Volume 1, Chapter 136: Didn't I just arrive?

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Miyamoto Jūichirō’s head was pinned down, an irresistible pressure bearing upon his skull.

The next instant, there was a bang. A headless corpse crumpled to the ground, spraying pale and crimson matter in every direction.

Golden light emerged around Jiang Chen. To be fair, the Golden Light Spell of Dragon-Tiger Mountain was useful in battle not only for defense, but also for keeping filthy things from splattering all over its caster.

“It seems we’ve been delayed for quite some time. I hope they’re all right.”

………

“We found it. This is the place.”

Shen Huaizhu forced herself to maintain her weary composure and tore the talisman in her hand to pieces.

When she was done, she left the fragments where they lay.

Jiang Chen would be able to sense the talisman’s location and find them nearby. Ye Zhi was still keeping the monster occupied; she could not abandon her.

Though she was already at the end of her strength, there were things she had to do. Otherwise, she would certainly regret it.

Following the traces, Shen Huaizhu found Ye Zhi locked in combat with the monster.

Ye Zhi had several more wounds than before, while countless trees lay toppled throughout the surrounding woods.

Broken rocks were scattered everywhere, and hardly a patch of undamaged ground remained.

Ye Zhi’s figure shifted constantly as she darted back and forth among the trees.

“Ugly bastard.” Ye Zhi formed a hand seal, and a beam of dazzling light struck the monster’s head.

Yet after the smell of something burning drifted through the air, the monster continued swinging its enormous arms as if nothing had happened.

“I’ll help you!”

Ice spikes filled the air around Shen Huaizhu. On this mountain, already blanketed in snow, her abilities were strengthened even further.

Ice lances sharp as thorns tore through the air and slammed into the monster’s body. Gradually, numerous bloody holes appeared across its skin.

“Roar!”

Its heaven-shaking howl left both women unable to stand steadily, forcing their attacks to falter. Even so, Shen Huaizhu stubbornly maintained her barrage of ice spikes, trying to buy enough time for Jiang Chen to arrive.

But the monster had no intention of showing mercy simply because they were women. These humans, created through mechanical modification, implanted data, and genetic mutation, possessed only one command in their minds.

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Encounter the enemy. Kill!

“Enemy. Eliminate.”

The monster’s mechanical voice echoed through the mountains. Combined with its enormous frame, it was enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

And this was only one small squad they had encountered. It was impossible to imagine what would happen if they ran into the main force.

Using her ice spikes to hold the monster back, Shen Huaizhu made her way to Ye Zhi’s side.

“One of us has to survive. We can’t both die here. I can hold him back. This time, you have to leave.”

Ye Zhi shook her head. “It’s too late. We can’t get away.”

Shen Huaizhu did not understand, until she noticed that a large number of gun barrels had appeared around them at some point, all trained on the two of them.

Cultivators were not afraid of bullets, but weapons like these could still injure them to a certain extent.

And, of course, the mechanically modified monster was still watching them with murderous intent.

Were they truly trapped with nowhere to go?

“Not bad, little girls. But is Great Xia really looking down on the Empire so much that it sent two young women to stop our plans?”

Akagi Saichi emerged from the forest, swaggering toward them.

He held a small knife. It looked like an ordinary fruit knife, except that its blade was covered in blood.

They had already been unable to deal with one opponent. Now another had appeared.

“If I hadn’t been unable to find you bastards, I would have come alone.”

Jiang Chen shrank distance to mere inches and appeared before Shen Huaizhu and Ye Zhi almost in the blink of an eye, shielding them behind him.

………

After being driven back again and again, Li Changsheng held a talisman and gently tore it apart.

“You stay here and wait for Jiang Chen. I’m going to storm their lair.”

Li Changsheng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked toward Liuli.

“Young man, you’re already in this state and still want to go to their headquarters? Isn’t that a little too reckless? Besides, I never said you could leave.”

The man had thin threads wound around all ten fingers. Before him stood ten puppets controlled by those strings.

Each puppet wore armor, and every one of them was in the Formless Realm.

In other words, Li Changsheng was now facing ten opponents at the same level as himself.

Just moments earlier, Liuli had been injured by a puppet concealed in the shadows. If she had not warned him, neither of them would have had time to defend themselves.

“If I want to leave, no one can stop me. You’re no exception.”

Li Changsheng pointed his long sword directly at the ten puppets.

Sword energy erupted wildly around him, and a powerful storm snapped the dead trees nearby.

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With a resonant hum, an extremely powerful wave of air burst from the tip of Li Changsheng’s sword and shot straight toward one of the puppets.

Caught completely off guard, the puppet was blasted away with a thunderous boom, flying a great distance.

Creak, creak…

The shattered puppet collapsed, its parts scattering across the ground.

The puppeteer wore an expression of regret. “Not bad. That was a powerful strike. Tsk, tsk. Do you know how long it took me to put that puppet together? But since you’ve smashed it, you can take its place.”

His fingers moved in unison, as though he were playing a piano. The remaining nine puppets came to life and marched toward Li Changsheng in perfect formation.

Li Changsheng had locked Liuli inside a defensive sword formation behind him, leaving her unable to get out. All she could do was watch helplessly as he faced the danger alone.

She pounded on the sword formation. “Let me out! How are you supposed to fight by yourself?”

Without turning his head, Li Changsheng replied, “However you fight, it’s still fighting.”

The puppeteer was visibly moved by the scene. He pretended to wipe the corner of his eye.

“Senior Brother, come out. The sooner we send him on his way, the sooner we can go back and eat.”

Though the puppeteer spoke in the language of the island nation, Li Changsheng heard him perfectly clearly.

Soon, a man in a white exorcist’s robe appeared to the puppeteer’s left.

A gigantic snow-white hound followed behind him. The beast stood a full two meters tall, its entire body covered in pure white fur.

Li Changsheng narrowed his eyes. He remembered reading about such creatures in the miscellaneous records he had examined at Institute 509. This enormous hound had been mentioned among them.

These hounds were descendants of the Tengu, and their bodies grew larger as they aged.

The one before him was likely a descendant left behind by a Tengu of the island nation.

Against the puppeteer alone, Li Changsheng was confident he could win. But with an exorcist now joining the battle, even he could no longer be certain of victory.

Li Changsheng raised his palm, intending to offer his own blood in exchange for a burst of power.

But the next moment, someone caught his hand and pressed it down.

“We haven’t reached the end of the road yet. After all, I’m here now.”

Jiang Chen smiled at him.

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