Free Web NovelChapter 296: Chapter 25: Mutation
Jinhua Prefecture City.
In a pavilion within the side rooms of the Daoist Scripture Hall, Wang Ping stared at the energy fluctuations appearing in the sky and muttered, "To take down the Mozhou Road Daoist Scripture Hall quickly, we’ll need at least three Third Realm Cultivators!"
"There’s still a Third Realm Cultivator on White Crane Mountain!"
Tianshan Daoist transformed into a streak of light and appeared at the door. "Let’s go. If we leave now, we’ll get there right on time!"
Just as Wang Ping was about to reply, Zi Luan suddenly said, "To be cautious, Fellow Daoist Mingxin, I must ask you to stay here. The distribution of spoils will remain the same!"
"Alright!" Mingxin nodded.
After hearing Mingxin’s reply, Zi Luan looked at Wang Ping. Wang Ping transformed into a streak of light and sped toward Mozhou Road, simultaneously sending a message to Zuo Xuan, telling her not to go to Mozhou Road but to remain and guard the Daoist Scripture Hall.
As the five of them streaked across the sky, all the Second Realm Cultivators in Jinhuai Prefecture walked to their windows. They then received their respective orders. Some headed for the Daoist Scripture Hall, while others projected their identity tokens into the sky and followed behind the five toward Mozhou Road. They were needed to guard the border.
After flying out of Jinhuai Prefecture, Zi Luan spoke in a consultative tone, "I’ll control the puppets to lead the charge. Fellow Daoist Tianshan and Daoist Wu Quan will assist me. Fellow Daoist Ganxing will cover our rear. Fellow Daoist Changqing will be responsible for monitoring spirituality. If it gets out of control, it will be extremely troublesome!"
"Alright!"
Wang Ping had no objections, nor did the other three.
Next, Zi Luan summoned eight Soldier Talismans, which materialized into eight soldiers clad in Magical Armor, and had them lead the way.
Tianshan and Wu Quan tacitly positioned themselves to Zi Luan’s left and right. Ganxing was behind Zi Luan, while Wang Ping flew slightly higher to get a more direct view of their surroundings.
They flew like this for Half an Hour. When they saw that an energy conflict had already erupted in the direction of the Changwen Prefecture Daoist Scripture Hall, they were all slightly alarmed. None of them had expected ’First Day’ to act so decisively!
"Halt!"
Zi Luan suddenly shouted, and the five of them came to a steady stop beneath the clouds.
The moment they stabilized themselves, a wall of fire rose up two li away. In the Inspiration Realm, countless True Spirits howled from within the flames.
"They’re false spirits—’First Day’s’ false spirits. Their emotions are too extreme!" Yu Lian provided the information to Wang Ping from her hiding spot in his sleeve.
"Well, well, I’m truly flattered. Five Fellow Daoists have graced me with their presence!"
A middle-aged man dressed in a Daoist Robe similar to those of the True Yang Sect held a Duster in one hand and gently stroked his beard with the other. After speaking, he clasped his fist in salute and said, "This humble Daoist is Shang Hong. It is an honor to meet you all, Fellow Daoists!"
"Are you looking to die?"
Zi Luan’s tone was icy. The Spell in his hands shifted, and the eight Puppet Soldiers formed an Array, balanced for both offense and defense, as they charged the Daoist who called himself Shang Hong.
The longspears sliced through the air and pierced Shang Hong’s body, but his form was made of flames.
"My apologies, everyone. A few of my friends have some urgent business over on Mozhou Road. You’ll have to stay here for a while." Shang Hong’s voice echoed from all directions.
"It’s a Flame Barrier that was set up in advance, powered by ’First Day’s’ false spirits. With our power, we can shatter it in a quarter of an hour!"
Tianshan Daoist summoned the gourd from his waist. A powerful suction force created a tension visible to the naked eye, pulling all the fire spirits from the Inspiration Realm into the gourd.
"Too bad for you, this is useless against me!"
He laughed happily, probably because these false spirits could be refined into something good inside his gourd!
Seeing the barrier crumbling from a distance, Shang Hong’s expression changed slightly. Without a second word, he turned and fled south. But he had only just gotten a short distance when a heart-pounding wave of energy descended from the sky in the direction of Changwen Prefecture.
At this, not only did Shang Hong instinctively halt, but even Wang Ping and the others who were about to give chase also stopped in their tracks!
"Forget him! There’s a problem with the spirituality in Changwen Prefecture!"
Zi Luan’s expression was grave. After saying that, he transformed into a streak of light and shot toward Changwen Prefecture. Wang Ping and the others glanced back at the distant Shang Hong before following Zi Luan.
In the distance, Shang Hong frowned. After a few seconds of thought, he decisively flew at top speed toward the sea to the south.
A quarter of an hour later, just as he was starting to feel relieved at the sight of the endless ocean, the calm sea suddenly erupted with waves dozens of zhang high, swallowing the sky and earth in the blink of an eye.
"Fellow Daoist Shang Hong, long time no see."
A faint voice drifted from the distant horizon, but Shang Hong didn’t even look. He immediately beat a hasty retreat, fleeing back inland. At the same time, he slapped two red Command Flags out of his storage pouch. As the flags appeared, more than ten fire-aspected True Spirits shot out from them, conjuring waves of fire walls that surged toward his pursuer.
The newcomer was none other than Wen Yang!
A Longsword floated beside him. A dazzling red gemstone was set into its hilt, illuminating the fine red lines on his face and dyeing his hair crimson.
At the same time, an azure figure emerged from within the massive waves. It was a Water Cultivator. As their figure appeared, countless ice spikes fell at an imperceptible speed in the direction of Shang Hong’s escape, freezing the ground in the blink of an eye.
Fleeing ahead, Shang Hong desperately threw out more fiery red Command Flags. His figure, which had been speeding toward Nanlin Road, abruptly stopped and veered into a nearby town.
Under the terrified gazes of the town’s several thousand residents, he pointed a finger and muttered, "A sin, a sin."
As he spoke, an altar materialized on the rammed-earth plaza in the center of town. The spirituality of the town’s several thousand residents was instantly drained. As the spirituality converged, an irregular spatial rift tore open in the plaza’s ground. The Array connected to the rift extended in all directions, covering a radius of twenty li.
It was an escape route prepared in advance!
The moment Shang Hong’s body submerged into the spatial rift, he turned into horrifying molten lava, his expression one of unprecedented agony.
By the time his body was completely swallowed by the spatial rift, Wen Yang had landed in front of it, but he dared not step forward to stop it. He could only watch helplessly as the rift closed.
"Was that all for nothing?" the Water Cultivator asked from within a droplet of water, not revealing their form.
"Not entirely. This Array alone is enough to make it worthwhile, not to mention the main prize!" As Wen Yang spoke, he looked toward Changwen Prefecture.
At that moment, Changwen Prefecture had already become a Purgatory on earth.
Wang Ping and the others could now see the current state of Changwen Prefecture with their own eyes...
The most worrying part was the Inspiration Realm. There were three powerful True Spirit auras. In the sensory world, they shifted between humanoid and canine forms.
As Wang Ping and his group drew closer, they saw a monster that looked as if it had crawled out of a world of terror. Its writhing body was made of nauseating, rotten flesh, and embedded within the rot were blood-red eyes that made one’s skin crawl.
"It seems to be real!"
Tianshan Daoist’s tone was one of pleasant surprise.
Wang Ping was the first to sense that those blood-red eyes were real. They had been formed from True Spirits absorbing the flesh and blood of the living beings in Changwen Prefecture City!
