Chapter 668: Mutual Losses
The real winner would depend on absolute strength, and true powerhouses only believed in the power of their fists. When confrontation between adversaries was inevitable, those who were bolder enough to stake everything they had would come out as the victor.
In this situation, it could only be complemented by the momentum, but one could never conclude the final outcome.
Western Nefarious Sangha, Golden Armored Zombie, and Shipo were not weak people. They had high cultivation and formidable strength, so even if they were against enemies dozens of times in number than them, they had no fear at all.
It was an Immortal Trove!
It was a huge opportunity, and the key to elevating the level of their strength, and those who cast their greedy eyes toward it must cross over their dead bodies.
“Stubborn and hopeless idiots! If we don’t have a surefire plan in hands, do you really think we would dare to come for the Immortal Trove and face the three of you with dozens of people?” While giving the order to pressure the trio on the momentum, Jin Sanchi flipped out a golden flag inscribed with a pattern of a humongous red dragon from his hand, then his aura instantly soared the moment he grabbed that flag.
Whizz…
A ray of light, however, came shooting from a distance and was instantly caught by Jin Shijie’s hand. It was a halberd that emitted out an aura that depicted great changes through the ages, the Sky Piercer Halberd, which he firmly grasped in hand. “You refuse to bow your head, thus you shall be beaten till your soul shatters. This Sky Piercer Halberd never drank blood ever since I obtained it decades ago, you all shall be its sacrificial offerings today!”
Coldness filled Western Nefarious Sangha’s eyes. His figure suddenly retreated while at the same he fiercely shouted, “You two go ahead first, this penniless monk must fetch something, but I’ll be back right away.”
Golden Armored Zombie and Shipo exchanged looks and their eyes lit up instantly. Without any words, the two people separately flew toward Jin Sanchi and Jin Sijie and simply ignored those people from Strange Doors. Although some of them were already on the boundary of the Dao and became a cultivator, they were just comparable to those cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage.
Tang Xiu, who hid amidst the bushes and saw that both sides began to clash, immediately restrained his aura and quietly retreated towards the back. After he reached the place where Mo Awu and the others were waiting, he immediately led them towards the peak of the mountain in a hurry. Being too close to the battle site would get them affected; it was hard to avoid since the fight between people at their cultivation level would undoubtedly be very big and would affect a very wide area.
Helping them?
The idea did not even cross Tang Xiu’s mind. The existence of the Immortal Trove made Tang Xiu wary against Western Nefarious Sangha. He wanted to find out how the matters stand with this monk, as to why he still harbored disloyalty even though he already controlled his life and even promised him benefits such as those concocted pills.
After concealing themselves amidst rocks and trees in the forested mountain, Tang Xiu looked at the four people who were currently engaging in mortal combat. Although their battle was very intense and fierce and they were equal in strength, yet the moves they showcased were rather coarse and crude and the number of magic arts they used was very pathetic. Even their magic tools did not produce remarkable might at all.
“What a waste!”
Tang Xiu secretly shook his head. Whether it was the flag in Jin Sanchi’s hand or the Sky Piercer Halberd held by Jin Sijie, each of them was a good magic weapon. But what made Tang Xiu speechless beyond measure was that these two men did not even comprehend any methods and techniques about the refining school of thought at all. They did not integrate their magic weapons into their bodies to foster its power and connected it to their blood vessels, of which qi and blood essence circulated, and thus would achieve a perfect command over the weapons as easy as moving their fingers.
“What I did not expect is Golden Armored Zombie. His strength rose a lot in just these few days.”
In the center of a mountain valley in the distance, Golden Armored Zombie brandished his long saber to slash the partly hidden and partly visible huge array laid out by the people from the Strange Doors. Layers of ripples fluctuated in the air and despite his astonishing strength, Golden Armored Zombie was unable to break the flag array at all. Occasionally, a red dragon that emerged from the flag array out of thin air moved and attacked extremely fast and caused a lot of injuries to him despite the dragon itself having no corporeal body.
Shipo at the other side, however, seemed quite relaxed. Although the Sky Piercer Halberd brandished by Jin Sijie created blasting gales, she only held a clay pot that constantly released Gu Insects and black smoke, while the locusts that were looming amidst the black smoke were partly hidden and partly visible. The biggest Gu Insect among them was the size of a thumb.
These Gu Insects, however, moved faster than Jin Sijie. While their attacks were unable to break through the layer of qi enveloping Jin Sijie, they still unceasingly consumed his True Essence nonetheless.
“Raging Flame talisman!” Jin Sijie suddenly shouted and threw the Raging Flame talisman, as layers of flames instantly spread out in all directions. The sudden flame burst instantly covered Shipo inside even though she was always alert, and what made her panic the most was that the locusts she released were burned to death in the raging fire; even the black smoke was also cleansed by the fire.
“Damn, how come you have a Raging Flame talisman? Who could still be proficient in its manufacturing technique nowadays?” Shipo’s hemp clothes suddenly fell off and formed a wall to protect her body as she yelled in rage while rushing out of the sea of flames.
Buzz, buzz…
Four Lightning talismans were consecutively thrown by Jin Sijie yet again, and Shipo, who was running away in panic, did not notice it and was hit by dozens of lightning bolts. Although she spewed a green light bead from her mouth and was lucky enough to neutralize 60% of the lightning bolts’ might, her body, however, was not strong enough to withstand the bolts and still got seriously injured.
“BASTARD!”
Western Nefarious Sangha just rushed out of the cave entrance and saw Shipo, who was in a serious state and spitting blood. His eyes turned bloodshot and got frenzied. His figure shot forward as though a meteor and appeared in front of Jin Sijie in the blink of an eye. At this moment, he was holding a long spear in his hand.
