Chapter 271
This happened at a very fast pace, and the fifth brother also relied on the weight of his two axes to gain momentum. Being an experienced Demon Hunter, how could his strength be the same as that of an ordinary person of the same step?
Divine Obstruction!
With a violent collision, even while using Divine Obstruction, Long Haochen was sent back flying several meters. But the illusory green glow surrounding the fifth brother seemed to follow him relentlessly. The violent green radiance expanded rapidly, making his figure completely blurry.
With Bright Vengeance glinting on his body, Long Haochen crossed both of his hands, and Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light appeared in his hand.
A bright golden light followed, released from his chest, and the condensed liquid spiritual energy expanded outwards until it completely covered his Holy Spirit Armor with a sacred light.
Without drawing back Haochen used Divine Obstruction to block the attack. He raised his hands in the midst of a hissing sound seemingly only audible to Long Haochen. Thousands of strikes were launched from Blue Rain with the use of Lightning Thrust, attacking the enemy in the midst of the green glow.
Is he crazy? Seeing Long Haochen’s two swords launch Lightning Thrust, everyone seemed to share the same thought.
Using Lightning Thrust to block such a powerful warrior ability as Tornado Strike? This was simply suicidal. Tornado Strike was the most powerful offensive ability a warrior below the sixth step can use. Although it was more suited for crowd battles, its power was extremely terrifying even in a one-on-one situation.
Tornado Strike worked in a completely different way than Long Haochen’s Condemning Revolving Swords. The latter came with a lesser consumption, because it relied more heavily on one’s dexterity, to raise one’s power with the help of the enemy’s strength. Otherwise Long Haochen couldn’t possibly make use of such a powerful ability when his cultivation level was still only at the fourth step.
Tornado Strike relied completely on the warrior’s personal strength. With both legs providing the driving force for the rest of the body, the spiritual energy was poured over the arms into the weapons. Combined with a spinning motion at great speed, the attacks burst out one after another. The duration of the attack was far from being as long as with Condemning Revolving Sword, but the instantaneous release of bursting power was enough to be a match.
When a knight faced a warrior’s Tornado Strike, the best choice was to stay outside of its range. Since Tornado Strike couldn’t last for too long, and came with a massive consumption this was a safe way to counter it.
But the fifth brother’s main attribute was wind, and although he had a massive build, his speed was also surprisingly fast. At the time Long Haochen was sent flying, the opponent was immediately going after him. Confronting Tornado Strike and its pulling force as well as its terrible offensive strength, Long Haochen’s Nine Long Footsteps weren’t enough to dodge the strike.
In contrast with Tornado Strike, Lightning Thorn was merely a Retribution Knight ability of the second step. When comparing an ability at the early stage of the second step and one that reached the peak of the fifth step, what result could be expected? Even with dual sword, how could he contend against this? Wouldn’t this difference in strength just cause his own death?
However, the Temple Knight acting as a referee didn’t show the slightest sign of wanting to stop the fight. Instead, the look he gave Long Haochen was immediately filled with astonishment.
As far as the eye could see, the shower of light attacks was meeting with the green glow like rain frantically hitting at a tornado. The absolute majority of the observing Demon Hunters were between the fourth and the sixth step of cultivation, so the ones that could see this exchange of strikes clearly were few. But the few people that saw it couldn’t help but open their mouths wide, expressing utter shock.
Under normal circumstances, Lightning Thorn couldn’t contend against Tornado Strike, and was bound to directly be repelled. Most of the time, the sword would be sent flying after the first contact.
However, when Long Haochen’s Lightning Thorn clashed with the fifth brother’s Tornado Strike, each of his blows penetrated deep into the green glow, and in the midst of a series of weird sounds, the thick stabs penetrated into the green fan that was spinning at great speed.
The rotating speed of the fifth brother’s Tornado Strike seemed to be reduced by this scattering bright rain. Being forcefully interrupted like this, the fifth brother stumbled and almost fell down. On his armor and the axes, an uncountable amount of deep marks were left. It was fortunate that Tornado Strike was such a powerful attack, therefore, those traces weren’t deep enough to reach his body, but this magical armor was visibly heavily damaged.
Did Haochen really only use Lightning Thorn? Of course not, this was a completely newly created ability which he named Demon Wiping Flash.
The prerequisite of this skill stemmed from Lightning Thorn and the marvelous Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light. Further adding the use of Long Haochen’s self-created Ripples of Light to it, this was an ability Long Haochen took close to a month to create. Its power could of course not be compared to a Lightning Thrust. Naturally, its consumption of spiritual energy was also comparable with an ability of the fifth step.
More importantly, this ability’s greatest advantage was that it applied very fundamental principles, making it possible to combine it with other abilities, like Holy Sword which was a perfect match for it.
Long Xingyu had told Haochen once that if he was to create an ability, the best choice would be to do it by strengthening a basic ability. The reason was because all the complex and powerful abilities were evolved from fundamental abilities. Strengthening a basic ability was the same as strengthening all the related abilities at once.
On this day and during this battle, Haochen attempted to use this ability of Demon Wiping Flash for the first time. Yet this technique easily broke through the fifth brother’s Tornado Strike under everyone’s shocked gazes.
The most shocked was naturally the fifth brother himself. Although Demon Wiping Flash didn’t hit his body, all those faint stabs really passed through his Tornado Strike. Had his Tornado Strike just been split like that?
From the beginning, the fifth brother was planning on relying on the difference of cultivation to suppress Long Haochen. Long Haochen’s previous use of Divine Obstruction wasn’t enough to catch his attention. After all this signature skill of a Guardian Knight was mostly a defensive ability. But at the same time, Divine Obstruction needed a good foresight, as it couldn’t be used to defend against any attack without comrades covering the flanks. In a one-on-one battle, it would make one vulnerable to some extent. However, even before the two of them went against each other head on, both in regards to his weapon as well as his spiritual energy, he was actually the one that had been suppressed.
A restless feeling infested the fifth brother’s mind. Before this, he never thought that he could possibly end up as the defeated party. But at this moment, he had no choice but to think about this possibility, he couldn’t avoid feeling a chill running down his spine.
I cannot hold back in the slightest, this knight is definitely no small fry!
A shout burst out from the fifth brother’s mouth, and immediately, his muscular body emanated a feeling of majestic power. It was Madness.
At this very moment, a bright white light shone on the side of his left hand. Immediately, an enormous figure appeared and enlarged, forming a tall warrior entirely clad in armor. It was just that this warrior didn’t have any living aura.
This was the little sculpture that his sixth sister handed over to him, a metallic puppet made of fine gold. Its extraordinary strength could match up to a warrior at the peak of the fifth step. It was wielding a pair of swords in its hands.
I cannot afford to lose. No matter what! Carrying great determination, the fifth brother suddenly jumped forward, and the strong green glow surrounding him suddenly became more solid. His speed and strength erupting, he arrived in front of Long Haochen in a flash, launching a full- power attack. The metallic puppet followed him in his tracks, launching a pair of sword-attacks at Long Haochen’s back at the same time.
This happened in a very short span of time. Right after seeing Tornado Strike being suppressed, the fifth brother’s reaction was immediate.
Long Haochen didn’t keep meeting him head on. When confronting two enemies at once, he launched another Assault, increased his speed to the peak and passed the metallic puppet and the fifth brother, breaking away from their combined assault. At this very moment, a bright gleam appeared on his chest, revealing the four winged Light Elemental Fairy Yating. She ascended to the sky, chanting at great speed in a pleasant voice that resonated in the whole stadium.
The instant Yating appeared, Long Haochen’s body was ignited in holy flames. Following next, Yating displayed her might, revealing the powerful assisting ability of a Light Elemental Fairy at the third stage of evolution.
Halo of Faith, Guardian’s Favor, Imposing Halo, Spiritual Gathering Halo. It seemed to take only two seconds for each of those great supplementary abilities to be completed. On Long Haochen’s body, the traces of the four halos appeared immediately.
Who wouldn’t have recognized this Light Elemental Fairy. It was one of the best supportive spiritual stoves, and more importantly, the Demon Hunters that belonged to the younger elite generation of the Alliance naturally recognized that low-ranked elemental fairy of more than half a meter height.
Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi couldn’t help but stare blankly. Moments before, Long Haochen’s Demon Wiping Flash already caused them to be incomparably shocked, but when seeing the currently evolved Yating, they suddenly realized how much the gap between Long Haochen and themselves had increased. Even with the efforts they made over these past months they couldn’t compare with him.
The metallic puppet wasn’t intelligent, only following battle instinct. At the time Long Haochen used Assault to escape from it, it immediately chased after him, letting out resonant sounds while stepping on the ground. After closing in, it suddenly jumped up, jumping right into Long Haochen’s range.
At the time the fifth brother saw the Light Elemental Fairy, he slowed down, filled with serious thoughts deep inside.
A warrior was originally disadvantaged against a knight, but until now, this young knight didn’t even summon his mount. And as for why his spiritual energy wasn’t suppressed, could it be because he was actually a knight at the peak of the fifth step? But this… This is impossible! Just how old… A knight at the peak of the fifth step that is below twenty years old?! This is impossible!
Still filled with the conviction to win, the fifth brother followed closely after the metallic puppet charging at Long Haochen from behind.
A dragon cry resounded in the whole field, and everyone saw a gigantic golden dragon suddenly rise from the ground, confronting this super strong metallic puppet. Long Haochen chose to meet the opponent head on, and in the instant Ascending Dragon Strike was launched, the holy flames surrounding his body transformed into sunfire with the help of Yating’s incantations. Intense light element erupted from his chest. Drawing power
from the Pendant of Eternal Rest as well as his Saint Spiritual Stove, Long Haochen put the ability of the spiritual orifices possessed by Radiant Knights of the sixth step to use.
Bzz, Ss!
A monstrous sound broke out from the sky, illuminating the whole Knight Stadium in its bright light, just like the sun appearing in the sky.
The metallic puppet’s massive figure was melted under this dragon cry, and after being enveloped by that resplendant sacred light, it didn’t appear again.
Chapter 272
The fifth brother approached at a very fast speed, and his back shone with a green luster. Violently shooting up, the intense confluence of green light behind him took the shape of a violent tiger, accompanying the swings of his axes, and bombarding the golden sun that appeared in the sky. He knew that this was his last chance.
However, many things don’t go as one wishes. With a flash, the golden light unexpectedly spread to all directions, causing the glistening sun’s radiance to vanish in an instant. The brightness was replaced by a deep blue color which concentrated immediately in the sword chopping right in front of the fifth brother. A loud bang resounded. With an incomparably powerful explosion, even with his cultivation level, the fifth brother was utterly incapable of contending against this domineering holy elemental spiritual energy that sent him flying over ten meters.
The golden and blue light vanished, revealing Long Haochen’s true colors. When he appeared, he was a bit out of breath, his face visibly a little pale. But with the help of Yating’s recovery magic, he rapidly recovered.
After the period of probing, Long Haochen had discovered that this warrior wasn’t really a match for him. The fifth brother’s ability was purely based on the use of the wind element combined with his axes. Even after using Madness, his internal and external spiritual energy couldn’t possibly go above the sixth step.
Long Haochen never shrank back even when confronting a demon at the sixth step, let alone the fifth brother that had yet to reach the sixth step. Without particularly powerful equipment, when confronting Long Haochen
who had a Light Elemental Fairy’s support, he didn’t have the slightest chance. Though he had that metallic puppet, it was after all a mere puppet and not a real human. Unable to accommodate to changing circumstances, it was primarily reliant on physical attacks, and against the blazing sunlight fire in conjunction with Ascending Dragon Strike, it was unable to unleash its full strength and melted.
Long Haochen’s last blow was the Asura Strike that consumed an amount of thousand units of spiritual energy. Although he didn’t use Storing Power in combination, Asura Strike’s terrifying offensive power was still really destructive. If not for the fact Long Haochen started off lenient, the body of the fifth brother would already have been split in two.
With dang dang dang dang sounds, two split axes fell to the ground. When added to Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light’s sharpness, how could a piece of magical equipment resist against Asura Strike?
Long Haochen didn’t keep fighting, only looking at the fifth brother crawling on the ground slowly.
The fifth brother’s current appearance was truly pitiable. His armor was completely ravaged and destroyed from the power of Magic Wiping Flash and Asura Strike, and he lost his weapons. However, still in a state of Madness, his eyes still gleamed with a blood red color. With a mad cry, he directly rushed at Long Haochen.
His third brother and sixth sister were standing at the rest area with pale faces. Their brains had even lost all ability to think.
