Free Web NovelChapter 419: Chapter 349: Battlefield of the Final Showdown
"Choose your accessory."
"Disaster Avoidance Guardian: Grant a puppet the ’Disaster-Averting Guardian Golden Bell’."
"Disaster-Averting Guardian Golden Bell: Generate a layer of Profound Light Guardian Golden Bell every minute, which can block one damage and is immune to damage less than 1000 points."
"Heavenly and Earthly Unrivaled Blade: At the start of each battle, the puppet card on your far left will have the traits ’First Strike’, ’Windfury’, and ’Cleaving’ for its first attack."
"First Strike: Always attacks first."
"Windfury: Attacks twice consecutively."
"Cleaving: Deals area damage on attack."
"Master of Gluttony: Obtain a ’Taotie’ card, and your hand will always maintain seven puppet cards (automatically generate if less)."
Yan Qing looked at the rewards on his wristband, finding it hard to decide for a moment. Unlike last time, where he hadn’t even finalized his formation and desperately needed an accessory like a timely help in a snowstorm, now his strength was established, and he simply needed something to add brilliance to his achievements. The three accessories dropped by the White Lion King all fit the bill.
"Disaster Avoidance Guardian" generates an invincible shield every minute, seemingly endlessly, but their fight against the White Lion King lasted less than a minute, so in a single battle, it might only trigger once.
"Heavenly and Earthly Unrivaled Blade" is an attack power booster. Do you like "Qiongqi," striking first with its regular attack, dealing area damage and a double strike? Choosing this would make battles easier, as "Qiongqi" could likely eliminate the Six Demon Fiends in the first strike, but the issue is it only triggers on the first attack, mainly useful for defeating weaker opponents.
"Master of Gluttony" perfectly matches his current monster lineup. Not to mention "Taotie," which allows all monsters to devour puppets at the end of each day, it also has an unlisted massive strategic benefit: Yan Qing’s hand will always hold seven puppet cards, meaning he has unlimited cannon fodder in battle!
After some simple reflection, Yan Qing made his decision.
A Phantom Great Tachi over six feet long landed on Qiongqi, which screeched as its winged beast body developed golden patterns, all shaped like the tachi upon closer inspection, shining brightly with authority.
Still, it was a bit underwhelming.
Yan Qing chose the "Heavenly and Earthly Unrivaled Blade," not because it was better than the other two, but because it seemed more convenient.
In the next couple of days, his focus would likely be on growth. With this accessory, they wouldn’t have to worry about protecting the puppets; Qiongqi would crush all enemies in the first round.
On the other hand, "Master of Gluttony" requires skilled operation while "Disaster Avoidance Guardian" relies on enemy attack power. If he were to fight the Transformed Self-Reliance Celestial Demon next, Yan Qing would consider these two. If a True Demon specializes in single-target attacks or has high damage but low attack speed, these two accessories could precisely counter it. However, Yan Qing’s current goal is to continue growing and defeating other demons. He can save the lifesaving accessory for tackling the last three of the eight demons, akin to going for damage output before obtaining the Black King Bar in a Dota match.
"Don’t you really need the Heaven-Swaying Sword?"
In the Dimension Bookstore, away from the scene of the crime, Ying Rushi tended to Yan Qing’s scarred arms while binding them. She said, "Compared to Token Authority, Blood Replenishing Pills are merely a healing supplement and will leave many scars."
"No need," Yan Qing replied.
Ying Rushi hesitated for a moment but didn’t press further.
After all, Yan Qing had already used Bingzi Pepper Forest, and these injuries weren’t serious. If they used the Heaven-Swaying Sword again, they’d have no lifesaving measures for a while. Though rationally she understood, seeing his scarred arms reminded her of Yan Qing’s earlier promise while applying medicine not to make her worry again, stirring a slight heartache — maybe more than slight, but this guy was too infuriating, so only a little heartache was warranted.
"Besides, isn’t this great?" Yan Qing suddenly asked.
Ying Rushi was startled, not understanding his meaning. Yan Qing chuckled, pressing his hand against hers. "Now, we’re dressed the same, isn’t that nice?"
Ying Rushi looked at him for a while, her brows arched, a gentle curve at the corners of her mouth. "Idiot."
Just then, Murong Hui, who had been examining the bookstore’s coffee machine, silently approached and stared at their joined arms with a curious tone. "Are you two a couple behind my back?"
Yan Qing showed no reaction, while Ying Rushi suddenly stiffened. Since everyone was always playful with no distance, she naturally didn’t avoid anything in front of Murong Hui. Moreover, Murong Hui was often more daring than her. Who would have thought Murong Hui would notice? Where did she slip up? I even called him an idiot!
"I want in!"
Ying Rushi’s eyes widened.
Murong Hui sat down, stretching out her hands. "You two secretly pulled off such a neat look, I want to bandage up too!"
"Right!" Yan Qing high-fived Murong Hui. "I knew everyone would eventually love the bandage look!"
"Why not bandage our faces too?"
"No need for that. One person with a bandaged face is understandable, but three would seem like a gang of evil doers..."
"What, aren’t we already a gang of evil doers?"
Thud!
Suddenly, the sound of rumbling thunder erupted outside. Yan Qing and the others immediately went into battle readiness and stepped outside to investigate. However, upon looking up, they couldn’t see anything unusual and could only sense the disturbance coming from far away through the tremors in the ground.
