Defeating the Enemy
--
"Sect Leader, I can't hold on any longer!" Pei Yi cried out in alarm, rolling to the side in a sorry state. Ten sharp, dark claws from the corpse barely grazed his nose. His injuries had not yet fully healed, and now, with only Lu Zhen as his weakling, it was indeed a stretch to contend with Zhao Gu's First-Tier Superior-Grade -level corpse.
"Senior brother, this old thief's staff technique is incredibly fierce." Yuan Jin's fists collided with Zhao Gu's iron staff again, and he cried out in pain. As for the horse lance that the latter had used to break the formation at the beginning, it was stuck in the chest of the Lu Household cultivator whose name Kang Dabao couldn't remember.
This isn't too surprising. Zhao Gu is, after all, a bandit leader with a somewhat fearsome reputation. His magical artifacts and Law Artifact are quite powerful, and his cultivation level is high. It would be strange if he couldn't defeat his two junior brothers.
Ignoring his two junior brothers' calls, Kang Dabao spread his arms and killed another of Ghost Horse Owls with a single blow.
Now, Sect Leader Kang Da has Qi Refining Fifth Layer and cultivates the "Azure Wood Treasured Light Guide," a low- Vast-Tier Lower-Grade technique. His spiritual power is far superior to that of the Evil Cultivator who cultivate Desolate Tier Cultivation Method. After suffering a loss last time, he even devoted himself to practicing hammer techniques for a while. This time, he blended into the group of Evil Cultivator whose Third Layer of Qi Refinement Refining and who couldn't even afford Law Artifact. He was practically invincible, with almost no one able to defeat him.
At this moment, a thin-browed evil Law Artifact wielding a short-bladed Evil Cultivator approached. Kang Dabao's Army-Breaking Hammer had just knocked away the six-sided shield Talisman Artifact of a long-bearded Evil Cultivator in front of him and hadn't had time to retract it when he reached into his Storage Bag and shot out a silver mace, which struck the thin-browed Evil Cultivator on the head, scattering yellow and white dust on the ground.
Seeing this, even Zhao Gu, who was clearly in the lead, frowned deeply.
"Who was this bastard who did this intelligence gathering? How come, besides Yuan Jin Jiang Qing, even Kang Dabao is so troublesome! Even if he survives, I'll skin him alive!"
The bandit cultivators only like Spirit Stone and treasures; they are not born to enjoy fighting and risking their lives. The latter are only after obtaining the former's means. If they could make a lot of Spirit Stone by lying on their beds all day, who would be crazy enough to do such a deadly business!
Given the current situation, even if they win, it's hard to say whether it's a profit or a loss.
Zhao Gu had already considered retreating, but he was worried that such a retreat would damage his prestige. He was conflicted, so he continued to fight Yuan Jin, hoping that if things changed at the Jia Mountain Bandits leader's place, he could return to provide support.
After another round of fighting, the small territory of the Ye Household's main camp was littered with corpses, but the scene was cleaned up more and more thoroughly.
Ghost Horse Owls's three Qi Refinement Fourth Layer Refining leaders, along with seven or eight Early Qi Refining Stage bandits, were unable to do anything to Kang Dabao. Instead, five or six of them, who were slightly less skilled, were killed. This time, Kang Da Bao didn't even use his Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes, yet he still managed to make the enemy cry out in pain. Zhao Gu and the Corpse Refiner were unstoppable for the time being, steadily suppressing the other four members of the "Allied Forces" and gaining a significant advantage.
Fortunately, Kang Dabao was aware of the situation and knew that Jiang Qing would definitely win the match between the superior and inferior horses. He was not impatient at the moment. Instead, he took advantage of the fact that the opponent had suffered too many casualties and was distracted, and found an opening. He smashed the long-bearded Evil Cultivator who had just managed to escape into a mangled mess with his hammer. It was clear that he would not survive.
"Ah!" At this moment, Lu Zhen made a careless move, and five bloody marks were added to his right arm by the corpse refiner. The marks were so deep that the bone was visible, and black blood oozed out. The pain made Lu Zhen fall to the ground.
