Volume 2 Chapter 24

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Volume 2 Chapter 24: Fierce Battle

"You two are mine."

As Naxiu’s mocking voice echoed in the ears of Xuan Xiu and Bao Wei, a massive black mist swiftly surged towards them. With no other choice, Bao Wei and Xuan Xiu had to turn and deal with Naxiu’s onslaught first. Under the attack of the devouring black Spirit Qi, they were momentarily unable to focus on anything else.

Meanwhile, the twelve demonized cultivators had already flown to the altar, rushing towards Xu Qingfan, Lv Ziqing, and Shang Nianyao. As they got closer, all twelve began to perform Taoist spells. In an instant, flames, waves, golden light, and boulders—representing the Five Elements Taoist Method—shone brightly. Various powerful Taoist spells started appearing on the altar, covering the sky, their might astonishing.

Facing the combined attack of these twelve individuals, Xu Qingfan and the other two quickly used their strongest defenses, but still found themselves in dire straits under the assault of the demonized cultivators.

These twelve cultivators, now controlled by the demon orb, had lost their senses and should be called the Twelve Demon Generals.

Xu Qingfan first used the "Three Meter Green Silk" to transform into a blue cloud that encircled him. Then he created numerous iron cattail leaves to shield himself. Pushing his speed to the limit, he dodged or used the "Three Meter Green Silk" and "iron cattail leaves" to withstand the attacks, consuming a vast amount of Spirit Qi before barely escaping the first wave of the Twelve Demon Generals’ attack. However, under their intense and powerful Taoist spells, the "Three Meter Green Silk" dimmed, and Xu Qingfan was left with jolted vitality, internal organs churning, and significant internal injuries.

Lv Ziqing, cultivating wind-based Taoism, matched Xu Qingfan’s speed. His turtle shell-shaped magical artifact provided excellent defense, allowing him to maneuver and dodge like Xu Qingfan, avoiding the Twelve Demon Generals’ attacks. His turtle shell artifact, being especially defensively focused, offered slightly better protection than Xu Qingfan’s "Three Meter Green Silk," but even so, the shocks from the Demon Generals’ attacks caused significant discomfort.

Compared to Xu Qingfan and Lv Ziqing, Shang Nianyao’s situation was undoubtedly the most dangerous. Because he practiced earth-based Taoism, focusing heavily on defense, his sect elders only granted him two offensive artifacts to supplement his attacking capabilities. Having already expended most of his Spirit Qi fending off demon soldiers and mutated low-level demon beasts, he now struggled to perform powerful earth-based Taoist spells. His speed also lagged behind Xu Qingfan and Lv Ziqing, so he barely managed to construct a "Stone Wall Technique" to form a stone wall in front of him. Unfortunately, the stone wall shattered almost instantly under the combined attack of the Twelve Demon Generals. If not for Xu Qingfan’s quick intervention, Shang Nianyao would have perished in that wave of attacks. Nonetheless, even with Xu Qingfan and Lv Ziqing’s protection, Shang Nianyao was left coughing up blood from the residual effects of the Demon Generals’ spells, clearly unable to withstand another wave of assaults.

Although this wave of attack lasted only for a fleeting moment, Xu Qingfan and his companions felt it stretched out like a year. Finally, the brilliant lights dispersed, and the first onslaught from the Twelve Demon Generals came to an end. However, the situation was far from over. The Twelve Demon Generals, hovering quietly on the altar, showed no surprise at Xu Qingfan and his team’s defense. With expressionless faces, they continued their spellcasting, unleashing a wave of Spirit Qi even stronger than before, signaling an even more ferocious attack to come.

Seeing this, the faces of Xu Qingfan and his two companions were filled with despair. They knew that if the Twelve Demon Generals unleashed a second wave, they would be powerless to stop them.

Initially, despite there being twelve demonized cultivators, Xu Qingfan’s group should not have been limited to blocking only one wave of attacks. However, Shang Nianyao, the strongest and toughest of them, had significantly depleted his Spirit Qi while defending against demon soldiers and mutant beasts, now needing care from both Xu Qingfan and another companion, weakening their overall strength.

