Love Calamity!
As soon as the sound fell, a black figure darted out first, and the ghostly figure stunned everyone. Only to see the cold sword flashing over a cold light, a mournful cry rose, and the scar-faced man who was about to take advantage of Xia Xue's intention was cut into five pieces and flew up, blood splashing everywhere, and the corpse fell to the ground. This sudden bloody scene was ruthless and frightening, stunning all the mercenaries in the two teams...
Lu Zhen and his mercenaries swallowed hard, suppressing the nausea that rose up in them. Even they, who were used to the flash of swords and the dance of blades, couldn't help but feel a wave of revulsion at the sight of the scattered entrails and the blood-soaked scene before them. They had known that Yu Ran's skills were not ordinary, but seeing him in action once again, his speed left them inwardly shocked and terrified.
"Ah!"
The mercenaries' cries of surprise and horror erupted, one by one they jumped back, covering their mouths and vomiting wildly. The person who was alive just a moment ago had been chopped into five pieces, scattered all over the ground. Intestines, limbs, and organs were strewn about, amidst a sea of thick, pungent blood that reeked of gore, shocking to behold!
"You, you, you all..."
"Kill!"
A cold voice rang out, and with a swift movement, they charged out with the Twelve Dragon Riders. The air was filled with an eerie atmosphere, as if death itself was lurking nearby. A flash of knives and swords whizzed by, and in an instant, the twenty or so people had struck down their opponents with ruthless efficiency, each one falling to the ground in a pool of blood. Limbs were severed, bodies torn apart, and the stench of blood filled the air. The sound of screams, wails, and panicked pleas for mercy echoed through the air...
Xia Xue stood quietly by, her expression unchanged, as if she had already seen it all before. The two small tigers sat on either side of her, watching the bloody scene unfold in front of them. In contrast, Guo Rong, who was following behind, stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, trembling with fear. Her eyes were wide with terror as she watched the gruesome scene, and when she saw the intestines and limbs flying everywhere, her face turned pale. She felt a wave of nausea rising up from her chest.
"Ugh!"
She lay on the ground vomiting wildly, not daring to look at the scene in front of her again. Seeing their killing methods, she was terrified from the bottom of her heart...
Lu Town and his mercenaries stood by, not because they didn't want to help, but because they were stunned into inaction. They forgot that they should have gone forward to assist, watching as the twenty or so people took on the two mercenary groups. Among them were several Foundation Establishment cultivators, and these were mercenaries who often plundered in the Spirit Beast Forest, with speed and reaction far surpassing ordinary people. Yet now, when facing Tang Xin's subordinates, these people were surprisingly unable to withstand a single blow, each one only having enough time to be instantly killed, without any opportunity to counterattack.
Looking at the mercenaries in front of them falling one by one, the corpses on the ground piled up like a small mountain. The swords of the Twelve Dragon Riders and the Eight Slayers were all dripping with fresh blood. They stood there, cold and proud, as a gentle breeze blew past, lifting their robes. Their faces, filled with murderous intent, made his heart surge with shock and incredulity... How unbelievable that such a small team had annihilated two mercenary groups?
"The smell of blood is too strong here, we must leave immediately, otherwise it's easy to attract the attack of the spiritual beast." Xia Xue said, lightly scanning the limbs on the ground.
"Alright, let's move on!" The crowd wiped clean the blood-stained swords and put away the Qiankun bags taken from those people before continuing to head forward.
Later, the mercenaries of Lu Town looked at their advancing figures with admiration and said to their captain: "Captain, they are really amazing. They can take down those mercenaries and instantly remove the Qiankun bags from their waists at the same time. That speed is just too fast!"
"They must have gone through a lot of hardships to achieve their current skills, but I'm curious, who is the person who can train them into such excellent talents? These people will definitely not be ordinary people no matter where they are placed in the future!"
"Isn't it Lord Tang Xin who trained them?"
"Tang Xin is just a young girl, do you think it's possible?" Lu Zhenbian said as he walked forward: "I've also thought about whether it was Tang Xin, but although I saw Tang Xin easily defeat that foundation-building peak cultivator in an instant, her actual strength is still unknown. Moreover, their strengths and techniques seem to be more than just one type, have you noticed? When using spiritual energy, they can also instantly unleash martial power, so they are all cultivating both spiritual and martial arts!"
