Chapter 972: Where Did the Boastful Arrogance Go?

“Who are you people?” Fang Lingfeng shouted sharply. “Do you dare oppose Mount Jingting?!”

As she spoke, her grip on the Heaven-Piercing Halberd trembled slightly.

Not from fear—but from rage!

Within the Sacred Spirit Mountain Realm, Mount Jingting was unquestionably a great sect, a top-tier power!

East Ting disciples were accustomed to bullying others; even when facing first-rank divine believers, the other side would usually grant Mount Jingting at least a third of its respect.

Yet today, here in the Thousand Boats Alliance, they’d encountered a few reckless fools?

Not only did they brazenly interfere, they outright killed a Jiangjing East Ting disciple.

Do these cloaked figures have no sense of self-preservation?!

“Hah.” Deng Yuxiang’s lips curled in a mocking smile. “These Sword Lotus believers are mine.”

Fang Lingfeng’s phoenix eyes narrowed: !!!

Pei Island Master and the rest of the Sword Lotus disciples, upon hearing this, froze in shock.

Out of the tiger’s den, into the wolf’s mouth?

They’d thought today, divine intervention had arrived—two mysterious cloaked figures stepping in to right a wrong.

But they too came to claim slaves?

The several Sword Lotus believers still kneeling on the ground trembled violently inside.

The cruelest thing in the world is to give someone hope, then violently shatter it, leaving them with deeper despair.

Yes, this was the Sacred Spirit Mountain.

Strangers with no ties—why should anyone lift a finger to help you?

Sea Realm adepts, beings who held dominion over others’ lives—why would they descend from their divine thrones to kneel and speak as equals?

In truth, the Sword Lotus sect wasn’t weak at all.

The Fourth-Rank Divine Entity, Sword Lotus, granted its disciples a remarkably comprehensive set of techniques.

This sect’s believers could attack, defend, control, and support; in the mortal realm, Sword Lotus followers were the backbone of the Great Xia Defense Corps.

But the Fifteenth Night of the mortal world was always humans versus demons.

When the Sword Lotus believers’ opponents shifted to other human believers…

Their so-called comprehensiveness seemed to devolve into mediocrity?

“Good! Good! Very good!” Fang Lingfeng laughed bitterly with fury, suddenly raising her halberd toward the sky.

“Crack!!”

A bolt of lightning appeared out of nowhere, striking the Heaven-Piercing Halberd with perfect precision.

Instantly, purple currents crawled like countless tiny snakes across Fang Lingfeng’s body.

East Ting Divine Art: Thunderclap Form!

Her flesh was massively activated by the purple lightning, her entire range of attributes surging!

Deng Yuxiang stood unmoved, holding her broken blade, pointing it steadily at her opponent.

“Huu~”

As the two women locked gazes, a gust of dust suddenly rose.

In an instant, a sandstorm whipped through the forest.

West Desert Divine Art: Drifting Sands!

Fang Lingfeng’s face darkened instantly.

Of course—there was still a Sea Realm West Desert believer to the north!

East Ting ’s divine art list was extremely valuable; anyone who saw it would envy it bitterly.

But this sect had absolutely no perception techniques!

The Burning Gate strikes right at your weakness!

You can’t see? Can’t lock onto your enemy?

Perfect.

We can lock onto them.

Gao Yunyan could sense all things within the sand; Deng Yuxiang could pinpoint positions by sound.

Lu Ran and Yan Shuangzi, those two vicious hounds, could slaughter freely even in sandstorms, thick fog, or darkness.

The Burning Gate,

specializes in “seeing the world with closed eyes!”

“Huu!”

As the sandstorm erupted, the forest terrain shifted, transforming into a churning, flowing river of quicksand.

The quicksand river rose and fell, trees toppled, people and horses tumbled over.

Yu Fu’s Divine Art: QuickSand Talisman!

“Watch out!”

“Ahh!” East Ting disciples staggered, struggling to keep their footing; to avoid being swallowed by the quicksand, they scrambled to run.

“Hmm?” Deep in the forest, Yan Shuangzi lifted her head slightly, listening intently.

Her figure flickered abruptly, and she slashed her blade sideways.

The Divine Weapon—Evil Moon Crescent—swept before her, leaving behind a dark, suspended slash in midair.

“Sssss~ sss~”

An East Ting disciple, his legs wrapped in lightning, fled in panic.

Already blinded by the sandstorm, the undulating quicksand river severely restricted his escape.

Honestly, this was only an East Ting disciple!

Even as he stumbled and occasionally fell, the East Ting believer still managed to move across the quicksand river.

Any other believer would’ve already been swallowed whole!

Amid the chaotic battlefield, this East Ting disciple failed to sense the danger approaching.

He charged forward blindly—and walked straight into it.

“Ugh!” The East Ting disciple’s pupils shrank sharply.

Amid thick dust, his body passed through a suspended, crescent-shaped slash.

His body did pass through.

But it was severed at the waist!

This fixed, suspended dark slash, elegant as a crescent moon, was no trivial trick.

It was the real, tangible Divine Weapon Domain—Evil Moon!

The severed corpse’s cut surface was stained with strange black energy, flesh and blood rapidly rotting.

Yan Shuangzi had already vanished via instantaneous teleportation, hunting her next target.

“Ahh!”

“Come to me!” From the moment the quicksand river appeared, Pei Island Master had already shouted.

This Sea Realm Sword Lotus believer immediately summoned a massive lotus blossom, its petals rapidly closing to shield all nearby Sword Lotus disciples.

