Shushan Earthly Immortal

Chapter 353 Step by Step, Divine Soldiers Descend (5.6K words presented, please support with monthly votes at the beginning of the month~)

Cheng Xinzhan activated his Dharma Eye and looked from afar, but he did not find any signs that the eight small islands in front of him had any energy connected to form an array. Only one of the islands had a special island protection array.

Cheng Xinzhan thought for a moment and realized that there were only seventeen people in his group, so it was not advisable to divide them up. It would be better to take them down one by one.

So he used his Qi-gazing technique to select the island on the edge with the fewest people and the weakest Qi, and led his people to rush up there.

"Each person should kill the enemy, but don't rush too far or too fast. At least make sure there are comrades within your line of sight. If you can't keep up, call for help immediately."

Cheng Xinzhan gave a word of advice, and everyone else responded before flying over to the island.

The island is guarded by monsters, some in human form and some not. When they see an enemy invading, they roar and shout, both to warn their companions and to call for the enemy to come to them.

However, on such a small island, there are naturally no experts. Cheng Xinzhan specifically chose this island, and the highest level of cultivation there is only at the second realm.

The two groups were about to clash, but this level of battle naturally didn't interest him much. He fought with the strength of an ordinary third-realm minor demon. At the same time, he released Huo Zhongyuan, as this environment was perfect for the new corpse to practice.

Furthermore, this environment felt quite familiar and relaxing to Cheng Xinzhan, reminding him of his time at Tianqiao Mountain. Because no matter which factions were involved, and no matter how the fighting went, it was all just a battle between demons; the more people died, the better, so there was nothing to worry about.

If there was anything different about this time, it was that during the fight, Cheng Xinzhan mainly focused his energy on observing the sixteen new members of the Escort Hall besides himself.

With his Azure Eyes, he could roughly discern the bloodlust and karmic burdens on these people, but judging whether someone had fallen into demonic possession solely based on this seemed somewhat absolute. Therefore, he also needed to assess their spells and habits.

For example, a taciturn old man had just killed a monkey demon. He skillfully took out a black snake-like blood-sucking insect and drained the monkey demon's blood, then collected the bones as well. Considering the dense bloodthirsty aura and deep karmic burden emanating from this man, he was undoubtedly a long-standing demon.

For example, there is a fierce-looking, burly man who is a second-realm flying corpse with exposed teeth, copper skin and iron bones. He wields a giant sword that looks like a door panel, and three or five demons cannot get close to him. Moreover, every move he makes reveals a grand and sweeping style.

After killing the demon, the corpse first searched its body, then released a ball of eerie blue corpse fire onto itself. Once the demon was burned to ashes, it rummaged through the ashes and extracted materials such as horns and claws. Although this corpse seemed cunning and its bloodlust was quite strong, indicating it was a ferocious corpse, its extremely shallow karmic burden suggested it wasn't a truly wicked person.

The most interesting one was Liu Jushui. His bloodlust was as deep as the sea, and no one knew how many people he had killed, yet Cheng Xinzhan couldn't see a trace of karmic retribution on him. This man was also a corpse raiser. His corpse servant was a rather ordinary-looking human, but without corpse fangs, he was actually a third-realm Yin corpse.

Moreover, Cheng Xinzhan discovered a problem. This person and his corpse servant seemed to have no coordination whatsoever; they were completely fighting their own battles—just like himself. A person who is skilled in corpse cultivation would never do this. For example, Lai Youde and Kong Jufu would always coordinate with their Yin corpses when they fought, using formations, footwork, spells, and magical artifacts in a coordinated manner.

In other words, this person's main cultivation path is most likely not corpse raising.

What would that be?

As the battle raged on, more and more demons arrived on the island to provide support, and some even reached the Golden Core stage. The members of the Escort Hall gradually found themselves surrounded. However, with Cheng Xinzhan, Liu Jushui, and their two Yin Corpses present, the situation was barely maintained.

