Chapter 129 – Escape
The monster army finally cornered the human cultivators in one place.
The Late Blood Condensation monster cultivators from the other formations soon joined the fight, which greatly relieved the female Giant Croc’s pressure.
Especially the Primal Giant Crocodile in the east, who proved himself worthy of being the elder brother of the four leaders with his Ninth Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivation base.
As soon as he joined the fight, he severely thrashed a Late Blood Condensation human cultivator into vomiting blood. He then rampaged through the forces of Late Blood Condensation human cultivators as if he was invincible.
Seeing that the human cultivators were about to be wiped out, Red Robe Division Master, who surrounded the Giant Croc leader with Ai Botao and Han Wei-Yun, suddenly shouted to the Ocean Overturning Gang cultivators, “Form the Crystal Great Formation!”
At this time, the Ocean Overturning Gang was left with less than 60 cultivators. When they heard their leader’s command, they swiftly arranged their positions within the monsters’ siege.
Groups of six Ocean Overturning Gang cultivators stood in position and formed a small hexagonal formation. Then, each small formation was interconnected to form a larger hexagonal formation.
The formation stalled the monsters’ attack and as their forces moved to the west, they knocked back all the monsters obstructing their path.
During the process, every small hexagonal formation that had an injured member would retreat into the larger hexagonal formation, and the small hexagonal formation behind it would come forward in its place to continue their attacks.
It was the Dao army formation!
Lu Ping was stunned to see the Ocean Overturning Gang actions. Today, not only did he see the monster army formation, but he also witnessed such an exquisite Dao army formation.
However, this kind of subtle Dao army formation was obviously not something any faction could carry out. Moreover, the Dao army formation formed by the Ocean Overturning Gang was well organized and highly coordinated, so it was obvious that they had been practicing for a long time.
Several moments passed and more human cultivators fell. Ai Botao anxiously watched as their numbers diminished further. He hurriedly moved back and shouted, ” Xi Ling Island, Ai Clan cultivators, form our Dao army formation! The rest can follow us and together we’ll break out of this predicament!”
As he spoke, the remaining dozen Ai Clan cultivators gathered together and formed a simple formation around Ai Botao. Together with the Ocean Overturning Gang, they advanced towards the west. Lu Ping and the other cultivators followed closely behind them.
However, from Lu Ping’s observation, Ai Clan’s Dao army formation was clearly far weaker compared to the Ocean Overturning Gang. Their coordination wasn’t as smooth, but it was evidently much more effective than having them fight on their own.
Xuan Ling Sect’s Han Wei-Yun also followed suit and commanded the remaining Xuan Ling disciples to form the Xuan Ling Great Formation.
Lu Ping was able to recognize their movements. After all, Zhen Ling Sect and Xuan Ling Sect were old rivals, so they naturally knew each other’s abilities quite well.
However, Han Wei-Yun only cared about the Xuan Ling disciples, and not the other North Ocean cultivators who came with him. Surrounded by enemies in the center, the North Ocean cultivators fell into desperation and cursed at the Xuan Ling Sect.
When the four monster leaders saw that the enemy had also formed the Dao army formations to escape, they hurriedly commanded their forces to stop the humans.
Lu Ping followed closely behind the Ai Clan cultivators, sensing the mounting pressure around him. They managed to push back the enemy, but now had to face the monster army’s rallied attacks.
Ai Botao looked to the side and saw that Xuan Ling Sect’s Dao army formation was not far away, though their movements were obstructed due to the monster army formation. Without thinking much, he commanded the Ai Clan cultivators to shift towards the other sect.
Once the two army formations merged, the cultivators felt significantly less burdened and their breakthrough speed was accelerated.
Suddenly, they heard eerie laughter ahead of them. The south water pillar’s Primal Giant Crocodile had led his monster general formation and blocked their paths. “What’s the matter? Still thinking about running? Come here, let me have a taste of your flesh!”
The Ai Clan and Xuan Ling cultivators together made up less than 40 cultivators—they all felt a burst of despair in their hearts.