"Ling Wu dual cultivation?" The mercenaries heard this and couldn't help but feel surprised in their hearts. One of them asked, "I've heard that the higher the rank of a martial artist's cultivation, the stronger the power contained in one palm or fist, right? When the cultivation of martial arts reaches its peak, it won't be much different from a cultivator's, will it?"
"It can't be said that way, this is two different kinds of cultivation. If the two are combined, the power unleashed will be infinite." Lu Zhen said, his deep thinking gaze looking at the twenty or so people in front of him, he was really curious now, where did they come from?
"Wait for me…… wait for me……" Guo Rong shouted from behind, at this time she had lost the coquettish appearance of when they first met. At this moment, she was disheveled all over, her clothes were torn in several places by the wild grass, her skin was scratched and bleeding slightly, with mud on her face, panting as she chased after him.
After advancing nearly two thousand meters, the group stopped in a forest and Leng Xiao said to everyone: "Take a break! Replenish your strength and take a look at what kind of place lies ahead and what kind of spiritual beasts we will encounter."
"Hmm." Everyone nodded and sat down where they were.
"Squad leader, according to the map, there's a spring not far from here. We'll go get some water and bring it back for everyone to quench their thirst." Several mercenaries said this as they took over the water canteens and headed forward.
"Mister Mo, this half-day's journey won't reach Yulong Peak either. I think Tang Xin will be fine too, you all don't have to worry too much." Lu Zhen walked over and sat down beside Mo and the Eight Trigrams people, saying: "Mister Mo, actually I'm very curious, how can your techniques and movements be so fast when you're in motion? Have you received some kind of training?"
Mo looked at him and drank water without responding. Seeing his cold expression, Lu Zhen's smile on his face slightly stiffened. Xia Xue, who was beside him, showed a faint smile: "Commander Lu has such an excellent mercenary team, they can have such neat formations and strict discipline, it must be that Commander Lu has also put in a lot of thought, and they have also suffered a lot. When I first saw them, my mistress said that Commander Lu's team is excellent and very disciplined."
"Haha, that's right, every single one of my team members is carefully selected, not just for their strength, but also because they are all real men. Like when we came to the Spirit Beast Forest on a mission, there wasn't a single thing that went wrong. Hearing Tang Xin's praise, he couldn't help but feel extremely happy, like a child being praised by an adult, his heart felt very joyful. Because of Tang Xin's extraordinary strength and power, her praise was a recognition and appreciation for him and his mercenary team members."
After hearing his words, Xia Xue's smile deepened at the corners of her lips, and she smiled shallowly: "It can be seen that you are all real men."
"Hehe..."
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a mournful cry came from not far away. Hearing the sound, Lu Zhen instinctively stood up: "Not good! Something's happened!" As soon as his voice fell, he quickly rushed forward, and the mercenaries behind him also quickly followed up.
"We'll go take a look too!" Mo Zhan said as he stood up and headed in that direction.
Lu Town rushed to the spring first, and saw that three mercenaries who came to fetch water were lying on the ground, one of whom was covered in blood and had fainted. Another mercenary's leg was bitten by a giant python, and the third mercenary was holding a sword and hacking at the python's head. However, the sharp blade could not harm the python, and even after several strikes with the spirit-infused sword, it still couldn't hurt the python. Seeing this, Lu Town quickly stepped forward and took out a dagger from space, stabbing it towards the python's mouth. Before the dagger had even entered the python's mouth, its tail swung towards him, but Lu Town dodged and flew forward again, inserting the dagger into the python's mouth in one swift motion. As the python opened its mouth wide in pain, he quickly pulled the mercenary out and retreated to a safe distance.
"Old Zhang, how are you?" Lu Zhen hastily asked, looking at his leg which was covered in blood, and the place where the giant python had bitten him was deep enough to see bone, with fresh blood seeping out and dripping onto the ground. The sight made his heart sink: "Old Zhang! Hold on, I'll immediately apply some medicine and bandage you up, it'll be alright, it'll be alright!"
"Squad leader, I...I think this leg of mine is done for...... Ugggh!" The mercenary's face was deathly pale as he trembled uncontrollably with pain from the wound.
"Pffft!"
