novelraw Chapter 177 : These People from This Sect Are Too Frightening
Chapter 177 : These People from This Sect Are Too Frightening
"What are you doing?" Liu Yuanqing turned his head, his face sullen, suspecting that the Lingqing Sect people were trying to trick him again.
So they thought he was easy to bully, did they?!
"If you don't want to die, don't touch it," Mu Chihuai shrugged, smiling harmlessly. "This water is poisonous, extremely toxic. Even a small touch will send you to meet your ancestors."
Earlier in the village, the ghostly and corpse qi emanating from the ghost corpses could harm cultivators, so they had applied talismans to seal their five senses.
"Damn, is that true?" Liu Yuanqing's face paled at these words, and he immediately stepped back two paces. He tore off the talisman on his body and instantly smelled the nauseating stench coming from the river. Frightened, he quickly reapplied the talisman.
The river water looked clear but smelled terribly, as if it concealed century-old rotting corpses.
"Be careful, that thing is coming," Shang Ziling warned gravely, her hand falling to her sword hilt.
Almost as soon as her words fell, a massive shadow appeared from the water's depths. It was a water snake several dozen meters long! Its tail was forked, like two crescent-shaped thin hooks, piercing towards Liu Yuanqing, who was closest, with overwhelming force.
The hook ends were black, clearly hiding potent poison!
If struck by this, one's entire body would likely be pierced by the barbs, instantly leading to death and the destruction of one's dao.
Liu Yuanqing, that weakling, couldn't run away. An alchemist who usually hid behind sword cultivators had never encountered such a dangerous situation. He immediately froze in place like a dolt, unable to move.
A black sword sliced through the air, grazing his face and cutting off two of his hairs.
His breath caught, and when he looked again, the black sword had struck one of the water snake's tails. Without even a hint of hesitation, it instantly severed one of the snake's tails. A large cloud of blood sprayed out, dyeing the riverbed a vast crimson!
This was a Divine Transformation stage demon beast, and its most formidable tail was... just cut off by a single sword strike?
Liu Yuanqing was dumbfounded.
What kind of sword was this, so ferocious?!
"You weak alchemist, not hiding far away but standing there like a pillar. Are you so kind-hearted to offer yourself as the water snake's dinner? Then I won't stop you."
That ferocious and brutal black sword instantly flew back to Chu Sang's hand as she spoke coolly.
Liu Yuanqing was even more shocked. Seeing the water snake roaring and charging over again, he had no time to think further and fled, crawling and rolling. Two sword sect disciples took the opportunity to advance, forcing the water snake back for a moment.
"Moon-hook Double-tailed Snake, a Divine Transformation stage demon beast. Extremely fierce and combative, and its entire body is highly poisonous. Try not to get too close, don't let it hit you... Its weak point is at its vital spot... just below the twelfth white stripe on its head..."
While the Ten Thousand Swords Sect disciples were shouting and fighting at the front, Chu Sang was content to stay in the second line of battle, acting as an instructor and tactical advisor. She educated these sword cultivators who only knew how to fight about the demon beast's weaknesses, directing them to strike at its vital points!
The ferocious water snake soon found itself at a disadvantage.
Big Senior Sister successfully pierced its vital spot with one sword strike, causing it to emit a sharp wail. It used its remaining giant tail to frantically crash into nearby rocks and the sea surface.
But no matter how desperately it struggled in its dying moments, the water snake's fate was sealed. It was finally slain by the combined efforts of the sword cultivator disciples.
While others paid no attention to the stinking corpse of the water snake, Chu Sang, as the number one practitioner of frugality, didn't abandon such a massive Nascent Soul stage demon beast corpse. She picked through it carefully, collecting useful parts like scales and beast bones, stuffing everything she could use into her storage bag.
She also fairly divided the extracted demon core in half, feeding it to Xiao Bai and Hong Niang in the storage bag.
Liu Yuanqing approached, pinching his nose, with a look of disgust. "What garbage are you stuffing in there? Has Lingqing Sect become so poor?"
"Yes, so poor that we only have 300,000 high-grade spirit stones left. Naturally, we can't compare to you, the direct disciple of Pill Condensation Sect."
Liu Yuanqing's words caught in his throat, feeling even more stifled. It was better not to mention those 300,000 spirit stones. Thinking about how he had lost all his possessions made his heart bleed.
He had come over intending to mock them and regain some face, but ended up being mocked instead. Liu Yuanqing nearly died from anger. He coldly snorted and walked forward.
Chu Sang couldn't be bothered with him. She transformed Xuan Ling into a short blade about the length of her forearm. In just a few quick movements, she dismembered the massive demon beast.
All useful materials that could be sold were packed into the storage bag.
The poison glands were thrown to Mu Chihuai.
Sixth Senior Brother liked these treacherous things.
