Chapter 0565: Danger Avenue
A tide of people milled their way across the street.
Li Luo and the rest maintained their tight formation as they moved. Along the way, they continued to observe the "people" all around them with hints of both fear and vigilance in their eyes. After all, no matter how life-like these apparitions seemed, they all knew it was all an illusion. In fact, who knew if Others were hiding within these sh.e.l.ls?
The First Princess and Lian Zong took the position of vanguard, whilst Gong Shenjun and Zhao Beili brought up the rear. These were the positions of greatest danger, and they naturally required the strongest to handle.
Li Luo, Lu Ming, Sun Dasheng, and Zhu Xuan, on the other hand, were placed right in the middle as the Resonant Masters to be protected.
"Are these people REALLY fake? I wish I could capture one just to take a closer look..." Sun Dasheng sighed as he hefted his staff around and stared at the people coming and going.
Hearing the words coming from this mischievous monkey threw Li Luo into a fright as he hurriedly shouted, "Don't mess around!"
This guy truly was a knucklehead. Even in a strange situation, he'd still want to kick over a hornets nest…
"If you feel like leaving this world, don't implicate the rest of us," Lu Ming said rudely.
Zhu Xuan, on the other hand, quietly moved further away from Sun Dasheng. No one knew if he even HAD a brain. It was prudent to keep his distance in such a situation to not be dragged down by him…
"Sheesh, I was just throwing some ideas out. What if these phantasms are actually a problem lying in wait? It would be best to get rid of them quickly. With FORCE."
His logic wasn't wrong, and everyone dryly laughed. At the same time, the people around him started to observe him more warily, clearly prepared to pounce on him if he were to do anything funny…
Yet in the midst of their chatter, a thin figure suddenly squeezed out from within the busy streets, falling down right before Jiang Qing'e. It was an emaciated child beggar with rags for clothes. He was also covered in numerous pus-ridden wounds. Anyone would feel pity at the sight of him. Mustering his courage, he raised a half-shattered bowl towards her.
"Older sister, spare food? Please? I'm starving..." He quivered.
The group came to a halt, vigilantly observing the scene before them.
Jiang Qing'e's golden eyes continued to observe the heart-rending scene in front of her. "Are you hungry?"
She raised her jade-like hand, placing it atop the child's head without worry.
At this point, the eyes of the child seemed to widen, and light poured out his eye sockets.
A moment later, bright light bloomed, and one could see Jiang Qing'e form a fist, detonating the light resonant energy and directly punching the beggar's face.
Boom!
The beggar was sent flying through all the vendors and stores along the street, finally smas.h.i.+ng into a house that collapsed all over him.
This development was extremely sudden, and the crowd seemed to have been stirred into a frenzy, scrambling in every direction.
The group seemed to be left in deep thought, looking at Jiang Qing'e in utter surprise. Her lightning-quick response made no sense.
She seemed so gentle and caring when she had lightly patted the child. In fact, they even wanted to warn her to not let her guard down in a moment of weakness! Clearly, they had thought too much…
"Li Luo, your fiance is truly a paragon of heroism... She is definitely decisive once she decides to kill, truly ferocious! Good luck!" Sun Dasheng sighed with emotion.
Li Luo ignored him, instead focusing on the pile of rubble that used to be a house. What he saw next caused his eyes to shrink. A piercing scream resounded from within the rubble, and roiling corruption burst out, disintegrating every last trace of the debris.
A figure gradually appeared. The thin beggar child had crawled to his feet, and stifling amounts of corruption seemed to be oozing from every pore of his body. At the same time, his lower body began to contort, and it expanded in a flash, forming a humanoid spider Other!
His mouth had widened to the point that the ends touched his ears. When he grinned, a mouth full of black fangs could be seen, dripping with noxious saliva.
It now shot Jiang Qing'e a venomous look.
Jiang Qing'e was completely unfazed by this change, only dryly taunting. "Have you eaten your fill?"
The beggar's face was twisted with fury and resentment because his lower spider body was still bloodied and injured as a result of that altercation with her. The only response she received was a piercing howl.
Boom!
The streets were suddenly abound with demolition activity as the houses in all four directions were directly flattened. Strong corruption oozed out of the Other like a beacon, attracting one strong Other after another, with countless Lesser Heavenly Disaster Cla.s.s Others amongst them.
Corruption continued to gather and roil, blanketing the skies and environment.
