Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 556 Demon Sixteen

After speaking, he made another quick sidestep, as if urgently dodging something.

The scholar in blue robes, who had made a prior statement, had already made his move, a gesture of slashing with his finger from a distance, without any visible force or power.

A crack appeared where the gray-clad man had just dodged, like a shattered mirror, accompanied by a "thud" sound like a snapped string.

Only after the crack appeared did the faint, belated glimpse of the sword's edge fade away in the visual field.

What may seem like a harmless attack is, in the eyes of a true master, a truly terrifying force.

Just like what Granny Qi said to Wu Jinliang after she made her move outside Dazhi City, a true master would not be able to control his power and cause such a commotion.

Only by concentrating destructive power on one point can it exert the greatest destructive force.

Missing his first strike, the scholar in green stepped forward and swept his finger across the ground again. A crack of light appeared on the spot where the gray-clad man had dodged, seemingly striking him. But the gray-clad man's figure vanished like a phantom.

It seemed as if some shadow emerged from the illusion and transformed into a new human figure.

A look of surprise flashed across the scholar's eyes. He took a step away from the bookshelf and walked forward lightly, as if strolling in a garden. His sleeves billowed in the wind, and his hand shadows, which moved erratically in the air, appeared as if they were slashing horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Suddenly, a series of mirror-like cracks appeared as if by a law.

The sound of snapping strings was also rapid and like rain, thumping incessantly.

Pedestrians on the street stopped at the sound and looked up from downstairs, wondering what was going on in the library. It sounded like playing the zither, but it didn't. Some people started to discuss it.

The shattered light from the mirror upstairs flashed between the rows of bookshelves, its faint, shimmering illumination weaving like a dragon, each strike landing squarely on the dodging gray-clad man.

However, from various angles, another figure could always emerge from the shadow of the gray-clad man. For example, you might think you had severed someone's neck with a sword, but in reality, the person had already ducked and dodged, and you had only struck an illusion.

Shi Chun, who was frozen in place, was also amazed after witnessing some of the scenes.

The violent energy danced wildly like a dragon within the library; had it not been for the protective force that held him in place, it would have been crushed into dust.

The woman in red, who was propping her head up on the counter in the lobby and pretending to doze off, muttered to herself, "The Great Illusionary Demon Technique..."

She had thought that sealing off the library would prevent the commotion from leaking out, and that the scholar in green robes would easily deal with the man in gray. However, she was surprised that he was unable to subdue him for so long.

Although the rows of bookshelves provided the gray-clad man with some hiding space, that was not the key. The Illusionary Demon Movement Technique was illusory, but the densely packed mirror-like cracks of the attack were not. The fact that he could repeatedly escape from the dense attacks at tricky angles made the scholar in green realize that his opponent was familiar with his moves.

Realizing this, his eyes flashed, and he knew who the other person was. He shouted, "Demon Sixteen, it's you!"

After saying that, he waved his hand and pointed in the direction where the gray-clad man had fled.

With a deafening roar, the earth shook violently, and after a window shattered, a massive, illusory sword blade appeared and vanished through the blast.

The neighboring houses were immediately ravaged. Although the force of the broken windows had subsided, the residual power still reached hundreds of feet away. Houses along the way were destroyed and blown away. Countless people screamed, countless people cried out, and countless people lost their lives.

On the street, Dong Wenshu, who was carrying a lot of things in both hands and returned excitedly, was so shocked by the huge tremor that he subconsciously squatted down.

Passersby and neighbors on the street were also shocked and turned away.

On the mountaintop in the center of the city, a group of people emerged to look out, including the city lord Li Xianghong and Po Yuan and others who were still lingering there.

Seeing that a path had been cleared for them, the gray-clad man, who had been dodging, seemed to understand the scholar in blue robes' good intentions. He transformed into several figures and flashed at the window. Suddenly, his true form emerged from one of them and flew out of the window into the sky.

The scholar in the blue robe flashed out and soared into the sky, then threw back a scroll of books he had taken with him out the window.

He knew very well what the woman in red meant by freezing the library. It wasn't that she wanted to join forces with him to deal with this demonic cultivator. She wouldn't bother joining forces with him if she wanted to make a move. She was afraid that their fight would affect the library.

In this way, he also had to restrain himself and couldn't exert his full strength. He himself didn't want to damage so many books, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered to come all this way to read them.

Neighbors and people looking out from the rooftops near and far all saw two figures soaring into the sky one after the other.

Upon seeing this, the city guards flying in from the surrounding area came to an abrupt halt. Judging from the speed at which the perpetrator flew, so fast that it left a blur, they knew that the perpetrator's cultivation level was far beyond what they could enforce the law against.

Li Xianghong, Po Yuan, and the others, who were looking into the distance, also changed color.

"Like the location of Chaoyue Pavilion..." Li Xianghong murmured. To be honest, that place was no longer one she could afford to offend, and now, for some reason, such a powerful expert had appeared there.

At the same time, a bowl-shaped beam of light appeared above the city, enveloping the entire city, indicating that the city's defensive array had been activated.

Po Yuan said in a deep voice, "The great formation can't stop them."

Fortunately, there was no need to block them. By the time the formation was activated, the two figures that had flown across the sky one after the other had already disappeared.

However, the two who were chasing each other could see each other clearly.

The man in gray seemed to know that he was no match for his opponent, so he could only dodge and run away.

