"Enough talking—attack! Those two are managers of the Wang family's pill shop; they must be loaded with money!" Jiang Chao roared, hurling multiple fireballs at them.
"Eighth Uncle, hang on—I'm going to break the seal!" Wang Hao snapped. He'd had enough of Wang Yanfeng's endless chatter. This was only a First-Order Confinement formation, the Three Talents Seal. Against cultivators, it was trivial for Wang Hao—who had mastered the Fireball Technique to its maximum. A few volleys, or a dozen if needed, would shatter it!
A true protagonist acts swiftly and says little; Wang Yanfeng's sidekick behavior was clearly out of place. Wang Hao couldn't let himself be upstaged.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The huge fireballs struck the glowing barrier, thinning it dramatically.
"It's working—keep going! Eighth Uncle can hold them off!" Wang Yanfeng braced an orange shield against the trio's attacks. Seeing the barrier weaken, relief flickered on his face.
"This kid is tougher than I thought—go all out! They're nearly out of energy; they won't last long!" Jiang Chao panted, growing anxious. His own spirit energy was low, and if the Wang pair broke free, he'd be in serious trouble.
Crack! The Three Talents Seal, formidable against beasts, collapsed—cultivators simply outlasted it. With no stones to reinforce it, the seal gave way.
Wang Hao unleashed ten more fireballs, then drew his Cutting Wind Sword from the competition and delivered a powerful slash. The yellow barrier splintered and fell!
"A superior First-Order artifact—what a juicy target!" the dark-faced man sneered, eyeing Wang Hao's sword greedily. "That blade's mine!" He cracked a long whip and lunged at Wang Hao.
Jiang Chao, equally tempted by the sword, could only struggle to hold off the woman in green—his own energy too drained.
The whip cracked through the air. Wang Hao raised his sword to parry.
Clang! The whip snapped against the blade, sending a shudder through the sword.
The duel was evenly matched—until Wang Hao revealed his true trump cards: six Master-Level spells!
"Not bad—see if you can block this!" the dark-faced man taunted, striking again.
But Wang Hao had no interest in a prolonged fight. Although Wang Yanfeng was Seventh-Level, his combat skill was nil and his spirit energy nearly spent. He could only hang back, defending against the other two. Wang Hao needed to eliminate the dark-faced man quickly to relieve his uncle.
He sidestepped the whip strike and scattered dozens of talismans, then raised both hands and unleashed five consecutive fireballs.
The dark-faced man's face drained of color as he flicked the whip desperately—
"You truly dare face me?" Wang Hao laughed, activating Entangling Technique and binding the man's limbs.
"No!" The man's scream was snuffed out as a massive fireball engulfed him.
"Brother Cui!" Jiang Chao cried in despair. To the woman in green, he yelled, "Third Sister—this is hopeless, we must flee!" Without waiting for her reply, he fled.
Wang Hao would not let him escape. Summoning his flying sword with Traction Technique, he hurled it at Jiang Chao and even launched talismans to block any escape!
With a single slice, the exhausted Jiang Chao—his spirit energy spent—was beheaded by Wang Hao's blade!
Now it was two against one. The woman in green was doomed. Seeing Wang Hao dispatch two opponents in quick succession, Wang Yanfeng followed suit: he flung talismans to create cover, then used a net artifact to ensnare her, shouting, "Wenhao—finish her!"
Wang Hao was speechless. With a lone enemy and both of them able to finish her together, why waste so many talismans? His Eighth Uncle was dead weight!
Still, he seized the moment. He summoned his flying sword and drove it into the woman's abdomen.
She clutched the wound, pain and betrayal in her eyes, then collapsed lifelessly.
Wang Yanfeng retrieved the net and sighed,"Little Hao, this Duan Yuan Mountain is truly dangerous. Good thing I was here to protect you. Don't ever go into the mountains alone again!"
"But I broke the seal and slew them all!" Wang Hao nearly exploded. It was Eighth Uncle's greed that had led them into this trap!
"Ahem—let's not quibble over details. Let's transplant the borage and get out of here!" Wang Yanfeng said, brandishing his spirit spade.
Roaaaar! A thunderous roar echoed in the distance.
"Oh no—it's a Second-Level demon beast! Run!" Wang Yanfeng's face turned ashen. Casting aside whether the borage survived, he tossed it into his storage ring and bolted.
Wang Hao nearly wept. That monster had surely been drawn by their battle—and Uncle's talismans didn't help.
He cursed himself for not watching his map more closely; he would have seen the beast approaching!
He looted the storage rings of the dark-faced man and the others, then raced after Wang Yanfeng.
But before they'd gone far, Wang Hao spotted two more Second-Level beasts—a tiger to the front and a bear to the right—while Wang Yanfeng ran on without noticing.
Wang Hao nearly fainted. His uncle was a specialist in courting death! He had no choice but to stop him.
"Stop—if you keep running, you'll get us killed!"
"Why are you holding me back? Want us to die?!" Wang Yanfeng yelped.
Wang Hao seethed but had no time for argument:"Running straight ahead is suicide—the noise has drawn every demon beast around!"
"What do we do then?!" Uncle wailed.
"Follow me—use the Earth-Digging Technique!" Wang Hao signaled, diving underground to escape left.
Ahead, behind, and to the right lay Second-Level beasts. Even a Sixth-Level and a Seventh-Level cultivator could not outrun four or five such monsters.
Moments—an incense's length—later, a Second-Level Demon Tiger overtook them.
The beast's paws slammed the ground, trembling the earth and pressing against their shields. If they stayed, they'd be crushed.
Out of time, they resurfaced—only for the tiger to roar and unleash a slicing wind-blade.