Chapter 116: Monsters

The Pinnacle!

To make matters worse, their vision was also obstructed while they were trapped within the rock crevice. Their sight was disoriented, their ears assaulted by a cacophony of frantic flapping sounds, and gory fluids from the creatures they had slashed flowed down the rock walls. Both of them were already covered in a foul, bloody stench.

Unable to defend themselves on all fronts, the two were soon dragged out by tentacles that coiled around their ankles. There was nothing they could do; the constricted space offered no room, and wildly kicking their legs could not free them from the entanglement. As they were dragged out, they nearly had the skin scraped off their faces against the rock wall.

“Ah!” Wu Jinliang screamed in panic. Facing attacks from such terrifying, unknown monsters and being at a disadvantage, anyone would feel fear. Shi Chun was no exception; he, too, was frantically scrambling. The moment he was pulled from the crevice, he immediately used his ultimate move, fighting desperately. At this point, he dared not hold back even slightly. “Demon-Slaying Blade!” he yelled, striking.

He grabbed onto the rock crevice with one hand, and with the other, he struck out with his blade. Thud! It exploded. Then, blade light danced wildly, and everywhere the blade struck, there was a continuous series of booming explosions.

The monsters' defenses weren't very strong; previous strikes had easily wounded them. However, a blade strike on a monster would only create a large gash, at most severing a tentacle. The monsters' central bodies were too large, and a few cuts hardly fazed them. The more they were wounded, the fiercer their attacks became, like enraged beasts. Yet, the moment the "Demon-Slaying Blade" was unleashed, it blasted creatures into bloody, mangled messes everywhere, proving remarkably effective against them.

Wu Jinliang, however, was not so effective. His blade was large and heavy; when he wielded it, it seemed more like he was giving the monsters a back massage. In short, his reactions weren't quick enough. He was soon entangled by a monster, its mass of tentacles coiling around his entire body and dragging him away.

Though his precious armor was good, it couldn't withstand the twisting, coiling force. The rapidly coiling tentacles were quickly about to cover his mouth and nose. He tried to cast a spell to break free from the entanglement, but these tentacles possessed considerable resilience. Just as his mouth was about to be sealed, he gasped, “Chun Tian, help—”

Before he could finish shouting, his mouth was covered. He opened his mouth and bit fiercely, but the monster was completely unfazed by his biting force. Shi Chun, still clinging to the cliff face, took a quick, cold glance around. With a flurry of blows, he blasted open the surrounding attackers, pushed off the rock wall, and lunged towards the dragged-away Wu Jinliang, as if leaping directly into a bottomless abyss. He fiercely slashed at the monster that had coiled around Wu Jinliang.

Boom! The coiling tentacles burst open, revealing Wu Jinliang, who was desperately clinging to his large blade. The monster roared and thrashed. Shi Chun grabbed the falling Wu Jinliang, then used the monster's massive, writhing body as leverage, pushing off it to pull Wu Jinliang back towards the rock wall.

Still reeling from fright, Wu Jinliang grabbed onto a protrusion on the rock wall with one hand, while frantically swinging his blade with the other. But it was Shi Chun who possessed the true offensive power. After a flurry of exploding flesh and blood, the swarm of monsters dared not approach easily for a while.

A roaring sound, like a bull's horn, suddenly blared out again. A terrifying sight followed: the surrounding swarm of monsters, which had been eyeing them menacingly, suddenly began to vanish like phantoms, starting with a patch of skin and quickly spreading across their entire bodies.

Soon, countless monsters vanished into thin air from the two men's sight. Wu Jinliang finally understood what those invisible monsters outside were. They were these very creatures! He immediately cried out in alarm, “Chun Tian, it's them! They can turn invisible!”

Shi Chun immediately felt a bad premonition. He dared not hold back anything, instantly using whatever method he could. He swiftly cast a spell, channeling his vital energy to activate his right eye's special ability. Looking out, he saw the area was filled with monsters resembling brown mist, and inside each monster's body was a flickering blue glow.

Through the gaps between the monsters, he could glimpse some of the surrounding environment, which appeared to be a colossal deep pit. Seeing that his right eye's ability was still usable, he felt a slight relief. He had been truly startled just now; in such a tense situation, why hadn't his right eye's ability activated earlier? Now, he had no time to delve into the reason why. The very thing he feared had occurred: the invisible monsters had indeed lunged forward again, evidently attempting a surprise attack using their stealth ability.

He immediately moved closer to Wu Jinliang and shouted, “Hold tightly to the rock wall and don't move! Don't get in my way, or I won't be able to protect you!” The next moment, his blade had already struck out. Whump! Flesh and blood exploded from the empty space.

The battle, once begun, immediately escalated into a fierce, white-hot frenzy. Exploding sounds reverberated continuously, neither the attackers nor the defenders willing to give up. Whenever the invisible monsters were struck, they would briefly materialize, or just the attacked part of their bodies would flash into view, before quickly vanishing again.

Facing the exploding, flying flesh and blood, Wu Jinliang sometimes closed his eyes, sometimes blinked, his heart filled with extreme anxiety, yet unable to help. He knew very well that this couldn't continue; Chun Tian's right eye ability couldn't last forever, and the sheer number of monsters was simply overwhelming.

In truth, the monsters' attack power and defense weren't very strong; otherwise, the two wouldn't have been able to fend them off at all. The monsters' strength lay in their sheer numbers. At this rate, no one could endure; they would be exhausted to death. He now understood why that old demon had kept a certain person close: these monsters couldn't burrow their way in.

