Chapter 909: Humanoid Monster
The bright moonlight filtered through the bamboo branches and leaves, casting dappled patches of light on the ground.
The shapes of the light patches resembled terrifying ghost patterns, or ferocious barbarian beasts, giving off an exceptionally eerie feeling.
"Rustle, rustle."
An icy cold wind blew through the bamboo forest, causing all the spiritual bamboo trunks to sway, and the fallen leaves on the ground were lifted up by the wind.
Zhang Ruochen sensed something was wrong and immediately stopped healing. He abruptly opened his eyes and stood up.
"Whoosh." The Abyssal Ancient Sword also detected the dangerous aura, flew out of its sheath, and dragged circles of sword light around Zhang Ruochen, clearly protecting its master.
"I sense an extremely powerful evil spirit rapidly approaching us," said the sword spirit of the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Could it be the Undying Blood Clan again?" Zhang Ruochen looked puzzled.
With Ling Feiyu stationed at Bamboo Joint Mountain now, unless the Undying Blood Clan was extremely foolish, they shouldn't come charging in.
Regardless of what kind of evil spirit it was, Zhang Ruochen remained highly vigilant, fully releasing his spiritual power to cover an area of thirty miles around him.
No movement, no matter how slight, could escape his perception.
Just then, a mass of icy baleful aura burst into Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power perception range. Its speed was astonishing: thirty miles, twenty miles, ten miles, nine miles, eight miles...
The Abyssal Ancient Sword trembled violently, letting out a sharp clang, and stirred up dozens of sword qi that flew through the bamboo forest.
"How can it be this fast?"
Zhang Ruochen's face turned extremely pale. He felt an unprecedented sense of crisis, and every hair on his body stood on end.
As that mass of baleful aura charged within one mile of him, he immediately formed a sword seal and softly shouted, "Golden Dipper Facing the Sun."
The sword technique Zhang Ruochen executed was a move from the Nine Lives Sword Art.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword shot straight out, radiating golden light, tearing through the night sky, and producing a deafening air explosion.
Wherever the ancient sword passed, all the spiritual bamboo exploded into powder.
In front of the Abyssal Ancient Sword, a mass of blood-red qi clouds appeared, churning endlessly. Vaguely, one could see the figure of a humanoid monster at the center of the qi clouds.
The humanoid monster was covered in long blood-red fur, with sharp fangs in its mouth, and its pupils emitted a bone-chilling baleful aura.
"Boom!"
The humanoid monster's palm shot forward, colliding with the tip of the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
A single strike from the Abyssal Ancient Sword was enough to shatter a hundred-pattern sacred artifact, yet it failed to pierce the humanoid monster's palm. Instead, the sword was sent flying back by the palm strike.
The humanoid monster's speed did not diminish as it charged toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen immediately activated the power of the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, unleashing the Phoenix Divine Seal Swiftness, and shifted sideways to the right.
But the humanoid monster was even faster, instantly appearing before Zhang Ruochen and striking out with a claw.
The opponent's cultivation had clearly surpassed the Half-Saint level. How could the current Zhang Ruochen possibly withstand such an attack?
Even a ninth-step Half-Saint, if lightly touched by the humanoid monster's claw, would likely end up dead or crippled.
Recently, the results of Zhang Ruochen's sparring sessions with Ling Feiyu finally showed.
Facing such a crisis, Zhang Ruochen remained remarkably composed. He knew that if he could hold on for just a short while, the experts at Bamboo Joint Mountain would surely rush over as fast as possible.
Therefore, merely surviving was already a significant success.
Facing the humanoid monster's claw imprint, Zhang Ruochen twisted his body with great effort, narrowly avoiding a fatal strike to his heart.
"Bang."
The humanoid monster's claw struck Zhang Ruochen's left shoulder, colliding with the Meteor Invisibility Cloak. Sparks flew with a crackling sound.
Even though Zhang Ruochen's physical body was extremely tough, he still suffered greatly. He was sent flying sideways, breaking seven spiritual bamboo trunks in a row, and coughed up seven mouthfuls of blood.
"What evil dares to break into the Town Prison Ancient Clan and kill people?"
Ling Feiyu's voice came from the peak of Bamboo Joint Mountain.
At the same time, she swiftly flew out of her cave dwelling, diving down toward the location of Zhang Ruochen and the humanoid monster.
However, the humanoid monster showed no fear of Ling Feiyu. It charged at Zhang Ruochen again, extending both claws.
In front of its claws, two three-zhang-long blood qi claw imprints condensed, carrying a powerful corrosive force, pressing down toward the top of Zhang Ruochen's head.
Before the claw imprints even landed, the ground beneath Zhang Ruochen began to collapse.
Even if Ling Feiyu was fast, she was still too far away. By the time she arrived, she would probably only be able to collect Zhang Ruochen's corpse.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen could only rely on his own strength to survive.
The veins on his body bulged. His eyes widened as he roared, "Abyssal!"
"Whoosh!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword flew back and hovered in front of him.
The sacred qi from Zhang Ruochen's five sacred meridians and thirty-six channels surged endlessly, pouring into the Abyssal Ancient Sword. In the blink of an eye, he activated the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force.
With a whoosh, the Abyssal Ancient Sword slashed out, dragging a crescent-shaped arc of light.