At this critical and tense moment, Cheng Xinzhan secretly summoned the White Bone Flying Sword, which shrank to the size of a cow's hair and disappeared into the void.

As the old demon who was harvesting blood and bones was at a disadvantage, the barely perceptible "Netherworld" pierced his forehead. The demon's movements faltered for a moment, and then the sea monster seized the opportunity to tear him to pieces.

Just as these sea monsters were feeling smug, Cheng Xinzhan unleashed a sulfurous fire miasma mixed with corpse needles that flew over and captured all of them.

He then saw the flying corpse wielding the heavy sword surrounded, about to be stabbed in the back of the head by the siren behind him, so he shouted.
"careful!"

Then he shot a needle at the siren, slowing its movements. Alerted, the giant corpse seized the moment of sluggishness, turned, and with a single sword stroke, severed the siren's head.

Thus, under Cheng Xinzhan's control, the Hu Cong Tang people were in a state of barely maintaining their positions, with people dying but not collapsing.

Cheng Xinzhan's attention was mostly focused on Liu Jushui, a man of formidable strength. His Yin Corpses were dealing with a Golden Core Sea Demon, while Cheng Xinzhan himself was engaged in a one-on-one battle with a Third Realm Sea Demon. He held an ebony sword engraved with many runes, which looked very much like a magic sword for summoning corpse demons.

Just as Cheng Xinzhan had guessed, as the man wielded his wooden sword, six ghosts flew out from it, existing between reality and illusion, to tear at his opponent. Furthermore, as the man swung the wooden sword, streaks of dark sword energy slashed out, overwhelming the Golden Core cultivator opposite him.

This person wields the sword skillfully, combining the techniques of the Divine Conquest School and the Qi Cultivation School, and his switching between moves is appropriate and effortless.

Cheng Xinzhan secretly passed through.

It was precisely because of this person's bravery, coupled with Cheng Xinzhan's control of the situation, that the newcomers in the escorting corps gradually gained a foothold, killing and expelling the visitors one by one, and finally successfully occupying the island without any major incident.

Because there was no nautical chart for Jintang Sea, Cheng Xinzhan spared the lives of the three leaders, interrogated them separately, and then found out the location of the island's spiritual eye. He then took out a command flag and planted it there.

This command flag was exactly the same as the one that the Crimson Corpse had given to Old Immortal Huang. After being inserted into the Spirit Eye, it connected with the earth's veins, and the command flag immediately grew larger, transforming into a giant banner that fluttered in the wind.

Cheng Xinzhan recited the incantation given to him by the old hall master, and the banners shone brightly, enveloping the entire island.

"Xing Chen, you're injured, so stay here on this island. Stay with the flag and you'll be safe. Don't go anywhere else."

Cheng Xinzhan pointed to the flying corpse wielding the giant sword.

The corpse had several deep wounds that exposed bone, and its left hand was almost severed. He was already grateful to Cheng Xinzhan for saving his life, and now, hearing Cheng Xinzhan's arrangement, his eyes showed gratitude, and he immediately obeyed.

So, the remaining fourteen people continued on to the next island.

In this way, Cheng Xinzhan would observe the actions of each person attacking an island, determine their origins, save those who shouldn't die, and then use the sea monsters to kill those who were meant to die. When leaving, he would leave behind the wounded who he temporarily considered to be innocent. By the time they arrived at the last island, there were only two people left besides Cheng Xinzhan and Liu Jushui.

The way these two people looked at Cheng Xinzhan was completely different from when they first set off.

The island before them was the only one of the eight islands with a protective array, and it was also located in the very center of the eight islands. All the remaining soldiers from the other eight islands were now gathered on this island, including three who had not yet been struck by lightning.

The reason they didn't flee directly to Huludao was because a full-scale battle had already broken out on Huludao and its surrounding islands not long ago. At this moment, countless corpses, demons, and humans were besieging Huludao; going there would only hasten their demise.

“Fu Miao, Bai Zhenzhen.”

Cheng Xinzhan read out two names.

"My subordinate is here!"

The two women quickly responded.

