Chapter 370: It’s Definitely Not That Easy
“Yu… Yao.” Yu Yan swept away the demonic beasts and immediately flew over. He glanced at Squad Captain Huang who was no longer in a critical state. “Let’s go.”
Zhu Yao nodded and then grabbed Nangong Huang off the ground. “Off we go!”
“Wait!” Nangong Cheng reached out towards the ground and seemed to have picked something up, before allowing himself to be pulled by Zhu Yao. Following Yu Yan, they flew towards the cleared path which was blasted open by the lightning strikes.
After flying up did they realize just how many demonic beasts were roaming in the surroundings. The entire place was shrouded in thick darkness. At the very least, their numbers were up in the high thousands. It was no wonder they had circled around the forest without bumping into a single demonic beast. They had all run over here.
Yu Yan summoned a lightning dragon. Zhu Yao did not stay idle either and directly summoned her Life Artifact – ‘Patch’ Sword. With a light swing, she easily released her sword intent. A phoenix which was formed by red lightning bolts, along with her master’s lightning dragon, instantly swept open a single road in front of them.
The demonic beasts that were scattered towards the surroundings, once again began to gather.
“Charge out!” Yu Yan grabbed onto his disciple and flew towards the swept-open path while blowing away the leftover demonic beasts. Zhu Yao was just about to catch up, when she suddenly stopped once more. Lowering her head, she looked at the bottom, at the figure that was standing at the very center of a formation. She could not help but call out. “Hurry.”
The figure below was stunned for a moment, and then immediately after, the corners of his lips stretched upwards, looking as if he had just felt the spring breeze. His smile, that looked as though he had been given a new lease of life after being frozen in ice for so long, was as if he had just found hope to continue living on.
Zhu Yao’s heart sank, and she somehow began to feel a little irritated as she continued forward. Only then did the figure on the ground flash and appear behind her. He still maintained that considerable distance, but compared to the complete lack of presence before, he seemed to now possess a hint of life.
They flew straight back towards the forest they got lost in, and only after they could no longer hear a single beast howl did they finally stop.
Yu Yan searched for a rather concealed valley so that Nangong Cheng could tend to his wounds. Though his injuries were really severe, since Zhu Yao was able to seal his meridians and protect his Dantian in time, his foundations were not damaged. Adding that he was Demonic Immortal in the first place, he had a powerful body and his recovery power was much faster than regular Deities. After a few hours, the wounds on his body had all begun to close,. Though, a little more time was needed for his severed arm to regrow.
The level above his head dropped by one, from the initial ‘3’ to the ‘2’ now. He was now exactly the same as his gay friend Zhonggu Lu.
“Dongfang girly, really, thank you very much. I… I…”
“No need for thanks, call me Lei Feng! Oh right, where’s Little Teal?” Zhu Yao suddenly recalled. “Did the two of you split up? Why are you the only one here?”
“I’m not. He’s right here!” Nangong Cheng reached out his hand to pick up a bloodied object that had been placed next to him.
Zhu Yao took a serious look at the thing in his hand. It was completely stained in blood, and was something similar to a bundle of withered grass roots. “This… Is this straw?” And it’s harvested too.
“This daddy is a Flower Deity!” The withered grass on Nangong Cheng’s suddenly leapt up, and then shook four of its branches about. “You actually compared me to those extremely ugly grass roots. How are they as handsome and suave as me?”
This voice is…
“Little Teal!?” Zhu Yao was shocked. She cast a Dirt Removal Art on it, revealing a yellow branch that looked as though it hadn’t been watered for several hundred years. A flower was grown at the center of it, though its four petals were all distorted together, as though they could wilt and fall off at any moment. “You’re actually a Flower Deity? There are not many spirits capable of cultivating in High Deities. You’re rather incredible.” The cultivation of spirits were usually quite low. This was the first time she saw one that could reach the level of a High Deity and enter the Lightning Divine Tower.
“W… Well, at least you have some… eyes.” It shook about its dried plum-like leaves, and then, at the same time, folded them a little. “But, even if you praise me like that, I… I won’t be really happy either.”
(￢_￢)
Even though he was clearly really happy!
“Why are you back in your original form?” Zhu Yao looked at the two of them back and forth. Did you two formed a group with Mei Xue? Why are you two the only ones left here? Where are they?”
The leaf that Zhonggu Lu raised once again wilted down. Nangong Cheng had a furious look as well, as he gnashed his teeth audibly.
“Don’t bring it up. My eyes were blind for mistakenly trusting those shameless people.” Nangong Cheng angrily told them the events that happened after they left. “Initially, we agreed to come over to the north to search for demonic beasts with Nascent Divided Pearls in them. However, that ridiculous Mei Xue wanted to head to the depths of this dense forest, explaining that she had just obtained an ancient secret formation. She said that as long as we bring in all the demonic beasts inside the formation, we can obtain Nascent Divided Pearls without even lifting a finger. However, who knew that the so-called formation she spoke of, was actually an Extermination Formation?”
“This daddy here has lived for so long, yet I’ve never seen such a stupid person before.” Zhonggu Lu interrupted. “That Extermination Formation is capable of exterminating all living beings, but those demonic beasts cannot be considered living beings in the first place. They are unkillable and unexterminable, their births are tied to fate itself. They are creatures without souls. The moment she unleashed the Extermination Formation, all other living beings died, leaving behind the demonic beasts. How is that seeking Nascent Divided Pearls? We’re clearly seeking a beating there!”
Uhh… She certainly was not aware that this particular Mary Sue’s thought process would be this surprising and fresh.
