Chapter 318: Taotie's Onslaught

Giant Dragon Lizard let out a threatening roar.

Wu Tie leapt up, stepping on Flowing Wind to stand in midair, his hands already gripping White Tiger Split tightly.

More than ten huge giant tiger spiders, their bodies covered in black poisonous spines, their black shells densely patterned with blood-red stripes, clung to the cliff, their grim-green eyes fixed tightly on Wu Tie.

On the backs of these giant tiger spiders were finely crafted saddles and stirrups.

More than ten youths clad in black armor, wiry in build, sat on the giant tiger spiders' backs, holding black bone spears, each expressionlessly staring at Wu Tie, their eyes filled only with icy killing intent.

"What a pity, I couldn't skewer you with one spear." A youth drew a bone spear from behind him with a backhand, pointed it at Wu Tie, and said, "Then let's continue!"

The giant tiger spiders leapt up, nimbly weaving across the cliff like agile jumps on flat ground. Black bone spears kept being launched from the youths' hands, accompanied by piercing whistles, shooting toward Wu Tie.

The Giant Dragon Lizard let out an angry roar, likewise nimbly climbing and jumping on the cliff, occasionally flapping its wings to knock the black bone spears aside. This big fellow had grown wily; it knew the spears were laced with deadly poison and carefully avoided their tips.

Lao Tie stood steady on the Giant Dragon Lizard's back, letting the beast bounce and dash about, his body utterly unmoving.

Wu Tie swung White Tiger Split, helping the Giant Dragon Lizard knock several spears away, and he shouted sternly, "Who are you?"

Lao Tie suddenly darted out.

He sprinted up the vertical cliff, suddenly appearing beside the youth who had just spoken, and bit into the youth's lower leg with a snap—"Crack!"—the youth's shin shattered, and he let out a piercing wail.

Lao Tie succeeded in one bite, gleefully darting back to Wu Tie's side, grinning ear to ear with delight.

The giant tiger spiders retreated backward, and more than ten youths glared angrily at Wu Tie. After a fierce assault, they couldn't so much as nick a hair on him, nor harm his mount, the Giant Dragon Lizard; instead, their leader's leg was bitten off by Lao Tie, leaving the youths fuming.

"Good dog, good dog!" the youth whose shin had been bitten off screamed hysterically, pulling out a packet of powder and slamming it hard onto his broken leg.

After a wail, the wound's bleeding stopped; the youth gritted his teeth, stared fixedly at Wu Tie, and said word by word, "I am Taotie Yuan (yuan), where is the patriarch of my Taotie family, Taotie Tu?"

Wu Tie suddenly recalled having captured Taotie Tu and Taotie Li alive, using them as hostages to extort ransom from the Taotie Clan, along with Taotie Li's four retinue guards.

"Is this how you come to ransom a person?" Wu Tie and Lao Tie's faces turned extremely grim.

Taotie Yuan gave a cold chuckle and said coldly, "You think? If I could kill you and rescue the patriarch, that would naturally be a great feat. I didn't expect you to have some skill."

Wu Tie and Lao Tie remained silent for a long while.

Taotie Yuan's train of thought was also rather odd; it seemed he was in charge of ransoming Taotie Tu, yet he insisted on trying to solve things with force. Well, he didn't even consider that Taotie Tu was already in Wu Tie's hands, let alone him.

Now look, the person wasn't rescued, and he lost a leg himself!

Of course, with various elixirs, a broken leg could somehow be regrown, but isn't this just asking for trouble?

What's more complicated is……

Earlier, Wu Tie had taken Taotie Tu, Taotie Li, and others away from Triplelink City; halfway to Wu Domain, he encountered Sima Xiu of the Demon-purging Hall, whose Giant God Soldiers attacked without a word, killing Taotie Tu and his companions.

That was awkward.

As the kidnapper, Wu Tie, the family brought the ransom, but Wu Tie couldn't produce the hostages.

Taotie Yuan touched the blood-stained wound on his severed leg, waved his right hand, produced a storage bracelet, and flung it at Wu Tie: "Inside is the Taotie bone relic you demanded… hand over our clan's patriarch… after this, you will be the mortal enemy of my Taotie Clan; this humiliation, my Taotie Clan will surely avenge."

Taotie Yuan and the clansmen behind him all stared grimly at Wu Tie.

Having their patriarch seized alive and extorted for a large batch of ancestral bone relics, this humiliation is tantamount to smashing the ancestral tablets—let alone him, the Taotie Clan, normally overbearing and unrestrained, could not tolerate such disgrace.

Once they rescue Taotie Tu, they will settle this account with Wu Tie slowly.