She also collected the snake's scales and the hooks from its tail. They were quite heavy and of good quality, not only harder and sharper than ordinary mystic iron but also highly poisonous.
Chu Sang tossed these materials to Su Chen'an, suggesting they could be used to make some hidden weapons, which might have unexpected effects.
Su Chen'an caught the hooks and immediately understood without Little Junior Sister needing to say more. He ignited a wisp of spiritual fire at his fingertips, quickly melting and recasting the snake hooks. The weapon gradually took shape in his palm.
Fortunately, they hadn't encountered disciples from the Alchemy Sect yet, otherwise, those disciples would have been severely stimulated.
Even though the people present weren't equipment refiners, they were shocked by this casual scene. Shang Ziling's lips twitched slightly, and she said somewhat speechlessly, "Are you Lingqing Sect people so wild? Refining equipment on the spot?"
They had seen equipment refiners at work before. It was even more complex than pill refining, often taking ten days to half a month, sometimes several months or even years, just to forge a single weapon... Not to mention the numerous steps in equipment refining where a single mistake could ruin everything.
How could they be like this, tossing out materials and immediately condensing spiritual fire to refine them?
The most absurd part was that Su Chen'an didn't even bother to take out a refining furnace, directly using spiritual fire to melt and shape the material. Was he that confident? Or just too arrogant and ignorant?
Were they not concerned about wasting casually picked up materials, just using them for practice?
The disciples glanced over, most with attitudes of watching a show. But to their surprise, after just half an incense stick's time, the spiritual tool had taken shape in the young man's hand.
It was a hidden weapon of extremely peculiar shape.
Su Chen'an casually tossed it to Chu Sang, his fox-like eyes smiling. "How's Fifth Senior Brother's craftsmanship?"
"Getting faster, better, and more stable," Chu Sang praised without reservation.
After years of labor exploitation, Su Chen'an now refined equipment as naturally as breathing or drinking water.
A spiritual tool casually made.
The quality was quite good, with restraining tool patterns engraved on it, very much to Chu Sang's liking.
The weapon's head was shaped like a four-clawed beast, made from the two most deadly tail hooks of the water snake, cut in half.
The back used Hong Niang's spider silk, which could freely extend and contract.
This hidden weapon, whether for attacking or capturing, could definitely be considered a top-tier concealed weapon.
If an ordinary cultivator was caught by that poison-imbued sharp end for even a moment, they would likely lose half their life if not die outright.
This was hardly a weapon that righteous path disciples would use!
"Too frightening," thought all the other disciples present.
These people from Lingqing Sect were too frightening. It would be best not to provoke them unnecessarily.
"Where to next?" Shang Ziling asked Chu Sang.
Unconsciously, the other two sects hadn't noticed that they had already instinctively begun to seek Chu Sang's opinion, proceeding with the next step of the mission based on her words.
There was no help for it. One was the frail Pill Condensation Sect, the other was the physically strong but simple Ten Thousand Swords Sect.
Neither was very good at decision-making.
Just now, when fighting the water snake, if Chu Sang hadn't been directing from the side, even if they could have won through numerical advantage, it would likely have wasted a lot of time, and many disciples would have been injured... This showed how crucial overall command was in team battles.
Chu Sang opened the scroll map, letting it float in mid-air and gradually unfurl, allowing disciples from the other two sects to clearly understand the battle situation.
"We're now upstream of the Tiankou River. A few dozen li ahead is the largest city in this area, Jing City."
"According to the intelligence we gathered earlier, the civilians inside and outside this city are quite far from the borders of the county, so they didn't have time to escape before the area was sealed off. Therefore, there should be a large number of ordinary civilians living in the city."
"The aura of a large number of living people naturally attracts ghosts and monsters. Judging by the direction, that source Daolao Ghost is likely heading for Jing City."
She closed the map and looked at everyone. "This source Daolao Ghost is quite powerful. We don't know who released it, but it could infect the entire city in just half a day at most. It will be much more difficult to deal with then. We should hurry over now and intercept it first."
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After Chu Sang released Xiao Bai, she followed the ghost aura that had almost dissipated in the air. The other disciples, seeing this, hurriedly followed.
The Daolao Ghost moved very quickly, but for the capable sect disciples, it was slightly inferior.
Even though they were delayed a bit by the water snake's obstruction, they easily caught up with that source Daolao Ghost.
High-level ghosts had developed intelligence. Seeing them chase over, it didn't immediately choose to fight but continued to flee hurriedly.
Flee? Could it escape?
Chu Sang's lips curled into a smile as she threw out the hidden weapon. The four claws, originally clustered together, suddenly spread out like a palm in mid-air, growing several times larger with the wind!
No matter where the ghost monster ran, under the control of spiritual sense, the hidden weapon seemed to have automatic tracking, instantly darting out to catch it and pin it to the ground.
