Chapter 142: Dealing with a Fifth-Realm Cultivator Can Be Quite Challenging
Chu Liang was not to be blamed.
Upon hearing the Fiend's words, his initial thought was, "There are clearly three spies, yet you claim that there's only one. Could the other two have been placed in the group by you?"
Upon second thought, he knew that this was impossible. Both Luo Yao and Pushan had clear lineages, making it highly unlikely for them to be lying about their identities. This Fiend must have only discovered one, hence the statement.
"There's a spy among us."
"I’m communicating with you two via Voice Transmission right now. When I make a move later, both of you should immediately follow suit and attack Sixtieth. I'm worried that they might have a means of contacting the people outside, so it's critical that we kill them with one attack," instructed the Fiend.
Chu Liang then understood what was happening. The Fiend must have been closer to Luo Yao just now. He might have contacted Sixtieth before and knew that Sixtieth wasn't someone with such simple tricks up their sleeve.
And so, he determined that Sixtieth was a spy.
As for why the Fiend hadn't revealed this in the main force, Chu Liang could easily figure this out with some thought. The Southern-Route Guider attached great importance to this operation. If a spy infiltrated the forces led by a Fiend and caused the mission to fail, that Fiend would undoubtedly incur severe anger.
And so, the Fiend wanted to take Sixtieth out of the group, eliminate Sixtieth quietly, and pretend that nothing had happened.
Concealing information was a way to evade responsibility.
He had no idea of the heavy price he would pay for relying on luck to achieve a favorable outcome.
Pushan also received the Voice Transmission from the Fiend. When he heard the message, he nodded gently and immediately shouted, "Attack now!"
"Eh?" The other three were shocked.
The Fiend was shocked and enraged because he had only asked for cooperation. He hadn’t asked them to issue the command. If this sudden action ended up alerting the enemy, he would definitely hold Fifty-Ninth accountable.
But before his anger went away, he noticed that the three individuals had simultaneously and tacitly made their moves.
Luo Yao, upon hearing the cue, instantly activated the Forbidden Ground. This tactic was specifically designed to restrain high-level cultivators of the Dark King Sect. Today, they were finally able to use it on an actual diabolical cultivator.
In an instant, the shackles of the Forbidden Ground descended once again.
Chu Liang, having been accustomed to this, took advantage of his proximity with the Fiend. He immediately took out the golden half-brick, approached the Fiend with the Turbulent Stream Movement Art, and swiftly smashed the Fiend with his brick.
Meanwhile, Pushan's entire body radiated a rainbow-like luminescence, akin to colored glass.
He activated the Transcendent Dharma Mirror! And unleashed a series of powerful divine skills!
Boom—
A towering illusion of a Buddhist statue manifested behind him, and the colossal figure resoundingly thrust forth a gigantic palm!
A radiant Mahavairocana Buddha!
All three of them suddenly launched their attacks simultaneously.
The Fiend was caught off guard, as his attention had been solely focused on Sixtieth. He had just been about to express his anger upon hearing Fifty-Ninth's call to attack when he finally understood what was happening.
Oh. So, both of you are attacking me?
This combination of attacks was a deadly scheme the three of them had discussed beforehand. It was a killing formation difficult for even a fifth-realm cultivator to escape!
In the face of such a situation, the Fiend showed no signs of panic. He swiftly moved to intercept the closest attack coming from Chu Liang, deftly crossing his arms to block the brick.
Bang!
The force of this brick, equivalent to the strength of ten tigers, clearly exceeded his expectations. The impact was so powerful that the sound of bones shattering echoed through the air. Utilizing the momentum of the blow, he redirected it, using it as propulsion to propel himself backward through the air.
He didn't resist at all; instead, he chose to endure the blow and leveraged the force to escape. He was confident that this brick wouldn't kill him!
And that was the case.
The Fiend had ascended to the third stage of the fifth realm. Prior to successfully refining both the metal and wood elements, he had already undergone the rigorous process of tempering his physical body in a previous ascension.
When Chu Liang struck him at full force with the brick, it only broke two of his forearm bones. Once the Forbidden Ground was deactivated, he would instantly recover from such injuries!
But then, a palm descended from the sky!
The strike of Pushan’s palm was evidently a hundred times more ruthless than Chu Liang’s brick.
When the Fiend was covered by the shadow of the palm, he smacked himself on the chest.
"Spat—"
With this self-inflicted blow, he spewed out a mist of blood. Astonishingly, this mist of blood quickly entwined into a protective barrier, shielding the Fiend.
He had even refined his blood!
Even the mouthful of blood that he had spat out carried an immensely strong spiritual force. This did not belong in the category of the divine arts and skills.
This wall of blood that emerged blocked Pushan’s palm.
Bang!
Although the wall of blood seemed to be on the verge of collapse, it managed to withstand the blow.
After these two strikes, Luo Yao shuddered. She could no longer maintain the effect of the Forbidden Ground and the domain broke down with a resounding noise.
After all, she was just a fourth-realm cultivator. She was already considered rather powerful for being able to use the Forbidden Ground, which was a shamanic technique for cultivators of even higher realms than her. And so, she naturally couldn’t maintain this effect for too long.
After enduring two strikes, the Fiend appeared to have suffered some injuries. Still, it seemed like his bones and tendons remained intact. In this brief moment, the tenacity of a fifth-realm cultivator was vividly demonstrated.
As the effect of the Forbidden Ground disappeared, he regained the use of all his cultivation skills and instantly felt much bolder.
Upon stretching his arms, his bones quickly healed.
"So, all three of you are spies!" His tone was filled with furious indignation, "All of you will die!"
If there was one spy in his group, it would have been his mistake. But the fact that the entire team consisted of spies was a great humiliation to him. As he thought about how everyone but him in the interdimensional soul domain had been impostors, his rage felt even more unbearable.
