Chapter 236: Humans Are Not Weaker Than Yaoguai

Lin Jue held his long sword at a slant. As he walked toward the waterfall, he raised his left hand and scattered a handful of beans.

At the same time, he chanted a spell silently.

Amidst the dim morning light, the beans had just flown into the sky and, before they could even land, transformed into twelve flying swords in mid-air. Urged on by the incantation, they began to weave and shuttle back and forth with extreme speed.

"Ah!"

Numerous shrimp, crab, and fish yaoguai cried out in alarm and agony, and a continuous series of clanging sounds rang out all around.

Those shrimp, crab, and fish yaoguai charging toward Lin Jue either dodged frantically or held up their weapons to parry, yet they still could not avoid being pierced by the flying swords.

Some were struck in vital spots and fell immediately.

Others luckily avoided their vitals, but the flying swords would either continue to rotate and cut within their bodies, burrowing deeper, or shake themselves free to fly back into the sky, accompanying Lin Jue's silent incantation as they sought their next target to shuttle toward and pierce.

Lin Jue was not only proficient in his incantations but also switched between them with ease; for a time, the twelve flying swords shuttled through the air without pause.

The dozen or so shrimp, crab, and fish yaoguai had no choice but to huddle together to defend themselves.

Suddenly, all the flying swords fell to the ground.

"Eh?"

The shrimp, crab, and fish yaoguai did not yet know why, assuming it was a spell cast by their Great King or some Great General, when they suddenly felt a breeze blow by.

It was like a spring breeze brushing against their faces.

Yet within that spring breeze lay endless murderous intent.

"Ah!!"

From the gaps in the armor and scales of the numerous shrimp, crab, and fish yaoguai, grass stems and flower buds sprouted one after another, blooming into flowers.

In an instant, there was a chorus of miserable wails here, and a whole group fell.

The Daoist, meanwhile, held his sword and continued forward.

Beneath the waterfall, the Long Wang was still struggling.

Lin Jue held his long sword in a reverse grip. Without using any other spells, he simply opened his mouth to inhale, then exhaled forward.

"Hoo..."

The green grass on the ground was stirred by the wind, and this movement extended into a path that led straight to the base of the waterfall.

Unexpectedly, although the Long Wang's entire body had already turned to stone, and even his eyes were plastered over with sand and stone, he still sensed this barely perceptible breeze.

"Daoist!"

The Long Wang's head turned instantly, and at the same time, he lashed his tail behind him.

Only a *puff* sound was heard!

This tail did not kick up a great wave in the pool but instead struck out a patch of fine water mist, blocking the front like a wall.

Lin Jue did not panic; he simply watched, sword in hand.

For the sake of this day, he and his Xiao Shimei had practiced spells bitterly for several months outside Runze City; today, everything had reached the moment of testing.

Sure enough—

This clear breeze appeared powerless, yet it was truly like a spring breeze, blowing across a thousand mountains and ten thousand waters, seeping into every crack, impossible to block. Although the Long Wang tried to use a wall of water vapor to shield himself, the clear breeze still passed through silently and soundlessly.

Still silently and soundlessly, grass stems and tree buds quietly sprouted from the sand and soil on the Long Wang's body, and flowers bloomed in short order.

"What is this!?"

The behemoth beneath the waterfall let out a roar. He did not know what had grown on his body, only feeling a wave of fine, dense stinging pain, as if he had been pricked by needles dozens or hundreds of times, leaving many holes, and the essence, magical power, and even life force within his body were departing along these holes.

He immediately began to struggle and twist even more violently beneath the waterfall.

One tail-lash struck the cliff, and cracks immediately appeared on the cliff face, with shattered stones falling one after another.

Another tail-lash struck a giant rock by the small stream, and the stone immediately flew up, soaring into the battlefield behind and rolling more than ten *zhang*.

As he twisted and struggled, the flowers quickly fell off, truly leaving behind blood-filled holes that hissed as they bled, like small fountains.

Lin Jue did not approach.

If he were struck by that tail, even if he turned himself into stone, he would likely be broken in two at the waist, right?

He then continued to use no other spells, simply inhaling again.

"Hoo..."

Just as the breath was exhaled, he saw the Long Wang ahead turn his head to look over and lash his tail.

"Not good!"

Lin Jue immediately dodged to the side, and after landing, he dared not stop, dodging repeatedly.

A water pillar and several stones flew over, striking the spot where he had originally stood and flying past the side as well.

With his current cultivation, fighting such a yaoguai king, one truly could not slack off for even a moment.

After standing firm, he looked forward.

He saw the Long Wang endure the pain, open his mouth, and exhale toward the sky.

His seven or eight *zhang* long body had a truly blood-filled maw that looked as if it were about to swallow the entire white silk of the waterfall hanging from the mountain top, but Lin Jue only saw boundless black energy exhaled from his mouth.

The black energy was full of struggling, twisted human figures, baring fangs and brandishing claws, their expressions fierce and resentful.

"Yaoguai thralls?"

Lin Jue gripped his long sword tightly and looked ahead.

He had heard of this spell from his Master and his *shixiong*.

