Chapter 278: Opportunity

Within the chaotic stronghold, battles were erupting everywhere; the Smiling Demon was using this special method to activate hidden seeds of evil intent, attempting to breach the stronghold from within.

It must be said that the level of insidiousness and cunning displayed by this Smiling Demon exceeded everyone's expectations.

Although these contaminated students were in the minority, the Smiling Demon had clearly used some special method to grant these corrupted individuals a powerful boost, causing their strength to rise sharply.

Therefore, even though the normal students held a numerical advantage, they were unable to quickly extinguish this chaos for the time being.

In one of the stronghold's alleyways, two squads led by Li Luo and Yi Lisha were also doing their utmost to surround and suppress the contaminated Ye Qiuding.

However, despite their absolute numerical advantage, it was Ye Qiuding who held the absolute upper hand in this encirclement.

The strength of the Phase Transformation stage combined with the amplification of evil intent, along with the special state of being controlled, made Ye Qiuding fearless of death; as the two sides tangled, the members of Li Luo and Yi Lisha's squads were repeatedly forced back, and some even sustained injuries.

"Clang!"

On Li Luo's twin blades, water-attribute light swirled at high speed; he unleashed his full phase power, slashing cunningly and ruthlessly at Ye Qiuding, who was being held down by Yi Lisha.

At the same time, wood-attribute power surged from beneath his feet, transforming into phase-power vines that burrowed into the ground, then emerged from beneath Ye Qiuding's feet to bind his legs.

However, this binding was quickly corroded by the evil intent flowing out from within Ye Qiuding's body.

But this momentary binding still caused Ye Qiuding's body to sway slightly.

Li Luo and Yi Lisha were both outstanding among their peers; almost simultaneously, they seized this fleeting opening, and thus blade light and fist radiance struck one after another, slamming fiercely into Ye Qiuding's body.

Bang!

A muffled sound rang out.

But the expressions of Li Luo and Yi Lisha changed abruptly at this moment, because the instant they made contact, they both felt a strange and violent evil intent, wrapped in inexplicable whispers, suddenly sweep toward them.

The air seemed to be blasted apart.

Both Li Luo and Yi Lisha were sent flying backward by the shock; Li Luo fared better, as his strength was somewhat higher, but Yi Lisha crashed directly into a broken stone wall, letting out a muffled groan as blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.

A joint effort, yet it resulted in one retreat and one injury.

This showed just how great the gap in strength was between the two sides at this moment.

The other members of the two squads also rushed to intervene, rescuing their two captains while staring with grave expressions at Ye Qiuding, who was emitting black smoke all over.

"Captain Li Luo, something isn't right; this guy's strength seems to be getting stronger and stronger!" Yi Lisha wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and said in a low voice.

Li Luo nodded; he felt it too. After all, at the very beginning, they were able to hold Ye Qiuding back by relying on their numbers, but as time passed, this advantage grew smaller and smaller.

That was not because they had become weaker, but because Ye Qiuding's amplification was gradually strengthening.

If this continued, it would be a problem for their two squads to even save their own lives, let alone deal with the opponent.

By then, they would only be able to call for other reinforcements.

But the stronghold was in total chaos, and reinforcements might not arrive in time.

Because although he had dragged Ye Qiuding here, Li Luo was still trying his best to monitor other parts of the stronghold; the chaos in those places had never subsided, but instead, it was gradually intensifying as time went on.

Clearly, the kind of continuous amplification seen in Ye Qiuding was appearing elsewhere as well.

"Is this the ability of that Smiling Demon?"

Li Luo's heart felt heavy. He did not know how long this amplification could last; if it could truly continue indefinitely, then the chaos inside the stronghold might not be suppressible.

If they really ended up destroying the central tower, their final barrier would crumble along with it.

A Great Disaster-class Otherkind is truly terrifying.

"No matter what, we must hold him here and wait for others to free themselves to provide support," Li Luo took a deep breath and said in a low voice.

The situation elsewhere was not good either; if they let Ye Qiuding run out, he would inevitably head straight for the central tower, perhaps triggering a chain reaction, the consequences of which would be extremely severe.

Hearing this, everyone nodded with serious expressions, then surged with phase power, formed a formation, and shot toward Ye Qiuding once again.

While battles were taking place throughout the stronghold, Jiang Qing'e remained standing on the high wall, taking in every battle.

She, too, had discovered that the strength of those contaminated individuals was constantly being amplified.

Jiang Qing'e's golden eyes looked toward the Smiling Demon in the distance of the stronghold; at this moment, the latter was sitting cross-legged on the ground, with those mud platforms beside him.

Jiang Qing'e's gaze flickered; she suddenly formed a seal with one hand, then traced her fingertip across her smooth forehead: "Bright Light Eye!"

A faint golden line appeared and disappeared between her brows, as if it were an eye. With the appearance of this line, everything in the world seemed to become clear, even allowing her to pierce through the black mist and discover the countless Otherkind roaring and swarming within.

However, Jiang Qing'e kept most of her focus on the Smiling Demon.

Only then did she discover that some black light was emanating from the Smiling Demon's body surface, connecting to those mud platforms and the mud figures upon them.

"Its own power is weakening."

"It is using the mud figures as a medium to transmit its own power to the contaminated ones from a distance, which is why the strength of the contaminated ones is constantly being amplified..."

Jiang Qing'e understood the Smiling Demon's intention; it was weakening itself to strengthen the contaminated ones, giving them enough power to destroy the stronghold's defenses from within.

The light between Jiang Qing'e's brows gradually dissipated, and her slender, jade-like hand slowly gripped the hilt of her heavy sword.

Her expression became calm, but the light around her body seemed somewhat dazzling.

Behind her in the stronghold, the chaos continued, fierce battles erupted, and screams rang out from time to time.

As the strength of those contaminated individuals continued to increase, the chaos would only intensify.

But Jiang Qing'e turned a deaf ear, standing quietly on the high wall; no matter where calls for support came from, she did not move in the slightest.

Because she, too, was waiting for an opportunity.

The Smiling Demon weakening itself to strengthen the contaminated ones had certainly caused massive chaos within the stronghold, but at the same time, this would also give Jiang Qing'e an excellent opportunity.

An opportunity for a decapitation strike.

Black mist filled the world, and countless strange, inexplicable whispers kept coming, attempting to shake people's hearts; however, Jiang Qing'e's gaze lowered, her golden eyes filled with indifference, unmoved.

At a certain moment.

The sounds of chaos within the stronghold suddenly amplified; many students cried out in terror, because the contaminated ones had received another boost!

Some contaminated ones had even approached the central tower.

And it was at this very moment that Jiang Qing'e, on the high wall, finally moved.

It was as if a brilliant sun had bloomed upon the high wall, shining for a hundred miles.

In the brilliant light, everyone saw that beautiful figure grip her heavy sword, her form like a slender ray of light as she suddenly swept down from the high wall.

She passed directly through the purification barrier, and in a single step, she seemed to appear in front of the Smiling Demon; without any hesitation, she slashed down with her sword.

That sword strike was impossible to describe in its brilliance.

Jiang Qing'e's decapitation strike had begun.