Another mercenary was hit by the giant python, flying up and crashing into a large tree, spitting out a mouthful of blood, lying on the ground unable to get up. The crowd of mercenaries who came later quickly rushed forward to help him up, while the rest went to deal with the giant python.
When Mo and the others arrived, they saw that several of the mercenaries had been injured, while the rest were fighting against a giant python. Upon closer inspection, it was a level 5 sacred beast python. Seeing the large pool of blood by the spring water, they rushed to Lu Zhen's side and saw that one of the mercenaries' legs had almost been bitten off. At this time, no matter how Lu Zhen sprinkled medicine on the wound, the blood continued to gush out like a fountain.
"He's badly hurt, I'll do it!" Xia Xue squatted down at his leg and pressed his acupoints, then took out the hemostatic powder that Tang Xin had given them from her space. Lu Zhen, who was beside her, hastily handed over the medicine powder in his hand: "Xia Xue, use this one, it's specifically for stopping bleeding."
"That one won't work, it's okay for general wounds, but his wound is bleeding too fast, that medicine won't take effect." She said, first giving him a pill to swallow, then sprinkling the medicine on his leg. Seeing that the wound was deep and almost fractured, her expression solidified, and without thinking twice, she simply bandaged his wound for now.
That mercenary was sweating profusely from the pain, but felt a bit better after taking the medicine given by Xia Xue. However, his lips were still trembling due to the intense pain. Lu Zhen looked at his leg, filled with guilt in his heart: "Old Zhang, don't worry, I'll definitely find the best doctor to treat your leg!"
"Squad leader, I...I know my leg is useless now, it's almost broken off...I know..." He said, still forcing a smile: "It's good this way, from now on I can rest at home and don't have to come out and run."
"Alright, Old Zhang, don't say anything more!"
Lu Town tightly grasped his hand, feeling deeply grieved. They all made a living in this line of work, without mercenaries, what would their families eat? Although the past few years had been better, it was all due to the good life they earned by risking their lives as mercenaries. His mercenary group only had around 40 people, but each and every one of them were his good brothers. They had been on missions for many years, always being cautious, never having a single person die from being a mercenary...
Bang!
A loud crash came, and the giant python was knocked to the ground by a group of mercenaries. It turned out that the python's skin was too thick and its defense was strong, so swords and knives couldn't hurt it. They changed their strategy to attack its eyes and mouth, and with everyone working together, they finally took down the giant python that had injured three people!
"Squad leader, how's Old Zhang doing?" The two injured men were helped over, looking at Xia Xue who was treating their wounds. Everyone felt a pang of gratitude in their hearts, seeing their brothers hurt like that, and also feeling very sad. If they had arrived earlier, maybe things wouldn't have turned out this way.
After Xia Xue finished bandaging, she stood up and looked at them: "His leg is badly injured, the bone was bitten off, and only some skin and flesh are connected. It's very likely that in the future..." She stopped her voice, believing they understood what she meant.
The wound is too deep; if Miss were here, there might still be hope.
"There are many good doctors, it should be treated well, Old Zhang, don't worry."
"Right! Look at this arm of mine now, isn't it also badly injured? Now I can still wield a sword and dance with it, don't worry, nothing's wrong."
"We will definitely find a doctor to help you get better!"
The mercenary forced out a wry smile: "Xia Xue said it herself, the injury is very severe, the bones are all broken, and only some skin and flesh are holding on. This leg of mine... looks like it's done for..."
Seeing him like that, the crowd couldn't help but fall silent. Although being a mercenary is perilous and they earn their money with blood and sweat, it's all they know how to do. If he can no longer be a mercenary, then how will he survive?
The twelve Dragon Riders were silent, the eight Evils were also silent. Mo looked at Lu Zhen and the others with a glance, coldly turned away his eyes, paused for a moment, then opened his mouth: "It's not entirely hopeless."
Xia Xue looked at him with some surprise that he would say this. Because she also knew, or rather, Miss could save, it's just that now Miss wasn't here.
When he spoke up, Lu Zhen also looked at him in surprise, and the mercenaries asked urgently: "Is there a way? Is there really still a way?"
"In the meantime, use a splint to fix his leg, and when we find our master, she may be able to save him."
Although surprised by what he said, Lu Zhen felt that with their character, there was at least a 50% chance that he would say this, and nodded: "Okay, we'll help him apply medicine for the time being and fix it with a splint. Fortunately, the weather is cold now, and his wound won't deteriorate in a short period of time after applying the medicine."
