Chapter 173: I Like It Too

Swish!

Four powerful Xiang forces surged upward; Shen Ya, Shi Kong, and the other two nearly simultaneously shot forward, their attack directions perfectly cutting off Li Luo's escape routes—clearly premeditated.

Yet facing the four-pronged assault, Li Luo made no movement, standing firm as they charged at him.

Shh!

Shen Ya's four attacks struck him—but passed straight through.

Li Luo's figure gradually faded away.

"It's an illusion!"

Shen Ya's face changed, startled and furious—this Li Luo standing before them had been a fake all along!

Is this Bai Bai Mengmeng's ability? Truly annoying.

"Stay alert—don't get split up!" Shen Ya barked. As long as the four of us remain united, even Li Luo can't take on all of us without paying a price.

As his voice fell, he suddenly felt blinding light lancing toward him, forcing him to reflexively squint.

In the next instant, Li Luo's figure flashed into view before him, slashing down with a blade of light.

Shen Ya was startled, instantly channeling his Xiang force to meet the blow head-on.

But when his longsword clashed with the blade-light, it passed through again—his strike hit nothing but air, causing his internal qi to churn.

"Damn—it's another illusion?!"

Shen Ya's face turned ashen.

At that moment, Shen Ya began to notice that increasing beams of blinding light were descending from all around the dense forest; each flash of light revealed another Li Luo figure rushing in to attack.

Within mere seconds, Shen Ya and Shi Kong were horrified to find a dozen Li Luos surrounding them.

"How is this possible? How could Bai Bai Mengmeng create illusions on this scale?!" one of the Inspector's squad members cried in utter shock.

Shi Kong's face darkened; he forced his stinging eyes to look toward the source of one blinding light—and saw a cluster of water coalescing, forming a mirror-like surface.

The water mirror reflected the intense light, mirroring Li Luo's figure.

"It's Li Luo's Water Xiang force! He must've used it unnoticed to form water mirrors hung all around—he's using them to reflect Bai Bai Mengmeng's illusions, multiplying their number. This whole area… he's turned it into a formation!" Shi Kong said rapidly.

"Watch out—among these illusions, one must be his true body!"

These words didn't need repeating; Shen Ya and the other two understood instantly. They unleashed their Xiang forces, turning them into streaks of swordlight and spearfire, shattering every Li Luo figure charging toward them.

But as each illusion shattered, more "Li Luos" appeared endlessly, surging forward in relentless waves.

Shen Ya's three men grew even more grim-faced—was Li Luo trying to exhaust them with these illusions? But they couldn't let the illusions get close, or his true body might strike suddenly—who could stop him?

For a moment, the three grew increasingly desperate.

Yet as they struggled to clear away the "Li Luo illusions," they failed to notice the soil beneath their feet slowly seeping with water.

"Watch your feet!" At one moment, when Shen Ya felt a chill beneath his soles, he glanced down and shouted urgently.

But no sooner had he spoken than the ground beneath them turned instantly into a swamp; their legs sank in at once.

"Damn it—Li Luo's using his Water Xiang force to dissolve the ground!" Shi Kong roared, yet he was baffled: how could Li Luo's Water Xiang dissolve the earth so fast? And the silence—like he possessed Earth Xiang force too.

Boom!

Powerful Xiang forces erupted from all four men, blasting the swamp apart as they tried to break free.

But just then, green light flashed from within the swamp—vines erupted like green serpents, roaring toward the four.

Shen Ya and the others slashed at the vine-serpents, but their attack came too suddenly; one squad member was caught off-guard, his limbs instantly wrapped by the vines. As he screamed, he was dragged into the swamp and vanished without a sound.

The other three, horrified, threw themselves backward with all their strength.

But this scattered their formation.

"Fall back! Get out of this area!" Shen Ya barked sharply.

At last, he realized how treacherous Li Luo was—this seamless fusion of two Xiang arts was utterly unpredictable.

Shi Kong and the other Inspector's squad member reacted instantly, pulling back without hesitation.

But now, retreat was no longer theirs to choose.

One charging "Li Luo illusion" suddenly raised a hand—several glowing orbs shot out, exploding directly before the eyes of one Inspector's squad member, blinding light bursting through the forest.

Aah!

The squad member screamed, eyes clenched shut, yet his spear, wrapped in Flame Xiang force, swept horizontally forward, trying to block Li Luo's advance.

But it was useless—a blade of light slashed down, its edge swirling with water luminescence. One strike severed the spear, then the hilt slammed hard into the man's shoulder.

The squad member grunted, collapsing.

Boom!

Just as Li Luo appeared again, eliminating another squad member, thunder roared—Shi Kong, spear in hand, shot forward like lightning, his spearlight coiling like a dragon, a furious thunderclap hurtling toward Li Luo.

Facing Shi Kong's surprise attack, Li Luo smiled, raising his palm as Wood Xiang force erupted.

"Green Jade Binding Hands!"

A green wooden serpent roared forth, colliding with Shi Kong's spearlight—green light and wood shards flew everywhere; the violent Thunder Xiang force could not pierce through.

Bang!

A streak of green light darted out, sharp and vicious, striking Shi Kong's body—its force sent him flying backward.

Shi Kong's face darkened. Back in Tian Shu County, he'd lost to Li Luo only because of that terrifyingly piercing arrow—but now, this direct clash made him realize: Li Luo had surpassed him in every way.

But thinking of this now was useless—Li Luo had turned his focus on him, clearly aiming to eliminate him while he was vulnerable. If Shi Kong fell, the Inspector's squad would be left with only Shen Ya.

Shi Kong retreated swiftly, like lightning.

On the other side, Shen Ya clearly understood Li Luo's intent—he erupted with golden Xiang force, his longsword coalescing with razor-sharp energy, his entire body becoming a streak of golden light as he lunged at Li Luo.

As Shi Kong retreated, he suddenly saw fluorescent Xiang force swirling toward him like pollen—its glow reflected in his pupils, appearing like a dazzling butterfly flapping its wings, leaving his mind momentarily blank.

Boom—

The Thunder Xiang force surging within him roared aloud, snapping Shi Kong back to awareness—the dazzling butterfly had vanished.

"It's Bai Bai Mengmeng!" Shi Kong's face changed drastically, because at this moment he saw Bai Bai Mengmeng, who was under a large tree not far away, flashing him a sweet smile.

"Hey, stop looking, she's the girl on our team. Your team only has stinky-footed guys."

And just as he spotted Bai Bai Mengmeng, a burst of laughter reached his ears from the side. At the same time, Shi Kong caught a fist in his peripheral vision, swinging heavily toward him and slamming into the back of his head.

Bang!

A sharp pain shot through the back of Shi Kong's head, and then his vision rapidly plunged into darkness.

Before he completely lost consciousness, he heard Li Luo's laughter: "You failed again this time. No worries, keep working hard next time."

And so, Shi Kong fainted away in extreme grief and indignation.

After taking care of Shi Kong, Li Luo finally turned around. He looked at Shen Ya, the only remaining captain of the Governor's squad still standing in the field, and a smile surfaced on his face.

"I heard you like ganging up on people?"

The twin blades in Li Luo's hands angled down toward the ground, and Bai Bai Mengmeng's figure also appeared behind Shen Ya. He looked at Shen Ya's somewhat gloomy expression, and his smile grew wider.

"Sorry, I like that too..."

(One update today. I've been running to BJ for meetings these past couple of days, so the updates haven't been very stable.)