Volume 5, Chapter 79 – Tingyun (Two-in-One)

Night deepened, and the sky grew dark.

Yet farther out in the wilderness, a spread-out convoy was racing through the night.

The vehicles all looked crude. Some were even battered and falling apart on the outside, with their metal panels and parts rattling noisily.

But all of them possessed hovering capability. Every vehicle’s wheels were laid flat as it skimmed just above the ground, and half the vehicles even had heavy autocannons mounted at the rear.

“It’s dark. Tell them to shorten the reporting interval to three minutes.”

Inside the central pickup, a dark-skinned, black-haired man wearing a protective vest over a pitch-black combat uniform gave the order into the radio, and promptly received an acknowledgment.

The man’s name was Lu Yun. He was the captain of the Tingyun Army’s Raider-Hunt Scouts. This mission had him following Bai Tingyun’s orders to track the Qingyun Army’s movements all the way and determine the reason the two voidfiend armies had joined up.

In Lu Yun’s eyes, the task itself was nothing unusual. The Qingyun Army’s movements this time were unprecedented, but for the scout unit under his command, tracking and reconnaissance were their bread and butter. What they had to do was more or less the same as always.

So long as they obeyed the order to avoid direct contact whenever possible and relied only on drones and other detection equipment for beyond-visual-range reconnaissance, the only things that could really cause them trouble were certain specific Demon Pools.

But the Tingyun Art happened to restrain the Illusory Gods of Demon Pools.

Compared with the original foundational method, this qi art was far more violent. Under normal circumstances, whenever one activated it and opened a full circulation cycle, one could feel the tiny blood vessels throughout the body prickling with pain.

Ordinarily, that was a flaw. But during a mission, once the circulation was activated, that same pain became an automatic waking mechanism. Even if they were quietly lured in by a Demon Pool without noticing, they could still snap awake.

And as long as they could react in time, the voidfiend army had no way of completing an effective encirclement against them with the vehicles and equipment they had. From the outset, the scout squad stood in an almost unbeatable position.

But stamina was still an issue.

At that thought, Lu Yun frowned slightly.

The unit had already been on the move for four and a half days.

Once qi cultivation advanced to the Origin Realm, one could abstain from food and replace sleep with cultivation and meditation. But no one in this unit, including Lu Yun himself, had reached that realm yet. The highest cultivation among them belonged to him and a few squad leaders, and they had only just managed to form False Cores.

Rotating the watch could solve part of the problem, but they also had to drive while monitoring drones and other reconnaissance equipment against ambushes. That put everyone’s focus and willpower to the test.

Whenever we carried out this kind of mission before, the general would always make it clear to me exactly when we had to pull back by. But this time he didn’t give any reminder at all…

The thought made Lu Yun uneasy.

Did the general think the voidfiend army’s movements were especially unusual?

Then if the mission failed because of some irresistible factor, should I keep investigating the target, or should I take everyone back?

Distracted and unsettled, Lu Yun asked the radio out of habit, “Three minutes are up. Report from the far north?”

“Everything normal,” came the reply.

“What about the south? Report. Don’t wait for me to prompt you.”

“All normal, Captain.”

“Rear’s normal.”

“Front’s normal too… though the signal’s a little bad. I’ll have to pull the drone back a bit.”

Good.

Now that he had confirmed everything was under control, Lu Yun finally felt a little more at ease.

The Raider-Hunt Scouts’ reconnaissance formation was spread wide. Seen from above, it looked like a bird.

The vanguard was the bird’s head, the two flanks were its wings, the support unit was its tail, and the command center sat wrapped in the middle.

Because each vehicle was spaced rather far from the next, the outermost flanks were beyond the command center’s line of sight. So they had to use radios to pass information and ensure that the team’s strategy stayed coordinated.

In emergencies, they would also use signal flares and similar methods to warn one another.

If anything went wrong anywhere, every other unit would shift immediately. That quick responsiveness was how the scout unit had escaped death at the hands of voidfiends time and again.

Read оո ΚαtReaⅾіոgСafе

“What a pain…”

After that round of reports, Lu Yun heard a man complaining over the radio.

“If you call us backward, we’re already driving hovercars.”

“But if you call us advanced, we’re still using these brick radios.”

“I’m seriously jealous of those Federation people. I heard they successfully launched another biotech satellite. They can already maintain cross-region communication even under tidal interference.”

“I’m not jealous at all!” another voice said, bright and female. “Biotech satellite, biotech! They’re telling you right there in the name. Do you really think that’s something good?”

“Huh? My dear classmate He Tong, don’t tell me you believe those rumors online too, that biotech satellites are made by fusing living people with satellites and launching them into orbit.”

“Wang Ming, are you an idiot? Isn’t the Sacred Weapon Clan basically that exact sort of thing?”

“You’re all so loud!”

“Can you shut up already!”

