CXnovel Chapter 226 Who is the Hunter?
Chapter 226 Who is the Hunter?
The three of them traveled eastward along the green forest. The concealment talisman swallowed all their presence, and they could only confirm each other's location by sight.
The dense forest gradually thinned out, and the terrain began to undulate.
Mo Chengyue walked at the front, maintaining his divine sense within a ten-zhang scanning range.
The pace was slow, but each step landed on hard surfaces such as tree roots or rocks where it was difficult to leave footprints.
Yu Jianhuan followed in the middle, occasionally stepping on dry branches and making a faint sound.
Mo Chengyue glanced back at her without saying a word, and Yu Jianhuan pouted and walked even more quietly.
Su Qingying covered the rear, carrying the Jade Spirit Sword on her back, glancing at the path she had come from to confirm that no one was following her.
The three had been moving in silence for quite some time.
At the edge of the dense forest is a not-too-high mountain—the gray-brown rock face is exposed, and the ridgeline is jagged, like a row of broken teeth.
Mo Chengyue raised his hand to signal to stop and squatted behind the last row of tree trunks to observe the terrain.
A muffled sound came faintly from the other side of the mountain. It wasn't the sound of rocks rolling down naturally, but the aftershock of a collision of spiritual energy.
He listened intently for a few moments, his brow furrowing slightly.
As the three of them circled around the side of the mountain, a narrow valley unfolded beneath their feet.
Mo Chengyue gestured for the two to lie down, and the three of them crouched behind the rocks on the ridge and looked down—a battle was taking place in the valley.
On the left is a group of demons of various shapes and sizes, including a Core Formation stage demon cultivator who maintains a half-human, half-beast form.
There were also about thirty or forty low-level demonic beasts in the Tongzhi stage who had not yet fully awakened their intelligence, forming a defensive formation by relying on the natural terrain of the valley wall.
On the right is a large, dark mass of demons, numbering nearly a hundred.
Led by Demon Generals, and interspersed with several Demon Commanders whose auras were significantly stronger, they launched wave after wave of attacks on the demon race's position.
The battle was fierce, and the valley floor was covered with corpses. Demon blood and monster blood were mixed together, and the air was filled with a pungent, sweet smell.
Yu Jianhuan said in a low voice, "What a grand scene."
Mo Chengyue shook his head: "It has nothing to do with us."
He quickly assessed the situation—the demon race was on the defensive, while the monster race was on the offensive. Neither side had the capacity to pay attention to the movements on the ridge, but the distance was too close.
Once the battle spreads to the ridge or expands the range of divine sense scanning on either side, the concealment talisman may not be able to withstand it.
He decisively led the two men to detour along the ridge in the opposite direction, creating distance from the battlefield in the valley.
The three of them made no extra noise throughout the entire process, and after circling around most of the mountain, they finally found the route to the east again.
After bypassing the high mountains, the terrain suddenly opens up.
Before me lay a dry plain, the ground covered with withered, yellow grass.
The view was extremely open, with almost no cover to hide behind.
Mo Chengyue frowned.
This terrain is extremely unfriendly to stealthy movement—the dense forest provides cover from the tree canopy.
Even if the concealment talisman's aura is leaked, it is not easy to be detected from a distance.
Three people walking in an open area on the plains are visually easy targets.
"Go through quickly, don't stop."
He quickened his pace, and the three of them went from walking slowly to jogging.
But they had only run less than three hundred feet when Mo Chengyue's divine sense detected a chaotic spiritual energy fluctuation rapidly approaching from the northeast.
Not just one, but a group.
He stopped in his tracks, and his eyes behind the mask narrowed.
More than a dozen figures were moving rapidly through the low grass to the northeast.
Dark gray leather armor, distorted facial features, and various rough but menacing weapons in their hands—these are the characteristics of a demon.
Judging from their attire and manner of movement, they did not resemble an organized combat formation, but rather stragglers fleeing from some battlefield.
The leader was half a head taller than the others, and his horns were curved like those of a goat.
His bare arms were covered with dark red patterns, and his aura was at the early stage of the Demon Commander realm.
Equivalent to the early stage of Core Formation in the human race.
Mo Chengyue's first reaction was to evade the question.
But there was nowhere to go around on the plains, and the direction the enemy was moving was right in front of the three people's eastward route.