"You two are both from the sea, can you stir up waves?"

Cheng Xinzhan asked.

The two women exchanged a glance, and one of them answered.

"I can stir up waves, but I wonder how many waves you, sir, desire?"

"Just do your best to create waves and flood the island. Even if you can't break through the formation, it will still boost our power and deplete their spiritual energy. And you don't need to worry, just keep pushing the waves. Brother Liu and I will protect you."

Cheng Xinzhan pointed to himself and Liu Jushui and said.

"I obey my orders."

The two demons agreed, then transformed themselves, revealing their true forms. The one with fair, delicate skin and a small, cherry-red mouth became a giant white snake. The one with a fuller figure and a blue dress became a giant blue manta ray.

At the same time, Cheng Xinzhan pointed at Huo Zhongyuan and said,

“I was taken from the Corpse House. In my previous life, I was a water demon in the middle of the Three Realms Tribulation. Although I don’t know how much water control ability I still have after turning into a corpse, I will ride it with you and help as much as I can.”

The two demons looked over in astonishment. This crab demon was indeed fierce in battle, but they hadn't expected that it was a great demon in the mid-stage of the Three Realms in its previous life. Even more unexpected was that this Boss Lai dared to bring out a demon corpse from the Three Realms. Wasn't he afraid that it wouldn't be able to nurture a true spirit and would thus pay with its life?

The two demons agreed, while Huo Zhongyuan pretended to be deaf and dumb under Cheng Xinzhan's warning, appearing as a completely controlled puppet.

Immediately afterwards, the two demons and the corpse simultaneously dived into the sea and swam eastward.

Liu Jushui looked at Cheng Xinzhan with surprise, thinking to himself, "He left people to guard the island all the way, and in the end only two sea monsters were left. It was all arranged."

After several battles, Cheng Xinzhan had started calling him Brother Liu, but Liu Jushui never spoke to Cheng Xinzhan except for nodding or shaking his head.

Upon hearing Cheng Xinzhan's arrangement, Liu Jushui also remained silent, simply nodding before withdrawing his gaze.

The two flew off to opposite sides, making way for the approaching giant wave.

Cheng Xinzhan flew close to the sea surface, and as he soared, he swept his hand across the water, causing the Supreme Heavenly Register, which carried the inner divine essence of the Taiyin Emperor, to sink into the seabed. Soon after, waves rose in the distant east.

At that moment, in the seawater, four words flashed through the minds of both Fu Miao and Bai Zhenzhen: Heaven is on our side.

After the two water monsters dived to the bottom of the sea, they discovered an undercurrent flowing westward, which was the direction of their target island!

Huo Zhongyuan was also urging the seawater to move, but he found that the seawater was already flowing smoothly before he had even used his full strength. He couldn't help but marvel at the power of his magic.

Before long, the first giant wave arrived, more than ten feet high, like a continuous mountain range floating on the sea, crashing into the island.

Liu Jushui's expression changed slightly. He thought to himself that sea monsters really do have an absolute advantage at sea. Just two second-level demons and a demon corpse were enough to create such a big scene.

Meanwhile, it wasn't just Liu Jushui who was shocked. Fu Miao and Bai Zhenzhen also felt something was amiss, as the seawater seemed unusually easy to maneuver today. However, those who came today were all newcomers who had recently joined Fire Dragon Island and were unfamiliar with each other. Fu Miao and Bai Zhenzhen could only guess that this was due to the efforts of the other party and the Three Realms Crab Corpse.

The only ones who weren't surprised by this turn of events were Cheng Xinzhan, who was in control of the situation, and Huo Zhongyuan, who was beaming with pride.

In the blink of an eye, the giant wave arrived and crashed heavily onto the island.

The islanders had already noticed the enormous waves and were now fully activating the grand formation. The formation's magical light condensed into a giant golden turtle with its head held high, facing the massive wave.

"boom--"

The giant wave crashed onto the golden turtle, creating a deafening roar, and the water surged straight into the sky.

