by <unknown>
Two seconds!
The Gold Shadow Guardians and the Blade of Chaos all stretched out their claws and teeth slowly while they unsheathed their weapons. Weird noises of flesh being torn apart and bones being twisted were echoing inside their bodies, which kept expanding. Their spurs protruded out of their skin, and their hair was lengthened significantly. Their faces were deformed, demonstrating more of the features of ferocious animals. An intense air of killing was flowing around them.
The forest ten square kilometers nearby was caught in dead silence. All the wild animals within the range lurked in their nests, not having the courage to move anywhere.
Further away, the scared birds were fleeing away amid cackles.
"Hooo!"
When the demonic energy of the two parties was released to the maximum and they all turned into walking ferocious beasts, a wolf demon of the Blade of Chaos could not withstand the pressure anymore and lunged at the Gold Shadow Guardian that was closest to him.
"Hu!"
The eagles staying on the top of the trees spurted out crimson rays of light that turned into horrifying lotuses of magma in the crowd of the Blade of Chaos.
Bloody brightness was blinking in Li Yao's eyes as he squatted. In half a second, he would dash toward Jin Xinyue!
Right then, an abrupt change took place!
Almost ten shadows dashed out of the earth that was covered by leaves near Jin Xinyue. Almost a hundred thin threads that were emitting spooky colors under the illumination of the flames surged out of the shadows. Apparently, they had been coated in deadly poison!
Somebody was lurking in the underground and attempting to assassinate Jin Xinyue!
Jin Xinyue truly deserved her title as a saintess of the Pantheon of Demons and the youngest demon king of the Blood Demon Sector. She sniffed, and her bright gold wings abruptly unfolded. They were both like two broad shields and two swift sabers that turned into dozens of streaks of golden brightness and darted toward the shadows near her.
In the blink of an eye, all the black shadows were chopped into multiple pieces before they even had the chance to scream.
However, Jin Xinyue's glamorous golden wings were corrupted by the colorful poison, too. With burning sounds, black smoke was popping up, and the feathers were rotting, leaving ugly holes on her wings.
Li Yao secretly cursed and managed to stop himself from lunging out.
Jin Xinyue had escaped the assassination, but her subordinates were not so lucky.
Three to four shadows dashed out of the mud and trees near almost every Gold Shadow Guardian. Caught unprepared, all the Gold Shadow Guardians were heavily wounded!
The giant eagles staying on the top of the trees screamed miserably, too, because countless venomous bugs had been lurking on the trees and were dashing into the feathers of the eagles, biting, gnawing, and releasing lethal poison!
For a moment, a foul stench was blowing inside the forest. Disgusting air could be smelt everywhere.
Li Yao secret clicked his tongue. Even he did not notice that so many demons had been lurking inside the forest. The stealth ability of the demons was even higher than that of Spider's Thorn on Spider Den!
Is it a trap of the Blade of Chaos?
Li Yao observed carefully and found that those chopped into pieces by Jin Xinyue were demons that half looked like human beings and half insects. They seemed to have been made by transplanting the torsos of human beings onto spiders, scorpions, and centipedes.
The demons were extremely tenacious. Even when they were cut into multiple pieces, they were not necessarily dead. Red blood as well as green, weird liquids flowed out of their wounds, vaporizing into venomous mist the moment they touched air.
Li Yao thought that it was the Blade of Chaos' trap, but ten or so half-human-half-insect demons lunged at Ning Zhongze after they assaulted the Gold Shadow Guardians.
Two members of the Blade of Chaos stood in their way, only to be ripped into pieces by the new demons with their limbs that were as sharp as blades!
Jin Xinyue seemed to know the identity of the assassins. The bewilderment on her face flashed and was soon replaced by fury. She raised her voice and shouted, "Yuan Hao, what's the meaning of this? Is the Nether Spring Kingdom declaring a total war on the Gold Crow Kingdom?"