Gu Chang'an sent a thunderbolt sword intent slashing over.
Lightning and fire-attribute spiritual energy both had great damaging power against ghost-type creatures. This Divine Transformation stage Daolao Ghost was instantly split in two.
Ghost monsters had extremely tenacious vitality. Even with its head separated from its body, it still tried to abandon the small to preserve the big, like a lizard dropping its tail.
The severed ghost head tried to use the cover of dark shrubs to sneak away.
Big Senior Sister sent out dozens of swords simultaneously, chopping the ghost corpse into pieces, giving it no chance to escape.
Chu Sang then threw out a dragon breath strange fire, burning the fragments to ashes, ensuring not a single piece of flesh escaped. Otherwise, this thing could reproduce infinitely in a suitable place.
Mu Changqing sniffed and suddenly said, "There's... also the aura of a demon cultivator having passed by here."
And it was a very powerful demon cultivator.
This source Daolao Ghost and the water snake, as well as various demon beasts they had encountered along the way, were not creatures that should appear in this place.
The Eastern Continent was adjacent to the Demon Realm, and it was highly likely that demon cultivators had come over and tampered with things.
"So, the demon cultivators are making a comeback?" Chu Sang clicked her tongue.
Previously, demon cultivators had also run rampant in the cultivation world a few times, with the legendary Demon Emperor as the mastermind behind it all.
But last time, the Demon Emperor had fled with heavy injuries, so the Demon Realm had been quite quiet for this period, not causing trouble for a long time.
Unexpectedly, their evil intentions hadn't died. They had been biding their time and secretly planning something big.
There was a nine out of ten chance that the Demon Emperor had recovered from his injuries and was making a comeback.
It seemed there was also some involvement with the Ghost Realm, though they had encountered more demon beasts along the way.
The ghost cultivators should have originally agreed with the demon cultivators to jointly attack the cultivation world, but unexpectedly, they had been interrupted midway. The Ghost Xuan Sect Leader had died, and the biggest conspirator was gone.
Now it was Second Senior Brother managing the Ghost Xuan Sect. There had been no news from Second Senior Brother's side during this time. He should be gathering strength to purge the forces inside and outside the Ghost Xuan Sect. The pro-war faction's days probably weren't easy either, so they hadn't had time to deploy too many ghosts. Otherwise, the situation would be even more troublesome.
Chu Sang planned to ask Second Senior Brother about the situation in the Ghost Realm after returning.
They received distress messages from other nearby towns.
Everyone hurried on their journey, and in a town attacked by a beast tide, they encountered disciples from the Phantom Sound Sect.
A large city with a population of several hundred thousand was suffering from an immense beast tide of unimaginable proportions.
Thousands upon thousands of demon beasts had gathered outside the city. Destroying such a mortal city would be a matter of moments for them.
There were far too many demon beasts. The Phantom Sound Sect could only use illusion incense to temporarily restrain these beasts, but without much spiritual energy replenishment, they couldn't hold out for long.
Just as they were feeling disheartened, Chu Sang descended from the sky with a large group of reinforcements following behind her!
Damn, finally someone had come, and it was sword cultivators and alchemists. This was exactly what they needed in their urgent situation!!!
Yuchi Mu said, "Be careful, these demon beasts are different from humans. The same phantom sounds have only half the effect on them."
"The music your Phantom Sound Sect plays is too gentle and pleasant. These demon beasts can't understand the sorrow and nostalgia in your musical scores. Try something more intense, it should be more effective," Chu Sang suggested. "How about some rock and roll?"
Seeing that she was about to burst into song, Yuchi Mu's face darkened, and she gritted her teeth,
"Shut up!"
Yuchi Mu remembered the devilish thing Chu Sang had done before, which was truly an assault on the ears, lingering for three days without cease, ruining their orthodox music cultivation. She immediately and firmly rejected this proposal.
Chu Sang could only shake her head in disappointment. It seemed they would have to use the most primitive method of combat.
The four great sects cooperated.
The Phantom Sound Sect and Second Senior Sister used phantom sounds to hold back the beast tide's attack, weakening their aggressiveness.
The sword cultivators went to the front lines to slay the demon beasts.
When spiritual energy was depleted, the Pill Condensation Sect disciples were responsible for replenishing it.
It took a full half day to completely clear out all the demon beasts at the city gate.
Fighting alone made it easy for the mastermind behind the scenes to target and eliminate them one by one. After consideration, the four sects decided to continue cooperating and check the situation in nearby towns.
"Then let's continue to advance deeper."
They were still only in the outskirts of Dongchong County.
These strange ghosts and demons couldn't have appeared on such a large scale without reason. The real source was still inside.
The map marked the places where attacks had erupted, becoming denser towards the center.
At the very center was Yang Pi City.
Straight into the heart of the enemy's lair!