Fu Sisi never imagined that things would go south just like that.
Meeting the remnants of the North Sea Division had badly wounded her.
Strangely though, the heavily injured She Yu had miraculously recovered and seemed to be even stronger than before. She Yu had escaped and left Fu Sisi with a series of bad news to deal with. 13 people had been killed by She Yu. What was odd was that some of their bodies had gone missing. One of these bodies belonged to Gui Hu.
"We're missing five corpses."
Her subordinate's report made her usually calm self become oddly restless.
So many of the missing corpses belonged to members of the Sky Leaf Division. How could this be when there were no signs of wild beasts scavenging?
Could She Yu be behind this?
What could She Yu possibly want with this many Sky Leaf Division corpses? Could it be the Beast Venom Palace instead?
Fu Sisi felt terribly uneasy. The Beast Venom Palace's actions were often strange and hard to predict. Furthermore, they were notorious for their nefarious deeds. What would happen if her teammates' corpses landed in their hands? Would they be able to uncover the Sky Leaf Division's secret and come up with ways to counter them?
Fu Sisi took a deep breath to calm down. She could not bear to continue this line of thought.
She had not managed to capture Ye Baiyi and She Yu had escaped. To make things worse, more than half of her subordinates had been killed, and her teammates' corpses were snatched.
She felt extremely agonized. Returning with such lousy results would definitely incur Madam's wrath. Fu Sisi did not dare harbor any thoughts of being forgiven. This was the first time she had taken on such heavy responsibility, yet she messed it up big time.
These repeated failures had, however, made her more aware.
The Sky Leaf Division's campaigns throughout Beyond Avalon were wildly successful. All the cities they had swept across could only surrender. These continued successes had made the Sky Leaf Division's leadership terribly complacent. At the time, discussions within the division came to the conclusion that only the Holy Emperor and Dai Gang were able to match up to them. They believed that any member of the Sky Leaf Division was no weaker than the top members of other divisions.
Wan Shenwei's final struggle, She Yu's guile, and Shi Beihai's overwhelming power made her realize that the world's "heroes" were not to be trifled with.
What was she going to do now?
She suddenly raised her head and looked into the distance. Those around her looked up at the same time.
Everyone of them was dumbstruck.
…..
The ringing sound reverberating through the air gave a sense of just how terrifyingly fast the shock wave was moving. Shan Minxiong started to feel tense. An astonishingly large broadsword suddenly appeared in his hand. This sinister-looking broadsword was pitch black from tip to base except for the blood red demonic faces inlaid on its blade.
Without any hesitation, he flicked his wrist and nimbly slashed the huge broadsword in a forward arc. As the black ray flew forward, it was accompanied by an eerie wailing that would make even the hardest of men tremble.
Ping!
A soft, crisp sound rang out.
Shan Minxiong's body stiffened. The vine had not struck with much force, but efficiently pierced his defenses with its sharpness. He let out an uncontrollable cry as a wave of indescribable pain washed over his body. Paralysis soon began to set in.
The anguish he was feeling now was completely different from the pain of common injuries. He felt as though an invisible thread was tightening around his brain.
Poison?
Shan Minxiong's heart skipped a beat. He knew of many different poisons that were capable of affecting the mind.
Blinded by the pain, he took a huge step back in retreat. Right at this moment, the immense shockwave arrived at its destination.
Bam!
Shan Minxiong was hit by the force of a stampeding beast. His massive body flew backward like a sandbag.
A flash of green light could be seen as a green vine narrowly missed his body. The soft, agile tendril was like a nimble snake, swiftly retreating upon missing its target.
Duanmu Huanghun!
A single name surfaced in his mind as he sailed through the air.
Duanmu Huanghun was a key member of the Central Pine Faction, the legendary genius of the Duanmu family, and Grandmaster Dai Gang's disciple…
Waves of information flashed through his mind. The pins and needles present throughout his body were a constant reminder of just how precarious of a situation he was in.
Being a genius or whatever was of little value in this day and age. Shan Minxiong had long since lost count of the number of genius elementalists that he had slain, but this Duanmu Huanghun… Even though Shan Minxiong only had a small window to react and could barely use his strength, the fact that he was placed in such a bad position…
Shan Minxiong felt a lingering fear creeping up on him.
Duanmu Huanghun was even more powerful than what the rumors said about him!
Shan Minxiong did not have the luxury of time to ponder over such matters.
The scene before his eyes was hard to watch. Just as he had predicted, the defensive blood canopy had been shattered, and the Pinwheel Sword had devastated the entire area. A 50-foot wide crater on the ground was ample evidence of its sheer might.
Nothing was left standing where the Pinwheel Sword had struck. The entire place was littered with gore. Even the soldiers who were more than 10 feet away suffered varying degrees of severe injuries from the impact.
The Pinwheel Sword's frightening prowess was laid bare for all to see. Shan Minxiong now understood the hate that He Nanshan harbored toward this weapon of mass destruction.
However, the Pinwheel Sword looked as though it wasn't doing too well either. It was stuck in the middle of the crater.
It was not flying… could it be… damaged as well?
Shan Minxiong's eyes lit up.
An opportunity!
Without its speed, the Pinwheel Sword was about as useful as a tiger without fangs. All it could do was wait to be trampled by others.
Rumble, rumble!
The ground shook. Shan Minxiong could tell without looking that two teams of fully equipped bluster mysterious tigers were on the attack. He felt comforted that the ground troops were reacting well to the situation, counter-attacking at the first possible opportunity.