With a raise of his arms, hundreds and thousands of shadows emerged behind him, all being the ghostly creatures he had nurtured over the years.
With a flick of his fingers, the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts began!
At the same time, Luo Yao also unleashed her powers.
In face of such a formidable enemy, the young girl didn't hold back. With a cold expression, she made a decisive gesture, and three arms instantly appeared behind her!
Each of these three arms held a paper umbrella—black, white, and red!
Boom—
As Luo Yao watched the hundred ghosts looming in front, she unfolded three paper umbrellas, and a tri-color radiance in black, white, and red burst forth all at once.
"Ahhhhhh—"
The opposing ghosts all screamed in terror, seemingly fearful of Luo Yao's three ghostly companions.
Luo Yao's figure flickered. The black-clad ghost held onto her waist, allowing her to move at incredible speed, while the white-clad ghost wrapped her arms around Luo Yao, protecting her from harm. The red-clad ghost followed closely behind, displaying a killing intent that was not inferior to that of Luo Yao.
When the Fiend saw her approaching, he felt a sense of anxiousness. He immediately stomped his right foot on the ground and shouted, "Freeze!"
Hiss—
In an instant, several black thorns broke through the soil, spreading rapidly. These thorns immediately trapped Luo Yao. They were like blades and spears. These thorns were able to attack one’s soul, which meant that the protection of the white-robed ghost was useless!
Whether it was the three ghosts or Luo Yao herself, none could move a muscle after being pierced by these thorns.
Chu Liang had previously witnessed the Soul Subjugator’s use of the Soul-Piercing Nail, and these thorns were evidently an advanced form of that Soul-Piercing Nail.
These thorns were unstoppable!
Fortunately, Pushan intervened from a distance, pointing his finger and exclaiming, "Reverse!"
Pushan used the Heaven's Reversal!
Bang!
With the execution of that immortal art, a complete reversal of polarities occurred, rendering even the Fiend unable to move.
Simultaneously, the thorns around Luo Yao instantly dissipated. In the next moment, she teleported in front of the immobilized Fiend and raised her curved saber high up!
"Die!" The Fiend suddenly let out a wretched scream, and a blood arrow shot out from his chest unexpectedly! Being at such a close distance, Luo Yao couldn't dodge, and this arrow hit directly into the protective barrier of the white-robed ghost.
Hiss—
"Ah—" The ghost in white emitted a mournful and painful cry. The blood arrow possessed immense power, piercing into half of her body in an instant. Yet she was still resisting fiercely to protect Luo Yao.
The second before the blood arrow approached Luo Yao, she promptly flipped and landed on the ground, evading the attack. Essentially, she had blocked the attack with the use of the white-robed ghost.
The red-clad child approached from behind. When he saw what was happening, he didn’t pursue the Fiend. Instead, he shouted, "Mother!"
Then, he rushed forward and shattered the blood arrow that had just pierced through the white-clad ghost’s body.
However, when the Fiend launched that blood arrow, the stiffness he felt due to the immortal art instantly disappeared.
The Fiend finally realized that the three before him...
Wait...No!
Fifty-Eighth is just a small fry at the third realm... Although Fifty-Ninth and Sixtieth were both at the fourth realm, they were clearly exceptional talents that possessed techniques and cultivations that couldn’t be casually overlooked. If I continue this struggle with them, I will die!
As soon as he realized this, he was already flying several zhang backward. A mist of blood exploded around him and released such formidable force. The Fiend appeared to be sacrificing himself in return for a burst of power.
He seemed to be escaping into the mist.
At this moment, Luo Yao and Pushan were in a brief pause between the activation of their divine skills, and they couldn't seamlessly launch their next attack right away.
This gap was critical! Even though they were talented cultivators, it was still too difficult for them to kill a fifth-realm cultivator who has numerous tricks up his sleeve, especially considering that they were of lower cultivation level than this Diabolical cultivator.
"Sigh."
At this moment, Chu Liang let out a soft sigh.
By the end of the day, he still needed to take action.
The long-suppressed Crimson Executioner was drawn out with a nearly explosive resonance, which indicated how badly it had endured. Without any hesitation, Chu Liang raised his hand and released the three talismanic characters of wind.
He had launched this attack for its speed.
Hisssss—
With a flash of the sword radiance, the Talismanic Sword Seal, empowered by three characters of wind, moved with the speed of the east wind[1]. Like a roaring dragon, it instantly swept over, swiftly engulfing the Fiend.
The power of the Crimson Executioner was majestic!
Boom—
It was an explosive kill!
The strike of the sword even dispersed the indissoluble mist in the surrounding, forming a brief vacuum. Luo Yao and Pushan’s eyes widened at the sight of such an immense power.
A whirlwind of sword qi formed!
Boom! Rumble! Rumble!
After engulfing the Fiend and persisting for quite some time, the whirlwind gradually dissipated, allowing the mist to flow back in.
Before the mist completely filled the space, Chu Liang recalled the Crimson Executioner and stowed it away.
It was just as he had expected. As he turned back to face Luo Yao and Pushan, the two were staring at him with expressions of profound shock and disbelief.
If Chu Liang had given them the impression of being a skilled cultivator earlier, they wouldn't have been so surprised. However, given Chu Liang's demeanor earlier, which seemed more like that of a layabout, his sudden emergence to effortlessly kill a formidable foe created a stark contrast.
The incongruity was too much.
In response to their astonishment, Chu Liang merely chuckled.
With a carefree expression, he gestured at where the Fiend had been defeated.
"Dealing with a fifth-realm cultivator can be quite challenging, huh?"
1. Just a way to describe incredibly fast ☜
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