novelraw Chapter 119 Lu Ren Goes into Battle
Chapter 119 Lu Ren Goes into Battle
Chapter 119 Lu Ren Goes into Battle
Just then, the two squads that had completed their mission and returned to Yanxi Village dared not advance.
The villagers who had greeted them just a few days ago were now all behaving strangely, accompanied by odd rustling sounds.
The villagers' skin peeled off layer by layer like dried tree bark, revealing the charcoal-black skin underneath.
The magician, Shirai, seeing this scene, hid behind Komei in fright: "What, what's going on with them?" Lin Hei swallowed hard: "Damn, how can this be so eerie? Can we even go back to this village?"
The person who reacted the most upon seeing this scene was Shen Yaoxing. How could she forget the image of her family members suddenly tearing off their face skin and then rushing towards her when she was young?
Lu Ren noticed her unusual behavior, took her arm, and reassured her, "Young Miss?"
Seeing this scene again, fragmented images from the past flashed through her mind. Suppressing her nausea, the girl said, "It's the Rat Children of the Divine Mother Cult. All these villagers have been corrupted and turned into Rat People—"
The next second, the entire village of rat-men swarmed over like locusts.
Drooling from their mouths and their eyes flashing red, they ran and shouted for them to save them.
"Be careful, these things are very powerful, even stronger than some bronze-level void beasts!"
Shen Yaoxing glanced back, wanting her companions to fight, but seeing their exhausted faces, she gritted her teeth and said, "Ali, you take the two of them and run first. Lu Ren and I will stay behind to cover our retreat!"
Ji Liguang shook her head. She was, after all, a shield warrior, and still had some stamina left: "I'll cover the rear, Auntie, you go first." Bai Zhi reached out to unleash a skill, but felt a wave of dizziness. He trembled and said, "I'm... I've reached my limit. I need to rest now—"
Props maker Lin Hei drew his alchemical sword, but even activating alchemical artifacts was difficult for him. Having just completed a mission and then traveling for half a day amidst the white storm, everyone was now exhausted.
Seeing her teammates' exhaustion, the dark-skinned girl drew her short knife and gritted her teeth, saying, "Hulk, you take White Paper and Lin Hei and go first."
She was also exhausted at this point, but as a warrior, she was in slightly better shape than other professionals.
However, just as she was preparing to fight, she saw Lu Ren pull the little girl who was clinging to him away, put his coat on Jiang Yueying, and at the same time, a black sword made of fine material appeared in his hand.
Snowflakes blew onto Lu Ren's face, swirling to both sides. The boy's face was slightly flushed due to illness. Looking at that youthful face, Xiao Mei suddenly realized that this boy was too young.
But this excessively young boy was quite different from the two panicked people in her group.
The boy's gaze was calm and steady. He gripped the black sword in his hand and slowly moved forward, passing them.
The roars of the monster ahead were drawing closer, leaving white trails of wind around him, as if a whirlwind of snow was swirling around the boy.
"Why are you running? Miss, you said I'm irrational, but I think I'm much more rational than you." He said, "With the snowstorm outside so fierce, where can we run to?"
As the saying goes, mountain dwellers have their own clever plans. Blizzards are not common at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, but when this white storm rages, staying in the village does not feel physically exhausting.
They had asked the village chief before, but the village chief naturally didn't know anything about the white storm. However, in the eyes of these mountain people, this strange storm was not uncommon. They believed that the mountain god was eating regularly, so they never thought it was a strange celestial phenomenon.
Their village worships the Tianshan religion and regularly offers sacrifices to the Tianshan Mountain God. Therefore, the mountain god protects their village. As long as they stay in a house where the mountain god is worshipped, they will not be eaten by the mountain god as offerings.
In other words, now only the villages in the entire Eastern Tianshan Mountains are safe. Even if they manage to escape the pursuit of these rat-men, they will eventually freeze to death in the mountains.
When everyone heard what he said, their hearts sank even further. They understood that there was no way out now.
The swarm of rat-men rushed over like an avalanche, but Lu Ren seemed not to see them at all. He stood like a pine tree in front of the "rat horde," but after he took out his knife, he stared blankly at the strange tree at the entrance of the village.
Seeing the swarm of rat-men charging towards him, Lin Hei lost all will to fight: "If I had known, I would have joined the Hoshino clan in attacking that so-called Goddess Cult."
Bai Zhi swallowed hard. "Let's... let's run. There's still a chance of survival if we escape to the mountains. Are we just going to wait to die if we don't run? Wait, Xiao Lu, why are you, a cultivator, carrying a knife?"
Lu Ren ignored him and just stared quietly at the old tree at the village entrance, where two more corpses had appeared on the tree.
Just a few hours ago, he had said he would take them down the mountain and settle the two young girls in a good place. Now, they were quietly staying with their father in the wind and snow.
