hotmtlnovel Chapter 163 Mist Rising Formation, Torrential Rain of Arrows
Chapter 163 Mist Rising Formation, Torrential Rain of Arrows
Chapter 163 Mist Rising Formation, Torrential Rain of Arrows
Although Bai Zhanfeng had long since equated Modi with the remnants of the Feast Cult, he was still frightened by the strangeness of Modi.
As an elder who had participated in the operation to eradicate the Food Cult, Bai Zhanfeng believed that he was already a veteran of countless battles and would no longer be intimidated by any means.
The external alchemy sect of the Food Cult, which crushes a person to death and refines their flesh and bones into a human elixir; and the meat-eating sect, which can turn a living person into orange liquid with a single palm strike and enjoys cannibalism.
The Western Regions Tantric sect cultivates chakras and uses human bones to make magical artifacts; the Southern Frontier evil cultivators use people to refine Gu poisons, their bodies inhabited by evil Gu poisonous insects.
What storms and waves hasn't he seen?
That was his original thought, and he was confident about it before he came.
However, upon seeing the red-robed Taoist today, all his confidence was shattered.
This person is absolutely the most wicked of all, even more terrifying than any other evil cultivator he has ever encountered.
How could such an evil practice, which arbitrarily manipulates brain memories, exist in the world?
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Mo Di waved his hand lightly, and a gentle breeze swept by, lifting the kneeling elders who were in a daze.
"The blood mist has been withdrawn. You can leave now. Don't forget, the imperial court could attack at any time."
Modi's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over them, immediately sobering them up considerably.
"Thank you, Daoist Master. We shall take our leave now." Bai Zhanfeng bowed hastily, picked up his divine weapon, and led the elders away, excluding the three from the Qingming Palace.
As soon as they stepped out of the courtyard gate, they heard a voice coming from afar behind them.
"Don't forget to compensate me for the gate, the stone bench, and the chessboard."
Bai Zhanfeng's eye twitched, he bowed respectfully, said "Yes," and walked out.
As soon as they stepped out of the Su residence, the bright sunshine shone on their faces, dispelling the chill around them and giving everyone a feeling of being reborn.
Outside the Su residence, martial arts practitioners were still watching, and they all exclaimed in surprise when they saw them come out.
"They're finally out... wait, why are a few people missing?"
"The people from the Azure Nether Palace have all disappeared, and they don't look too well. What happened?"
"More than that, I'm curious about what happened inside. Why are these elders all in such a disheveled state?"
Whether they were wandering martial artists or disciples of sects, they all craned their necks to look into the distance, trying to see more details about them. But when they looked over, they looked away and pretended to be just passing by.
"Senior brother, they've finally come out, but they don't look to be in very good condition."
Fu Fangheng narrowed his eyes, looking at the disheveled and anxious elders of Cangjian Peak, and instinctively sensed that something was wrong.
An ominous premonition lingered in his heart. He couldn't understand it, and could only say, "It must be my imagination."
His senior, Lu Dayong, nodded in agreement. "Indeed, it seems they were taught a lesson. But why were they leaving in such a hurry? Were they going to call for backup?"
"Wait, senior brother, they're looking this way." Fu Fangheng was startled and met Bai Zhanfeng's gaze. He quickly turned his head away, pretending not to recognize him.
Lu Dayong was also discovered, his expression freezing on his face. He thought he would be punished by this elder and reported to his master, so he quickly pretended to be passing by and tried to pull his junior brother away.
The next moment, a voice transmission made him pause.
"Junior Nephew Lu, hurry and tell your master and the other fellow cultivators that the imperial court is about to attack."
The news spread rapidly throughout Tianyong City.
Before long, the high-ranking members of the five sects all learned about this matter. With the unanimous guarantee of the elders of Hidden Sword Peak, no one dared to ignore it.
But they found out too late and missed the best time to leave the city.
When a group of well-informed wandering martial artists reached the city gate and attempted to leave, they encountered unexpected obstacles.
Fog has risen at the city gate.
This was true not only at one city gate, but at all of them.
More accurately, the entire city was enveloped in a thick fog.
The fog was so tangible that it felt like gel to the touch, impossible to penetrate.
Some daring wandering swordsmen, defying superstition, picked up their knives and slashed into the thick fog.
"Take this Five Tigers Severing the Gate Blade!"
A burly, rough man raised his ghost-head broadsword high, his movements powerful and his strength astonishing, as he cleaved heavily into the thick fog.
Nearby, onlookers exclaimed, "It's Li Mang, the Ghost-Head Saber! He's a master of the Condensation Realm. He once slaughtered countless people in Blackwater Village with just his Ghost-Head Saber, wiping out all the bandits who had plagued the area."
"If it were him, he could definitely..."
Before he could finish speaking, Li Mang's ghost-headed saber had already slashed into the thick fog.
Something unbelievable happened.
As Li Mang's ghost-head saber struck the fog, the fog strangely caved in, then bounced back, sending his ghost-head saber flying.
Li Mang himself was also thrown back by the shockwave and crashed heavily to the ground, clutching his waist and crying out in pain.
"Even Li Mang failed, this...."
"Hmph, you can't even handle this mere fog? Li Mang, you might as well go back to the countryside and farm. What are you doing mingling in the martial world?"
Accompanied by a disdainful, hoarse voice, a dark figure lunged straight at the thick fog, like a giant crow swinging its claws and grabbing fiercely at the fog.
