“If a monk is stupid, he can still be educated? If a demon becomes a treacherous spirit, it will be a disaster?”
Wang Guan frowned and lowered his head to think it over. Suddenly, he looked up and sat up with a straight back. His Daoist robe moved without any wind. His hair, beard, and mustache, which had been tidied up very neatly, also moved as if they were animate.
He was as thin as a match and dispelled a dark, gloomy, majestic demonic aura.
That demonic aura was like a gauze enveloping the entire Hall of Great Strength. It looked imaginary but it was so realistic that it made people have a hard time breathing and nearly faint.
The mandrill had multiple identities: Monk, Daoist, Human, Demon…
When he played the role of a monk, he was the amiable-looking Abbot of Solitary Temple.
When he played the role of a Daoist, he was an alchemist who had attracted wealth and power by using the longevity method.
When he played the role of a mortal, he was Wang Guan, who was a kind and charitable wealthy merchant of the Southern Ming Dynasty.
He did not need to play the role of a mandrill, as he was a vicious demon that ate raw meat, drank blood, and oppressed the people tyrannically to begin with.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha…”
Wang Guan waved his Daoist robe sleeve and laughed his head off. “You said that I’m a demon?”
He took a step forward as lightly as a feather. The stone floor of the Hall of Great Strength underneath him suddenly collapsed and caved into a huge footprint.
“You said that I’m a demon?”
He took another step forward, causing the little demons with low cultivation on both sides of the Hall of Great Strength to bend their backs. Each of them crouched on the Buddha statue base stand while looking appalled. Their bodies were trembling and pouring blood rushed out of the seven apertures of the heads.
“You said I’m a disaster?”
He took a third step and his pale beard moved without wind. His shriveled hands swept and released a gloomy demonic aura and an astral wind.
At first, the astral wind bent like a crooked moon and was as narrow as willow leaves. As he approached, the wind gradually dispelled and formed a row of fully-armed, fierce-looking, terrifying skeleton soldiers.
“Kill!”
When a blue torrential demonic flame that was nearly a man-eater rose around the skeleton soldiers formed by the astral wind, they roared mournfully before barbarously charging toward the quest team.
The bodies of the little demons and devils that couldn’t evade them in time started to rapidly decay when the weapons of the skeleton soldiers swept past them.
In just a few seconds, they corroded into a puddle of yellow-green pus before they could even cry for help in a flurry.
The demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters retreated. The guests, who could also barely walk under that power, left the Hall of Great Strength like the tide going out.
None of them wanted to participate in this battle. They didn’t dare, didn’t want to, and could not do it.
They were afraid that the mandrill might settle the score with them after the battle and thought about helping with some long-range attacks outside the hall.
They shouted ‘Formidable Daoist Priest Wang Guan’, as they definitely could not be personally involved or step into the hall. Those who came to attend the banquet were brazen and good at saving their own lives.
After all, those demons, who were not clever enough and had committed crimes with their demonic power, had been eradicated and killed by Daoists, Buddhists, or cultivators of the authorities.
Despite leaving the courtyard, the group of demons could still feel Wang Guan’s majestic demonic power from the Hall of Great Strength. While shuddering in fear, they were deeply unconvinced and couldn’t help wondering whether the 100-Demon Elixir was truly so effective that the mandrill’s cultivation had increased to this extent in a year.
In the hall, upon facing the skeleton soldiers who launched a surprise attack, Hanging Sword for Ten Thousand Miles sneered and brandished the three-foot sword called Dragon Killing at his waist.
Whoosh…
From a distance, thanks to the chilliness, shine, and brilliance set off by the sword, which seemed to be reflecting the moonlight, Hanging Sword for Ten Thousand Miles’ face looked older by several years and appeared to be calm and imposing.
The three-foot sword had entered to slay the dragon.
Hanging Sword for Ten Thousand Miles mouthed something that nobody knew and brandished his sword before rushing into the battle with the skeleton soldiers.
Twist, hack, stab, whirl, slash, and peel.
The light of the sword was visible everywhere and was as bright as the stars. He trampled over the weapons and broke through after crisscrossing before he silently put his sword back into the sword sheath.
The skeleton soldiers, who had yet to raise their weapons high behind him, turned rigid and collapsed with a loud bang.
“Are you showing off your sword?”
