Chapter 176: The Sneak Attack

Inside the underground granary, Meng Yifan used an Array Disk to set up an illusion array, trapping Long Guxing, Liu Sheng, Jiang Tian, and the others.

Within the illusion array, Yin energy billowed; Zhang Butou and the other ghost soldiers and ghost generals were all Yin Soul Bodies, so in this illusion array swirling with Yin energy, they were truly like fish in water, coming and going as they pleased.

The Yin energy suppressed the Martial Artists' protective Yang Fire, which meant that as long as the ghost soldiers and ghost generals did not get too close to the Martial Artists, they would not be discovered.

Yin Soul Bodies were inherently formless and could gather or disperse at will, and with the illusion array interfering with the Martial Artists' sensory abilities, Zhang Butou and the other ghost soldiers and ghost generals were truly elusive and impossible to guard against when launching sneak attacks on the Martial Artists within the array.

Zhang Butou could not defeat a Third Grade Martial Artist, but hiding in the illusion array to sneak attack a Second Grade Martial Artist was a guaranteed hit every time.

Perhaps it was just his nature, but Zhang Butou's two large pins were always aimed at the enemy's two testicles, which caused screams of absolute agony to ring out from the illusion array from time to time.

"Ah! You goddamn bastard!" When Meng Yifan heard these miserable screams, he felt a chill in his own lower body. He had only given the large pins to Zhang Butou and taught him the method of using Yin energy to drive them; he had absolutely never taught him to use the pins to stab enemies in the testicles. This was a vicious tactic Zhang Butou had come up with on his own—it was just too ruthless.

Fang Cheng and the other Second Grade ghost soldiers had limited soul strength, so they could only drive a single, light Embroidered Needle.

A Martial Artist's skin was tempered by True Qi and was as tough as steel or iron, but with the infusion of Yin energy, the Embroidered Needle could still barely pierce the Martial Artist's skin, though its power was not great—it was similar to being bitten by a mosquito in the summer.

However, the Embroidered Needles Meng Yifan gave to the Second Grade ghost soldiers were all poisoned, which was quite brutal. Being pricked was like being bitten by a poisonous mosquito; a large bump would instantly swell up at the wound, and it would also interfere with the Martial Artist's circulation of True Qi.

Fang Cheng and the other Second Grade ghost soldiers were all soldiers under Zhang Butou, and their current attacks followed the same pattern as Zhang Butou's, aiming for the enemies' testicles and eyes. Coupled with the poison on the Embroidered Needles, as long as the enemy was pricked once, they would be either dead or crippled; the lethality was immense.

The group of gang members from the Three Great Gangs were crying for their fathers and mothers as they were pricked. They had never fought a battle like this before; they didn't even know where the enemy was before being pricked in the testicles by the enemy's poison needles.

How could they fight like this? They wanted to run away, but they were all inside the illusion array and didn't even know which way to run. They could only remain on high alert, hoping to block the poison needles, but unfortunately, those poison needles were elusive and truly impossible to block.

These gang members from the Three Great Gangs were being driven to the brink of madness. Some had their testicles burst and could only clutch them while weeping bitterly, while others simply could not endure it anymore and chose to commit suicide.

While controlling the operation of the illusion array, Meng Yifan also utilized Lingbo Microsteps, occasionally sneaking in an attack on Long Guxing, Jiang Tian, and Liu Sheng, forcing them to defend with all their might in a state of panic.

As time passed bit by bit, Meng Dayong soon arrived, carrying a large coffin and leading Zhang Shagen and the other soldiers.

Meng Yifan first had the soldiers clear out the gunpowder and other ignitable materials from the grain piles, then with a shift of his mind, the dual-blade Zombie inside the large coffin suddenly opened its blood-red eyes, pushed the coffin lid open with both hands, leaped out of the coffin, and stood before Meng Yifan.

Meng Yifan extended his right hand and tapped the center of the dual-blade Zombie's brow, sending a wisp of Divine Soul power into the Zombie's body.

"Hum!" Dense Rune arrays on the dual-blade Zombie's body emitted a dazzling red light, which flickered three times before falling silent once more.

"Haha, interesting. Using a wisp of Divine Soul to control a Zombie is just like having an extra body."

Meng Yifan had already tried this before, but every time his Divine Soul entered the Zombie's control center, it still felt very novel.

This feeling was similar to playing a game where one person controls two characters; if it were an average person, they would likely be overwhelmed and not perform as well as they would controlling just one character.

Meng Yifan was an Immortal Cultivator with a powerful Divine Soul. The Nine Yin Corpse Refining Art contained methods for controlling corpses, the core of which was for the Immortal Cultivator to split their Divine Soul to control the Zombie in battle.

