Free Web NovelChapter 112: Chapter 112: Manifestation
The heavy twilight air steeped the clearing in languor, making Bai Mo’s soft cry jarringly abrupt.
Liu Tong’s heart instinctively tightened.
His gaze narrowed. He followed Bai Mo’s fixed stare, and his body shuddered in shock.
"Don’t move!"
The shadowy silhouette transformed with increasing slowness, as if it were rising to its feet.
Seeing the others notice the anomaly, Liu Tong quickly gestured for them to stay down while he himself rose into a slight crouch.
The eyes of several well-fed youths filled with terror, and they shuffled hesitantly toward the senior brother they knew.
The back of Bai Mo’s shirt was completely soaked in sweat. ’Is it just my imagination, or is that thing staring at me?’ he wondered.
Finally, the so-called Mountain God took its final form. It rose to its full height and began to walk about at a leisurely pace, swaying its four arms.
"Bai Mo! Move!"
Liu Tong looked up. From behind the obscuring leaves, a blurry face finally peeked out. He shot to his feet.
VMM!
An ear-piercing hum erupted from his body. Not far away, Qin Yu, who was still holding his roasted meat, felt his head spin.
He nearly collapsed on the spot.
Although Liu Tong’s senior brothers were on full alert, each of them was inwardly reeling.
A sword’s hum, and it was originating from his very bones.
This was the state of one on the verge of attaining a Sword Body!
The instant the sword hum registered, a slash tore through the space beside Bai Mo.
A brilliant sword intent shot forth—to hear its sound was to bear its will.
Several enormous leaves were sliced off and came crashing down.
Without a second thought, Bai Mo threw himself into a forward roll. He heard a muffled THUMP.
BANG!
It was followed by the sound of a heavy object crashing to the ground.
The Alchemy Cultivator retreated while Liu Tong and the others moved forward.
Bai Mo looked back and immediately saw a monster with greenish, flesh-colored skin lying prone on the ground.
Liu Tong pulled Bai Mo behind him.
"Be careful, Junior Brother."
He had seen it clearly just now—the "Mountain God’s" eyes had been fixed on Bai Mo.
"It took a hit from Junior Brother Liu’s sword hum, yet its body is completely unscathed. Truly incredible."
A disciple spoke up.
Liu Tong exchanged a glance with him and impassively drew a yellow Talisman from his robes.
Bai Mo caught a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye. The strokes drawn upon it were as glaring as fresh blood.
At that moment, the Mountain God on the ground pushed itself up with its four arms and rose.
Only then did everyone get a clear look at it.
It had a beast-like head, a human-like torso with four arms, and patches of feathers and scales covering its body.
On its exposed skin, mountain-like patterns grew naturally.
The Mountain God’s mind seemed muddled. It tilted its head to look at the group, and only then did its pupils focus.
Its round pupils were like a human’s, shining with a light of nimble intelligence.
Liu Tong’s expression darkened. From the looks of it, this Mountain God’s intelligence was not low at all.
He saw Qin Yu not far away, looking dazed and still just watching the scene unfold.
Bai Mo moved over quietly, trying to pull him away.
He had only taken three steps when he saw the Mountain God’s gaze follow his movements.
Bai Mo froze and stopped in his tracks.
’Why?’
He began to examine himself, wondering if he had done something different from the others.
A glint flashed in the Mountain God’s eyes.
Ignoring everyone else, it paused, bent its knees, and sank into a crouch—the prelude to a Demon Beast’s pounce.
Liu Tong’s face sank, and he let out a sharp cry.
"What Mountain God?! It’s clearly just an unusual Demon Beast!"
"Fellow disciples, attack!!"
The bones in his body popped and cracked as if they were dislocating, and for the first time, he drew his sword.
With a flourish, the gleam of his blade formed a lotus-like pattern as it shot toward the Mountain God.
Many of the disciples present cultivated the same Geng Metal Sword intent as he did.
They no longer hesitated and decisively attacked.
"Surrender, you vile beast!"
Dazzling white sword gleams tore through the air, tacitly forming an encircling formation that trapped the Mountain God within.
The flashing sword light was piercing in the dusk.
Such an assault would shave even solid metal into dust, let alone a Demon Beast!
