Chapter 16 A Narrow Escape from Death
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Facing the skyful of attacks, Fu Yanqing remained composed, chanting spells unhurriedly.
The next second, the flames on the ground before him suddenly surged up to the height of a man and in a blink, solidified into three thick Flame Shields, effortlessly blocking wave after wave of the attack.
Seeing this, Han Xuanwu's face showed despair.
But just then, Zhao Sheng suddenly jumped to his side, his face excited as he urgently shouted, "Do you still have any Water and Ice Series Magic Talismans? We're saved."
Upon hearing this, Han Xuanwu was overjoyed and quickly shouted back, "Yes, yes!"
As he spoke, he seemed to perform a magic trick as he pulled out a large stack of Magic Talismans from his waist.
Fortunately, Han Xuanwu was not very adept at gathering herbs, and to support his cultivation, he moonlighted as a secondary dealer, always stocked up with essential cultivation supplies like Magic Talismans and Elixir Pills.
"There are eight more Water and Ice Series Magic Talismans. But I don't have much Spiritual Power left to use."
"Is it enough to release these eight talismans?"
"Enough!"
"Great! When I tell you where to throw them, you must smash them all out as fast as you can. Do you understand?"
"Hmm, understood!"
Facing a life and death crisis, Zhao Sheng and Han Xuanwu spoke extremely quickly, and in just a few short sentences, the plan was set.
"Follow me!"
Zhao Sheng scanned the surroundings with his eyes and immediately pointed to an area of the ground about a dozen feet away.
There, the fire waves were rolling, and the ground was almost burnt into magma.
"Throw!"
Although Han Xuanwu didn't understand why, he didn't hesitate and immediately mobilized the last bit of his Spiritual Power to release all of the Water and Ice Series Magic Talismans.
In an instant, three or four water jar-sized azure Water Balls, seven or eight arm-length ice arrows, and dozens to nearly a hundred Mystic Ice Needles pummeled the searing hot ground.
In that moment, it was like ice water being poured into boiling magma, a large amount of grey-white fog erupted and filled the space within a few feet in the blink of an eye.
The dense fog not only engulfed Zhao Sheng and Han Xuanwu but also obscured Fu Yanqing's vision.
The whole process seemed long but only lasted a few seconds.
Hiss!
The magma-like ground rapidly cooled and solidified, revealing the grey-white stone surface and suddenly cracking with countless tiny fissures.
"Ah! I get it now!"
Ignoring Han Xuanwu's ecstatic outburst, Zhao Sheng immediately drew a Soft Sword from his waist, infused it with Innate True Qi, and in an instant, the Soft Sword became as straight and hard as steel.
With the hilt reversed, he thrust the tip downward with all his might.
A light crack.
The body of the Soft Sword plunged deeply into the stone.
Zhao Sheng gripped the hilt and sawed vigorously, his sword moving back and forth in horizontal and vertical cuts,
In just two seconds, the three-foot-thick stone ground beneath Zhao Sheng's feet was cut into countless pieces of rubble, and the nearby cracks quickly lengthened and deepened.
The next instant, a dense series of crackling sounds erupted, and the ground within a two-yard radius suddenly broke apart.
The ground collapsed instantaneously, and Zhao Sheng felt the earth give way beneath him, his body falling down the Abyss along with countless pieces of rubble.
"We're saved!"
He inwardly shouted, and a look of wild joy inevitably spread across his face.
"No!"
At that moment, an unwilling roar came from above, followed by seven or eight flame beasts leaping down from the stone platform, in a mad frenzy as if they would not rest until they were dead.
The mountain wind howled, and beast roars shrilled,
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A red streak of lightning cleaved through the night, covering a distance of dozens of yards in an instant and striking the defensive light shield in front of Zhao Sheng.
Crack! Crack!
The defensive light shield suddenly shattered into countless points of light.
The red streak's speed diminished slightly, but it still headed towards Zhao Sheng's head at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
As if he had sensed the breath of death, Zhao Sheng's pupils instantly constricted to their limits, and in his vision, the red streak seemed to slow by tenfold, its blade becoming clear and visible as it approached at normal speed through the void.
