Chapter Thirty-Two: Into the Forest

The Black Gale Crimson Tiger Beast roared furiously at the creature before it and, spreading its wings, hurled itself forward. Gu Zhenzhen held her short sword and let out a soft cry, slashing repeatedly through the air at the creature from a distance. Hua Shaojie reactivated his energy shield and sent all five flying swords straight at the strange beast.

The creature looked like a bear, yet it had a serpent’s head. Merely looking at it was enough to make one feel intensely uneasy. Swish, swish, swish. Hua Shaojie’s five swords sliced through the monster, severing all four of its limbs in a single stroke. But before he could even rejoice, the creature regenerated them whole again. The severed limbs vanished without a trace. Gu Zhenzhen’s sword aura struck the monster’s chest and carved out a huge gash, yet it healed in an instant.

The Black Gale Crimson Tiger Beast and the monster tore at each other in a savage grapple. With a violent shake of its head, the creature sent the tiger beast flying. Its head could actually extend to a length of three meters.

“What in the world is this thing? It’s way too troublesome!” Hua Shaojie cried helplessly, though his flying swords never ceased as they continued to hack at the monster. Unfortunately, no matter how grievously it was wounded, it could recover in an instant. Hua Shaojie and Gu Zhenzhen could only fight while retreating.

“Shaojie, should we call the others for help? This isn’t a solution if it keeps going like this,” Gu Zhenzhen said.

“I don’t think that’s necessary. The others are probably running into the same sort of trouble. Don’t worry, watch me.”

Hua Shaojie suddenly withdrew his flying swords. The five blades lined up in a row before him. He formed a sword seal with the two fingers of his right hand, supported his right wrist with his left, and lifted the seal upward from below.

“Rise!”

Hua Shaojie shouted. Starting half a meter in front of the five flying swords, the ground surged violently as rocks and clods of earth erupted from below, blocking the monster’s path.

“If I can’t kill you, then I’m done playing with you. Heh heh. Zhenzhen, let’s go.”

With that smug remark, Hua Shaojie took Gu Zhenzhen’s hand and headed off in the other direction.

Just as Hua Shaojie had guessed, the others were encountering similar problems as well.

Guo Ziping and Liu Yuefeng ran into a swarm of giant ants, each one as large as a small dog. There were about thirty of them. Fortunately, both of them had energy shields, and under the ants’ relentless assault they kept backing away.

“Ziping, these ants’ shells are too hard. My sword’s already nicked, and this is only a low-grade spirit weapon. We need to find a way to shake these big ants off,” Liu Yuefeng said as she retreated.

“That’s true enough, but they’re too fast. No matter how we run, they catch up,” Guo Ziping said helplessly. “Right, I think we have no choice but to try it. Yuefeng, what do you think?”

“You mean the combined function Brother Tang talked about?” Liu Yuefeng asked thoughtfully.

“Exactly. Whether it works or not, we have to try, don’t we?”

Guo Ziping punched out. A mass of red light burst from his fist and exploded against one of the giant ants, sending it flipping backward. Yet in the next instant it sprang back up in a carp’s leap.

“Whoa, that’s ridiculous. An ant doing a carp jump?” Liu Yuefeng screamed at the sight. “Hurry up and combine already. What are you standing there for?”

While calling to Guo Ziping, she activated the ring’s combination function.

“Oh, right, right!”

Guo Ziping snapped to and also triggered the combination function.

As Guo Ziping and Liu Yuefeng drew close, their two energy shields actually began to merge when they touched. In the end, the two of them stood hand in hand within a new shield formed from the union of the original two. This new energy shield was several times sturdier than the one they had before. It was no simple matter of one plus one equaling two.

“Hmm, not bad at all. Brother Tang really is a man of many talents,” Guo Ziping said, admiring the new shield.

“If you want to admire him, at least get us out of here first. Running for our lives comes first! Hurry up!” Liu Yuefeng said, giving him an angry punch.

“Oh, activate the flight combination function.”

Guo Ziping and Liu Yuefeng started the rings’ flight function.

With a whoosh, the two of them vanished in an instant under the combined ring functions, leaving behind faint, dreamlike streaks of color in the forest, a marvelous sight created by the energy shield moving at extreme speed. The giant ants, meanwhile, spun in circles where they stood, the two feelers on their heads constantly touching one another.

“Pengfei, watch out!” Lu Zhengyang shouted from behind Ding Pengfei.

“Hmph, childish trick. Watch this!”

Ding Pengfei paid it no mind. In this forest, one could say he was in his element. He specialized in wood-element arts, and he also possessed the superpower to control plants. Here, the wood-element energy was abundant beyond measure. With a flip of his hand, Ding Pengfei unleashed a deep-green blade aura, almost solid in appearance, and cleaved a flying bird that had been sneaking up behind him cleanly in two.

It turned out that Lu Zhengyang and Ding Pengfei had been advancing together in this direction. They had only just reached this spot when they came into conflict with these birds. Though they looked no different from ordinary sparrows, the attack power of their beaks was horrifying. In just three strikes, they could punch a hole through Lu Zhengyang and the others’ energy shields. Though the holes were not large, and the shields would recover, they were just enough for the birds to slip inside.

At first Lu Zhengyang had not taken it seriously, and one bird had actually managed to get inside the shield. Fortunately, Lu Zhengyang’s reaction was quick. He unleashed a string of fireballs and burned the bird to ashes without leaving so much as a speck behind.

Lu Zhengyang flicked his fingers again and again, launching fireballs nonstop. In a single minute, he fired out at least a hundred. Ding Pengfei’s hands danced through the air, each motion sending out nearly ten blade auras. Yet even with such dense attacks from the two of them, the number of birds only kept increasing.

“Brother Zhengyang, go a little easier. If you keep this up, we’ll be able to roast these little birds whole. At this rate, there won’t even be a feather left. Heh heh,” Ding Pengfei joked as he fought.

“You make it sound so easy standing there. I don’t have your leisure. If I wanted, I’d burn this whole place to the ground,” Lu Zhengyang said, growing more and more incensed with each kill.

“All right, all right, I won’t say another word. Just watch.”

Ding Pengfei stopped sending out blade auras. He pressed his palms together and lifted them above his head, then drew a circle outward with both hands.

“Grow!”

The plants around them suddenly seemed to have been fed some kind of stimulant and began growing wildly. In a flash, they wove themselves into a net around the two of them, tighter and denser by the second. A few minutes later, a huge green sphere woven from branches and leaves had sealed the pair inside, leaving no opening for the birds to enter.

“Brother Ding, isn’t this what they call being trapped in your own cocoon? The birds can’t get in now, but how are we supposed to move?” Lu Zhengyang said teasingly from within the leafy cocoon.

Ding Pengfei only smiled mysteriously.

“Just sit tight. Now I’ll let you enjoy the feeling of swinging on a swing. I’m sure it’s been a long time since you last did that.”

He also sat down cross-legged. The enormous sphere began to move. A branch coiled around the great ball and flung it outward. As soon as that branch left the ball, another branch ahead of it took over, winding around the sphere and hurling it forward once more.

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