“Haah… We actually had a chance to escape.” Nangong Cheng continued. “The moment the Extermination Formation activated, I realized something was amiss, and informed everyone to hurry and retreat. However that girly called Mei Xue insisted that the formation was effective, and wasn’t willing to leave even if she had to die. And those squadmate of hers, every single one of them was blind as well. The moment she put it that way, all of them actually believed her. Only when the demonic beasts come chasing were they finally willing to believe that was an Extinction Formation.”
“Then why were you two there?” When she discovered them earlier, there weren’t presences of any other formations in the surroundings, and the place did not look as if a formation that could exterminate all living beings had been activated. This proved that they had already escaped.
“Haah…” Nangong Cheng’s expression grew even uglier. “We desperately wanted to slaughter out way out. By combining the strength of all eight of us, it shouldn’t have been impossible. Who knew that the female Deity Mei is merely a decoration? Forget about crying throughout the entire journey, the others even had to split some of their attentions to protect her. There were several times where we were this close to being devoured by demonic beasts, but those five people seemed to have taken the wrong medicine and all went to protect her. In the end, Brother Zhonggu Lu and I were the only ones left killing the enemies.” The longer he spoke, the angrier he became as he painfully gritted his teeth. “I simply told her off a little, and then she began bursting out in tears, making a ruckus and saying things like wanting to commit suicide, not wanting to pull us down. The hell, just what kind of situation did she think we were in back then? Yet she still wanted to make a ruckus. If she wanted to cause a ruckus, then do it. Charge right into the mouth of a demonic beast and end it right there and then. Yet she still wanted to go crazy and wanted to snatch my weapon away to commit suicide using it.”
“Uh…” This is an Oscar award nominee, young man. “And then?”
“Then…” His expression darkened, his teeth gnashed resoundingly. “After that, the other five Daoists went crazy as well. They actually wanted to fight me because of her, initiating duels and whatever! The hell, just what kind of situation did they think we were in? They actually wanted to duel me right there and then! If not because she was female, I really wanted to bite her to death!”
It seemed like there were deep internal conflicts huh. “Then… how did you guys get out?”
Nangong Cheng took a few deep breaths, before he slowly said. “Brother Zhonggu Lu used up all the divine energy in his body and ignited a shattering technique, blasting open a crack. We were then able to escape the Extermination Formation and arrive in that dense forest. That was how my arm was shredded off as well. After we got out, we split from the group. After that, because my injuries were too severe, I could no longer muster any energy to fly and fell into that dense forest. I was then caught up by those demonic beasts.”
It’s no wonder Little Teal reverted back to his original form.
“If Dongfang girly hadn’t appeared in time, even if I wasn’t eaten by those demonic beasts, my Dantian would have most likely been shattered, and my cultivation would been destroyed.” He said with a gratitude. “Thank you, Dongfang girly.”
“We were passing through anyway.” Zhu Yao patted on his shoulders and said with a proud look on her face. “You don’t have to be courteous with me now, Squad Captain Nangong Huang.”
“…” I’m Nangong Cheng!
“Your Dantian is fine now, but it will take some time for your meridians. As for Little Teal…” She looked at the withered plant next to her, and inspected it with her divine sense. She discovered that there really wasn’t the slightest bit of divine energy in his body. How was she going to heal a damaged plant? Could it be…
“Hey, what’s with that face of yours that looks like you’re about to give me fertilizers?” Zhonggu Lu suddenly straightened up. It shook its two leaves forward, making a large cross.
“Little Teal, you don’t have to be so sensitive! I never thought of giving you fertilizers.”
“Then it would be something close to…”
“I just wanted to water you.”
“……”
“…”
——————————————
Student Zhonggu Lu firmly resisted against all unreasonable cultivating actions. Through its words, it resolutely rejected all of Zhu Yao’s kind intentions of watering it and providing it fertilizers. Zhu Yao expressed that she was really sad. Raising flowers or whatever, was something she specialized in. In the modern era, the flowers and plants that she raised were all immensely beautiful. Her techniques were definitely on the professional level. She never expected she would be despised for it.
Left with no other choice, they could only plant it in soil. In order to make it convenient for travel, she even especially used earth-type mystic arts to make it a flower pot, so that it can be carried around easily. Mn. I’m a little excited as to what type of plant Little Teal is!
The moment student Little Teal entered the flower pot, it sank into deep sleep. Squad Captain Nangong’s injuries still needed to be tended to as well. Zhu Yao had no choice but to put aside her floor rising plan and stay in this valley for a night. Tomorrow, she would then head over to the center of the divine city and raise her level.
Turning around, she glanced at the two people who were in meditation and deep sleep. She could not help but let out a sigh. “They sure were unlucky.” Mary Sues were terrifying alright. She didn’t do anything much, and she ended up landing them in such pitiful states. Zhu Yao then pulled her master over from the side and once again reminded him. “Cherish your life, stay far away from Mary Sues.”
“Yu… Yao.” Yu Yan glanced at the two people and frowned. “I’m afraid this matter isn’t that simple.”
“Ah?” Zhu Yao was stunned for a moment.
“From what I know, though Extermination Formations are powerful, they do not have the capabilities to lure in demonic beasts.”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you ever wondered why these two people were still constantly chased by those demonic beasts even after they left the formation?” He said with a calm look. “Or should I say, just the two of them?”
“…” Zhu Yao’s heart sank, her eyes widened. “Master, you’re saying…”
He nodded. “I believe the Nascent Divided Pearls within the Extermination Formation had all been cleared out by now.”
“…”