Fox Mom

After the gray wooden wall was cleaved open by the Hu Mang's spear, it quickly transformed into hundreds of ghost heads that flew in all directions. Many of them rushed directly towards the Hu Mang, but before they could even hit Hu Mang, they were reduced to ashes under the illumination of the Innate Thunder Pattern.

With a flick of his other wrist, Hu Mang sent his Xuan Tie spear plunging into the ground and into a shadow. The shadow transformed into a blue corpse, and as the corpse emerged, thick bodily fluids oozed out.

A drowning ghost is someone who drowned in a river, lake, well, or pond and is trapped in the water. They must drag a living person into the water to die in their place in order to be reincarnated.

Hu Mang didn't even glance at the puddle of pus. With a flick of his left hand, the lightning spear spun in his palm, lightning crackling and leaping across its shaft.

Holding a thunder spear in one hand and a black iron spear in the other, he charged forward with both spears in turn, his entire being resembling a fierce general from ancient legends, galloping freely among the gray wooden walls that kept emerging from the mist.

With each strike, a wooden wall shattered; with each impact, dozens of ghost heads turned to ashes in the lightning. He broke through ten gray wooden walls in a row, and his view suddenly opened up, revealing the general's platform in its entirety before him.

As Hu Mang swung his twin spears, preparing to charge towards the general's platform in one fell swoop, the ground in front of him suddenly trembled.

The scattered remains of gray wooden walls throughout the camp seemed to be reawakened by some force, beginning to tremble violently, decompose, and recombine; transforming into huge wooden blades, their edges gleaming with a dark blue-green light, arranged in a crescent-shaped arc, lying between the Hu Mang and the general's platform.

The blades rotated slowly, each blade rotating in a different direction, some clockwise, some counterclockwise, intersecting to form an impenetrable net of blades.

The buzzing sound of the spinning blades coalesced into a deep whistling sound that echoed across the empty camp, making eardrums tingle.

The Crescent Moon Formation is a variant of an ancient military formation centered on defense and strangulation. The wooden blades do not directly attack the enemy, but rather form an invisible strangulation zone in front of the formation through rotation and crisscrossing.

Any object attempting to force its way through this net of blades will be instantly sliced into pieces by dozens of simultaneously rotating blades.

What's more troublesome is that the positions of those blades are not fixed; they are constantly moving, exchanging positions, and adjusting angles, as if an invisible hand is controlling the operation of the entire formation, keeping it in a dynamic and unpredictable state.

Behind the Crescent Moon Formation, the ghost soldiers had already rearranged their formation; the front-row ghost soldiers crouched down, raising their shields diagonally above their heads to form a sloping shield wall; the back-row ghost soldiers rested their spears on the shields of the front-row ghost soldiers, the spear tips all pointing in the direction of the Hu Mang, gleaming with a cold light in the dim light of the day.

The owner of the platform looked at him with a smile, holding a jade cup in his hand, while on the table, a fiery red object yawned, looking drowsy.

The Hu Mang's eye twitched slightly.

This scene is becoming increasingly familiar.

It wasn't that he had seen the exact same formation, but rather that the logic of its layout, the oppressive feeling of its relentless advance, and the seemingly loose yet intricately interconnected murderous intent—all bore a striking resemblance to some of the operations he had witnessed in the Demon-Subduing City years ago.

The next moment, he took a deep breath. His feet seemed not to move at all, but the ground began to hum. Blood patterns began to appear on the surface of his body. This was not because Hu Mang had actively activated the "Blood-Piercing Essence-Reversal Art," but because his Qi and Blood were fluctuating too violently, causing this demonic Cultivation Method to be passively activated.

The Wood Element professor who taught him back then once said that only when the Dragon-Suppressing Stake is practiced to the point of "suppressing a living dragon" can it be considered mastered, because the Dragon Vein is not dead, and only the living dragon stake can suppress a living dragon.

The reason why Hu Mang couldn't do it before wasn't because he didn't want to, but because he had trained his physical body to an abnormal level in order to achieve the so-called "suppressing the living dragon".

However, Hu Mang added a setting to the other party: only by "seeing" the living dragon could the living dragon be suppressed.

At this moment, the Hu Mang's "Eye of the Tribulation Dragon" was already open. Without the evolution of calamities, the Eye of the Tribulation Dragon could not bring about a higher level of realm evolution, but it could see the calamities.

"Good heavens, no wonder he's one of the Ten Absolute Immortals; he's left me with dozens of deadly variations."

The next moment, the Hu Mang moved.

He brandished his twin spears, the Thunder Spear and the Black Iron Spear spinning simultaneously in his palms.

He did not choose to bypass the Crescent Moon Formation, nor did he attempt to break through from the side; instead, he charged straight in.

As he landed, his foot sank down sharply, and the power of the Dragon-Suppressing Stake poured into the ground from the sole of his foot.

That force was like an invisible python, spreading forward along the soil. Wherever it passed, the spinning wooden blades experienced extremely subtle pauses.

Hu Mang fired his second shot at that very moment.

The tip of the lightning spear pierced the crack precisely, and lightning exploded in the gap between the blades, simultaneously sending three adjacent wooden blades flying and turning them into wisps of yin Yin Qi.

