Longzang

Chapter 286 A Better Ending (Part 2)

Judging from the Heavenly Merit Ranking, Wei Yuan's intuition was indeed correct; this swordsman in plain clothes was indeed more powerful than a Dharma Image of a Perfected Immortal Foundation cultivator. And the source of his strength was half of the Eternal Sword.

The thought that he also possessed half of the Sword Manual made Wei Yuan feel a surge of excitement.

However, he immediately remembered the terrifying spiritual energy he needed to advance his cultivation level, which couldn't be satisfied by cultivation alone; he still needed to farm.

Upon seeing this divine feat, Zhang Sheng and Ji Liuli both became serious, realizing the enemy was unprecedentedly powerful. They no longer held back and began to work together to break the formation. The three of them combined their strength with astonishing destructive power, clearing out a small world in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

An hour later, the great formation was broken.

After the world changed, Wei Yuan found himself standing on the back mountain, where the cultivators who had come to explore were scattered throughout the vast area. In the center of the back mountain was a white jade plaza, which was now mostly destroyed.

That was the very spot where the swordsman in plain clothes stood, almost becoming Wei Yuan's burial ground. More than twenty of the hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators had already perished, and then a pile of mangled limbs and flesh appeared in a corner of the back mountain.

Wei Yuan went to investigate and found the remains of the missing cultivators here. It seemed that the monster had used this place as a storage room, leaving its leftovers here.

Among the missing cultivators was one of Yu Zhizhuo's junior brothers. Another junior brother was severely injured after being sprayed with venom by a monster and remains unconscious. Had Sun Yu not happened to break through this small world and provided timely medical assistance, this disciple of the Heavenly Crafts Hall would not have survived.

However, his primordial spirit and sea of ​​consciousness were severely eroded and damaged. The best outcome would be the severing of his cultivation path, with no further progress for the rest of his life. The worst outcome would be the destruction of his cultivation foundation, causing him to regress to a Body Forging cultivator.

Wei Yuan felt heavy-hearted. Ordinary cultivators had almost no power to resist the monster's venom. If he hadn't provoked the monster to spew its venom three times at full power, the cultivators would probably have lost more than half of their lives.

Such a monster would crush any cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, killing as many as it could. And against a swordsman in plain clothes, even several Dharma Aspect cultivators would be unable to escape unscathed.

Even if three or four Dharma Aspect Realm experts led a team in, they would still be utterly defeated. How could these two be staying in a fragment of a grotto-heaven?

Wei Yuan gathered the surviving cultivators, and after a brief rest, reorganized the army and headed towards the palace complex.

Sun Yu had also fought the monster, flicking some medicine onto it, which reportedly corroded a large portion of its body. Using the lingering scent of the medicine, Sun Yu found the monster's trail, and the group of cultivators headed straight for the main hall.

The main hall was thirty zhang high and one hundred zhang wide, extremely magnificent, only slightly smaller than the main hall of Emperor Tang, and of the same scale as the palaces of the feudal lords. However, "of the same scale" only refers to size; in terms of style and decoration, it was exactly the same as the main hall of the emperor.

At this time, the cave had been broken for many years, and the magic array in the main hall had long since failed. The hall was dark, and one could hardly see their own hand in front of their face.

Several cultivators shot out orbs of light, which floated in various places in the air, illuminating the entire hall.

The main hall was in complete disarray, with objects scattered everywhere. In the center of the hall stood a high platform, upon which rested a dragon throne. But now the throne was broken in two, the marks indicating it had been severed by someone.

The platform was originally surrounded by red jade railings, and beyond that, a ring of open channels for flowing water. Now, fragments of the railings are scattered everywhere, and the channels are dry, with only large patches of dried bloodstains remaining.