Close range assaults were the bluster mysterious tigers' expertise.
An impressive burst of force propelled their lumbering bodies forward at a swift speed. The bluster mysterious tigers accelerated to their top speed in the blink of an eye. Their full set of armor would allow them to withstand the enemy's attacks and decimate everything standing before them.
Like a warhammer dragged straight out of hell, their only mission was to lay waste to everything.
His spirits lifted, Shan Minxiong brimmed with expectation.
A different scene was playing out on board the Pinwheel Sword.
Gu Xuan and the rest were trying hard to find stable footing. All color had been drained from their faces, and the tremendous impact force had rendered them powerless. They had flown on the Pinwheel Sword many times before, but this was the first time they had experienced such a nightmarish ride.
This was not an offensive strike, this was practically suicide!
It was a miracle that the Pinwheel Sword did not fall apart.
Huo Da was sweating buckets as he anxiously tried to get out of this rut.
The Pinwheel Sword had gone completely through the soil layer and struck the rock stratum beneath. The tip of the Pinwheel Sword was now trapped by rocks. To make things worse, the materials used to construct the Pinwheel Sword were not particularly amazing. The impact from that strike had caused damage to various parts of it.
The fear-inducing rumble was rapidly getting closer to them. Huo Da's stress was also swiftly building up while he concentrated on utilizing his elemental energy.
A sharp noise filled the air as the five elements swirled around the pinwheel. The pinwheel at the rear of the sword began to spin wildly, causing the entire Pinwheel Sword to shudder violently.
Ending up in such a state left Huo Da feeling like he had failed as a Master.
Duanmu Huanghun shot a glance at Huo Da and snorted, "There's still time."
Opening his palm, he produced a small twining branch that glowed a faint green. He squatted down and placed it on the floor.
Thinking about his escaped prey made him condescendingly snort once more. That guy who was decked out in high-ranking gear had reacted quickly enough to avoid him.
The green glow beneath his feet grew brighter, partially engulfing Duanmu Huanghun. His handsome face was frozen in a solemn expression within the light, making him look like a deity who had descended from heaven.
Shan Minxiong witnessed the amazing scene that followed.
The twining branches of Duanmu Huanghun's [Viridescent Flower] swiftly covered every inch of the Pinwheel Sword and continue growing outward to fill the entire crater. The speed at which this occurred was oddly reminiscent of cotton candy expanding.
Countless green vines then sprang outward from the crater, spreading relentlessly like a green flood.
The green vines moved with the ferocity of an escaped green beast that had been trapped since time immemorial.
As the earth groaned beneath the magnitude of what was happening above it, the two teams of bluster mysterious tigers rammed into the relentless green vines from different directions.
Roar!
A series of explosions ensued. In the face of the bluster mysterious tigers, the green vines that had burst forth with the magnitude of a hundred waterfalls collapsed like fragile bubbles. The armored riders astride the bluster mysterious tigers brandished their heavy weapons to face the green vines. Some of them wielded warhammers while others carried polearms, heavy maces, and other equally large weapons. The riders' weapons and armor were shrouded with a black flame that, upon closer inspection, had a blood red core.
Upon contact with the black flame, Duanmu Huanghun's green vines were burned to a crisp, releasing wisps of green smoke.
The morale of the blood elementalists soared. They were confident in shredding their enemies as long as they could reach the Pinwheel Sword.
Practically unstoppable, the teams charged forward!
Soon, they realized that something was fishy.
How was it possible that they were still nowhere near the Pinwheel Sword?
The Pinwheel Sword had only been about 100 yards away. For them, they could easily close this distance in a single breath. They had charged forward for more than 10 breaths, yet they had not reached the Pinwheel Sword.
Everyone's facial expression changed slightly. They ordered their growling bluster mysterious tigers to halt as they discovered something wasn'
An enormous wall of green vines stood tall before their eyes, while an endless green fog surrounded them. The green fog was wispy and rarefied, yet they could not see anything beyond three yards.
It was a trap!
The riders were at a loss about what to do.
Gu Xuan looked out from within the Pinwheel Sword and was astonished by what he saw.
Right after they charged into the green mist, the two teams of bluster mysterious tigers started to deviate from their original trajectory and started to circle the Pinwheel Sword. Seeing them run around obliviously in circles was both comedic and strangely odd.
"What technique is this? It's amazing!" Gu Xuan muttered to himself in a daze. He suddenly realized that it looked a little familiar. "This kind of looks like the blood mist from before."
Surprised by his observation, Duanmu Huanghun shot Gu Xuan a brief look.
The creation of this skill was indeed inspired by the [Smoke Flower Lock].
Duanmu Huanghun pondered over the [Smoke Flower Lock] while idling around for the past two days. He found it rather interesting and started to implement some of his own ideas on it. With that, the [Viridescent Flower, Obfuscating Fog] technique was created.
His lower jaw twitched as he let out a condescending snort.
None of you know anything about the power of a genius.
"It's done!" Huo Da cheered excitedly as the Pinwheel Sword finally struggled free of its fetters and soared into the sky.
Duanmu Huanghun looked away indifferently after seeing the ground and the blood elementalists rapidly shrink from the corner of his eye. He lithely leapt onto a swaying vine amid the adulatory looks from the others, calmly closing his eyes to rest.
It was not long before his eyes abruptly snapped open, and he surged to his feet. Turning his head to the left, Duanmu Huanghun saw something that left him aghast.
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