Chapter 416
I've Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It?
Chapter 416
The cultivators from the central city only absorbed the transformed spiritual energy from the devilish energy, which had such a significant effect. If they were to directly refine the devilish energy, those devils would probably never be able to leave that world... However, even if someone greedily wanted to continue conquering the real world, they were destined not to have that chance.
That was what Xu Zirong meant about 'permanently resolving this issue.' As long as the devils could enter, they would have no way out!
Before Xu Ziyan could consider the feasibility of the solution, he heard a shout in his ear "Be careful!"
Several white streaks of light broke through the air, sealing off all directions for Xu Ziyan to dodge!
"Aurora!" Xu Ziyan shouted sharply!
The flying sword under his feet suddenly charged forward as if it were going to collide with the arrows coming towards them. However, just a second before the collision, the flying sword and the two people on it suddenly disappeared. All the hidden arrows fell far away, missing their target.
Xu Ziyan's figure appeared in mid-air not far away. Immediately, several arrows came towards him. However, given that he had evaded the first wave without much effort, how could he be hit by such arrows when prepared?
Aurora continuously flashed and evaded the dense rain of arrows.
Having frequently mixed among those peculiar items, Aurora had no idea how many good things it had consumed, managing to push its own grade to a higher level. Now, looking at it again, not only could Aurora leap between dimensions, but it could also perform continuous leaps like the ones earlier.
Several waves of surprise attacks completely ignited Xu Ziyan's anger. I'm also someone proficient in archery, do you think that having such obvious attacks... won't make me find your hiding place?
When Xu Ziyan was furious, the consequences would be severe!
He called out Little Eight, bent his bow, and shot back in the direction where the arrows had just come from.
As a cultivator with sharp archery skills, Xu Ziyan had arguably the best eyesight among his five senses. With Little Eight's assistance, he managed to shoot out a rain of arrows all by himself...
The ones responsible for ambushing them were the mid-level Archback Devil Squad, a well-known group of archers among the devils.
As a team of scouts, their goal this time was to probe into Xu Ziyan's background. After all, devils were not fools. Although they received information from the traitor, they were also cautious of human tactics, like luring the tiger out of the mountain or playing tricks.
If the squad managed to successfully eliminate these two individuals, it would be perfect. However, if they failed, those Archback devils were trained to attack from a distance and were quicker at fleeing than other devils.
Of course, the devils' plan was good, but Xu Ziyan did not feel obligated to cooperate with their intentions. Anyone who almost turned into a porcupine due to numerous arrows would not be in a pleasant mood. For Xu Ziyan, having a bad mood not only meant that he was about to lose his temper but also signified that—— Xu Zirong, the Great Devil King, was about to erupt!!
Purple arrows shot along the path of the previous arrows, and painful screams echoed from the dense forest.
Those fleeing devil archers had not expected that the cultivator they ambushed today was also skilled in archery. As devils gifted with archery abilities, they were well-aware of the long-range lethality of their weapons.
Experts in action would reveal their skills. Being able to shoot arrows back along their trajectories, a cultivator like that was definitely not someone they, as mid-level devils, could compete against!
The Archback devils scattered all at once, yet over six of them still died under Xu Ziyan's arrows.
Little Eight's coverage attack was truly ruthless. Even though Xu Ziyan was merely shooting towards the places where he felt those beings were hiding, nine arrows at once had such a wide coverage that not everyone could evade them.
The leader of the Archback devils felt bitter in the heart. Their Archback Devil Squad was usually responsible for firing a shot and retreating, and their usual injuries were almost negligible. Who would have thought they'd encounter such a freak today? Forget about him having high cultivation, but skilled in archery too? It was simply outrageous!!!
"Retreat!" The squad leader roared, and the rest of the Archback devils quickly left the battlefield.
Xu Ziyan did not pursue them. In uncertain circumstances where there might be ambushes ahead, blindly chasing would only lead to doom.
"Brother, these people don't seem like the devils' patrol team," Xu Zirong frowned as he looked at the figures of the Archback devils.
The devils' patrol teams were usually composed of various tribes to coordinate in case of battles. Single-unit formations, like the Archback Devil squad, existed, but were generally deployed for specific targets.
"The situation isn't quite right. Our info might have been leaked," Xu Ziyan's expression turned grim. Cultivator Wuchen had previously hinted at the possibility of a mole within the Liuguang sect. Now, it seemed that possibility had turned into a certainty, although it remained uncertain whether Cultivator Wuchen could confirm the identity of the traitor through that opportunity.
