Following the attack from Tun Ri, a ma.s.sive, black silhouette appeared before their eyes. The Night Peddler had the appearance of an owl and it appeared above Tun Ri with a flash. Next, its sharp claws swiped down at Tun Ri.
Shua!
A beam of sword light slashed the Night Peddler"s body and it instantly burst into a cloud of blood. However, the faint silhouette of the Night Peddler could still be seen within the cloud of blood and it released a grating cry, only disappearing after some time.
“Careful, there are more Night Peddlers around!” The battle lance in Tun Ri"s hand abruptly stabbed forward, instantly killing off a Night Peddler that was 1,000 zhang away from them.
Ear-piercing sounds began sweeping forward from every direction. A soundwave attack was the most common type of attack that a Night Peddler possessed. Its sound attack was most capable of interfering with its opponent"s soul and reducing their combat power.
“Usually, Night Peddlers would not appear alone. What I am puzzled about here is how so many Night Peddlers could make their way in. Have the arrays fallen?” Da Feng felt curious.
“If that"s the case, we"re as good as dead,” Tian Wu said, firing out three black astral blades in quick succession to kill off three Night Peddlers.
“These d.a.m.ned creatures are not that strong, but they are very annoying.” Tun Ri became somewhat vexed. Everyone there had sustained serious injuries, resulting in a dip in their strength. Taking on the Night Peddlers" soundwave attacks at a time like this caused their hearts to grow apprehensive and their minds wavered.
“Don"t be careless! There could be a powerful Night Peddler!” Da Feng had only just said that when a wretched cry rang out from afar. A mid-level Heavenly Immortal had been killed by the Night Peddlers.
A spatial pa.s.sageway opened up and Tie Zhen led tens of men back into the valley. Even before the pa.s.sageway closed, they had found themselves under attack by the Night Peddlers.
“Sword Net Attack!” Tie Zhen shouted, the battle lance in his hand already stabbing one of the Night Peddlers, killing it.
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
The tens of cultivators fired out streams of sword energy, which intertwined to form a net. The net expanded and shrank, again and again, and it did not take long before several Night Peddlers died to this move.
“Night Peddlers! How could these d.a.m.ned creatures be here?” Tie Zhen shouted.
Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!
Suddenly, a gigantic and formidable Night Peddler appeared. Its thick and sharp talon abruptly swiped to rip a large hole through the net of sword energy.
Tie Zhen rapidly rushed forward. Brandis.h.i.+ng his battle lance, he fought against the Night Peddler several rounds before successfully killing it. Even so, the fight had left Tie Zhen with two deep wounds. Additionally, he was quick to notice a peculiar poison wreaking havoc within his body.
“It"s poisonous! And its combat power was at the high-level Heavenly Immortal stage!” Tie Zhen grew somewhat concerned. Normally, even a whole group of Night Peddlers would not be an issue for them. But the present situation was different. Tun Ri and the others here were already wounded. Just unleas.h.i.+ng 20 to 30% of their original strength would already be a decent feat for them.
“This doesn"t look good.” Tie Zhen then led several men, forming a team to charge forward, killing off several more Night Peddlers.
One by one, more teams returned to the valley. Grouping up, they a.s.sumed a formation to repel the Night Peddlers, which kept increasing in number.
In addition to the Night Peddlers, there were also some hidden human a.s.sa.s.sins. These a.s.sa.s.sins would keep on appearing, giving Tun Ri"s group a great deal of troubles.
“Looks like the masterminds have no plans to reveal themselves. They plan on letting these hired desperadoes finish us off. What a bitter end!” The pale Xuan Feng was still very pessimistic about their situation.
“Although things are dire, it is not yet at the point where certain death is inevitable. Brightmoon, Xuan Feng, you two take the lead and establish a link with the Celestial Longevity Plane,” Da Feng said.
“That"s all we can do now.” Brightmoon nodded.