Weird laughter echoed inside the forest, but nobody replied. Soon, blood-freezing hums filled the clearing, as if countless honeycombs had been broken at the same time and a swarm of bees was rushing out!
Li Yao raised his head only to find dozens of deep purple tornadoes that looked like half-frozen blood sweeping down amid restless humming sounds.
The giant eagles staying on the top of the trees were tortured by the venomous insects and rendered unable to fly. The purple tornadoes crashed into them and consumed them, turning them into enormous purple lumps.
The purple lumps wriggled, struggled, and fluctuated. The giant eagles screamed miserably. The scorching flames they spurted out burnt the trees into ash one after another, but they could not clear the venomous insects, which were attached to them like parasites.
After a few seconds, the purple tornadoes dispersed. The only thing left in the middle were skeletons riddled with holes. They collapsed to the ground with rattling noises.
It was only then that Li Yao realized that the purple tornadoes consisted of mosquitoes larger than dragonflies. The wings of the purple mosquitoes were translucent and multi-colored. Six eyes in a weird pattern could be found on them, too.
Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes?
Li Yao gasped.
Before his spiritual root was awakened, he had once encountered a beast tide outbreak on a train to the Grand Desolate Plateau. The beast tide made of the Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes had almost caused a catastrophe. Seven Cultivators had sacrificed themselves in order to delay their attack. In the end, crystal warships had to be deployed in order to annihilate all the Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes.
Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes were the strengthened version of the Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes. Only after feeding on the bodily fluids of multiple kinds of venomous insects mixed with the blood of dozens of demon beasts could one Ghost Face Purple Mosquito be born out of thousands of Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes.
For Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes, there had to be thousands of them in order to deal sufficient damage.
But one Ghost Face Purple Mosquito was enough to kill a strong demon beast!
Here, so many Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes had been gathered. What a terrifying strength it was!
Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!
After swallowing the giant eagles, the purple brightness around the Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes was even more eye-catching, as if weird purple flames were burning around them. They congregated into purple torrents and flooded toward the Gold Shadow Guardians and the Blade of Chaos.
If the Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes so much as touched them, regardless of whether they were the Gold Shadow Guardians or the Blade of Chaos, only their skeleton would be left.
"Ning Zhongze!"
Jin Xinyue's face blanched, and she yelled, "Do you see? Elder Neither Spring's subordinates are going to kill us both!
"If the item is in my hands, maybe it can still be put into use in the future. However, if it falls into the Elder Nether Spring's control, you will be hopeless!
"Hurry up and give me the item!"
Ning Zhongze's beard quivered. He failed to come up with anything for a long time, but he could not help but look at a colorful leopard that was standing like a human being.
"So, it is kept by you. Now give it to me!"
Jin Xinyue flapped her wings. Dozens of clusters of dark golden flames immediately darted toward the Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes as if they were alive.
The Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes were surrounded by purple halos, and they were not scared of normal flames. The giant eagles had also been wreathed in fire, but the Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes had not been hurt at all.
However,
the dark golden fire that Jin Xinyue fanned out was like a pesticide to the Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes. Those that were hit by the fire were ignited immediately and turned into fireflies.
Jin Xinyue took the opportunity to lunge toward the leopard man. "Give it to me!"
Her wings seemed more agile than her hands. They swept at the leopard man within her wings before the demon was crushed!
Ning Zhongze and the leopard man both screamed.
Jin Xinyue smiled. Her wings brought back a tiny bloody ball that looked like a heart. Her eyes beaming with interest, she mumbled to herself, "Is this what's making Elder Nether Spring unable to sleep at night?"
"Watch out!" Ning Zhongze furrowed his eyebrow and shouted loudly, "It is very unstable. Don't break it no matter what!"
Chapter 844: Sharpness of the Foreign Blood |
Hardly had he given his warning when the withered tree behind Jin Xinyue turned into what seemed to be a human being. The dry branches turned into sharp limbs, which pierced toward the middle of Jin Xinyue's wings!
