Chapter 760: Competition and Unexpected Reunion

Chapter 753: Confrontation and an Unexpected Reunion

With "Wave Slash" unleashed, it was He Lingchuan's enemies who had to face the crushing power of the giant wave.

He had come to pay his respects to the sect, but since they were so ungracious, he would now challenge them more aggressively.

The youth dared not face the blade head-on, retreating diagonally by two *zhang* to avoid its edge. A dark shadow seemed to flash from his back, and then he burrowed into the ground, vanishing.

Earth escape? This kid's escape technique was surprisingly smooth. He Lingchuan was startled.

The dark shadow from his back had just ambushed He Lingchuan's foot, but He Lingchuan couldn't clearly see what it was, only knowing it wasn't a living creature.

He Lingchuan kept moving erratically, not daring to stay in one place for too long. He expanded his divine sense, exercising extreme caution, and holding his shield-mirror in his left hand, he shone it around.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror suddenly warned him: "Two feet to your front left!"

He Lingchuan immediately stopped.

Sure enough, a small dark shadow silently emerged from the ground beneath his feet, stabbing like lightning towards his Yongquan acupoint.

Anyone struck there would instinctively jump up.

However, He Lingchuan's move was a feint; he paused briefly before sliding his foot, precisely exposing the dark shadow.

The Fusheng Blade arrived, slicing the dark shadow in two with a single strike!

There was no solid resistance, confirming it was not a physical entity. However, the Fusheng Blade was inherently skilled at severing intangible or non-corporeal things, and the dark shadow was no exception.

The upper half drifted down, vaguely resembling a venomous barb with a small sac attached underneath, but it dissipated into the air after only two breaths.

Before the lower half of the shadow could retreat into the soil, He Lingchuan repositioned the Fusheng Blade and plunged it fiercely into the ground, hilt-deep!

The Fusheng Blade cut through the earth more easily than slicing a soft cake.

He Lingchuan's aim was extremely precise, and this time, he finally felt the solid sensation of piercing flesh and blood!

Not to mention he was quite devious; he gripped the hilt and twisted it with the momentum—

He could faintly hear painful roars coming from below.

"Junior Brother Qiu!" A Rongshen disciple nearby rushed to the rescue, throwing two caltrops with a raised hand.

He Lingchuan dodged swiftly, retreating two steps.

The youth from underground also surfaced, taking a roundabout path, his right chest bleeding profusely.

But just as he returned to the surface, he suddenly felt a dazzling golden light erupting before his eyes, at least ten times brighter than the scorching sun, almost burning his soul out.

Anyone would instinctively close their eyes and raise a hand to block.

As he made this move, he inwardly cursed, knowing he was finished.

Sure enough, a faint breeze followed from behind, and a cold blade was already pressed against his neck. The opponent calmly asked him:

"Are you still fighting?"

The youth opened his eyes, but all he saw was a blinding white; his vision was completely unrecovered.

He could only shout, "Stop, everyone stop!"

Just then, there was another rustling sound in the woods as a colossal creature charged towards He Lingchuan, accompanied by a furious roar.

Two trees, as thick as watermelons, stood in its path. It didn't dodge, but directly smashed them down, and amidst the cracking sounds, it casually grabbed a tree trunk and swept it horizontally towards He Lingchuan.

Trees broke upon impact, and rocks cracked.

He Lingchuan had just defeated Qiu, and had no desire to continue fighting. He merely put away his Translucent Lantern, and with a swift swallow-flip, retreated to Granny Zhu's side.

The Translucent Lantern was a treasure he had conveniently taken from the core of the Xu Mountain array. This lamp could illuminate the abdominal patterns of the Spider Immortal's remains, and thus could also blind ordinary people. After He Lingchuan figured out its use, he realized it was an excellent tool for surprise attacks.

The colossal shadow ahead followed closely, as if it held a deep grudge against him.

