Lighting Lanterns in the Mountains and Seas

Chapter 978 - 832: Remember to Save Us

What do you mean by having more fake goods refined in this life than real ones?

Shi Chun didn't like hearing this, because these fake goods were all refined by Tong Mingshan on his request, making it seem like he had delayed Tong Mingshan.

So he casually replied, "With the current refining level of the Sect Master, refining real goods doesn't yield much, nothing of value, better to refine something useful."

"Hehe." Wu Jinliang couldn't help but smile again, realizing the Master's words were more apt; it's not called fake goods, it's called useful ones.

Shi Chun was too lazy to argue with the two any further; now was not the time for idle chat. He handed over instructions and then quickly returned below.

Returning to Tong Mingshan and the others, he took out the Mother-child Talisman to contact Mulan Jin, directly communicating with the Command Center, gathering some troops outside the encirclement of the several teams, to aid in cutting off the pursuing troops once they break through.

He emphasized not to let the people below know the details, to prevent leaks since now it's no secret that each team has spies.

Shi Chun requested to gather troops in each direction, so that when they break out, no matter from which side, there would be immediate support to block the pursuers.

Manxi was worried about Blue Child and others making a move, preventing Shi Chun and his men from breaking out. As long as they could succeed, he would naturally cooperate actively, not for any other reason, but even for his own future, he had to fully cooperate.

After understanding the situation, Manxi immediately began his arrangements.

Shi Chun, having given his instructions, took out the Beidou Rejection Spirit Umbrella for a look, pondered for a while, and then put it away.

He did not place all his hopes on those fake goods; if they could shift the focus of contention away from them, allowing them to escape, that would be best, but relying solely on them was not feasible.

The various forces gathered again as they reached the final juncture. If they could use fake goods to force out each side's ultimate moves, it wouldn't be a waste of this venture.

Fearing the enemy's ultimate move is less than not knowing the enemy's moves at all.

In the West Ox Team Command Center, Huang Xiu, after repeatedly confirming various arrangements, returned beside Niu Qian and reminded, "The large area of thunder clouds has obstructed the view; Shi Chun and his group might take the chance to slip away."

Niu Qian appeared calm and said, "The Mountain River Map just needs to keep an eye on those tokens."

"Once Blue Child succeeds, should we..." Huang Xiu made a throat-slitting gesture.

Niu Qian shook his head and said, "If he acts again, he'll use up the promise of acting thrice. Logically, he shouldn't go back on his word. Killing him would unnecessarily offend Zhechun Valley."

Huang Xiu nodded, "That's sensible, but Wei Mo's methods are abundant. I worry Blue Child might not withstand Wei Mo's tricks."

Niu Qian hesitated for a moment and ultimately slowly shook his head saying, "If he does that, he's seeking death."

Then he took out the Mother-child Talisman, and transmitted a message to Wei Mo: Shu Chun's side probably sensed something off, that extraordinary cunning fellow can't be given any chance, no need to wait for too many people to be in place, we can start now.

Wei Mo strongly agreed with calling Shu Chun cunning.

With the command to move reached among the West Niu, East Victory, Nanshan, and Beiju Four Teams, under the vast dark clouds, both below and above the clouds, the forces rapidly coordinated.

"Advance, attack, attack, attack..."

The commanders in various locations shouted orders amidst the rolling thunderous noise.

The densely scattered crowd began to push their palms towards the designated direction.

Countless different mana and cultivation techniques were launched into the air, intertwining in the forward void, merging into a mysterious force, changing the colors of the world.

The vast dark clouds seemed to be stripped of clothes, revealing flashes of lightning inside, and with the tearing of thunderclouds, the thunder and lightning rapidly weakened and vanished, the sea's surface became chaotic beyond description, sometimes glimpsing the seabed.

Wu Jinliang, within the misty tornado, furrowed his brow, sensing something, and suddenly swung his arms apart.

Boom boom boom...

Lightning in the distance, like ignited fuses, rapidly struck around the periphery.

