Chapter 131: Encounter Battle (II)

He guided his warhorse forward one step and lightly shouted, "Condense!"

Everyone suddenly felt a chill on their bodies, and then the sky above them darkened abruptly. They couldn't help but look up, and a cloud of mist about thirty zhang in radius was rapidly forming ten or so zhang above their heads.

The Black Water River beside them provided the optimal conditions for Hong Zhi's technique; a massive surge of water vapor rose from the river toward the cloud above, like a whale swallowing and a dragon inhaling.

A few cultivators nearby were extremely impressed with Hong Zhi.

When lower‑level cultivators cast spells, besides muttering or chanting the incantation they sometimes must also use hand gestures; even the simplest technique takes at least one breath to complete.

Of course, bestowed spells, bloodline spells, or self‑realized spells are not bound by this limitation, because such spells have been fully comprehended by cultivators and can be cast instantly; the spells Wei Yuning excels at happen to belong to these categories.

Hong Zhi follows the orthodox cultivation path, and his favored spells have precedents, but his foundation is extraordinarily deep, allowing him to wield spells essentially instantly; this shows that Hong Zhi's understanding of the relevant Daoist arts has reached a proficient level, enabling him to condense lengthy incantations and hand gestures into the simplest, commonly used Daoist single‑chant.

If a cultivator has average comprehension, even with a high level, they must follow the standard steps when casting spells; consequently, in battles where life and death are decided in an instant, a spirit‑sense cultivator must keep a certain distance from the enemy to ensure casting time, which is a concern for spirit‑sense cultivators when facing corporeal cultivators.

Precisely for this reason, those spells that require extremely short time or instant talismans are popular among many cultivators.

In addition, casting can be silent or vocal. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. The benefit of silent casting is that it is unnoticed and does not alert the opponent, but the spell's effect is somewhat weaker; vocal casting's sound can stir the earth's power, and depending on the caster's deep understanding of the Dao, it can enhance the spell to varying degrees.

Hong Zhi is using an area water‑type climate spell, and vocal casting provides a greater bonus.

After just one breath, the mist turned from leaden to deep black, and waves of cold radiated outward from the cloud.

"Swift!" Hong Zhi shouted again.

In an instant, the black cloud above roiled like a living thing, lowered its altitude, and spread over the space a few hundred zhang ahead.

Now the wolf cavalry finally feared; they let out terrified howls, turned their heads, and fled backward. In the black mist they could not see the road ahead, countless riders crashed into each other, and for a moment wolf howls and human shouts blended together.

"Trapped!" Hong Zhi growled low.

In the blink of an eye, the black mist vanished, the river valley hidden by it reappeared, and countless ice clumps of varied shapes emerged on the riverbank ahead.

Except for a dozen wolf cavalry lagging far behind, all enemies directly ahead were frozen!

At this moment, more than three hundred wolf cavalry on the flank were less than fifteen zhang from the Xi Nation troops.

Wei Yuning remained calm, pulled out a handful of vine seeds and scattered them forward. His use of the improved binding technique had become completely at his discretion.

Wei Yuning silently muttered "Go!", and each vine seed instantly turned into a flexible vine, crawling toward the enemies ahead like a swarm of snakes.

They crawled while absorbing nutrients and moisture from the riverbank; the vines did not thicken but sprouted countless finer tendrils, dense and numerous; ultimately each vine became a massive mass covering the ground.

The tall grass on the riverbank served as natural cover for the ground vines, and the cavalry on the side did not notice the anomaly.

The wolf cavalry in front, terrified, frightened the cavalry on the flank, but they were now less than a hundred meters from the Xi Nation troops; the front's defeat further incited their ferocity, and the belief that drove them onward remained that the Xi Nation troops were poor at close combat, so as long as they got close, they could slaughter a group using the green wolves' ice bolts and their long swords, especially targeting the few odd individuals at the front of the formation.

If they killed those few, the earlier humiliation could be erased.

Closer, even closer.

At this moment, Xi Nation soldiers and wolf cavalry could clearly see each other's expressions.

"Why aren't they afraid?" a feeling of unease suddenly rose in the minds of the frontmost wolf cavalry.

Unfortunately, it was too late. In the next instant, they would know the answer.

One large green net after another suddenly rose, completely sealing their path.

"Boom—boom—boom", the wolf cavalry, unable to stop their charge, slammed into the massive nets.

This was only the beginning; when they scrambled up from the ground to flee, the nightmare truly began. Countless fine vines crawled onto the riders and green wolves, first binding their limbs and heads, then piercing the mouths, nostrils and other gaps.

For a moment, wails rose one after another.

"Buddha above, fellow purifying Daoist, spare them where you can, or give them a swift end!" Monk Cheng Xin could not stand by any longer and pleaded.

"How disgusting!" Feng Qi turned his head away, daring not to look further.

"What a vile spell, it doesn't even resemble a wood‑type technique!" Qing Chou said bluntly.

Hong Zhi's eyes flickered; although he internally agreed with Qing Chou's assessment, he said nothing. He was very familiar with Wei Yuning, having watched his growth step by step. The strange lightning‑chain technique had once caught his attention, but ultimately he found no problem.

In Hong Zhi's mind, there was nothing wrong with Wei Yuning's character; his oddities might stem from his origin in a fallen land. Spells are not inherently evil or good; they depend on the user. Hong Zhi was not a pedantic person and fully endorsed this view.

"Brothers, advance!" Xi Kaishan ordered his soldiers.

Except for a few quick‑witted and slow‑moving wolf cavalry who fled, all remaining enemies lost their combat ability. The cultivators were unwilling to slaughter mortals, but they had no such hesitation, and now was the optimal moment for them to strike.

Xi Nation soldiers drew their sole weapons, daggers, and charged forward.

The enemies knocked down by the sound‑wave attack were the first to be slaughtered, followed by those entangled by vines, and finally those frozen.

The frozen wolf cavalry could not be killed with daggers, so Xi Nation soldiers smashed stone at the enemies' heads; by the time the heads emerged from the ice, they were already a bloody mess.

The scene's bloodiness almost made Wei Yuning vomit; Feng Qi and Monk Cheng Xin even closed their eyes and looked away.

Soon, the wolf cavalry were completely slaughtered, and the Xi Nation warriors shouted excitedly.

On Wei Yuning's suggestion, the Xi Grand General ordered Xi Nation soldiers to pile the wolf cavalry and green wolves together, then gathered some dry branches and leaves, set a fire, and burned them cleanly.

The main army pressed on, but Monk Cheng Xin stayed behind, standing at the fire's edge, bowing his head and silently reciting the Rebirth mantra to guide the departed souls.