With Brightmoon and Xuan Feng as the epicentre, over a hundred cultivators spread out in a circle. At the same time, wondrous energy waves emerged from the depths of their divine senses. The energy waves then spread out at a velocity that transcended s.p.a.ce-time.
Boom!
An invisible pa.s.sageway opened up and the aura and power of the Celestial Longevity Plane poured down and all the Night Peddlers within the range of the power were repelled. Next, Tun Ri"s group easily killed off the numerous a.s.sa.s.sins and attacking cultivators from the Immortal Plane, ripping them to shreds.
Thanks to the bolstering power from the Celestial Longevity Plane, the wounded cultivators were able to swiftly recover while those who were not wounded experienced an increase in their combat power.
In but half a breath"s worth of time, the power that Tun Ri could unleash had increased by 10%.
Boom!
Just a few more moments and all the wounded cultivators there would be able to fully recover. And yet, to their surprise, the pa.s.sageway had – without any warning – closed up on its own.
“Someone intervened. This person is an expert! An ordinary half-step Gold Immortal would have a hard time doing this. If it"s a Gold Immortal behind all this, then even in death, I will feel honoured.” Da Feng sneered.
A sharp screech rang out to shake the entire valley and Tun Ri"s group felt as though countless blades had shot into their seas of wisdom to ceaselessly slice and destroy their soul powers. Several of the relatively weaker cultivators there instantly died, blood flowing out from their seven orifices.
“This is bad! It"s a Night Peddler at the half-step Gold Immortal stage!” Tun Ri"s face sank and his final Blazing Sun appeared in his hand. Da Feng, Brightmoon and the rest attacked at the same time. However, a sharp talon appeared to shatter all their attacks with one swipe.
“Tun Ri, it"s been a while!” A familiar voice echoed throughout the valley.
“Ta Luotian! It"s you!” It was then that they noticed a middle-aged cultivator standing atop the Night Peddler. It was none other than Ta Luotian, who managed to flee with a strand of his primary spirit after his body was shattered back then.
“You fellows didn"t think I"d return so soon, did you? Last time, you fellows ambushed me. This time, I will have you fellows suffer a fate worse than death!” Ta Luotian said viciously. After that, he extended his hand and pointed. Following that, a torrential river – formed by over a hundred Night Peddlers – charged towards Tun Ri"s group.
Sou!
The final Blazing Sun in Tun Ri"s hand flew forward. Its explosion would inflict a critical blow to the Night Peddlers. But a talisman suddenly flashed forward and s.p.a.ce shook. Next, the Blazing Sun – an object filled with a formidable power of devastation – simply disappeared.
“A Great s.h.i.+ft Talisman refined by a Gold Immortal!” Tun Ri hissed through clenched teeth.
“Did you fellows think that I would be as careless as before? I had to pay a great price in order to deal with your skills!” Ta Luotian laughed loudly.
A second torrent of river appeared. This time, it was composed entirely of human cultivators.
Another torrent of river appeared. This one was composed of a.s.sa.s.sins. This one was even more lethal.
“Go all out!” Tun Ri took a deep breath and transformed to his original form of a divine dragon. Following that, he charged towards one of the torrents of river, burning his essence power at the same time.
However, Da Feng was faster. Transforming into his divine bird form, he rushed forward, placing himself before Tun Ri.
“Tun Ri, this is mine. You should just stay behind me.”
“Nonsense! You"re just trying to commit suicide here!” Tun Ri"s face sank. He knew that Da Feng was truly going all out. And yet, there was no way he could out speed Da Feng. Thus, all he could do was to shout furiously.
Meanwhile, Tian Wu and Tie Zhen rushed towards the other torrential river. Chaotic clas.h.i.+ng sounds rang out and the torrential rivers burst apart before utterly engulfing Tun Ri and the others.
Lives kept falling.
“Ha ha ha ha ha! Don"t be hasty! Today, not a single one of you can escape!” Ta Luotian said.
