Chapter 61 : Fierce Battle
Chapter 61: Fierce Battle
However, the two women quickly noticed Long Tao’s presence, and disbelief surfaced on both their faces.
Clearly, neither of them had expected that a man with only Qi Refining cultivation would appear in this place.
Yet with a powerful enemy before them, they had no time to spare any attention.
In a battle of this level, even a moment’s lapse could result in immediate severe injury or even death.
Long Tao also made a swift judgment.
The items in his pack were essentially all prepared for dense-forest exploration.
Against the elusive Foundation Establishment–level assassin from earlier, they would likely be of little use.
Still, he quietly took out one item and clenched it tightly in his hand as a final life-saving backup.
Just as the group maintained full vigilance and searched for the assassin’s whereabouts, a blurred humanoid silhouette suddenly flashed into existence behind Long Tao! Not far away, Luo Yusi cried out in alarm, and spider silk shot forth at high speed in an attempt to intercept.
But the distance was simply too great.
The enemy’s dagger stabbed straight toward Long Tao’s back—this was virtually a one-strike kill move! Yet at the critical instant, a soft halo of light suddenly rippled around Long Tao, and the True Essence Protective Barrier manifested once more, forcibly blocking the fatal blow.
The opponent had anticipated that Long Tao might possess some form of protective measure, but he had never imagined it would be such a formidable True Essence Protective Barrier.
His right hand was numbed slightly by the recoil, but his combat experience was extremely rich.
Without the slightest panic, he immediately prepared to vanish and retreat again—only to realize in shock that both his legs were already tightly entangled by a silk net that had been silently laid at some unknown moment!
This sudden turn of events brutally interrupted his displacement.
Just as he hurriedly swung his dagger, trying to cut through the silk net binding his legs, how could Luo Yusi and Zhu Huaisu give him even the slightest chance to escape again? The spider silk that shot toward him this time did not miss, wrapping around him at lightning speed as if alive, binding him tightly from head to toe.
“Ugh—ah!!” The assassin let out a roar like a trapped beast.
His spiritual energy erupted without reservation, surging outward with him at the center as a violent energy shockwave, attempting to shatter the restraints on his body.
The seemingly ordinary Wuyi Sect disciple robes he wore suddenly lit up with several defensive runes.
As light flowed across them, the bound silk threads were forced to swell rapidly under the immense force.
Several thin strands were already stretched to their limits, on the verge of being forcibly torn apart!
A faint glimmer flashed through the compound eyes of Luo Yusi, but she remained completely unflustered.
Demonic power surged through her, and on her massive golden body, mysterious patterns lit up one by one.
Without sparing any cost, her demonic power poured into the spider silk, continuously reinforcing the bindings.
The assassin barely managed to free one arm, but the dagger in his hand did not slash at the silk.
Instead, he flung it away, transforming it into a streak of cold light that precisely struck Zhu Huaisu’s longsword as she attempted to seize the opening and attack.
Even more terrifying was that he could remotely control the dagger with spiritual energy alone, using it to engage Zhu Huaisu in a fierce close-quarters exchange of blades.
For a time, the two were locked in a stalemate!
Long Tao had already retreated far away.
In a battle of this level, not only could he not intervene—being able not to hinder his allies was already a blessing.
Yet the strength of this Wuyi Sect assassin was truly horrifying.
After being caught by a tactical misstep and ensnared by a single net, he was still able to fight one against two under such extreme disadvantage, and even avoid falling behind! On one side, he fully unleashed his spiritual energy to resist Luo Yusi’s Spirit Threads restraint; on the other, he still had the presence of mind to divide his focus and control a weapon to engage Zhu Huaisu at close range.
At this moment, Long Tao’s gratitude toward True Person Zhiying was beyond measure.
If she had not instantly eliminated four enemies earlier—allowing all twelve assassins to break in—the trouble would truly have been immense.
However, just as both sides were locked in a grueling stalemate, the Dark Cloud Treading Snow cat that had been silently lurking in the shadows suddenly struck! Like a ghost, it darted out and bit down with perfect precision on a certain spot on the assassin’s right shoulder.
From afar, Long Tao could not understand it at all.
What use was a single bite like that? It did not even seem to break the skin, did it?
Reality immediately delivered him a resounding slap in the face.
The assassin seemed to be instantly drained of all strength and could no longer contend with Luo Yusi’s Spirit Threads.
His entire body was wrapped tightly layer upon layer by spider silk like a deflated sack, completely immobilized.
