Chapter 3056

It's actually Yingze Heavenly Venerable personally leading the team—our operation this time is secured!

At this moment they emerged from a bamboo grove, and the view ahead suddenly opened up:

Ahead lay a vast open space, but at this moment it was filled with troops.

Behind the open space unfolded a gigantic mirror, at least five zhang wide, continuously spewing out Cangyan soldiers toward this place.

No, not only ahead—several heavenly demons looked left and right, discovering that several other directions also had light, with troops rapidly approaching.

At least Duanmu Heng wasn't wrong on this point: the enemy has already mobilized massive forces, rushing to encircle and intercept.

The heavenly demons had just burst out of the bamboo grove when the enemy welcomed them with a volley of ten thousand arrows, each arrowhead flashing with blinding red light.

Yingze Heaven remained still; the heavenly demon beside him snatched a green-skinned gourd, opened his mouth facing straight ahead, then slapped the gourd's buttocks:

"Come!"

Instantly, a powerful suction surged from within the gourd. Seventy or eighty percent of the arrows shot by the Ju Cheng elite troops were sucked into the gourd.

The remaining twenty or thirty percent were no longer as dense as rain; each heavenly demon employed their divine arts to either evade or block.

But when we glanced at that gourd, our hearts also felt a vague unease.

This treasure gourd is not Yingze Heaven's magic artifact; rather, it is the spoil I took from killing an ancient great immortal, excelling at absorbing wide-range divine arts—whether evil clouds, toxic miasma, or swarms of poisonous locusts, all are swept away like wind scattering remnants, leaving not a trace.

Whatever Yingze Heaven keeps by his side must be a wondrous object with myriad uses.

Yet now, using it to collect the arrows of human soldiers, it actually cannot suck them dry!

Under everyone's gaze, the bottom of the green-skinned gourd let out a sudden "peng" sound, and indeed cracked open a seam.

"Damned yuan force." These arrows are nothing special—even if they are demon-breaking arrows or war weapons—but the yuan force attached to them makes this treasure gourd somewhat unable to cope.

One or two more times like this, and it might burst.

Moreover, the front two rows of enemy archers, after firing, automatically retreated, while the rear ranks stepped forward, drew bows, nocked arrows, and unleashed another wave of arrow rain!

Two heavenly demons joined forces to summon an earth dragon tornado; a massive black tornado instantly swept into the troops, not only flying sand and stones, but the whirlwind itself like blades, capable of instantly dismembering ordinary people.

The dragon tornado reached from heaven to earth; seen from afar, it was an imposing spectacle!

But the Ju Cheng troops showed no fear; after the front ranks fired their arrows, the rear spear and axe soldiers began charging.

The red light on their bodies stood out especially against the yellow-black tornado; the violent wind could not slow their speed, nor could flying sand and stones blur their vision.

Such wind force could lift even a several-ton elephant into the air, yet before our eyes, not a single Ju Cheng soldier was swept away!

Yingze Heaven gave a glance to the heavenly demon beside him and transmitted his thought: "Let's split up."

If the heavenly gods choose to stay and fight to the death, then it would be advancing as a group, steady and solid, relying purely on martial force to push all the way to the edge of Mei Lake. Although we have great confidence in our own strength, the massive consumption of divine power is unavoidable. The yuan force of the Cangyan troops is formidable; among human nations, they are implicitly first. Ju Cheng's elite troops are the pick of the litter; the overall strength of their army is rarely seen under heaven.

Furthermore, in the initial probing, the heavenly demons discovered that their defense against divine arts and techniques was absurdly high.

The heavenly demons also do not wish to fight to the death against such troops and yuan force; their goal is merely to complete the task entrusted by the Holy Venerable.

Once the task is completed, they will make Ju Cheng look bad!!

Thus, upon Yingze Heaven's command, the heavenly demons all scattered with a clamor like meteors, heading in all directions.

We divided into several dozen groups, will choose different routes to detour around the pursuing troops' blockades, and finally rush to Mei Lake.

The enemy already knows our ultimate destination, but it doesn't matter—as long as a few heavenly demons arrive first at the lakeside, dig up the core of the Chixiao Golden Hall, this contest is ours!

At this moment, the enemies from all directions have not yet encircled. After the heavenly demons dispersed, they easily slipped through the gaps between the armies. Moreover, the inner precinct is spacious, with plenty of room for them to maneuver.

The Chixiao Golden Hall is indeed a divine artifact. In theory, its controller can arbitrarily alter the terrain and layout of the entire palace, just as the Earth Mother can shape her own plains at will. In this way, the heavenly demons would never be able to reach Mei Lake.

But now, the Nine Abysses Great Emperor is absent; no one has this authority to change the palace's terrain and layout.

Duanmu Heng's plan seizes exactly this loophole.

And from Du Shan's perspective in the outer hall, the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror is divided into dozens of screens, each showing a group of heavenly demons. Their grouping is as fine as it gets, yet they cannot escape the mirror's tracking.

But the problem is, does Ju Cheng's officialdom have the capability to separately pursue these dozens of groups of heavenly demons?

After all, heavenly demons vary greatly in talent, are flexible and changeable—not ordinary cultivators.

But actually, Du Shan saw the heavenly demons disperse and scatter, and instead he let out a long sigh of relief, clapping repeatedly and saying: "Marvelous! Finally we can divide and conquer."

What he truly fears is the heavenly demons banding together to attack the Cangyan troops.

These several hundred heavenly demons gathered together are like a lump of iron—that force is no joke. Ju Cheng trying to devour them raw would have their teeth shatter, their mouths full of blood. Fortunately, the heavenly demons' temperament is as we expected: naturally inclined toward self-preservation, unwilling from the bottom of their hearts to stay put and fight to the death with the Cangyan troops. Since everyone wants to take shortcuts, in reality, no shortcuts can be taken.

The Follower God followed Yingze Heaven, guiding direction in real time. Also accompanying were ten or so heavenly demons.

Following the Great Heavenly Demon ensures the highest safety factor—this even a fool understands.

Along the way they encountered three groups of pursuers, all of whom Yingze Heaven God swiftly detoured around, shaking them off. His attendant deity possesses a skill that can temporarily burst the running speed of companions, which helps shake off pursuers.

At this moment Yingze Heaven asked again: "How much farther?"

After shaking off the second wave of pursuers, they were still about ten or so li from Mei Lake. But just as I began to speak, the Follower God suddenly exclaimed, halted his steps.

How?

The Follower God's expression suddenly turned tense, his voice full of surprise: "The core of the Chixiao Golden Hall has moved."

Yingze Heaven's heart gave a sudden jolt; he immediately asked: "What does 'moved' mean?"

"It... it is no longer in its original place."

The Follower God pointed westward: "According to the magic power lines of the Chixiao Golden Hall, it suddenly shifted to that direction. Just, just a few breaths apart! That is to say, someone has taken this divine artifact? Yingze Heaven turned his head toward Duanmu Heng, his expression dark and cold:

"You just said that within the current palace, no one can take this treasure?"

His gaze seemed like that of a man-eating lion; Duanmu Heng felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, his teeth chattering as he spoke.

This is impossible!

Is this his third mistake? Third time!

"Who else?" he muttered, "Who else could take this treasure?"

Addled brain, think quickly.

"Here it comes!" the Follower God suddenly shouted, "The core is coming this way!"