Pei Island Master’s heart pounded, yet he soon realized the situation differed from his expectations.

He’d assumed this QuickSand Talisman came from another Sea Realm Yu Fu disciple.

After all, both cloaked figures had emerged from the Vast Sea.

Yet the surging quicksand river wasn’t nearly as terrifying as imagined—it couldn’t break through the lotus bud’s defense.

But this massive lotus bud was now entangled by fine sand threads, dragged violently downward into the earth.

In the sandstorm, Jiang Ruyi couldn’t see the battlefield clearly.

She naturally “delegated” her divine art, letting the sand threads piercing from the river autonomously engage enemies.

The battlefield wasn’t just the quicksand river swallowing people.

West Desert Divine Art: West Desert Sand Sea was also devouring lives!

East Ting disciples, restricted by the quicksand river, still had a chance to escape if they exerted all their strength.

But if the Sand Sea knocked them down, they had zero chance of survival.

The outcome was only one: buried alive!

The instigator, Gao Yunyan, unleashed the West Desert Sand Sea with full force, her feet treading waves of yellow sand as she roamed freely atop the churning quicksand river.

Of course, there were also “foolish” fine sand threads in the quicksand river, trying to drag Gao Yunyan underground.

But the Yan General’s strength was astonishing—who could pull her?

She was like a defiant prisoner, bound by chain after chain, yet utterly unrestricted, still raging wildly, swinging her axe to slay enemies.

Too many things happened simultaneously on the battlefield.

The instant the sandstorm rose, a figure clad in white robes had already charged in, hammer in hand.

“Huu~”

Lu Ran’s body blazed with flame, one hand gripping a phantom warhammer, appearing instantly above and behind Fang Lingfeng.

It proved true: the Burning Gate’s Third Sword Technique—Shuo Star—also applied to hammer arts!

Fiery Sky Champion—the technique for killing across ranks!

Heavenly Fire power—maximize it fully!

Basic Divine Art: Fiery Sky Hammer—comes with a shattering effect!

Let’s take advantage of the chaos and slaughter the sea today!

Lu Ran gathered all his strength and swung the Lie Tian Hammer down with full force.

Just explode already!!

“Crack!!” That was the sound of Fang Lingfeng’s divine technique—Thunderclap Armor—and her water armor shattering together.

“Boom!!” That was the Lie Tian Hammer crashing hard into the ground, blasting a massive crater into the Liushahe.

Lu Ran: ???

Fang Lingfeng, wreathed in lightning, shot away in an instant.

The moment Lu Ran swung his hammer and the moment Fang Lingfeng sprinted forward occurred almost simultaneously.

The hammer didn’t strike solidly; it merely scraped her back, then slid along the slope of her forward-leaning body, grazing her hips before finally slamming into the earth with full force!

Lu Ran acknowledged the East Thunder Sect’s speed in movement.

But could their reaction speed be this fast too?

Lu Ran had already swung his hammer before activating his flash-step—but Fang Lingfeng…

Actually, it wasn’t that Fang Lingfeng reacted quickly at all.

At the very instant the dust rose, Lu Ran chose to attack—and Fang Lingfeng chose to strike suddenly too!

A Sea Realm cultivator is no wooden post!

Only when she shot away did her pupils contract sharply, her heart nearly leaping from her throat.

What the hell was that?

Who just attacked me?

Unintentionally, Fang Lingfeng had escaped death—and instantly changed her mind.

She didn’t even turn her head, forcing down her terror as she desperately weaved through the churning Liushahe, fleeing in haste.

“No!” Lu Ran was stunned.

In an instant, Fang Lingfeng had fled far away, vanishing from the battlefield.

The East Thunder Sect… where’s the arrogance you’re supposed to have?

We’ve bullied you this badly—you could at least swing two spears at us, just to vent some anger!

And… you just ran?

If you’re not even ashamed, how am I supposed to kill you?

“Don’t chase!” Deng Yuxiang cried out urgently.

She kept her eyes tightly shut, brows knotted.

Just now, Deng Yuxiang had activated her Night Phantom Evil Technique—Night Wind Assault—summoning a terrifying gale to block Fang Lingfeng.

Yet Fang Lingfeng scrambled on all fours, rolling and crawling, using the side wind to adjust her direction and escape even faster.

When a Sea Realm East Thunder disciple sheds all dignity and focuses solely on fleeing, it’s extremely hard to stop them!

Only someone capable of teleportation might have a chance to intercept them.

But Lu Ran and Yan Shuangzi were both River Realm—they’d shatter if so much as touched by this East Thunder girl.

Deng Yuxiang absolutely couldn’t let them risk it!

“Aaah…”

“Spare… mmm!!” Screams never ceased as the Night Phantom Blade darted back and forth, swallowing enemies whole and burying them alive in the sandy sea.

The Liushahe failed to stop Sea Realm Fang Lingfeng, but it severely restricted the River Realm East Thunder disciples.

“Hmph.” Lu Ran snorted coldly, ignoring the cries for mercy.

Gathering a few souls wasn’t a bad trade.

The East Thunder Sect truly lives up to its reputation!

Their Sea Realm elders are truly troublesome, hard to kill!

After returning, I must study tactics again.

But overall, the Ruan Sect’s combat strategy was sound.

Wind and sand blinded the eyes; flowing sand restricted the legs.

Lu Ran, wielding the Lie Tian Hammer, struck the decisive blow amid the chaos.

“Next time, will you still be this lucky?” Lu Ran muttered darkly to himself.

(End of Chapter)