Chapter 27: Duel Between Men (2)

Chapter 27: Duel Between Men (2) After that, the two further discussed the finer details of the competition. To make it impossible to do dirty play, they split two sides between each force. Xu Tao and Jehanne took care of the gate-facing side, while King Arthur handled the opposite side. As for the rest, they were on standby on top of the walls, a fair split done via a random selection. Five backing up Arthur, and five on Xu Tao’s side. Of course, they were told to only attack those that came too close to the walls. That way, they shouldn’t be able to interfere with the duel while still maintaining the safety of the inner sanctum. "It’s time..." As time passed, a new window appeared telling Xu Tao that the time was up. [Alert! Countdown is over. Summoning the wave monsters in five seconds...] Xu Tao stared at the words on the screen, narrowing his eyes, brows furrowed. The word "summoning" made him feel that something was wrong. But it wasn’t time to think. Just as the system said, monsters started appearing from around 500 meters away from them. It was barely within view, given that their spot had a wide, flat area thanks to them cutting down the surrounding trees for materials. At the same time, the sky suddenly became downcast, thick clouds hiding the sun away. Xu Tao observed the monsters. However... they didn’t look like any they’d seen before. They were all identical-looking, and with roughly two types. One that walked on all fours, and one that flew using their wing-like arms. Both their builds were humanlike, despite being emaciated and pure white, with black engravings around their bodies. Faces that didn’t have eyes, ears that didn’t have holes, and mouths that didn’t have lips, exposing a ferocious set of fangs. The sight of them was so bizarre it wouldn’t be weird to see them in one of your nightmares. "Don’t worry, I won’t lose." But Jehanne, who stepped forward before Xu Tao, declared with a confident smile. She had been observing him since earlier and noticed the "worried" expression on his face. However, she completely misunderstood the reason behind it. Still, Xu Tao didn’t bother wasting his words explaining and simply nodded. "I’ll leave the ones on the ground to you. I’ll handle the flying ones." "I trust you’d do perfectly well," Jehanne smiled, before waving her flagpole-like spear around. "But don’t be shy to call me for help if needed!" And leaving those words behind, she took a deep step forward. Her foot left a deep impression on the hard ground, proof of how much force was put in her charge. In a blink, she appeared before the swarm of monsters. Then, she adjusted her stance like a ballet dancer at a recital and swung her spear. As she did, monster body parts flew around like sand, black blood spurting like rain. But not a drop of that "rain" ever touched the pristine white flag on her spear. "As always, an amazing level of control." Xu Tao nodded, impressed. "But I can’t just keep on watching either...!" The flying monsters didn’t pay attention to Jehanne at all. They were all following a straight line, heading straight toward the Log House in the middle. Xu Tao saw those monsters approach and quickly kicked a pile of wooden spears down, splaying them across the flat ground. He then pressed his fingers into the "sword" shape and let a pulse of his Qi fly. BUZZ! As if an electric current had run across the ground, all the wooden spears "shook." Then, one by one, they rose from the ground as if grabbed by an invisible hand, before falling into a circular mandala position behind Xu Tao. It was the basics of the basics—Sword Manipulation Technique! Though it should be mentioned that this technique usually can only be used after reaching the Golden Core stage or above. The stage where a cultivator could finally "bestow" their Qi to objects. To Xu Tao, however, he didn’t need to reach that level. All he needed was the right amount of Qi and an intense level of control. "Hup!" With a swing of his finger, the spears flew straight upward, higher than even the flying monsters, before adjusting. Then, they started cascading down, falling toward their targets with absolute precision. Each wooden spear stabbed one monster, piercing their heads, throats, or hearts in one go. "Hmm?" But those who were hit in their hearts remained able. Their speed and flight stability got lower, messier, but they were still stubbornly moving onward. "So they don’t have hearts? Or is it in a different location?" He tried hitting the other side of their chest, but although it did further slow their flight, almost making them crash, they still remained alive. "No hearts it is." Xu Tao nodded, before stretching his arm forward. He twisted his palm facing, fingers still locked in the sword gesture, and folded his finger to point skywards. As he did, all the remaining wooden spears moved—a total of 100 of them—and accurately pierced the necks and heads of the flying monsters. Xu Tao’s ears were flooded by the pings of new notifications, but thankfully, he already learned how to push them aside. He was fighting nonstop, ignoring the announcements which couldn’t bother him for now. The first five minutes ended, and Xu Tao let out a long sigh. He wasn’t tired, but controlling hundreds of flying "swords" did sap his Qi a bit. He pondered taking another Recovery Pill to take advantage of its Qi increase but... decided not to. If he got too greedy and there came a time he truly needed one—and there were none left—then he’d be doomed. "It didn’t even count as a warmup." Even Jehanne was seemingly bored, not a drop of sweat on her forehead. "These monsters are too weak!" "Right..." Xu Tao nodded, agreeing with her sentiment. The enemy was "too weak," enough that they probably couldn’t even face the soldiers of the outer disciples of the Azure Dragon Sect. But this scenario reminded Xu Tao about something—the mysterious attack on the Cultivation World he heard from the disciples. ’Could these be the same monsters as back then?’ Xu Tao stealthily stole a glance toward the top of the wall behind him, gauging the expressions of the disciples. Thankfully, on his side, both Little Wenwen and Shin Gaoshun were present. "I knew it..." And their expressions, warped in fear and despair, were the very answer he was expecting. This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.com