With its five fingers bent into claws, it swung its hand, and all that could be seen was a flash of silver light, moving at an incredibly fast speed.
The onlooker who had just been providing commentary exclaimed again:
"It's the infamous Black Crow Hermit! He's a renowned expert in the Condensation Realm, best known for his claw techniques. He once chased the womanizer White-Faced Young Master for fourteen days, finally tearing his heart out with a single claw strike. I suppose he can... ah?"
"Did his claw get stuck in the fog?"
Black Crow's dashing appearance didn't last long; the steel claw on his right hand got stuck in the fog, and he couldn't pull it out no matter what he did.
"Ha, you were spouting nonsense just now, but now look what you've done. You can't even pull your claws out, at least my knife isn't stuck."
Li Mang, with a gloating expression, walked up to him, grabbed his arm, and pulled hard together.
boo.
It took the two of them a lot of effort to finally pull out the steel claws.
"This fog is strange; it's somewhat similar to something I've encountered before..."
Looking at the thick fog, Black Crow Hermit had a sense of déjà vu. He even forgot about arguing with Li Mang and quickly searched his memories.
He was certain that he must have seen similar things during his years of traveling around the country, but he just couldn't remember them for the moment.
The onlookers pointed and whispered among themselves, while several wandering martial artists stepped forward to try and break through the thick fog.
The onlookers who were responsible for providing commentary were also doing their jobs diligently.
"Ah, it's the famous mute woman! She...:"
"This is a blind swordsman who is no less skilled than the mute woman; he might even...:..."
Several more wandering martial artists took action, each with the cultivation level of the Condensation Realm and wielding spiritual weapons, but all of them failed to achieve anything and could not make any difference to the thick fog.
Towards the end, the commentator lost interest and looked embarrassed. Everyone whose name he called out left empty-handed.
It's as if his words have some magical power; anyone he mentions is destined to fail.
On the contrary, the people next to him listened with great interest and were amazed by his knowledge.
"My lord, your knowledge is truly vast. May I ask your name?"
"Oh, my surname is Huang, and my given name is Dongxu. I wouldn't say I have extensive knowledge, but I have seen a lot of things."
At this moment, Black Crow Hermit, who had been deep in thought, slammed his fist down and shouted, "I remember where this thing came from!"
His shout made everyone turn to look at him.
Li Mang frowned and said, "Speak your mind, or shut up. Stop being so secretive."
He took a deep breath and said solemnly, "If I remember correctly, this is the Mist Rising Array, which symbolizes the changes of hot and cold, in the Four Qi Rotation Array of the Four Natures Sect of the Feast Cult."
"I once hunted down a notorious remnant of the Food Cult. He repeatedly used the Mist Rising Array in an attempt to trap me in the forest, but I still managed to kill him in the end."
"Although this fog is far denser than any I have ever encountered, I am certain that this must be a fog formation."
"Since you've broken the Mist Rising Formation before, this shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?" Li Mang said.
Black Crow Hermit shook his head and said with a wry smile, "The Mist Rising Array I once cracked was inferior to this one in terms of both scale and mist concentration. Moreover, that Mist Rising Array was not like this one, where you couldn't even walk through it."
"To set up such a mist-rising array that covers Tianyong City, who knows how many array setters, skilled in the evil arts of the Feasting Cult, would need to be, and how high their cultivation level must be?"
He muttered to himself, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty. The more he thought about it, the more worried he became.
Huang Dongxu frowned. "I heard from a friend of mine in the Zixia Sect that the imperial court is about to attack Tianyong City. Could this Mist Rising Array be something the imperial court created to prevent us from escaping?"
Someone chimed in, "It's very possible. The imperial court has always wanted to control the martial arts world, and for this reason, it even established the Zhenwu Guard. I'm afraid that this time, the imperial court wants to take advantage of the Five Sects Grand Competition to severely damage the Five Sects."
"Hmph, that old emperor, and those corrupt officials, all they do is use these tricks. I think they've lost their minds from eating human pills," Li Mangmi cursed.
"How do they plan to attack the city? There are still many people in the city," someone worried.
Black Crow Hermit's expression shifted between light and shadow. Suddenly, he made up his mind, raised his arm, and shouted, "Fellow cultivators, staying here is just a waste of time and very dangerous. We should retreat back to the city and then..."
call out!
The sharp, swift sound of arrows piercing the air suddenly interrupted his words.
Everyone looked up and saw an arrow, like a ray of sunlight piercing through the clouds, cutting through the thick fog and falling rapidly to the ground, landing right on the street.
Immediately afterwards, with a loud bang, the ground shook twice, and smoke and dust billowed around the point where the arrow landed, covering most of the street.
Screams rose and fell. It was still daytime, and the streets were crowded with people. No one knew how many people had died from that arrow.
A chill ran down everyone's spine as they stared blankly at the dust in the distance.
"This...this is a strike from the Divine罡 Realm. What exactly does the imperial court intend to do?" someone muttered to themselves.
"Don't think about that now, hurry up and save them." Li Mang snapped out of his daze, slung his ghost-head saber over his shoulder, and headed towards where the arrow had landed.
"etc."
Black Crow Hermit quickly grabbed him, "Look up!"
Li Mang looked up, his pupils suddenly contracting.
All that could be seen was a dense swarm of arrows falling from the sky, blotting out the sun.
Although its momentum was not as great as the previous arrow, it was clearly comparable to a strike from a Qi Condensation Realm expert.