Upon hearing this, a mercenary took out a stretcher from the Qiankun bag. Several people placed the injured mercenary on it, while others stayed behind to deal with the giant python. They used water energy to freeze the python into several sections and put each section into different mercenaries' Qiankun bags, planning to sell the python meat after leaving the Spiritual Beast Forest.
At the same time, on the other side, Tang Xin followed those demonic cultivators to a reed marsh. Seeing the vast expanse of reeds, she immediately stopped in her tracks, remembering the map she had seen earlier that marked this area as having a type of venomous snake called "Eight-Step Nails". A fast and slender poisonous snake that moves in groups...
Thinking of this, her eyes sparkled and she first took out an antidote pill from the space and swallowed it. After her cultivation and refinement of alchemy, her antidote pills could detoxify all poisons, even the highly toxic ones like Xiao Dan's. So if a poisonous snake bit her after taking the pill, nothing unexpected would happen.
Not long after she took the detox pill, a faint hissing sound also came from the reeds. She parted the reeds and followed in, because this area had no towering trees to cover up, many flying predators nearby were staring at her, so nobody would fly with their sword or rise by holding their breath to expose themselves in the air.
"Left guard, do you hear that sound?" A demon cultivator listened to the hissing sounds getting closer and more frequent, and involuntarily stopped in his tracks, turning back to look, but only saw a patch of reeds half a head taller than a person.
"Hiss..."
"What seems like a snake?"
"Ah! It's really a snake! Left guard, quick march! So many snakes......"
Suddenly, a panicked voice rang out, looking at the small poisonous snakes that emerged from the reeds with the same color as the reeds. Their faces changed abruptly: "It's bad! We've entered a snake group!"
"Hurry up! Hurry!"
"Ah! Left messenger, I've been bitten by a snake......" A mage's face quickly turned purple and black, the toxin spreading through his body in an instant, stunning the other mages.
"Rise!" The left envoy saw that he was afraid of being bitten by the poisonous snake, thinking that he would call out the flying sword and quickly leave here first. Who knew that when the flying sword came out, it was about to jump up, but heard a voice calling from not far away. He looked up and saw a group of flying spirit beasts coming this way, hundreds of flying spirit beasts formed a large net, leaving no room for escape. If he jumped onto the flying sword at this time, he would definitely become the meal in the belly of those hundreds of flying spirit beasts!
Thinking of this, he could only use his sword to lead the flying spirit beasts away, while using his aura to intimidate and repel the surrounding venomous snakes. However, this was not enough to cope with the situation, and as several snakes slithered towards him, he immediately stretched out his hand to grab the child who had been left behind to block them. But before his hand could touch Tuo Ba Yi, a silver needle shot out from the reeds and flew towards him.
"Whoosh!"
"Who's there?!" He took a deep breath, his voice low and menacing as he asked, his gaze scanning the surroundings but unable to see anyone due to the reeds blocking his view.
In the reeds, a slight movement was seen. Tang Xin took advantage of the opportunity to move forward and stuffed an antidote pill into Tuoba Yi's mouth. With one hand holding him, he didn't even bother with those demonic cultivators as he used his Shadow Step to swiftly move forward. His strange footsteps were quick and fleeting, seeming to tread on air rather than land. The reeds grew tall and obscured the view, making it impossible to see who had appeared or where they had gone. Those demonic cultivators didn't have time to think about these things either; seeing that over a dozen people following him had been attacked by venomous snakes and fallen to the ground, he gritted his teeth and, no longer caring about anything else, used his Qi to leap into the air and avoid the snakes below. To evade the swarms of flying spirit beasts, he fled into the forest at top speed.
"Take cover!"
She called out to him when she arrived at a safe place, and seeing that his expression was still the same, she couldn't help but frown slightly. She looked around in a circle and saw that his calf had been bitten by a snake. Immediately, she forced the poison out and made a simple bandage. Then, they went into the forest and came to a large tree. After looking around, she brought him up onto a leafy giant tree that reached the sky.
After sitting down on the tree, I started helping him with acupuncture by covering myself with leaves. He had already shown some improvement, and all he needed was a few more sessions of acupuncture to expel the evil energy from his body and then use blood-replenishing therapy to recover normally. But no, he had to go and get together with those demonic cultivators and absorb their demonic energy again!