Though dozens fell from the lightning, compared to the hundreds of thousands of troops, the attack was almost ineffective.

This was because, amidst the slogans, the siege force pushed and blasted through the air, the thunderclouds step-by-step collapsed; the rolling lightning range gradually weakened and retreated, unable to spread its attack power.

Seeing this effective, all forces' morale soared, and the speed of advance began to increase.

The clouds in the sky dispersed faster, quickly pushing towards the center of the thunder, clearly shown in the mirror image of the Five Great Teams.

Manxi, with a tight face, was intensely watching while unknowingly directing Mulan Jin, constantly ordering real-time reports of the situation changes to Shi Chun.

Wei Mo, Niu Qian, Lan She, and Ming Chaofeng couldn't help but repeatedly ask if those tokens were still in place, stating that even if they couldn't see Shi Chun and his group, keeping an eye on the tokens would suffice.

As the key variables approached, coupled with various ulterior motives, they all nervously focused on it.

As the mana pressure of hundreds of thousands of people became denser, the clouds rolled up like a curtain, Shi Chun and his group within the misty tornado noticed the light growing brighter, and the seawater below was gone, only seeing mud churning.

Without water, there was no mist, and the thunder above gradually disappeared.

The mighty wind of the tornado was interfered with by the pressure, gradually weakening, even becoming chaotic, ultimately disintegrating into nothing.

In the mirror image of the Five Great Teams, Wu Jinliang and 'Shi Chun' were quickly locked on to in the picture, but the group further below led by Tong Mingshan hadn't been prominently focused.

Seeing the target group still there, Niu Qian, Ming Chaofeng, Lan She, and Wei Mo urgently inquired whether the tokens on the Mountain River Map were still present.

Upon confirming that the tokens were still there, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Mo let out a breath of relief but still felt a bit confused. The confusion stemmed from an instinctive 'mistrust' towards Shi Chun, questioning why Shi Chun's group hadn't made a run for it. Could it be that they were confident in breaking through?

Suddenly, he hastily spoke to Tao Zhi, "Shi Chun has many magical treasures on him. Tell Blue Child to watch out for his bell, mirror, net, banner..."

On the other side, Manxi couldn't help but urgently ask Mulan Jin, "Commander, why are they waiting to be encircled and still haven't tried to break through?"

Mulan Jin had no idea either; as a bystander, he was equally bewildered.

Unlike directing others in battle, considering Shi Chun's group's path of cutting through obstacles thus far, both Manxi and he, Mulan Jin, had basically given up on detailed command intervention, instinctively granting Shi Chun's group more autonomy.

Amidst the anxiety from all sides, Shi Chun's group soon vanished within the mirror image, and the crowd surrounding them swiftly covered their figures.

Shi Chun and his vigilant companions surveyed the countless groups besieging them, feeling as if they were enveloped by a giant sphere.

Those groups were still casting spells from a distance, and although the resultant pressure was immense, various attacks weakened each other's power due to mutual interference.

On one hand, it showcased great strength; on the other hand, it revealed weakness. If it weren't for that, attacking a single point with countless people would unleash a power not even ordinary experts could withstand.

Facing such a siege, neither Tong Mingshan, An Wuzhi, nor Zhu Xiangxin exhibited fear in their mindset or morale.

Compared to before entering the Demon Realm, the change was nothing short of transformative.

Back in their respective sects, they could hardly have dreamed of being besieged by hundreds of thousands one day.

Among the group, only Xiao Sheng, impersonating Shi Chun, appeared somewhat anxious, his gaze darting around nervously.

Next to him, Wu Jinliang caught on and quickly reminded in a low voice, "Don't panic. The Master will just get fiercer when desperate; acting like this will reveal something is off."

A contingent of various troops maintained their formation, squeezing in rapidly. Suddenly, without warning, nearly a thousand surged forward from all directions towards 'Shi Chun' and Wu Jinliang. Their silver armguards revealed them as part of the East Victory Army.

For these troops, the move wasn't abrupt; it was long planned. Once the target was confirmed, they were to seize the initiative, seeking advantage.