“You’re messing up our music!”

The radio dissolved into noisy chatter, and Lu Yun had no choice but to rub his temples and bark an order. “Everyone shut up!”

“The next reporting window is almost here. Since you’ve all got so much energy, do it early. He Tong, tell me the status of the right wing.”

“Everything’s normal, Captain!”

“What about Wang Ming’s left wing?”

“…”

No answer.

That complaining male voice never sounded again.

“Wang Ming?” He Tong’s voice came in quickly. “Come on, Wang Ming, seriously? You’re really going to joke around like this with us?”

“Shut up!”

Lu Yun cut through the noise, carefully checked the comms channel, confirmed that the left wing’s indicator light was still on, then drew a deep breath and asked slowly and clearly, “Tingyun Army, Raider-Hunt Scouts, Private Second Class Wang Ming… report your status immediately.”

No answer.

“I’ll repeat that.”

“Tingyun Army, Raider-Hunt Scouts, Private Second Class Wang Ming… report your status immediately!”

Still no answer.

“Whichever vehicle is closest, give me a visual report.”

“Yes… we can see Wang Ming’s vehicle from here. It’s still moving… everything looks normal.”

Everything looks normal?

On sudden impulse, Lu Yun brought the radio closer to his ear and listened carefully to the tiny background noises.

Crunch… crunch…

He heard a faint sound, something very like bones being chewed.

A chill shot across his back in an instant.

“Nearest vehicle, throw a Qi-Fire Explosive Flame Array at Wang Ming’s vehicle on the left wing.”

“Captain? But Wang Ming, he…”

Rеad оո КαtRеαdіոɡСаfe

“Shut up, rookie! The vehicle over there, do as I said!”

His order was carried out immediately.

Very soon, everyone looked toward the left wing and saw a massive fireball bloom there. Only afterward came the booming explosion. The vehicles that were somewhat closer could clearly feel the blast pressure from the wind.

“Left wing, change formation and close inward.”

Lu Yun was still issuing orders.

“Right wing becomes the vanguard. North, north!”

He was shouting those last words, but no one minded his roughness, because every single person had already seen what the huge fire-cloud had illuminated: an elongated silhouette that looked like an enormous spider.

“The Eight-Eyed Demon King!”

“Why is she here alone?”

“Turn, now!”

From the burning wreckage, a figure stirred and rose up: a naked, sinister woman whose body looked painted with brilliant red, blue, yellow, and black patterns.

Her build was unnaturally long and slender, at least four meters tall. Both legs became insect-like claws below the knees, and four bent blade-limbs jutted from her back, making her look bizarre and savage.

After climbing out, she licked the human blood from the corner of her mouth, then looked at the fleeing vehicles with an amused smile.

“Your reactions are as quick as ever…”

“But things are a little different this time…”

Boom!!!

The instant she finished speaking, another fireball erupted from a point even farther away, which by all logic ought to have been the right wing that had just converted into the vanguard. The firelight happened to illuminate a mountain-like shadow.

“The Mountain-Shaking Demon King!”

Lu Yun stared in horror at that enormous outline, his gaze settling on the two horn-like projections extending from its head, and his heart began to tremble.

The Eight-Eyed Demon King and the Mountain-Shaking Demon King were operating alone and intercepting them here!

What did that mean?

Voidfiends were competitors with one another. Especially at a moment when the two sides were making contact, these Demon Kings should have been staying with the army to stand guard. Why had they been sent out instead?

Could it be that they had already reached a partnership?

Lu Yun did not want to accept that reality. With a twisted expression, he still tried to command the unit to break through.

But very soon, as yet another shadow descended ahead of them, every member of the scout unit gradually fell silent. Some even stopped controlling their vehicles altogether and simply sat there in a daze.

“Out of the vehicles!”

Lu Yun roared and quickly directed part of the unit to dismount.

“Circulate qi!”

“Focus your minds!”

“Form up with me!”

Time was short. He only managed to gather a little over thirty men. They all activated the Tingyun Art at the same time, and the qi spilling from their bodies linked together in an instant, twisting into a single strand and rapidly pouring into Lu Yun at the front.

Then suddenly, the night mist tore open, and a bright white streak shot out from within.

“Get back!”

Lu Yun gathered all that power into his war sword, gripped it with both hands, and slashed forward, colliding head-on with the tip of the white streak.

Rеаⅾ οn ΚatRеaԁіոɡCαfе

Clang!

Screeeeee!!!

The two met, and the white light was forced to stop, revealing its true form: a silver-white pearl the size of a bowl, now spinning madly as it scraped against the blade and emitted shrill bursts of sound.

“Hyaa!”

Bang!

As Lu Yun ground his teeth and strained with all his might, he finally managed to knock the pearl away. It traced an arc through the air and fell toward the front, where it was caught neatly by a hand.