Due to the exhaustion, she had sweated profusely and her physical strength was somewhat depleted. However, seeing the black aura on his forehead disappear, she finally felt at ease and agreed to let Takahashi take care of this little devil. Otherwise, what would she use to repay him in the future?
As the sky was no longer early, she directly rested on the tree, planning to wait for her physical strength to recover and rest for a day before heading towards Yulong Peak. She took out the spiritual fruit and handed it to Tuoba Yi: "Come, eat the fruit." Seeing that he knew how to stretch out his hand to receive it, she finally smiled, figuring that her effort hadn't been wasted.
After nightfall, she saw that someone had lit a bonfire in the nearby woods. Thinking it was either some traveling families or a group of mercenaries, she didn't pay much attention and closed her eyes to rest. It wasn't until the sound of wolf howls came from the woods that she woke up.
"Waaaah......"
Listening to the howling sound, she couldn't help but sigh. The spiritual beasts in this forest were really not few, and every place had them. It was hard to sleep peacefully, so she stretched her limbs. Hearing that the group of people in front seemed to be fighting with the wolf pack, she took out a wine gourd and drank a mouthful of wine, not intending to intervene. However, when she saw several figures flashing through the forest, she raised an eyebrow and pulled up Ta Baoyi, heading towards the front.
Flying with swords in the forest, these people are quite carefree. Let's take a look at what kind of people they really are.
"Waaaah......"
"Protect the lady! Protect the lady!" A middle-aged man shouted in a low voice, ordering everyone to protect a beautiful woman who had fainted. Their group of seventy or eighty people had been reduced to just over fifty, and now more than ten people were guarding the unconscious woman while the rest fought off the wolves. However, since the wolves were wind-attributed spirit beasts, they moved extremely fast, making it impossible for them to land a hit.
"Huh? Eldest brother, look, it's a Seventh-Order Wind Wolf. Should we lend a hand?" A beautiful young woman with delicate features blinked her large, lovely eyes as she gazed at the scene below. Standing on the flying sword, her dress fluttered in the wind, and her charming appearance was especially captivating due to those big eyes, which sparkled with wit and cunning, causing the people below who were dealing with the Wind Wolf to pause in surprise, staring at the three of them in astonishment.
Tang Xin, who was following closely behind, was also sizing them up. The three of them seemed to be from the Immortal Sect, with a strong and dense aura about them. The woman was delicate and charming, exuding a hint of cunning and cleverness. As for the two men, one of them wore a black brocade robe, his face stern and extraordinary. He stood on the flying sword, his hands clasped behind his back, his dark eyes gazing down at the crowd below, his expression aloof and detached. Yet, his aura was even stronger than hers. Tang Xin estimated that this man was at least a Golden Dan cultivator!
Another man wore a dark-colored brocade robe, with a smile on his face and an air of nonchalance. His aura was stronger than the woman's but weaker than the other man's. He should be a master at the peak of the foundation-building stage. The three of them were not very old, yet they had such impressive cultivation. This couldn't help but make her curious - what kind of immortal sect could produce three outstanding disciples like this?
"Little sister, you know that Big Brother has never interfered with these matters. If you want to help, just do it, why ask him?" The man in black robes smiled and said, his eyes scanning the unconscious beautiful woman below: "This is strange, the Spirit Beast Forest is full of danger, yet someone actually carries a half-dead person in here?"
The middle-aged man below heard their words and saw the strong aura on their bodies, and immediately rushed to ask for help: "Several respected ones, I, Li Yuanshan, have come thousands of miles away, risking danger to seek the help of Huixiang Xianzi to save my wife. Please meet with me, great kindness and virtue, I will never forget it in my life!"
"Huh? So you're looking for a master, eh! That's even more reason to save you, hehe..." The woman smiled slyly and flipped her hands, sending two silver rings flying out with flames, chasing after the Wind Wolves. The silver rings spun under her control, and the flames on top of them crackled loudly. The wolves were afraid of fire, and upon seeing the flaming silver rings chasing after them, they quickly fled into the forest.