Withdrawing Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light, and taking out his Holy Spirit Shield, Long Haochen took a step forward, readying the Holy Spirit Shield to confront him. Blocking him and causing a backlash, he pushed the approaching fifth brother three steps back, before also retreating a step backwards. Even in a state of Madness, where the fifth brother was unable to use any abilities, his strength was still quite formidable.
He didn’t lose in regard to his combat experience, but in regard of the control of his spiritual energy as well as its technical aspects.
Long Haochen’s self-created ability and Asura Strike could be called first-rate secret techniques of their rank. Further adding his benefits as the Scion of Light, and the support of the Light Elemental Fairy Yating, even though the two sides were almost at an equal level of cultivation, how could the fifth brother even stand a chance?
The current fifth brother was already close to going mad. Loudly, he yelled, “I cannot lose, I cannot lose!” When pushed back, he immediately rushed towards Haochen again, without showing the slightest trace of faltering.
In his current deranged state of mind, Long Haochen didn’t need to waste any strength. He immediately rushed at him, directly pointing the Holy Spirit Sword at his neck. With a dull sound, the fifth brother simply fell to the ground.
The whole stadium was in total silence. From beginning to end, this battle didn’t last long, and the whole process was rather simple. Suppressing his opponent completely, Long Haochen managed a one-sided victory, giving no chance to his opponent at all.
There were almost only soldier and general grade Demon Hunt Squads that came to watch this match. As a novice Demon Hunter, Long Haochen managed to defeat another Demon Hunter of the previous generation, completely disregarding a gap of five whole years.
Aside from contribution points, in this battle Long Haochen gained the acknowledgement of all those general and soldier grade Demon Hunters.
The third brother and sixth sister from the eighth general grade Demon Hunt Squad walked into the stadium, lending an arm to support their fifth brother. In the end, they didn’t feel resentment but were filled with frustration. Hundred thousand… They lost hundred thousand contribution points! And those did not only belong to them since they had to borrow some to make the bet. Surely, this incident would affect their whole team, and cost them at least one more year to reach the commander grade. And this was only caused by the decision of the three of them, without involving the other members of their team.
The Temple Knight went over to Long Haochen’s side, passing the awarded contribution points to him, “Well done! You are quite good younger brother, from which Demon Hunt Squad do you come?”
Long Haochen replied, “The 21st general grade squad. Many thanks to you, senior referee.” 110,000 minus 500 contribution points were handed over, transferring into Long Haochen’s contribution point tile.
Frankly speaking, when seeing the expressions on the faces of the third brother and sixth sister, he felt empathy, and even thought of giving back the contribution points he gained. But in the end, he resisted. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to return those 100,000 contribution points, but because he couldn’t encourage the eighth Demon Hunt Squad in their greedy behaviour.
What would have happened if his squad didn’t even manage to gain back their own contribution points? There needed to be a pitiful and a hated side, and how could they have given them a lesson if they lost? In addition, if he returned those contribution points, how would those Demon Hunters that laid a bet feel? Wouldn’t they just believe that this was nothing but an attempt to deceive them all…?
“Long live, captain Long!” The members of the 21st general grade and the 4th soldier grade flocked in, rushing into the stadium, and surrounding him from all sides. Long Haochen was tossed up in the air by the group of excited youths.
The third brother and the sixth sister, silently carried their fifth brother to the exit. 21st general grade, they all heard this. At the general grade… They were actually already at the general grade! And this young knight was actually their captain.
Lin Xin and Luc Xi quickly calculated their earnings this time, giving the Demon Hunters that gambled on Long Haochen their earnings. Of course, they were a minority.
Duan Yi’s and Yang Wenzhao’s expressions looked ugly. They received the 3,000 contribution points they gained from the bet on Hoachen, but still
lost 7,000 contribution points in the final count. The original certain favorites had suffered a crushing defeat, and didn’t have much left, leaving in a dejected state.
Quickly, Lin Xin and Luc Xi’s counted the profit.
This time, a total of 230,000 contribution was bet, and after handing over 30,000 of it to the winners, they made a total profit of 200,000 contribution points.
The profit Luc Xi and Lin Xin made went beyond their team’s total capital, and their amount of earnings were even greater than Long Haochen’s himself, who was the one directly involved in this. Luc Xi only got 20% of it, but even so, he gained 40,000 contribution points out of the change, whereas Long Haochen provided the members of his 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad with very rich earnings, making the total amount of contribution points of their team surpass 300,000 contribution points.
Let alone general grade Demon Hunt Squads, even commander grade Demon Hunt Squads wouldn’t necessarily have so many contribution points gathered at the same time if they weren’t veterans.
“Rich, we have gotten rich for real this time! Wahah! Wahahahaha!!!” Lin Xin excitedly danced and gesticulated in joy. His dark green hair was flung from one side of his head to the other.
“Let’s go. We should head back. Today won’t do if we want to go to the Transaction Center.” Long Haochen waved his hand, picking up Cai’er and leading the group back to the villa. Having won so many contribution points belonging to another Demon Hunt Squad, this was obviously not a good time for them to go to the Transaction Center.
Luc Xi’s group left in great delight, feeling even more resolute to keep a good relationship with the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad from now on.
After Long Haochen’s group returned to the villa, seeing the excited Lin Xin, Long Haochen’s next words were, “From today onwards, everyone is
forbidden to leave the villa. It’s self-training for the next ten days.”
Lin Xin started, “Boss, why so serious?”
Long Haochen coldly swept a glance at him, “If not for your betting stands, we wouldn’t have to get this serious.”
Han Yu reacted, “It was the general grade and soldier grade Demon Hunt Squads that participated in the bets that were laid. It seemed as if we cheated everyone else, and to them, a thousand contribution points is quite a huge number. Demon Hunt Squads should treat each other as friends, not enemies. The offense we committed was too heavy, I’m really afraid that we are going to get isolated for that.”
Chen Ying’er seemed unsatisfied, “So it means it’s okay if they win, but not if we are the ones to win?”
Long Haochen replied, “Although it won’t be as severe between the new Demon Hunt Squads like us, we should still stay low-key for now. Otherwise, being isolated won’t feel good to us. To put it simply, if all Demon Hunters stopped selling things to us, don’t you think we would get affected?”
Chen Ying’er pouted but stayed calm.
Long Haochen replied, “Our contribution points reached a total amount of 300,000, so that’s to say, we even possess enough contribution points to promote ourselves to the commander grade. You know about Cai’er’s condition. Until she gets better, I’d prefer to avoid taking missions, and wish that everyone would strengthen themselves during the next six months, striving for the sixth step. If we succeed, the next mission we will take will directly be at the level of a commander grade Demon Hunt Squad.”
“Sixth step?” Except for the deaf Cai’er, the other five suddenly looked fixedly at Long Haochen.
Lin Xin murmured to him, “Boss, that is impossible. We are only at the second or third rank of the fifth step. Even if we aimed for the sixth step, I’m afraid only vice-captain and you would have a chance of success. Let alone the time of passing the bottleneck before breaking through, half a year cannot possibly be enough for us to acquire the 4,000 units of spiritual energy we are lacking.”
Although Long Haochen was sufficiently acknowledged in the team, it was just too hard for the others to be convinced by his words. The leap from the fifth to the sixth step was after all a process of qualitative change.
Long Haochen looked at the whole group, declaring, “And what if we add up the Holy Spirit Pills? Now that we are in possession of 300,000 contribution points, considering that those Holy Spirit Pills cost 10,000 each, all of us should have the chance to take one. And the earlier it is taken, the more effective it will be. It’s perfectly suited to our current situation.”
Lin Xin smiled bitterly, “Boss, I know what you mean. But my previous statement already took the Holy Spirit Pills into account. Each Holy Spirit Pill will enable our spiritual energy to rise over 3,000 units, but I’m afraid that aiming for 4,000 units during the span of half a year will be very challenging. Moreover, I heard that the bottleneck between the fifth and the sixth step is a lot more challenging to pass than the previous ones. There are many people who stay at this bottleneck for several years without being able to break through it. How could we do it so easily?”
Long Haochen went silent, seemingly pondering over something.
Everyone was struck by Lin Xin’s words, and Sima Xian hurried to declare, “Boss, there’s no problem for us to train for a period of six months, and we’d progress as much as we can. Anyway, with so many contribution points in our possession, there won’t be any problem for us to wait for vice-captain to recover before going on the next mission.”
Long Haochen shook his head, “I have over 70% certainty that we can break through to the sixth step within a period of half a year. I’ve been thinking about it, and finally decided to share this information with you.
However, I hope everyone will keep this secret. Otherwise, in case this gets out, it will give rise to great complications, and probably cause a public panic. If this happens, our Demon Hunt Squad won’t be able to keep existing.”
Everyone’s face immediately lost color at hearing this. Although Long Haochen’s words were always reasonable, since he took such a serious tone, this could only be a very serious matter.
Sima Xian looked pressed, and couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, what is it about, in the end?”
Wang Yuanyuan who didn’t mutter a single word until then suddenly raised her head, and asked, “Could it be related to the Desolate Hissing Cavern… That tower?”
Long Haochen silently nodded.
Han Yu took a deep breath, “Boss, I heard grandfather say that this tower was…” At this point, his words suddenly came to a stop, but with a resolute voice, he kept going, “I swear that I won’t leak out whatever secret Master tells us on this day. May heavenly punishment fall upon me, forbidding me eternally from reincarnating if i break this oath.”
The others also understood the gravity of the situation, and all of them aside from Cai’er swore an oath. They all realized the seriousness of this matter, while feeling the possibilities Long Haochen’s words promised.
Looking at everyone around him, Long Haochen said in a stern tone, “Like Yuanyuan guessed, I’m speaking about that tower. In fact, I had to tell a lie to Luc Xi as well as the Alliance. With Haoyue’s help, I made it into this tower, and discovered in it a great secret. This tower is called Tower of Eternal Rest.”
As he said so, he untied the front piece of his jacket, revealing the Pendant of Eternal Melody on his chest.
“The Tower of Eternal Rest, known as Tower of Eternity, is something left ten thousand years ago by a necromancer called Elux. This necromancer claims the title of Holy Necromancer and Slumbering Calamity. And this Tower of Eternity is filled with a powerful aura of death.”
Just like the Saint Knight Head Han Qian said, their team could be called a complete team of princes and princesses, thus their knowledge was naturally a lot better than that of other people.
Hearing the word ‘necromancer’ from Long Haochen’s own mouth, everyone couldn’t help but stare blankly. In the depths of their brains, a legend covered in dust seemed to instantly be recalled…
Chapter 273
The words ‘necromancer’ gave too great a shock to everyone from this 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad; their faces seemed to be completely filled with surprise.
Long Haochen released a Holy Mantle, isolating the room from the external world. Inside this safe area, he told them about the true details about his experiences inside the Tower of Eternity. Since he already made this decision, he didn’t conceal anything from them.
This whole process didn’t take long: in less than half an hour’s time Long Haochen told them everything that really happened inside the Desolate hissing Cavern, including the most minute details.
In this quiet villa isolated from the external sounds, Long Haochen’s story not only brought them a lot of surprises, but also widened their horizons. The little detail about this Holy Necromancer Elux actually turning out to possess the holy light element caused them to be in a state of utter shock.
How could necromancers be affiliated with the holy light element?
Long Haochen stayed silent after telling his story. He knew that his comrades would need some time to digest it.
After nearly a quarter of an hour, Lin Xin finally asked in an insipid voice, “Boss, are you planning on carrying on this necromancer’s inheritance?”
Long Haochen shook his head, “Of course not. Regardless of whichever attribute they use, they are in the end necromancers, that formerly brought this great calamity to humanity. If not for them, we wouldn’t be having such difficulties to confront the demon race. How could I accept to learn the abilities used by those necromancers?”
“Boss, I think those words may be wrong.” Sima Xian continued, “Bad deeds are committed by people and aren’t related to their abilities. Even our current abilities could be used to kill people, couldn’t they? Necromancers were an evil group, but if their abilities could be used for the right thing too. For example to handle demons, I believe that there would be nothing wrong with that. Since this Holy Necromancer chose you as his successor, I believe you shouldn’t let such a good occasion slip by. As long as it can help us exterminate the demons, what’s the problem?”
“We can’t.” Han Yu eagerly intercepted, “Sima, don’t come up with such a rotten idea. Although what you said makes sense, necromancers are in the end completely rejected by our Alliance. If Captain were to learn necromancy… the Alliance would definitely not accept it. Captain is the Scion of Light! The future hope of our Knight Temple lies with him. He will inevitably become a Divine Knight in the future. Don’t tell me you believe that Divine Knights could be weaker than necromancers?”