The wind and snow were so strong that his face was numb. He wasn't angry at the moment, nor did he want to blame or hate anyone. He didn't even know what had happened.
He just felt a little stuffy in his chest, as if two kittens were scratching at his heart. He looked down and saw that the kittens scratching his heart were the little girl hanging in the tree.
You can't blame him for this. Besides, we couldn't save everyone in the village, so what difference would it make if we saved these two little ones? Although it sounds heartless, that's the truth!
Big brother has tried his best, but there's nothing he can do about encountering the Divine Mother Cult. You can't come looking for big brother at night, because big brother is most afraid of ghosts. At most, big brother will burn more paper money for you when everything calms down.
"You still have a curse on you—" Shen Yaoxing said with some concern.
Lu Ren said something cool: "It's been so long since I've had a fight, I'm about to die of boredom."
Lu Youhe lay listlessly on Ji Liguang's back, but still managed to say, "Lu Ren, when did you become such a violent maniac? I don't remember Mom ever teaching us to be like this."
Lu Ren looked at Shen Yaoxing and asked, "Miss, can the villagers still be saved?"
Shen Yaoxing shook his head. If they hadn't been transformed yet, it would be fine. But for the villagers who had already been transformed into ratmen, living would be more painful than dying.
"Even if I could save them, I wouldn't hold back."
The dark, swarming rat-men, like splashes of ink in the wind and snow, surged toward this place in an endless expanse.
"Three hundred and forty-eight——"
The next moment, to the puzzled gazes of Heishan Gaoyue and his group, this divine cultivator, whose body was weakened by the curse of Dongtian Mountain and who had not made a move for the past few days, suddenly moved.
So fast!
Lin Hei and Bai Zhi couldn't catch a glimpse of him at all. They only felt something explode around them in the wind and snow, and then a trail of afterimages appeared in front of them, leaving a path in the swirling wind.
Li Haoke and Xiao Mei, both physical cultivators, were also startled by this terrifying speed.
Xiao Mei opened her half-closed eyes slightly. Lu Xiaoge's speed wasn't frighteningly fast; at least she could do it too. But it was unbelievable that the other party could unleash such speed when he saw a divine cultivator!
Lu Ren rushed into the black tide; the knife in his hand was not a knife, but a black light.
The blade was invisible; all that could be seen was where it passed. The rat-men flew to either side like chopped firewood.
A claw was about to touch his back when he turned to the side, the knife piercing through his armpit. The rat-man froze in mid-air, then split in two, both sides falling into the snow simultaneously.
In a single glance, two ratmen died by his blade: an old woman and a boy.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Lin Hei was stunned, somewhat unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Isn't he a divine cultivator? Why is he so strong in close combat?!" Bai Zhi stared blankly. "His physique is at least at the Flame-level!"
"Is it a special profession? I've never even heard of it—"
"Impressive, no wonder he was taken as a disciple by a master of the Burning Sun Realm. Impressive, truly amazing!"
Lu Ren felt the texture of these ratmen. They weren't strong. Judging from the numbers, their physical strength was probably on par with Chen Zui back then. He was really arrogant. Chen Zui, whom he had barely managed to defeat with his life on the line, had now become a unit of combat power.
Of course, Chen Zui is skilled in swordsmanship, has combat techniques, and other abilities. These ratmen are definitely not as strong as Chen Zui; they are probably only about one-fifth of Chen Zui's level.
If it weren't for the White Storm's encroachment, the Black Mountain High Moon Squad, with their coordinated tactics, could probably have dealt with this group of ratmen.
Lu Ren wasn't much stronger than them, but he had an advantage that no one else had: under the influence of the sin of gluttony, as long as he consumed the spirit remains, he could resist the erosion of the curse and the white storm.
Seeing more than a dozen of them surround him, Lu Ren took a step back and shouted, "Explode!"
"Unlike Jiang Yueying's explosive effect, Lu Ren's marsh gas explosion was a simple shock wave. The violent explosion swirled up the snow underfoot into a white mist several feet high."
The people behind couldn't see clearly, but could hear the sounds of fighting coming from within the white mist, followed by a series of explosions, and white mist billowing up in front of them.
Hidden in the fog were the sounds of fighting, the clash of knives, and the unconscious, dreamlike cries and pleas for mercy from the rat people.
In the snow and mist, a rat-man lunged at him. Lu Ren dodged to the side and slashed his knife upwards, splitting the rat-man in two mid-air. Hot blood spurted out, splashing onto his face and dripping down his chin.
Lu Ren didn't stop, he continued to charge forward, and with a sweep of his knife to the side, the claws and body of the creature behind him separated, and it fell into the snow, creating a crater in the snow from which steam rose.
