Chapter 386
I've Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It?
Chapter 386
It took about four hours to solve the board game.
Xu Zirong, in a good mood, pulled his brother up and considerately patted the dustless hem of his clothes, "Brother, I'll teach you how to play Go in the future."
Xu Ziyan looked at him expressionlessly and the two of them stared at each other for a long time. Xu Zirong turned his face away, feeling inexplicably guilty.
Xu Ziyan could not help, but groaned in his heart: I knew this little snake had ill intentions! He must be thinking of playing the kind of game where you lose a piece of clothing if you lose a match!
(Xu Zirong, who was averting his gaze: →_→ How troublesome, Brother doesn't fall for it anymore...)
They were not so lucky in the current secret path compared to the first one, where they obtained a bunch of good things. However, from the perspective of passing the level safely, their luck was not considered bad either.
After spending half a day walking through a passage, Xu Ziyan and his group once again climbed up from the cellar of a residential house.
However, just as they emerged from the cellar, they sensed that something was amiss outside. Various roaring and exploding sounds indicated that people were fighting.
Xu Ziyan and Tianle exchanged a glance, their expressions becoming solemn.
The fact that other individuals could appear there basically confirmed that they were their enemies. However, they did not know the strength of the other side yet, so it was not wise to act recklessly.
"Big brother, let me investigate." Xu Zirong said as he released his blood rat. It was small in size and had minimal fluctuations in spiritual power, making it the best choice for investigation and exploration.
The blood rat sneaked out stealthily and returned shortly, reporting the situation outside.
Their guess was correct. Those people outside had indeed entered the central city from other entrances, even earlier than them.
However, their luck was not great. In that area, they were almost hunted down. If it were not for a cultivator accidentally discovering that secret path, they might have already fallen prey to the monsters.
As mentioned before, there were secret paths connecting different regions, not just one.
The three secret paths chosen by Xu Ziyan and the others were within their own region, while the secret path chosen by those people happened to enter that particular area from their region.
Originally a group of five, their team was turned upside down after narrowly escaping the clutches of those monsters. Among them, a group of a man and woman was being pursued by the other three, their bodies seemingly on the verge of collapsing.
"They're blocking our way forward." Xu Zirong frowned, displeased with the presence of those people.
After considering it, Xu Ziyan decided that it was best not to involve themselves in other people's grudges. After all, they did not know the cause of the conflict and it would be a grave mistake if they rashly intervened.
Unfortunately, sometimes, even if you don't seek trouble, trouble will find you.
Sure enough, Xu Ziyan had no intentions of taking action, but he did not expect that the other party had already discovered their presence and launched a sneak attack.
"Careful!" Xu Zirong's gaze sharpened as he swiftly pulled Xu Ziyan back.
At that moment, Xu Ziyan also sensed a strong killing intent and followed Xu Zirong by leaping away.
Tianle's escape skill had already reached its maximum level, so Tianle naturally would not be hit by such a level of sneak attacks. With a swift movement, Tianle had already leaped out of the opponent's attack range.
Puff!
A cloud of green mist instantly enveloped the spot where Xu Ziyan and the others had just been. Almost in the blink of an eye, the previously intact walls were corroded into numerous holes. It would turn them into rubble with a slight touch.
"Such powerful poison!" Xu Ziyan's pupils shrank sharply. He did not expect the toxicity of the gas to be so strong. If it had landed on him, he might have died from the poison before they even had the chance to take the antidote.
"Hmph! It really takes no effort to get something when you stumble upon it unexpectedly!" A cultivator with vertical pupils revealed a look of delight as he stared at Xu Ziyan and his group.
Xu Zirong did not speak further nonsense. Since the opponent dared to attack them, they should be prepared for the possibility of retaliation. When in face of a nascent soul cultivator, the blood beast would not be of much use, so he directly summoned a large number of plants, instantly turning the area into a dense forest.
After a long period of transformation of the five-element condensing dew, Xu Zirong had basically transformed into a wood-type spiritual root. His proficiency in wood-type magic was superb.
However, his personality determined that he could not solely specialize in the relatively peaceful wood-type magic. Therefore, when he attacked, he would usually use blood-type magic.
Yet, the situation was different now. With numerous cultivators present, although his wood-type magic might not be incisive enough, he had a unique advantage in terms of delay and control. As soon as he appeared, he generated a large number of trees, blocking the enemy's line of sight and dividing them as much as possible.
"Ah!" A woman's scream rang out, followed by a sudden burst of intense flames from the female cultivator's body, as if she had chosen to perish with her enemy.
"Yingyue!" The male cultivator, who was being hunted down and had bloodshot eyes, rushed towards the female cultivator, disregarding the attacks around him.
Seizing that opportunity, the black-robed cultivator behind him struck the male cultivator with a palm, causing him to cough up blood and fly out, crashing to the ground.
