Chapter 1182: Misfortune Drawn Eastward

Dong Rui’s modifications to the bird demons always followed a consistent principle: they shouldn’t fall just because their wings were hit.

The black-armored man and his puppet army immediately followed, moving faster than galloping horses.

One group flew through the sky, while the other pursued on the ground.

“Hey!” the Soul Mirror suddenly exclaimed, recalling a crucial question. “Why is this monster chasing us?”

“You ask me, who am I supposed to ask?” He Lingchuan was equally bewildered.

“That black-armored monster clearly told you to return something!” Dong Rui, listening from the ground, interjected. “He seems so desperate; did you steal his coffin?”

“This is my first time in Blinking Gold Plain; how could I owe him anything and not return it?”

That made sense. Dong Rui was momentarily at a loss for a retort.

The bat flapped its wings and swiftly flew away.

The Yao Kingdom army had already entered the Jing Mountain territory, pursuing the fox demon.

Jing Mountain was not far from the Yao Kingdom, and many Yao people had traversed it. Although it was pitch black, navigating the mountain path in the dark posed no challenge for this elite Yao army.

General Chongwu’s order to the entire army was to press forward quickly.

The great demon Three-Tail, originally trapped, suddenly escaped their encirclement and inexplicably appeared in the direction of Jing Mountain.

It had to be either a vanishing spell or an aerial escape. General Chongwu leaned towards a vanishing spell, as it was unlikely for an entire family of fox demons to simply fly away.

However, the vanishing spell nullification array set up by the Yao people had never failed. How had the fox demon slipped away?

Recalling the music that had previously sounded on White Head Ridge, General Chongwu concluded that the Three-Tail fox demon had likely received help from human cultivators.

Three-Tail’s magical abilities had been thoroughly understood by them beforehand; only human techniques could be so varied and unpredictable.

General Chongwu was very patient. This encirclement mission was far from over. What if the fox demon escaped the encirclement? He could still track it.

As long as he kept pursuing, it would eventually be his.

Furthermore, all vanishing spells had limitations, and the fox demon and its accomplices couldn’t use them indefinitely, making it genuinely possible for his forces to catch up.

A scout, having crossed the mountain, reported from the front: “General, Keling Peak is glowing brightly red, reason unknown.”

Keling Peak? General Chongwu frowned.

The legends of the Keling Peak ruins and the Asura Armor were well-known around Jing Mountain, and he had naturally heard of them.

But how could such a coincidence happen in this world?

“I remember there are many high platforms on Keling Peak, and several arrays are set up there. How could they suddenly be activated?” But he quickly realized, “Could it be the fox demon’s doing?”

The fox demon was indeed heading towards Keling Peak.

Afterward, the red light disappeared, and there was no further movement ahead.

The fox demon was still moving, so the Yao people continued their pursuit.

After traversing several more miles around the mountain, a shadow glided rapidly closer through the night sky.

The sky was dim, without stars or moon, but a sharpshooter in the army, with keen eyesight, shouted, “Strange bird! A large bird has appeared in the sky!”

General Chongwu saw it too.

He reacted swiftly, drawing his bow with an arrow, and without much aiming, he shot it out with a whoosh.

The arrow vanished as soon as it was shot, only reappearing beneath the bat to strike directly into its abdomen!

This was called Sky-intercepting Archery, and it was extremely difficult for enemies to intercept.

Once it hit the target, the explosive true force imbued in the arrow would cause the arrowhead to explode, burrowing into the enemy’s flesh.

Not to mention, this arrow also carried elemental power, enhancing the explosive arrow’s destructive effect.

To his surprise, the strange bird in the sky flapped its wings and suddenly vanished!

When it reappeared, it was already ten zhang ahead.

It was a flash teleportation.

General Chongwu’s brows furrowed. He didn’t know what kind of monster possessed such an ability.

Oh, there seemed to be something on the bird’s back.

In an instant, the strange bird flew out of his shooting range.

General Chongwu watched its retreating form fly away, then shifted his attention back, as he quickly realized the fox demon’s direction was precisely opposite to the bird’s!

What was this strange bird up to? Was it trying to divert the Yao army?

But he had a firm grasp on the fox demon’s whereabouts, so he only dispatched two night owls to track the strange bird, while the main army continued towards Keling Peak as planned.

Further ahead, they would reach a fork in the road. The fox demon’s direction seemed to have slightly changed, veering towards Red Bean Ridge.

A short while later, a commotion erupted ahead.

Besides the clashing of weapons and the shouts of his own soldiers, General Chongwu also heard strange and bizarre roars.

The vanguard quickly reported:

“Report! A monster army has appeared ahead!”

General Chongwu galloped forward. “Numbers?”

“Based on aerial estimates, there should be over seven hundred. They are an army of puppets composed of military armor and rock!”

Military armor and rock… composed?

General Chongwu didn’t quite understand the description, but he soon comprehended it.

This bizarre-looking force emerged from the forest, approaching aggressively. The Yao people naturally tried to halt them, but the opponents showed no reaction, merely charging forward headlong.

Then, like surging waves in a storm, the two armies crashed into each other with explosive force.

The opposing side attacked without a word, and the Yao army, having few rivals in the vicinity, wouldn’t tolerate uninvited guests making trouble.

In the dark of night, the two sides thus stumbled into a chaotic battle.

Against such a multitude of dark entities, the elemental power flowing through the Yao army naturally took effect. Their elemental power was incomparable to that of surrounding nations, emitting a pure blue light, even more potent than that of the Yuan Kingdom.

