Chapter 144 - 137: Departure

Chapter 144: Chapter 137: Departure

Although the azure water stream was barely a palm’s width, to Congli it felt like a vast, mighty river filled with a bone-chilling cold.

The portly cultivator beside him was also forming hand seals, apparently preparing some powerful technique.

’One or two would be manageable, but he couldn’t handle all four of them.’

After a moment’s hesitation, Congli suddenly turned and shouted, "Throw all the Spirit Farmers off!"

Zuo Ling was stunned for a moment, but then, as if realizing something, he grabbed the two Spirit Farmers in front of him and threw them off the wooden boat.

AHHH!

The two Spirit Farmers were stunned for a moment before letting out terrified screams.

The wooden boat was, after all, several hundred meters above the ground.

Not to mention that their Spiritual Power had been sealed; even if it hadn’t, a fall from that height meant certain death.

Although the other Power Demon Sect cultivators didn’t understand his intentions, they followed his lead, grabbing the Spirit Farmers near them and tossing them from the wooden boat.

The azure water stream circling Lan Cai Shen paused. He turned his head and said, "I must ask you two brothers for your help."

"Alright." "Of course."

The two of them retracted their Spiritual Power and nodded in agreement. Their figures transformed into streaks of light, chasing after the Spirit Farmers falling all around.

Jin Fang also used a Magical Artifact to catch the Spirit Farmers.

Lan Cai Shen breathed an inward sigh of relief. He looked up at the wooden boat, his gaze lingering for a moment on Dong Xing and the other two before a fierce glint appeared in his eyes.

With a mere thought.

"Go."

The azure water stream surged toward the wooden boat like a winding river.

Before the stream even arrived, an intensely cold aura descended first, enveloping the Power Demon Sect cultivators and making their thoughts sluggish.

"So cold..."

Everyone frantically circulated their Qi Blood to resist the icy chill.

Congli’s face twitched. After a moment of hesitation, he once again poured his Qi Blood into the Blood Soul Record.

ROAR...

One thirty-foot-long and two twenty-foot-long Earth Rhinoceroses, all dark red, emerged from the scroll and charged toward the stream.

Halfway there, a thick layer of rock armor materialized on their bodies.

"Heh..."

Lan Cai Shen sneered. Instead of making the stream evade, he sent it straight toward the three demonic beasts.

CRACKLE...

Before the three Earth Rhinoceroses even reached the stream, a thin layer of frost had already formed on their rock armor. By the time they were in front of it, they had nearly turned into solid blocks of ice.

Just then.

Congli’s gaze hardened. He shouted under his breath, "Detonate!"

ROAR... The three Earth Rhinoceroses roared to the sky as cracks spiderwebbed across their thick rock armor, blinding red light pouring from the fissures.

’This is bad...’

Lan Cai Shen was alarmed.

The next instant.

BOOM!

Three massive explosions rang out in succession as blinding red light erupted, a vast wave of energy surging toward the azure water stream.

The massive shockwave from the collision blew the wooden boat back several dozen meters.

Congli fixed his gaze on the bloody light, surging his Qi Blood into the wooden boat beneath his feet.

VMMM...

Runes lit up one by one on the boat’s surface.

Just then, a loud shout came from within the bloody light.

"You’re not getting away!"

The azure water stream, now no thicker than a thumb, shot out from the bloody light. It instantly appeared above the wooden boat and whipped down toward Congli.

Just as Congli erupted with Qi Blood, preparing to take the hit head-on,

the stream suddenly changed direction, coiling around Dong Xing, his two companions, and the numerous other Power Demon Sect disciples.

Congli grew anxious. He took a step forward and grabbed at the stream.

However, only when he actually caught the stream did he realize just how formidable it was. A bone-chilling cold erupted, instantly forming a layer of frost on his palm and surging into his body.

Although the invading chill was dispelled by his powerful Qi Blood in a single breath, in that brief moment, the stream had already entangled Dong Xing’s group and a dozen other Power Demon Sect disciples.

"My lord, save me!" "Ah, spare me..."

Feeling their Qi Blood gradually freezing within them, the dozen or so Power Demon Sect members shouted in panic.

Zuo Ling hid in a corner of the boat. Watching their faces gradually turn purple, he became even more afraid to step forward and help.

With an ashen face, Congli leaped in front of Dong Xing’s group and pulled two of them out, one in each hand.

Before he could do more, he suddenly sensed two waves of Spiritual Power from below.

Without hesitation, Congli activated the runes on the wooden boat.

The runes on the boat flared to life, and with a blast of air, it shot into the sky, disappearing over the horizon in just a few breaths.

Seeing him disappear, the cultivators from the Beast Soul and Blood Fusion branches retracted their Spiritual Power and looked up at the distant high peak.

The battle there seemed to be even more intense.

Lan Cai Shen waved a hand, pulling Xu Li out of the water stream. After dispersing the cold energy in his body, he quickly asked, "Was Steward Li taken by them?"

Xu Li’s mind was dazed from the cold. He heard the question and answered numbly, "My lord, I really don’t know where Steward Li escaped to."

Hmm?

’He escaped?’

Lan Cai Shen was pleasantly surprised. He quickly followed up, "Are you sure Steward Li escaped? He wasn’t captured?"

Xu Li repeated, "My lord, I really don’t know where Steward Li escaped to..."