Immediately afterwards, waves crashed down, and a torrential downpour began.

However, after the torrential rain, the sea was turbulent, but the golden turtle still stood proudly upright.

Cheers erupted on the island.

Cheng Xinzhan's expression remained unchanged, but he sighed inwardly, "The Jin Tang Hai is indeed as solid as a fortress."

Moreover, from this place, one can clearly see that on Hulu Island not far away, an even larger and more dazzling dragon head and giant turtle have already formed.

Cheng Xinzhan also saw Tang Yusheng. The general had summoned his Dharma form, which was a crimson dragon horse fifty zhang tall. However, no matter how the dragon horse charged, it couldn't break the enormous golden dragon turtle.

"Come again."

Cheng Xinzhan withdrew his gaze and sent a telepathic message to the two demons.

The two demons were equally shocked by the stability of the Golden Turtle Formation, because they knew that the wave they had just experienced was the largest wave they could generate at their current level.

The two demons were puzzled by Cheng Xinzhan's request, because they had already consumed a lot of their magic power, and stirring up another wave would only make them weaker.

However, since Cheng Xinzhan had saved the two demons' lives not long ago and was the leader of the three realms appointed by the hall master, the two demons had no choice but to comply. Moreover, they hurried to do so because they were worried that the westward undercurrent in the sea might disappear at any time.

The undercurrent, of course, did not disappear; on the contrary, the two demons were pleasantly surprised to find that the undercurrent was slowly increasing!
Then, a second wave rose again.

A nearly twenty-foot-high wave crashed down again. At the same time, under the cover of the wave, Cheng Xinzhan quietly released a wisp of "Angry Water Dragon King's Fury" and merged it into the seawater.

"boom!"

Another loud bang, but this time, the golden tortoise shattered in response, turning into countless golden glass fragments.

Giant waves crashed onto the island, shattering mountains and splitting rocks, destroying everything in their path, leaving behind a scene of utter devastation.

"on!"

Cheng Xinzhan shouted and rushed onto the island. Liu Jushui on the other side made his move almost simultaneously.

Upon seeing this, the lesser demons on the island transformed into their original forms and leaped into the sea, scattering in all directions. Although abandoning an island and fleeing is a serious crime in any sea, as long as your cultivation level is low enough, your reputation is insignificant enough, and your name isn't even on the demon king's register, then you can escape without anyone knowing or caring.

On the contrary, none of the three Golden Core cultivators on the island dared to run away; instead, they shouted and rushed forward to meet them.

Liu Jushui remained valiant, and he and the Yin Shi each held off one of them, allowing Cheng Xinzhan to relax and face the remaining one.

At this moment, screams of agony echoed all around the island. It was the arrival of Xinglang's three demons, who were chasing after the lesser demons of Jintang Sea and killing enemies to earn merit.

Cheng Xinzhan continued to handle the situation with ease, while keeping a close eye on Liu Jushui's situation.

The two third-realm sea monsters seemed to have realized that Liu Jushui only knew how to manipulate corpse demons and fight with sword energy, so they tried to engage in close combat. The two sea monsters were probably turtles, and indeed they were thick-skinned and tough, gradually approaching Liu Jushui despite the corpse demons' bites. Thus, two monsters, one corpse, six ghosts, and one person began a close-quarters melee.

To Cheng Xinzhan's surprise, within such a small space, under the combined close attack of the two great demons, Liu Jushui moved through the void with remarkable ease, shifting and dodging.

Ok?
After they had exchanged twenty or thirty blows, Cheng Xinzhan's gaze suddenly sharpened.

A powerful demon was fighting a corpse behind Liu Jushui. Suddenly, he turned his head and spat out a glittering silver marble, which hit Liu Jushui in the back, who was standing right next to him.

However, in that instant, Liu Jushui suddenly slashed diagonally from the upper left to the lower right with his sword, forcing back the great demon in front of him. Then, the sword momentum did not stop, and it circled around his right hip. At the same time, he flipped his wrist, held the sword upside down, and thrust the sword tip close to his back towards the upper left, forming a back-sword posture.

