Chapter 1414

Although his strength had temporarily recovered, Xue Zongwu had no intention of fighting his opponent to the death; as long as he could leave the main hall, his chances of survival would greatly increase. At such a time, he didn't mind whether his escape looked good or not.

So he flicked his wrist and threw two explosive nails at He Lingchuan. These things, upon receiving a heavy blow, would violently spray two to three hundred poisonous nails forward, each only half the length of a pinky finger, but capable of piercing protective gangqi.

It was practically a copy of the Violent Rain Pear Blossom Needles; He Lingchuan had never used such a thing before.

What a waste.

He charged forward without dodging, not even raising his shield—how could the Kanglong Armor possibly be shattered by such a thing?

The Soul-Capturing Mirror in his bosom called out: "You'd better..."

Before the three words "block it" could even leave his mouth, the poisonous nails struck He Lingchuan, producing a continuous tinkling sound.

He Lingchuan's judgment was correct—these nails could not pierce the Kanglong Armor's defense at all. But mixed among them were a few explosive nails; though they couldn't damage the treasure armor, they could shove his entire body backward.

"Who told you not to use me?" the mirror chattered, "I can swallow these few myself!"

Its mirror world was becoming more and more useful.

Meanwhile, Xue Zongwu was only three zhang from the burning gate; one more flash and he could get out. But at that moment, he paused.

Something exploded not far away; Xue Zongwu sensed a flash of white light, then immediately felt dizzy and disoriented, utterly unable to control himself.

Fortunately, his soul was solidified and he had yuanqi protecting his body, so this abnormality lasted less than half a breath before being dispelled.

But he had indeed been delayed by half a breath—

Not only did he throw hidden weapons at He Lingchuan, but He Lingchuan simultaneously launched a soul-shocking bomb at him.

This was a small device obtained from Fang Chanran; upon detonation, it could shock the soul, possibly shaking a person's soul loose from their body. Back in Lingxu City, He Lingchuan had fallen victim to such a sneak attack, and this time he casually had Xue Zongwu try it out.

Xue Zongwu of course continued fleeing forward without looking back. But just as he was about to rush out, a large and small tree demon suddenly emerged from the blazing flames ahead.

The large tree demon was Zhao Guangzhi, engulfed in flames from head to toe, while the other two tree demons had been completely burned away by white flame.

The other, a small tree demon about half a person tall, was the Zhouluo tree fruit that He Lingchuan had just thrown out.

They were all fruits genuinely cultivated by the Zhouluo tree casket, existing without time limit, able to run and fight as long as they remained undamaged.

Inside the hall, burning obstacles were everywhere; Zhao Guangzhi blocked Xue Zongwu's path, whipping several long branches like whips at him—seemingly slow but actually fast.

He was skilled with whips in life, and after becoming a tree demon, he surprisingly retained this trait.

The other small tree demon had astonishing leaping ability; a light hop would have it crash into Xue Zongwu's face.

Xue Zongwu exerted force in his legs, suddenly braking—this avoided being mounted. But once this small tree demon landed, it would drift, clinging to him like a shadow.

Xue Zongwu hammered it twice with both fists, mercilessly.

But this small tree demon's movements... how to put it, overly agile; Xue Zongwu even felt it was like an octopus wrapped in bark, because its branches were more nimble than human legs.

These two tree demons, one far and one near, one fast and one slow, actually coordinated seamlessly. Normally, Xue Zongwu wouldn't even notice them, but now, with escape urgent, these two things were terribly annoying.

At this moment, He Lingchuan also unfolded the Swallow Return Body Technique and charged toward Xue Zongwu.

Xue Zongwu didn't need to turn around to feel a sharp pain in his back, knowing great terror had already closed in, and he absolutely should not be entangled by the tree demons.

In the critical moment, he didn't even have time to brace, allowing Zhao Guangzhi's whip to lash his shoulder, while his other hand flicked out a black tablet, shouting low: "Escape!"

The golden patterns on the tablet flashed with light, and Xue Zongwu vanished.

This was not the earth escape technique commonly used by He Lingchuan and Dong Rui, but a rather rare "gold escape."

When this hall was repaired, Xue Zongwu had visited more than once, knowing that beneath the main gate's lintel lay twenty square feet of gold-inlaid jade. It was pure red gold melted down, then point by point hammered onto the white jade slab according to the pattern, thus creating the magnificent ground design.

And at the end of this magnificent gate stone stood two bronze warding beasts bestowed by the Sect Master of Qingbie Mountain.

This entire path was associated with "gold," perfectly suited for this special escape tablet.

When Xue Zongwu's figure reappeared, he was already outside the hall! He had finally escaped the battlefield, escaped that monster burning with black flame!

Best of all, Xue Zongwu saw in the distance that the treeline had burst forth with over a hundred people—exactly his subordinates stationed outside the manor, who had arrived!

Leading the charge were two men, Xue Zongwu's fellow sect junior disciples Baoxin and Fu Wending, both highly cultivated.

Seeing them, Xue Zongwu felt as if he had seen the dawn.

As long as he rushed past and joined the group, he would be safe! His heart surged with joy, he exerted force in his feet, and shot forward like an arrow.

At most another two hundred zhang, and the two sides could meet.

But at that moment, he suddenly felt a breeze stir behind his head.

Opposite, Baoxin also showed surprise, shouting loudly: "Be careful!"

They had come from the south, just emerging from the treeline when they saw the magnificent hall trembling under the licking flames, fire shooting halfway up the sky, illuminating everything around as bright as daytime.

Precisely because everywhere was so brightly lit, he and Fu Wending noticed a black shadow suddenly appearing out of thin air behind Xue Zongwu, abrupt and eerie.

Though Xue Zongwu had exhausted all his other methods, his physical strength had peaked due to the "Diligence Talisman," and seeing reinforcements arrive, he spirited up and turned to fight.

At such a time, one must never show weakness, never turn one's back; otherwise, falling before dawn would truly be suffocating. Were it not for his precise grasp of battle opportunities, over these many years he could not have won repeatedly on the battlefield.

Just as he turned back, he saw a spear tip, the spear's gangqi stabbing out and making his brow ache. Xue Zongwu raised his hammer to deflect, closed in, and swung his other purple gold melon hammer at the black-armored man's chest.

He Lingchuan sidestepped.

In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged another three rounds, fighting faster and faster.

Still one hundred sixty zhang away.

Xue Zongwu exerted all his strength to advance steadily, step by step retreating, wanting to meet his troops in a two-way rush.

But at that moment, two people emerged from behind the burning hall—indeed, the black-clad men who had previously blown up the hall.

The Weng brothers.

There was white fire inside the hall, so they dared not approach, but also hadn't gone far, lingering nearby; they had just killed one of Xue Zongwu's personal guards before rushing back.

He Lingchuan's Soul-Capturing Mirror strangely said: "These two really keep their word—said they wouldn't run, and they didn't."

It had still thought these two rascals had already fled in the chaos.

The Weng brothers strode forward, seeing only the combatants' figures flickering, their naked eyes barely able to keep up.

Both grabbed their weapons and charged up, Weng Su shouting loudly: "We're here to help too!"

At this moment, helping the black-armored person was saving oneself.

He also hoped Xue Zongwu would hear it, and even disturb that dog thief's state of mind a little.

(End of Chapter)