"Change our route," Xu Ziyan did not hesitate. The two of them quickly left that path, taking a slightly further detour.
Not long after their departure, several high-ranking devils arrived at the place they had left.
The devil in the lead had a pointed chin, small eyes, and the most prominent feature on his face was his large nose.
He sniffed the air vigorously, then turned to a black-robed devil beside him and said, "They just diverted from here and should have gone that way," as he pointed east.
The black-robed devil sneered, speaking in a high-pitched tone, "Trying to escape? Hmph... Get them!"
In the group, besides the big-nosed devil and the black-robed devil, the rest were winged devils capable of flying. Flapping their wings, they chased after Xu Ziyan and his companion's direction. The black-robed devil flew on a sword, carrying the big-nosed devil to guide the way.
Although the big-nosed devil had weak combat abilities and could not fly, their sense of smell was the keenest among all devils. It was said they could smell the aura of a cultivator who had passed by a place half a month later. That unique talent was the reason why the black-robed devil had specially invited him, to ensure the duo would not escape.
As they were chasing, they did not forget to send messages to other devils to obstruct Xu Ziyan's journey. Having once been a cultivator, the black-robed devil understood that a cultivator's full-powered speed of flight was indeed astonishing.
Although those winged devils were not slow, for safety's sake, he sent other devils nearby to continuously delay their progress.
"Damn! Will they ever end?" Xu Ziyan leaped into the air, evading an arrow's ambush.
Xu Zirong's eyes flashed, and with a drop of blood essence flicked from his fingertip, distant miserable cries from the devils were heard.
"Brother, they are deliberately slowing down our speed," Xu Zirong said.
Xu Ziyan's face darkened as he nodded, realizing the same thing, but he did not have a good solution.
Along their journey, he had already changed routes several times, but the entire area was under the control of the devil, so they frequently encountered devil patrol teams. While dealing with the obvious scouts was easy, he could not root out all the hidden ones.
Most frustratingly, those devils seemed to know their direction, always setting up numerous hidden scouts in advance. After several tricks, even Xu Ziyan could not continue hiding their tracks.
"It's getting harder to deal with," Xu Ziyan frowned.
He had never really cared about those unimportant units used as cannon fodder, but their time-delaying tactics made him feel uneasy.
It was evident that there must be powerful devil experts chasing them from behind. If Aurora were to run freely, the opponents might not catch up, but their speed was limited now, and it seemed they would be caught up soon.
Xu Ziyan narrowed his eyes, "Find a place. Let's set up an ambush in advance!"
Since they could not avoid the battle, it was best to find a place that suited them. Xu Ziyan was annoyed by those devils swarming around like flies and decided to deal with those behind them.
He was rather confident in his own strength. Unless the devils sent experts of the nascent soul stage, he might not win, but he could escape.
Worst-case scenario, if the devils truly went crazy and sent nascent soul experts, he could hide in Mr. Square with Zirong.
A man should stand by his word, if he said he would not come out, then he really would not come out!
He refused to believe that the demigod expert among the devils had such leisure time, specifically waiting outside to watch them!
Having made up his mind, Xu Ziyan began to look for a suitable ambush location. Not far away was a sizable forest, perfect for Xu Zirong's capabilities!
"Let's go!"
The two quickly flew into the forest, and Xu Zirong casually sprinkled a lot of seeds around. Some were ordinary plants, while others looked similar but had completely different qualities.
He believed that those carefully-nurtured cuties would give those pursuing devils a huge surprise!
Xu Ziyan hid in a tree hollow, quietly waiting for their prey.
After about two quarters of an hour, several small black dots appeared in the sky.
These dots were flying extremely fast. Xu Ziyan only glanced at them, and they had already flown from a far distance to near the edge of the forest.
Among the group, the leading one was the cultivator flying a sword. He had a gloomy appearance, a tall stature, and a very distinct devils totem on his face.
It was obvious that it was a transformed devil person.
Xu Ziyan watched that person from afar and could not help furrowing his brows. On the surface, he seemed like an ordinary devil person, but for some reason, Xu Ziyan felt that something about him was not right.
It could be said that Xu Ziyan's feeling was purely intuitive, without any evidence to support it, but he just felt that beneath the black-robed person's clothes, there seemed to be something dangerous hidden.
"Is it here?" The black-robed devil lifted the big-nosed devil from the flying sword.
The big-nosed devil nodded, pointing towards the area where Xu Ziyan and Zirong were hiding, "The scent there is the strongest; they probably hadn't left."