This sword strike was not a head-on collision. Instead, it used the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force to strike at the weak point of the humanoid monster's power, employing a subtle force that could deflect a thousand pounds.
With a bang, the powerful sword qi broke through the two blood qi claw imprints in front of the humanoid monster's claws, forcing it back two steps.
At the same time, a blinding white beam of light descended from above the bamboo forest, striking the top of the humanoid monster's head.
The humanoid monster was remarkably capable. It raised both hands, condensed blood qi, and blocked the white beam.
"Whoosh——"
The Heaven-Burying Sword pierced through the white beam, breaking through the blood qi on the humanoid monster's body.
Immediately after, a deafening explosion echoed through the entire bamboo forest.
A powerful wave of sword qi surged in all directions, reducing all the spiritual bamboo in Bamboo Joint Mountain to dust. Even the mountain range, stretching for dozens of miles, was covered in massive cracks.
The defensive formations within the mountain could not withstand a single sword strike from Ling Feiyu.
Zhang Ruochen was also sent flying hundreds of zhang by the powerful sword qi wave. He plunged the Abyssal Ancient Sword into the ground to stabilize himself.
Gradually, the dust settled.
The white Heaven-Burying Sword was seen embedded in the humanoid monster's chest, pinning it firmly to the ground. Bolts of lightning surged from the sword's body, and electric patterns filled the pitch-black night sky.
Yet the humanoid monster did not die. It let out beast-like roars, and its struggles caused the entire Bamboo Joint Mountain to shake.
"Whoosh, whoosh."
The experts of the Town Prison Ancient Clan arrived one after another.
Seeing the humanoid monster pinned beneath the Heaven-Burying Sword, everyone's faces showed strange expressions.
A very old Half-Saint, looking at the struggling humanoid monster with a complex expression, said, "He's been locked up for so many years. How did he escape again?"
"The Nether Prison's defenses are extremely tight. There's no way he could have escaped on his own. Someone must have deliberately released him."
...
Just then, Shi Ren and a group of elders from the Shi family also arrived at Bamboo Joint Mountain.
Seeing the humanoid monster, Shi Ren's body trembled, and he immediately rushed over. However, the sword qi emitted by the Heaven-Burying Sword was too immense, directly sending him flying.
Ling Feiyu stepped on a mass of purple clouds, descended from above, and stood beside the humanoid monster, looking at it.
Shi Ren knelt on the ground, his face covered in tears, with a pleading expression. "Sword Saint, please spare his life."
Ling Feiyu's expression was indifferent. Her hand was already on the hilt of the Heaven-Burying Sword as she snorted coldly, "Why should I spare him? So he can continue killing people?"
Ling Feiyu naturally had some understanding of the internal affairs of the Town Prison Ancient Clan and had roughly guessed the identity of the humanoid monster.
Shi Ren's hands dug into the soil, his heart filled with immense pain. "He was locked in the Nether Prison and never came out to harm anyone. Tonight, someone must have deliberately released him, which is why this happened."
Ling Feiyu remained indifferent. "For him, living is actually a kind of pain. Why do you insist on keeping him alive? Besides, if I kill him, there will be no need to worry about someone releasing him in the future to harm the Town Prison Ancient Clan. Isn't that better?"
Wang Beilie, the clan leader of the Town Prison Ancient Clan, had also arrived at Bamboo Joint Mountain. He landed beside Shi Ren, helped him up, and advised, "Ren'er, what Feiyu Sword Saint says makes some sense. Perhaps death is true liberation for him."
"No."
Shi Ren's eyes were filled with bloodshot veins. He roared, struck Wang Beilie in the chest with a palm, and charged backward, rushing recklessly toward the humanoid monster.
Even if everyone in the world wanted to kill him, Shi Ren would use his last ounce of strength to save his life.
Because the humanoid monster in everyone's eyes was his father.
A sharp glint flashed in Ling Feiyu's eyes. She flicked her sleeve, sending a surge of sacred qi toward Shi Ren, knocking him flying.
With a bang, Shi Ren crashed heavily to the ground.
But he seemed to feel no pain. He got up again and charged toward the humanoid monster.
This time, Wang Beilie acted. He cast a talisman, forming a talisman array that trapped Shi Ren inside.
No matter how Shi Ren roared or attacked, he could not break the talisman array.
Wang Beilie sighed. "Ren'er, you must calm down first. You absolutely cannot fall into demonic possession like your father. After all, you will one day inherit the position of clan leader of the Town Prison Ancient Clan."
Hearing this, Shi Ren inside the talisman array attacked even more frantically, letting out loud roars.
Because of the barrier of the array, no one could hear what Shi Ren was shouting.
A hint of mockery flashed in Wang Beilie's eyes.
Then, he looked at Ling Feiyu, appearing quite melancholy. "To be honest, I really wanted to save his life. But with the great enemy at hand, we cannot afford any mistakes. A single misstep could destroy the entire Town Prison Ancient Clan. Feiyu Sword Saint... please send him on his way."
Wang Beilie shook his head, as if he could not bear to witness the scene. He turned around with his hands behind his back.
However, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Since the clan leader wants to save his life, this junior has a way to do so."
Li Min helped the limping Zhang Ruochen as he walked over, appearing before everyone's sight.