, he clearly held a fairly high position in the Lang Household.

So this time, Kong Wenxuan chose him as his first target. To make absolutely certain, he unleashed all three divine swords at once, sending every one of them slashing at the man.

Things went just as Kong Wenxuan had expected. When the Yellow Earth Divine Sword he had unleashed struck the burly Lang Household man first, the impact of the attack jolted him awake from the illusion.

The wolf-fang necklace around his neck even reacted to the attack, immediately bursting forth with a broad expanse of hard bronze-and-iron light to meet the descending Yellow Earth Divine Sword.

Kong Wenxuan had seen no Law Artifact with such an automatic defense on any of the Feng Household or Lang Household cultivators he had killed earlier. It was enough to show that the burly Lang Household man's status and means were considerable.

But the defense formed by the wolf-fang necklace's reaction was as fragile as an eggshell before the Yellow Earth Divine Sword's crushing strike. With a series of cracks, the bronze-and-iron light released by the necklace was forcibly pulverized, and even the wolf fangs strung on it burst apart one by one.

Yet that instant of resistance was enough for the burly Lang Household man to awaken and even hurriedly activate the tiger-skin cloak Dharma robe he wore, continuing to block the descending Yellow Earth Divine Sword.

Another series of cracks followed. The hastily activated tiger-skin Dharma robe was utterly unable to withstand the Yellow Earth Divine Sword's heavy blow and was cut open and torn apart on the spot.

At last, the Yellow Earth Divine Sword struck the man with all the little strength it had left, shredding a large swath of his flesh before it was finally stopped by his Bronze Head and Iron Bones.

Awooo!

Grievously wounded, the burly Lang Household man let out a shrill wolf howl of pain.

But before he could strike back, the Azure Wood Divine Sword and Black Water Divine Sword, following close behind the Yellow Earth Divine Sword, were already upon him.

The Azure Wood Divine Sword used Sword Light Differentiation, transforming into twenty-one streaks of azure sword light that struck the burly Lang Household man's exposed Bronze Head and Iron Bones in succession, producing a series of metallic clangs. Though they could not immediately cut through his Bronze Head and Iron Bones, they pinned him firmly in place.

Close behind, the Black Water Divine Sword surged like a tide, raising wave upon wave of sword light. It pierced straight through the pinned Lang Household man's waist and abdomen, cutting him in half.

Despite being severed at the waist, the burly man's vigorous vitality kept him alive for the moment. He struggled and writhed on the ground, letting out repeated agonized screams.

Kong Wenxuan could not bear to see such a miserable sight. The Yellow Earth Divine Sword descended again, smashing the man's head to pieces and silencing his screams at once.

With peace finally restored to his ears, Kong Wenxuan picked up the Storage Bag that had fallen from the man's waist, then collected his slashed tiger-skin cloak Dharma robe. He turned his three divine swords and continued killing the remaining Lang Household cultivators and wolf demons.

The slaughter lasted for more than half an hour. Only after more than two-thirds of the Lang Household cultivators trapped in the illusion had been killed, and the wolf demons they drove had been almost entirely wiped out, did it stop.

It was not that Kong Wenxuan and the others could no longer kill. Rather, Eldest Uncle and the others could barely continue sustaining the Peacock Spreads Its Tail killing move. At the same time, the remaining Lang Household cultivators had been jolted awake from the illusion one after another by the constant fighting, slaughter, and mortal danger, and had fled for their lives in panic.

Seeing this, the Kong Household members stopped killing, quickly cleared the battlefield, and withdrew.

This time, they left no Blue Peacock illusion behind to block the remaining Lang Household cultivators, nor did they even use illusions to conceal the sounds and traces of their retreat.

Even so, the remaining Lang Household cultivators did not dare pursue them again.

Even the cultivators of other bloodline Lineages who had been watching from nearby, hoping to wait and reap the fisherman's profit, were shocked by the Kong Household's slaughter in this counterattack and did not dare continue following them.

Instead, those bloodline Lineage cultivators watching from all around gradually turned their attention to the remaining Lang Household cultivators.

After all, the "Gray Wolf" Lang Household had earned quite a notorious reputation in the mountains beyond the pass over the years, and had naturally offended many people. Now that the Lang Household cultivators had been dealt a heavy blow and become dogs that had lost their home, the cultivators and others who had been bullied by the Lang Household in the past but had not dared retaliate naturally saw their chance to beat a dog in the water.