Xiao Leng had guessed right. Many Demon-Killing Battle Gods had come this time. However, they had not scared away the god bandits at all. Instead, these god bandit militias became even more excited; when else would so many fat lambs be ready for the slaughter?
Many Demon-Killing Pavilion Branches had caught wind of this mission to kill the Poison Spirit. The Poison Spirit had broken a leg and would not be able to recover in a short while. As killing him would be worth forty thousand battle merits, many Demon-Killing Battle Gods had been tempted by it. Most importantly, there had been a rumor that the Poison Spirit had killed a great family clan young master in the Yellow Sand Prefecture and had stolen a Primitive Spiritual Treasure.
This news had been spread by many ‘secret channels’ to these Demon-Killing Battle Gods, and they instantly were riled up. They did not even bother to group up but headed here alone one and all. As there was only one Primitive Spiritual Treasure—if they formed groups, how were they supposed to split it? Coming in groups would only create problems later on.
As such, all the five god bandit militia groups on the Spiraling Clouds Mountain grew excited. So many fat lambs were coming alone to be slaughtered; if they did not take advantage of this and pick them off one by one, they would not live up to their name as god bandits. After all, all they had to do was to hide in the Spiraling Clouds Mountain after killing these men; and they would be safe. These god bandits had their ways of survival and could easily start afresh somewhere else using a totally new persona.
In fact!
Xiao Leng had also gotten this piece of news. If not, he would not have taken the risk to accept this mission. What he had not taken into consideration was that the god bandits here were so bold that they even dared to kill men from the Earth Emanations Army.
What many people did not know was that this group of god bandits had dared to attack mainly because of Jiang Yi.
Jiang Yi’s strength was too low, and yet a group of men was surrounding him. The god bandits had mistaken him for some great family clan’s young master and that he had in his possession many treasures and divine roots. They thought that if they killed him, they would be able to live a carefree life for many years.
“Kill!”
A dark battle saber appeared in Xiao Leng’s hand as he roared out. He also sent a voice transmission to the four commanders: “Bring Jiang Yi and escape underground. There are yellow sand worms beneath; you guys can use them to block any pursuers. If you guys manage to escape, return to Yellow Sand City immediately. We are aborting this mission…”
They had just entered the mountain range and had already been attacked by the god bandits; it was impossible to continue the mission anymore. It was already good enough if everyone could head back alive. The enemy had two Battle God-equivalent formidable martial artists; based on the four commanders alone they were not going to be able to stop the pursuers. Xiao Leng could only try and stop them himself to delay the formidable martial artists and give Jiang Yi a chance at survival.
“City Lord, let’s go!”
A commander brought Jiang Yi and dashed downwards. Jiang Yi watched as Xiao Leng charged towards the god bandit boss determinately as he cried out, “Old Xiao, you have to survive. When we get back, I will bring you a hundred beauties.”
“Tsk! Tsk!”
A sharp sword appeared in the commander’s hand as he cut through the sand and charged beneath the desert. The remaining three commanders launched an attack each in all directions and then followed after the duo.
“She Yan, you guys will go ahead and pursue them. Remember not to let even one of them leave. If not, the consequences would be dire!”
One god bandit boss cried out. Xiao Leng had two superior-grade divine artifacts in his possession; both the god bandit bosses were not planning on underestimating him. They were prepared to take on Xiao Leng together and kill him, to take the superior-grade divine artifact battle saber and battle armor he had.
“Haha, if you want to kill me, Xiao Leng, you guys will have to be prepared to pay a heavy price!”
Xiao Leng was extremely pumped up for battle. Not only did he not flee, but he did not even attack the two formidable martial artists but charged head-on into the group of low-grade bandits. His speed was too fast, and his attacks were ferocious. Every flash of his saber killed a couple of men; he was extremely deadly.
“Spread out, we will take care of him!”
The two god bandit commanders were enraged as they immediately pursued Xiao Leng. The other god bandits spread out while, on the other side, thirty-odd God Kings went underground to chase after Jiang Yi and company.