Taotie Yuan glanced askance toward the fiercely battling Iron Blood City, inwardly roaring, Wu Tie appeared here, and his mount is the Wu Family's signature Giant Dragon Lizard……

There's no escaping; this fellow is a member of the Wu Family.

Taotie Yuan thought he'd uncovered the truth—good, no wonder Taotie Tu was captured alive; it must be the Wu Family scheming behind the scenes?

Good, good, very good.

Taotie Yuan's fingers twitched slightly as he lightly rubbed his severed leg, then snarled at Wu Tie with bared teeth: "The ransom, prepared exactly as you specified—now release our clan's patriarch and Taotie Li and the others."

Wu Tie took the bracelet, blinking his eyes a few times.

A thread of spiritual sense entered the bracelet—sure enough, it was packed with pitch-black Taotie bone relics; the Taotie Clan really hadn't played tricks, they had prepared the ransom exactly as Wu Tie demanded.

What a pity……

Wu Tie sighed, tucked the bracelet into his bosom, then shook his head at Taotie Yuan.

"Sorry, hey, Taotie Tu and the others are dead." Wu Tie sighed, "But rest assured, I've already avenged those who killed them. So consider these Taotie bones as my payment for avenging them."

"All right, we're square." Wu Tie clapped his hands and gave Taotie Yuan a bright smile.

Taotie Yuan and his entourage stood there dumbfounded.

They stared blankly at Wu Tie; after a long while, their eyeballs simultaneously turned blood-red.

"Damn it!" Taotie Yuan let out a long howl, his body swelling, black scales sprouting beneath his skin, his stature growing to four or five meters, his black bone spear in hand transforming likewise; the giant tiger spider beneath him sprang forward, thrusting a fierce spear accompanied by a piercing crack through the air straight at Wu Tie's heart.

Wu Tie gave a cold snort, his right hand precisely seizing Taotie Yuan's spear.

Clenching his five fingers, with a "Bang!" the spear shattered; Wu Tie followed through with a punch that smashed Taotie Yuan's chest scales, causing him to vomit mouthfuls of blood, flung backward, where a fellow Taotie Clan youth caught him.

The Giant Dragon Lizard suddenly opened its jaws and bit down on the head of the giant tiger spider that Taotie Yuan rode.

With a series of "Cracks," the Giant Dragon Lizard held the giant tiger spider in its mouth, bit it apart, swallowed it, and then let out a satisfied low growl.

These Taotie Clan youths were practically going mad.

In their eyes, Wu Tie had become an absolute villain who kidnapped, extorted, killed, committed atrocities, and even spared not his mount. Without a word, they activated their bloodline power, each turning into a several-meter-tall, black-scaled brute, then simultaneously inhaled deeply toward Wu Tie.

On the cliff, a terrifying devouring force surged forth.

Wu Tie and the Giant Dragon Lizard's bodies lurched forward, nearly being pulled in by the combined devouring power of over ten Taotie Clan members.

The Giant Dragon Lizard tensed its muscles, its four feet dug deep into the cliff, its huge wings spread and blasted fierce winds forward, forcing its body to stay put.

Wu Tie then shouted loudly, "Taotie Tu and his companions died at the hands of the Demon-purging Hall's Giant God Soldiers—what does that have to do with me? If you want revenge, go after the Demon-purging Hall… Are you also participants in the great crusade? We're all people of the Fuxi Divine State—why fight each other?"

Wu Tie felt somewhat at fault, so he didn't want to lay hands on these young Taotie Clan members.

Taotie Yuan, however, let out a cold sneer: "No matter your silver tongue… today you will surely die."

Taotie Yuan said coldly, "Originally I said I'd rescue the patriarch unharmed and then execute you on the spot, but since the patriarch is already dead… why aren't you dead yet?"

Over ten Taotie Clan youths joined forces, their powerful devouring ability leaving Wu Tie and the Giant Dragon Lizard somewhat embarrassed.

Suddenly, a more terrifying devouring force descended from above Wu Tie; his qi and blood suddenly loosened, the pores of his upper body burst open, and fine threads of blood mist continually sprayed from his body, shooting rapidly into the air.

Wu Tie suddenly lifted his head.

Just above his head, on the cliff top several thousand zhang high, three middle-aged men wearing black scale armor, with grim, dark complexions, stood there.

One of the middle-aged men had black mist roiling behind him; a huge Taotie phantom flickered within the mist, its gaping maw locked onto Wu Tie's aura and frenziedly devouring.

This middle-aged man is definitely at the Tai Cang Realm; the devouring power of his Taotie True Form alone is dozens of times stronger than the combined force of a dozen Taotie Clan youths.