In that small area, neither side was maintaining a formation. Instead, it was a chaotic battle, where streams of light flashed and energy streams roiled. Magic treasures flew around haphazardly and sword beams filled the surrounding s.p.a.ce. Someone would die with every pa.s.sing second.
Tun Ri and the others were in a completely disadvantageous position. It was just a matter of time before they were wiped out.
“Longevity Celestial, are you still not going to come out? All your companions are about to die!” Ta Luotian shouted loudly, wave after wave of his words spreading out to reach a radius of billions of li.
But even if his voice were to spread across the entire Immortal Plane, Chen Feng, who was presently deeply immersed in cultivation, would be incapable of hearing it.
It did, however, bring over the reinforcements from the Six Daos Sword Faction. This time, the Six Daos Sword Faction had dispatched Dao Monarch Secularism, Dao Monarch Asura, Dao Monarch h.e.l.l and Dao Monarch Sovereign Fire, a total of four half-step Gold Immortals for this. The four of them led over a hundred Heavenly Immortals over. This force represented the determination of the Six Daos Sword Faction. It was also the most that they could divert over given their immediate situation.
Dao Monarch Heavensdao and the others had remained to defend the sect. Rather, they dared not recklessly leave. Having dispatched this force out, the Six Daos Sword Faction was presently at its weakest state.
Amongst the Dao Monarchs, Dao Monarch Asura loved fighting and carnage the most. Upon arriving, he brandished his sword and charged towards Ta Luotian, who was up in the sky. The torrent of power from his sword swept out, killing several cultivators in its wake.
“So, your Six Daos Sword Faction finally decided to take action in the end. A pity, you fellows are too foolish. To think that you would only make up your mind now. Don"t you think that it"s already too late for that?” Ta Luotian did not appear too shocked to see the Six Daos Sword Faction enter the battle. It would appear that he had long since expected this.
In the face of Dao Monarch Asura"s attack, the Night Peddler that Ta Luotian was riding released a strange soundwave before swiftly evading. Ta Luotian had no intentions of fighting Dao Monarch Asura.
“It"s not too late. Not too late to kill you fellows!” The sword in Dao Monarch Asura"s hand swung down. It was a simplistic move, but the result was anything but simple. The soundwave that the Night Peddler fired out was cut in half. Next, the sword beam split into two before transforming into pliable ribbons to chase after Ta Luotian.
“It"s too late! If your Six Daos Sword Faction had chosen to join in right from the beginning, you may have had a chance to struggle for survival. But now, your sect will have to die alongside them,” Ta Luotian said, a clump of light suddenly bursting out from his hand. In the face of the brilliant radiance, all the arrays there were melted away; even s.p.a.ce was not exempted. All that was left there was a voluminous black hole. After that, a silvery-white war s.h.i.+p flew out.
The coercive and formidable aura of a Divine artifact swept forward and it fired out a scarlet-red pillar of light. The power of devastation contained within this attack caused the eyelids of Dao Monarch Asura and the others to twitch. Next, the pillar of light swept towards them. Several of them failed to dodge in time and were instantly incinerated to nothingness.
“Hurry up and evade! That"s a high-grade energy cannon!” As Dao Monarch Asura shouted, he brought out an unremarkable clump of soil. Only the size of a fist, it then flew out from his hand and swiftly grew in size, where its viscous and thick attributes helped them block the pillar of light.
Surprisingly, the pillar of light that was seemingly capable of incinerating everything – even cultivators – were stopped by the ever-expanding soil.
The scarlet-red light of devastation worked on melting away the soil, but the soil simply kept expanding to finally envelop the pillar of light. At the same time, drop-like clumps of soil also fell off the soil. Every drop would fall upon a cultivator from their side to instantly transform into a suit of armour, bolstering their defensive power.
1 zhang = 3.333 m
1 li = 0.5 km