Chapter 2589

The people of Lingyun Palace wanted to pursue, but the mountains were everywhere mired in mud; the enemy passed through easily, while every step they took sank into pits, and even flying pursuit was hindered, constantly dragged down by some inexplicable force.

Moreover, behind them, more and more human-faced tree demons kept close, unwilling to let go.

As they pursued, the distance between the two sides grew ever greater.

This human-faced tree demon is the tree fruit grown from the Soul-Extracting Box. The Nine Abysses Great Emperor used this box to extract the souls of wicked men to nourish the soul tree; the blossoms it bears have the effect of nourishing the divine soul. If not picked, the fruit that grows, when thrown to the ground, can turn into an aggressive possessed tree demon.

This box followed the Nine Abysses Great Emperor on his southern and northern campaigns, having consumed untold numbers of souls, and the tree demons nurtured from it have become ever more formidable.

They cannot match immortals or cultivators of profound magic power, but entangling armies with weaker elemental power is no problem. The Heavenly Palace's army, far from Bekka, had insufficient activated elemental power to allow them to slice through these tree demons as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

When Wuyu Immortal and others were forced to abandon the pursuit helplessly, the tree demons also turned and fled, scattering in all directions.

"Have you captured any prisoners?" she asked, retracting her whip.

Someone from behind replied: "We caught a white teal."

This is a waterfowl demon that inhabits the Earth Mother Plains; it joined the expedition this time, but during the retreat it lagged by two steps, its wings damaged by Lingyun Palace people, and it was caught in a net.

Wuyu Immortal breathed a sigh of relief: "Good, brought along..."

Their purpose in rushing to battle this time was also to find out exactly who the enemy was. As long as they captured a prisoner, they could extract enemy intelligence.

But before the word "come" could even leave his mouth, several swamp beasts suddenly leapt out of a mud pit nearby.

Wuyu Immortal unleashed two divine abilities, freezing two swamp beasts, but two more bit the cultivators, snatched the white teal, and then immediately sank back into the mire, one flicking its tail and vanishing without a trace.

Once they entered the mud pit, others would find it extremely difficult to catch them again.

"How outrageous!" The duck in hand had actually run away; Wuyu Immortal, furious, lashed out with a whip, shattering the two ice sculptures into pieces.

She then examined the swamp beasts' bodies and discovered these things were made of rock and skeletons, not even qualifying as living beings.

"They are summoned creatures." She brushed the dirt from her hands, surveyed the surroundings, and said, "What formidable divine ability!"

To summon so many swamp beasts in one breath and have them fight tenaciously already indicates considerable skill. But she also did not overlook one point:

The swamp beasts must adapt to the local environment to exert their maximum power. Is this geographical environment naturally so, or is it the result of later transformation by someone behind the scenes?

It appears the enemy has been lying in ambush here for a long time.

Thereafter, Wuyu Immortal led the troops in battle in the valley, which was equally arduous; Mingke Immortal fought Lingyun Palace people in Mobile Corps Commander warfare in the swamp, rarely engaging in direct combat, yet efficiency actually improved, and he silently dismantled several formation bases without a sound.

The valley was everywhere mired in mud, making troop movement extremely difficult. Although Lingyun Palace cultivators tried various methods—such as using icy cold to harden the ground, or using light-body techniques to enhance themselves—the results were minimal. This ghostly place was truly the enemy's home turf.

Even Yanxia Bay had to dispatch two more batches of troops here, and the Banishment Sealing Barrier was repaired twice, yet they still failed to gain the upper hand, with casualties rising in a straight line.

Ultimately, the Banishment Sealing Barrier could not be maintained, and it was broken when Mingke Immortal personally unearthed the talisman.

The Lingyun Palace people then saw all opponents jump into the nearest mud pits and vanish instantly.

This strange way of retreat was something they had never seen before, but they had to admit it was highly effective, because pursuit was impossible.

Wuyu Immortal also secretly cast tracking spells on two enemies, but the effect failed before they had even pursued two li.

"Damn that Mingke Immortal!" That fellow is known for being meticulous; aside from leaving behind a few dead monsters, he actually left Wuyu Immortal not a single living mouth to interrogate!

Subsequently, the "Divine Gaze" on Duan He Yun's body was once again shielded, and Lingyun Palace lost track of the enemy's movements.

The Nine Abysses Great Emperor had previously outlined three key points for this forest ambush battle: first, to annihilate the enemy's forces as much as possible to reduce resistance for his subsequent attack on Lingyun Palace, facilitating his own plundering in troubled waters; second, while seeking a swift and decisive victory, he must not expose the existence of Earth Mother and the Nine Abysses Great Emperor.

The latter is the crux; he must absolutely prevent Lingyun Palace from discerning the enemy's true and false strengths.

Therefore, signature forces such as Earth Mother's stone avatars, the subterranean spider queen, and Dong Rui's ghost apes must not be openly revealed.

Furthermore, Lingyun Palace would surely deduce this place is a trap and send masters to take command of the overall situation. Hence, the third key point of their offensive is safety first—no reckless advances.

Additionally, He Lingchuan must control the battle tempo, creating the appearance of the enemy forces suffering successive defeats, so that Lingyun Palace will dispatch more troops to this battlefield.

The more troops they send out, the lower their own defensive capacity becomes; when He Lingchuan goes to attack Lingyun Palace, their blood loss will be all the more severe.

The battles along this line are commanded by Mingke Immortal, and so far, they have proceeded perfectly.

However, just after the Banishment Sealing Barrier disappeared, a figure furtively approached the western part of the swamp.

This is a water-eroded valley, where stream water has flowed year after year, eroding the stone walls into hollows of various sizes and shapes—some like honeycomb coal, others like a person's mouth split open.

There are many underground fissures here, often connected to water bodies, thus filled with vapors.

That figure emerged from underground, silently drilling into a fissure from below.

These fissures interconnect, like an underground small maze, but its direction is quite clear; in just a few breaths, it burrowed into a cavern.

The area of this irregular cavern is actually over thirty square meters; if one is not versed in earth evasion, there would be only a single entrance and exit. Duan He Yun and A Lian sat on the ground, heads bowed in silence.

Two people stood beside them, and three more guarded the cave mouth.

"Almost ready?" one guard asked his companion.

"The enemy's Banishment Sealing Barrier has been broken; the superiors ordered us to depart after half an incense stick's time, with reinforcements already en route."

"Then it's good." The guard exhaled a breath of relief, "If we bring this fellow back early, our merit will be complete!"

As the words fell, a black shadow suddenly emerged from the ground behind them!

This thing is six feet tall, strange in appearance; at first glance it looks like a pangolin, and indeed it is covered in scales, with head and tail able to curl into a ball.

In fact, it emerged curled into a ball, silently unfolding its form behind the guard. Only then could one see that, although it has the body and tail of a pangolin, its head resembles that of a large catfish, and both upper and lower jaws bear several whiskers.

When it opened its mouth, it spat out four shadows.

Two of them shot like lightning to attack the guards, while the other two went to rescue Duan He Yun and A Lian, with clear division of labor.

The monster that led them into the cave's depths is the Lingyun Palace's demon puppet earth rampart, skilled in earth evasion.