This spell was initially the exclusive domain of evil tigers, where they would turn the people they had eaten into thrall ghosts to serve them and harm others on their behalf. Some evil people might also cultivate "Evil Human Thralls" after killing. Later, some people derived spells from this supernatural power, and some evil yaoguai and wicked people would cultivate it.

Within a few breaths, the Long Wang exhaled hundreds of yaoguai thralls from his mouth.

This meant that since he began his cultivation, he had eaten at least hundreds of living people.

"Kill this Daoist!!"

The Long Wang's angry and pained voice rang out.

"Ah!!"

Numerous thrall ghosts shrieked, baring fangs and brandishing claws, floating in the air accompanied by the black energy. After finding the Daoist's figure, they immediately lunged toward him.

Although this Long Wang was not like that original Corpse Tiger King whose supernatural powers could shroud the heavens and earth for dozens of *li*, this dense black energy and the surge of hundreds of thrall ghosts also looked like a dark cloud, blotting out the sky and sun.

In the distance, Xiao Shimei swung her sword to force back the Chicken Ji Xianren and could not help but turn her head to look.

The fox kicked off the chest of General Rhino and leaped out, also casting its gaze this way.

They saw a dark cloud pressing down on Lin Jue.

Countless thrall ghosts and fierce souls lunged toward Lin Jue, as if they wanted to tear him to shreds.

The Daoist's figure was submerged in an instant.

Xiao Shimei's eyes widened.

The fox was solemn-faced, simultaneously tilting its head to watch the scattered flying swords on the ground rise into the air one after another.

The next instant—

"Bang!"

A circular gale swept out in all directions, immediately knocking back the black energy and thrall ghosts that had already lunged forward.

This move was inspired by the Green Water Ji Xianren.

At the same time, the twelve flying swords no longer shuttled like fish but rotated wildly, flying rapidly around the Daoist in all directions, as if forming a sword array.

This was a flying sword infused with an attachment spell; any thrall ghost that touched a flying sword would immediately vanish into ashes.

For a time, it seemed to have constructed a sword array; no matter how many thrall ghosts there were, they could not enter, and even that sky-filling dark cloud seemed to be gradually shredded.

Xiao Shimei felt both shocked and relieved in her heart; she turned her figure and continued to circle with the Chicken Ji Xianren.

The fox also withdrew its gaze.

The morning light had already appeared, and the east was a bright red.

A group of martial artists rode their horses along the riverbank, each one looking fierce and menacing.

"This way!"

Luo Seng took the lead, riding his horse toward the mountain cave.

Numerous martial artists followed one after another.

Passing through the cave, they entered the sinkhole.

While still in the cave, they heard the intense commotion inside, as well as the roars and shrieks of unknown things, which made one feel awe-struck.

Their vision darkened for a moment, and when it recovered, they saw a chaotic and horrifying battlefield.

Nearby were three tall, burly red-faced armored soldiers covered in heavy armor.

They saw one armored soldier holding a round shield, bumping into a yaoguai covered in black armor that looked like a giant shrimp; behind him, another armored soldier holding a long spear immediately rushed forward, thrusting the spear toward that yaoguai. One could see the force of this thrust from his heavy armor and movements, yet not knowing how hard the yaoguai's black armor was, the thrust only pierced half the spearhead in before it got stuck in the armor.

And that yaoguai was pushed backward by the long spear, the mud and stones on the ground easily plowed open.

They also saw a guard with a yellow fish-scale armor and a fish head nearby raise a bone sword to slash over with extreme speed, and another long-spear armored soldier immediately swung his spear to deflect the sword.

Before the yellow-scaled guard could react, the shield-bearing armored soldier bumped into him again.

"Shoo!"

An arrow flew from afar, piercing the yellow-scaled guard's head.

Everyone followed the source of the arrow and saw three armored soldiers holding bows and arrows standing on a giant rock, shooting arrows in all directions, while below, two sword-wielding armored soldiers and two saber-wielding armored soldiers were locked in a melee with the yaoguai.

There were bone swords from yellow-scaled guards slashing across the armored soldiers, bringing out a series of sparks, and there were armored soldiers forcefully hacking at the thick shells of the crab warriors.

The battlefield was extremely chaotic, and both sides fought fiercely.

There were even yaoguai killing each other.

Luo Seng stopped his horse and scanned the battlefield.

He soon saw two figures in the middle of the battlefield, shuttling back and forth like immortals.

Both sides wore Daoist robes, but one was a rooster the size of a person, holding a horsetail whisk, while the other was a young, fair-skinned woman holding a long sword.

The person and the yaoguai moved forward rapidly, their figures flickering.

The Chicken Ji Xianren pinched a spell with his left hand and pointed into the air.

A bright light shot out from the air instantly!

That light was like a ray of sunlight leaking through the tiled roof of a palace or temple, instantly illuminating the dimness, but it was narrowly dodged by the female Daoist, who seemed to have foreseen it.

The beam of light hit the ground, immediately igniting a fierce fire.

Neither side looked at this fire, rapidly closing the distance.

