“Quick!”
Lu Zheng hurriedly formed hand seals, pointing his finger at the ground.
Finger to Earth Becomes Steel!
The spell he had obtained from the old beggar finally came into use. He directly used mana to imprison the earth, turning it as impervious as steel, preventing passage by earth escape technique.
Sensing the change in the land, the giant corpse had no choice but to use mana to break through the surface and leap out. However, Lu Zheng’s casting was slightly slow. By now, the giant corpse had already bypassed Shen Ying’s peach blossom sha and appeared not far from Yi Xiaoqian.
“Finger to Earth Becomes Steel?” The giant corpse looked at Lu Zheng gravely, then chuckled sinisterly as it turned its head towards Yi Xiaoqian.
“Too slow. Come to me!”
The giant corpse grinned ferociously. Its massive hand scooped out, about to seize Yi Xiaoqian.
At that moment, Yi Xiaoqian felt as if stared down by a primordial ferocious beast. She could not move a muscle, only stiffening in place.
In the next instant, a figure suddenly appeared before Yi Xiaoqian. Three fox tail illusions abruptly manifested behind her, sweeping forward in unison to block the advance of the massive hand.
“Yueyao! Take them and retreat quickly!”
Liu Qingyan shouted urgently. Behind her, Du Yueyao immediately grabbed Yi Xiaoqian and Wang Xiaowan with both hands and hurriedly withdrew.
They all knew their limits. This giant corpse’s strength was terrifying. They would only be burdens here. It was better to stay far from the battlefield and give Lu Zheng and the others room to act.
“A fox demon?” The giant corpse’s eyes narrowed. How could such a small county town have so many demons and ghosts?
However…
“Cultivation not even five hundred years, and you dare block this king’s path?”
The giant corpse grinned viciously. Its massive hand exerted force. Corpse qi surged like a tidal wave. A trace of blood involuntarily trickled from the corner of Liu Qingyan’s mouth.
This giant corpse’s corpse qi was profound. Liu Qingyan had actually suffered a light injury upon first contact.
So powerful!
Yet Liu Qingyan’s demonic power spread. Her three fox tails sealed and blocked. Though she retreated three steps in succession, she still firmly stood before the giant corpse.
“Good courage!”
Just as the giant corpse roared fiercely, preparing to blast Liu Qingyan away in one burst, it suddenly felt a heart-palpitating aura from above its head.
“Hm? Thunder method!”
“Qingwei Yuchen, Taiyi Five Thunders, strike!”
The giant corpse’s eyes focused. It forcefully swung its hand to repel Liu Qingyan, then clenched both fists, channelling corpse qi into them, and smashed upwards at the descending thunder.
“Boom! Boom!”
Under the Taiyi Five Thunders Curse, corpse qi scattered in all directions. The giant corpse withdrew its fists, revealing faint scorch marks on the pair.
“Not bad!” The giant corpse bared its teeth. Its ugly face appeared even more ferocious.
“Impressive!” Lu Zheng’s mouth curved. He also grinned ferociously, then circulated true qi, continuing to form hand seals with both hands. Several more Taiyi Five Thunders Curses descended from the sky.
The giant corpse’s corpse qi condensed throughout its body. Though innately restrained by thunder, its deep cultivation allowed it to choose hard resistance against Lu Zheng’s Taiyi Five Thunders Curse, still attempting to advance towards Yi Xiaoqian.
Liu Qingyan touched the trace of blood at her mouth. Her expression grew solemn. She reached out and grasped. In broad daylight, a beam of moonlight shone down.
She merged into the lunar essence. Her form turned into an afterimage, instantly arriving beside Du Yueyao and the three women. Just before the giant corpse could seize Yi Xiaoqian, she intercepted horizontally, fox tail illusions flickering. She swept the three women into them and instantly withdrew from the battlefield, retreating far to the north.
The giant corpse’s massive hand grasped empty air. It flew into a towering rage. Just as it prepared to pursue, it saw a green-robed burly man appear before it again: Yue Honghai had returned.
“Die for me!” Yue Honghai swung both steel whip and serrated knife, striking towards the giant corpse’s head.
At the same time, Shen Ying once more scattered peach blossom sha. Pink sha qi permeated the heavens and earth, trapping the giant corpse within the confines of the city god temple.
Lu Zheng hovered high in the air. Taiyi Five Thunders Curses rained down as if free. The entire Tonglin County resounded with peals of thunder.
It was the old tactic used against Gu Changtian previously: each performing their role to trap and slay the giant corpse.
Countless common folk were startled awake. Looking towards the city god temple direction with its arrays of pink haze and sudden thunder on a clear day, they grew somewhat panicked for a time, unsure what had happened.
“Where did you provoke this fellow from?”
Lu Zheng asked while fighting. This giant corpse’s strength far exceeded that of the previous expert from the Huajian Caiyun Sect, especially its profound corpse qi and steel-like corpse body, providing defensive power beyond its own level.
“I have no idea. It just suddenly appeared,” Yue Honghai said helplessly. “Damn it, I am never going to the Netherworld again. How are there experts everywhere!”
They felt helpless, unaware that the giant corpse trapped in the centre was also shocked inwardly.
A deeply cultivated demon, a profoundly mana-rich incense deity, and a daoist not much weaker than itself.
More importantly, the opponent even knew Finger to Earth Becomes Steel, which countered earth escape technique?
For hundreds of years, it had rampaged unchecked in the Netherworld, relying on its traceless earth escape technique. It could pursue or flee, often invincible.
Thus, upon discovering numerous and strong opponents, it had not planned a prolonged battle. It intended to use earth escape to abduct the female ghost and leave.
After all, the yang world was not the Netherworld. No matter how confident, it dared not wreak havoc unchecked in the yang world and linger long.
However, it had not expected the surprise attack to fail. Not only did it fail to capture the female ghost, but it was trapped in the city god temple.
Breaking out was not impossible, but it would consume too much mana and take considerable time. By then, it would likely face more than just these three.
After weighing options, it seemed its only path was retreat to the Netherworld.
Eh? That might work?
The giant corpse’s eyes brightened. Though it could not defeat the three combined, the three also could not take it down. In that case, one could only be the thief for a thousand days, not guard against the thief for a thousand days.
The giant corpse gave a cold laugh, then retreated into the city god temple.
“Heh heh heh! You provoked this king. This king has set his sights on that pure female ghost. This king wants to see how long you can protect her?”
Lu Zheng’s eyes narrowed. He turned to Xin Zhanting, who was summoning yin soldiers for support. “Brother Xin, seal the Yin-Yang path. Do not let him return!”
Xin Zhanting smiled bitterly. “Little brother, this giant corpse is too strong. It cannot be sealed!”
“Hahaha!”
The giant corpse revealed a ferocious grin at Lu Zheng. It reached out, about to tear open a passage between realms and return to the Netherworld.
But just as it extended its hand, it saw not far ahead, standing an elderly monk in tattered grey robes.
“Hm?” The giant corpse’s eyes focused. It had not even detected when this old monk appeared.
Lu Zheng, Shen Ying, and Yue Honghai were also stunned in unison, unsure how the old monk had appeared in the middle of the city god temple.
However…
They knew clearly: help had arrived.
“Amitabha!”
The old monk pressed his palms together, proclaimed the Buddha’s name. In that instant, Buddhist light filled the entire city god temple.
