"Yuanshi Tianzun?" Li Xianzong halted his steps. With a single glance across at the orthodox faction, he recognized that the young man leading them was the very prey he sought.
On the other side, Zhang Yuanqing blurted out, "Li Xianzong?!"
It was actually Li Xianzong! They had been matched into the same dungeon instance?
Talk about enemies crossing paths.
"Yuanshi Tianzun..." An emaciated middle-aged man's voice suddenly pitched upward. "Is that the Yuanshi Tianzun from the Songhai Branch? The one ranked fifth on the underground black market's bounty list?"
The other three companions wore looks of astonishment.
"That's right, it's him!" Li Xianzong grinned broadly. "Interesting. You're actually in Yinyang Town too. I was thinking of slaughtering you for that bounty once I got out of this dungeon, but this is even better. Saves me the trouble."
"Oh, right. I heard this guy was nearly killed by Li Xianzong not long ago. What a narrow road for enemies," the emaciated middle-aged man chuckled.
"Enemies on a narrow road?" A man dressed in a sharp suit rolled his eyes and intentionally called out loudly, "Does this brat even deserve to be Li Xianzong's enemy? To be enemies, you have to be evenly matched! This kid is only fit to kneel before Li Xianzong and beg for mercy. You orthodox whelps, you're dead meat!"
The emaciated middle-aged man immediately understood his companion's intention. From a petty brawl to a clash between two armies, psychological warfare was always vital.
He shouted Li Xianzong's name once more, bellowing, "The Five Elements Alliance really is going downhill! The rookie they boast about so endlessly is nothing more than our captain's prey. Hey kid, did your legs go weak the moment you saw Li Xianzong? Why don't you kneel down and call us grandpa a few times, and maybe we'll leave your corpse in one piece!"
The evil professions broke into mocking, cackling laughter.
Li Xianzong... The faces on the orthodox faction's side turned rather grim.
Even though they knew the enemy was deliberately undermining their morale, it was impossible to remain unaffected when facing such a terrifying foe.
To think they would match against Li Xianzong—a criminal near the top of the official wanted list, someone even Yuanshi Tianzun was no match for... Queen's expression shifted slightly, and she unconsciously glanced toward the captain at her side.
Back when news spread of Li Xianzong launching a terrorist attack in Songhai and nearly killing Yuanshi Tianzun, she had even participated in the discussions.
Everyone had agreed that Yuanshi Tianzun paled in comparison to Li Xianzong.
To think he still couldn't escape this "fate"... No, not just him. I can barely save myself either...
Lili Yuanshangcao was an unaligned walker and not very attuned to outside news, but hearing the name Li Xianzong, he suddenly recalled what Queen had said when introducing Yuanshi Tianzun.
This Li Xianzong was their captain's nemesis? And the captain had once been beaten by him?
The young Wood Demon's heart chilled.
Except for Huode Xingjun, whose temper flared upon hearing the enemy mock his captain, everyone's mood grew heavy.
At that moment, the sorcerer standing between the two groups swept a cold gaze across both sides and scoffed, "So the imperial court's hounds have finally tracked me down here, after all."
Without waiting for anyone to reply, firmly convinced both sides were lackeys of the court, he tilted his head up and exhaled plumes of emerald-green gas that billowed outward like thick smoke.
Stirred by the wind, the emerald vapor rushed toward both flanks.
"Fall back!"
The emaciated middle-aged man barked a shout, accessed his inventory, and retrieved a white jade toad, thrusting it upward.
The green gas swarmed into the toad's open mouth, and in the blink of an eye, the white jade toad turned dark green.
On the other side, Queen stepped in front of her teammates, raising both palms as if lifting something. Amidst a rushing roar, the river water surged into a furious dragon that wheeled gracefully through the air, swallowing the dense emerald fumes whole.
The water dragon instantly took on a light green tint.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Gunfire erupted in the distance. The moment the green mist dispersed, the orthodox marksman ambushed the evil faction.
Observant and alert, the evil faction walkers were well prepared. Without panic, they reacted swiftly—rolling, tilting their heads, or diving to the side.
The moment the emaciated man threw himself flat, he heard a dull thud against the earthen wall behind him, where a deep crater appeared, smoking with gunpowder.
"Heh, trying to snipe me from that far away?"
A contemptuous smirk had barely touched his lips when another gunshot cracked through the air. But this time, the target wasn't him—it was the dark-green toad lying nearby on the ground.
The jade toad instantly shattered, sending fragments flying everywhere. The emerald gas sealed within burst out, blanketing the area.
The one who had opened fire earlier wasn't Guan Ya, but Li Chunfeng; his shooting had merely been a diversion to mask Guan Ya's attack.
Seeing this, Queen immediately abandoned the idea of dispersing the water dragon. Changing her palms from a lifting stance to a push, she sent the dragon crashing down as a curtain of rain over the evil faction shrouded in toxic fumes.
At that moment, the black-robed sorcerer drew a three-foot-long staff from a cloth pouch at his waist. The shaft was pitch-black, capped with an egg-sized black gemstone.
Raising the staff high, he uttered a deep, solemn proclamation:
"All of you shall die!"
The black gemstone at the top of the staff suddenly flared, radiating a dim, murky glow.
At the mouth of the alley, Guan Ya, who was taking aim with her rifle, felt a sudden, piercing pain in her heart. It stopped beating. Clutching her chest, she slowly sank into a crouch, gasping in agony.
Li Chunfeng was the same.
In the square, Zhang Yuanqing, Queen, Lili Yuanshangcao, Li Xianzong, and the others all clutched their chests, their faces turning deathly pale.
A curse—a tremendously powerful curse.
