Chapter 1409

Although they were also experts in fighting, they lacked the global view unique to famous generals and great generals. Xue Zongwu was over forty this year, and his martial arts, strength, physical fitness, and experience had just reached their peak; upon engaging with this black-armored leader, he was also secretly shocked.

This guy was really too tough; his sword was tough, and his hands were even tougher! Xue Zongwu's personal weapons were a pair of purple-gold melon hammers, treasures left over from the medieval period. After being improved by famous masters, this pair of melon hammers could be held with two hands, or combined into a long-handled weapon, and the end of the handle could extend a chain to be used as a meteor hammer.

This pair of purple-gold melon hammers had a strange characteristic called "one shock, three tremors"; when clashing with other weapons, it would trigger continuous vibrations, at least twice, and at most four or five times; practitioners with slightly weaker strength would feel like they were receiving heavy blows repeatedly, unable to even hold their weapons.

Xue Zongwu had killed a fierce general from Luodian before; the opponent claimed to have infinite strength, but was shaken by the characteristics of the purple-gold melon hammers until the web between his thumb and index finger split, and when he died, his hands were covered in blood, unable to even grasp his weapon.

The black-armored leader in front of him, however, took it without a sound and was still acting as if nothing had happened! He naturally didn't know about the strange bond between the Floating Life Sword and He Lingchuan; as long as it was in He Lingchuan's hand, this sword was almost impossible to be knocked out of his hand.

The two sides engaged in close-quarters combat, and the layers of ghost shadows lingering around the black armor inevitably passed through Xue Zongwu's body, making him feel empty inside.

It was as if something was staring at him and spying on him with full malice, just waiting for him to make a mistake or get injured; although it hadn't attacked yet, it made Xue Zongwu subconsciously vigilant.

These ghost things didn't look like divine abilities at all, because they couldn't be exempted by Yuan power!

Yes, facing an enemy of unknown origin, he also used Yuan power at the first opportunity.

Both of them had the intention of knocking down the opponent and ending the battle in the shortest time, but they ended up fighting to a standstill, and the scene was deadlocked for a while.

Xue Zongwu's eyes flickered, and he suddenly said: "Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds is a bluffing title, but it's just a person!"

The opponent was tough, but as soon as he engaged, he was certain that this was a human!

A battle-hardened powerhouse, but not a god like Miaozhantian.

The "Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds" that was spreading like wildfire among the people was just a human in disguise! A mere human, what qualifications did he have to judge a general of the Yao Nation, what qualifications did he have to act on behalf of heaven! The black-armored leader chuckled low: "Death is at hand, and you still don't know how to be in awe!"

Xue Zongwu also gave a sneer: "Even Heaven dares not take me, is it your turn to play the clown?"

With a few clangs of metal, accompanied by the black-armored leader's low and powerful words: "How do you know I am not Heaven's Will?"

Over there, the Weng brothers were back-to-back, fighting with six Xue family soldiers. Weng Xing had an injured hand and couldn't wield a weapon, so the brothers only had three hands to use in total; they looked like they were fighting more and more bravely, but in fact, they were all relying on a fierce drive.

To contend with the six elites personally trained by Xue Zongwu, in their current state, it was really a bit strenuous.

Among these six people were two of Xue Zongwu's deputy generals, named Lu Ping and Wang Xining, whose martial arts were outstanding and whose moves were seasoned. They were brothers on the battlefield and had life-and-death friendship with You Lin, who had been slashed to death by He Lingchuan earlier; seeing You Lin die, they were both shocked and angry, and they didn't talk nonsense when they came up, always slashing at the brothers' vital points.

What was even more deadly was that their coordination was no worse than the Weng brothers'.

Xue Zongwu had once commented on the martial arts field that even if these two faced him, they had the ability to remain undefeated for dozens of rounds.

The power exerted by these two was greater than the remaining four combined, and the Weng brothers were almost biting their teeth to pieces to barely hold on.

If it weren't for the fact that deputy general You Lin was slashed to death by the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds in the first encounter, the three deputy generals would have come up together, and the Weng brothers probably wouldn't have been able to hold on for long.

Not to mention these opponents also had Yuan power.

This was when Weng Su's fancy tricks were really numerous; what Yellow Turban Warrior, what Quicksand Talisman Array, although they might not cause much damage to the elites protected by Yuan power, combined with Weng Xing's various explosive hidden weapons, they still dragged the time out.

Weng Xing dodged a sweep and took the opportunity to ask his brother in code: "Retreat or not?"

With the black-armored leader attracting firepower, if they turned and fled, there wouldn't be many guards chasing them.

Weng Su also hesitated a bit. Don't look at the black-armored leader and Xue Zongwu fighting to a standstill; in fact, the time advantage was in the hands of Butcher Xue. If the brothers didn't run now, would there be a chance later?

But if they ran, that would be too unrighteous! The person clearly came to save them.

Uh, no, it might not be specifically to save people.

But the black-armored leader indeed didn't stand by and watch them die; could they now turn and run ungratefully? If they slipped away tonight, for the next few decades, his thoughts probably wouldn't be clear when he cultivated!

Weng Su gritted his teeth and made a decision: "Persist a little longer, the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds might be able to slash this dog thief!"

Really? Weng Xing wasn't sure, but his brother must have seen something if he said so.

He immediately focused his mind.

Actually, Weng Su wasn't sure either. The Xue dog thief had profound cultivation and excellent martial equipment, and was as hard as a turtle, and had exceptionally pure Yuan power, able to exert at least 130% of his ability; how powerful must the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds be to slash him under his sword? Xue Zongwu said the enemy was human and not a god, and he had guessed it too. Weng Su wasn't an ignorant common woman, but...

