Volcanic Age

Chapter 216: Kongtong's Demon Slayer (2)

Screech!

Dark brown wings cut through the sky in a horizontal streak. The sight of the powerful wings occasionally flapping was beautiful.

The battlefield reflected in the eagle's sharp eyes, searching for prey.

The Kongtong Sect advanced in a wedge formation, cutting down anyone in their path. The Blood Cultists fell like autumn leaves to their swords.

Thanks to their strength, the Kongtong Sect reached the center of the battlefield without facing any obstacles.

Although the Martial Alliance had momentarily split into two groups, Tou Zhong quickly rallied his troops and hurried to follow the Kongtong Sect.

“Stop! It’s a trap! It’s a trap!”

It was a trap!

Zhou Xuchuan's voice rang out desperately, his shout strong enough to rival the Shaolin Temple's Lion Roar.

Despite the chaos of the battlefield, his voice echoed through the mountains and pierced the ears of the Righteous Faction warriors.

“Halt! Halt!”

Tou Zhong, who had been calling for an advance just moments before, instinctively shouted for a stop. Startled by the power in Zhou Xuchuan's voice, the word “stop” escaped his mouth before he realized it.

Why is he stopping us all of a sudden?!

Tou Zhong frowned in displeasure, turning to demand an explanation. But the moment he looked back, his irritation quickly turned into relief.

“Agh!!”

"Below us! There's something underground!"

Rumble!

The ground shook as pebbles and rocks flew into the air. Cracks split open, and hands covered in sand emerged from below.

Human and skeletal hands grabbed the ankles of the Kongtong Sect martial artists who were charging forward.

“Ugh!”

“Agk!”

They fell, some breaking noses, others vomiting blood as their disrupted qi flows caused internal injuries.

"Jiangshi! So you've hidden them under the ground, too!"

Zhi Yunbo rolled away, breaking free from the hand gripping his ankle. He drove his sword into the ground.

Squelch!

What appeared to be solid rock split apart, oozing blackened blood that seeped into the sand.

Thud, thud, thud!

The jiangshi hiding in the ground jumped out, hundreds of them forming a secondary battle line.

To make matters worse, the blood cultists who had lost their lives at the hands of the Kongtong Sect were resurrected as jiangshi and joined them.

Just as Zhou Xuchuan had warned, the Kongtong Sect had walked into a trap.

The Mount Heng Sect, supporting them from behind, was also caught in the ambush.

“Change formation!”

Zhi Yunbo calmly gave the order without panicking.

Those still able to move formed a defensive circle around their forces, but it was clear—they were surrounded.

The only entrance, the path that they had made, was blocked by the jiangshi that had emerged from the ground.

"You think these tricks will scare me? This is nothing but wasted effort!" Zhi Yunbo snorted, slicing through the neck of a jiangshi in front of him.

Even if his personality or character were questionable, his status as one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven would never be questioned. His cultivation and commanding skills were excellent.

"As the First Demon Slaying Sword said! Disciples of Mount Heng, don't panic and respond calmly!"

Shui Jing responded similarly. Her voice had the power to reassure the disciples of the Kongtong Sect and Mount Heng Sect.

It wasn't for nothing that both of their sects had sent them as elites. While people could have doubted everything else, their skills were unquestionable.

However, their mistake was their arrogance. They underestimated their enemies, which was a fatal flaw.

"Huh?"

A Kongtong Sect disciple suddenly looked up.

Woosh!

The sandy ground collapsed beneath him, and a geyser of sand shot upward as another hand emerged.

He expected it to grab his ankle like before, but this time was different.

The hand grabbed his leg and pulled him straight into the ground like a water ghost.[/ref]Ghosts of people who drowned that haunt bodies of water and drag victims under the water and drown them. The most similar monster in western fantasy is a grindylow.[/ref]

“Ahh!”

The disciple was swallowed by the sand as if sinking into quicksand. Terror gripped him.

Bang!

"For starters, everyone should use their qi sense to scan the ground."

Zhou Xuchuan changed the way he circulated his qi. He activated his sixth sense and peered into the ground within a three-zhang radius.