Chen Ying’er’s mouth twitched, “How about just not letting the Alliance know about it? I don’t see any problem with having one more asset to our strength.”
Like it could be rarely seen, Wang Yuanyuan opposed to this idea, “I agree with Han Yu. After all, we are living in the Alliance, and with captain’s dispositions, not learning necromancy won’t affect his future growth so we should rather not take risks.”
Two against two. All looks unawarely wandered in Lin Xin’s direction.
“Don’t look at me, I’m neutral on the subject. I’ll just support Captain in his choice whatever it is.” Lin Xin spread out his hands with an indifferent face.
Long Haochen kept calm, listening to his comrades’ words. Inwardly, he thought that even if there was some approval and some opposition, this was after all about whether to learn necromancy or not, and so far there wasn’t any extreme opposition to necromancy itself.
“Don’t worry everyone. Just like Han Yu said, I believe that the path of becoming a Divine Knight wouldn’t necessarily be inferior to that of a necromancer. I just don’t plan to learn it for now. The reason why I told you about this Tower of Eternity was to tell you that regardless of whether necromancy is learned or not, the Tower of Eternity is an exceptionally good training place. The technique I used to kill the Fiend Commander of the sixth step and to defeat the fifth brother is called Asura Strike. It is a skill that I got during my first test in there, after defeating a skeleton. And those tests will be of great benefit to our spiritual energy’s progress.Using the Tower of Eternity will help us increase our pace of progress to the sixth step enormously.”
Hearing these words, the five of them looked at each other. They were excited from the depths of their hearts when they heard this and their reservations slowly melted.
How could they feel fear about the fact that the Tower of Eternity was closely related to the necromancers and not take advantage? Its tests offered many ways to improve one’s strength. If it had been someone other than Haochen, or even themselves, would they have possibly shared this secret with others? Everyone was unable to give a definite answer to this question, but Long Haochen had shared all of it. How couldn’t they feel moved by such a selfless act from him?
Sima Xian was usually straightforward, and very direct with his words, “Boss, we are really lucky to have such a captain as you. Rest at ease, the secret of the Tower of Eternity will be sure to remain among us. We won’t tell anyone, even our own masters.”
The others nodded with resolution . The Tower of Eternity had become their collective secret. They were determined to make sure that this secret would forever be kept.
Long Haochen smiled in response, “Okay, since things are like this, let us set the training in the Tower of Eternity as our primary goal. However, before this, everyone’s strength will need to be raised as much as possible. The first floor of the Tower of Eternity is already directed at powerhouses of the sixth step, and although we are forming a team, it’s still hard to tell which challenges we will be meeting. For your own safety, we should at least let your strength progress first.”
“Yuanyuan, you will go to the Transaction Center buy seven Holy Spirit Pills that can increase our spiritual energy by 1,000 in ten days. You will all take one, and during the subsequent period, everyone is to approach the progress of their respective spiritual energy in consideration of their faculty of understanding, to make it really become a part of your strength. We have enough contribution points, so everyone should at least buy two pieces of equipment at the Glorious Tier. After your equipment is improved, we will finally be ready to enter the Tower of Eternity to start our training. As for the rest, it will depend on the results we obtain inside the Tower.”
Lin Xin looked anxious, “Boss, aren’t pieces of Glorious Tier Equipment a bit too expensive? Even the most average ones are worth 5,000 contribution points!”
Long Haochen chuckled in response, “What a money grubber you are! Although Glorious Equipment is quite costly, its effects are a lot stronger than Spiritual Tier equipment. If we can raise to the sixth step, Spiritual Tier Equipment will be of limited use to us. But, we’ll be able to use Glorious Tier Equipement at least until the seventh step. Although our finances don’t allow us to be equipped entirely, it should be okay to get two pieces of equipment for each of us. Your Fire Cloud Crystal Staff is already good enough, but if it needs an upgrade you can exchange it. There are also specialized refineries at the side of the center, so we will take care of everything on the same occasion.”
Lin Xin said with a sigh, “It looks like our supply of contribution points isn’t going to last for long.”
Wang Yuanyuan reacted unhappily, “What a scrooge you are! We are a Demon Hunt Squad, so earning contribution points is supposed to be for raising our strength. Earning contribution points is only meaningful if it enables us to improve. Come on, transfer your contribution points.”
The Holy Spirit Pills couldn’t be purchased at once, as there were only three of those powerful pills available at the Transaction Center, but they could be ordered. The first to enjoy the benefits of this pill were Chen Ying’er and Sima Xian who had the lowest cultivation level among them, and Cai’er who was the most fitted to focus on cultivating her spiritual energy after losing four of her senses.
After making use of the Holy Spirit Pills, the three of them immediately entered their closed-door training, raising their own strength as they absorbed the medicine.
Ordinarily, seven days were needed to absorb this Holy Spirit Pill, but Long Haochen’s instruction was to stay training in seclusion for at least half a month. This way they could have a better comprehension of their spiritual energy after the increase. Over the following month, the four others also received their Holy Spirit Pills. Outside of the villa appeared a board with the words ‘Do not disturb!’, because aside from Long Haochen, all the seven members of the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad were in a state of secluded meditation.
Long Haochen also trained in seclusion, but didn’t take the Holy Spirit Pill yet. This was for the simple reason that his spiritual energy had already reached the peak of the fifth step in this short period, and that he started to aim for passing the bottleneck of the sixth step. This Holy Spirit Pill would have to wait for him to break past it to be of use.
As he became more and more familiar with the Pendant of Eternal Melody, Haochen discovered more of its secrets. Although so far, he could only use its supportive effects, he came to realize that because his cultivation level was currently insufficient, he was unable to completely exploit the Eternal Melody’s abilities.
But even so, the Eternal Melody’s effects were quite good. With such a formidable piece of equipment, the light essence surrounding Long Haochen’s body was multiplied by three times compared to normal. And more mysteriously, this Eternal Melody made this light essence become purer, giving an incredible boost to Long Haochen’s cultivation. Further adding the help of the Light Elemental Fairy Yating, he was certain that his current cultivation speed was at least five times faster than that of an ordinary knight. Otherwise, he couldn’t possibly have taken just a little more than a month to raise his spiritual energy from 3,700 to 4,000. And now, he was battling against the bottleneck of the sixth step.
They temporarily didn’t go to buy equipment, because it wouldn’t be of use to them at the moment. The most important thing was to raise their cultivation. Having gone through many challenging battles, all of the youths from the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad had some progress in their cultivation. First of all, Cai’er’s internal spiritual energy already reached 3,700 after taking the Holy Spirit Pill, and she was at most merely a few months away from reaching the bottleneck just like Long Haochen. Even the weakest of them, Chen Ying’er, reached an approximate spiritual energy level of 3,200. For the first time they enjoyed the benefits of their amassed contribution points. In fact, newly formed Demon Hunt Squads that could, like them, afford to take seven Holy Spirit Pills at once were extremely rare. Of course, it was now the case for another one, which was the incomparably profiteering 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad. They were also training behind closed doors, after Long Haochen placed an order of six Holy Spirit Pills for them, which took about a month to arrive. Meanwhile, they weren’t the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad anymore, but the new 22nd general grade Demon Hunt Squad.
Originally, a few of them were still stuck at the 4th step of cultivation, but after completing the mission of Exploring the Desolate Hissing Cavern, their strength rose greatly, and finally all the members made the breakthrough to the fifth step after training behind closed doors. And after taking the Holy Spirit Pills, they went into closed-door training again. Now, the 22nd Demon Hunt Squad’s strength was also raising tremendously, and their speed of progress wasn’t even inferior to that of Long Haochen’s group for the moment.
Chapter 274
In the blink of an eye, three months passed and everyone returned from their secluded training, their spiritual energy reaching a completely new level.
After three months, Cai’er’s internal spiritual energy had risen to 3,850, and Han Yu’s to 3,670. Sima Xian’s reached a number of more than 3,500 by relying on his new internal spiritual energy level of eighty, but Wang Yuanyuan, whose spiritual energy also broke past 3,500, was still a bit ahead of him. Lin Xin was at 3,660, and Chen Ying’er was at 3,320. The whole team had successfully reached the seventh rank of the fifth step.
However, during those three months, Long Haochen didn’t manage to break through to the sixth step, and was still at the bottleneck between the fifth and the sixth step.
This was naturally not because he wasn’t mustering enough effort, but because his attention was constantly being diverted. Every time he entered into a state of meditation, the memories he acquired from the Tower of Eternity would naturally flow into his mind, interrupting him every time. This was something that he couldn’t control even if he wanted to, thus he was unable to focus on his training in such a state.
Of course, Long Haochen wasn’t willing to learn necromancy, but during the first month of seclusion, he was constantly struggling against himself.
In the end, he still had to yield, because if he didn’t accept to learn this necromancy magic, he wouldn’t be able to cultivate at all, and would probably never break through his bottleneck. Breaking through a bottleneck
required him to concentrate his attention completely on the matter at hand, but with those memories bursting forth and bothering him intentionally, how could he focus his attention?
Completely helpless, Long Haochen could only accept this reality reluctantly. By chance, the memories that the Tower of Eternity forced into him weren’t painful, and as long as he was willing to learn a skill or study a mystery, they would temporarily stop appearing. From the looks of it, Elux wanted him to master the subject via a comprehensive study of surrounding areas. Long Haochen had never thought that such a severe teacher would one day be entering his consciousness. But what could he do about it? Unable to resist, he could only bear with it.
During the second month, he patiently tried to break past this bottleneck, but the difficulty of reaching the sixth step from the fifth was truly astonishing. Through the Saint Spiritual Stove, he felt that his spiritual cavities had already started to take shape, and that he was just a tiny step away.
Long Haochen continuously went through the cycle of using Storing Power and attacking, using Storing Power and attacking… But he still didn’t succeed in breaking through this bottleneck.
Until the third month, his spiritual cavities had yet to form, but Long Haochen’s Saint Spiritual Stove seemed to be close to evolving. In his body, a little chaotic area had emerged, signaling that the Saint Spiritual Stove was also just a step away from evolving, visibly needing him to break through the sixth step to accomplish that.
These past months could be said to be a total torment to Long Haochen, but they didn’t pass without benefits. His cultivation speed had been very fast, but for this very reason, his roots weren’t steady enough. After finishing those three months of closed-door training, his spiritual energy was now steady, and his mastery of it more profound. Many aspects of his body had adjusted to better match his abilities.
In fact it wasn’t impossible for him to progress after reaching this bottleneck. It was just that as long as one didn’t break through, the spiritual
energy one would gain from cultivating would usually vanish. But this wasn’t the case for Long Haochen. The fact that he couldn’t absorb it didn’t mean that the same applied to his Light Elemental Fairy and Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light that were stored in his body! Thus, this period of three months also came with advantages for him. But obviously, passing the bottleneck and completing the second evolution of his Saint Spiritual Stove wasn’t a matter of a few hours.
While Long Haochen cultivated, Haoyue was fast asleep. He had previously eaten a large amount of magical crystals, and was now focusing his attention on absorbing their energy. Now that he had time to rest, his strength naturally kept growing.
But right at that time, their closed-door training was forcefully interrupted. Urgent news arrived from the side of the Demon Hunt Mission Tower, regarding a compulsory war mission. All the Demon Hunt Squads staying in Holy City had to participate in it. If they wouldn’t, ten thousand contribution points would be taken from each member of a general grade squad as a penalty, and the higher the grade, the greater would this penalty be.
This sort of War Mission was an extremely rare occurrence, only happening at times when the Alliance was facing a big crisis, forcing them to issue a compulsory marching order. The price for those who didn’t want to participate would be considerable.
Although Long Haochen’s team was rich enough to afford this penalty, this would still be a penalty of 60,000 contribution points. Though the retainer knight Han Yu didn’t have to be counted in, this was still something they were unwilling to bear.
After discussing it with his comrades, Long Haochen proceeded towards the Mission Tower to accept this mission, which gave three days to all Demon Hunt Squads to rest and reorganize. Though, the precise details of the mission had yet to be made known to the public.
The seven members of the 21st Demon Hunt Squad gathered in the lounge of the villa.
Sima Xin revealed a malicious smile, “War Missions are also good! My cultivation level has just greatly increased; it’s the perfect time to try it out against those little demons.” As he said this, he showed off his arm’s musculature with a big gesture.
