Volume 1, Chapter 18: Slaying the Shore-Violating Demon Once More!
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This time, the sounds reaching Zhao Fusheng’s ears were markedly different from before. Though the footsteps of the approaching creatures were chaotic, to Zhao Fusheng’s hearing, it was as if listening to a piece of music—there was a certain rhythm to it. Left side, three quick steps; right side, a slow step; then a pause near the houses; and at the river’s mouth, one was already closing in!
“Zzzt!”
From behind, the nearest cricket spider lunged forward, swinging its leg to stab! Zhao Fusheng dared not linger in combat; he swiftly sidestepped and sprinted a few paces back! Drawing his sword, he slashed through the air.
Clang!
Suddenly, a streak of sword energy sliced across, toppling two spiders on the left! Yet, because of the distance, it did not sever their limbs as it had done to their mother. They were just flipped over. Their heads and bodies struck the ground hard, curling up, temporarily unable to move.
Zhao Fusheng dashed toward the breach! The few behind rushed carelessly, unable to turn sharply, missing their strikes and even colliding with one another!
There was an opening.
Zhao Fusheng came to a halt, focused his mind, and gathered his energy. Just as he prepared to unleash the “Mountain Shatter” technique again...
Boom!
The largest spider disregarded the bone whistle’s command and had silently leapt onto a treetop. Seeing the moment ripe, it sprang down! Its massive body trapped Zhao Fusheng beneath it! Before he could react, the creature sprayed corrosive liquid from its mouthparts while fiercely stabbing down with its legs.
“Figured it out?” Zhao Fusheng muttered as he dodged. The spider swarm learned from experience! They saw his powerful long-range sword energy and now deliberately tried to restrict the distance.
At this moment, Zhao Fusheng’s hearing and reflexes were vastly heightened, making dodging somewhat easier. Besides, he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
Pfft!
As the second spear-like leg came hurtling toward him, about a meter long, he sidestepped downward, letting it pass right by his ear. This time, he did not dodge but transformed his energy into a solid punch.
Boom!
The two forces clashed; the spider’s leg instantly retracted into its body, which it then used to pierce through and burst out from behind. Zhao Fusheng rolled away just in time to avoid the splattering adhesive slime.
The giant spider screamed in agony and retreated hastily. The surrounding cricket spiders slowed their advance. Like their dead mother, they all possessed spiritual roots and could analyze and judge their surroundings.
By the riverbank, two jackal demons stared wide-eyed.
“This isn’t right.”
“That aura transformation technique—it’s from Qingyun Mountain’s Foundation Establishment realm!” the scarred jackal demon exclaimed in alarm.
“Whistle! Whistle!”
“Whatever it is, as long as these spiders don’t falter, even a Foundation Establishment immortal won’t escape!” the other shouted, blowing the bone whistle again.
With spiritual roots came intelligence. But the intelligent were mostly cautious—and caution was unnecessary for their controllers. The bone whistle mimicked the mother spider’s call, forcing the swarm to obey unconditionally.
Moreover, with their mother dead, the spider swarm was consumed by hatred upon hearing the call, losing all reason.
For a moment, their screams roared like waves. Their eyes reddened; one after another, they recklessly rushed forward, intending to block Zhao Fusheng’s every move with sheer numbers, making it impossible for him to attend to both sides.
Two fists struggle against four hands—how could he withstand nearly dozens?
But just when he was about to be encircled and crushed, a sudden thought struck Zhao Fusheng, and he leapt into the air!
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At that moment, his whole body felt as light as floating downy feathers. Not only did he evade the dense stabs and bites, but he also widened the distance between himself and the swarm.
Yet, a problem arose.
“Too much distance makes dodging easy!”
“And without internal injury, their bodies still contain defensive energy; sword energy can only knock them down!” Zhao Fusheng analyzed.
He had escaped once because they did not know he could leap away. But the spiders were clever; dodging a second time would be much harder!
Then suddenly, an idea came to him...
He swiftly turned back, chopping down two tree branches. Using the Tianyan Pearl, he transformed his energy into double palms, gripping the branches tightly.
Rustle!
He flung them to either side with fierce force. The branches shot through two cricket spiders with a sizzling sound, their bodies piercing deeply into the earth!
“Eek!!”
The others saw this and hurried to stop Zhao Fusheng.
He repeated the trick, leaping elsewhere to keep his distance, chopping more branches with the Crimson Snow Sword, and clutching the branches with his energy before hurling them again.