Watching the woman easily defeat the pack of wolves, Li Yuanshan joyfully thanked her repeatedly: "Thank you for saving me, thank you for saving me!" Thinking of what she had said earlier, he carefully asked: "Respected one, isn't your master the Chrysanthemum Fairy?"
"Really!" The woman smiled and responded with a smile, looking at her senior brother beside her and jokingly said: "Big senior brother, Master said that your emotional tribulation is approaching today, you will definitely meet the person who has been through hardships with you. How come we've been out for a day now, but still haven't seen half of the woman who looks like your emotional tribulation? Could it be that beautiful woman?"
The man in black clothes remained silent, his face still cold and expressionless, not saying a word. The man in dark clothes beside him smiled: "Little sister, don't make fun of big brother anymore. Master said that big brother's emotional tribulation is unavoidable, and that woman will definitely be his doom. The only way to resolve it is to find that woman before big brother falls in love with her and kill her, otherwise... big brother's life is over."
"Master also said that this is the eldest brother's emotional tribulation, no matter what, it must be experienced. I'm curious, what kind of woman can make our eldest brother's heart move? But after searching all day on the east side, Master's mentioned woman hasn't been seen yet."
Listening to their words, Tang Xin's heart was slightly startled. Could it be that the one called Huahua Xianzi could still calculate with her fingers? This melodramatic thing always happens a lot, shouldn't they be talking about her? Impossible, impossible, she already has Mu Chenfeng that guy, however, she isn't a match for that man in black clothes. Moreover, these few people's abilities aren't weak, and there's also the master they mentioned, it would be better if she was more cautious, changing into men's clothing to travel around will probably make things much easier.
"Alright, let's go back!" The man in black clothes said coldly, and mounted his flying sword, ready to leave.
As they were about to leave, Li Yuanshan hastily asked: "Respected sirs, can you take us to meet the Chrysanthemum Fairy?"
"You go straight along this road, and after passing the mountain in front of you, you will see a peach blossom forest. If my master is willing to meet you, we will naturally meet. If she doesn't want to meet you, then you can leave! We still have things to do, so let's go first." The woman said with a smile, and then left with the two masters on their swords.
"Thank you, sir, for showing us the way! Thank you, sir!" Li Yuanshan thanked him repeatedly and ordered his men to get ready and set off at dawn.
In the dark, Tang Xin thought for a moment, then took out a set of white men's clothes from his space and put them on. He pretended to be flustered and ran out of the forest, shouting: "Save me!"
"What kind of person!" Li Yuanshan shouted cautiously, turning his head to look back, and saw a man who looked like a celestial being and a child, and he was taken aback: "You are..."
"Uncle, I and my little brother got separated from our family. We just heard the howling of wolves and were scared to death." Tang Xin patted her chest with a look of panic.
Upon hearing this, Li Yuanshan fell into deep thought, sizing up the two of them. He saw that the child's eyes were dull and vacant, while the white-robed man was only a Qi Refining stage cultivator. His guard relaxed, thinking that these two were indeed separated from their family, so he said: "Young brother, since you've lost your way with your family, why not come with us for now? There are many ferocious beasts in this forest, and it's full of danger. I think you're only a Qi Refining stage cultivator, and bringing your younger brother to wander around the forest is too perilous. We have more people, and following us will at least provide some mutual support."
Upon hearing this, Tang Xin's eyes sparkled slightly as she looked up at Li Yuanshan with gratitude: "Then thank you so much, Uncle. They all say that the Spiritual Beast Forest is full of bad people, I didn't expect to meet a good person like you."
"Haha......" Li Yuanshan smiled: "Encountering each other is fate, just now we were attacked by a pack of wolves and luckily got rescued by several respected ones to escape danger. By the way, little brother, this Spirit Beast Forest is so dangerous, how did your family bring your younger brother in? And I see that your younger brother seems......"
"To be honest with you, my younger brother has contracted a strange illness and many doctors have been unable to cure him. I heard that in this spiritual beast forest lives an immortal maiden named Huixiang who is very skilled in medicine, so we brought him here to pay our respects to her. However, while avoiding the attacks of the spiritual beasts, my brother, family members and I got separated and now I don't know where they are."
"Oh! So that's how it is, what a coincidence. I've also brought my wife to seek an audience with the Chrysanthemum Fairy, those few respected ones just told us how to find the Chrysanthemum Fairy, tomorrow we'll set off."