The Chicken Ji Xianren swung his horsetail whisk, which looked like strands of steel wire; after being slashed open by the female Daoist's sword, he leaped into the air and kicked toward the female Daoist with both claws. The female Daoist waved her sleeve to raise a gale, striking him, and immediately a lot of gravel and dust fell off.

The two sides separated upon contact.

It was just that the female Daoist dodged to a distance, her Daoist robe at the waist torn, her figure rolling, while the Chicken Ji Xianren, although struck by the gale, seemed to have suffered no great damage, instead using the force to fly up.

Luo Seng saw instantly—

Regardless of the current strength of both sides, although this Chicken Ji Xianren could not fly, he was ultimately lighter and more agile than a human, not something a human's movement technique could compare to. Therefore, he always occupied the initiative in this struggle.

However, the Daoist also had spells.

He saw the female Daoist land, stand firm, and point while chanting.

"Cluck!"

The Chicken Ji Xianren suspended in the air let out a miserable shriek and immediately fell from the sky, as if several hundred *jin* of weight had been added to his body; after landing, he did not stand firm, instead being fiercely smashed into the ground by the force of the fall.

Feathers and dust were kicked up on the ground.

By the time he recovered, the female Daoist had already arrived with her sword.

Already exhausted and poisoned, plus the weight of the mountain pressing down, he could not fly; for a time, the Chicken Ji Xianren could only retreat repeatedly, waving his horsetail whisk to defend, and the initiative moved into the female Daoist's hands.

This was also just a matter of an instant.

Then another loud noise was heard! It startled who knows how many people!

Everyone subconsciously looked toward the source of the sound.

They saw a behemoth standing in the distance, like a giant rhinoceros standing up, and circling with it was a three-tailed white fox the size of a fierce tiger.

General Rhino's body was also covered in a layer of soil and stone, as if he had rolled in a mud pit and then dried out; this also severely affected his agility, but his giant strength was still astonishing, and that loud noise just now was caused by him hacking an axe into the cliff.

The fox naturally could not clash head-on with him.

However, the fox was clever and agile, only constantly exhaling black smoke to cover his head, making him unable to see clearly, and then relying on its nimble movement technique to slowly circle with him.

What was even more astonishing was that there were actually two yaoguai standing beside General Rhino, helping the fox hack at General Rhino's legs and belly, and there were several yaoguai trampled flat nearby.

Suddenly, the fox exhaled cold air toward the rhinoceros, and after exhaling, it immediately stepped aside.

"Hoo..."

A clear breeze from afar blew through the battlefield.

A path quietly appeared on the ground, and on this path, whether it was the ground or the yaoguai, wild flowers bloomed.

The destination was the giant General Rhino.

"Awooo-um~~"

More than a dozen wild flowers bloomed on General Rhino's body, and he seemed to be in unbearable pain, immediately spinning around to search for enemies everywhere, using his hands to pat his body.

The flowers were patted off, revealing more than a dozen blood holes.

Fresh blood hissed as it gushed out.

Looking along this flower path, it was actually a young Daoist holding a sword, fighting a giant Long in the waterfall, and that clear breeze just now seemed to be his support for the fox during a gap in the fierce battle.

After Luo Seng surveyed the battlefield situation, he no longer hesitated.

"Fellow heroes! If any are afraid, turn back; you can leave by following the riverbank!"

"Lord Luo looks down on us!"

The numerous martial artists behind him all made a living by dealing with yaoguai and ghosts, and they had all come voluntarily; in fact, there were only two types of people among them—

One type was naturally bold and unafraid of death, born that way; the other type was those whose families had been harmed by yaoguai and ghosts, driven by hatred. No matter which type, there was no reason to fear and retreat at this moment.

"Good!"

Luo Seng said, unhooking his long spear:

"The yaoguai here have committed many evils and harmed countless people; at this very moment, there are still hundreds of nearby commoners locked in dungeons like pigs and dogs. Today, a high-level expert is exterminating the yaoguai, which is a great opportunity. If any brave heroes are willing to go and add their strength, I, Luo, will not say much else, only asking everyone to remember: the two Daoists, the fox, and the armored soldiers are our own people!"

As his words fell, he spurred his horse and rode off.

What a fine steed! It truly rode as if treading on the wind!

The nearby armored soldiers and the Black Shrimp General were fighting each other, both sides having thrust their long spears into each other's chests, both possessing tenacious vitality, each competing in strength, when they suddenly heard a rumble of hoofbeats.

The martial artist rode past with the wind, thrusting his spear into the Black Shrimp General's head, piercing half the spearhead in, picking him up, and throwing him into the distance.

The horse did not stop, the long spear changed angles, and another yaoguai flew up.

Numerous martial artists followed closely behind.

Those two Daoists were not afraid even when facing great yaoguai, and there was even a high-level expert fighting the yaoguai king single-handedly, like an immortal; they, these martial artists, relied on slaughter to make a living, so how could they be afraid now?

Yaoguai soldiers and generals also relied on sabers to kill people, and martial artists did the same; who said martial artists were necessarily inferior to them?

Just compare who is strong and who is weak today! ===== CHAPTER 237 =====