Shi Chun was well aware that this couldn't continue. The "Demon-Slaying Blade" consumed a significant amount of spiritual energy, making it impossible for him to sustain it for long. At this point, the only way to survive was to gamble with their lives. As he unleashed the "Demon-Slaying Blade" in a flurry of slashes, amidst the explosions, he cast a spell and shouted, “Jinliang, grab onto my waist and follow me!”

“Ah, where are we going?” Wu Jinliang exclaimed in shock. Shi Chun had no time to argue. Finding an opening, he yelled, “Go!” He pushed off the rock wall with his foot and lunged out again, his "Demon-Slaying Blade" blazing a path forward.

Wu Jinliang frantically plunged out after him, desperately wrapping his arms around Shi Chun's waist. He then found himself weaving through flying flesh and blood, before free-falling with Shi Chun, plummeting down into the bottomless abyss. Along the way, flesh and blood continued to fly, as Shi Chun's blade wildly blasted a path.

Before long, the two had cut their way through the countless monsters blocking their path, emerging from the bottom. Shi Chun glanced back, saw monsters still pursuing them from above, and yelled, “Jinliang, cover our rear!”

“Ah!” Wu Jinliang was already terrified by their accelerating fall towards the ground, fearing they wouldn't be able to slow down in time. He was worried they wouldn't have time to slow down, but hearing Shi Chun's cry, he snapped back to attention. He quickly agreed, grabbed his large blade, turned his head to look, and immediately yelled, “I can't see anything!”

Shi Chun ignored him. With a flick of his hand, he pulled a pinecone-like wind scale from his Qiankun Raiment. He cast a spell, infusing it with energy, and began to perceive its operational intricacies. Wu Jinliang saw this, understood, and without further ado, he stared behind them, relying on his senses. Whenever he felt something amiss, he wildly swung his blade.

Soon, scales began to rustle and flutter out from the pinecone-like object in Shi Chun's hand, each scale gleaming under the illumination of the purple aura emanating from their bodies. However, the fluttering scales merely followed them, unable to form a cohesive force.

Before long, Shi Chun's brows twitched. He silently sensed and manipulated the magic item in his hand while intently watching the ground below. Indeed, his vision had already pierced through to the bottom of the abyss. Should he cast a spell to slow their descent? He did not. Wu Jinliang's vision couldn't reach the ground either, so he wasn't afraid.

Just as they were not far from the ground, Shi Chun suddenly roared, “Rise!” The countless trailing scales suddenly began to spin rapidly around them, their reflections under the purple aura illuminating them beautifully.

As the rotation sped up, the two immediately felt a buoyant force begin to generate, and their descent rapidly slowed. However, the monsters pursuing them from above showed no signs of slowing down, and the distance between them rapidly closed. Just as a tentacle swept towards the two, the figures within the spinning scales suddenly plunged downward again, then arced sharply upward, rising rapidly along a cliff face. Several monsters that had rushed forward also arced upwards, following them.

Wu Jinliang, unable to see these maneuvers, immediately chuckled with delight. “Wahahaha, Chun Tian, you can do it! Great leader, so wise!” The light illuminating their bodies made them appear like a flying meteor, slowly and gracefully rising from the abyss.

Shi Chun, holding the pinecone's base, controlled the wind scales to evade the lunging monsters, his evasive and flying maneuvers becoming increasingly adept. “Ma ya ya...” The horn-like bellow sounded again.

Shi Chun suddenly turned his head and saw a monster that had often passed close by them. This monster was slightly larger than the others, but its most distinguishing feature wasn't its size difference; it was what was inside its body. While the other monsters had flickering blue glows within them, this particular monster had a flickering red glow, which was strikingly conspicuous. The horn-like sound seemed to emanate from this particular monster.

Shi Chun could sense that the monsters' actions changed instantly. As if responding to the sound, they all reverted to their true forms from their invisible state, apparently realizing that their invisibility was useless against the two men and bothering with it no longer. He vaguely realized that this particular monster could command the swarm.

However, at this moment, he had no mind to confirm these suspicions. Knowing that his left eye's special ability was about to fade, the most important thing now was to first find a suitable hiding place. Only after securing their position could they plan their next move. At this moment, Wu Jinliang, who was completely levitating, still clung tightly to Shi Chun's leg. He also saw the monsters that had reappeared, and upon hearing the horn sound, he too unleashed a howl, “Ow-woo-ow…”

There was no excitement, no labored breathing; the irony was clear: “Monsters, Grandpa's leaving! What can you do to me?” His mental resilience was indeed good, completely forgetting how pathetic he had been just moments before.

When the wind scales' flight speed was fully unleashed, it was incredibly fast, far beyond what the monsters' flight speed could match. Especially when there were no obstacles and they surged at full speed, they instantly shot up like a streak of light from the colossal deep pit, then curved and turned, soaring across the undulating land above. Shi Chun was surprised to find that the land outside, as seen through his right eye, was the same as what he had seen inside the deep pit: it was also solid and tangible. Or rather, the entire land seemed to be composed of the same kind of rock, with seemingly no soil at all.

In his vision, there were still no illusory substances. Conversely, there was also a benefit: his left eye could clearly discern the terrain in the darkness, while his right eye, aside from the light on their bodies and the swirling illusions from the wind scales, couldn't see anything. Monsters lurking on the ground below, however, seemed to have spotted them. One by one, they roused and flew up, pursuing them. Shi Chun realized something and immediately instructed, “Jinliang, these monsters are sensitive to light. We won't be able to escape like this. Take off all the sandalwood gold from your body and put it away.”