To make matters worse, the leader of the goat-horned demons seemed to have already discovered them.
It is not through divine sense, but through the most primal form of vision.
Three figures appeared on the open plain, making it difficult for them to go unnoticed.
The goat-horned demon stopped and observed the three of them from a distance for a few moments.
Mo Chengyue noticed a distinct hesitation when the other person's gaze swept over them.
The concealment talisman concealed the fluctuations of spiritual energy, making it impossible for the opponent to accurately judge the cultivation level; they could only infer it from the appearance.
There were three people, two women and one man, dressed not in fancy clothes but clearly as human cultivators.
He was rather thin and wasn't carrying any large magical artifacts, making him appear to be a lone, low-level rogue cultivator.
The goat-horned demon grinned, revealing a set of jagged fangs, and said something to his subordinates behind him in the demon language.
Mo Chengyue couldn't understand the demon language, but he could understand the tone.
That's the excitement a hunter feels when he finds his prey.
More than ten demon soldiers began to change formation, spreading out in a fan shape with the goat horn as the center, and flanking the three from three directions.
Yu Jianhuan's hand was already on her waist.
Su Qingying's Azure Spirit Sword was silently drawn from its sheath.
Mo Chengyue did not draw his sword.
He stood still, his gaze from behind the mask sweeping over the dozen or so demon soldiers one by one.
Quick count: thirteen people in total.
The leader of the goat-horned demon generals is at the early stage of the Demon Commander realm, equivalent to the early stage of the Core Formation realm, and is the only one who needs to be taken seriously.
The remaining twelve are all at the Demon General realm, with the highest being at the peak of the Demon General realm.
Most of them are between the mid and late stages of the Demon General realm, equivalent to the mid to late stages of Foundation Establishment—the three of them can completely crush them with their current cultivation levels.
His brain was working at lightning speed.
escape?
There was nowhere to escape on the plains, and the enemy outnumbered them. If they were chased, the three of them would be forced to separate, which would be even more dangerous.
beat?
Thirteen against three, a numerical disadvantage, but overwhelming superior quality.
The question is, how do we play it?
If confronted head-on, the concealment rune will shatter due to the significant magical fluctuations.
Exposing the true cultivation levels of the three would be troublesome if other demons nearby heard the commotion and came running.
He needs to be fast.
So fast that it gave no chance for the demons to escape and send a message.
Mo Chengyue suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but Yu Jianhuan and Su Qingying could hear him clearly.
"Don't rush. This wave of opportunities that have come to us just happens to be lacking a real battle."
Yu Jianhuan raised an eyebrow.
Su Qingying's grip on the sword tightened slightly.
Mo Chengyue squatted down, one hand already reaching into his storage bag.
"Follow my orders."
The encirclement of the demonic scattered troops is shrinking.
The leader, with goat horns, walked at the front, holding a serrated scimitar across his chest.
He made a low hissing sound, as if he was conveying tactical instructions to his subordinates in some way.
The thirteen demons have formed a pincer movement.
Five in front, four on the left flank, four on the right flank, with the only gap behind the three.
But Mo Chengyue did not retreat.
He is waiting.
He waited for the scattered demon soldiers to enter the distance he had set.
Fifty feet.
Forty feet.
Thirty zhang (approximately 33 meters).
Twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters).
The leader of the goat-horned group seemed to sense that the three men's composure was somewhat unusual, and slowed his pace slightly—but it was too late.
Mo Chengyue simultaneously pulled out four talismans with a dark golden luster from his storage bag with both hands.
These are high-level talismans he carefully selected from the spoils of the demon race and the Yunlan Sect—not offensive, but defensive.
He threw out four talismans simultaneously at an angle accurate to the millimeter.
The talisman burned in the air, and dark golden spiritual energy lines stretched, intertwined, and took shape instantly between the four landing points.
A semi-transparent wall of spiritual energy rose from the ground, about two zhang high, completely separating the five demons in front from the eight demons on the left and right wings.
Immediately after the second talisman was activated, another wall of spiritual energy fell between the four on the left wing and the four on the right wing.
The three-sided encirclement formation was cut into three isolated groups that were not connected to each other.
Five in the front (including the leader with goat horns), four on the left wing, and four on the right wing.
They can see each other, but they can't run past each other.
The goat-horned leader's expression changed instantly.