Additionally, the power of the Twelve Demon Generals was far beyond what Xu Qingfan’s team expected. Five of the demonized cultivators were originally disciples of the Qingxu Gate, whom Lv Ziqing and Shang Nianyao knew well. In their memory, these five had only reached the middle to late stage of the Inedia Stage. Now, the power of their Taoist arts had reached at least the early stages of the Lingji Stage. The three cultivators from Penance Valley were originally at the late stage of the Lingji Stage, and now, their power was frighteningly close to that of the Fake Golden Core Stage.

Clearly, the increase in power for these twelve demonized cultivators was far greater than that of the barbarian people and low-level demon beasts. Xuan Xiu had previously speculated that this demon pearl was a "Nine Demon Bead" specifically for demonizing cultivators, and it seemed he was right!

Although these twelve people have greatly increased their power, Xu Qingfan and his companions are far from being their opponents, and they are also outnumbered. However, as their strength grew, these twelve lost their senses and were unaware of the basic knowledge of elemental counteraction in the cultivation world. They mechanically continued to unleash their attack techniques. For example, just now, two Demon Generals were casting spells-one was using the fire technique "Fire Sea Waves," and the other was using the water technique "Flood Wave Technique." Due to elemental opposition, their powers canceled each other out, significantly weakening their attacks. Otherwise, with Xu Qingfan and his companions’ current strength, they probably wouldn’t even withstand the first wave of that overwhelming powerful attack.

Even so, it seemed nearly impossible for Xu Qingfan and his team to withstand the next assault from the Twelve Demon Generals. The gap in strength was just too evident.

Compared to Xu Qingfan’s dangerous situation, Xuan Xiu and Bao Wei’s fight with Naxiu, although not life-threatening at every second, was even more challenging. Naxiu held the upper hand in strength, and Xuan Xiu had already consumed half his Spirit Qi defending against demon soldiers and engaging Naxiu, while Bao Wei suffered significant mental strain from opposing the demon pearl. Thus, facing Naxiu’s powerful attacks and strange dangerous black fog, they were in a dire state.

Both Bao Wei’s fire arts and Xuan Xiu’s thunder arts were imbued with the vigor of heaven and earth, yet they had little effect against Naxiu’s endless black fog attacks. Therefore, despite witnessing the dire circumstances of Xu Qingfan’s side, Xuan Xiu and Bao Wei were entangled with Naxiu and unable to break free, growing increasingly anxious. Holding the demon pearl, Naxiu’s internal black demonic energy seemed inexhaustible, and the battlefield was engulfed in its presence.

"We can’t let this go on any longer."

Seeing the situation before him, Xu Qingfan thought to himself and shouted to Lv Ziqing, "Senior Brother Lv, try to delay them. Give me enough time to perform my magic."

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, Lv Ziqing knew he had no choice but to trust him. Without hesitation, he waved his magical weapon, "Wind Fan," and conjured up twelve tornadoes made of wind blades, which quickly swept towards the Twelve Demon Generals floating around the altar. Although the Twelve Demon Generals had lost their senses, they retained the basic instinct to dodge the wind blade tornadoes. However, under Lv Ziqing’s control, the tornadoes persistently followed them.

As the Twelve Demon Generals continued to dodge, their time to cast spells was considerably prolonged. Observing Lv Ziqing’s pale face and the sweat dripping continuously, Xu Qingfan realized that this attack was consuming a significant amount of his spiritual energy and knew he couldn’t hold on for long. Hence, he did not delay, rapidly forming hand signs that blurred into shadows, making it impossible to see what he was casting.

Then, hundreds of "Liuling Flowers" emerged from Xu Qingfan’s fingertips, drifting afar before colliding with each other, creating continuous explosions that filled the area with thick white mist. This obscured the view of the Twelve Demon Generals outside. Yet, after completing this, Xu Qingfan didn’t pause, his fingers continued to move swiftly until stopping after a long time. Oddly, though Xu Qingfan seemed to have finished casting his spell, and despite the obvious drain on his spiritual energy, the scene remained unchanged, unlike the vibrant spectacles his spells usually created.