"Th-this is impossible..." The youth missing his left ear murmured in pain. "A Level 4 Saint's curse shouldn't be this strong."
A Level 4 Saint could indeed curse any single person present to death, but that applied to single-target curses. An area-of-effect curse shouldn't possess such sheer power.
A brilliant burst of golden light erupted as the half-kneeling Zhang Yuanqing purged the curse's effects. He hurled the Demon-Subduing Pestle from his hand, simultaneously activating Night Walk to dash toward the sorcerer.
The Demon-Subduing Pestle streaked through the air bathed in golden light. With a flick of his staff, the sorcerer deflected it with a sharp *clink*.
The murky aura emanating from the black gemstone immediately vanished, and the curse dissipated.
The Demon-Subduing Pestle's magic-breaking property had taken effect.
Zhang Yuanqing lunged forward, cleanly catching the spinning pestle as it rebounded into the distance.
Guan Ya leaned back against the earthen wall, shifting from a crouch to a seated position. Raising the long rifle barrel, she aimed at the sorcerer and pulled the trigger.
She decisively abandoned sniping the evil professions. The sorcerer was far too formidable; a single misstep would lead to a total wipeout. In moments like this, priorities had to be clear.
*Bang!*
The bullet struck the sorcerer's head, but it pierced right through an afterimage.
Holding his staff, the sorcerer reappeared several meters away. His robe had torn open at some point; he stood two meters tall, his torso covered in rigid carapace. The muscles in his legs were corded and lean, resembling the hind legs of a locust.
His face had become hideous and monstrous, insect-like, complete with grotesque mouthparts and a pair of antennae protruding from his forehead.
Guan Ya cycled the bolt, ejecting the spent casing, and fired again.
The bullet struck an afterimage once more. The sorcerer appeared on the other side of the square. His locust-like hind legs and antennae granted him unimaginable reaction speed and agility.
The sorcerer finally took notice of her, his jet-black, crystalline eyes locking onto her position.
Guan Ya's heart sank. Just then, she saw Zhang Yuanqing charge recklessly forward, throwing himself at the sorcerer to protect her.
The sorcerer pulled his gaze away and shifted it toward Zhang Yuanqing, but the enemy before him suddenly vanished.
The antennae on the sorcerer's forehead twitched faintly. Whether sensing air currents or releasing some form of signal, he suddenly bent his knee and whipped a vicious kick toward his right.
*Smack!*
A figure was sent flying—Zhang Yuanqing, his arms crossed defensively over his chest.
He flew high through the air and tumbled across the ground, the coppery taste of blood rising in his throat.
The sorcerer dropped into a crouch, preparing to pursue, but suddenly looked down. His cold eyes fell upon his lower leg, where a deep slash had appeared, oozing thick green fluid.
He lifted his head and pointed the staff at Zhang Yuanqing, the black gemstone pulsing with dark light.
Zhang Yuanqing felt a sharp pain in his shin as the flesh split silently apart, the wound widening rapidly. Without a second thought, he plunged the Demon-Subduing Pestle firmly into his thigh.
Golden light bathed his body, instantly halting the tearing flesh on his leg.
"Watch out! He can use his own injuries as a medium to cast curses!" Zhang Yuanqing had just warned when, in his field of vision, the Gu-transformed sorcerer blurred into a trail of afterimages, closing the distance right before him.
His vision was pushed to its limit, catching a glimpse of his opponent's movement.
Without hesitation, he rolled to the right.
*Boom!*
The staff smashed heavily into the ground, cracking the stone pavers.
Just as the sorcerer raised his staff again, Huode Xingjun leaned back and swung his arm from nearby, hurling a fireball compressed to its absolute limit.
*Boom!*
The fireball exploded upon impact, blasting a massive crater into the earth, while the sorcerer's figure dissipated within the shockwave.
Zhang Yuanqing looked up and shouted, "He's coming!"
Huode Xingjun retreated while hurling fireballs, blanketing the space ahead.
Yet the sorcerer's silhouette darted left and right, evading each blast of flame with sheer speed. Closing in on Huode Xingjun, he drove a fist straight into the burly man's abdomen.
Huode Xingjun's body buckled inward violently, his pupils dilating.
Raging flames enveloped Huode Xingjun's frame. A dozen meters behind the sorcerer, a small flicker of flame suddenly swelled, resolving into the Fire Master kneeling on the ground, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath.
In just two exchanges, the orthodox faction's two primary combatants were already clinging to survival.
"The big boss is tough to handle. Should we pull back first?"
Having freed themselves from the toxic mist, the evil faction watched the spectacle, clicking their tongues in dismay.
"No. With the orthodox faction holding him off alongside us, we still have a shot at killing him. Once the sorcerer finishes off those whelps, we're likely done for too," the youth missing an ear argued. "The Gu insect the sorcerer merged with is an exceptionally high-level Gu. It possesses sensory perception, agility, strength, and self-healing. It's hard to imagine how he managed to cultivate such a creature. In close combat, none of you Bewitching Demons are his match."
Li Xianzong nodded slowly, his expression solemn.
"Hounds of the court, today shall be your burial!"
The sorcerer's grotesque mouthparts parted, uttering human speech.
Suddenly, a crimson glow flared within his pupils, and a shroud of black mist engulfed his head.
The sorcerer clutched his head in agony, letting out a beast-like roar as his sanity swiftly dissolved under the creeping black haze.
At the mouth of the alley, Li Chunfeng glanced sideways and saw the skinny Chi'ou holding a straw doll whose facial features vividly resembled the insectoid sorcerer.
An opening!
The eyes of the spirit walkers on both sides lit up.
Chapter 135