Ai Botao quickly said in a fierce voice, “Fortune favors the bold, only the brave survive their predicaments! My fellow cultivators, our chance to live lies ahead of us, we just have to break through this monster formation!”
At his words, the human cultivators rushed forward with Lu Ping closely following the crowd’s footsteps from the center.
Although he hadn’t unleashed his Yan Ling Swords to their fullest potential, they were still remarkable in battle. Lu Ping had already used them to kill four Mid Blood Condensation Realm monsters on his way to survive.
At the same time, he took a quick glance over the battlefield.
To the north and east, the two Giant Croc monster leaders were commanding their monster general formation to impede the Ocean Overturning Gang.
To the west, the female Giant Croc was commanding her monster general formation to eliminate the dozens of North Ocean cultivators left behind by Xuan Ling Sect.
To the south, the Giant Croc and his monster general formation were holding off the Ai Clan and Xuan Ling Sect.
With every few seconds that passed, a human cultivator was slain by the monsters, and less and less human cultivators were left standing in the battlefield.
Ai Botao was unable to save every human cultivator despite his best intentions, whereas Xuan Ling Sect was only concerned about their own survival. In a situation like this, tensions rose with every single second.
Lu Ping took in the battle situation and knew that if he didn’t do something now, there was a chance that none of them would walk out alive. But he very much needed the crowd’s assistance—his actions alone wouldn’t be enough to turn this situation around.
His mind made up, Lu Ping suddenly rushed out from the middle of the Ai Clan and Xuan Ling cultivators. Just as Han Wei-Yun was about to reprimand him for his sudden move, Lu Ping raised his hands and shot out ten medicinal pellets with a strong, inexplicable fragrance towards the monster soldiers.
The monster soldiers quickly cast spells to resist and defend themselves when suddenly, those ten pellets suddenly exploded into powder. Immediately, the pellets’ fragrance grew ten times stronger than before and covered the vast sea.
The cultivators felt a sense of hunger coming from their stomachs, and many gurgling sounds could be heard from their stomachs. Shocked, they hurriedly cast their arcane energy and suppressed the sudden hunger.
Just as they were about to reprimand Lu Ping, they heard a commotion among the monster soldiers. Many of the monster soldiers suddenly lost their minds and gnawed at the monsters beside them, who were also biting their comrades as if they were delicacies.
Only a few of the Late Blood Condensation monsters retained their sanity and kept roaring in an attempt to command the monster soldiers to regroup. However, the monster soldiers were stimulated by Lu Ping’s Starvation Pellets which induced their bestial states. They no longer obeyed the commands.
Naturally, the human cultivators knew that this was a rare opportunity, and they swarmed out to slaughter the monster soldiers who had lost control.
The Giant Croc leader roared and led several Late Blood Condensation monsters to try to hold off the human cultivators. But unfortunately, they were outnumbered, and too many human cultivators managed to break out of the monster army formation.
However, many human cultivators still died under the mouths of the monster soldiers before they could get out. This was because the uncontrollable monster soldiers didn’t just see their companions as food, they treated the humans as food as well.
As a result, although the human cultivators broke out of the siege, they still ended up with many casualties. In addition to the Xuan Ling disciples, there were only about 30 of them that made it out alive.
The monster soldiers behind them were still salivating for their flesh, so they couldn’t stop to thank Lu Ping and began fleeing from the scene instead.
At that moment, the female Giant Croc had already eliminated the surrounding cultivators. When she saw the human cultivators breaking out of the siege, she quickly led the monster soldiers in pursuit.
Ai Botao saw these monster soldiers gradually catching up to them, and he hurriedly shouted, “We have to spread out in different directions, otherwise we’ll all die!”
Immediately after, the remaining cultivators each chose a direction to flee. Lu Ping was already disappointed to be involved in this operation, so he didn’t hesitate to turn around and leave.
Ai Botao, Cultivator Cheng, and Cultivator Huang, initially wanted to ask him to stay with them, but Lu Ping had already fled hundreds of feet away in an instant.