Murong Hui jumped to the rooftop and gazed into the distance. Uncertain, he said, "In the northeast of the Demon Gathering Land, a building has collapsed. It seems a battle has taken place?"
Yan Qing’s expression was hesitant. The magical creatures in the Demon Gathering Land held no value in being killed; even their corpses would turn to ash instantly upon death. Except for Yan Qing and Ye Si, no one could benefit from slaying these magical creatures. Moreover, these creatures would not attack proactively; if you moved away, they would lose their aggression, which gave locals no reason to battle them.
Moreover, the ability to handle these magical creatures and cause such a big commotion—only the Baibao Guards could do it. Not even the hidden assassin who was lurking in the shadows managed that, but why would the Baibao Guards—
"Murong Hui!" Yan Qing suddenly thought of a possibility: "Is the disturbance happening where one of the Eight Demons is located!?"
Murong Hui paused and squinted for a moment before nodding affirmatively, "That’s right, it’s exactly where the Mantis General is. Wait, could they be—"
"Let’s move, we need to pick up the pace." Yan Qing gritted his teeth and said, "The Baibao Guards are competing to kill the Eight Demons!"
...
...
In the northeast of the Demon Gathering Land, a massacre was underway.
The Mantis General, wielding eight gigantic scythes, swiveled its large, blood-red compound eyes continuously, creating a windstorm with its swift movements. With each swing of the scythe, the ground nearby parted like tofu sliced with a hot knife, smoothly splitting without any debris flying off.
There was no doubt it was a fearsome creature; even though its scythed attacks were not immensely powerful, its attack speed was overwhelming. The eight scythes attacked once per second with a wide range of damage, the blood-red patterns on the scythes enabling it to draw blood energy even from the soil. You could imagine the scene when it executed an enemy—inflicting a million small cuts to nourish itself.
For a creature like this, combat could only be won by violence and speed, aiming for an instant kill; otherwise, once it entered its vampiric cycle, victory was impossible.
Despite its terrifying nature, the creature could only rage furiously, its four spiked feet sunk into the swamp-like ground around it, offering no buoyancy. It could only churn the muck with its scythes.
Outside of it stood 180 Baibao Guards, positioned on nearly every rooftop around it, ensuring everyone had a clear shooting angle. At Ying Su’s command, they launched simultaneous volleys. Even though the Mantis General blocked some of them, it was still struck by over a hundred arrows.
After five volleys, the Mantis General was almost covered with arrows, visibly weakened and close to being shot to death. At that moment, its compound eyes flashed fiercely, and it suddenly vanished from the swamp, appearing behind the nearby Ying Su. The eight scythes converged into a single blood-red scythe, swinging down to unleash a monstrous sea of blood!
If Yan Qing had been there, he would have recognized that the Mantis General’s intent wasn’t a sneak attack, but lifesteal. If the blood-red scythe struck home, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it fully restored. With its attack speed and area damage, all serving its vampiric ability, if not quickly killed, this creature was an infinite endurance nightmare!
At that very instant, four glowing words appeared on Ying Su:
[Unified Mind · One]
The blood-red scythe slashed empty air—Ying Su was faster than the Fifth-Turn Demon King. When he reappeared, he was above, driving a spear through the narrow, elongated head of the Mantis General, pinning it to the ground.
Easily piercing the body that even a rain of arrows couldn’t penetrate!
It was a real ’severed limb’—even if the Mantis General’s health wasn’t near depletion, this single attack would at least inflict 20% maximum health damage.
One of the Eight Demons, the Mantis General, perished without dealing a single blow!
Along with the Mantis General, 180 Baibao Guards collapsed as if their spines had been removed, lying helplessly on the ground. After a full five minutes, they slowly stood up, noticeably more enfeebled than they had been. Ying Su, too, was no exception—his muscles were torn, and several bones shattered as well—using [Unified Mind · One] was too burdensome for a Third-Turn Messenger.
Ying Su tapped the air four times, and the 180 guards split into four groups, advancing to eliminate other Eight Demons. After the earlier test, he was sure that 45 guards were sufficient to take down one Demon.
The moment he learned a squad of 20 was wiped out, Ying Su immediately altered his tactics. He adapted this swiftly not only because he had been watching the dominating army of puppets growing stronger day by day through the Skeleton Document but also because he never underestimated Yellow Dog from the start.
After all, he was someone capable of slapping his sister.
Possibly even the only one who had ever hit her.
Though it was unclear why Yellow Dog was hunting the Eight Demons, this unmistakably exposed their intentions. Anyway, it was now impossible for them to pursue Yellow Dog and his group; if Yellow Dog could destroy a squad of 20, then a squad of at least 80 would be necessary to capture them. Yet, within the Demon Gathering Land, 180 guards was the limit, at best forming two teams... unless Yellow Dog engaged them directly, even the Baibao Guards couldn’t catch these three Overseas Dragons.
But Ying Su still had a plan.
He turned to gaze at the True Demon in the center of the Demon Gathering Land; even from such a distance, the massive figure shrouded in Black Shadow Flame was unmistakable.
Though there was no concrete evidence, Ying Su was convinced that after all the Eight Demons were slain, Yellow Dog’s target would surely be the True Demon.
As for the battlefield, I decide.
The time for battle, you’ll decide!
