Chapter 366: Falling Into the Trap

366. Chapter 366: Falling Into the Trap

"Shore! What shore is behind me! Behind me is an endless sea of demons! Stop preaching to me! I've had enough!" Duan Tianwu roared.

He glanced at the sudden appearance of a group of Gu Kings before him, his expression gradually turning ugly; at this moment, how could he not realize he had fallen into a trap, with over a hundred Gu Kings setting up an ambush here in advance.

Only now did he realize belatedly, finally feeling waves of excruciating pain surging from his chest; gazing at the Thunder Sword piercing his heart, his spirits sank to the bottom.

Being struck in a vital spot was a minor matter; the Thunder Power released from the sword was truly too lethal for him.

This kind of thunder possessed Evil-Dispelling Power, causing the greatest harm to Demon Cultivators like him and the Demon Path Gu Worms within his body; at this moment, the thunder ran wildly throughout his system, frantically destroying everything inside, inflicting severe trauma on all his internal organs.

Especially the Devouring Demon Gu within his body, after being directly struck by the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder, was nearly in a dying state; clearly, he could no longer utilize the power of the Devouring Demon Gu.

It was only because the Great Strong Gu granted him an Undying Body that he did not die instantly.

Otherwise, with injuries of this severity, anyone else would have long since breathed their last.

Forcing himself to endure the excruciating pain, he immediately mobilized all his strength to suppress the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder raging wildly within his body.

At this moment, a large group of Gu Kings had already arrived; gritting his teeth, he pulled the Evil-Dispelling Sword from his body and, wielding it, charged to meet the onrushing Gu Kings.

"You are despicable!"

Duan Tianwu flew into a rage, releasing the aura of a Gu King Late Stage practitioner; just as the melee began, a Sword King from the Sword Washing Pavilion had his Spirit Sword severed and died miserably under Duan Tianwu's blade.

Lei Wan's pupils immediately contracted; Duan Tianwu had actually cultivated to the Gu King Late Stage—what an incredibly fast pace.

Gu King Mid Stage and Gu King Late Stage were entirely different concepts; once Duan Tianwu broke through to Gu King Late Stage, he could clash head-on with a Gu King Peak expert and would no longer be so easy to deal with.

"The Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder is wreaking havoc inside him; he is nearly finished. Do not give him a chance to catch his breath; everyone, attack with full force."

As soon as Lei Wan finished speaking, he manipulated thunder filling the sky and rushed toward Duan Tianwu like a Thunder God.

With the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder causing chaos within and the Heavenly Punishment Divine Thunder, which could also suppress him, bombarding his body from without, under Lei Wan's full-power attacks, Duan Tianwu frequently spat out mouthfuls of blood.

Moreover, the blood he spat out at this moment was filled with darting rays of thunder.

The commotion generated by the melee involving over a hundred Gu Kings was immense; walls in the center of the battlefield collapsed in large sections, and occasionally a Gu King was sent flying, smashing into a building and collapsing it.

Thunderous punishments descended from the sky from time to time, frantically ravaging everything below, destroying countless structures.

This area of the Great Buddha Temple instantly turned into a ruin, while the small pavilion from earlier had vanished long ago without anyone noticing when; crowds of monks ran madly outward, their eyes filled with terror.

From time to time, monks were accidentally injured by attacks released by the Gu Kings and died miserably on their escape routes; by now, the entire Great Buddha Temple had descended into chaos.

To prevent Duan Tianwu from escaping, the Great Buddha Temple had activated its Temple-Protecting Array Formation, a Barrier firmly enveloping the temple.

Not only could Duan Tianwu not easily escape, but even the ordinary monks were trapped inside, crying out to heaven without response and to earth without aid, fundamentally unable to flee.

They could only hide far from the center of the melee, nervously watching the chaotic battle.

Long Xuan was one of them; he was very obedient—since Duan Tianwu had told him to hide at the very back of the crowd, he truly hid at the very back of the crowd, observing that melee from afar with great relish.

At this moment, Duan Tianwu, facing off against a hundred Gu Kings, had not fallen behind even in the short term, occasionally slaying a Gu King.