Wu Tie's qi and blood surged; his essence boiled like scalding water, his five viscera and six bowels feeling as if they would spurt out his throat.

Wisps of blood mist continually sprayed from his body, continually devoured by that middle-aged man's Taotie True Form; in just a breath, over ten percent of Wu Tie's essence and blood had been swallowed.

"Since the clan head is already dead, having you buried with him is fine." The middle-aged man said unhurriedly, "You're a Wu Clan member? Good. Kill you, and our Taotie Clan will naturally settle accounts with the Wu family..."

Another middle-aged man suddenly laughed: "Actually, this is fine too. The Taotie Diagram's vision is too narrow; this clan head of theirs, many of our people aren't convinced, yet the ancients favored him."

"Now that he's dead, excellent, excellent." The middle-aged man looked at Wu Tie and said softly, "Bringing your head back will settle things no matter what."

Wu Tie slapped the mount beneath him, a great dragon lizard.

With a flick of his sleeve, the great dragon lizard was sucked into Wu Tie's Sleeve Universe.

Afterwards, Wu Tie's body blazed with golden light; he transformed into a golden streak, swiftly shooting off into the distance.

"Vertical Earth Golden Light! Hey!" the middle-aged man who attacked Wu Tie laughed, his body flickered, and he likewise turned into a golden light shooting up, tracing a huge arc, then with a 'swish' landed before Wu Tie, spreading his arms to block his path.

Wu Tie thrust his spear at the middle-aged man.

Black mist roiled behind the middle-aged man; the Taotie phantom let out a mighty roar.

The void around Wu Tie violently undulated; the heavenly-earthly essence within several li, together with the air and even dust motes, were gulped clean by the Taotie phantom; the light around Wu Tie suddenly dimmed, becoming almost a round black hole.

Apart from Wu Tie's own body, everything within several li around him—including sunlight—was swallowed clean by the Taotie phantom.

The White Tiger Fissure trembled violently; following Wu Tie's forward thrust, plus the Taotie's suction, the White Tiger Fissure nearly slipped from his grasp. Wu Tie hastily gripped the spear shaft, gritted his teeth, and stepped back several paces.

Vast black sandstorms shot into the sky; Lao Tie transformed into a human-bodied wolf-headed form, brandishing a huge scepter as he surged from the sand. The black Taotie phantom snarled fiercely at Lao Tie, who, expression unchanged, swung the scepter and smashed it down upon the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man stared at Lao Tie in shock: "So, you're not flesh and blood."

He raised his right hand.

Lao Tie's staff struck the middle-aged man's hand with a thunderous bang; sparks flew from the black scales on his palm, Lao Tie's body shuddered from the recoil, and the middle-aged man staggered back two steps.

Wu Tie let out a low, long howl; these Taotie Clan members have who-knows-how-many geniuses they've devoured, gaining vast divine abilities from their bloodlines, each one troublesome.

As for this Tai Cang Realm middle-aged man before us, he has displayed two divine abilities: Vertical Earth Golden Light and Dingjia Divine Body.

Wu Tie's cultivation is far too inferior to his opponent's; given the similarity of their divine arts, Wu Tie truly struggles to contend.

The youth whose shin had just been bitten off by Lao Tie laughed loudly: "Granduncle, kill him!"

The Taotie Clan youths all clamored and clapped; the other two Tai Cang Realm middle-aged men transformed into flowing wind and electric light, respectively, swiftly closing in on Wu Tie.

"I said I'd bring your head back to give our clan elders an explanation." The middle-aged man before Wu Tie smiled: "Especially, the ancients most cherished the Taotie Diagram; now that he's dead, if you don't die, no excuse will do."

Lao Tie muttered beside him: "Little Tie, this guy is tough to handle… his scale armor is extremely solid."

The two middle-aged men embodied as flowing wind and electric light have already closed in; the three Tai Cang Realm masters stand in a triangular formation, trapping Wu Tie and Lao Tie in the center.

"Of course, before we kill you, we won't be polite about taking your bloodline essence." A middle-aged man chasing from behind laughed: "At your young age, you can make the Taotie Diagram suffer; excellent, excellent."

The three middle-aged men's pupils glowed faintly green, staring fixedly at Wu Tie, making his scalp tingle.

After drawing a deep breath, Wu Tie suddenly roared: "Come on! The Taotie Clan is bullying my Wu family!"

Of the thirty thousand Wu Clan members fiercely attacking Iron Blood City, over twenty thousand suddenly turned their heads and glanced this way.

Especially, nearly a hundred Tai Cang Realm experts like Xing Tian Eel and others halted their hands and simultaneously looked over here.