Long Haochen spoke, “Since everyone is present, let us move on. Lin Xin, what is our total amount of contribution points?”
Lin Xin didn’t need to check and directly gave an answer, “We have still 245,823 contribution points left. I sold the magical crystals and demon corpses we brought back that weren’t of use to us, which increased our amount of contribution points again.”
Long Haochen nodded, “All good. Then, it is the time to proceed for the Transaction Center. We will have to head out for this War Mission soon, and this time, I’m afraid its level of difficulty and danger should be no lower than that of the Desolate Hissing Cavern. We shouldn’t insist on saving money as we will only need a hundred thousand contribution points to promote our Demon Hunt Squad’s grade. We should try to use up the leftover 150,000 contribution points today. After arriving at the center, look for the equipment you’ll need for yourself, everyone. We will limit ourselves to the Glorious Tier and above. If there is something you want, inform Lin Xin immediately. There’s no need to inform me, just directly buy it. Lin Xin, you are in charge of checking on what they picked: everyone should at least find one piece Glorious Equipment fitting himself. We cannot be stingy with our money at such a time! Don’t forget to buy stuff fitting for yourselves, understood everyone?”
“Yes, Captain!” Everyone except from Cai’er replied in a loud voice. Who would be unwilling to buy powerful equipment!? Even at the Glorious Tier, 160,000 contribution points would be enough to buy over a dozen quality goods. This was one of the benefits of their many contribution points.
After accepting the mission, Long Haochen’s immediate decision to look for equipment to buy was the best choice. Their Demon Hunt Squad would obviously not be the only one in need of equipment, and the other teams
were definitely about to do the same to increase their strength. Being a step ahead would offer them a larger choice.
Walking into the Transaction Center, Long Haochen asked Lin Xin,
“How is our storage of pills?”
Lin Xin replied with a smile, “Plentiful!
We have forty-two Great Recovery Pills, twenty five Bloodthirsty and Spiritual Bursting Pills. Also we have the two types of pills I have created recently, the Energetical Pill⼤⼒丹, and the other is called Pill of Ferocity. I used the Grand Fiends’ magical crystals and their materials to make
Conjoined Spiritual Boosting Pills, which can connect the users’ spiritual energies for a certain time. When the spiritual energy pours into each other, it will change into the attribute of the specific user. It’s just like the Great Fiend Cavalries’ conjoined attacks, but the duration will be limited to three minutes. And this thing was really costly to do, so I have only been able to make two batches of seven of it, enabling us to use it twice. Considering our current strength, when the seven of us enter in a conjoined mode, our spiritual energy should surpass 20,000, enabling us to be a match to some extent for a powerhouse of the eighth step.”
Long Haochen asked with doubts, “But what if, after using these Conjoined Spiritual Pills, the one who gathers everyone else’s spiritual energy cannot bear this massive pressure?”
Lin Xin complacently replied, “I’ve already thought of this. Through these pills, I managed to solve this problem that even the Fiends themselves didn’t manage to solve. It touches upon how to take the conjoined pills. When the one who gathers the spiritual energy takes his Conjoined Spiritual Boosting Pill, he should at the same time take an Energetical Pill, strengthening his body to a great extent, which will naturally increase his capability to launch stronger attacks. Furthermore, these Conjoined Spiritual Boosting Pills won’t put the whole burden on a single person out of the seven of us. And the one in charge of gathering it will only receive power according to his own body’s limits. For instance, considering your ability Boss, there should be no problem for you to
reach a total of 10,000 units of spiritual energy after taking one of my Energetic Pills. Though battling against an opponent at the eighth step was mere drivel, there should be no problem to put up a fight against one at the seventh step.”
Seeing his proud face, Long Haochen couldn’t help but reveal a smile, “It looks that your narcissism has its basis. Though I don’t really like to praise you, I really have no choice but to say that you are a real genius!”
“Hahaha, that’s a matter of course!” Just as expected, after being praised, someone immediately became so pleased as to lose his sense of measure.
Sima Xian interrupted him, “Has-drug-bro, take attention, Li Xin is coming.”
“Eh? Where is she, where?” Lin Xin suddenly exercised restraint, quitting his previous arrogant state to look more reasonable and appealing. Scrutinizing the surroundings, he looked for Li Xin’s figure.
To summarize it, over the past months, Lin Xin and Li Xin’s relationship had advanced pretty well. Although the two of them didn’t meet a lot because of their respective closed-door training, through his shameless and formidable harassment Lin Xin forced Li Xin to admit the status of their relationship. However, this led to the appearance of a new symptom on Lin Xin, making him an intensely henpecked male! Upon seeing Li Xin, he was just like a mouse seeing a cat. Maybe this was a residual effect of the time Li Xin forced a kiss on him, but the sure thing was that he treated her very well, secretly pressing her to accept quite a lot of his pills, though Li Xin, who was unwilling to take advantage of him, gave him the corresponding amount of contribution points every time.
“Dammit! This bald male! You dared fool me, be careful that I don’t give you false drugs next time!” Unable to find Li Xin, Lin Xin immediately shouted furiously at Sima Xian.
Sima Xian laughed joyfully, “Believe what you want, but hey, I once heard Li Xin say that she loathes narrow-minded people the most, and
that she likes the most kind-hearted and innocent guys like our captain, well-disposed and promising youths.”
Chapter 275
Lin Xin snorted twice successively, “Then that’s just like me.”
Sima Xian replied, “But haven’t you just been threatening people? If you make fake drugs for me to take, hehe, I may have a nice chat about it with Li Xin. On the basis of your flashy appearance, how about trying to see whether Li Xin would believe it if I made up a story about one of your ex-girlfriends?”
“You… Okay you win this time. Bro is terrified.” Lin Xin revealed an indignant expression, finally stopping to pay attention to Sima Xian. Seeing his current face, the others couldn’t help but have a good laugh.
“Speaking of it, boss, after Luc Xi heard that I could make the Conjoined Boosting Pills, he expressed his desire to buy a batch of them for 1,000 contribution points, providing his own materials. Tell me, should I accept or not?”
Long Haochen asked, “How long would you need to make these pills?”
Lin Xin replied, “About ten days. During our trip from Holy City to the battlefield, we should be travelling on horseback and I should have the time to make them. I’m just unable to guarantee that I’ll definitely be successful.”
Long Haochen gave his response with a nod, “Then let’s give it a try.” Individual strength is negligible on the battlefield, thus having another familiar team around to which they could trust their backs was definitely a good thing. Plus, this could only increase the chance of survival for both of
their teams. And during those three months of self-training, Luc Xi’s strength also increased quite dramatically. Although it could still not compare with Long Haochen’s group, in regard to the fact that Long Haochen’s group still had yet to break through to the sixth step, the gap between them had truly narrowed over this period. Of course, this was considering that Long Haochen’s group had yet to purchase new equipment.”
As they finished talking to each other, they arrived at the Transaction Center. After entering, they immediately headed to the second floor. Although the first floor also contained some precious equipment, it was too few in number. But at the second floor, at least half of the sold equipment was at the Glorious Tier. It was just that the total quantity of equipment sold there was lower than at the first floor.
Showing their general grade insignia, the seven passed through the guards of the second floor, and for the sake of saving time, they immediately dispersed, in search for equipment fitting themselves.
Everyone had different needs for equipment. Among them, the one who was the least in need for new equipment with supplementary effects was Chen Ying’er, who had been mainly relying on her contracted beast’s ability ever since she got it. But she was unsure as for how to strengthen this little pig.
Generally, the only solution she had to increase her fighting strength was to increase her spiritual energy, thus she looked for the kind of equipment that would enable her to increase her spiritual energy, steady her mental capacity and also offer a bit of defense.
The ones who were the most in need for new equipment were Wang Yuanyuan and Sima Xian. Sima Xian bore the role of a warrior in the team, but was still clad in a priest gown. Wang Yuanyuan also never wore full- armor, her only true equipment being the Gigantic Divine Soul Shield. In comparison to them, Han Yu and Lin Xin were not that pressed to find new equipment; they were all right with any choice improving their status, though they were not going to pick any random pieces of new equipment.
Lin Xin’s Fire Cloud Crystal Staff was already refitted at a specialized place, becoming a fire elemental staff at the peak of the Glorious Tier. He was originally already the richest one in the group, and the gown he was clad in was already at the Spiritual Tier.
Separating from his comrades, Long Haochen carried Cai’er, searching in an area of the second floor. Every floor of the Transaction Center was separated in two areas, with one for the Transaction Center’s equipment and goods, and one where Demon Hunters would put their own equipment and goods for sale.
Long Haochen first went to look at the goods the Transaction Center had for sale, planning to have Cai’er pick a personal armor for herself.
Already having her golden dagger with the ability to pierce through any armour, it was completely unnecessary for Cai’er to change her weapon, which was already at the Glorious Tier. For her left hand, she had the Dagger of Samsara, so she could do without changing any of her weapons. But defense was Cai’er’s weak point.
Seeing them approach the sales counter, the staff member of the Transaction Center welcomed them respectfully, “Hello, how may I help you?”
After thinking for a bit, Long Haochen replied, “I want to buy an armor at the Glorious Tier usable for assassins, as well as accessory equipment for assassins.”
The staff member nodded, and replied, “Please wait a moment.” Afterwards, he turned around, walked inside a separated area, and came back a moment later with a thick file in his hand.
“Respected Demon Hunter, I just checked a moment ago, and found four armors in accordance to your criterias, and three accessories. Please pick your choices.”
After this was said, he opened the thick file, rapidly turning the pages, on which a detailed presentations of the armors and goods could be seen.
Long Haochen took Cai’er’s hand, looking at those presentations as he wrote some words on her palm.
Each of the four armors had particular features, placing emphasis on different aspects. The first mainly attached importance to raising one’s spiritual energy, but was more fitting to assassins using the fire element, as a gem of the fire attribute was inlaid in it.
Cai’er’s attribute was very particular. She was not a user of the fire attribute, but was more accurately a user of the destruction attribute and the death attribute. This was a change that the Dagger of Samsara produced in her, making this elemental armor unsuited for her.
Among the other three, another one had the same problem, which eliminated it as possible choice.
Among the last two armours, one increased defense and enabled the user to use his own spiritual energy for protection, producing a defensive power comparable to an elemental shield. In addition, it had an ability called Hardness. The chest, the belly and the back’s crucial parts could at least bear three attacks of powerhouses of the sixth step while staying undamaged.
The other one increased the assassins’ offensive power, boosting one’s rate of spiritual energy gathering. Although it only reinforced this aspect, through the fact that it was classified as Glorious Tier Equipment, the efficiency of this spiritual energy gathering could be appropriately valued. It would boost an assassin’s offensive power by a factor of two or three tenth.
After telling Cai’er about the two types of equipment, the two came to an disagreement. Long Haochen was inclined towards the Hardness Armor, whereas Cai’er prefered the Spiritual Gathering Armor.
Because Cai’er could neither hear nor see, the exchange between the two of them happened as they wrote on each other’s palms. Just as they were arguing with each other, a gentle voice suddenly sounded from behind them.
“Excuse me, are you Captain Long?”
Long Haochen turned his head, seeing a youth, who was several years older than him. Judging based on his appearance he was probably twenty- seven or twenty-eight years-old.
This young man was tall, at least a head taller than Long Haochen. Which made him already close to Sima Xian in height, since even though Long Haochen wasn’t fully grown yet, he was still close to 1.8 meter in height.
But he didn’t look as imposing as Sima Xian. Having broad shoulders and a broad back, standing in a straight posture he still carried a gentle and elegant atmosphere.
When he stood face to face with Long Haochen, describing him as handsome was a bit hard, but his appearance could relatively be described as pretty good. Physiologically a bit round, his gentle eyes gave others the impression of an honest and considerate person.
“Hello, you are?” Long Haochen asked with doubt.
The young man cordially replied, “I am the captain of the eighth general grade Demon Hunt Squad, and my name is Zhang Fangfang. Salutations to the two of you. Captain Long, may I exchange a few words with you.”
Hearing the words ‘eighth general’, Long Haochen unawarely wrinkled his brows, the matter already happened three months ago. Could it be that this person came today to look for trouble? But this did not come as surprise, they had after all lost an amount of 100,000 contribution points! No one would stay calm and collected after this loss.
“So you are Captain Zhang. Hello, I am Long Haochen. Please speak.” Although some thoughts came to Long Haochen’s mind, he still kept a polite attitude. No matter what reaction the other party would have, everyone was after all from Demon Hunt Squads.
