Chapter 0567: Bewitching Other
Shudders ran down the trio's backs as they watched Zhu Xuan enjoy the "sugar-coated hawthorns." They were completely disgusted by this development.
"Zhu Xuan!" Li Luo bellowed, trying to awaken him from his disorientated state.
However, Zhu Xuan was clearly unable to respond to such stimuli. The whites of his eyes had disappeared, suffused an inky black.
At this point, thick, roiling waves of corruption started to emit from his body.
He had been corrupted.
"This unlucky child was the Two Star Hall representative for the Astral Sage College. The level of your college is... pretty dismal if I have to say so myself..." Sun Dasheng commented. The situation had only turned more complex, and trouble had truly escalated.
"Senior Zhu Xuan doesn't seem to have much willpower." Lu Ming frowned as she too commented on the situation.
The Other in front of them definitely possessed some sort of bewitching ability. All of them had fallen for its ambush, but due to Li Luo's timely awakening they had managed to break free of this situation. Despite having heard Li Luo's exhortations, Zhu Xuan was unable to extricate himself from the illusion and had been corrupted.
Zhu Xuan possessed Fourth Changing strength and was higher than Lu Ming and Sun Dasheng by a grade, yet he couldn't help but to eat the "delicious treat.”
Clearly, this had nothing to do with his resonant power but rather a weak will. As a result, he was now a blathering slob after being bewitched..
Li Luo helplessly sighed. He had never expected that the one to fall prey to these tricks would be the more experienced Two Star Hall representative.
Truly embarra.s.sing!
"Where's the Other?" Lu Ming started to glance around and noticed that the strange granny had disappeared.
"She must have hidden herself again." Li Luo looked slightly depressed. "However, the strength of the Other should not be too high, lower than Heavenly Disaster Cla.s.s. Otherwise, it could have dealt with us directly."
"Hmm, y'know... I think our troubles are going to come from THAT guy over there. Y'know, that Two Star Hall representative." Sun Dasheng nervously grabbed his staff, staring intently at Zhu Xuan.
Dear Zhu Xuan, on the other hand, seemed to have worms writhing right below his skin, causing his appearance to look even more terrifying as his inky-black eyes glared at the three.
In a flash, a black figure surrounded by fishy-smelling winds pounced towards Lu Ming.
Unsurprisingly, Lu Ming had long made her own preparations. Her lightning resonance blazed with life, and she shot away tens of meters, avoiding the a.s.sault.
"Forgive me for being heavy-handed, Senioooooooor!" Sun Dasheng grunted as he too burst out with resonant power. An ape took form behind him, and he imbued his staff with all of his berserk resonant power. He smashed downwards viciously towards Zhu Xuan's head without mercy, creating ripples in the void.
Zhu Xuan raised an inky-black palm, and his fingernails turned sharp and ebony in response. Clenching his fist, he delivered a crus.h.i.+ng blow directly towards Sun Dasheng's staff strike!
Boom!
A low, resounding boom echoed out. Zhu Xuan was left unfazed, whilst both of Sun Dasheng's arms were trembling and numb, having been knocked backwards dozens of steps.
"Ugh, his physical strength seems to have been augmented significantly..." The corruption had clearly buffed him.
Zhu Xuan continued to give chase, his inky-black eyes focused upon Sun Dasheng. Armed with his sharp fingernails, he began to unleash a flurry of attacks as he pounced towards him!
Swoos.h.!.+
Lu Ming took action right at this moment. She split into three illusions, and lightning flashed before all of them, generating three trails of lightning sword strikes that split the very air. They lanced towards Zhu Xuan with murderous intent.
Pss.h.!.+
The fierce barrage rained down upon Zhu Xuan, piercing through his skin, but what oozed out was not blood but black liquid instead.
Sun Dasheng took the opportunity to launch a follow up as well.
