Chapter 136: Clever Plan
Ye Jun had been observing and analysing the situation even as he defended the well from the villagers. For once, he was thankful for having a split mind.
He knew the dark mist was behind the evolution of the Paragon. Similar mist had formed on the other two Paragons before they were consumed by the central Paragon.
So, he could guess that the well was siphoning the villagers’ life force and giving it to the Paragons. They were using it to cultivate, which was why they sat near the well.
It was likely a slow process, but the Paragon could accelerate it somehow, like he was doing currently, and if he succeeded in consuming all the villagers, then they would lose.
’Heck, if even this well alone is consumed, he might become unstoppable.’
Thinking of all this led to Ye Jun focusing hard on the well. That was when he saw, or rather sensed, wisps of dark mist floating above the well.
It was invisible to the naked eye, and he could only sense its sinister nature through his Pseudo Soul Sense.
’I have to stop the dark mist from rising,’ Ye Jun thought. ’I can cover it up, but these villagers won’t give me time for it.’
For a moment, he wondered if he should just kill them, but then he discarded it as even his emotional side began to rise up. He didn’t want to offend Han Yuexin either. Not to mention, it might just help the Paragon.
As he neutralised another woman by breaking her knee joint, he glanced at Han Yuexin’s battlefield. Half of the village had already been destroyed. He couldn’t even spot the walls that once surrounded it.
Then, he looked down and found the woman crawling towards the well with a zealous look on her face. Clicking his tongue, he kicked her away and then used Ashen Phantom Steps to reach the well.
A young man was about to jump into it, shouting the chant, but Ye Jun appeared in time and kicked him away. Unfortunately, he couldn’t control his strength properly this time and broke a few of his ribs.
’Damn it! This can’t go on for long! Think hard! Think!’
He inhaled deeply, even if the air reeked of rotten corpses. He began to shift through the villagers while going through everything once again.
It was then a thought occurred to him. A ridiculous one, but he thought it might work considering the nature of the well.
’Worth a try!’ he gritted his teeth. ’She better compensate me for this!’
Ye Jun took out a sphere filled with deep blue gas, three ethereal rings floating inside it. He looked at it reluctantly, but noticing the villagers around him, he sighed and reached for the well.
Stretching his hand, he crushed the Beast Core as the blue mist trapped inside was finally freed. It mixed with the dark mist, taking on a different shade.
He sensed it all moving toward the battle zone.
’Hopefully it works!’ Ye Jun thought before going back to his work.
"Do it again!"
Soon, he heard those words he had been hoping for. A smile crept onto his face as he punched the ground, sending a mini earthquake that cracked the earth and threw everyone off balance.
Without any hesitation, he reached for the well and took out all of the Beast Cores he had. It pained him to throw them away like this, but it was necessary.
He crushed them all one by one, as different types of Qi began to mix with the dark mist, changing its very property.
"Aghh! Human! Stop it!"
Ye Jun grinned upon hearing the cries of the Paragon and continued to crush the Beast Cores. Once he was done, he looked at the stone parapet and thought of something else.
He ignored the battle for now and sped up his work. But many villagers were getting close. He cursed them in his mind and kicked them away, not even being merciful this time.
Then, he joined his hands and shot a fire arrow at the well. It hit the parapet and exploded, but the result was only a few cracks in the structure.
’Just as I expected,’ Ye Jun thought. ’The whole well is some kind of formation to siphon off life force. That’s why even the walls are reinforced. But if you can crack it, you can break it.’
He poured more than half of his remaining Qi into his hands and muttered, "Fire Arrows!"
More than a hundred blazing fire arrows formed around him, leaving burns on the villagers who dared to get too close to him. He shot them all at the well.
Without waiting for the results, he threw aside the villagers. A loud explosion behind him shook the whole village, becoming even louder than Han Yuexin’s battle.
The earth cracked around him, as some smaller-stature villagers got stuck in the fissures. They tried to crawl out, but a terrible heat wave knocked them unconscious.
Unfortunately, even that didn’t stop them from trying to reach the well. Other villagers were flung away by the shockwave, as some broke their bones and suffered deep wounds.
Even Ye Jun felt the shockwave, but his training in the Gale Pressure Chamber saved him from being blown back. He turned around, finding the parapet broken in many places. The ground around it had been completely destroyed, creating a deep crater.
"INSOLENT CREATURE! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HIS WILL!!!"
"Continue on!"
Ye Jun took advantage of the villagers’ absence and jumped across the crater. Then, he began to punch everything with his full strength.
Safe to say, every single blow of his was enough to shatter even the enhanced parapet, as all the materials dropped into the well and covered the corpses.
He gasped for breath, but still didn’t stop. He continued to pulverise everything around the well, including its walls.
Just as he was wondering if he should get out to deal with the villagers, he felt an ominous feeling grip his heart and raised his head. Out there, he could feel a wrongness descending upon the world, but it was only for a moment before it disappeared, replaced by a bone-chilling scream.
"LORD! DON’T ABANDON ME! I BEG YOU! I WILL SACRIFICE THIS ENTIRE WORLD TO YOU!"
But no one heard his screams.
Ye Jun climbed out of the crater and found Han Yuexin standing atop a wooden beam of a destroyed house. Some parts of her robes were destroyed, revealing her fair skin, but she didn’t seem to care about it.
She furiously played the flute, but Ye Jun heard none of it. He couldn’t, for some reason, so he simply focused on the villagers around him first.
All of them were unconscious.
’So their Lord gave up on this village, huh.’
His gaze shifted towards the fading dark mist around a grotesque monster that could hardly be described as human. He felt disgusted looking at it.
The Paragon continued to scream and thrash around, but something bound him in place, so that was all he could do.
Han Yuexin paused and said, "You did well today. Only because of you has this calamity been avoided. I alone could not have discovered it, let alone dealt with it."
"Don’t you think we should first deal with that man?" Ye Jun said, pointing towards the Paragon. "We shouldn’t relax just because we see victory before us. That’s the worst thing to do."
"Letting down your guard in the face of victory," Han Yuexin chuckled softly. "I know it too, brat. But I needed some time. Watch carefully as I kill him."
She raised her flute again, her killing intent rising high as she played it once more. This time, he could hear it clearly. A high-pitched melody that made his blood boil. It was like a war cry urging him to take everyone’s life.
He watched in awe as seven terrifying swords formed around the Paragon. They moved in unison with the melody before skewering the creature from every side.
The dark mist lingered for a moment before completely dispersing into the wind. Han Yuexin tried to bind it using her techniques, but it was too slippery and vanished without leaving any trace.
The Paragon dropped from the sky, its limbs coming undone along with the rest of its body, which made Ye Jun spit in disgust. He had seen plenty of disgusting things done by humans back on Earth, but this was definitely among the top ones.
"We did it! We saved the village!"