After crossing a thousand feet of distance, he suddenly heard a loud roar behind him. Lu Ping quickly turned around and saw a huge crocodile tail suddenly rising from the water surface, smashing towards him with strong momentum.
Lu Ping complained in his heart, How unfortunate! Of all the cultivators, why am I the one targeted by this Primal Giant Crocodile?
Despite his inner thoughts, he didn’t waste time responding to the attack. A blue water shield was cast up and turned into a thick water wall in front of Lu Ping’s body. It was the Water Avoidance Shield.
The Water Avoidance Shield was damaged after taking continuous blows from the Late Blood Condensation cultivator back when Lu Ping was being hunted.
He’d wanted to repair it these past five years, but he wasn’t proficient in smithery, so he could only use his arcane energy to slowly nurture its damaged parts.
A loud bang rang out when the crocodile tail hit the water shield. It was as if Lu Ping was a ramshackle dam being burst open by a deluge of floodwater; the impact sent him flying dozens of feet backwards.
Then, with a crunching sound, the already damaged Water Avoidance Shield finally reached the end of its short life, falling into the sea under Lu Ping’s feet in several broken pieces.
It’s the state of Force! The Great Force!
At the moment he was struck, these words echoed in Lu Ping’s mind!
Even though the Water Avoidance Shield was already damaged, Lu Ping could still empower this high-grade mystic instrument’s defensive capability with his strong arcane energy. Under normal circumstances, the Water Avoidance Shield shouldn’t be destroyed by a single blow from a Seventh Layer Blood Condensation monster.
Unless, this Giant Croc monster had mastered the third stage of the state of Force—Great Force. In addition to its special bloodline heritage, and from hitting the weak point of the damaged Water Avoidance Shield, the shield was destroyed in one fell swoop.
When Lu Ping defended himself against the crocodile’s attack, he felt a powerful burst of destructive power. This was the power of the “Great Force” which he still couldn’t comprehend after years of pondering.
The state of Force had three stages, the Force Generation, Force Borrowing, and Great Force. Lu Ping had already grasped the first and second stage, but Great Force was the only one Lu Ping couldn’t master.
Lu Ping blocked the full power of the Primal Giant Crocodile’s attack at the cost of the Water Avoidance Shield. The attack had given him valuable insight to attain the Great Force and while he was still pondering, he suddenly felt a breeze blowing towards the back of his head.
There was a murderous air aiming towards him!
Lu Ping’s strong divine sense instantly caught the omen of danger, and he couldn’t care about keeping a low profile anymore. He hurriedly cast up the Soaring Wing Swords in the [Stormy Waves Crashing Shore Sword Art] and moved to strike behind him.
Dang! Dang!
Two loud dins could be heard. The secondary Soaring Wing Sword was parried and pushed back, while the primary Soaring Wing Sword blocked a flying sword a mere half-foot away from the back of Lu Ping’s head.
What a sharp attack, what a subtle sword skill!
Casting the flying sword like a gust of wind, this was also the manifestation of Great Force for the wind-style sword arts.
If not for Lu Ping’s strong divine sense, he surely wouldn’t have noticed the Primal Giant Crocodile’s attack!
After facing two consecutive attacks by a cultivator that mastered Great Force, Lu Ping’s back was now soaked in cold sweat and his heart was palpitating. He turned around and saw the back of a cultivator returning to the group of Xuan Ling cultivators a thousand feet away.
When the cultivator regrouped with the rest of the Xuan Ling Sect, he deliberately turned to look at Lu Ping, smiling from ear to ear.
It’s that guy!
Lu Ping immediately recognized the cultivator.
During the siege of Xuan Qi Island, Lu Ping was surrounded by Xuan Ling cultivators. He had once competed with a white-faced Xuan Ling cultivator in a sword fight.
At that time, he had grasped the state of Force Borrowing and secured the upper hand in the sword fight. However, the white-faced cultivator’s sword skill, the [Dissolute Delightful 19 Swords], had also left a deep impression on Lu Ping.
After several years, this white-faced cultivator not only succeeded in reaching the Late Blood Condensation Realm, but also surpassed him in sword mastery and even mastered the state of Force’s Great Force!