Meng Yifan was currently a First-grade Immortal Cultivator and could multitask, controlling one Third Grade Zombie in battle.

"The Spirit Qi in the Yin Spirit Stones on the Array Disk is about to run out; I must finish this quickly." Meng Yifan looked at the Yin Spirit Stones on the Array Disk; they were on the verge of shattering, which made his heart ache.

The Yin Spirit Stones had all been obtained from Zuo Moyan, and once they were used up, Meng Yifan didn't know where to go to replenish them.

If there were no Yin Spirit Stones, this Array Disk would be unusable, which was a huge loss for Meng Yifan.

"Solve the Three Great Gangs first, then worry about how to get Spirit Stones." Inside the illusion array, Long Guxing and the others were still desperately trying to destroy the array, which caused the consumption of Yin energy to accelerate. Meng Yifan did not hesitate any longer and released the Bloodthirsty Ghost Rat, Shuke.

"Let's go, let's take care of Jiang Tian first." Meng Yifan led the dual-blade Zombie and the Bloodthirsty Ghost Rat as they charged toward Jiang Tian.

The situation Jiang Tian encountered was similar to Long Guxing's; he was also being besieged by a large group of tree-men.

Jiang Tian held a seven-foot longsword in his left hand and utilized Eagle Claw Qi with his right; any tree-man that approached him would be shredded.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" A tall tree-man suddenly whipped its hair, and dozens of tree trunks as thick as arms smashed toward Jiang Tian.

"Hmph! Starry Stars!" Jiang Tian's longsword flickered, and dozens of sword afterimages shot toward those tree trunks; he also knew that these tree trunks might be fake.

But that brat Meng Yifan was cunning; he would hide among the tree-men from time to time to sneak attack him, making him look wretched every single time. Jiang Tian now dared not be careless; he would slash and kill any tree-man that approached him.

Jiang Tian's longsword was also shrouded in a layer of Qi, and its power was immense; any tree trunk that touched the longsword upon approaching him would be blasted apart.

"Eh!" The moment Jiang Tian's sword tip touched a tree trunk, he felt something was wrong, and immediately after, he heard an earth-shattering roar.

A powerful shockwave was released from the center of the explosion, directly blasting the longsword out of Jiang Tian's hand.

"Damn! A bomb!" Jiang Tian utilized his Lightness Skill, retreating at high speed like a goshawk, but no matter how fast he retreated, he could not outrun the flight speed of a Congreve Rocket.

When Zhang Shagen and the other soldiers came over, they brought two multi-tube Rocket launchers. Meng Yifan strapped on a rocket launcher, then used the illusion array to disguise these Rockets as the tree trunks on the tree-men, launching a surprise attack that caught Jiang Tian completely off guard.

A multi-tube Rocket launcher could fire sixteen Rockets with a single ignition, and combined with Meng Yifan's Level 2 Shooting Technique, he could almost guarantee a hit every time.

Especially since Jiang Tian was trapped in the illusion array with his vision and hearing interfered with, and Meng Yifan had crazily disguised the launched Rockets as tree trunks—several factors combined meant Jiang Tian had almost taken the full force of sixteen Rockets.

"Boom—! Boom—!" The sixteen Rockets exploded almost simultaneously. Jiang Tian, caught in the center of the blast, was like a lone boat in the middle of the ocean, tossed about and swaying left and right.

"Pfft! Pfft!" After the explosions ended, Jiang Tian's face was as pale as gold paper, and he spat out several mouthfuls of blood in succession. In the violent explosion of the Rockets, even though he had used his Qi to protect his body and cover his vital points, his internal organs were still displaced by the shock, his meridians had suffered ruptures, and his body was riddled with holes, covered in shrapnel of all sizes—it was a truly gruesome sight.

"Impressive, sixteen Rockets didn't kill him." Meng Yifan exclaimed in wonder. The combat power of a Third Grade Martial Artist was indeed formidable; if this were on Earth, they would be a superman, more badass than any ace special forces soldier.

"Strike while the iron is hot." Meng Yifan did not take action personally, lest Jiang Tian launch a desperate final counterattack and take him down together.

The dual-blade Zombie lunged forward, its two long blades dancing up and down, simultaneously executing two types of blade techniques—one fast and one slow, one soft and one fierce—enveloping Jiang Tian.

This dual-blade Zombie must have been a very powerful swordsman in life. The Nine Yin Corpse Refining Art was truly miraculous; not only did it refine this swordsman into a Zombie, but it also preserved the martial arts he had mastered in life, turning them into a kind of instinct for the Zombie.

Meng Yifan's Divine Soul hid in the control core; as long as he issued an order, the dual-blade Zombie would fight autonomously.

This was somewhat similar to the dual-blade Zombie being a semi-intelligent robot; it was basically "idiot-proof" control.