Hidden behind the cover of the trees, Xu Ziyan witnessed the scene and could not help sighing. It was clear that the male and female cultivators would not survive. Although they were both in the nascent soul stage, their strength was far inferior to the three cultivators hunting them down.
Judging from the way they confronted the enemy, one could tell that the pair were obviously pampered disciples of a major sect. They had combat experience, but if it was a life-and-death situation, the two of them must have never gone through it.
In other words, it was evident that the three cultivators chasing them down had been engaged in continuous battles and honing their combat instincts since they were at a low stage. Fighting against such individuals would be extremely painful.
That was because they could anticipate one's attacks before one even made the move. Unless there was a significant gap in strength, it would be difficult to kill them at an equal cultivation level.
No matter how challenging things were, the necessary actions must be taken. Regardless of the strength of those three individuals, the fact that they attacked Xu Ziyan and his group first meant that it was impossible for Xu Ziyan to let them get away with it.
Seeking revenge and eliminating dangers at an early stage were crucial factors. In fact, there were many reasons to kill them, but the most important one was that the vertical pupils in the other party's eyes, which reminded Xu Ziyan of the horrific acts he committed in the past——
——Skinning, tendon extraction, and extracting inner cores from the young master of the sea snake clan. It was certain that he could not let a member of the sea snake clan go. →. →
At the beginning, Ao Yuanming had already reminded him that the young master of the sea snake clan finally used a certain move, called 'Until Death' or whatever, as a last resort. Simply put, he put a mark on him. Since leaving Tengyun City, Xu Ziyan had been cautious and vigilant. However, he never knew that the enemy's stealth skills were so impressive, as they were completely undetected by him.
Of course, it was also possible that the other party did not dare to act rashly because Xu Ziyan had entered the island of stone stele at that time. Later, when they entered the world of fragmented continents, they were randomly teleported to different continents, preventing them from meeting the whole time.
Xu Ziyan's guess was basically correct. He recalled from back then that both Red Scales and Flower Tail had been lurking outside Tengyun City for a long time, and they finally waited for Xu Ziyan's appearance.
Unexpectedly, when he left the city, he did not choose the city gate they were waiting. Moreover, his flying speed was astonishingly fast (Feeling smug ╮(￣▽￣")╭). They were only slightly delayed, allowing Xu Ziyan and his group to enter the island of stone stele first.
There were too many nascent soul cultivators on the island of stone stele, making Red Scales and Flower Tail cautious about taking action, so they could only wait in secret. Additionally, both of them were interested in the treasures on the island of stone stele.
Later, they were the first to comprehend the secrets within the stone stele and discovered the entrance to the treasure when it opened. After a brief discussion, they decided to search for the treasure first and deal with the two Xu's later when they left.
Anyway, 'Until Death' would always come into play. Even if they sought treasure and came out, they could still track down those two guys.
In that way, the two of them entered the world of fragmented continents and luckily encountered the other three individuals, forming a team. However, during their exploration of the central city, they unintentionally stumbled upon a hidden treasure chamber. These small treasure chambers were scattered throughout the central city, containing items that were not particularly valuable. It did not make sense for the group of nascent soul cultivators to engage in a fierce battle over such mediocre treasures.
However, there were three members in the team of five, who had ulterior motives.
While three of them, which included Red Scales, Flower Tail and another cultivator, were chasing down the male and female cultivators, a portion of the couple's treasures was exposed, which piqued the interest of the three individuals.
The result was obvious. Those three individuals, motivated by their greed, took the opportunity to ambush and successfully kill the male and female cultivators. Although the female cultivator's self-detonation caused some harm to the other cultivator, leaving him in a sorry state, the situation had now become a three-against-two scenario.
The dense forest obstructed the everyone's vision, and for some unknown reason, flying with swords was limited within the central city.
Whenever they reached a certain height, they would feel a transparent film above their heads that was impossible to pierce through. Even attacking it would have no effect.
That discovery was made by the bizarre Tianle, after stumbling upon the thin film and tested it. As a result, the plants that Xu Zirong grown were all very tall tree species. Unless they flew far away, they had to fight within the forest area.
Xu Zirong's wood-type spiritual roots made him felt like a fish in water in the woods, with every movement of the opponents exposed to his eyes.
Red Scales and Flower Tail hidden deep within the woods, were unaware of the forest's special function. They believed that the forest was simply created by the enemy to create a convenient environment for themselves, so they paid no attention to their exposed actions.
The three enemy cultivators were dispersed in different locations, and Red Scales and Flower Tail were still in good condition. Therefore, Xu Ziyan targeted the unfortunate cultivator who was affected by the self-detonation.
Speaking of which, that guy was truly unlucky. His reputation was already terrible among the cultivators of the East Sea, so when they were forming a team, the male and female cultivators did not think highly of him and were very wary. It was only because the two sea snake clan cultivators acted as mediators that they were able to join forces in the first place.