Now possessing a body of Sword Bones, the power of the Evil-Dispelling Sword in his hand was unstoppable.

Under the Evil-Dispelling Sword, he slaughtered Gu Kings as if chopping melons and cutting vegetables; in just this short while, countless Gu Kings had already died miserably under his blade—Duan Tianwu had gone completely berserk with killing.

Long Xuan clicked his tongue inwardly in astonishment; although Duan Tianwu had been severely injured by the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder and could no longer use the power of the Devouring Demon Gu, relying on his body of Sword Bones and his unique internal organs, he still charged in and out of the throng of Gu Kings seven times, with no opponent able to withstand even a single exchange.

Except for Lei Wan, Pavilion Master Ren, and Qin Manyuan, who could trade blows with him, basically no other Gu King could survive more than one of his moves.

With the full might of his Sword Bones, killing peers was truly like slaughtering dogs.

Long Xuan's eyes revealed a grave expression.

He discovered that this Duan Tianwu's style was very similar to his own; the Gu Worms, Spirit Techniques, Body Techniques, and all offensive methods he used were unheard of, with no origin to be found in this world.

Duan Tianwu's sword technique could instantly kill peers, indicating its level was undoubtedly very high, yet a sword technique with such astonishing power should logically be famous; however, he could not discern the origin of this sword technique in the slightest, having never even heard of it.

Including that Cultivation Method capable of granting an Endless Spirit Sea, he had never heard of it either.

Every ability Duan Tianwu used seemed unique to him; even his own Cockroach Gu, in Duan Tianwu's hands, had somehow been mutated by some unknown method, making him truly like an Undying Body—though his vital points had clearly suffered severe injury and his internal organs were in complete disarray, he simply would not die.

However, all Gu Worms have limitations and all have limits; repairing the parts severely injured by the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder via the Undying Body consumed a massive amount of Mysterious Energy, and this energy was clearly not infinite.

As long as he continued to suffer injuries and continuously consume energy, Duan Tianwu's Undying Body would eventually be broken, and he would inevitably meet his death.

At this moment, Duan Tianwu had clearly realized the situation was dire; knowing his internal injuries could not be delayed any longer, he must break out at the fastest speed, find a place to force the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder out of his body, and continuing to tangle with this group was absolutely not a wise move.

Once the battle dragged on and the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder could no longer be suppressed by him, the consequences would absolutely be unimaginable.

Duan Tianwu dared not linger in the fight; relying on his powerful Undying Body, he ignored all attacks striking his person and forcibly charged out of the Great Buddha Temple.

Since he disregarded the attacks hitting him and ran outward, the other Gu Kings truly had no way to stop him.

Seeing him successfully escape the encirclement, Lei Wan shouted in fury, "Duan Tianwu! You cannot escape!"

"This is the Great Buddha Temple, protected by the Great Buddha Temple's Temple-Protecting Array Formation; outside are Barriers that even Gu Kings cannot forcibly break through—where exactly do you think you can run?"

Lei Wan shouted loudly as he gave chase.

However, the moment his words fell, Duan Tianwu's red Qilin Arm rose high and smashed heavily onto the Barrier blocking his path.

With a loud "Boom!", this Barrier that even Gu Kings could not break through was directly smashed into a huge hole by the brute force of the Qilin Arm.

Duan Tianwu leaped out of the Barrier and quickly fled for his life.

Lei Wan froze on the spot.

Only now did he realize that the power of the Qilin Arm was four hundred times that of a normal human; such strength was truly too exaggerated, and most Array Formations truly could not withstand such terrifying brute force.

"Damn it! Give chase! Do not let him escape!"

"He is severely injured and cannot run fast at all! I don't believe his speed is faster than mine!"

Lei Wan's face turned iron-blue; his body suddenly transformed into a ray of thunder-light, darted into that hole, and vanished, his speed so fast it made one click their tongue in astonishment.

The other Gu Kings also scrambled to follow, yet that hole was only large enough for one person to pass through at a time; although the Abbot soon dispelled the Temple-Protecting Array Formation, ultimately a little time had been wasted.

How incredibly fast were the speeds of Gu Kings; this little wasted time was enough to cause most of them to fall behind.