The demon that looked like dry wood, a beetle, and a human being was covered in multiple layers of gray and brown armor. Except for his arms that were particularly long, almost ten blade limbs had grown out of his ribs and his back. His legs were twisted backwards, but his speed was unbelievably high.
His attack was as quick as a lightning, but Jin Xinyue seemed to have grown eyes on the back of her head. Her golden wings slashed at the knees of the demon, one from left and the other from right, like two fast sabers.
"Yuan Hao, I knew you'd been hiding here!"
The demon named 'Yuan Hao' seemed to be caught off guard by Jin Xinyue's sudden counterattack. He hurriedly aborted his attack and dashed backward.
However, a sharp thorn suddenly protruded out of the ground where Jin Xinyue was standing and pierced through her foot!
Jin Xinyue gasped because of the excruciating pain. She fled back to the forest, but another ten or so sharp thorns spurted out of the ground again and blocked her path of escape like haunting ghosts.
Yuan Hao, who had just retreated, stomped on a giant tree and lunged at her again with the counterforce amid hideous laughter.
The two of them passed each other. Jin Xinyue grunted. Countless feathers fell off from her to the ground slowly like golden scales.
Like a wounded crane, Jin Xinyue stood on a branch on one foot while she eyed the insects crawling out of the earth, her sweet smile entirely gone. She gnashed her teeth. "Yuan Du!"
Jin Xinyue was certainly not as tranquil as she appeared to be.
Yuan Du and Yuan Hao were both princes of the Nether Spring Kingdom. They were also Elder Nether Spring's most distinguished disciples and both in the level of demon king.
She might have been confident if she had to deal one of them, but her odds of winning were little to none when she was faced with the two of them at the same time.
Besides, the Nether Spring Kingdom was a nation of the underground Insect Clan. In a forest with rough terrain, the Insect Clan boasted natural advantages. The Feathered Clan, including Jin Xinyue, soared in the sky and was known for its speed. They could not make use of their advantages in a forest.
What did the Blade of Chaos steal from Elder Nether Spring exactly? He has sent his two most distinguished disciples to hunt it down after such a long trip even at the cost of the invaluable Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes!
Every Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes was more precious than a regular demon beast. In every battle, it was not uncommon for hundreds of Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes to be killed. Even though Elder Nether Spring was one of the twelve demon emperors, he would not use the Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes randomly.
Jin Xinyue glanced over the entire battlefield. Inside the dim forest, the Gold Shadow Guardians that she had brought with her had mostly been killed by the sudden assault of the Insect Clan, especially those who died of blood loss because of the absorption of the Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes. They were nothing but skeletons and could not have looked more miserable.
Jin Xinyue secretly cursed. She glanced at the sky, too, which was blocked by the dense crowns of trees. She was quite certain that the crowns of the trees must have been packed with deadly venomous bugs. She could even feel that lethal poison was dripping from the tops of the trees slowly.
Yuan Du, prince of the Nether Spring Kingdom who crawled out of the earth just now, was just as ugly as other insect demons. He looked like a tall human being who was wearing bionic armor. Glamorous stripes were spotted on the finely-made shell of the armor, which were emanating splendid colors despite the dimness of the forest.
Two long horns that looked like spears were protruding from his face, which was also covered in the shell. He looked rather handsome by the standard of human beings.
However, a hint of evilness was flowing in his eyes, and his eyeballs were flickering all the time, which made whoever saw him feel that there were bugs crawling all over their heart.
"Yuan Du, Yuan Hao, you two brothers are really outrageous!" Jin Xinyue shouted. "Are you not afraid of a total war between the Gold Crow Kingdom and the Nether Spring Kingdom after this?"
Yuan Du and Yuan Hao looked like each other with a smile. Yuan Du extended his hand to Jin Xinyue and said casually, "Give it to me."
His voice was dull and thick, mixed with humming noises, as if a cluster of earth was stuffed in his throat.