At this moment, Lv Ziqing could no longer support his magic. Seeing Xu Qingfan finish casting his spell, he gave up controlling the twelve tornadoes, collapsing to the ground pale-faced. Although the mist created by Xu Qingfan’s "Liuling Flowers" concealed them, it also prevented the three from seeing the position of the Twelve Demon Generals. Consequently, even if Lv Ziqing continued controlling the tornadoes, they could no longer threaten the Twelve Demon Generals.

Sitting on the ground, Lv Ziqing noticed no change in the scene after Xu Qingfan finished casting his spell, and looked at Xu Qingfan in confusion.

Seeing the puzzled looks of Lv Ziqing and Shang Nianyao, Xu Qingfan merely shook his head slightly, signaling them to watch and wait.

Outside of the mist, the Twelve Demon Generals were also puzzled after seeing the thick fog. They had orders to eliminate Xu Qingfan and the others, but the mist obscured their targets, leaving them no means to attack. Having lost their minds to the magical orb, they couldn’t think tactically and never considered clearing the mist first before attacking Xu Qingfan and his companions. Ultimately, unsure of what to do, the twelve decided to return to their previous positions and wait for the mist to dissipate on its own, then follow Naxiu’s orders to kill Xu Qingfan and the others.

Just as the twelve people returned to their previous positions, a sudden change occurred! The ground beneath their feet cracked open, revealing twelve enormous flowers that burst from the earth, rushing towards the Twelve Demon Generals in the air. These enormous flowers were as red as blood, and when their petals opened, it was horrifying to see that they were lined with countless tiny teeth!

These twelve terrifying flowers were Xu Qingfan’s greatest find upon arriving in the Southern Wasteland, a notorious and feared plant known as the Chomper!

The Twelve Demon Generals did not expect danger from beneath their feet, and the Chompers surged with such speed that the generals had no time to react before being swallowed by the twelve flowers. As the petals closed rapidly, a chilling sound of chewing and swallowing echoed, with traces of blood even trickling from the petal edges.

After a long while, explosions sounded one after another, as several Chompers burst from within, and five figures emerged from the shattered remains of the flowers, albeit with varying degrees of injuries. The other seven, however, never appeared again.

In the mist, through his mental connection with the Chompers, Xu Qingfan knew what had happened outside, and he couldn’t help but sigh quietly.

Had he finally killed someone?

Although Xu Qingfan had previously killed countless mutated beasts, and although those people were merely mindless puppets, they were still living beings, and now they had disappeared by his hand?

For his own survival, he had killed them.

Was it fair?

A sense of panic and guilt began to arise in Xu Qingfan’s heart; after all, it was his first time taking a life.

But Xu Qingfan kept comforting himself, telling himself that these people were merely puppets. They had already died when they lost their consciousness. They were no different from the mutated beasts he had killed before; he had merely eliminated some walking corpses. Moreover, if he hadn’t killed them, not only would he have died, but they would harm more innocent people in the future.

This self-comfort, along with the fact that Xu Qingfan hadn’t witnessed the moment of the seven people’s deaths, eased his mind quite a bit.

Seeing Xu Qingfan sigh, Lv Ziqing hurriedly asked, "Senior Brother Xu, what’s wrong?"

Hearing Lv Ziqing’s question, Xu Qingfan composed himself and slowly said, "Of the twelve Demon Generals outside, I just killed seven. There are five left, but they are the strongest."

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, Lv Ziqing and Shang Nianyao were shocked. They had both seen the immense strength of the Twelve Demon Generals firsthand, and now seven had been killed by Xu Qingfan in one go? Although they knew Xu Qingfan had exceptional skills and mysterious techniques, they hadn’t expected him to be this powerful. Their admiration for Xu Qingfan grew even more.

Suddenly, Lv Ziqing remembered something, and his already pale face turned even paler. He asked in a trembling voice, "What about our Junior Brother Zhang?"

"I’m sorry," Xu Qingfan paused for a moment before slowly responding.