Seeing this scene, Long Xuan silently thought that things were not good; with a large number of Gu Kings falling out of formation, this battle might well produce unexpected variables.

After all the Gu Kings had chased after, Long Xuan also trailed at the very back of everyone, following unhurriedly.

He did not use the Heavenly Mechanism Eye to observe Duan Tianwu; back in that small town, he had merely glanced at Duan Tianwu with the Heavenly Mechanism Eye, yet Duan Tianwu had keenly detected it.

Duan Tianwu could clearly perceive the gazes of others; at this moment, how would Long Xuan dare to use his Heavenly Mechanism Eye on him, fearing it would draw his attention.

The crowd had chased for a long time, pursuing them very, very far.

Lei Wan and Duan Tianwu were simply too fast; under full-speed pursuit, they left everyone far behind.

At this moment, a bad premonition arose in Long Xuan's heart; most Gu Kings lacked sufficient speed, and even exerting their utmost strength, they could not catch up to the two ahead.

Within a certain period, Lei Wan would need to engage Duan Tianwu in a one-on-one duel, without any support from anyone.

Under such circumstances, if Lei Wan proved unequal to the task and was killed by Duan Tianwu, then this Demon Slaying Mission was destined to end in failure.

As if thinking of something made it happen, not long after such thoughts arose in Long Xuan, the crowd finally arrived.

However, only Qin Manyuan stood there dumbfounded in place; at his feet lay Lei Wan's corpse amidst a pool of blood, eyes wide open as if he had seen something unbelievable, dying with his eyes still open.

As for Duan Tianwu, where was his shadow now? He had long since escaped the perception range of all the Gu Kings and fled successfully.

All the Gu Kings halted their steps, surrounding that corpse, their faces gloomy and their hearts heavy.

"How could this be! Duan Tianwu was clearly heavily injured and at the end of his rope; given Lei Wan's power and the fact that his abilities perfectly countered this Demon, even if he could not win, it was absolutely impossible for him to be instantly killed by this Demon!"

A group of Gu World Law Enforcers rushed over frantically, their expressions sorrowful, their eyes revealing disbelief.

"Damn it! It seems this mission to encircle and suppress Duan Tianwu has failed; with this failure, it will be difficult to deal with him next time."

"Duan Tianwu is now at Gu King Late Stage and will soon reach Gu King Peak."

"Once he breaks through to Gu King Peak, he will be invincible under heaven; even if we deploy more personnel, it will be very difficult to kill him."

Pavilion Master Ren's face turned iron-green; he swung a heavy fist at a tree beside him, snapping the thick trunk directly, causing the tree trunk to crash heavily to the ground.

"Alas!" Qin Manyuan sighed and said, "When I just arrived, Law Enforcer Lei was already lying on the ground; I did not see any trace of Duan Tianwu."

"I did not expect Duan Tianwu's striking speed to be so fast that even the powerful Law Enforcer Lei could be instantly killed by him."

"It is also my fault; if my speed had been a bit faster, perhaps Law Enforcer Lei would not have met his demise," Qin Manyuan said self-reproachfully.

One of the Gu World Law Enforcers stood up, looked at him, and said, "You need not blame yourself; your speed was already fast enough. The slowest were us; if anyone is to blame for this matter, it is us."

"We, these Gu World Law Enforcers, travel everywhere to slay Demons; we inherently keep our heads on our waistbands, and for this journey, we were already prepared for death."

"We simply did not expect that the one to die would be the powerful Law Enforcer Lei, and that his fatal wound would be caused by his own Evil-Dispelling Sword piercing through him; truly, it is a matter of timing and Fate."

"It appears this Demon's power has far exceeded our expectations; we must quickly take Law Enforcer Lei's corpse back to report our mission."

"We must report this matter to the Gu Emperor with the utmost speed; Duan Tianwu's influence has already formed, and he will inevitably unleash endless calamities next. The heavens are about to change here; everyone should make preparations early."

As soon as these words fell, this Law Enforcer hugged Lei Wan's corpse and hurried away, while the remaining Gu World Law Enforcers followed closely behind. (End of Chapter)