Chapter 2779: Wings Cannot Fly

"Ling Daoist!" Mingke Immortal rejoiced, taking three steps in two to rush forward and support him, asking, "How are your injuries?"

Ling Jinbao also allowed himself to be helped, merely waving his hand and saying, "I won't, I won't die."

He had a throat wound, blood flowing incessantly, his speech hoarse and low: "Where is the Crown Prince Shen? Has he returned safely?"

Before Mingke Immortal could answer, Lord Qing Shu arrived, rushing over to examine Ling Jinbao's wounds.

Its medical skill was superb.

Ling Jinbao asked again: "Is the Crown Prince Shen safe?"

Yang Sheng stood to the side, feeling something was off. Ling Jinbao clearly knew he had been escorting the Crown Prince Shen, so why did he keep asking Mingke Immortal, not even glancing at him?

"Don't move recklessly!" Ling Jinbao looked left and right; Lord Qing Shu couldn't touch the wound without causing pain, so he grew impatient, pointing backhanded at the small hut: "He..."

The four words "He's inside the hut" had not yet been spoken when Yang Sheng let out a loud shout, cutting him off: "He is not Ling Jinbao!"

At the same time, a faint light flashed in his hand, the great axe whipping up a fierce wind, straight for Ling Jinbao's neck.

As the plains guard appointed by the Emperor of the Nine Abysses, Yang Sheng was meticulous as a thread, yet simultaneously not lacking in boldness and strategy—for one must know, these two qualities rarely appear together in the same person; the thoughtful tend to hesitate, while the bold often act rashly.

Yang Sheng's axe strike seemed fierce, but in truth, he could release or withdraw it at will.

Ling Jinbao did not dodge or evade, instead charging straight at him head-on.

Yang Sheng's heart sank—indeed, it was an enemy!

He put real force into the blow, accelerating to chop the opponent's neck. The air around Ling Jinbao seemed to be sliced by several flashes of lightning, crackling blue light flashing in succession.

Then, Ling Jinbao vanished from beneath the axe blade.

Lord Qing Shu pointed a finger at his back: "Hold it, don't run!"

With that point, dozens of green thorns shot forth.

It turned out "Ling Jinbao" had appeared three zhang away, only five steps from the hut where He Yue was.

He turned, brushed aside the green thorns with one hand, and with the other flung a punch at the hut, simultaneously throwing something.

Where the fist wind passed, the hut's originally sturdy outer wall was utterly smashed, like cardboard.

With the outer wall collapsed, everyone could see He Yue indeed inside, holding a mirror, his face showing alarm.

In the mirror, there was also the shadow of He Chuanhua.

Goods verified, He Yue was present.

But He Yue had also tempered himself through life and death on the battlefield; moreover, Yang Sheng's earlier loud shout had been heard by him.

Something had happened!

Even if treachery arose from close quarters, He Yue's reaction remained swift.

He did not look back, violently springing in another direction, hoping to burst through the wall.

But inside and outside the hut, twenty or thirty people had seemingly appeared out of thin air, one of them making a vague grab at his back—

"Freeze!"

The moment He Yue's hand touched the window latch, his lunge was abruptly checked, as if he had slammed headfirst into an invisible air wall, his qi and blood surging, his body barely able to move.

He was horrified, circulating his full true power, but his movements were slow, as if performing a set of Eight Pieces of Brocade.

If this technique were used against Yang Sheng or Lord Qing Shu, it would be ineffective, for both possess Cangyan elemental power, against which binding and restricting divine abilities often prove strangely effective; but He Yue, though a commander, possesses Shen Guo elemental power on his person, which cannot be compared to Cangyan, making his resistance to divine arts much weaker.

Though he had elemental power to neutralize the opponent's divine ability, his speed still slowed.

Another stranger flashed to his rear, reached out and grabbed his shoulder, moving with inconceivable speed.

Demon descent!

Here there were only Yang Sheng and Lord Qing Shu; even Mingke Immortal had not approached the hut, only managing to throw a flying wheel. The plains garrison and Shen Guo soldiers need not be mentioned—they were far off, hearing the sound and turning back only then to head this way.

That flying wheel had not yet neared the demon when it was bounced back by the invisible air wall. Unknown which demon struck, isolating the entire wooden hut.

First came the immobilization technique, then the individual capture, and outside the hut they erected an invisible air wall—these three measures deployed simultaneously show the determination to capture He Yue at all costs.

Can a mere Shen Guo Crown Prince sprout wings and fly to heaven?

The demons who had vanished earlier now appeared all together!

They came straight for He Yue; among them, the Fuju God retained the nature of the divine descent body, that is, the unique ability of the Hidden God to change form, disguising himself as the wounded Ling Jinbao, and under the premise of not arousing suspicion, sought to worm out He Yue's whereabouts.

Ling Jinbao had been to Longku East Town, where he ate, drank, and shopped, giving the demons ample time to observe and study him.

Yet that slight abnormality was still noticed by Yang Sheng.

At the moment the demon seized He Yue, He Yue vanished, nearly leaving an afterimage in place.

Not, not gone? The demon reaching for He Yue was horrified. The latter was only a hair's breadth away, yet he had grasped empty air.

The half-cooked duck had actually flown away?

He roared in anger: "This is not right!"

The geodata of the Mother Earth Plains they had previously collected made no mention of this place being able to arbitrarily teleport outsiders. Originally, when the demons Gu Yu and others collaborated with Guan Biao, even when Jingjing City fought desperately against the Ling Mountain immortals, the city's demons blocking intruders did so on foot—only Guan Biao himself could wander freely within Jingjing City.

But observing He Yue's disappearance, it was clearly due to being teleported by the Mother Earth!

This is a major oversight in intelligence!

But immediately in his ear sounded the leader's icy voice:

"Enough, kill these immortals!"

Their purpose in coming here had originally been twofold: one, to capture He Yue; two, to kill people.

He Yue was not captured, a pity, so the second objective must be fulfilled:

Sever the Nine Abysses' wings!

What affects their plan to hunt the Nine Abysses, in order, is the Mother Earth, then immortals, then the chief commander, then the army.

And in this operation to invade the Mother Earth Plains, they are also removing threats in this sequence.

Yang Sheng had tested the "Ling Jinbao" as a fake, and now struck without mercy, each axe blow aimed at the vital point. Such a warrior of his does not favor flowery spells and divine abilities; his martial technique is pure, and still carries elemental power most hated by demons and immortals, so even the Fuju God does not wish to take his axe head-on.

However, as the figure flickered, in the blink of an eye twelve people surrounded Yang Sheng.

The military commanders of the Earth Mother Plains, like the immortals, are targets for the Heavenly Demons to eliminate — their priority is even slightly higher, because they possess both Yuan Power and the ability to command troops. Fuju Shen has brought over thirty companions this time, precisely to overwhelm the few with the many, and comfortably wipe out the enemy's immortal and martial strength in one fell swoop.

The immortals and military commanders of Cang Yan are too cunning, circling around and evading them; only after much difficulty did they pinpoint these people's location through He Yue, so the Heavenly Demons naturally cannot let this golden opportunity to capture them all in one net slip away.

"Don't come over, all of you get out of here fast!" Yang Sheng roared, not letting the dozens of black-armored warriors outside come in here.

Too few people; coming would be useless, just sending their heads to the enemy.

However fierce Yang Sheng's own martial power and Yuan Power may be, he cannot withstand these twelve immortal-demons.

Having only exchanged blows with three among them, his protective magic artifact was completely shattered, and his right arm was also pierced through by a poisoned nail.