The night fog dispersed, and the owner of that hand appeared as well. It was a tall silver-haired man in white robes, with a faintly scholarly elegance to him.

But no one would really mistake him for a human.

The proof was too obvious. The shadow he cast behind him was unmistakably that of a gigantic wolf demon.

“The Eclipsing-Moon Demon King!”

Lu Yun glared at the man through clenched teeth. “You’ve always been so arrogant and proud, and yet even you are willing to cooperate with them?”

“A crude attempt at provocation.”

The silver-haired man narrowed his eyes, instantly seeing through Lu Yun’s intent. His gaze dropped to the sword in Lu Yun’s hand and the complex battle formation around him.

“The qi formation invented by Xiang Xian, the ‘Immortal Strategist,’ lets qi cultivators twist their power into a single strand and fight opponents of a higher cultivation.”

“It is indeed a remarkable technique.”

“But…”

“With only this many people, you can’t stand against five Demon Kings.”

He said five?

Lu Yun froze, and a violent sense of warning exploded in his mind.

He wanted to shout a warning to everyone else, but it was clearly too late. The moment he turned his head and opened his mouth, he saw a gigantic lion-beast, its whole body seeming to burn with golden flames, raise a paw and strike downward. A single swipe turned a full third of the qi formation into blood mist, leaving almost nothing behind.

That was… the Wind-Roaring Demon King…

Boom!

Another impact shook the field. Lu Yun’s vision blurred. It felt as if something had shot up from under his feet. His sword arm was grazed by something sharp, and it was immediately severed and torn away from his body, while he himself was hurled from where he stood by the sheer force.

This…!

He crashed to the ground, struggled to lift his head, and caught sight of a giant insect standing there, its whole body covered in a spiked shell and its mouth like a leech’s, framed against the full moon as it swallowed down a soldier.

“Ah! … Aaaah!”

Crunch… crunch…

The screams and chewing echoed through the night. Lu Yun stared blankly, murmuring the newcomer’s title.

“Even… the Bloodthirsty Demon King too…”

“Enough! Don’t eat too many!”

The giant insect was about to go after more of them when the silver-haired man suddenly shouted a harsh rebuke.

“A bunch of idiots!”

“I already told you these are offerings for the god!”

“If you kill so many in one go, how are we supposed to report back to our lord?”

Rеаԁ оո КаtReаⅾіngСаfе

“What does it matter?” The flaming lion-beast also halted and replied in a voice like rolling thunder.

“They’re only a bunch of humans.”

“If we break through the Tianji Circuit, there’ll be as many humans like this as we could ever want. What, are you worried one bite will be missing?”

Clang!

The moment it finished speaking, a streak of white light shot at it at a sharp angle and smashed directly into its face, making it yelp in pain as half a tooth went flying.

“…Eclipsing Moon!”

“What an idiot.”

The lion-beast wanted to resist further, but very quickly the white light became a pearl again and landed on its head. It seemed to weigh ten thousand tons. No matter how hard the beast struggled, it could not raise its head and could only collapse under the pearl’s suppression.

“You can eat whatever you want after the stronghold falls. That is a matter for later.”

A foot suddenly stepped onto its head. The silver-haired man had walked over.

“You dare scheme against a god for your own petty ends. What do you think the god will think when it finds out?”

“I admit my fault!” Under the silver-haired man’s cold gaze, the lion-beast finally knew fear. It dropped flat to the ground in submission. “I’ll obey your orders, Eclipsing Moon!”

“Good.”

Nodding in satisfaction, the silver-haired man withdrew the pearl and looked toward the scout unit, which had once again huddled together on full alert.

“How boring.”

He frowned suddenly.

“Scouts ought to be made up of elites.”

“And yet there isn’t even a single Golden Core among you.”

“It seems Bai Tingyun never intended for you to return in one piece at all. He was only using you as expendables and throwaway pawns.”

Throwaway pawns…

Lu Yun had been full of despair a moment earlier, but upon hearing that, he froze for an instant, and a flare of light burst from his eyes.

That’s it.

The general never gave us a deadline for when to return. Could the reason be…

“Hm?”

At the same time, the silver-haired man who had been about to strike, along with the other Demon Kings, all paused.

All of them were at the Demon King level, which, translated into qi cultivation terms, was roughly equivalent to Golden Core cultivators.

Their sharper senses and sharper spiritual instincts made them all turn their heads at the same time, looking toward the far end of the night sky, toward the slope in the southeast.

There stood a single man.

A refined scholar in white robes, with a long saber at his waist and a neat mustache.

“Bai… Ting…yun…?”

The silver-haired man pronounced the name one word at a time, his expression twisted so savagely it was almost grinding with hatred.

Before the Demon Kings could think further, the ground trembled, and behind Bai Tingyun on the slope, a black tide began to rise.

It was his Tingyun Army.

At some unknown point in time, that army had already completely encircled the area.