At this moment, the assassin’s heart was filled with regret and unwillingness.
Based on their understanding of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect, it was indeed possible that this Secret Realm mission would involve assistance from the Demon Race.
According to past experience, the Azurewood Demon Forest Secret Realm would most likely see that snake demon named Bai Yingying appear.
As such, all the talismans and artifacts they had prepared were targeted specifically at snake demons.
Who could have imagined that this time, the opponent would be a golden giant spider the likes of which they had never heard of before? This completely disrupted their entire deployment.
In fact, if not for the bizarre spider silk of this Spider Spirit catching them off guard, then even if only eight people had entered the Secret Realm, they would have had absolute confidence in achieving even greater results.
And that black-and-white Spirit Cat was also anything but simple! Not only could it see through his invisibility, it could even precisely locate the tiny, hard-to-detect weak point on his right shoulder when he was circulating energy, severing his spiritual energy eruption with a single bite…
Defeat was inevitable.
A trace of madness flashed through the assassin’s eyes as he began to recklessly reverse the flow of spiritual energy throughout his body, attempting a final desperate gamble—even if it meant perishing together, he wanted to drag a few down with him.
However, Zhu Huaisu gave him no opportunity whatsoever.
The longsword in her hand transformed into several cold streams of light and thrust out at high speed, targeting the crown of his head, his throat, his heart, and his dantian.
Every strike was lethal, without the slightest mercy!
This assassin truly was at the Mid-to-Late Foundation Establishment Stage.
Long Tao even glimpsed, from the shattered remains of his dantian, a mass of pure spiritual energy that had already begun to condense into a spherical form, slowly rotating before abruptly collapsing—that was the embryonic form of a Golden Core! A cultivator who might one day have formed a Golden Core thus fell into obscurity.
……
A short while later, the two women, one spider, and one cat finally found a relatively safe corner.
Luo Yusi quickly spat out layer upon layer of spider webs, sealing the surroundings tightly.
Only then did everyone manage to catch their breath and begin a proper exchange.
Long Tao skipped all pleasantries and directly relayed the drastic upheavals occurring outside: the Golden Core standoff, the Wuyi Sect’s sudden attempt at mass killing, enemy Golden Core cultivators hidden among the independent cultivators, and the three True Persons currently fighting many enemies with few allies.
As expected, he saw shock and disbelief on both women’s faces, followed by unmistakable distress and panic.
What was originally an ordinary Secret Realm treasure-hunting trip—who could have imagined it would escalate into such a life-and-death battle?
“Fortunately, True Person Zhiying killed four of them in advance…” Zhu Huaisu’s voice trembled slightly as she stroked the Spirit Cat in her arms, still shaken.
“If all twelve assassins had entered, we really would have been in grave danger.”
Long Tao, however, felt somewhat puzzled.
There were fourteen members from the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect entering the Secret Realm this time.
By numbers alone, they should have held the advantage, and there were quite a few experts at the Mid-to-Late Foundation Establishment Stage among them.
Even if those assassins were all as formidable as the one just now, once a real fight broke out, it should at least have ended in a draw.
It hardly seemed deserving of being called “grave danger.”
When he voiced his doubts, the two women’s expressions grew even worse.
Zhu Huaisu steadied herself and explained in a low voice, “It’s not as simple as you think.
Although we all belong to the same sect, we don’t interact much in daily life. There’s a lot of reservation between us, and we’re not even very familiar with each other’s trump cards. Simple coordination is fine, but in a life-or-death team battle that requires absolute trust, our weaknesses are immediately exposed.”
She subconsciously touched the longsword at her waist and continued, “As for that group… the moment we encountered them, we sensed something was wrong. Their coordination was extremely polished, every move aimed directly at vital points. Their positioning and formation shifts were also far superior to ours. On the surface, we had the numbers, but in reality, we were suppressed from beginning to end. If it weren’t for the fact that everyone was carrying several protective artifacts, to be honest, we would have lost people right then and there.”
“Then how did you end up separated?” Long Tao asked.
“It was Senior Brother Fang,” Zhu Huaisu said, a trace of admiration flashing through her eyes.
“He immediately saw that although we had more people, we were at a disadvantage, while their coordination far surpassed ours. The best solution was to forcibly split them apart and defeat them one by one. At the time, he used a group teleportation artifact to randomly teleport everyone on the battlefield to different locations throughout the Secret Realm. Luo Daoist Friend and I… were lucky. Our landing points were close, and we regrouped quickly. After that, we ran into that assassin and fought him all the way until here.”