Just as he finished assuming the stance of carrying the sword, the glittering silver marble came hurtling towards him and struck Liu Jushui squarely on the back. Or rather, Liu Jushui caught the demon's hidden weapon precisely with his wooden sword.

Immediately, Liu Jushui twisted his waist and turned his shoulders, then suddenly drew his sword and swung it outwards, instantly deflecting the silver bullets that had hit the wooden sword. The bullets then traveled back the same path and struck the attacking sea monster.

After drawing his sword, the sword trail returned along the same path. He flipped his wrist again, looping it back from his right hip, and then slashed it forward from the lower right to the upper left.

At this moment, the demon in front of him must have received a warning from his companion and intended to attack from both sides, following up with a fatal blow to the chest while Liu Jushui was hit in the back by the marble. However, the demon never expected Liu Jushui's sword strike and counterattack to be so swift. By the time the demon had taken a step forward, Liu Jushui's sword was already back.

The demons only saw a flash of dark light, and then everything went black before their eyes, and they could see nothing at all.

When Cheng Xinzhan saw the demon's skull rise into the sky, he immediately understood where Liu Jushui's deep and heavy bloodthirsty aura came from, and at the same time, he instantly withdrew his gaze.

On the other side, after Liu Jushui cleaved open the demon's Niwan Palace with his sword, he glanced at Cheng Xinzhan. Seeing that Cheng Xinzhan was still busy fighting the enemy and unable to escape, he withdrew his gaze and turned back to deal with the remaining demon king.

The demon king behind him was first hit in the chest by the marble that bounced back, his chest caved in on the spot, and he vomited a pool of blood. Then he was terrified by Liu Jushui's head-splitting sword and turned to flee.

However, this demon king had essentially forced his way in, and now that he wanted to leave, it wouldn't be so easy. The Yin Corpse and the Six Ghosts held him tightly, making escape impossible.

At this moment, even at such close range, Liu Jushui did not display his amazing swordsmanship again. Instead, he used the wooden sword as a magic sword, commanding the Yin Corpse and the Six Ghosts to attack the demons.

Cheng Xinzhan saw what he wanted to see and felt the time was almost up, so he took the initiative and mixed the white bone flying sword into the corpse needle, piercing the demon's back of the head and winning the victory. Before the demon hit the ground, he used sulfurous fire miasma to burn off the demon's head.

Just as he turned to go and support Liu Jushui, he saw the demon being bitten on both ears, both eyes, mouth and nose by the six ghosts. It seemed to be in a state of mental confusion, frantically waving its arms and scratching at its face, trying to pull the six ghosts off. However, the Yin Corpse seized the opportunity and reached directly into the demon's abdomen.

The two annihilated all the powerful demons of the three realms and successfully occupied the eight islands.

But at that very moment, Cheng Xinzhan and Liu Jushui simultaneously heard maniacal laughter coming from Huludao.
"Wei Liyang, Tang Yusheng, haven't you two eaten? Ah—right, you two stinking corpses, you never eat anyway, hahaha—hey! I say! You two are too weak, why don't you just call Prince Li over! Hahahaha—"

The mocking voices were extremely loud and spread in all directions.

"presumptuous!"

Just then, a thunderous roar echoed across the sky, interrupting the maniacal laughter and making everyone's ears ache.

Immediately afterwards, anyone looking up in the waters near Huludao could see a continuous, red cloud stretching for hundreds of miles in the sky, a fiery red that instantly dyed the entire sea area red.

The red cloud was sinking, and the red color was getting deeper and deeper, until it was a dark red that was close to ashes, as if a hole had been burned through the sky and the ashes of the sky were falling and pressing down on Hulu Island.

When the red cloud pressed down low enough, almost touching the top of the dragon's head and the giant turtle's head, everyone realized that it was not a red cloud, but an umbrella, a giant umbrella large enough to cover the entire Huludao Island.

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(End of this chapter)