Wait a little longer, wait a little longer!

Over there, the Soul-Sucking Mirror was saying to He Lingchuan: "Those two silly boys are blocking in a precarious situation; I'm afraid they won't last long."

The Weng brothers were both experts, but Weng Xing was injured in the battle with Xue Zongwu and lost one hand, and other means were used up, and Xue Zongwu's subordinates were unexpectedly difficult to fight; the mirror didn't think highly of them.

After a few breaths, the mirror said again: "They are talking in code; hey, are you guessing the same as me?"

He Lingchuan was also watching all directions during the fierce battle, and occasionally glancing with his peripheral vision, taking in the Weng brothers' predicament.

Honestly, the situation for the brothers was not optimistic; the wisest choice was to turn and flee, leaving the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds behind as a cushion.

After all, survival was a human instinct.

They were talking in code, probably discussing whether to run or not. If they ran late, it would probably be a dead end too.

But they seemed to have chosen to stay and fight side by side with He Lingchuan.

This life-and-death choice was not easy.

In just this short while, several wounds had been added to their bodies, and the situation was becoming increasingly critical.

The Soul-Sucking Mirror also clicked its tongue: "These two boys won't run first; they are very loyal!"

Firm stance and loyalty, okay, okay.

They had also completed the task given to them by the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds very well, indeed entangling Xue Zongwu's subordinates, allowing He Lingchuan to deal with Xue Zongwu with peace of mind.

One-on-one, the best opportunity.

"Hey, where are you looking?" He Lingchuan was slightly distracted, and Xue Zongwu immediately sensed it, swinging his pair of purple-gold hammers and smashing them hard onto the Floating Life Sword.

He Lingchuan didn't fight him to the death, directly retreating two steps. His left hand swung, throwing a few dark green round balls toward the Weng brothers' direction.

Given that the projectiles appearing today were all very unstable, no one dared to catch or deflect them, and everyone hurriedly dodged.

This thing was oval-shaped, and both its size and shape were like olives; as soon as it landed, it took root, sprouted branches, and grew leaves, without a second of delay.

In an instant, they grew strong and sturdy bodies, with seven or eight branches that could serve as arms.

Without a word, the branches lashed toward the Weng brothers' opponents.

There were rows of hard thorns on the branches, similar to a spiked club; whoever was lashed would have to howl in pain.

Those with some knowledge knew these were tree demons, but there were actually human faces growing on the trunks.

Three or four faces were all different, some with big beards, some with shoe-shaped faces, and without exception, their expressions were ferocious, and the eyes staring at people were full of resentment. Among them, three were small in size, only reaching the chest of an ordinary person, and their leaping and jumping were not a problem, their movements agile unlike tree demons; the largest one was one zhang tall, its movements relatively slow, but its whole body was as hard as iron, and its surface was covered with vines. Lu Ping's sword slashed on the tree body and would first cut the vines, and the white juice splashing out would cause a burst of pain and itching when it touched the skin.

As soon as these few tree demons appeared, it wasn't just more fists and arms, but dozens of branch-like arms, instantly disrupting the battle formation gathered by Lu Ping and others.

The Weng brothers' pressure was greatly reduced, and they turned around and hid behind the large tree demon.

When Lu Ping and others rushed over, they circled around the tree demon to play hide-and-seek with the opponent.

This large tree demon had skin as hard as iron, and the Xue family army used Yuan power, but each time they could only slash three inches into the bark at most. And it would emit a strange fragrance, and those who smelled it couldn't help but sneeze.

Every time they went "achoo," their moves couldn't help but go out of shape.

The Weng brothers saw it and secretly marveled. These tree demons had hard skin and were agile; if they put out a few more, they would be good helpers for group fights.

Naturally, they didn't know that these were fruits grown from the Jula Treasure Box.

Originally, the main body of the Xuanlu Ghost King was hidden in the human-faced peach tree in the treasure box. He Lingchuan cut down the human-faced peach and replanted Jula tree branches in the box, so the flowers grown from the Jula tree in the box could heal soul injuries, and the fruits grown could turn into tree demons to help the master fight.

Of course, the tree in the box needed divine souls as nutrients to grow. It just so happened that the Black Armor Army had been attacking one after another recently, detaining a large number of evil souls, which He Lingchuan fed to the Jula Treasure Box as fertilizer, thus catalyzing several fruits.

After using it once, he found that this thing was too convenient. If he had enough Jula fruits in his hand, he could instantly pull up a hard-skinned army by himself.

Although they were not good at resisting Yuan power, and could not achieve the strict discipline and ease of an elite army, they were still good helpers on the battlefield.

The largest tree demon also hissed: "Kill, kill, kill you all!"

The voice was not as deep as the other tree demons, but had a bit of a broken gong sound.

Xue Zongwu had originally shoulder-checked the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds on his chest armor, and the strength exploded suddenly, but hearing this sound, he felt a bit familiar, and in the midst of his busy schedule, he took a hurried glance, but saw an unexpected sight: "Zhao Guangzhi?"

He guarded the northern line of the Yao Nation and had been confronting the Luodian people for years, so he also recognized Zhao Guangzhi.

Some time ago, news of Zhao Guangzhi's death came from the west. Therefore, when Xue Zongwu suddenly saw Zhao Guangzhi, and the other party's face was actually growing on a tree demon, that shock was indescribable.

(End of chapter)