Pei Yi used the Bright Light Spike to come to the rescue, but even this top-grade magic Law Artifact couldn't penetrate the flesh armor of the refined corpse. It was locked after only half an inch of penetration, which caused the refined corpse to turn around and look for him.
Having lost his Law Artifact, Pei Yi casually scattered a handful of grass seeds, which took root on the ground, forming a grass wall two feet thick in front of Pei Yi. The corpse-refining demon swung its arms, intending to tear the grass wall apart, but it underestimated the resilience of the grass wall. Its arms were trapped inside, entangled by countless grass tendrils, and it was difficult to break free for a while.
The corpse-refining army's fierce offensive faltered. Zhao Gu feinted to shake Yuan Jin off, formed a lotus Law Seals with his hands, stamped his foot, and shouted, "Imperial command!"
Suddenly, a white flame shot out from the corpse's mouth. Pei Yi's Technique Method, which was unafraid of ordinary fire, was instantly broken. The grass wall was burned to ashes and could no longer stop the corpse.
Having escaped their cage, the corpse-refining creatures moved even faster, their ten black-armored bodies incredibly sharp, heading straight for Pei Yi's vital points.
Pei Yi dared not be negligent. In an instant, his spiritual incantation changed several times, and several vines as thick as thighs appeared from the ground beneath the corpse's feet, tightly binding the corpse from head to toe.
The mutated corpse roared, and a large amount of death energy emanated from its body. Then, black pus seeped out from under its thick skin. Pei Yi's originally jade-green vines visibly withered. Looking at the mutated corpse, it simply stretched out its arms, and most of the vines binding its body were broken free.
Pei Yi was startled. He was genuinely terrified by the corpse-refining technique. This was a low-grade Vast-Tier Lower-Grade Vine Binding Technique that he had mastered to a high level, yet it could only stop the corpse-refining technique for a moment?
However, some felt that even a fleeting moment was enough. "Junior brother, squat down."
Without a second thought, Pei Yi immediately lay down on the ground. The next moment, two Golden Light flew over his body and struck the corpse's head.
With a loud "bang," the half-headed zombie stupidly tore off the last vine wrapped around its body, but its feet didn't stop, and it staggered towards Pei Yi.
It turned out that even such severe injuries didn't seem to have much impact on the corpse refiner. The group of cunning Ghost Horse Owls opposite Kang Dabao, who had been considering disbanding, were now at ease, and the spiritual power of their magical Law Artifact increased by three points.
Kang Dabao's spiritual energy hadn't completely subsided after Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes, causing his hand gestures to be a beat slower. He was caught off guard and suffered several heavy blows, blood spilling from his mouth. He threw out a handful of talismans, cursing under his breath, before managing to slightly reverse his defeat.
Seeing the power of Kang Dabao's Golden Eyes Law Technique, the Evil Cultivator on the other side became wary and did not seize the opportunity to rush forward. Instead, the two sides continued to fight from a distance, using their magical Law Artifact. The situation gradually returned to a stalemate.
Upon seeing the injured corpse, Zhao Gu, who was on another side, changed his expression. He thought to himself that this corpse had taken him a great deal of effort and was far more valuable to him than the Evil Cultivator who were dead and injured all over the place. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes, and he certainly couldn't afford to be completely destroyed here, thus damaging the very foundation of his strength.
The bandit leader then slapped his iron staff, igniting a wisp of black, tiger-like energy at the tip, intending to quickly repel Yuan Jin was rushing to his aid. Yuan Jin's gaze sharpened, as if there was no longer any room to dodge, so he channeled his energy into his fist and met the attack head-on.
"Boom." The tiger-like black aura was blasted away by Yuan Jin's fist, surprising Zhao Gu. He thought to himself, "This dwarf has a really fierce fist."
Although he often uses a long spear to fight, this Tiger Sha Staff is actually his most handy Law Artifact. He put a lot of effort into finding a skilled weapon refiner, spent a lot of energy killing a hundred tigers to obtain their bones, captured a thousand accomplices to make the weapon, failed more than ten times, and went through hardships to find a rare place to nurture the fiends before he was able to refine this top-grade magic Law Artifact.