Zhang Fangfang declared, “I came to apologize to Captain Long today. Why are you two hiding?” The second sentence was directed at their backs, and in an instant, brought a severe expression to his gentle face.
Two people came in front of him, somewhat unwilling. Seeing Long Haochen their expressions were clearly unsightly. They were precisely the fifth brother and sixth sister from the eighth general grade Demon Hunt Squad.
Zhang Fangfang gave them a meaningful glance, and those two bowed to salute Long Haochen, and the fifth brother revealed a bitter smile, “Sorry, Captain Long, we shouldn’t have attempted to cheat you. We were in the wrong. We pledge that this won’t happen ever again, so please excuse us.”
Long Haochen shook his head, “The matter is already in the past, and you were the ones who suffered the most from it. How could the two of you be the ones to apologize.”
Zhang Fangfang replied, “No, we had to apologize to you no matter what. I originally planned on coming to see Captain Long a lot earlier, but seeing the sign that you were training behind closed-doors, we waited for this moment. About the contribution points they lost, it was their deserved punishment, but this was also my fault for not having raised them better. As their captain, I cannot shrink from my responsibility. I have to apologize once again to Captain Long.” As he said this, he bowed to Long Haochen, but looked a lot more serious than the fifth brother and his sixth sister, literally bending over at ninety degrees.
This attitude immediately changed Long Haochen’s impression of the eighth general grade Demon Hunt Squad greatly. Hurriedly supporting Zhang Fangfang with his hand, he declared, “Captain Zhang, please don’t be like that. This matter is already over.”
Zhang Fangfang straightened his posture, and said with a sigh, “I’m not worried of Captain Long’s mocking. I’m afraid our Demon Hunt Squad could be considered the most out of luck in History. In the past, shortly after we formed our team, we were cheated by another Demon Hunt Squad in the same way they tried to to use on you. It was a very important
amount of 5,000 contribution points that we lost from that incident, which almost caused us to fall apart. After getting back on the right track with a lot of difficulty, such a thing actually happened. To be frank, I wanted to quit the position as captain at multiple times, but after spending such a long time together with my comrades, everyone felt affection for this squad. How could I really abandon it so easily? Please don’t bear grudges for their actions; I have already lectured them on it.”
Long Haochen came to a sudden realization. So actually, they had been cheated like this in the past. Although his impression towards the fifth brother and the sixth sister wasn’t good, he had a good opinion of this Captain Zhang. If it was just him, maybe he would have returned those contribution points, but he was now the captain of a Demon Hunt Squad, who had to take his comrades’ interest into consideration , so he naturally couldn’t bring himself to do this.
Chapter 276
Zhang Fangfang wasn’t a twisted person, and seeing Long Haochen’s hesitant look, he frankly declared, “Although this matter caused a conflict between our Demon Hunt Squads, something good still came out of it. Didn’t it enable me to get to know such a young talent as Captain Long? During the war that is about to begin, as general grade Demon Hunt Squads, maybe we will be allocated to some common tasks. At this time, I hope Captain Long will condone our former problems, and that we can join forces against our mutual enemy, fighting the demons side by side.”
Long Haochen smiled, nodding in response, “That will be only natural.
Only the demons are our true enemy.”
After nodding to Long Haochen, Zhang Fangfang led his two comrades to the exit.
Seeing his leaving figure, Long Haochen sank into deep thoughts. Due to his mental ability surpassing that of ordinary people, his ability to judge through observing people was extremely good. He could tell that this Captain Zhang wasn’t putting on an act, but sincerely apologized. This person was quite remarkable! Being so open-minded. But for still being stuck at the general grade after five years, it seemed that they were truly unlucky.
If there was some opportunity to support them during the incoming War Mission, he truly wished to be able to join forces with them.
“Boss, why were you apologizing!? Even though we were wrong, that kid robbed us of hundred thousand contribution points! And a part of this
are contribution points we have to hand back before long.” The fifth brother unhappily complained to Zhang Fangfang.
Wearing a serious face, Zhang Fangfang said, “Fifth brother, you’re still not realizing your mistake? Tell me, what is good within the two of you? Do you know how hard we brothers had to work to gain those hundred thousand contribution points? This Captain Long is far from being ordinary. Remember that you have to forget the whole grudge you are bearing. The War Mission is about to begin shortly. Although this urgent War Mission will be extremely dangerous, it will also be an opportunity for us…”
The fifth brother didn’t want to keep disputing, but the sixth sister was the one to interrupt him, “Boss is right, this Captain Long is really not ordinary. From his appearance, he is under twenty years old, but he defeated you fair and square when you were already doing your utmost. I estimate that he was at least at the fifth step of cultivation. Even if he didn’t break through to the sixth step yet, he should be amongst the strongest of his generation with the support of his Light Elemental Fairy. Given enough time to grow, this sort of knight will definitely advance in strength by leaps and bounds.”
Zhang Fangfang sighed lightly, “If only you had realized this earlier. Or had at least checked the opponent’s antecedents, then your defeat wouldn’t have been so miserable. I specially investigated on this Captain Long’s antecedents. He was the champion of this year’s individual Demon Hunt Squad Competition, and the team he led also ended up first in the team competition. And they managed to advance to the general grade without completing a single official mission. From those three pieces of information alone it can be seen that he isn’t someone you should have provoked. You should just let go of this matter, anyway, our bad luck is not a matter of this one time.”
The fifth brother and the sixth sister lowered their heads, and the fifth brother’s eyes turned red, “Boss, I was in the wrong. Because of me, our team sunk into such an awkward situation yet again. I’m really sorry everyone, I…”
Zhang Fangfang was in reality younger than the fifth brother, but he patted the fifth brother’s shoulder like an elder brother would do, “The matter is already over, don’t tell me that blaming you would bring our contribution points back? I just hope you will not be so impetuous again when doing things, at least it taught you a good lesson.”
Cai’er finally couldn’t convince Long Haochen, who put on a rarely seen tough front, finally buying this Hardness Armor costing 8,000 contribution points for Cai’er. Afterwards, he also bought her a Necklace of Invisibility at the Glorious Tier.
This Necklace of Invisibility could enable her to hide her presence even more perfectly, twisting the space to produce an effect of invisibility.
Cai’er could originally obviously not really make herself invisible, but relied on the terrain to conceal herself. True invisibility where the user could move in an invisible state could only be learned starting from the seventh step of cultivation. This Necklace of Invisibility would undoubtedly increase her chances to survive on the battlefield by a great margin, additionally improving the ability to hide herself that she already possessed to an even higher level.
Because of being an ornament, this necklace was even rarer than the other pieces of external armor, costing a whole 12,000 contribution points to be bought. So far, 20,000 contribution points had already been spent to increase Cai’er’s strength.
Long Haochen wasn’t intending to buy too many things for himself. As the captain, he had to set a good example, and thus, headed back after buying these two pieces of equipment for Cai’er without intending to buy anything else.
Just like Long Haochen had anticipated, the number of Demon Hunters flocking into the Transaction Center kept increasing. The official goods were at a fixed price, but the prices of the other Demon Hunters would rapidly skyrocket because of the increase of demand.
Lin Xin didn’t go to buy things, but again took the role of a seller in that instant. In the end, he was the one to sell the highest amount of things on the whole second floor of the Transaction Center.
Since Long Haochen didn’t plan on buying anything, he came to his side together with Cai’er to take a look.
Lin Xin was his usual self, selling drugs, and doing so at quite a high price. The main part of it consisted of Jade Protection Pills, which he originally called Energy Pills, able to increase one’s external spiritual energy by five hundred. But there were also Spiritual Bursting Pills and Spiritual Recovery Pills.
Because they possessed the Great Recovery Pills and Energetic Pills, the pills Lin Xin was selling were useless to Long Haochen’s group. As for the Spiritual Bursting Pills, twenty of them were already enough for them. Long Haochen was truly astute, taking out his own inventory to put it on sale there.
Lin Xin’s pills could visibly not compare to the ones sold in the Transaction Center, but how expansive were the pills sold by the officials? The Holy Spirit Pills costing 10,000 each were considered cheap among them…
Alchemists were truly scarce, which made the produced pills the rarest goods within the Transaction Center. And now that a War Mission was about to begin, a fitting pill would very possibly give one better chances of survival.
This led to the increasing prices of the pills Lin Xin put on sale. In his stock, Jade Protection Pills were the most numerous. And at this time, their price had already risen to four hundred contribution points for one.
Contribution points could in fact not be used like gold coins. Killing a single Dark Green Dual Bladed Demon only brought ten contribution points and no more. Four hundred contribution points was simply no small amount.
But during this mission, the Demon Hunt Squads were mostly at the general grade. Thus, the customers were numerous, and although they were costly, they still sold out at fast speed.
As for Spiritual Bursting Pills, they were directly sold at a price of 1,000 contribution points for one, and 600 for Spiritual Recovery Pills. And this was already a bargain.
To quote Lin Xin’s own words, it was already out of consideration for the fact that everyone were Demon Hunters that bro didn’t open an auction.
As a matter of course, Long Haochen didn’t stop him. Although Lin Xin was a bit taking advantage of the situation, selling the pills they didn’t need would increase everyone’s chances of survival on the battlefield, which could at least be considered a good thing. After all, contribution points were gained by killing, whereas goods for recovery were for saving lives.
It took a whole afternoon for everyone’s purchases to be done.
“Captain, we are done. Let’s head back then.” All their comrades being gathered at Long Haochen’s side, they were all smiling while looking at him and Cai’er. Seeing their appearance, Long Haochen felt something amiss, but didn’t know what it was. On Lin Xin’s side, he was done selling his pills, when everyone returned, heading back to the villa to get some rest.
Having returned to the villa, Long Haochen told everyone, “Stay for a moment everyone, and show what you bought to the others. This will be a good occasion to get familiar with everyone’s new equipment.” This time, their targets of purchase were pieces of Glorious Tier Equipment, which would all bring a considerable boost to their own strength, producing some change to their abilities. Getting familiar with those changes would enable them to preserve their mutual understanding.
Lin Xin spoke, “Let me be the first. I bought consumable goods. Bro cannot attack, but bro has drugs, and I used all the money I got from selling the pills for buying magical scrolls. At the crucial times, this man will be able to be of some use too. Among them are ten scrolls of the fifth step and five scrolls of the sixth step, as well as a scroll of the seventh step
which I spent 10,000 contribution for. I will tell everyone the specific details when we will be on our way to the battlefield. Regarding the equipment I didn’t buy anything. With the Fire Cloud Staff’s amplification, I don’t really need anything more at least until breaking through to the sixth step.”
Long Haochen nodded, “Okay, and you, Yuanyuan?”
Wang Yuanyuan replied, “My Divine Soul Shield is a weapon so I didn’t need anything more on this aspect, especially accounting that I’m not good with defense. I’d rather prefer using my two hands for my shield, which is why my weapon didn’t change. But I bought a spatial attribute armor at the Glorious Tier, called Spatial Guardian, which cost a total of 32,000 contribution points.”
At this point, she turned a bit red. During this time of purchase, her armor was the most costly thing they bought.
Long Haochen smiled, “What supplementary ability does it possess?”
Wang Yuanyuan replied, “It can condense a Spatial Shield of the fifth step, only needing me to invest a fifth of my spiritual energy just like spatial mages would do, to release its magic. At the same time it increases my amount of spiritual energy by three tenth, and it’s partially made out of mythril, increasing my strength in all regards.”
Long Haochen gave a thumbs up, “Good purchase!
If this armor was bought outside of the Transaction Center, I’m afraid it would have had an astronomical price. Yuanyuan has a keen eye!”
Wang Yuanyuan smiled, “I can at least use it up to the seventh step, so I won’t change armor until then… ” Clearly, she was very satisfied with her new spatial Guardian Armor.
Long Haochen asked, “Anything else you have bought?”
Wang Yuanyuan stuck out her tongue, replying, “This already cost over 30,000 contribution points. Buying something else would be overspending…”
Long Haochen continued, “And the others? Who wants to go first?”
Chen Ying’er raised her hand, “My turn! My turn! I haven’t bought anything costly either, just some pills for magical beasts to be fed. This was something that has-drug-bro couldn’t make, and I believed my McDull would need it to advance. I only spent a total of 4,000 contribution points!”
