Chapter 47 Demonic Invasion

Squad Yi-34 handled the scene with the speed of a gust of wind.

Captain Zeng Fu drew his dagger and, in a few quick strokes, gouged out the Magic Cores of the Magic Mane Wolf and Water-Pattern Python, while Li Ying used a silver knife to cut away the soft skin beside the Water-Pattern Python's reverse scale—that was a top-tier material for making defensive Talismans.

Just as Yun Bai finished stowing the Magic Cores, Fu Lianchuan had already hoisted the carcasses of the two monsters and dragged them to the edge of the water pool, where he swung his blade to sever the toughest tendons, tossing the remaining remains casually into the pool, stirring up ripples.

"Let's go." Captain Zeng Fu wiped the blood from his blade and was the first to dive into the thick fog.

The others followed closely behind, the sound of their boots crushing dry branches swallowed by the wind as soon as it arose.

Having gained the group's approval, Yun Bai felt a closer bond with them. Thus, he asked directly, "Why are we in such a rush?"

They hadn't walked fifty steps when a sharp, shrill cry suddenly came from overhead, sounding like iron scraping against stone.

"Stop." Hearing Yun Bai's question, Captain Zeng Fu pressed down on his shoulder, signaling him to turn back.

Yun Bai turned his head instinctively, only to see three gray shadows piercing through the fog layer in the sky, their wings spanning a full ten feet, their sharp talons glinting with a cold light in the morning sun—it was the Magic Falcons!

By the pool, three Magic Falcons were tearing at the monster carcasses, their sharp beaks pecking open flesh, their gray feathers splattered with dark green blood spots. They had clearly been drawn by the scent of blood.

Du San suddenly grinned, revealing two rows of yellow teeth, and looked at Captain Zeng Fu, saying, "Looks like our luck is good today; these three beasts have delivered themselves to us for an extra meal."

A cold arc formed at the corner of Fu Lianchuan's mouth, Li Ying's eyes curved, and even the usually stern Captain Zeng Fu relaxed his brows: "Old Du, it's up to you."

"Alright!" Du San pulled a Formation Plate from his bosom; on its dark cyan surface, seven blue dots were slowly rotating, the silver lines between the dots interweaving into a complex web.

He cradled the Formation Plate in his left hand and rapidly slid his right index finger across its surface; every time he traced a silver line, a wisp of pale golden spiritual light emanated from his fingertip.

Yun Bai held his breath and watched intently.

He saw Du San's fingertip jab sharply at the "Kan" position and then draw a circle at the "Gen" position; the Formation Plate suddenly hummed, and the fog in the direction of the pool began to rotate, as if stirred by an invisible hand.

"Is this the method of a Formation Master?" Yun Bai was inwardly shocked.

Xinyue Hall teams were often equipped with a Cultivator with powerful support abilities. Generally speaking, such a Cultivator was either a Confucian scholar, a Daoist Formation Master, or some Buddhist Arhats specializing in Buddhist chants.

The one equipped in Yun Bai's Squad Yi-34 was none other than Du San, this Formation Master!

The three Magic Falcons seemed to sense danger and suddenly flapped their wings to fly away, but they hit what seemed like a transparent wall, their wings flapping in increasing panic.

The ground around the pool suddenly lit up with a faint glow, and dozens of palm-sized Formation Flags emerged from the soil. The cyan, yellow, and blue flag surfaces were imprinted with runes of mountains, water, and wood respectively. Leveraging the terrain of the forest, land, and pool, they instantly wove into an invisible net—it was actually a containment Formation!

"Li Ying, do it!" Captain Zeng Fu shouted in a low voice.

Li Ying responded by pulling a cylindrical Spirit Gun from her Storage Pouch, its barrel engraved with spiral secret patterns.

Captain Zeng Fu stepped forward to take it, and their fingers flew; with a few clicks, they inserted the Spirit Crystal into the rear of the gun and closed the mechanism. The moment the Spirit Crystal touched the secret patterns, the barrel glowed with a pale blue halo—it was actually a Jin-style Repeating Gun with zero recoil!

Yun Bai had seen this kind of weapon in the State Religion Library database that Xiao Liu had obtained.

The Jin-style Repeating Gun could be compared to a Maxim machine gun with no recoil.

The lack of recoil was the biggest advantage of the Spirit Gun compared to a firearm; this meant that even hip-firing could ensure extremely high accuracy.

Captain Zeng Fu stood up from behind the tree, his arm holding the Spirit Gun as steady as a rock.