"It looks like the Others around Russet Rock City have gathered here," the First Princess pointed out with a surly expression on her face. She grabbed her jade scepter and released her mighty resonant power. Seven bright heavenly pearls materialized, floating around her, beginning to devour copious amounts of worldly natural energy.
"Student Lian Zong, can I leave this area to you?" The First Princess quickly a.s.signed different locations for each individual to tackle.
"No problem. Hurry up and go ahead to set up the cleansing dew." Lian Zong grinned. Waving his hands, a ma.s.sive two handed-hammer appeared in his grasp. Simultaneously, his body began to expand, and boundless resonant power emanated from him until the silhouette of a giant bull could be seen.
With a single stomp, the entire ground shattered due to his horrific strength, giving Li Luo a fright.
Supporting Lian Zong were three others that also directly engaged the Others around them.
With the squad holding back the tide of Others, the First Princess' command rang out. "Leave quickly and let's head to the first anchor point. They will catch up once they're done."
Following which, she took the lead and rushed outwards, breaking through the encirclement with everyone else following suit.
The half-spider beggar glanced venomously towards the retreating Jiang Qing'e. Seeing that she was about to escape, it screamed once again.
Boom!
But before it could catch up, a giant hammer crashed squarely upon its head, cracking it apart like a watermelon. A black slurry leaked out as its body was sent flying a few hundred meters away, smas.h.i.+ng into another pristine structure.
"Trashy trifling. Let this old man deal with you!" Lian Zong reached out, and his hammer flew back into his hands. He boomed with laughter as he shook his prized weapon, shaking off all the black slurry that had stained it.
The little beggar screeched in pain as it suddenly opened its mouth to spit out a torrent of black liquid in retaliation. Hissing sounds could be faintly heard from the black river as it rumbled towards Lian Zong.
Summoning his strength, he hefted his hammer and slammed downwards with a force that caused even the void to tremble, completely devastating the surrounding streets.
Absolute chaos ensued.
Li Luo and the rest, on the other hand, followed closely behind the First Princess, quickly arriving at the first anchor point for the cleansing dew.
They could feel resonant energy erupting in different areas of the city, and it was clear that the other group had also encountered Others.
It looked as though the Heavenly Disaster Cla.s.s Other had made preparations to welcome them warmly, with a cacophony of blood and fire.
At this point, there was also no point in concerning themselves with the other group, as Others consistently poured towards them as they advanced. These Others had both quant.i.ty and quality, forcing the members of the squads to be left behind to hold back the impending tide.
In the short span of ten minutes, only the First Princess, Jiang Qing'e, and the four Resonant Master Stage cultivators were remaining.
"Just one more street and we should be there," the First Princess stated seriously after taking note of their current position.
However, things were not going to go as planned. She gradually slowed down and her phoenix-like eyes focused ahead.
At a junction right before them was a slab of bluestone where a single burly man was sitting. Interestingly, his expression was vacant and his gaze was emotionless.
He had noticed the group too, and he raised his head to stare right at the First Princess.
At this point, a line of blood appeared between his eyebrows, then a whole row of countless tiny teeth erupted from the crack, cannibalizing the flesh around it. This resulted in a creepy and terrifying appearance.
After enough flesh and blood had been consumed, the crack tore apart further, and an alabaster, white palm emerged from it, followed by the rest of the body!
It seemed as though two Others had been formed from a single body!
Without fail, corruption spewed out in every direction behind this abomination.
The First Princess could sense the horrifying strength of these two Others, frowning in consternation. This was definitely going to be more than a handful.
It was extremely strong.
She turned towards Jiang Qing'e. "Qing'e, I will need your a.s.sistance with this."
Jiang Qing'e nodded in agreement and then looked at Li Luo's little group. "You can deploy the cleansing dew at the next street. We have already held back the stronger Others at this point, so you should be relatively un.o.bstructed. Be careful."
Li Luo agreed with a somber expression. The path here had been truly perilous, with countless Lesser Heavenly Disaster Cla.s.s Others on the way. They were just mere Resonant Masters! Truly pitiful!
However, the situation wouldn't allow for retreat, so they could only clench their teeth and forge forward.
Nodding without disagreement, he waved at the rest of his team.
"Go!" With him in the lead, the now significantly smaller group moved ahead very quickly.
On the other hand, the First Princess and Jiang Qing'e quickly roused their fighting strength and killing intent, charging at the pair of strange Others.
Resonant energy blazed wildly across the ruins of the street, further demolis.h.i.+ng other structures in the area.
Li Luo and friends had taken the opportunity to escape, relentlessly rus.h.i.+ng towards the crucial anchor point.