Refuse to trample on the pride of heaven

After much persuasion, Jun Ning finally calmed down and threw the Luoying Sword back to Shen Wenxin, causing Shen Wenxin to hug his beloved sword for a while with a broken heart...

The dusk was as dark as lead. As everyone was rushing along the gap in the clouds towards the formation, the crisp sound of dead branches breaking suddenly came from the valley.

Seventeen or eighteen ragged mortals staggered out of the fog. The old man in the lead was holding a child in his arms. His trouser legs were stained with rotten leaves and dark red blood. In his hand was a half-broken hatchet - what was condensed on the blade was not human blood, but translucent gelatinous mucus, which glowed strangely in the twilight.

“Save us!” The middle-aged woman at the front of the team suddenly fell down, her knees hitting the gravel and bleeding, but she ignored the pain and rolled to her feet, “There’s something chasing us from behind! It can eat people—”

Before he could finish his words, a teeth-grinding sound of bones breaking came from the depths of the miasma.

More than twenty hunched figures staggered out of the bushes, their skin a bluish-gray color like corpse wax, their pupils cloudy like glass balls covered with gray, their fingertips covered with black nails, with pieces of uneaten flesh embedded in the cracks between their nails.

They let out inarticulate roars from their throats, and under the tattered lapels of their chests, one could see tiny black nematodes wriggling in their rotting muscles. With every step they took, mucus dripped from their joints, leaving scorch marks on the ground that made sizzling sounds.

"Save people first!" Seeing this, Lu Wensheng immediately reached out to help up the stumbling boy. The other's wrist was burning hot when he touched it, but at the moment of contact, a very light black mist flashed through the boy's fingertips, as fast as a night bird flying over the water. Because it was extremely faint, no one noticed it.

Ji Yanli returned to his ruthless and taciturn nature. With a pinch of sword formula, three hidden swords flew out of his sleeves. The silver light flashed like a cold plum breaking through ice. The head of the corpse ghost that was hit first exploded, and the rotten flesh splattered on the dead leaves, with green smoke rising. The others didn't even have the interest to take action.

Before those corpse ghosts could get close, they were swept by Ji Yanli's sword energy and turned into sporadic phosphorescent fire floating in the black mist. The whole process took only a breath and his clothes were not even stained with dust.

A low-level corpse ghost can chase people, but in front of a cultivator, it is just a matter of driving a spirit sword for a few breaths.

"Thank you, Immortal, for saving my life!" The old man knelt down, and the mortals behind him kowtowed in unison. They didn't feel any pain when their knees hit the gravel ground. It was Lu Wensheng who used his spiritual power to "force" them to stand up.

He caught a glimpse of the young man in blue clothes whom he had helped before. He was leaning on his knees and gasping for breath. There were dry yellow grass leaves on his temples, and his trouser leg was torn at his left knee, revealing blood on the exposed skin. His expression was not of fear, but hesitation.

"Do you have anything to say?"

"Please help us, immortal masters!" The young man staggered and fell in front of everyone, his fingertips dug deeply into the mud, a half-barbed vine was stuck on his shoulder, and his words were sincere.

He raised his head and prepared to cry for help, but his throat suddenly choked when he saw the robes of the crowd clearly - after all, those leading the way were geniuses, and their current appearance really subverted the image of the righteous monks in his memory.

Although the monks were surrounded by noble spiritual energy, their clothes were covered with holes cut by sword energy. The monk who had just made a move had his brocade robe torn into seventeen or eighteen pieces, revealing the silver crane pattern on his inner garment flickering in the twilight. The female monk clutched the cuffs of her lotus-embroidered robe, her wrist bones visible at the torn part, but she still stood with her back tensed like a peacock with its feathers standing on end. The most outrageous person had his collar torn to his collarbone, but he insisted on holding his sword with one hand to pretend to be majestic, while his fingertips were rubbing the broken tassel of the jade pendant uncomfortably.

This group of geniuses who should have had an immortal look now looked like those aunties in the market who had their clothes pulled by them, yet they were still acting arrogantly - Wu Feipeng turned his back and secretly straightened his hair crown, Tang He pretended to cough but was actually smoothing out his wrinkled undershirt, and the sound of the clothes tearing made him stiff instantly.

The young man's Adam's apple rolled, and the corner of his eyes swept across the frost petals in their hair that had not been plucked, and the corners of his mouth almost twitched uncontrollably... The appearance of these monks in front of him was not so much the pure and untainted immortals that mortals admired, but more like "embarrassed immortals" who had just experienced a melee.

Aren’t they the ones who pay the most attention to their clothes and appearance?

The boy's prepared words for help just rolled over on the tip of his tongue.

The hems of these people's clothes were stained with broken leaves and their hair was covered with frost, but their backs were straight and their hands were holding their magic weapons firmly, as if their dishevelled appearance was just an illusion.

Noticing the young man's suspicious pause, everyone naturally realized the reason. These geniuses who were supposed to have a sage-like appearance must have been like reeds caught in a hurricane, with their fur standing on end.

But she couldn't lose her composure. She pretended not to know and kept her back straight. But in fact, her fingertips were unconsciously stroking the torn hem of her clothes. Her majestic posture was a little shaky and she really wanted to dig her toes into the ground.

"We just encountered a powerful demon tribe."

"Yeah, but we still took care of it."

"Come here, demon. I am terribly strong now."

"You are just a demon. Your clothes are just a little torn."

It flashed quickly, so the neatly dressed bystander Yan Qingshu said: What demon clan, don’t you want to laugh when you say this?

Seeing how they were trying to cover up their mistakes, the young man realized that his pause just now was too obvious. He hurriedly lowered his eyelashes to hide the surging emotions in his eyes, chose to skip the question, and recomposed his emotions.

"Those guys have set up a formation in the valley! Now they've released monsters. If we don't break the formation, we won't be able to survive—"

He raised his face, tears still condensed on his eyelashes, but when he looked at the monks in front of him, a very faint obscurity flashed in his eyes, "I know something about it! They transport flesh and blood, imprison the souls of living people to maintain the formation... They want to drain our flesh and blood and souls!"

"Get up first and talk after you calm down..." Lu Wensheng said in a gentle tone, helping the young man up, his voice faint.

"But I'm a little curious, how do you know the formation? How do you know all this?"

He looked up at Lu Wensheng, tears welling in his eyes: "Master told me! Before he was captured, Master asked us to find the Immortal Master. He is knowledgeable and I tried my best to remember everything he said..."

The young man grabbed Lu Wensheng's sleeves, his knuckles turned white from the force, his whole body was shaking, but he stared into Lu Wensheng's eyes.

"Master! Master, you have to believe me! My benefactor is a very famous gentleman! Everyone knows it..."

The other people who survived the disaster echoed this and seemed to be respectful to the gentleman.

"I believe you." Lu Wensheng smiled gently.

"I'm going too! Sir is also my benefactor, I'm going too!"

"Okay, we can go into the formation together." Lu Wensheng stopped Wu Feipeng who wanted to dissuade him with his eyes. He looked sincere and his tone had the magic power to calm his heart. "But you have to follow us closely. It's very dangerous in the formation."

The corners of the boy's lips curled up quickly when he lowered his head, and then immediately turned into grateful sobs: "Thank you, Immortal! I will be obedient..."

Lu Wensheng turned his head, but his eyes dimmed a little: Hmm, there are fluctuations of demonic energy, but he was very anxious, thinking that they entered the formation. Was it arranged by the demons?