In the containment Formation a hundred meters away, one Magic Falcon had just managed to break open a half-foot gap when three blue lights pierced its chest, and feathers mixed with a rain of blood fell rustling down. The other two had just turned when, without even emitting a shriek, they were riddled with holes by precise spiritual bullets.

"Lianchuan, check!"

Fu Lianchuan darted out like an arrow from a bow, his sword light tapping several times on the Magic Falcon carcasses, and after confirming they were completely dead, he waved his hand to signal it was safe.

"Let's go." Captain Zeng Fu beckoned.

The three Magic Falcon corpses lay by the pool, their grayish-brown feathers riddled with bullet holes, black blood seeping into the soil.

Yun Bai crouched down, and just as his fingertip was about to touch the twisted bird beak, a chill suddenly shot up his spine.

"Get back!" Li Ying grabbed his shoulder.

Yun Bai staggered back two steps, only to see black mist rising around the three monster corpses; the mist twisted and squirmed as if it had a life of its own, vaguely forming a hideous bird shape. His temples throbbed, a sharp screeching sound rang in his ears, and countless broken images flashed before his eyes—a blood moon, withered bones, rotting chunks of flesh...

"The Devilish Qi assault has begun." Li Ying's voice seemed to come from very far away. "Newly dead monsters will release their final malice; this is their curse upon the living."

"Sea of Consciousness!" This was an extremely familiar feeling—the same feeling as when a Heavenly Demon entered his body for Possession, or when he encountered the attack of Heavenly Soldiers at the Black Tower.

It was not the first time Yun Bai had endured such an assault, so he reacted quickly, his internal spiritual power rapidly gathering to form a defensive posture.

At the same time, a portion of his consciousness entered his Sea of Consciousness.

An invisible gravitational field expanded, and those cold, devilish thoughts, resentful roars, and terrifying illusions attempting to invade his consciousness and distort his perception were like waste paper caught in a shredder, instantly pulverized by that ruthless black hole, without even leaving a ripple.

Yun Bai bit the tip of his tongue; the taste of blood made him slightly more clear-headed.

He regained his composure and was surprised to see Li Ying's two fingers about to reach his forehead.

He was startled, and the spiritual energy that had already been on guard within his body subconsciously circulated, instantly creating a wind beneath his feet, allowing him to dodge Li Ying's hand.

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

"Whoa!"

Several exclamations sounded at the same time, filled with disbelief.

Yun Bai looked around and only then discovered that Captain Zeng Fu, Du San, Li Ying, and Fu Lianchuan had all stopped what they were doing and were staring at him in unison with shocked expressions.

That look was as if a flower had suddenly sprouted on his face—the kind that could devour Devilish Qi!

Li Ying's fingers froze in mid-air, a trace of embarrassment appearing on her face. She slowly withdrew her hand, her voice carrying a hint of uncertain wavering: "You... you actually woke up so quickly?!"

She had seen too many newcomers encountering a Devilish Qi assault for the first time; the mild cases would be distraught and vomit uncontrollably, while the severe ones would fall into madness or self-harm. Someone like Yun Bai, whose eyes instantly regained clarity and who could even subconsciously dodge a Spirit Official's "Heart-Clearing Finger," was simply unheard of! This could no longer be explained by "strong will."

A flash of understanding crossed Captain Zeng Fu's eyes; he was the only one who knew that Yun Bai had endured "Heavenly Demon Possession" alone.

Although he was mentally prepared for this, seeing Yun Bai so easily resolve the stacked Devilish Qi assault from three Magic Falcons with his own eyes, his shock was still not small.

He asked in a deep voice: "Yun Bai, how do you feel? Is there any discomfort?"

Yun Bai frowned and felt his internal condition; apart from an extremely faint sense of fatigue left after the black hole in his Sea of Consciousness had just been running at high speed, and the stinging pain from biting his tongue just now, there seemed to be no major issues.

He answered truthfully: "I feel a bit nauseous. Otherwise, I'm fine."

That cold, filthy feeling originating from the devilish thoughts did indeed make his stomach churn a bit.

"Otherwise... you're fine?!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Du San, Li Ying, and Fu Lianchuan instantly became extremely colorful, as if they had heard some Arabian Nights tale. Du San even exaggeratedly picked his ear, doubting whether he had heard wrong.

"Just... fine?" Fu Lianchuan couldn't help but repeat, his tone complex and difficult to discern.

Watching Yun Bai's calm expression, which suggested he was only "a bit nauseous," and then thinking back to his own sorry state, an indescribable feeling welled up in his heart.

He suppressed the shock in his heart, tried hard to maintain his "composed" Senior posture, and patted Yun Bai's shoulder heavily, his voice deliberately raised a few notches.