The scholar in blue robes who let him out of the library had no intention of letting him escape. Since he knew who the other party was and the other party knew his sword techniques, they must have fought each other before.

If you've fought before, you can meet again; the defeated party has naturally escaped from the victor's clutches.

Therefore, the scholar in the blue robe knew that his escape method was extraordinary. Seeing that he was far away from the city, he cut into the wind with one hand and immediately saw an invisible shock wave gradually emerging in front of him.

When the man in gray turned around, panic burst into his eyes. A giant sword that seemed to reach the sky was now in the pursuer's hand, swirling in the wind.

Sensing something was wrong, his eyes suddenly turned bloodshot and turned red. He slapped his palms together in front of his chest, his fingers flashing and twisting in a series of hand seals. The giant sword tumbled in mid-air; in reality, the scholar in the blue robe had suddenly pushed the hilt forward.

With the sword at his back, he suddenly swung his arm and slashed out, dragging the giant sword as he roared.

As the giant sword was swung across the sky, it suddenly became so fast that it merged into the void and vanished without a trace.

The void ahead suddenly cracked open, with countless dense, mirror-like cracks appearing as if the heavens and earth had been shattered into dust.

This is a large-scale, indiscriminate massacre.

"Fu Que..."

The resentment in the gray-clad man's shrill and furious shout vanished, and he was instantly blasted into a bloody mist amidst the countless sword shadows that appeared.

The burst of blood mist was then swallowed up by the engulfing black mist that followed.

As the scholar in the blue robe, radiating a powerful aura, charged into the mist, the fog suddenly burst open, and his vision cleared abruptly. Countless intertwined black and red snakes exploded outwards at an even faster speed, like streaks of light flashing by.

He urgently swung his sword in all directions, shattering many of the escaping streaks of light, but many more that had slipped through the net had already fled into the distance and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The scholar in the blue robe, who remained silent in mid-air, had a solemn expression.

After the turbulent celestial phenomena gradually returned to normal, he turned around and flew back.

There was no movement inside the library. Someone tried to go in and see what was happening inside, but as soon as they reached the steps at the entrance, they found themselves blocked by an invisible force.

After pushing a few times with all his might, he turned around and exclaimed to his neighbors, "We can't get into the library anymore, it seems to be sealed off."

"Sealed?"

"Who sealed it?"

The neighbors, chattering amongst themselves, cautiously approached, all wanting to give it a try.

When Dong Wenshu ran back carrying a bunch of things, he was immediately greeted. "Mr. Dong, something happened to your library. They say it's been sealed off and you can't get in."

The scholar in blue robes, who had flown back from afar, arrived in the sky, only to be blocked by the virtual wave shield created by the impact.

The woman in red, who had been dozing by the library counter, raised a finger and gently circled it, sending a faint stream of light flying into the void.

The protective array guarding the city instantly shut down, and the scholar in the green robe flashed inside. With a flicker of his shadow, he slipped through the broken window into the library, picked up a book from the ground, sat down, and continued reading.

The people in the library were instantly able to move, each one looking around as if waking from a dream.

After climbing the steps at the entrance, Dong Wenshu, carrying his things, tried to touch the things with his elbows, but didn't touch anything along the way. He easily entered the library and subconsciously looked back at the people behind him, as if to accuse someone of talking nonsense.

When a group of neighbors saw him go in, they also squeezed through the doorway. Finding that there was indeed no obstruction, they immediately accused him of talking nonsense.

However, the noisy discussions inside the library were all about what had just happened and why everyone was suddenly unable to move.

So the neighbors and people in the library mingled together to discuss it.

Dong Wenshu handed the pile of things he had bought to his eldest daughter, who had also come out in surprise to see what was going on. Then he turned to the counter and asked the woman in red in a kind voice, "Ruojun, what happened?"

The woman in red sat up straight and casually pulled over a wine jug. "I don't know, I'm afraid I'll have to ask Mr. Fu."

She opened the bottle, tilted her head back, and slowly savored the fine wine. After all, the tranquility inside the counter was her world, and she didn't care about the chaos outside.

Dong Wenshu stared at her fair, slender neck for a while, then quickly turned away, avoiding looking at her.

"Someone broke out of a window on the upper floor of the library."

Hearing this amidst the chaos, Dong Wenshu snapped out of his daze and quickly ran upstairs to see what was going on. A group of scholars, never lacking in excitement, also ran after him to see what was happening.

On the second floor, the second young lady, Dong Liangyu, had already run up to Shi Chun.

At this moment, Shi Chun was able to move again. Facing the scholar in blue robes beside him, he didn't know whether to kneel or sit properly. When he saw Dong Liangyu arrive, he quickly stood up, holding onto the bookshelf.

He was in a bit of an awkward situation, unsure whether he should leave or what to do, especially since he didn't know if the scholar in the green robe would let him leave.

He thought this was the one who had frozen him in place.

Dong Liangyu came over and asked, "What happened?"

She didn't see what happened from the stairwell.

Shi Chun stammered, trying to bluff, but he had to secretly observe the expression on the face of the scholar in the blue robe.

Just then, a sound of someone coming upstairs came from upstairs, and Dong Wenshu's panicked voice rang out, "Yu'er, Yu'er..."

His voice was filled with anxiety, clearly indicating that he was afraid something had happened to his daughter.

Dong Liangyu quickly called out in response, "Father, I'm here."

(End of this chapter)