Chapter 1192

Fu Liushan raised his chisel and pointed at him, speaking irritably, "I see your Yintang glowing red—if you don't leave now, you'll likely face a blood disaster tonight!" He Lingchuan also jumped onto the stone platform: "You'd better hurry up; the Black Armored ones will be back soon."

Fu Liushan's heart skipped: "How do you know?"

"I planted a spy on the battlefield." This area is still within the effective transmission range of the eyeball spider, so He Lingchuan can observe battlefield dynamics in real time: "The fighting over there has ended, and the Black Armored ones have turned back toward us."

This mountain road skirmish didn't last long, but it was unusually fierce. Both sides were locked in combat, the Black Armored leader and the Yao people bearing deep grudges, so the Heavy Martial General had no choice but to launch a counterattack. Thus, the eyeball spider observed flesh and blood flying everywhere, both sides fighting desperately, grappling with each other.

So far, the Yao army has suffered at least four to five hundred casualties in this special battle, and the Heavy Martial General himself was wounded—a spear thrust to his flank, a slash to his leg severing tendons, leaving him unable to touch the ground with his foot—this only thanks to his personal guards fighting to the death to protect him; naturally, the enemy suffered even greater losses, over a thousand earth and stone puppets basically destroyed, the Black Armored leader struck by more than ten arrows, even his face pierced by two blades—such wounds on anyone else would have been fatal long ago.

Yet it still acts as if unharmed—who wouldn't feel uneasy seeing it? The Heavy Martial General himself had already retreated, unwilling to deadlock with this eerie thing, while simultaneously strengthening deployment. Since this muddled battle has been fought, it must have a clear outcome.

Best to bring back the Luo Sheng Armor—it would also be an unexpected merit.

He Lingchuan reasonably suspected he might have taken a liking to this evil armor. With energy to spare amidst ten thousand troops, the Black Armored leader before him wasn't just demonstrating the Luo Sheng Armor's traits? The earth and stone puppets around him now numbered only seven or eight; the Black Armored leader let out a low roar, summoned his remaining might, and charged toward the mountain ridge, movements wide and extraordinarily fierce. The earth and stone puppets tightly shielded him in the center, blocking the Yao army's advance—for a moment, seemingly unstoppable.

The Heavy Martial General saw its intention and roared: "Stop it!"

However, on the mountain ridge, troops couldn't fully deploy—two soldiers were directly flung aside by the Black Armored leader. Moreover, a young junior officer stood by the roadside, seeing the Black Armored figure charging wildly, he immediately dodged backward.

He had originally kept distance from the Black Armored one, but who knew the charge would come with a turn? With a bang, he was also knocked down.

This young officer was like a broken kite; the Heavy Martial General cried out "Disaster!" and took a step forward, ignoring the excruciating pain in his foot, and flung a grappling hook at him.

In the emergency, he didn't care whether the other was injured—only that the hook could catch the young officer and pull him back.

Who would have thought that at this moment, an earth and stone puppet would rush forward, blocking the hook's path exactly...

With a soft bang, half of the puppet's chest armor shattered, and the hook sank into its chest cavity.

This block extinguished the young officer's last vestige of life. The Heavy Martial General heard his miserable scream as he fell into the valley, and his own heart sank as well.

Soon, the cries were swallowed by darkness.

Others dared not advance for a while, fearing death.

The Black Armored leader seized the opening, leapt into the air, and jumped down the cliff!

This cliff drops over thirty zhang, the bottom littered with jagged rocks and no trees to shield—ordinary people going down would face nine deaths out of ten.

But he is another matter.

The Black Armored leader's silhouette was instantly swallowed by the darkness at the cliff's base.

The few remaining puppets on the mountain shattered with a crack into fragments, returning to dust and earth.

The Heavy Martial General cursed, limped to the mountain's edge, peered down twice, then ordered with a stern face: "Go to the open ground ahead, rest for half an hour! Then send two agile ones down to the cliff base to retrieve the Young Master of the Tong family for me!"

Ah, this damned terrain.

The Tong family's Young Master is gone—trouble has grown large. But since we've already invited this trouble, he cannot give up now; he must bring back the Three-Tailed to make amends.

The wounded in the army need treatment; the army will leave them in the mountain hollow, then continue forward.

While having the army doctor treat his wounds, the Heavy Martial General deployed tasks, and operations continued smoothly. He Lingchuan found this somewhat unexpected, as the Heavy Martial General's intent was clearly to continue pursuit in the dark.

After clashing with an unknown fierce enemy, the Yao army's morale dipped, our side suffered major losses, but He Lingchuan's tricks did not intimidate the Heavy Martial General.

Fortunately, the night is dark and the path steep—the Yao army moves slowly, and they still need to go down the cliff to retrieve corpses. Thus, He Lingchuan's biggest worry now isn't the Heavy Martial General, but the Black Armored leader rapidly rushing toward Mai Ling!

Once it left the eyeball spider's field of view, He Lingchuan didn't know where it had gone. But one thing is certain: it is certainly heading here, and at great speed!

Therefore, He Lingchuan directly asked Fu Liushan: "What are the weaknesses of the Luo Sheng Armor?"

Asking this question of the Luo Sheng Armor's seal master—that would be truly professional.

Fu Liushan also turned over several thoughts in his mind.