The main hall was littered with signs of a fierce battle, indicating that many cultivators had fought to the death here. Judging from the large amount of blood remaining and the extremely dense yin energy and resentment, they were probably in grave danger. Ji Liuli said, "The signs of the battle are only inside the hall, and they retreated all the way to the gate, but they couldn't get out. It seems that these people were suddenly attacked in the hall and tried to escape, but failed."

Yu Zhizhuo picked up a broken sword from the ground, examined its shape and the broken edge carefully, and said, "The standard sword of the Xu family cultivators is a high-grade magic weapon. They should all be elites in the late stage of the Dao Foundation stage."

Zhang Sheng said, "The traces are both new and old. The sword energy of the new traces is obviously stronger. It seems that the Xu family sent people to explore this place afterward, and more than one group came, but none of them came back. Oh, we can't rule out the possibility that some escaped."

Wei Yuan's face was gloomy as he said, "It seems that the Xu family knew all along that there were dangers in this fragment of the cave, and deliberately lured us in."

If I had known this would happen, I should have shot that old man from the Xu family a couple more times; maybe I could have saved him.

After a moment's thought, Wei Yuan realized that the only remaining enemy seemed to be the man-eating monster. He then divided the group into two teams. Wei Yuan himself, Zhang Sheng, the senior sister, Sun Yu, and Feng Tingyu formed one team to hunt down the monster. The remaining cultivators formed another team to suppress and defend the area using military formations, clearing out each hall one by one in an attempt to find the monster's lair or uncover the secrets of this place.

The Xu family disregarded casualties and repeatedly sent people back into the cave, indicating that there must be a great secret here.

Sun Yu discerned the lingering medicinal fragrance in the air as he passed through palaces of all sizes, the surroundings gradually becoming desolate. The buildings in this area were low and crowded, most of them dilapidated, with some even being makeshift shacks built from branches and thatch. The ground was littered with the filth of ordinary people's daily lives, a stark contrast to the tall and magnificent palaces ahead.

This area seems to be where the palace servants and servants lived, but the servants in the palaces of the feudal lords lived in much better places.

It's like taking the slums of Quliu Town, tearing them apart, and piecing them together with a palace—it just doesn't feel right.

The group moved through the buildings, on high alert. Suddenly, a shadow emerged from a nearby mud house, followed by a spray of black water falling from the sky!
But as the Demon-Suppressing Tower solidified, both the shadow and the black water slowed down. Wei Yuan waved his hand, collecting all the black water, while Sun Yu blew a wisp of alchemical fire onto the shadow. Upon contact with the fire, the shadow monster let out a shrill scream, and the flames spread rapidly.

Four immortal swords slowly descended from the surrounding area, poised to deliver a fatal blow.

The monster shrieked and turned to flee, instantly disappearing dozens of feet away. But suddenly, a crescent-shaped blade of light shone from its body, and a large amount of black water fell down, indicating that it had been struck by Feng Tingyu's blade.

The monster let out another scream and vanished in an instant.

The group worked together seamlessly. The real killing move was actually made by Sun Yu and Feng Tingyu. Zhang Sheng's simultaneous use of four swords was just a feint to scare the monster away, thus creating an opportunity for Feng Tingyu to deliver the final blow.

The Mingwang Palace's way of killing is annihilation. Whether the sword technique is fierce or gentle, it is essentially the same. And whether the opponent's attack is real or feint, the damage suffered after being struck by Feng Tingyu's sword is the same. It is quite simple, brutal, and unreasonable.

Although the monster escaped, it was severely injured and struck by Sun Yudan's fire, making it impossible for it to escape the pursuit. The group wasn't in a hurry to chase it; they wouldn't be able to catch up anyway. In any case, its lair should be in the vicinity, and the fragment of the cave was a closed space, so they could just search for it slowly.

The group were all skilled in combat, so they were in no hurry. They proceeded steadily and cautiously, intending to inflict two more wounds on the monster, after which it would surely die.

Wei Yuan glanced into the earthen house where the monster had appeared, and suddenly exclaimed, "Eh!"

(End of this chapter)