Wang Guan sneered. He raised both his arms toward the sky, stood upright on one leg, and unhurriedly stepped down.
In the hall, the black demonic aura tumbled, stirred, and condensed as if the black clouds hiding the sky and covering the sun before it pressed down on everyone.
Hanging Sword for Ten Thousand Miles’ expression suddenly changed and he pressed against the scabbard.
Everyone’s scalps went numb and their fine hair stood on end. The air seemed to be heavy. Even a simple action like breathing now required great effort.
“Retreat!”
Xing Hechou roared and the golden light around him flickered. Ancient mail armor then appeared on his strong body.
The armor was composed of more than 1,500 pieces of fish scales and more than 600 pieces of armor weaved together. The back part had been polished smooth, just like the metal round protection frame of the mirror. Everything needed was available: helmet, gorget, ear armor, tiger head and shoulder armor with a dragon head over the shoulder, long armor skirt, greaves.
[Name: Mingguang Armor]
[Category: Armor]
[Grade: Rare]
[Defense: Medium]
[Effect 1: Unyielding (Passive: 20% increase of the wearer’s stamina limit)]
[Effect 2: Tough (Passive: Raises the wearer’s toughness and lowers the duration and intensity of dizziness, slowdown, fear, and other effects)]
[Remarks: See the light and the world will be bright.]
Xing Hechou, who had golden mail armor draped over his shoulders, suddenly bent his knees and the wolf head knee armor collided with the metal-plate skirt armor and the ground coarsely. The hard ground under his feet was crushed by the force of gravity and shattered like a cobweb.
A moment later, he leaped up high and slammed into that dark cloud of demonic aura like an artillery shell with both fists.
The black clouds crushed the city, and the armor light opened its golden scales to the sun!
The quest team had been preparing for this day for a very long time. When Xing Hechou suddenly shouted for them to retreat, the others, who were well-coordinated, dispersed.
Hanging Sword for Ten Thousand Miles, who was the most proficient in Qinggong, moved back and forth on the roof pillars of the hall. While Xing Hechou drew Wang Guan’s attention, he suddenly sped up and swept past the cauldron in front of the Hall of Great Strength. He then grabbed Hong Niang’s waist and landed on the ground lightly.
“Don’t move.”
Hanging Sword for Ten Thousand Miles quickly spoke and hurriedly turned his head. He saw that Xing Hechou, who was clad in gold armor, had rushed into the black cloud. His fists, which had been wrapped by the metal plate gauntlet, struck the soles of the mandrill’s feet.
Clang…
The sound of golden metal intertwining echoed in the entire Hall of Great Strength. A shock wave that was visible to the naked eye shook the black cloud and spread outward.
Wang Guan, who was floating in the air, leaned back and staggered for a few steps before he found his balance again.
Xing Hechou loudly fell to the ground. Under the metal plate gauntlet, the web between his palms tore and was permeated by dripping blood. His tightly-clenched fists were still shaking like leaves.
He swallowed the blood and tried to stand up, speechlessly looking at Wang Guan. The fighting spirit in his clear eyes was just like an ignited fire.
“Hmph.”
After Wang Guan sneered, he swept back his Daoist robe and put his hands behind his back. Then, his clothes surged and the demonic aura once again condensed a black layer of clouds around him.
“Fire needs wind, and wind helps fire.”
He wasn’t sentimental at all. He just looked down indifferently from above and spoke calmly.
The black cloud of demonic aura behind him was like a matchstick tossed into a pool of petroleum. First, a spark flickered. Then, intense fire turned into a prairie fire!
The entire black cloud burned fiercely. However, the flame was not orange and warm. Instead, it was blue and cold, lacking any trace of warmth.
The blue burning cloud moved, rose, and burned the golden roof of the Hall of Great Strength. Wherever it went, everything disintegrated. In an instant, the tiles and bricks dissolved, the roof beam collapsed, the wall collapsed, and smoke and dust filled the place. The Hall of Great Strength, which had half of its roof burned, was exposed under the moonlight.
“What a strong demonic flame.”
Li Ang was left slightly speechless and his expression turned solemn. This demonic flame would cause injuries if one brushed past it and would cause one to die if one was infected by it. This was much more terrifying than the white phosphorus bomb. He didn’t want to test whether a mortal’s body could resist the burns of the demonic flame.