Chapter 2011: Strange Maze Formation

The heavy martial general raised his spear:

"Dare you? Just you and me!"

This shout, infused with true power, was like a clap of thunder.

He Lingchuan gave a faint smile. The three-tailed fox demon was indeed the one he rescued, to complete the task for Ling Mountain; but at that time, King Yao suspected the heavy martial general was the murderer who killed Xue Zongwu, and this was not He Lingchuan deliberately setting a trap to frame him, but because he had pledged allegiance to Qingyang and was implicitly standing against King Yao.

He Lingchuan lightly pulled the reins, and the Black-Spotted King rammed through two small trees, charging straight up the slope.

The Black Armored Army followed closely behind.

The heavy martial general let out a shout, the Bixia knights roared, and they charged down from the hilltop.

In the blink of an eye, the two forces collided.

The heavy martial general still used his most familiar long spear. He Lingchuan had seen him strike several times before and knew he favored a bold, open, fierce, and ruthless style.

At this point, using a sword would not suffice; he flipped his wrist and brought out a long halberd.

This halberd had three blades in total: besides the central blade flashing with cold light, each side had a blade like a crescent moon; overall narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. This shape was not only suitable for chopping, cutting, and thrusting, but also for horizontal strikes and smashes, with many variations.

It also had an origin: its predecessor was the broken halberd He Lingchuan took from the Qinglong Earth Palace. This was originally the natal magic artifact of the Chao Hai Yaksha King, broken by Qinglong. He Lingchuan retrieved it and handed it to Songyang Prefecture to be reforged and joined, transforming it from a trident halberd into a double-moon halberd.

The halberd shaft was taken from a woody growth on Qinglong's head; it was astonishingly hard yet retained the flexibility of wood.

As soon as this halberd was drawn, the surrounding temperature dropped by several degrees.

When the heavy martial general clashed with him, he discovered the power of the "Nine Abysses Great Emperor" was truly terrifying—his spear thrust felt not like a person but like a great elephant. The opponent's halberd strike came down, and he barely managed to block it; his mount even neighed once, nearly buckling at the legs.

The halberd also transmitted a chilling cold, making one feel extremely uncomfortable.

Before, he had also seen He Xia multiple times, yet he had not noticed this person's martial skill and cultivation attainment were extremely high?

As they fought, the deep voice of the Nine Abysses Great Emperor also sounded in his ear:

"Do you still remember Ru Ruohai? You dueled at King Yao's birthday banquet."

The heavy martial general said nothing, because blocking was extremely taxing.

"He lasted ten moves under my hand; see how long you can hold out."

At King Yao's birthday banquet, the heavy martial general and Ru Ruohai did not fight to the death, but He Lingchuan could still tell the heavy martial general was slightly stronger.

After another three moves, the heavy martial general's shoulder was swept by the heavy halberd, and both man and horse retreated three steps.

His shoulder ached as if about to split; he gritted his teeth, feinted with a spear thrust, covered his shoulder, and turned his horse to flee.

He Lingchuan naturally led the army in relentless pursuit.

Ahead in the forest, the tree species changed—no longer small shrubs, but tall, broad-crowned ancient trees, interspersed with rugged mountain rocks.

After advancing another two li, ahead lay pure Shishan.

The road also grew narrower and narrower.

The heavy martial general led over a hundred cavalry ahead.

This mountain stretch might be over a hundred zhang long; the Black Armored Army scouts went ahead to sweep and scout, found no ambush, and then He Lingchuan led the army in.

Pursuing too urgently, combined with the narrow mountain path, he now had only two hundred elite cavalry behind him.

Behind this mountain barrier lay a stone forest. If viewed from above, the layered stone forest resembled a thousand sails racing, capable of dividing into countless side paths.

Luo Xie said softly: "Are they planning to play hide-and-seek with us here?"

He Lingchuan's eyes shifted slightly: "Don't pursue; let's go back."

Ahead looked like there might be a trap; he didn't want to step into it. Besides, there were no human voices or horse hoofbeats behind, and he also felt something was off.

Where did the other subordinates go?

But when everyone took a few steps back, they all exclaimed in surprise.

The way back had changed.

They had come through a flat mountain valley, but now when going back, they found the valley gone, replaced instead by layered stone forest.

Situ Heqi said: "An illusion technique?"

He Lingchuan shook his head: "Not an illusion technique."

Otherwise, he would have seen through it at a glance.

Unless it was an extremely high-level illusion technique, otherwise don't even think about fooling his Yuan power.

Interesting.

It seems he really fell into the opponent's trap; he pointed backward: "Continue the pursuit."

Since going forward and backward are the same, it's better to just keep pursuing.

Then a Black Armored soldier took out a glowing spore lamp; He Lingchuan lightly flicked the halberd tip, flinging a drop of fresh blood from above into the lamp.

That was the heavy martial general's blood.

The glowing spore lamp itself had no temperature, but now it had turned red.

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This is the tracker's divine ability. When the spore lamp is held toward the correct direction, the light turns red; otherwise, it reverts to pale white.

"Let's go." He Lingchuan reminded everyone: "Stay alert."

They kept pursuing the heavy martial general, often knocking down a few Bixia people, and there were several close-quarters engagements. But here the terrain was strange, and the heavy martial general narrowly escaped several times.

However, as they pursued, Luo Xie suddenly said:

"Great Emperor, we seem to be missing people."

"Missing people?" He Lingchuan's heart jolted.

"It's normal to lose personnel in battle, but," the Wang brothers originally always walked on my left side; after the last battle ended, they disappeared."

Luo Xie added: "They were not injured."

Just then, He Lingchuan also heard the voice of the Blood Demon in his ear:

"The blood energy here is very strong."

He Lingchuan stopped his steps and looked around.

The blood qi is strong? But he smelled nothing.

He Lingchuan took out the Soul-Capturing Mirror and fastened it to his arm: "Keep a close watch."

After advancing another thirty or so zhang, the Soul-Capturing Mirror suddenly cried out: "The stone slab at the rear right of the group has moved!"

The passages in Shi Lin are narrow; the crowd weaves through stone slabs and stone screens like fish at the bottom of a lotus pond, and not everyone can stay together.

Upon hearing this, He Lingchuan tapped his toes and darted back swiftly, so fast that the Black Armored Army soldiers only felt a breeze brush past. He aimed at the stone screen indicated by the mirror and, with a swish, delivered two chopping blows, unleashing a cross-shaped slash!

The mirror called out: "Gently, gently, gently, gently!"

Very few stones can withstand the Floating Life Blade, and this one naturally split into four pieces. The attendants behind rushed forward and pried the stone open.

Inside the stone was indeed a Black Armored Army soldier, eyes tightly shut, breath gone.

Everyone shook his shoulder: "Wake up!"

The soldier then opened his eyes and gasped a breath, as if just awakening from a dream.

When questioned, he said he had been walking forward normally, yet somehow ahead was just a stone wall with no path. He naturally reached out and touched it twice, and then—then he knew nothing more.

Opening his eyes again, it was just like this now.

He Lingchuan stared at the stone slab he had split, and even extended the tip of his blade to pick up something.

The feel when he had split the stone earlier was not quite right; it seemed to twitch suddenly.

"Human blood, but not purely human blood! Nor is it the blood of your subordinate wrapped inside!" The blood demon sniffed twice, feeling novel, "It's as if fresh blood has been mixed with the taste of earth and metal, interesting, interesting!"

Having slaughtered so many and absorbed so much blood qi, this was the first time he had encountered such a thing.