These two claiming to escort friends over the ridge—I don't believe a word. Explorers entering the Mai Ling ruins, nine out of ten are after the Luo Sheng Armor; I've seen enough of them these past ten-odd years.

These two probably want to use him, use the power of the formation, to seize the Luo Sheng Armor.

But hey, those who haven't fought the Luo Sheng Armor don't know how terrifying it is. These two fellows' schemes are likely to come to nothing.

Never mind—let's cooperate temporarily.

They want to borrow strength, and I don't want to? Facing the Luo Sheng Armor, even if these two lose, they could serve as arrow shields, and besides, they have flying mounts—what an outstanding advantage!

So Fu Liushan's eyes shifted slightly, then he said: "No definite weakness, but my ancestors left a conjecture: the Luo Sheng Armor might be missing a piece of armor, located at some vital spot."

How did the Fu family know such a hidden clue? Fu Liushan looked at their expressions and said: "This isn't baseless. According to materials collected by my ancestors, the last emperor of the Shining Jin Empire, when he wore it into battle for the final time, was struck and lost a key armor piece—namely, the Luo Sheng Armor's 'Heart Scale'—thus its protection greatly diminished, leading to the emperor's defeat."

Heart Scale? He Lingchuan's brow twitched.

The soul-capturing mirror in his bosom already cried out: "Heart Scale? Oh, that is, that is...?"

He Lingchuan nodded: "Now I understand—exactly where is it located?"

"That's unclear—I've never actually seen the Luo Sheng Armor." Fu Liushan spread his hands: "The second weakness is even more elusive—possibly it's this term's master."

"Master?" Dong Rui showed slight surprise, but He Lingchuan nodded: "Indeed. The Luo Sheng Armor's current master, upon seeing the Yao state troops, abandoned us to go slaughter the Yao army—clearly, the Luo Sheng Armor also cannot fully control it."

"The Luo Sheng Armor has had other masters before—short terms of a few years, long ones of twenty or thirty—it must change hands, each time stirring up a storm of blood and rain; until this current master took over, though it has sealing function, it has remained obedient for over a hundred and sixty years—rare indeed."

Having finished placing the last platform tile and jumped down, he said: "I've told you all I know. What's your plan?"

He Lingchuan and Dong Rui exchanged glances.

"You wouldn't possibly think to just stand here foolishly and fight him?" Fu Liushan shook his head repeatedly: "We can't win."

He Lingchuan surveyed the surrounding stone tables: "How is this formation to be activated?"

"See the white stone circles on the ground?" Fu Liushan pointed downward: "I'll control the formation; you must ensure it stands within the circle, the closer to the center the better—then the formation can reseal it."

"Are you sure?" He Lingchuan frowned: "It's been sealed for so many years—will it really walk into the trap again so foolishly?"

"When the Luo Sheng Armor first appeared, it would cause its host to lose clarity of mind, obsessed only with slaughter." Fu Liushan said: "We must seize this chance to seal it; otherwise, relying on just us few would be suicide!"

Dong Rui stepped on the stone ground: "Will it not seal us in as well?"

What scheme is this Fu Liushan hatching? He's not unaware.

"What are you thinking? It only works on the Luo Sheng Armor!"

As his words fell, the bell on Fu Liushan's hand suddenly rang—ling ling ling ling—particularly jarring in the night wind.

His face changed: "It's here."

When an evil spirit approaches, this bell rings. Last time at the inn encountering a ghost, it only rang half a tone—now it seems eager to wake the dead.

It rang so joyfully that everyone knew something extraordinary was approaching.

Dong Rui immediately asked, "Can you tell which direction the Luo Sheng armor is coming from?"

Fu Liushan casually pointed: "Over there!"

He jumped onto a stone table, crouched down, not knowing what he was drawing on the table, and urgently said: "Almost forgot to mention—this armor likely absorbs human fear; the more you shrink back, the stronger it becomes. So—"

He Lingchuan interrupted: "But this thing just fought the Yao army—it must have absorbed a lot already?"

"Well, yeah, that's exactly it!" Fu Liushan laughed, "So it's much stronger now than when it first broke the seal... Oh right, I heard the Luo Sheng armor enhances the host's divine abilities and strength. You're on your own—if you can't hold out, just drag it into the sky to buy time."

He Lingchuan was about to reply when he saw this man suddenly dive downward and vanish! "Huh?" Dong Rui exclaimed in shock.

He Lingchuan leapt onto the table in two steps, but saw nothing there.

He pressed his hand on the tabletop a few times:

"There's probably a mechanism—he hid inside the table."

No wonder Fu Liushan seemed so calm—he had a place to hide.

"He's really sly. No, the formation masters of the Shining Gold Empire are truly sly—prioritizing their own protection first." Dong Rui looked envious; he also wanted to go in.

But he could only pat the ghost ape and bat, then swiftly slip into the forest himself—exactly opposite the direction of the black-armored person.

He had witnessed the monster's speed and skill firsthand; he knew he couldn't withstand it.

He left He Lingchuan with just one sentence: "You guys fight well! It's all up to you now."

Fu Liushan, still hiding in the stone table, hadn't even reacted when Dong Rui's back disappeared into the dark forest.

What does this mean—did they just split up temporarily? Can He Lingchuan and a monkey really hold off the Luo Sheng armor?

(End of chapter)