Chapter 277
Han Yu said, “I bought a shield at the Glorious Tier, called Absolute Reflection, able to launch a three-layered light elemental shield. Its defensive power even surpasses Divine Obstruction, and enables the user to deflect the magic shot at it. I haven’t bought anything else aside from this. I spent a total of 11,000 contribution points”
Now came Sima Xian’s turn, “Boss, I may have bought a bit too much, please don’t blame me! You were right, I cannot keep on wearing the magical robe of a priest, so I bought an armor to cover the upper half of my body. It is called Holy Power, and can increase my external spiritual energy by a thousand while possessing a Prolonging ability, which can extend the duration of all physical abilities. This is very helpful for my Madness mode. And I changed my weapon, take a look. This new weapon almost took up the whole space of my storage ring, hehe. ”
As he said this, he smiled very satisfied. With a golden flash on his hand, an intense light broke out in the surrounding, and a massive object appeared in his hands.
This item was truly extreme. Looking at him, even Long Haochen’s eyes were wide open, as he murmured, “This is too violent!”
Sima Xian replied with a laugh, “Boss, I am walking on the path of violence! With my external spiritual energy being naturally greater than that of ordinary people, and further adding this Holy Power that increases my external energy by a thousand, not using this kind of weapon would be a shame.”
The weapon in his hand was indeed particular. Simply said, it was an enormous metallic ball.
This item didn’t have any gaudy aspect, having a diameter of one meter. This elemental ball was extremely glossy, distributing concentrated fluctuations of light. Even with a physique such as Sima Xian’s, carrying it was visibly strenuous. Although he didn’t know which material this was made off, it should at least weigh five hundred kilograms.
Sima Xian proudly introduced his new partner, “This weapon is called Energetic Light Ball, and to be frank, my luck was pretty good. Because no one needed this item, I got it for a low cost, only spending 16,000 contribution points for it. In fact, it is plated with a layer of refined gold, and reaches the absolute peak of equipment at the Glorious Tier. Other pieces of equipment of this level would cost at least 30,000 contribution points. My Energetic Light Ball carries a supplementary ability called Crush. It’s just that I haven’t tried out this ability yet, but the Energetic Light Ball’s core is said to be the magical crystal of a magical beast of the seventh step. I bought it from the officials at the Transaction Center, and have been told there that if this magical crystal was exchanged for one at the eighth step, this Energetic Light Ball would immediately reach the realm of Legendary Equipment. If enough refined gold is added to it, it would be even possible to have it reach the peak of the Legendary Tier.”
Carefully glancing at this enormous golden ball, they discovered that on the outside it had a grip and a golden over ten meters long chain, which looked as thick as Sima Xian’s arm.
Long Haochen couldn’t help but ask, “Is this the enlarged version of a Meteor Hammer?”
Sima Xian said with a smile, “Pretty much. I thought this chain was shorter, but my current strength is at least sufficient. After my cultivation improves, I will definitely be able to exploit this thing’s power even better. Right when I saw this, I immediately fell in deep love and decided that this will become my lifelong equipment, that I will try to upgrade along with my strength in the future.”
On the side, Han Yu patted on his own forehead, “Sima, whenever we meet other people never tell anyone that you are from the Priest Temple, otherwise, they will surely mock you. And better never bring this thing with you when you go to the Priest Temple to study new magic.”
Sima Xian snorted, “I never made the Priest Temple lose face, what should I be afraid of? Maybe in the future, the Priest Temple will consider me as its pride.” Saying this, he tossed down the golden ball in his hand. Although it was only at a distance of a third of a meter from the ground, when coming in contact with it, it left cracks on the floor below.
Long Haochen asked, “And that’s it? Is that all for the equipment you bought for yourselves?”
“Right, that’s all for our own equipment.” The other five replied in unison.
Long Haochen gave a puzzled reply, “This can’t be! Although this increased the strength of each of you, it doesn’t even make a total of 100,000 contribution points. Didn’t we have 160,000 contribution points left to spend? And with the considerable amount of pills Lin Xin sold, shouldn’t there be a large excess of contribution points? Keeping too many contribution points is useless, we’d better exchange them to increase our military strength.”
The five of them mysteriously looked at each other, brimming with large smiles.
Lin Xin proudly replied, “Boss, we knew you’d say this. Of course, we know that there would be no use in keeping too many contribution points. What we introduced was the equipment we bought for ourselves, but we have yet to speak about what we bought for you.”
“Me?” Long Haochen started, revealing a pouting smile to the others,
“You…”
Han Yu was the first to reply, “Captain, we all saw you hang around in the Transaction Center; you have only been spending contribution points
to buy two pieces of equipment for our vice-captain, but what about yourself? We understand that you hope to save contribution points to be used by us, but have you thought of your position as the team’s core, its cornerstone at all? Having your strength increase is the best way to ensure our team’s safety in times of battle. This is not selfishness but a necessity. Thus, we took the initiative to buy three pieces of equipment for you.”
Saying this, Han Yu’s hand glinted golden, and an odd heavy sword appeared in Long Haochen’s hand.
This heavy sword was similar to the Holy Spirit Sword in length, about a meter and a third, but was a bit wider than the former. On the main part were two groups of four engravings, extending to the handle, and in those, a dragon-shaped pattern was embedded. It didn’t have any gem inlaid inside, but when this heavy sword was drawn, the air in the whole villa seemed to be completely shaken. A dense killing intent radiated from it. Surely, a body pierced with such a huge bloodthirst would be bound to die from its effect?
Han Yu said in a serious tone, “This sword is called Bright Discipline and costed 16,000 contribution points. Like Sima’s Energetic Ball of Light, it was underpriced, because the requirements for its use are very particular, so ordinary people don’t have the capability to use it. It requires the user to be of the light attribute, and his innate internal spiritual energy to exceed seventy.
It is said that this Bright Discipline was handed down from a powerful Retribution Knight, but collected dust for a long time in the Transaction Center. After all, knights whose innate internal spiritual energy is over seventy are just too rare. It is able to launch Instant Holy Sword: though the consumption of spiritual energy will be the same as with normal swords, it will break out instantly. It also carries the Soul Absorption ability. It will return ten units of spiritual energy after it was turned into holy spiritual energy back to the user whenever an enemy is hit.”
“A good sword.” Long Haochen blurted out almost unconsciously. Perhaps this Bright Discipline couldn’t compare with Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light, but it was of high quality, and the two abilities it carried were
really practical. Instant Holy Sword, although with the same consumption, enabled him to use a fighting ability of the fifth step to be used instantly. This would be as useful as one may imagine on the battlefield. As for that Soul Absorption ability, it seemed to be fitting crowd battles, especially while fighting lower ranked demons. Killing one enabled the user to absorb ten units of spiritual energy, and when confronting Dual Bladed Demons, it was possible for Long Haochen to reach a dozen of those enemies with a single Demon Wiping Flash or regular Lightning Thrust! This would undoubtedly raise their ability to last on the battlefield. 16,000 contribution was a really cheap price for such a treasure.
Han Yu revealed a smile, “When Captain finds an even better weapon, this sword can be passed to me to use it, so it is killing two birds with one stone.”
Long Haochen was about to thank them, when Wang Yuanyuan’s hand also flashed with light, and a 0.6 meter long shield appeared in her hands.
“This is the Holy Radiant Shield, possessing the Holy Shield ability. Although it has only a single ability, Holy Radiant Shield’s ability is of the sixth step and perfect for Guardian Knights like you. Just like Bright Discipline, Holy Shield will need to consume spiritual energy to activate instantly. Its consumption is rather high, needing 300 units of spiritual energy for one use, but it lasts for ten minutes.”
Lin Xin extended his right hand, and a brilliance appeared once again extending on the floor in front of him. Along with a helmet, an entire armor appeared in front of Long Haochen.
This armor was entirely dark golden in color, decorated with simple designs. Although it was eye-catching, this armor already possessed a majestic look when left on the ground by itself.
“The Brilliant Holy Armor forms a set of two items along with the former shield, enabling one to use the Guardian Knight ability Holy Spirit Guard, which is of the sixth step. Like for the other two pieces of equipment, it will be instantly launched, consuming 300 units every time. Those two come as a set, and give you a set bonus called Brilliant
Command when used together, reducing the consumption of spiritual energy of those two pieces of equipment by a third, while raising its efficiency by a third.”
A high quality item! These three items of the Glorious Tier could be described as equipment of the highest quality. This Glorious Set carried defensive abilities of the sixth step, making it a first rate item even when used by a Radiant Knight of the sixth step. And there was this practical set bonus. After receiving those three pieces of equipment, Long Haochen was now armed to the teeth. When acting as a defensive knight, his defensive power would reach completely new bounds, making it so that even without having broken through yet, he could already be regarded as a Guardian Knight of the Radiant Knight level.
“You…” Long Haochen’s gaze was warm; regardless of how talented he and how good his self-control was, he was still just a fifteen year-old youth. Facing his teammates that were so thoughtful of him, how could he not be moved?
Wang Yuanyuan was the first to react, “Captain, there’s no need for words of politeness between us. We are comrades from the same team, whose core is you. Without you, we couldn’t even have made it back alive from the demon territory. Your strength is our team’s strength. Raising your strength will give us the best chances of survival when confronting powerful enemies.”
Chapter 278
They picked those three pieces of equipment for Long Haochen with complete sincerity. In truth, it was even only after thinking about the items to pick for Long Haochen that they looked for the rest of the equipment for themselves. Every time they met with powerful enemies, Long Haochen was the first to confront them as a Guardian Knight, and his Saint Spiritual Stove would always draw the strongest opponent towards him, regardless of whether he was a match to stop this opponent or not. As his companions, they had always seen this time and time again.
Lin Xin smiled happily, “Boss, quickly take it. I’m going to get some sleep now. I’ll snatch time to make some pills tomorrow, early in the morning. Our current balance of contribution points is closer to 90,000 than 100,000, but I believe that after we come back from this mission, we should at least have gotten this bit back.”
Eyeing his comrades with reddish eyes, Haochen declared, “I cannot help but thank you, otherwise it would be ungrateful of me… Everyone should have an early rest today, do your best to be in top condition when we set off.”
As he said this, Long Haochen recovered the three pieces of equipment displayed in front of him, before heading back to his room with Cai’er in his arms.
The other five smiled at each other, and then happily headed back to their own rooms with their newly obtained items in hand. After today’s huge purchases, although it couldn’t be said that everyone was equipped to the teeth, their purchases were sufficient to raise their team’s strength to a
whole new level. In fact, even in a commander grade Demon Hunt Squad, knights who could be clad in an entire Brilliant set like Long Haochen were extremely rare. That was to say nothing of a team that was still at the general grade. Exchanging their contribution points for equipment would greatly increase their survivability on the battlefield.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and early in the morning of the fourth day, the Demon Hunt Squads were gathered at the entrance of their villas, having forty-two carriages waiting for them. The majority of the carriages was numbered. Among them were four soldier grade, nine general grade, twenty-two commander grade, four king grade, and three unnumbered carriages.
A total of forty-two Demon Hunt Squads acting together during this mission was an extremely rarely seen occasion in the Temple Alliance. It were no less than two hundred and fifty-two elites of the Alliance. And they were all powerhouses willing to risk their lives in the fight against demons in the midst of the battlefield. The carriages were placed in accordance to their own numbering. Up until now, they still didn’t know what sort of mission they were called for. All they knew was that they were headed to
the Southern Town’s Mountain Pass镇南关, located in the territory under the Priest Temple’s jurisdiction.
Those forty-two Demon Hunt Squads were to act along with a batch of elites directly subordinated to the Alliance, numbering five thousand in total. And since they were dispatched by the Six Great Temples, there was no need to doubt their strength. Among them, the Knight Temple dispatched the greatest assisting army, which included a team of a total of hundred Temple Knights led directly by the Saint Knight Han Qian, and entailing seven Saint Knights. More terrifying, all the Temple Knights of this group were Foundation Mythril Armored Knights, the true core of the elite of the Knight Temple. From this, the scale of the crisis the Southern City’s Mountain Pass faced, could be judged.
The Knight Temple’s Saint Knight head, Han Qian was also the commander of this operation. Forty-two Demon Hunt Squads and an army
of five thousand elites of the Six Great Temples were deployed, obeying his orders.
Long Haochen and his comrades were taking seats in the carriage marked with ‘21st general’. The order they received so far was simple: to leave for the Southern City’s Mountain Pass and follow the team leader’s direction. The concrete details of the War Mission would be assigned after arriving at the Southern City’s Mountain Pass.
Because the Holy City was in the center of the Tempe Alliance, the distance to the mountain pass was very small. Rapidly advancing, it didn’t even take a day for the reinforcements to arrive at a distance fifty kilometers away from the Southern City’s Mountain Pass.