Zhao Sheng's heart was like a still mirror, reflecting the trajectory of the flying sword. With his right hand, he thrust his soft sword with all his might, its tip striking the tip of the flying sword with unmatched precision.
It was like the meeting of needle and wheat awn,
Sixty years of Innate True Qi erupted explosively!
In that instant, a massive shockwave transmitted from the blade into Zhao Sheng's body.
His body shook violently, and the soft sword that had accompanied him for over a decade snapped inch by inch.
Fortunately, the pale red flying sword was finally knocked away.
Thanks to this desperate strike, Zhao Sheng's falling speed suddenly increased by a large margin.
In just a few breaths, he plunged into the cloud sea below, his vision obstructed by layers of fog.
It was at this moment that Zhao Sheng's spirit again experienced turbulence, realizing he had narrowly escaped a calamity.
After falling another two thousand yards, he swiftly unfolded the Flying Wings on either side of him, using the wind to silently blend into the dark night of Green Darkness and make his escape.
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Decades later.
Zhao Sheng was huddled up in a tree hollow, looking very nervous.
He held his breath and focused, daring not to make a move.
The reason for his caution was that perched on a thick tree branch thick enough to embrace, just about a yard away from him, sat an enormous creature.
It was a giant flying beast with wings spanning dozens of yards, its Croc Dragon-like head crowned with densely packed, dark red horn scales layered one atop another. These scales couldn't hide its typical crocodile-like maw and dragon eyes, or the domineering fangs that protruded fiercely. As the scales continued down its body, they became increasingly vivid in color until they were as bright as freshly spilled blood. A faint shudder of its body would send a wave of blood-light shimmering through the cloud mist.
This giant beast was called a Blood-winged Flying Lizard, a demon beast unique to the shadow side of Heavenly Pillar Mountain, known for its fierce and combative nature. It was not only capable of tearing apart tigers, eagles, and python-like creatures in life but also boasted a combat strength comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
Zhao Sheng's small stature was too weak to withstand a single claw from this demon beast.
After a good while, as the smell of blood wafted to Zhao Sheng's nose, the faint sound of something large moving through the dense fog seemed to be approaching the big tree.
The Blood-winged Flying Lizard let out a screeching cry, unfolded its wings, and struck down through the fog, its sharp claws aimed at a giant mountain ape that had just appeared.
But this ape was robust as a mountain, with four arms and an unmatched Divine Power.
With a furious roar, it leaped ten yards high, pounced on the Blood-winged Flying Lizard, and began pounding it with its fists. Thereupon, the two ferocious creatures embarked on a fierce battle amidst the clouds, with flesh and scales scattering through the air.
Seizing the opportunity while the beasts were locked in fierce combat and heedless of their surroundings, Zhao Sheng quietly emerged from the tree hollow and stealthily slipped into the denser fog farther away.
As the saying goes, wander the night long enough, and you're bound to encounter ghosts.
As the pioneer of WingSuit Mode, Zhao Sheng had the incredible misfortune of encountering a Cloud Sea turbulence during a flight yesterday.
Cloud Sea turbulence is a common weather phenomenon on Heavenly Pillar Mountain. It is extremely dangerous and complex, akin to a hurricane or tornado. Once caught in it, even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator would struggle to escape promptly.
Caught in its grasp, Zhao Sheng completely lost control of his body, tumbling and spinning uncontrollably within the turbulent flow.
Repeated cycles of disorientation made his head pound, and unsure how long he had been tossed around in the turbulence, he finally felt a sharp pain in his head and then lost consciousness.
When he came to, his initial shock was not because his body almost fell from the vines, but because he found himself surrounded by thick fog.
Zhao Sheng struggled to get up from the vine and carefully moved to an old tree next to the mountain wall, cautiously observing his surroundings.
Stones, plants, moss—all were common sights on Heavenly Pillar Mountain.
It seemed that everything was normal?