Other disciples provided support from the flanks, unleashing attacks of intermingled lightning and fire, and a storm of blades descended upon the creature.
Bai Mo saw one disciple flip his hand, tossing out several Array Plates. In an instant, a dense mist of Spiritual Qi arose.
The creature within was completely enveloped as fine, silk-like killing Array Patterns filled the mist.
Yet, whenever they neared a fellow disciple, the patterns would precisely avoid them. frёewebηovel.cѳm
He was clearly a top-notch array master.
The senior brother who had brought Qin Yu over leaped up, took out a small, brownish-yellow seal, and sent it flying with a flick of his wrist.
"Today, I will suppress you, fiend!"
The small seal descended with immense power. For a moment, Bai Mo felt as if he were watching a great mountain fall from the sky.
The next moment, a massive, muscle-corded hand formed a fist and punched upward from below.
DONG!
The two collided with a tremendous crash.
Flesh and blood exploded from the fist, revealing gleaming white bone, and the small seal was sent tumbling through the air.
The disciple who had used the seal spat out a mouthful of blood and let out a wretched cry.
"My peak’s treasured artifact!"
Then he chased after the small seal.
Bai Mo’s heart leaped. He then saw three vortexes suddenly rise from within the misty Array.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three consecutive roars followed, and the Array Plates on the ground instantly shattered.
Seeing something shoot toward him, Bai Mo subconsciously raised his hand and caught it.
It was half of an Array Plate.
’This strong!?’
The Array was broken. The trapped Mountain God’s body shuddered once more, and the Geng Metal Sword light coursing over its form shattered completely.
Its blood-soaked body was free.
The disciples were horrified.
"Hmph!"
The Mountain God snorted coldly, puffed its cheeks, and exhaled a gale strong enough to send sand and stones flying. A strange, eerie sound echoed within the wind.
Liu Tong and the others stumbled back, barely able to open their eyes.
Inwardly shaken, Liu Tong instinctively channeled his sword hum, slashing through and diverting the strange wind just to stabilize himself.
"Brother Liu!"
It was the cry of the junior brother who knew how to use arrays.
Liu Tong looked over and saw him pointing with difficulty in one direction.
Where he pointed, a disciple with a vacant expression had drawn his sword and was trying to slit his own throat.
A protective item from his sect activated, sending a shower of sparks from his neck.
Alarmed, Liu Tong threw his Longsword, knocking the other disciple’s blade from his hand.
"There’s a strange sound in the wind that can bewitch the mind!"
Liu Tong took a deep breath. His bones popped and cracked as a chaotic sword hum shot out fiercely in all directions.
The sword intent was incomparably sharp, and it directly tore through the strange wind.
None of the disciples were ordinary folk; they immediately regained their senses.
"Brother Liu, this is no time to hold back!"
Liu Tong nodded. With a flick of his wrist, he produced the Talisman bestowed by the Upper Sect and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto it.
The other disciples also sliced their palms, flinging strings of blood beads toward it.
"Activate!!"
The Talisman absorbed all the blood, dissolved like yellow water, and dripped to the ground, seeping into the earth.
The strange wind stopped abruptly. The Mountain God, which had been watching the disciples’ little suicide game with great interest, was momentarily stunned.
It puffed its cheeks to blow, but no strange wind emerged.
"What trick are you playing?"
It tilted its head, a look of displeasure in its eyes. Its voice was deep and resonant.
The group was stunned. They had never imagined that this bizarre-looking Mountain God could actually speak.
Liu Tong wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze fixed on the Mountain God with shock and uncertainty.
"This was bestowed by an elder. It is the Nine Transformations of the Netherworld Soul-obliterating Talisman!"
"I imagine that even you will be unable to break free from it."
As his voice fell, a spring of murky yellow water coiled up from the ground at the Mountain God’s feet, trapping it within.
The Mountain God took a step forward and raised its four arms to strike, but a wave of weakness washed over it.
Even its eyelids felt impossibly heavy. Deep within its soul, the same groggy stupor it had felt during its gestation resurfaced.
Its spirit shuddered. It took a step back and looked at the Cultivators.
"So you had a trump card. No wonder you dared to come here."
"Now, we can talk."
It pointed a chilling finger at Bai Mo.
"You. Boy. Come here."