His calves were covered in dark red, blackish-black welts, which were plastered on his skin. The clothes on his back were also tattered, indicating that they had been scratched at some point.
Lu Ren didn't have time to look, and another one pounced from the side. He swung his knife in a backhand motion, and the head and neck of that one were separated. Its body was still rushing forward, and it took three steps before it collapsed.
Ten, twenty, fifty—
"Ahem!"
Lu Ren grinned maliciously: "You stupid dog, trying to sneak up on me?"
In just over 10 minutes of fighting, he had killed seventy or eighty ratmen, and the corpses on the ground were already piling up.
Behind them, Heishan Gaoyue and his group swallowed hard: "Wow, that's amazing—"
Xiao Mei was also shocked. It was the first time she had ever seen such a battle. "He alone is worth an entire Silver-level squad, isn't he?"
"Is it just my imagination? Why does it seem like Brother Lu is getting faster and faster?!"
"Yes, yes, I think so too, and why even bother swearing—"
This was certainly not an illusion; Lu Ren was indeed becoming faster, stronger, and more powerful in his spells.
Cursed by the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, he needs to gorge himself to suppress the curse under the influence of the white storm. However, right now he needs to gorge himself to restore his strength, and the lack of suppression will exacerbate the curse.
Logically, he should be getting weaker and weaker, but as long as he replenishes his spirit bones in time, he can quickly restore his mana. At the same time, because the curse causes him to lose health, the rage buff keeps stacking.
The rage buff, which was originally controlled at around 30%, kept climbing, and the stronger the rage buff became, the more severe the curse he suffered.
In other words, the more severe the weakening, the greater the amplification, and the greater the amplification, the more severe the weakening—he stepped on his own two feet and ascended to heaven on the spot!
When the growth rate reached 80%, Lu Ren felt like he was invincible!
He's going to be invincible again!
Lu Ren felt extremely exhilarated. He was already dumbfounded as he watched Black Mountain Gao Yue and the others kill. Not to mention that they were in terrible condition, they believed that even without the White Storm's influence, they could not have been this crazy.
The physique of a Flame Warrior, the defense of a Shield Warrior, the spellcasting ability of a Mage, and inexhaustible stamina; a single move unleashes wind, fire, thunder, and lightning, and a blade's strike leaves limbs severed.
Not to mention them, even Ji Liguang and the others were frightened by Lu Ren's terrifying combat power. If you think about it carefully, it seems that this is the first time Lu Ren has gone all out since breaking through to the Fire Realm.
Of course, Lu Ren is not actually strong. Even now, with the buff of rage, each of his attributes is only around 800 to 900. However, because he has no weaknesses, it means that he can absolutely crush any opponent who is weaker or less powerful than him!
Blade flashes, explosions, exhilarating combat!
Seeing his bloodthirsty expression, Shen Yaoxing behind him couldn't help but worry and called out, "Lu Ren, how are you feeling?"
"It's never been this good!"
When the white mist dissipated, several more rat-man corpses lay on the ground.
His left hand was gripping the neck of a rat-man. From the untorn clothes and the few remaining facial features, Lu Ren could recognize that this was the village chief of Yanxi Village.
"Master, master, it hurts so much—"
There was no chance of saving the rat-men; they were essentially brain dead. However, they still clung to some lingering thoughts from their previous lives, uttering words of pleading, but these were nothing more than meaningless babbling.
Lu Ren was not giving up. He grabbed Lu Ren by the neck and asked, "Do you remember what the person who turned you into this looked like? And who did those two little girls in the tree? I'll avenge you."
"It hurts so much, it hurts so much—"
Seeing several more ratmen surrounding him, Lu Ren gritted his teeth, and a muffled explosion came from his hand, ending their lives.
However, just as he was about to create some distance, he noticed an individual among the ratmen whose speed was clearly unusual.
Something significantly faster than the other ratmen attacked him through the snowstorm.
"Kuchi Luren slightly opened his eyes, and the wooden sword in his hand collided with something. His sword was actually grabbed by a rat-man's hand, or rather, it was just that the hand bone briefly blocked his blade.
But that's not the point. The point is, this rat-man suddenly started talking.
His voice was sinister as he said, "Those two little girls, they died a terrible death. When we caught them, they thought we were playing with them—"
The next second, the head in front of Lu Ren flew off like a ball.
He looked remorseful, "How could I have killed him so easily? I should have arrested him and questioned him!"
Ten meters away, the same voice came again. Zishu, as if he'd heard a hilarious joke, said mockingly, "You think you can kill me? Haha, young man—"
Zishu's vision blurred. Just moments ago, the young man was clearly more than ten meters away, but in the blink of an eye, he was already in front of him. The raised black knife was halfway through the air, and the arm flying through the air was gripped tightly by an iron claw-like hand: "Come on, continue telling me, how did you kill those two little brats?"
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