Jin Xinyue rolled her eyes and giggled. "Yuan Hao, as I recall, weren't you the one in charge of the pursuit of the item? Why is your big brother here, too? It seems that Elder Nether Spring does not trust you at all. But it makes sense, too. Everybody knows that your brother is the real powerful one in the Nether Spring Kingdom; you are just his lackey! Even in front of Elder Nether Spring, your brother has always been the one that your master likes more. This time, it is still your brother who finished the hunting task and retrieved the ultimate treasure. It seems that his position in the Nether Spring Kingdom and in the eyes of Elder Nether Spring is even more unshakable now, isn't it?"
Yuan Hao was dazed for a moment. His grin somehow turned rigid.
Yuan Du burst into fury. "Jin Xinyue, what are you talking about?"
Jin Xinyue was smiling even more delightedly. "Fine. Today, I miscalculated and fell into your trap. It does not matter that I must give away the item now, but I will only give it to you, Yuan Hao!"
Before the two princes of the Nether Spring Kingdom responded, Jin Xinyue raised her hand, and a streak of redness rushed toward Yuan Hao.
Yuan Hao intended to pick up the object out of natural instincts, but Yuan Du simply retreated without a comment.
Yuan Hao's reaction was slower. He tried his best to stop, but there was already no time. After a boom, a dark golden fireball burst out into countless flames in the shape of feathers that pierced through the trunks and the bodies of demons like the sharpest blade, hurting and killing the Blade of Chaos, the demons from the Nether Spring Kingdom, and those from the Gold Crow Kingdom indiscriminately!
It was not the item that they were chasing after at all but a bomb refined out of a demon core!
"If I can't get the item, nobody is going to get it!"
Jin Xinyue dashed toward the depths of the forest after lighthearted giggles. She turned into a streak of brightness and stretched her wings out to the maximum, felling all the giant trees near her like two sharp sabers, blocking the way of her pursuers as the trees fell to the ground!
"After her!"
Brutality beamed out of the eyes of the two princes of the Nether Spring Kingdom. Yuan Hao blew a whistle made of the empty shell of a cicada. With the weird sound, the dozens of Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes congregated into furiously burning ghost heads, their uneven surfaces wriggling for a long time. They darted toward Jin Xinyue like lightning!
In a primitive forest with dense trees, a pair of wings dozens of meters long was definitely a burden. The giant trees deep inside the Hundred Desolation Mountain had grown for th
ousands of years and were more than ten meters in diameter, not to mention that they were as hard as steel.
Sharp as Jin Xinyue's wings might have been, the brightness on them dimmed significantly after she slashed through hundreds of giant trees.
Jin Xinyue meant to soar into the sky many times, only to be pushed back by the ghost heads made of the Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes. Besides, many insects of the Nether Spring Kingdom were adept at flying, too. If she flew to the sky where there was no cover, it was even more likely that she would be attacked collectively.
Pu!
After shattering the ghost heads made of the Ghost Face Purple Mosquitoes for the seventh time, Jin Xinyue finally could not hold it any longer and vomited a mouthful of blood, the aura around her quickly fading.
Yuan Du and Yuan Hao grinned hideously and launched fatal attacks. Thin greenness was dyed to the tips of their blade limbs while a foul smell was spreading out from the stinky wind raised by the blade limbs!
However—
When Yuan Hao's attack reached the furthest point and his blade limbs were about to pierce through Jin Xinyue's wings, he suddenly jerked up and crouched weirdly as if he were hit by an invisible streak of lightning!
The five or so blade limbs that he had failed to retract left his body without a sign!
It was not until the blood drew a few thin lines in midair that Jin Xinyue and Yuan Du discovered that many extremely slim threads had been tied among the giant trees near them.
The threads were almost transparent and much thinner than the spider threads, but they were extremely tensile like the sharpest blades.
Thanks to his keen senses, he noticed something wrong the moment he was about to hit the threads and folded his body abruptly. Otherwise, the threads could have cut his upper body and his lower body apart!
However, his dodging movement only extended his life by half a second.
The moment Yuan Hao was about to land on the ground, a streak of redness suddenly rose up and, passing by him, leapt to the crown of a tree.