Granny Zhu was about to teach it a lesson, when Dong Rui crawled out from under its belly and shouted loudly:

"Number Seventeen, stop!"

The creature was about to swing the log at his face, yet he showed no fear. Instead, he puffed out his chest and took two steps forward, completely unlike his earlier timid self.

He Lingchuan didn't push him away, because the colossal creature charging towards them suddenly dug its feet into the ground and skidded to a halt.

The log was only two feet from Dong Rui's nose.

The rising dust made him cough repeatedly.

"Ugh, cough, cough, take it away! How dare you be disrespectful to your master!”

The creature indeed tossed the log aside and roared at him twice, its voice filled with overwhelming joy, even standing on its hind legs and beating its chest.

This was a giant ape, standing ten feet tall when upright, its body covered in bulging muscles, its distorted face like a yaksha, and a thorny collar around its neck.

As soon as it appeared, He Lingchuan recognized it: it was one of Dong Rui's demon puppets—

The Ghost Ape.

He Lingchuan remembered that he had severely wounded the Ghost Ape on the Xia Province front lines, which was why Dong Rui hadn't brought it to the Battle of Hanhe River. Later, both of them were swept away by water to the Demon Nest, and Dong Rui never mentioned where the demon puppet had gone.

Strange, how did this thing suddenly appear in Rongshen Mountain's jungle?

The Ghost Ape still recognized him, as its small eyes were filled with hatred.

Monkeys are more petty than humans, and He Lingchuan had injured it several times, so it had long ago added him to its blacklist. Now, upon seeing its enemy, its eyes burned with extra fury.

He Lingchuan seized the moment, took something out, pressed it against the wound on his foot, and squeezed it a few times.

Looking at Dong Rui's expression now, it seemed to be full of bewilderment in addition to joy.

But that didn't stop Dong Rui from patting his own shoulder and telling the demon puppet, "Come back!"

The Ghost Ape immediately shrunk to the size of an ordinary macaque and was about to jump onto his shoulder.

The youth named Qiu suddenly spoke up and waved at it, "Monkey, come here!"

The Ghost Ape paused, looked back at him, then at Dong Rui, and actually hesitated.

Which of Dong Rui's demon puppets wasn't completely obedient to its master? The Ghost Ape was also his most satisfying creation, arguably the most perfectly completed.

It actually wanted to obey a stranger?

Dong Rui's face darkened, and he beckoned, "What are you gawking at?!"

Ultimately, the master's authority, and the ingrained habit from hundreds of trainings, prevailed. The Ghost Ape took two steps back, jumped onto Dong Rui's shoulder, transforming from a raging giant ape into an obedient monkey.

This unexpected development seemed to deeply shock all the Rongshen disciples, and even their attacks slowed down.

Dong Rui, riding on the residual power of subduing the Ghost Ape, said with a stern face, "I'll ask you again, is treating guests like enemies a tradition of Rongshen Mountain?”

The indifferent youth shook his leg, saying, "No."

The knife wound on his right shoulder extended down to his chest, his flesh peeled back, revealing white bone underneath. He Lingchuan's cut was very deep; if the youth hadn't dodged quickly, his shoulder would have been severed.

With the Ghost Ape's interruption, both sides had calmed down.

There was no deep-seated animosity to begin with, just a misunderstanding. Why fight to the death?

The youth then pointed to the ground covered in white silk webs: "It's not safe here."

Granny Zhu spoke at the same time: "Those monstrous things have hatched."

Her senses were keen, and she could feel the unusual movements coming from underground, such as strange cicadas breaking out of their hosts and having completely devoured the host bodies.

It was just that at the time, their side was fighting the Rongshen disciples, so Granny Zhu hadn't said anything.

No sooner had she spoken, the soil churned, and dozens of strange cicadas crawled onto the ground. Some could fly, others could jump, and they charged towards everyone without hesitation.

Their charge was like a pack of wolves, starved for seven days and nights, rushing towards plump sheep.

The indifferent youth told his companions, "Unleash the attack."