The spear was jet-black and seemed to be covered with thick fish scales. The diamond-shaped spearhead ridge was high and the sharpness of its blade was peerlessly incisive and emitted out a faint circulating cold light. The soft tassels on the spear were like finely particulate hair, and yet had its own sense of disheveled beauty as the spear was brandished.
“Come!” Shouted Jin Sijie.
The Sky Piercer Halberd and the black spear were then strangled together. In the next moment, however, his complexion drastically changed as a sense of danger came to him. The Sky Piercer Halberd was instantly thrown out of his hand and the black spear seized the opportunity to impale his chest.
"Damn."
Jin Sanchi, who was fighting Golden Armored Zombie in a relaxed manner with the flag array, had always been paying attention to Jin Sijie’s situation. He secretly cheered when Shipo suffered heavy losses under Jin Sijie’s attack, but his pleasant surprise then vanished in an instant, because his brother’s chest was about to be pierced right at his heart.
“OCTAGON NET, DEMON VANQUISHING BELL!”
Jin Sanchi’s expression was thoroughly ferocious as he sped up the attacks released by the flag array and constantly hurt Golden Armored Zombie while letting out a loud bellow. Immediately, those eight decrepit old men pierced their hearts at the same time. Along with the splashing blood essence coming out from their hearts, they threw an eight-node large net blazing with flames with the two Bloodthirsty Chiropterans trapped in it.
DONG…
A dull, bell sound suddenly rang from the rest of the Strange Door’s people. The magical sound was like the sound of a thunderclap that directly struck Western Nefarious Sangha’s ears. At this time, despite his formidable strength, Western Nefarious Sangha felt his head buzz and turned dizzy, and his body suddenly froze while the octagon nets combined into a large net that shrouded him.
“KILL…”
Eight jade swords suddenly appeared in the hands of the eight decrepit old men whose hearts were bleeding, as eight lines of sword qi swiftly and fiercely shot out from the eight jade swords to pierce through Western Nefarious Sangha’s body.
“BREAK!”
Western Nefarious Sangha grabbed a porcelain bottle and quickly took the Holy Healing medicine from it. His black spear swept over to tear the huge net. Just as blood splashed from his body, he had instantly appeared in front of the eight decrepit old men and brandished the spearhead on them, resulting in the eight men losing their heads in an instant.
Following that, he kicked one of the old men’s head towards Jin Sanchi’s direction, who floated dozens of meters high in the air to control the flag array.
Hmph…
The slaughtering of those eight decrepit old men was met with Jin Sanchi’s indifference. He flew to the side, trying to avoid the flying head shooting at him. The next moment, however, the head suddenly exploded and a poisonous dark mist burst out and shrouded him inside.
"Impossible!"
Jin Sanchi was very confident about his strength, yet having a poisonous mist sucked in into his body all of a sudden raised a chill inside his heart, because he was perfectly aware that this poisonous mist would corrode his internal organs rapidly. He would be sapped of his strength like his power being extracted continuously if this poisonous smoke was to invade his blood.
“Flag array, self-destruct!”
This turn of events was far from good, and Ji Sanchi was barely able to bear the pain as he bellowed. The flag array that trapped Golden Armored Zombie inside exploded, and Golden Armored Zombie’s steel-like formidable was then covered with his own blood in an instant. He spurted out mouthfuls of blood as his body flew in the air like a falling meteorite and then heavily crashed on the ground.
Both sides suffered losses mutually, and both sides played their cards up their sleeves and crazily preyed on each other, with the final result leaving them with mutual heavy losses. The heaviest injured were Jin Sijie and Western Nefarious Sangha, and the injuries were definitely dangerous for both of them if they did not treat it immediately.
Splash…
The blood-colored liquid was splashing out, as a sharp dagger shot by a middle-aged woman from the Strange Doors easily sliced Shipo’s throat and made her fall to the ground. Western Nefarious Sangha then looked at Shipo’s throat. Her entire trachea was cut along with its arteries. This sudden sneak attack had claimed Shipo’s life directly.
“SHIPO… YOU, FUCKING DAMN!”
Western Nefarious Sangha’s face contorted. Despite bleeding due to the displacement of his internal organs, yet he was still like a tiger that plunged into its prey as he shot toward the middle-aged woman among those Strange Door’s people. Like a tiger entering a flock of lambs, he brandished and swept his spear at the Strange Door’s people, and each and every one of the Strange Door’s people who got struck was either killed or heavily injured.
“Green snake, turn into an arrow!”
Jin Sanchi, who had landed on the ground, had the green snake coiled around his arm shot like a sharp arrow through Western Nefarious Sangha’s chest. Its swiftness made it impossible for him to react. Western Nefarious Sangha would have been able to avoid it had there been time to protect himself, but at this time, he could only watch helplessly as he did not have the means to remedy it.
On top of the mountain, Tang Xiu squinted his eyes and observed the situation where both sides mutually suffered heavy losses. His expression looked solemn. His expression turned nasty since Western Nefarious Sangha took out that jet-black spear, because he could see that that spear was not just an ordinary magic weapon, it was at a higher level than magic weapons, a spirit weapon.
At present, he could judge and confirm. Western Nefarious Sangha definitely had been disloyal towards him a couple days ago. So much so that he did not hesitate to bet on his life by being unwilling to expose the matter about the Immortal Trove and this spirit long spear. Golden Armored Zombie was the same rotten apple as well as he told him that Western Nefarious Sangha was a timid and cowardly person, and eventually led him to spare the monk’s life.