However, arriving there, the atmosphere among the whole reinforcements immediately turned serious, because even at a distance of fifty kilometers, they could already see the distant smoke fuming up, coming from the direction of the Southern City’s Mountain Pass.
The Saint Knight Han Qian immediately reacted by transmitting the order to head there at full speed. Meanwhile, the Temple Knight Regiment, as well as the four king grade Demon Hunt Squads, and the three Demon Hunt Squads of unknown grade left their carriages behind and set out at full speed towards the Southern City’s Gate.
From the window, Long Haochen saw about twenty figures leaving the seven carriages at lightning speed. All of them were at the very least at the seventh step of cultivation. From afar, Long Haochen only saw a phantomlike afterimage of the six people from the carriage in the front. Sima Xian clenched his fist with an excited face. Clearly, he was an authentic predisposed war-lover.
Because of the pressed advance, the whole journey was spent with everyone still in their carriages, having difficulty to hold back. This was especially the case for Sima Xian who had just obtained the Energetical Ball of Light and had been holding back for a long time now. He had only tried it out once, against Long Haochen.
Then, Sima Xian had swung it by its chain, completely bringing out the Energetical Ball of Light’s true might while Long Haochen had relied on the Brilliant Holy Shield. Even though he had added Divine Obstruction to the Holy Shield technique, he had barely managed to block it. Still, he had been pushed back six steps, almost falling down, with both of his arms aching from the shock.
Of course, after such an attack, Sima Xian would have needed time to store more power if he had wanted to launch another blow with the same strength.
The reason why he could display such might was because of the abnormality of the Energetic Ball of Light. It could instantly erupt with great power due to its supplementary ability Crush, which was an inseparable part of it. Inside of the Energetical Ball of Light was a magical array that could absorb the surrounding light essence through a magical crystal. Thus, this Crush ability didn’t even need Sima Xian to use his own spiritual energy to sustain it.
The most terrifying thing was that Crush could actually be combined with Long Haochen’s self-created technique Ripples of Light. Though both sides employed this technique, even Long Haochen was almost unable to resist its combination with Crush.
Since this match, Sima Xian had always been brimming with enthusiasm, wanting to try out this new weapon against demons. He had fallen in deep love with this Energetical Ball of Light. If not for the limited space inside of the carriage, he probably wouldn’t have resisted the urge of holding this metallic swelling golden item in his hands.
Han Yu asked Long Haochen, “Captain Long, what do you believe is the grade of the Demon Hunt Squads that are in those three unnumbered carriages?”
Long Haochen replied, “They should be at the Emperor grade.”
Han Yu then asked with some excitement, “Couldn’t they be at the titled grade? Just like those six almighty elders we previously met in the
Exorcist Mountain Pass.”
Long Haochen shook his head, “This is not very probable.”
Lin Xin said on his side, “It’s rather impossible. Titled Demon Hunt Squads don’t receive missions from the Alliance, and are the Alliance’s greatest heroes in terms of contribution. They don’t reside in Holy City either. Titled Demon Hunt Squad’s members have to be at the ninth step of cultivation, but powerhouses of the ninth step won’t necessarily belong to a Titled Demon Hunt squad. From my point of view, the Demon Hunt Squads that were traveling in those three carriages should be at the emperor grade. It’s just that they would be of different strengths. The carriage at the front is very possibly a Demon Hunt Squad constituting of six powerhouses at the ninth step.”
Wang Yuanyuan nodded, “I agree with has-drug-bro. Considering our strength, we shouldn’t be part of the main force, but probably its backup force. We will just kill as much as we can.” This girl’s love for war was not the slightest bit inferior to Sima Xian’s.
An hour later, the reinforcement army finally reached the Southern City’s Mountain Pass, and Long Haochen understood for what sort of emergency the Alliance had dispatched them all.
In the midst of thick smoke, the scent of blood reeked out from all directions, and right after getting off the carriage, Long Haochen was immediately shocked. It was because he saw with horror a total of twelve thick pillars of light in the sky. There were actually twelve of the seventy- two demon gods present on this battlefield.
From inside the thick smoke that rose from the Southern City’s Mountain Pass, ear splitting battle noises resounded. The battle seemed to have already entered this Southern City, whose defense looked like it wouldn’t last for much longer.
Temporarily acting as the commander, Han Qian immediately transmitted the order for all Demon Hunt Squads to join the battle, and the various
commanders from the Six Great Temples led their forces, entering the Southern City’s Mountain Pass.
Perhaps this was because Han Qian already led a reinforcement team before this, the city’s gate was wide open. Prepared to enter in the city, Long Haochen was suddenly called out.
“Haochen!” Luc Xi, Lin Xin, and the rest of their 22nd general grade Demon Hunt Squad hurried over, joining Long Haochen’s group.
It wasn’t only them: the 2nd soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad commanded by Yang Wenzhao as well as the 3nd soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad commanded by Duan Yi all came to join them.
Luc Xi was the fastest, immediately addressing Long Haochen, “Haochen, we are already used to working together, how about collaborating this time again? We will fully comply to your command, absolutely carrying out any of your orders.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but extremely firm and resolute. His attitude of clinging to their group was distinct.
Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi came in large strides, and Yang Wenzhao spoke first, “Haochen, our four groups are newly formed Demon Hunt Squads, and the situation inside the Southern Mountain’s City is not very clear. We will very possibly run into strong enemies. How about acting together?”
Duan Yi also nodded, expressing his agreement with Yang Wenzhao.
As the most talented emerging knights from the Knight Temple, they were naturally intelligent, and although they didn’t clearly understand the nature of the first mission accomplished by Long Haochen’s group, with Yang Wenzhao’s status as the grandson of the chief of the Temple Alliance, it wasn’t hard for him to learn that the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad had followed Long Haochen during the mission they completed.
When they saw the words ‘22nd general’ on their carriage, Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi were truly shocked.
What was this magic trick? Long Haochen’s group had a great amount of contribution points from the period of test, but what about Luc Xi’s group? Yang Wenzhao even heard that Luc Xi’s group ordered a batch of Holy Spirit Pills to raise their strength.
If Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi couldn’t guess that this had something to do with Long Haochen’s squad, they would be fools. Now, facing the unclear situation in the Southern City’s Mountain Pass, they remembered Long Haochen’s outstanding performance during the period of test and, after careful consideration, decided to lead their teams to his side.
Chapter 279
Luc Xi wrinkled his brows, reacting, “Sirs, I’m afraid this would be no good. If our four Demon Hunt Squads enter the city together, this would make us a group of more than twenty people. Such a huge target would very possibly attract strong enemies.”
Yang Wenzhao smiled at him, “Brother Luc is right, but us acting together doesn’t mean we would have to stick close to each other. It would be only about everyone watching each other’s back.”
Seeing that the other Demon Hunt Squads already entered the town, Long Haochen hurried to say, “Let’s just enter the town together. When running into danger, we can notify each other through by whistling. This will allow us to mutually defend each other. Take out your equipment!” The last words were directed at his companions.
Under the dumbstruck stares of the other three Demon Hunt Squads, a magnificent change immediately happened with the seven of them, who were originally clad in simple attire. With seven bursts of spiritual energy fluctuations, one after another took out their Glorious Tier Equipment.
The one who gave the others the greatest shock was naturally Long Haochen himself. Being clad in the dark golden Glorious Armor, while carrying the Glorious Holy Shield and Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light, that originally released an intense brilliance, he was simply too imposing. The three pieces of Glorious Tier Equipment put on him gave people an incomparable shock, especially after the Glorious Armor was combined with the Glorious Holy Shield, emanating a faint dark golden gloss
covering Haochen’s whole body. This was the set bonus that was supplementary when using the armor and shield as a whole.
After taking out four pieces of equipment of the Glorious Tier by himself, Long Haochen immediately gave Bright Discipline to Han Yu.
All of the other six members of the 21st Demon Hunt Squad, other than Chen Ying’er who hugged McDull and didn’t take out any particular equipment, each had at least one piece of equipment at the Glorious Tier.
As members of the other newly formed Demon Hunt Squads, seeing the equipment on Long Haochen’s group, who out of them wouldn’t be totally jealous? Yang Wenzhao swallowed his saliva in envy, while throbbing in pain deep inside, thinking about the great opportunity to gain contribution points they had missed the other day. What a shame, this was really a great shame!
Long Haochen also realized how much they stood out, but during the chaotic situation within the Southern City’s Mountain Pass, their priority wasn’t the number of killed enemies, but the surviving on such a disorderly battlefield. How could he convince his teammates to hold back in such a situation.
“Let’s go, to the town!”
The four teams rapidly entered the city, though Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi didn’t express their compliance. But at the same time, they still chose to follow Long Haochen’s directive, though they didn’t look as subordinate as Luc Xi.
Yang Wenzhao’s and Duan Yi’s Demon Hunt Squads kept their original formation, but Luc Xi’s 22nd Demon Hunt Squad immediately fused in the 21st Demon Hunt Squad’s formation.
The Shield Warrior Dian Yan stood in the front, directly positioning himself at Long Haochen’s flank, while Li Xin covered his other flank. Luc Xi, Bai Xiaomo and Yi Jun naturally took positions in the middle of the formation, since with Li Xin and Dian Yi’s addition, their formation became
large enough for them to enter. The assassin Han Daosi stayed in the rear, clearly matching with Han Yu’s defense of their backs.
Long Haochen was in the front, with Cai’er on his back again. Originally, Long Haochen had planned on having her be covered with his Glorious Holy Armor, but Cai’er expressed her fierce refusal. She finally only agreed to have Long Haochen carry her on his back above his armor. Although she had lost four of her senses, as the Saint Daughter of Samsara, she didn’t completely lose all fighting capability, especially after the growth of her Spiritual Stove of Samsara.
Thus, Cai’er calmly attached herself to Long Haochen’s back, as if she was totally weightless. Her pair of legs curled around Long Haochen’s waist and her hands holding on to his neck, she did her utmost to avoid affecting Long Haochen’s movements.
Although knights and assassins were a great match on the battlefield, this was the first time other Demon Hunt Squads saw something like that. Nonetheless, who would go questioning them? They had all seen Cai’er’s strength before. If not for her display of power, it was difficult to say whether their Demon Hunt Squad would still have gotten the first place during the team competition.
After entering the Southern City’s Mountain Pass, Long Haochen unconsciously raised his head, looking at the sky.
At this time, a marvellous scene appeared. Elegant brilliances twisted violently in the sky, just like countless resplendent fireworks bursting in succession.
Of course, this wasn’t fireworks, but the most intense region of the battle. The true super powerhouses of both sides were fighting up there, and although the situation could not be seen clearly, Long Haochen vaguely felt that Han Qian’s group arrived there in time. The situation in the sky should thus at last be considered to be settled . At least for the time being, the Temple Alliance’s side should still be able to hold their ground against the enemy.
In the end, since they came from the rear of Southern City’s Mountain Pass, the demons hadn’t made that much of an advance yet. But as a whole, the city felt gloomy and desolate. Not a single civilian appeared in the streets, with the reinforcement group filling the streets after having arrived in the city. From a distance, numerous houses could be seen burning in the chaos. The air was filled with a mixture of the burnt smell of wood along with the smell of blood. The stink gave them a nauseous feeling.
After Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi led their teams inside the city, they immediately fanned out to the sides. Staying a little behind, they kept a supporting position to Long Haochen’s group. Currently, they felt somewhat hesitant, because no matter what, Luc Xi’s team had not only already advanced to the general grade, but also completely merged into Long Haochen’s team as a whole. In other words they had matched each other perfectly, forming a brand new complete team. It could even be said that they had become subordinated to Long Haochen’s 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad. This was already not a simple matter of mutual trust anymore.
Long Haochen summoned Haoyue and had him stay in the center of the team. Chen Ying’er and Lin Xin were naturally seated on Haoyue’s back, but Luc Xi’s group didn’t have such a good treatment. They also felt a bit afraid when standing close to Haoyue’s side.
As everyone kept going forward, the reek of blood also grew more and more intense. But when they truly saw the situation on the battlefield, they couldn’t help but shiver in response, not out of fear, but as an unconscious reaction coming from their soul.
The situation was really too bitter.
Every battle in front of them was challenging and cruel, especially since neither side would possibly yield. The battle had to last until there would only remain one side left.
The demon army had a natural advantage, regardless of whether it was in the sky or on the ground. Occupying at least seven tenths of the area, they
filled the entire range of the Southern City’s Mountain Pass with their armies, blotting the sky and covering the earth with their troops.