A temporary gap appeared in the array's blade net—very small, just enough for one person to squeeze through sideways, but it was enough for Hu Mang.

He squeezed into the gap, his black iron spear following closely behind. Using the spear's tail as a pivot, he swept horizontally as he entered the formation, deflecting the blades that were trying to close in from both sides.

The moment his feet landed, he exerted force again, and the power of the second Dragon-Suppressing Stake poured into the ground from another direction.

The next moment, a watchtower in the distance collapsed with a deafening roar.

Hu Mang felt as if he had returned to the construction site of yesteryear, except that he was in charge of demolition. Which building to demolish first, which cave to open later, which pipeline to move first, and which pipeline to leave untouched for the time being—all of these were quite particular.

The man on the platform was clearly more sophisticated; no matter how Hu Mang operated, he countered with his own soldiers and generals, resolving each move one by one.

The two sides played like chess, with black and white pieces crisscrossing each other. However, the white pieces were ultimately one move ahead and gradually surrounded the black dragon.

The man in green shirt on the general stage issued the order slowly and seemingly with ease, and the big banner with the surname iron turned into the word "thank you" at some point.

Suddenly, a thought struck the man in the blue robe. He tilted his head and chuckled, "He's quite the loyal one."

The next moment, a flash of dark, gleaming light disappeared, passing directly past the side of his head.

However, almost without any pause, the Dao Ying was reflected in the blue-robed man's eyes once again.

The man's blue cup appeared precisely at the tip of his opponent's blade. The two collided, and in the next instant, the cup spun, and countless water droplets transformed into sword shadows, reflected in the opponent's eyes.

"Boss Gu!?"

Chen Xiaosan let out an instinctive scream. There was no way around it; this move truly was Gu Yunshu's One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws.

"If you ever seek revenge for someone, you'll need to break the demon within your sword," the man in the blue robe said, seemingly aware of Chen Xiaosan's goal.

The water droplets dispersed most of the Yin Qi in front of them, but Chen Xiaosan's figure also disappeared once again.

It's unclear whether Chen Xiaosan's Heavenly Ghost Body was capable of many transformations, or whether the person simply didn't intend to kill him.

However, despite Chen Xiaosan's interference, Hu Mang managed to break into the core of the Crescent Moon Formation, reaching within three steps of the general's platform.

However, those three steps seemed like an insurmountable chasm. The Hu Mang's face turned ashen, and he had pushed his life-changing abilities to the limit, but his opponent was like a ruthless artificial intelligence, always able to anticipate his next move.

Even if the Old Third gains a second or two of delay, it won't make much difference. The difference in skill level is too great; giving a two-piece handicap or a three-piece handicap makes little difference.

However, it's only three steps from the platform; you can see clearly from above and from below.

The Hu Mang took a deep breath and let out a thunderous roar.

"Mom!!!"

The red thing on the stage was startled by his shout and almost fell over. It looked around nervously and then saw the Hu Mang.

According to the normal timeline, at this point in time, the Crimson Moon Fox Lady probably wouldn't know Hu Mang.

But this is the Underworld, where all sorts of strange things can happen. For example, Xie Xianyu was able to "come back to life," so what else can't be done?

The Crimson Moon Fox tilted her head and sized up the Hu Mang. For some reason, the more she looked at it, the more pleasing it seemed to her, and she felt a strong sense of blood connection. So, without saying a word, she kicked "Xie Xianyu" in the face from the table, knocking him over. Then, she picked up the tiger tally from the table, trotted off the platform, and ran to the Hu Mang's feet, staring at it intently.

"My goodness, your fur was even better when you were young! No wonder you were called the most beautiful fox spirit of the Liang Dynasty."

The Hu Mang stroked the old woman's fur, took the tiger tally, and the next moment, the ground suddenly cracked open, revealing a gate to the Underworld.

He glanced around but couldn't find any trace of the Old Third, so he decided to go downstairs first. However, just as he reached the door, he suddenly stopped.

The Qi and Blood within his body surged and roared, and his Law Power circulated along with the Qi and Blood, quickly filling his Lower Dantian.

Foundation Establishment Great Perfection!

Hu Mang was startled and subconsciously looked behind him, but he could not see Xie Xianyu anywhere. Even the formation, the ghost flag, and the camp had disappeared.

He walked downhill for about half an hour, and soon saw a sliver of sunlight.

Then he heard a familiar voice, and his ears perked up.

"You little brat! You almost scared me to death! How come I can't find you down there? Don't come back to the Yang World living and leave you all alone down there."

Hu Mang looked at Mama Hu, then turned to look around at the desolate wilderness and an abandoned grave not far away. He paused, then said:

"Old lady, is this the place where you were resurrected back then?"

"Nonsense, of course it is. Otherwise, why would I go to the middle of nowhere?"

Hu Mang looked at Mama Hu's feet and found that it wasn't something for offering sacrifices at the grave, but a pile of freshly picked wild vegetables. He was speechless.

"Since we're just idling around anyway, let's find something to do. Didn't I send Old Xie downstairs to find you? After he brought me up, he went back down by himself. Didn't you see him?" Mama Hu asked.

Hu Mang turned his head and, sure enough, saw the artificial intelligence "Xie Xianyu" standing behind him with a smile on its face.