These custom-made magical Law Artifact are expensive, but their power is consistently higher than Law Artifact of the same level in the hands of the user.
In Zhao Gu's hands, this Tiger Sha Staff was practically a top-grade magic Law Artifact. He had used it to kill countless cultivators in the past, so why was he stopped by the relatively unknown Yuan Jin today?
"If it weren't for your Master Yuan having already mastered the Ape Demon Cannon Fist to perfection, losing thirty percent of his spiritual power in a single strike, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do anything to you, you scoundrel. This broken iron staff has such a powerful Sha Qi; fighting against it is like fighting a hundred tigers, being entangled by ten thousand ghosts, with cries of resentment filling the air. I'm completely overwhelmed by its sheer presence. Very well, very well, it truly is a fine treasure, and it should rightfully belong to your Master Yuan." Yuan Jin was panting heavily at this moment, and in the midst of the fierce battle, a hint of greed appeared in his expression as he looked at Zhao Gu.
Those familiar with the Chongming Sect know that among the three brothers, Kang Dabao is talkative and Jiang Qing is warlike, but few know Yuan Jin's flaw: he is bloodthirsty.
For a long time before Jiang Qing grew up, Yuan Jin was the one who provided the three brothers with the strength to survive in this world.
The "White Ape Scripture" passed down in the Chongming Sect was written by a False Core True Cultivator who had a partial master-disciple relationship with Patriarch Zhang. It is said that with its exquisite profound skills and Law Power magic, it is enough to meet the threshold of the Vast-Tier Middle-Grade Cultivation Method. However, the reason why the grade is not high is that although the practitioner can be as strong as an ape demon, his temperament will also be affected by it.
This is the biggest flaw of this Cultivation Method. If the practitioner's will is not strong, they will be subtly influenced by Cultivation Method until they lose their true nature and truly become a tyrannical and bloodthirsty ape demon.
To quell Yuan Jin's resentment, Kang Dabao went to great lengths to obtain a copy of the Buddhist Jingxin Heart-Calming Scripture of Cultivating the Mind), instructing Yuan Jin to recite it morning and evening along with his existing Daoist classics. Combined with this, and the fact that Yuan Jin had married and had children in recent years, and devoted himself to weapon crafting, Kang Dabao had a significant influence.
His original ferocity had been largely dissipated, but this battle only reignited the demonic energy within him, and his expression toward Zhao Gu became increasingly manic.
The latter noticed Yuan Jin's strange expression and misunderstood it. Suddenly, he felt a tightness in his anus, and fine sweat appeared on his cold face. Then, a cold air suddenly came out from his back.
"That bastard is disgusting, he deserves to die!"
In this way, the tiger's aura on the staff became even more solid, almost tangible, and the roar of the fierce tiger soared straight into the sky!
Seeing this, Yuan Jin neither dodged nor evaded, ignoring the tiger roars surrounding him. He simply laughed loudly, got into position, and prepared to unleash the Ape Demon Cannon Hammer!
"Hit!" Two Golden Light struck. This was Kang Dabao, who had injured another Evil Cultivator and was immediately casting a spell to help.
Recalling the horrific scene of the corpse refinement, Zhao Gu realized that his magical Law Artifact might not be able to withstand it, so he had no choice but to stop his attack and quickly dodge. Unexpectedly, just as he turned halfway around, a red light flew diagonally across his neck.
Both halves of Zhao Gu fell to the ground.
Yuan Jin's vision was filled with crimson, and the cannon hammer he had been preparing suddenly lost its target. He first glared hatefully at Jiang Qing, who was rushing to his aid, before chasing after the corpse that was wildly waving its claws at Pei Yi from behind and throwing a punch.
With a crisp "crack," the corpse's spine snapped in half, and its head slammed into its knee with a thud.
At this point, there is no suspense; the victory is already secured.
Thank you to JianV for Extended Net Moon, thank you to Dingdangmao for the 100-point reward, and thank you to all the readers for your support. Lao Bai 'll try my best to finish writing this part tonight. Thank you everyone.
I hope those of you with time can take the time to read, vote, comment, and even send me some coins! For those of you who are busy, please spend about 20 seconds on the last page of each day's update. Thank you!