Among them, a small, skinny figure with a deathly serious expression was Blue Child. The rest were tasked with attracting attacks to create opportunities for Blue Child to strike, then with restraining the target urgently and blocking other teams from snatching, quickly reestablishing the team controlling the Sky Splitting Sword to regain the attacking advantage.

By then, other participating East Victory Army would naturally coordinate and assist.

Riding Qilin A San, 'Shi Chun' unveiled the Sky Splitting Sword defensively, and Wu Jinliang also drew his big blade, ready for battle.

The group below, including Tong Mingshan and others, all revealed their readiness.

The surrounding charging troops didn't directly engage in a life-or-death fight but circled around, gradually tightening.

The reason for attacking from all directions was to prevent the Sky Splitting Sword from finding a primary target, also to squander the Sword's attacking power.

The moment an opportunity arose, Blue Child dared not hesitate, immediately revealing something like a lantern, pulling it open, casting a yellow beam towards Wu Jinliang and 'Shi Chun'.

With his back to Xiao Sheng, Wu Jinliang saw clearly, feeling toothache. He still shouted loudly, "Damn, Blue Child, keep your word! We agreed to withdraw, now you need to detoxify us. Master, got hit, accept it..."

He elbowed Xiao Sheng, simply meaning to forget about timing and directly hand over 'hesitation' to someone else.

Xiao Sheng cooperated skillfully with him, having worked together for two decades, immediately pulling out numerous tokens and pushing them towards Blue Child, then nonchalantly tossing over the Sky Splitting Sword too.

The surrounding troops were a bit baffled, seeing many tokens.

Blue Child, who had just stashed the lantern, was also dumbfounded. He'd planned to put away his stuff and retreat, not interested in bloody conflicts, especially having fulfilled the agreed three attacks. The subsequent affairs were even less appealing, who knew Shi Chun would surrender so quickly, leaving him no time to retreat.

So many tokens thrown over, should he take them or not?

He couldn't avoid it since he belonged to the East Victory Team, but feared hidden tricks on those tokens; adept at poisons, he prepared against such tactics, resorting to swiftly casting a spell to fix the airborne tokens.

In the end, even the Sky Splitting Sword was tossed over, widening his eyes, not expecting the opponent to fully commit, directly discarding even the Sky Splitting Sword.

Scores of troops from various teams all froze, most ceased to exert pressure through spellcasting.

"Blue Child, keep your word, we're leaving."

Wu Jinliang shouted again, hopping onto A San, sitting behind 'Shi Chun.'

A San immediately dashed to break free, Wu Jinliang's Mad Demon Transformation Dharma Aspect emerged, prepared for forcible breakout, unexpectedly, those surrounding surprisingly didn't stop them, letting them leave.

Crucially, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang's current renowned stature frightened many. Slaying Luo Que and Su Jikuan heroes, injuring Feng Yin hero, they'd handed over tokens and the Sky Splitting Sword; plus the mount's swift evasive speed, no one inclined to find excuses to delay, wished to battle the duo desperately.

Meanwhile, the West Niu, Nanshan, and Beiju Teams had already received commands secretly, those tasked with robbery dared not hesitate, nearly simultaneously dashing forward. More urgent than departing Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang was snatching tokens and the Sky Splitting Sword hesitant before Blue Child.

Especially the Sky Splitting Sword, it mustn't let others build an attacking advantage.

Below the real Shi Chun lightly whispered, leading Tong Mingshan and others upward to meet Wu Jinliang and co.

Upon meeting, they immediately charged in the same direction. Unexpectedly, Wu Jinliang cursed, "Damn, Chun Tian, poisoning kicked in, remember to save us."

The Mad Demon's phantom abruptly vanished, cursing while not forgetting to reach forward, placing Xiao Sheng's chest mask onto his face.

Xiao Sheng felt his face, softened, and slumped with Wu Jinliang.

Simultaneously, Qilin A San, body weakening, was also poisoned, calling out in closing eyes, "Master, save me…"