"Monkey King's Three Strikes: Strike That Moves Mountains!" The two struck with all their might, unleas.h.i.+ng a berserk flurry of moves at Zhu Xuan. Although they were at the Third Changing, which was slightly weaker than Zhu Xuan, they weren't ordinary folk. They far exceeded what was expected of someone of their tier. Thus, the duo's combination attack managed to suppress even the corruption-enhanced Zhu Xuan.
Li Luo did not tie himself down with the fight. Instead, he was arduously searching their surroundings. The true opponent was not the corrupted Zhu Xuan, but the bewitching Other! That was the true knife in the dark.
He believed that the Other would reappear soon enough as her lackey, Zhu Xuan, could not beat the combined efforts of Lu Ming and Sun Dasheng.
True to his expectations, a hint of the Other could be seen near the site of Zhu Xuan's battle.
She had appeared amidst the crowd, still clutching the sugar-coated hawthorns and directly observing Li Luo with those black, soulless eyes.
At this point, she removed a skewer of hawthorns and flicked it with her hand.
The hawthorns themselves were flung off the skewer, directly landing amidst the busy road where countless "people" were strolling around. Originally, they were only focused on their own day-to-day activities, completely disregarding Li Luo's squad's fight. Even if they were affected by collateral damage, they continued moving around without a care in the world.
It was as though Li Luo and the rest simply did not exist in the same dimension as they did.
However, when the hawthorn landed right smack in the middle of the road, things took a dive for the worse.
Li Luo could distinctly feel that the pedestrians had halted their steps and were now eyeing the "hawthorns," and a flickering desire to consume it ignited in their eyes.
Immediately after, some of them grabbed the hawthorns and stuffed them into their mouths.
Hurriedly gobbling it down, the pedestrians suddenly began to emit thick wafts of corruption! Their expressions gradually turned twisted, and crunching noises could be heard coming from their bodies as they stared venomously at Li Luo in the midst of their transformations. And then they struck, Li Luo being the apple of their eye.
One figure after another howled and pounced towards Li Luo.
The sight turned Li Luo's face pale as he brandished his Onyx-Elephant Blade. Activating his dual resonances, he struck back with all his might.
The blade arced through the air, creating a curtain of water that splashed and dampened the ground.
Following which, he stomped with the sole of his foot, utilizing earth resonant power to create a muddy quagmire. The feral corrupted pedestrians unknowingly stepped into his trap and were stuck, sinking deep within.
He emotionlessly struck out with his Onyx-Elephant Blade, and a sparkling blade light arced through each and every corrupted, bisecting them cleanly.
However, despite being chopped in half, the corrupted still lived, continuing to struggle. Luckily, this was short lived as eventually, they collapsed and dissipated into wisps of black gas.
Despite Li Luo's rapid dispatch of his foes, the bewitching Other acted equally as fast. Eyeball hawthorns soared through the air in succession, landing into different clumps of pedestrians and corrupting them. As a result, a neverending tide of opponents continued to lunge at Li Luo.
This human wave strategy gave Li Luo a complete headache. The bewitching Other was clearly not very strong, but her methods were endlessly troublesome. If things carried on the way they were, he would be killed through attrition!
On the other hand, Lu Ming and Sun Dasheng were unable to help him. The very act of suppressing Zhu Xuan was already a great contribution.
"To catch a thief, we must first catch the mastermind. This bewitching Other is the source, and as long as I can deal with her, the problem should resolve itself..." Li Luo started to think of ideas as he continued to slaughter the corrupted pedestrians, his eyes darting around to locate her.
Before long, he finally caught a glimpse of the Bewitching Other milling around in the streets nearby.
It was time.
Boom!
The Lightning Forge within his body blazed with life.
Sounds of thunder crackled within him, raising the strength of his body comprehensively.
With a single leap, he directly shattered the ground beneath him, bursting out at full speed like a bolt of lightning, shocking even the corrupted pedestrians that were unable to match up.
He crossed the distance with a few steps and appeared before the bewitching Other.
Full of killing intent, he slashed with his Onyx-Elephant Blade, his body flickering past his target as he struck out.
A clean sword scar was left behind on the street as a result of his strike.
Simultaneously, the head of the bewitching Other was bisected into two.