While he didn't know everything about the Mole Demonic Art, he knew that the practitioners moved through earth veins and the best method would be to check the flow of qi flowing underground.

As they moved closer to help the isolated Kongtong and Mount Heng Sect disciples, another one or two of them were dragged underground as the Blood Cult blocked their way.

"You're in the way!"

Zhou Xuchuan slid forward, the sword in his hand swinging brilliantly as it released sword qi.

The bundle of sword qi scattered into the air, leaving sword marks on the surrounding cultists and spraying blood everywhere.

"If you have the qi to spare, direct it toward your Yongquan acupoint and release it gradually! That alone can affect the earth veins and hinder the movements of the Demonic Mole Squadron!"

Zhou Xuchuan raised his voice, trying to get the others to hear him. While it wasn't as loud as his shouting, it was loud enough because his voice had been imbued with qi.

"Then, they’ll react in one of two ways! Either they'll stop...!"

Swish!

While he was shouting, he felt movement underground.

Sending qi through the Yongquan acupoint on the soles of one's feet to the earth veins might hinder the movements of the mole cultists, but it wouldn't make them immobile. Unless they were directly under one's soles, they would just turn around.

Even if they were frozen under one's soles, the nearby mole cultists would go to the frozen point through another vein to remove the cause of the vein’s obstruction.

"Or they'll try to fight you!"

Zhou Xuchuan stamped his foot as he spoke.

He didn’t simply tap the ground, he used the Thousand Catty Ballast technique to increase his weight.

BOOM!

An explosion of qi erupted from his Yongquan acupoint. The Qi erupted from his Yongquan acupoint, sending shockwaves through the earth. The rocks beneath shattered.

As the ground exploded, the hand of the mole cultist, which was about to rise out from the depths, was crushed.

“Seize the moment well, and don’t miss the finishing blow!”

Zhou Xuchuan flicked his wrist, reversing reversing his grip on his sword and stabbing downward with all his strength. The sword pierced the ground and stabbed the mole cultist.

“It’s easy, right? Let’s save our allies this way!”

While enemies attacked him from the front, he avoided them with minimal movement without even looking at them.

He pulled his sword free and swung it in a wide arc, creating a crimson fog of blood.

"..."

The people watching from behind were speechless.

How the hell do you expect me to do that?!

While activating qi sense wasn’t difficult, detecting underground enemies while fending off attacks was nearly impossible for anyone below the Transcendent Realm.

The Milky Way Sage, Qiu Feng, Tou Zhong, and the others at the Transcendent Realm or higher were somehow able to follow along, but the other warriors were barely even able to attempt it.

Fortunately, most of the mole cultists were gathered in the middle of the Kongtong Sect and Mount Heng Sect disciples, meaning that the experts could take charge.

Good! They're weaker than I thought!

In his previous life, he had struggled desperatelyto block them, but it was different in this life. There was no difficulty.

At this rate, Zhou Xuchuan thought he could easily break through and rescue his allies in danger.

However...

Swoosh!

A sharp sound cut through the air, carrying a chill that sent shivers down Zhou Xuchuan’s spine.

Zhou Xuchuan bent his waist as if he were lying down, only moving his eyes to check.

A yanyuedao?

It was a single yanyuedao aimed at his upper body. He looked over to who its owner was, but it was an unfamiliar face.

The man's face had a slight bluish tint, but his eyes looked dead, making it hard to tell if he was a human or a jiangshi.

"Crescent Lake Gate Master!" someone recognized him and shouted.

You Xiaofeng!

Zhou Xuchuan twisted his waist, his flesh and muscles folding in. The sword he was holding also drew a semicircle along with his waist. Because of the length of the yanyuedao, he couldn't attack the Crescent Lake Gate Master's body, so instead, he aimed for the wrist holding the weapon.

Clang!

My sword bounced off?

Zhou Xuchuan’s eyes widened.

You Xiaofeng wasn't a physical cultivation expert, so there was only one explanation.

Damn it! He turned a Harmony Realm Master into a jiangshi!