When Yao weapons struck the puppets, three parts of effort yielded five parts of effect.

However, the rock-and-earth armor on the puppets was truly hard and thick. Most Yao weapons were primarily sabers, spears, and lances, suited for thrusting and slicing rather than chopping or chiseling. Against such “turtle shells,” it was difficult to cut them open without multiple blows.

With elemental power boosting one side, and the other feeling no pain or fear, they surprisingly fought to a temporary stalemate.

The opposing leader was a black-armored figure with astonishing martial prowess, charging into the enemy ranks like a tiger preying on sheep. Wherever it went, Yao soldiers fell dead.

Such a vast disparity between individuals could not be compensated for even by elemental power.

Behind it were several rock and earth mages. If a puppet was hacked to pieces, they would merely wave their vine staffs, and the holes in the puppet’s body would quickly mend themselves.

After all, the puppets stood on the earth, and rock-and-earth replenishment was readily available.

The Yao soldiers, seeing this, felt somewhat disheartened: How the hell were they supposed to fight this?!

They were flesh and blood, yet the enemy could instantly self-heal!

These things weren’t even human.

However, the Yao people were on a mountain path, and both sides had met in a narrow pass, with no way to retreat.

General Chongwu glanced towards Keling Peak, guessing that this group of monsters must be connected to the red light there. Had the strange bird deliberately led them here to intercept the Yao army?

The timing was precise; his forces had no retreat, forced to battle this inhuman army.

He noticed that human blood splashed onto the black armor of the enemy’s general was actually quickly absorbed.

This individual was incredibly fierce, having killed over ten Yao soldiers in quick succession. Other soldiers, seeing him as a god of slaughter, instinctively gave way.

As a result, the black-armored leader’s edge became even sharper, and his every move grew more ferocious…

General Chongwu stared at the figure, and an absurd thought arose in his mind:

Could this be…?

His heart stirred. He stepped forward through the crowd and shouted, “Stop! We have no intention of blocking you!”

The opponent ignored him, killing two more people with a wave of a hand.

At this moment, He Lingchuan had descended from afar and stealthily returned, lying prone on a hilltop behind the Yao army, observing the battle between the two sides.

He had to exert all his eyesight to notice faint wisps of black smoke emerging from the Yao army, which, as if guided, flew towards the black-armored leader.

These black wisps originated from soldiers who looked fearful, hesitant, and uncertain.

“Did you see that?”

“Huh?” Dong Rui asked, confused. “What?”

He Lingchuan tapped the Soul Mirror on his chest; he was speaking to the mirror. Now, what the Eyeball Spider couldn’t see, Dong Rui also couldn’t see.

The mirror’s muffled voice came out: “I didn’t see it either.”

This was interesting. The Soul Mirror communicated with the netherworld and could perceive many dark entities. If even it couldn’t detect anything, then what exactly was the black-armored leader drawing from the Yao soldiers?

He Lingchuan carefully observed these soldiers. They themselves seemed to feel nothing, and their vitality and spirit were not affected, unlike the controlled Feather Guards under Nangong Yan, whose vital energy was directly drained by the evil spirits of the Screaming Forest.

The mirror then added, “But this black-armored leader… hmm, seems to have grown stronger?”

He Lingchuan nodded slightly.

Indeed, the more black smoke it absorbed, the stronger and more agile the black-armored leader became. General Chongwu had shot two arrows at it: the first pierced an armor plate, embedded itself in the shoulder, and then exploded, blasting the black-armored leader back two steps. It took some effort for it to pull out the broken arrow.

The arrow hole in the black armor immediately healed.

A quarter of an hour later, the second arrow struck between its waist and ribs. Although it no longer exploded, the arrowhead burrowed into the wound like a loach drilling through tofu. This was supposedly a weakly protected area, but the arrowhead did not penetrate deep into the armor, and the leader easily pulled it out, completely unharmed!

He Lingchuan’s gaze sharpened as he watched.

General Chongwu’s elemental power was considerable; what exactly was going on with that black armor?

After the black-armored leader discarded the arrowhead, it proceeded to kill over a dozen more Yao soldiers. Even two deputy generals who charged forward were knocked down in a few moves: one was stomped on until his chest caved in, dying in a spray of blood, while the other had his skull crushed, his head becoming a bloody mess like a smashed watermelon.

For a moment, blood, bone fragments, and brain matter splattered everywhere.

Although this Yao army was exceptionally disciplined and formidable in combat, they had never witnessed such a ruthless slaughterer. Many soldiers were stunned and dared not block its path.

This fear reached its peak after the black-armored leader killed a bear demon accompanying the army.

From a distance, He Lingchuan immediately noticed even more black smoke drifting from the Yao Kingdom soldiers, all of it heading towards the black-armored leader.

Were those emotions?

No, that wasn’t right. A thought struck He Lingchuan: Could it be fear and terror?

Did that armor devour the fear from its opponents to strengthen itself?

If his conjecture was correct, it was no wonder the black-armored leader’s killing methods were exceptionally brutal – it was clearly designed to generate an endless supply of terror.

At this point, General Chongwu had charged to the front of the black-armored leader and, taking a deep breath, shouted again, “Stop! We are not your enemies!”

The black-armored leader paid him no heed, casually grabbing a meteor hammer and swinging it at him.

With a resounding clang, General Chongwu stepped back two paces to absorb the force, not giving up on his persuasion: “Keep fighting, and your real target will get away!”