Chapter 91: Spirit Leaf

Chen Mobai opened the five fingers of his right hand towards the sky.

Amidst a buzzing sound.

The long azure spiritual energy arrows, which had materialized from the void behind him, instantly shot forth.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

The five Black Plague Birds that had just surged onto the cliff were immediately repelled. Then, the azure arrows exploded, shattering them into bloody mists.

Whoosh!

On the other side, Wang Yuanwu was equally formidable. His crimson flying sword, like a wild dance of flames, swept through a swarm of Black Plague Birds in the air with fierce spiritual energy, incinerating several beasts that couldn't evade in time.

Gao Tuo and his two companions also launched their respective attacks.

A crossbow bolt flew out, precisely striking down a Black Plague Bird. However, there was no time to reload afterward. Gao Tuo, with his recently reattached right arm still stiff and his qi and blood circulation poor, had to wield his hook-shaped magical artifact and fight the Black Plague Birds that rushed at him.

Fortunately, his senior fellow apprentice, Shi Pengyi, and his junior sister were by his side.

Luo Lin, holding a black armored shield, moved nimbly, skillfully blocking the rapid wind arrows sprayed from the Black Plague Birds' mouths for them.

Meanwhile, Shi Pengyi demonstrated his Qi Condensation fifth-layer strength. Under his control, a purple flying sword moved like lightning, darting back and forth, suppressing and slaying the Black Plague Birds that had bypassed Chen Mobai and Wang Yuanwu.

Seeing this, Chen Mobai nodded slightly, then shot out all 18 remaining spiritual energy arrows from his back.

Amidst a series of thudding sounds.

The area above the cliff where they were standing was instantly cleared.

"The second-tier ones are coming!"

Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Wang Yuanwu's expression turned grim.

Chen Mobai's face registered surprise as he looked at the sky beyond Qingguang Island. Sure enough, two colossal birds, three to four times larger than ordinary Black Plague Birds, appeared in the clouds. One of them, a Black Plague Bird King, had only one wing left, its eyes blood-red, coldly staring in their direction.

It was the "Heavenly Wood Divine Light" unleashed by the spiritual tree they were guarding that had previously evaporated one of its wings, nearly bringing it down.

"Everyone, pay attention and protect yourselves."

"There are still five Heavenly Wood Divine Lights remaining on the west bank. After one bird king was struck down, the remaining two will absolutely not dare to approach without full certainty."

"However, we might next face the Black Plague Bird royal guards, equivalent to late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators, who are accompanying the bird kings. No matter how dangerous it gets, we must not let our front line here fall."

Seeing their spiritual tree targeted by the bird kings, Wang Yuanwu couldn't help but feel sweat trickle down his forehead. Yet, being well-experienced, he calmly assessed the situation and issued commands, even under immense pressure.

Amidst screeching cries.

Sure enough, a flock of large birds, twice the size of ordinary Black Plague Birds, left the bird kings' side, riding on fierce winds, and flew towards them.

Boom!

Before the large birds even arrived, a massive tornado formed on the shore, whipping up turbulent waves and pressing towards the spiritual tree atop the cliff.

The two bird kings had jointly unleashed their innate divine abilities, both providing support for their royal guards and probing whether Qingguang Island still held any trump cards.

Chen Mobai's expression subtly changed as he saw the enormous tornado, capable of engulfing the entire cliff where they stood.

He clutched his last trump card, the Azure Wood Divine Thunder Talisman.

Yet, he first looked at Wang Yuanwu. As expected, even Wang Yuanwu possessed a second-tier spiritual talisman, indicating that this leader from the Divine Wood Sect must have even more trump cards.

Wang Yuanwu gritted his teeth and nodded to another Divine Wood Sect disciple, who immediately took out a talisman and infused it into the spiritual tree.

Whoosh!

As if a gentle breeze passed by, a branch of the previously bare spiritual tree began to glow with a clear light after the talisman was infused. In the blink of an eye, a green bud sprouted, then rapidly grew into a palm-sized green leaf.

Wang Yuanwu flicked his flying sword, and the green leaf was severed.

"Go!"

After consuming a spiritual energy recovery pill, the Divine Wood Sect disciple who had infused the talisman channeled all his spiritual energy into the severed green leaf. Instantly, a brilliant clear light erupted, transforming into a colossal light shield that covered the entire cliff.

Just then, the massive tornado, unleashed by the two second-tier bird kings, descended with turbulent waves.

RUMBLE!

With a tremendous tremor that felt like an earthquake, Chen Mobai braced himself with the wooden umbrella in his hand, keeping his body steady.

"This Heavenly Wood Divine Light Array has quite a few functions!"

He thought to himself, wondering if it had other functions besides the Heavenly Wood Divine Light and the green leaf light shield.

"The large birds are coming; there are 20 of them in total. Each squad will deal with 4. Those in late-stage Qi Condensation should go first and handle as many as they can. The rest of the Black Plague Birds will be handled by the other members of the squad. Remember to protect yourselves!"

Wang Yuanwu quickly assigned tasks, then took the lead, his crimson flying sword swirling to encompass the three birds flying at the very front.

Chen Mobai gritted his teeth and selected one of the large birds.

However, he glanced at the nearly hundred ordinary Black Plague Birds led by these large birds, fearing that the other squad members might not be able to handle them. Before engaging with the large bird, he again threw out four Azure Arrow Talismans.

Amidst a series of popping sounds.

The large bird in front of Chen Mobai exhaled a powerful gust of wind, directly shattering the azure spiritual energy arrows. However, the remaining 23 arrows were aimed at the large group of Black Plague Birds rushing towards it from the side.

Blood light and black feathers splattered everywhere.

After clearing the area, Chen Mobai, holding his Five Transformations Umbrella, confronted the Black Plague Bird, which was a full meter in size.

Buzz, buzz!

Two azure wind blades extended from the Black Plague Bird's trembling wings, resembling two crescent blades that converged in an 'X' shape as they descended towards Chen Mobai's head.

The umbrella opened!

The misty aura on the umbrella seemed to struggle, partially bursting apart when the wind blades struck, but ultimately, it dissipated them.

"Fortunately, although these large birds have powerful bloodlines, they don't cultivate. The power of their abilities didn't exceed the Five Transformations Umbrella's limit."

Wu Wan's expertise in appraising treasures was indeed trustworthy; he had said this defensive talismanic artifact could withstand attacks from late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators.

Facing a Black Plague Bird that was clearly at the peak of the first tier, it still held up.

However, it seemed to be at its limit.

Chen Mobai looked at the two new scratches on the umbrella's surface after retracting it and decided to prioritize evasion from then on.

After all, he wasn't Wang Yuanwu, who was at the peak of the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, possessed exceptional sword skills, abundant combat experience, and was equipped with talismans and magical artifacts from the Divine Wood Sect, allowing him to fight three large birds alone without falling behind.

Screech!

After the two wind blades were neutralized, the large bird opened its mouth again and spewed out a volley of rapid wind arrows. Chen Mobai, not wanting to directly block them with the Five Transformations Umbrella again, threw out two Wood Shield Talismans.

But how could low-grade first-tier talismans possibly block the large bird's rapid wind arrows? In just two breaths, the two wooden shields that had materialized in mid-air shattered and vanished into spiritual energy.

However, Chen Mobai had used that time to leap to another position.

The rapid wind arrows missed, kicking up dust all over the cliff.

Just then, all five squads had begun their fierce battles. However, not everyone possessed outstanding strength or good luck. Soon, Chen Mobai heard a miserable scream.

Someone had died.