Chapter 256: 256 Today Is a Life-and-Death Battle

As the four people walked closer, an invisible force around the forest gradually gathered.

It formed an invisible barrier.

After Lin Xiu'er and the others outside noticed, they hurriedly pressed the earpiece to notify Tushan Jiu and the others.

But there was no response from that side.

Chen Rang and the others looked anxious.

Liu Li directly asked Lin Xiu'er, "Sister Xiu'er, what should we do now?"

Lin Xiu'er also felt a bit panicked; they didn't know the specific situation inside, and they dared not act rashly—if they rashly touched the opponent's barrier, disturbing whatever was inside would only make things worse.

After thinking, she said, "Stay put and wait for news from inside; we have to trust Xiao Jiu and the others."

No sooner had her words fallen than a vast surge of ghost power and qi burst from deep within the forest.

The tremendous impact formed an air wave that rapidly surged toward the surroundings.

Lin Xiu'er and the others were caught off guard; she quickly shouted, "Defensive formation!"

Everyone reacted quickly, and their cooperation was very well-coordinated.

Just as the air wave was about to hit them, a huge defensive formation buzzed into being, blocking the danger outside.

Bang bang bang.

The glass of the vehicles by the roadside all shattered instantly, emitting their built-in alarm sounds.

Lin Xiu'er and the others had no time to worry about it, and each of them was somewhat dumbfounded.

Because not far away in the air hovered a huge broadsword, and around that broadsword were three other magical implements.

A peach-wood sword, a ghost-striking whip, and a corpse-raising bell.

These were not physical objects, but the qi-forms of their magical implements.

Lin Xiu'er silently thought, "Not good."

They've started fighting!

There was no time to worry about anything else; the barrier had already shattered under the impact of the earlier air wave.

She decisively ordered, "Liu Li, take the first and second teams, stay here to set up the Killing Formation, prepare the last line of defense—under no circumstances must we let that thing break out!"

"If we can't hold out, then we will activate the Killing Formation."

"The rest of you follow me to support Tushan Jiu and the others."

In just those three short sentences, Liu Li realized—today is a battle of life and death.

Once the Killing Formation is set up, it means that all of us must prepare to become part of the Killing Formation, using our own cultivation and flesh and blood to trigger it.

And once the Killing Formation is activated, no evil entity can hope to walk out of it alive.

Killing Formation, killing also—exchanging life for life.

Liu Li hesitated not at all, solemnly nodded, "Received!"

As her words fell, Lin Xiu'er led people charging into the forest, while Liu Li dared not waste a minute, beginning to set up the Killing Formation according to position.

Lin Xiu'er watched the four magical implements in the air, and it seemed the qi flow was gradually shrinking.

They could hardly hold on any longer.

The speed beneath their feet had already reached its limit.

At the same time, at the foot of the small hill deep in the forest.

Tushan Jiu and the four others surrounded a monster dressed in a black robe.

That thing was skin and bone; beneath the black robe it was empty, and the feet it stood on were not those of an ordinary person but resembled an animal's claws.

Its face was almost like a skull, except with an extra layer of skin, and even the gums were completely exposed.

It was obvious that the thing before them could no longer be called a person.

When they had just walked in here a moment ago, they already felt something was off.

At that time a thick fog appeared around them, and then with each step they took they would hear an unpleasant sound; they couldn't tell what it was, but whenever that sound rang out, they found it hard to move forward another step.

After that sound sounded twice, Tushan Jiu was the first to realize—it was the voice of a curse.

The reason she could react so quickly was thanks to the Spirit Medium's gift—the curse placed on her; she had studied that thing for a long time, so naturally she was very sensitive to it.

Without another word, Tushan Jiu directly activated the Eight Trigrams Formation, first using the Life Gate to protect everyone, ensuring their own safety first.

Immediately afterward, the others used qi flow to open a path.

The only difference this time was that the one walking ahead of them was Woodwood.

It differs from them in that it has no flesh and can serve as a 'tank' to scout ahead; as long as the opponent's attacks do not contain 'metal', it won't encounter any major problems.

Afterward, that sound only occurred once more, but its tone was completely different from before.

Yet this complete difference seemed to indicate that the opponent was even more excited.

This left them somewhat puzzled—why would that thing react in such a way?

Only after Tushan Jiu, using her own ability and taking the final burst of ghost power it emitted as a medium, calculated its approximate direction and found it did they realize that, in fact, the opponent had been waiting for them to come here.

What it wanted were the magical implements held by Tushan Jiu and Xiang Yichu.

Moreover, at its waist was inserted a Yin Soul Banner that Tushan Jiu and the others were very familiar with.

That was a magical implement of the Spirit Medium's Ancient Clan!

Wasn't that thing confiscated by the Springwhite Mountain Office back then? How did it end up on its waist?

When the opponent said it wanted the magical implements of Tushan Jiu and Xiang Yichu, plus the presence of the Yin Soul Banner, the four of them instantly understood what it intended to do.

It intended to draw out the ghost power from these several ancestral magical implements and use it for its own cultivation.

It aimed to upgrade from a jiangshi to a corpse king, a being of the same rank as a Jiang Chen or a Hou Qing.

Because the magical implements of their several families all possess histories spanning thousands of years.

Never mind anything else—just the ghost power contained in those three implements alone already amounts to twenty thousand years; if it were drawn out, it would be utterly a terrifying force.

The ghost power of twenty thousand years—even if the ten great yin marshals were dispatched, they might not be able to suppress it, and this thing itself has already cultivated to the point of nearly reaching the level of a zombie.

For a moment, even Tushan Jiu frowned.

It seems they have encountered a very troublesome opponent today!

But now it is right before their eyes; if not now, when else?

Thus, she gave a glance to the others.

Strike first to gain the advantage.

Xiang Yichu and the others, upon receiving Tushan Jiu's signal, instantly understood and simultaneously launched an attack at that thing, buying Tushan Jiu time to calculate the opponent's weakness.

But after just one move, the opponent appeared very relaxed, and even discovered their intention, then began to attack Tushan Jiu from behind.

However, Tushan Jiu had already anticipated that it would come after her.

The ghost-head blade that had been standing before her.

At the moment Tushan Jiu raised her gaze, it vanished from its spot, and the next instant appeared above the monster, then fell down swiftly.

"Boom boom boom" the Qi wave surged, and all the surrounding decades-old trees snapped and toppled.

And the faces of Tushan Jiu and her companions also turned a shade paler.

But this also allowed Tushan Jiu to see some things clearly.

That is, in this bout today, there is no cause and effect, no reason—just one word: fight!