He still remembered...
This was the method his grandfather taught him when setting traps for field rats.
In a blink, seven cricket spiders were skewered like candied hawthorns! Fierce moments ago, they now all wilted...
Zhao Fusheng did not hurry down the tree. First, he feared a trap. Second... he sensed something.
Looking at his palm, he muttered, “Is this the Sixth Layer of Body Refinement?”
If he had any doubts before, now they were completely gone. His reflexes, explosive power, smooth energy flow, and lightness of body were on a different level.
The “aura transformation” technique that once left him gasping after a few uses now posed much less strain. The misty energy swirling in his lower dantian was far more abundant than before.
If the fifth layer’s energy was like a wellspring’s flow, this was now a flowing stream or pond...
The feeling between the two was completely different!
Most important was the strange torrent surging through his body’s meridians, reminiscent of the gift from Senior Sister Song.
“Qi!”
“Though not root qi, it is innate qi nurtured from within my own body!”
This was the mark of entering the gate of longevity—the threshold distinguishing cultivators from ordinary people at the foot of the mountain.
Without this, he could never be so light and leap several meters high.
“From now on, I’ll accumulate more to repay the condensed qi given by Senior Sister by year’s end,” he muttered.
But at this moment, he still had pressing matters.
Swish!
He flung another tree branch, instantly piercing a bamboo raft. Two jackal demons fell into the river, struggling fiercely, nearly drowning.
Zhao Fusheng stepped on air and discovered it was not difficult; by controlling his breathing, he could manage the amplitude and distance of his steps.
Thud.
He landed steadily on the raft. The two jackal demons barely climbed aboard before coughing and choking from the water.
“Kid! Don’t, don’t!” they cried out.
“We’re just following orders—this is all Master Huang’s command!” they shouted.
“Bullying men and women, what’s the difference between you and those village bullies?”
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“...All must die!”
Scenes from the past flashed before Zhao Fusheng’s eyes—the tyrants in Tangkou Village who bullied and harassed women and beat beggars!
Because of them, his grandfather and uncles had suffered greatly for some time!
And his own sister...
Had covered herself and cried as she jumped into the river.
Clang!
His sharp sword drew in an instant, swinging out!
Sss...
But the blade was caught barehanded by someone! He looked up and was astonished to see it was Yun Yao.
“Miss Yun, you finally arrived!”
“This kid is young but ruthless!”
“He killed our big brother, and now they want to wipe us out too!”
“You must speak for us!”
The two jackal demons complained bitterly.
“Do you think I wouldn’t know what you just did?”
“Spare your heads—it’s already a great pardon.”
“Now, thank me quickly!” Yun Yao said coldly.
The two sighed, but for the sake of their lives, reluctantly muttered “thank you.”
“Junior Brother, don’t bother arguing with them.”
“The demon race remained ignorant and unshaped for over a hundred years before forming humanoid bodies.”
“The three brothers of the Chai family grew up together, from ignorance to having their own personalities.”
“If they bear grudges, it’s somewhat understandable, right?”
“Besides, they are only following orders.”
Zhao Fusheng nodded.
All things have feelings, especially the bond of lifelong siblings living through a century of life and death.
He had killed their brother to protect himself.
But the deceased was still someone’s brother—as were his own late grandfather and elder sister.
Yet he still held some doubts...
“But they were sent by Master Huang to capture and kill you.”
“Why do you help them, Miss Yun?”
Yun Yao sighed.
“Because I understand their suffering.”
“They do evil deeds but out of desperation.”
“If they do not obey orders, their entire clan would be devoured—their dantians eaten...”
Zhao Fusheng was stunned.
But hearing this, he began to understand.
When the three jackal demons came seeking him last time, Yun Yao had already left the house to find the mouse clan.
So by the time he killed the lead jackal demon, it was too late.
That was why she repeatedly stopped him from crossing to the other shore—to prevent the feud from deepening and reduce innocent casualties!
Seeing Zhao Fusheng silent, Yun Yao explained further: “I intended to resolve the trouble before you returned. But once the cricket spiders are released, they’re hard to recall, so I had to find someone.”
“After all, everything started because of him, and he should be the one to resolve it.”
“But shortly after I left, I heard the fighting again. Fearing for your safety, I returned.”
“I never thought you had already settled everything...”
Zhao Fusheng caught her meaning.
“Him?”
Yun Yao’s face flushed and paled.
“Let’s talk on shore.”