The soldiers from the Alliance were a lot fewer, but used their entire bodies and even their teeth to fiercely withstand the demon army’s invasion.
The battlefield was filled with a concentrated reek of blood. Whether it was on the ground or in the sky, the blood flowing everywhere gave a moist feeling to the air.
Dense fluctuations of spiritual energy were all around, as magic was stirred up endlessly. Destroyed limbs could be seen falling down from the sky regularly. In the midst of shouts and screams, the sad calls of the people that were at death’s doors didn’t miss to shock them completely.
In the midst of such an atmosphere, everyone, including even the calm Long Haochen and Sima Xian who had the most fighting intent, slowly became completely red in the eyes. Their terror was totally dispersed by the frantic killing intent that rushed forth.
The losing of one’s head and stirring up of one’s blood needed a particular atmosphere, but in this very moment, the atmosphere in this place already reached this level.
“Forward!” Long Haochen shouted. Taking the lead, he rushed forward in big strides, but as the captain, he still kept his rationality even at such times, “Be careful to stay in formation everyone.”
Currently, he could only come up with this much instructions.
“Puff” A human soldier’s body was torn to shreds by a Bloodthirsty Berserk Demon. In the midst of his blood and organs spreading everywhere, a little gap had appeared in the humans’ defensive line. Four or five Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons of the Nubo Clan took advantage of this opportunity to charge in.
Long Haochen’s choice to cut into the battlefield coincided exactly with this moment, when their defense was just on the verge of destruction. In
case the enemy broke through the formation, this could very possibly lead to an irreversible situation.
Using his speed and putting his strength in his feet, Long Haochen launched a Charge with big strides. Meanwhile, with an illumination of bright light, Yating appeared, floating above his shoulder.
Golden halos rippled around Long Haochen’s feet, and Halo of Faith, Guardian’s Favor and Imposing Halo immediately enveloped all the members of the 21st and the 22nd general grade Demon Hunt Squad.
Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons were among the demons who were most frantic during battles. Eyeing Long Haochen who rushed at him, the one that had just lacerated the human soldier immediately howled, launching his sharp limbs at Long Haochen to welcome him.
Bang. The Glorious Holy Shield’s supplementary ability Holy Shield ability was launched along with Long Haochen’s shield’s backlash. This newly-obtained Glorious Tier Equipment illuminated the entire surroundings.
A fixed white glow appeared on the surface of the shield, transforming into a massive hexagon made out of divine light, and Long Haochen’s Charge abruptly turned into Assault. With a loud bang, it clashed against the Bloodthirsty Berserk Demon.
The Bloodthirsty Berserk Demon’s massive body was suddenly sent flying, knocking against a couple of other Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons behind him. At this time, Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light carried a radiant gloss in Long Haochen’s hand, enveloping those Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons with the Demon Wiping Flash.
With an ear-piercing sound, Demon Wiping Flash carried a formidable penetrative power inherited from Ripples of Light. Those Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons were completely unable to dodge such a fast attack, and ended up as mere targets of the Demon Wiping Flash. Soon, blood and other fluids terupted from their bodies.
And don’t forget, Long Haochen wasn’t alone during this battle. Intersecting a golden red-colored Instant Blast Cross Cut, the knight riding the Rose Unicorn from hell appeared and Li Xin’s pair of flaming swords filled with holy spiritual energy burst out on the battlefield.
Chapter 280
At the time Long Haochen passed on the Ripples of Light, Li Xin and Wang Yuanyuan went through a lot of difficulties trying to learn it, but instead of giving up like Dian Yan and Han Daosi, they stubbornly continued trying. In the end, the two insistent girls managed to learn this formidable supportive skill during Long Haochen’s trip to the Moon Castle. And they would benefit from this ability created by Long Haochen throughout their lifetime.
At this time, the Instant Blast Cross Cut Li Xin launched was combined with the exploding effect of Ripples of Light. As the Retribution Knight she was, attack was everything to her!
While, the Demon Wiping Flash instantly cut a Bloodthirsty Berserk Demon in four, Ripples of Light at least doubled Li Xin’s offensive power. Moreover, she hadn’t only broken through to the fifth step, but also taken the Holy Spirit Pill, and her cultivation of internal spiritual energy already reached an amount of over 3,000. Compared to the time they completed the Desolate Hissing Cavern’s mission, she already underwent a qualitative leap in power.
She wasn’t the only one to erupt with explosive attacks, since Sima Xian had been unable to hold back since long ago. The moment Long Haochen sent this Bloodthirsty Berserk Demon flying, his massive Energetic Ball of Light was immediately released as well.
With a glint of gaudy dark golden radiance shining in the sky, at the time it was launched, that massive golden ball blocked even Long Haochen’s line of sight with its massive size.
The following scene was just like the results of the launch of a bowling ball. Clashing against the remaining four Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons with an exploding sound, it sent them flying in all directions.
The Bloodthirsty Berserk Demon who was the closest became the first target of the Energetic Ball of Light. His body exploded into a minced state at once, not even leaving a corpse behind. The other Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons didn’t escape serious damage either, and were finally finished off in midair by Yi Jun’s spatial magic spells. Sima Xian laughed with a pleased sound, “Crushing some flesh with my metallic ball feels so good!”
In the Nubo Clan, the ranking went as followed: the weakest were Berserk Demons, then came the Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons and after them the Scarlet Blooded Berserk Demons. While Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons couldn’t even compare to the strongest Scarlet Blooded Berserk Demons, they still matched human warriors of the fifth step of cultivation. Four or five Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons thus formed without a doubt a very powerful offensive strength.
However, with only four of them initiating the battle, their team of thirteen standing in the front handled the first clash without any difficulties. The powerful knight as the vanguard, the explosive power of the Retribution Knight, and that priest… Adding the spatial mage to the lot, the final analysis turned out just like Luc Xi said before: after having cooperated for a long time, everyone now managed to coordinate to a good level.
Everyone in the 22nd general grade Demon Hunt Squad was straightforward in their actions; doing everything they could to assist the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad in their charge. Not trying to steal the merit, but giving their all-out support, and listening to Long Haochen’s commands perfectly.
After getting rid of the Bloodthirsty Berserk Demon, Long Haochen didn’t have the slightest happy look. He also didn’t become frantic from having spilled the enemy’s blood, but on the contrary stayed calm instead. Launching another Charge, he forcibly closed the gap created in the formation. With Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light blossoming in his hand with a
second Demon Wiping Flash, he simply stopped the demon armies headed in this direction.
Those Bloodthirsty Berserk Demons from before were the demon’s powerful vanguard, whereas the ones to follow behind were ordinary Berserk Demons from the Nubo Clan. In front of Long Haochen’s Demon Wiping Flash, these regular Berserk Demons hardly posed any threat. More than a dozen of them were killed with one strike, reducing the pressure in the front greatly.
”Change into a defensive formation. No one is allowed to advance prematurely!” Long Haochen shouted his order after judging the situation.
Their troops’ formation changed along with his order, Li Xin and Yuanyuan arrived at Long Haochen’s left flank whereas Sima Xian and Dian Yan were at his right flank. The five of them lined up and closed ranks, forming wall blocking the demon armies’ advance. At the back, the mages started to chant incantations at fast speed.
Material of excellent quality gave birth to an essentially formidable piece of equipment. To facilitate three inlaid spells, this fire cloud crystal belonging to Lin Xin was just of too good.
Lin Xin was plentifully satisfied with those three spells. The first reduced the time he needed for his incantations of fire elemental magic of a lower step by half, it was the so-called Fire Incantation. The other two were supplementary offensive techniques to make up for a mage that couldn’t use offensive spells like himself. They had a limited number of daily uses, so he couldn’t launch them rashly. But they were all spells of the sixth step, proving that this Fire Crystal Staff already reached the Legendary Tier.
Thus, relying on the Fire Crystal Staff to supplement his fire spells, he brought out the full might of his Fire Elemental Shields effortlessly. His control over fire magic was originally already outstanding, but with the addition of this strengthened staff, he became totally unrestrained. Being completely covered in dazzling scarlet flames, he became the most eye- catching mage on the whole battlefield.
Chen Ying’er was the complete opposite of the dazzling Lin Xin. Sitting on Haoyue’s back from beginning to end, this girl waved her little handsand shouted loudly, “Cheers, cheers… Kill them all!!!”
That’s right, this was all she did. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to join in the battle, but because of her position in the team. McDull’s display of power needed him to consume magical crystals, and it wasn’t as if he could keep battling for an infinite time. In case he ended up wounded, even if he was given more magical crystals, his strength would still receive a heavy blow. Thus, his strength that was bound to the consumed crystals was the strong backup force of the team. It would only be used at crucial times. Therefore, protected in the midst of the formation, all Chen Ying’er could do for now was yelling a few catchphrases.
Yang Wenzhao’s and Duan Yi’s teams spread out to both sides, also finding occasions to join the battle.
The addition of the two Demon Hunt Squads immediately made the situation on this side of the battlefield take a turn for the better. Especially the powerful spells of the mages gave the defenders some time to reorganize their forces.
However, the demon advance was extremely fierce. To say nothing of their vastly superior quantity of troops, they were almost only composed of middle and higher ranked demons. It went as far that not a single Dual Bladed Demon appeared. Even though the close quarter battles, the long range battles and the aerial battles were coordinated with each other, and everyone tried their hardest on each side, the human defense was still in immediate danger.
On Long Haochen’s side, the defense was the most solid. As the core of the team, he wielded his Glorious Holy Shield without being greedy for contribution points. He wholly focused on defending. Without need for him to worry about those demons below the fifth step, he left them all to Sima Xian at his side. One had no choice but to admit that after the addition of the two pieces of Glorious Equipment he had obtained, Sima Xian’s utility for the team had made a qualitative leap. The Energetic Ball of Light was really suited to this guy, giving him the means to completely crush the
lower ranked demons with a single blow, reinforced by the Crush ability. With every attack, several demons’ lives were taken, leaving no intact corpses behind.
Demons also possessed a certain intelligence, and even lower ranked demons had an instinct of survival. The metallic ball in Sima Xian’s hand displaying so much power, that it caused those middle-ranked demons to unconsciously keep away from it, greatly alleviating the burden on their defense.
However, the strong performance on their side also attracted the attention of demon powerhouses.
An enormous blood-colored silhouette suddenly appeared from nowhere, aiming directly at Sima Xian. It came at a fast speed, causing Sima Xian who was being refreshed by all his killing to suddenly feel a chill. From above came a strong reeking of blood. Although his Energetic Ball of Light came with enormous power, it also had its own disadvantages, being mainly its enormous weight, thus affecting its handling speed. At such a time, placing the Energetic Ball of Light above his head was already a pretty good defensive move.
But just as if Sima Xian didn’t feel any danger from above, he kept swinging the Energetic Ball of Light in his hand, smashing all of those approaching demons with ease.
With a white glint, the blood-colored luster glowing in the sky suddenly changed directions at less than five meters away from Sima Xian. It was blocked by a glinting hexagonal shield in its way to attack Sima Xian.
It was the Brilliant Holy Shield, reinforced by Holy Shield and Divine Obstruction! Of course, it wasn’t that Sima Xian didn’t know that an attack was aimed at him from above, even possibly threatening his life. He could just tranquilly face this threat due to the confidence he placed in his teammate.
Long Haochen naturally wouldn’t disappoint his comrades. He launched the effects of the Saint Spiritual Stove and immediately attracted the aerial
attack to him.
An ear splitting resonance rang, and Long Haochen was pushed half a step back, his body being covered in a golden flash. Seizing the opportunity, he stroke out with Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light in his right hand. Haochen launched an attack without holding back, immediately arousing his spiritual energy by the means of Raise Flowers Into Trees to launch an instant Holy Sword, along with Shining Sunlight Strike, both carrying the power of Ripples of Light.
Three skills used as one would naturally not be aimed blindly. Through the opponent’s offensive, Long Haochen could determine his strength.
Stopping the enemy’s strike, the defense of the Glorious Holy Shield reinforced by the Holy Shield Technique was narrowly broken, and Divine Obstruction didn’t manage to completely get rid of its strength, causing even Long Haochen to be pushed back. Seventh step. Which opponent below the seventh step could compel Long Haochen in such a way?
The bloody silhouette slowly became visible, and its appearance was familiar to the 21st and 22nd general grade Demon Hunt Squads. It was precisely the main enemy they faced on their way to the Desolate Hissing Cavern, a Fiend. And this Fiend was visibly a Fiend Lord of the seventh step, just like the one that caused Cai’er to loose four of her senses.