Seeing his condition, Lan Cai Shen knew he wouldn’t get any more information out of him and stopped asking. His gaze shifted to the dozen or so Power Demon Sect cultivators still bound by his stream. With a mere thought,

the stream dissolved into ice-blue spiritual light, and the dozen or so Power Demon Sect cultivators, their life forces all but extinguished, collapsed onto the deck of the boat.

Lan Cai Shen waved his hand, sending out Spiritual Power to seal their Qi Blood, then guided the boat to a slow landing.

After stowing away his jade boat, he cupped his fists at the other two cultivators, his gaze also turning toward the high peak.

「On the mountaintop.」

The Ape Demon once again pierced one of the Elder Qings with its spear. With a flash of bloody light, that Elder Qing burst into fragments.

It didn’t press the attack. Hoisting the spear onto its shoulder, it looked at the ten remaining Elder Qings and grinned. "You old geezer, your attacks are worthless, but you sure know how to stay alive."

"Seeing as you’ve kept me entertained, I’ll spare your life today..."

The Elder Qings seemed to have no intention of attacking. The ten figures formed a single line, watching the demon with calm expressions.

Seeing this, the Ape Demon breathed an inward sigh of relief.

It spoke with confidence, but after consecutively destroying over twenty of the Elder Qings, it had consumed a full sixty percent of its Qi Blood and Demonic Power.

If the fight continued, it would likely be the one fleeing for its life.

The Ape Demon glanced at him, then bent its knees and crouched. Qi Blood erupted from beneath its feet, creating pulsing shockwaves as its body shot toward the sky.

And just at that moment.

The ten Elder Qings simultaneously showed a cryptic smile. They raised their hands toward it and shouted, "Bind!"

Wisps of gentle wind coiled upwards. The Ape Demon, leaping mid-air, felt its body tighten, but the binding force wasn’t strong; it could break free with a simple surge of Qi Blood.

The Ape Demon thought Elder Qing was just toying with it. Just as it prepared to laugh in mockery,

a streak of bone-white Sword Qi suddenly shot up from below. Its piercing edge made the Ape Demon feel an unprecedented sense of crisis.

"ROAR!"

The Ape Demon’s expression instantly turned ferocious. Qi Blood steamed from its entire body, and in the blink of an eye, it shattered the bindings around it.

Just as it raised its spear to defend itself.

SHIING...

The solid, bone-white Sword Qi pierced through its head, then transformed into a young man with deathly pale pupils. He reached out, pressed his hand against the spot where its heart was, and softly commanded, "Lock!"

A vast and mighty wave of Sword Qi surged into the Ape Demon’s body, condensing into chains that sealed its Qi Blood.

Only then did the Ape Demon’s spear, which had been halfway through its swing, finally fall, kicking up a ring of white air.

The youth didn’t stop there. He took out a piece of jade and crushed it. A faint golden stream of light appeared and shot straight into the center of the Ape Demon’s forehead.

A few breaths later, the turbulent Qi Blood inside the Ape Demon finally calmed.

"Phew..."

The youth slowly exhaled.

Elder Qing’s figure slowly solidified beside him. Stroking his beard, he laughed, "With this big monkey, the Miscellaneous Peak will be much more secure."

The youth nodded slightly. With a wave of his hand, he stored the Ape Demon away and said with a light chuckle, "Elder Qing, you must also be careful while stationed at Ring Mountain Spiritual Land. They’ve suffered a huge loss, so they won’t let this go easily." He paused, then added, "After I’ve finished processing this demon, I’ll have it come and join you."

Elder Qing nodded with a smile. "Don’t worry. The two old coots they have left can’t stop me."

The youth nodded at him, his body transforming into a streak of bone-white sword light that shot into the heavens.

Elder Qing’s figure blurred and then vanished.

「Ring Mountain Spiritual Land.」

Lan Cai Shen and the other two felt a gentle breeze, and Elder Qing appeared silently before them.

"Greetings, Elder."

Lan Cai Shen and the others hastily bowed in greeting.

Elder Qing waved his hand and smiled. "Rise."

His gaze then swept over the surroundings, but he couldn’t see a single Demon Hunting Corps cultivator.

Elder Qing frowned. A cyan ripple rapidly spread outwards from his body.

A few breaths later.

Elder Qing waved his hand, and a map of Ring Mountain Spiritual Land, condensed from Spiritual Power, appeared in mid-air. Dozens of specks of light were scattered around its edges.

"Go and capture all of them. I am rather curious how a mere Body Cultivator who hasn’t even condensed a Dharma Body managed to break through Ring Mountain Spiritual Land!"

"Yes, Elder."

With a strange look in his eyes, Lan Cai Shen cupped his fists, then transformed into an Escape Light and departed.

Although the cultivators from the Beast Soul and Blood Fusion branches were puzzled by the sudden appearance of that immense sword light, they hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn’t ask. They, too, turned into Escape Lights and vanished.

Jin Fang, however, stayed behind to organize the remaining group of less than three hundred Spirit Farmers.

Elder Qing’s body dissipated into a gust of wind and disappeared.

「The edge of Ring Mountain Spiritual Land.」

Li Changsheng returned Xiaohai to his Spirit Beast Bag, cautiously stepped out of the cave, and started walking up the hill.

He had, of course, sensed the immense fluctuations of Spiritual Power from outside. While shocked by their power, he also felt a flicker of joy.

’He knew without even thinking that reinforcements from the Miscellaneous Peak had arrived.’

Once the Spiritual Power fluctuations disappeared, he couldn’t stay put any longer.

Not long after he reached the top of the hill, he felt an immense Spiritual Pressure descend. Looking up, he saw a streak of light falling straight toward him.