“Zhang Mei, you three are to flee in three different directions and lure the enemies away. If you guys can escape alive, return to the Yellow Sand City immediately!”
The commander that was bringing Jiang Yi along was the most powerful and highest-ranked; his strength was that of a peak-stage God King. As he led Jiang Yi downwards, he could feel that many people were pursuing them as he cried out to his companions.
If they split up, everyone had a chance at survival. If they stuck together, they would probably all die. Tens of God Kings were chasing after them right now. Since these god bandits had taken action, they would probably not let any of them escape. If any of them did escape, these god bandits would have to flee for their lives.
“Alright! Brother Zhang Hai, please be careful as well!”
One of the men behind gritted his teeth as he shouted his response. As Zhang Hai was bringing Jiang Yi along, he would be in the most amount of danger. The trio behind shot in different directions, their weapons at the ready. Zhang Hai brought Jiang Yi and sped away rapidly and soon they were already a hundred thousand feet beneath the ground.
Xiao Leng had said that once they reached this depth, they would encounter yellow sand worms; and it would become even more dangerous. However, Zhang Hai did not have any other choice. If the yellow sand worms could not delay the pursuers, Zhang Hai did not know what else he could do.
Shh-shh-shh!
Indeed, after another ten thousand feet, there was a sudden movement below them. From a few places, yellow sand started to rise up. As Jiang Yi entered the State of the Union of Heaven and Man, he instantly could feel turbulence in the yellow sand all around them.
He soon realized that some yellow sand worms as big as thumbs were rushing towards them at a fast pace. These worms had heads that were gold and seemingly armored. There were also fine yellow scales on their bodies. Their mouths revealed four sharp teeth, and they were as fast as the wind. They moved as if poisonous snakes and at least tens of them were rushing towards Jiang Yi and Zhang Hai now.
“Zhang Hai, the yellow sand worms are coming!”
Jiang Yi swallowed some saliva as he reminded Zhang Hai in a low voice. Zhang Hai had long detected their presence as the long sword in his hand moved, and the surrounding yellow sand was cut into pieces. Tens of sword strokes fanned forward in a fan shape as it pierced tens of small holes in the ground. As this happened, many yellow sand worms nearby also flew out from these holes.
Swish!
After sending forth this attack, Zhang Hai did not dare to stop anymore. He changed a direction as he started to fly upwards towards the right in a zigzag formation. His escape route was chosen very wisely. The pursuers were gaining on them, and many yellow sand worms had been disturbed and were surging towards this place.
The pursuing bandits were extremely fierce while the yellow sand worms were the lowest grade of Chaos Beasts; they did not have much intellect and would turn to attack the pursuing soldiers instead.
As expected!
The bandits had just reached where Zhang Hai had been a moment ago as nearly a hundred yellow sand worms appeared. Although there were many bandits and they did not fear these yellow sand worms—if they wanted to push the yellow sand worms or kill them, that was still going to take time. This way, Zhang Hai would have a chance at escaping.
“Ah—”
A terrifying cry traveled towards Jiang Yi and Zhang Hai from far away as both their faces changed. Zhang Hai even had tears in his eyes. That scream had belonged to Zhang Mei, his cousin!
“Goddammit!”
Jiang Yi cursed silently as he grew very serious. These four Earth Emanations Army commanders had only been with him for a short time. He had not even seen them many times as Commander Liu had been the one taking charge of things. However, they were after all his subordinates and had died because of him. His rage was imaginable.
Shh-shh-shh!
An uncountable number of yellow sand worms continued to attack; Jiang Yi and Zhang Hai did not have time to grieve. If not, the two of them would be killed as well.
Zhang Hai continued to strike with his sword. However, each of his attacks only managed to force back the yellow sand worms. These Chaos Beasts’ defenses were extremely powerful. If Zhang Hai released his strongest attack, he could probably kill them easily. The problem was that there were so many yellow sand worms; how could he continuously release his strongest attacks over and over again?
Five minutes later, Zhang Hai detected at least five hundred yellow sand worms were chasing them. His eyes grew dark as he gritted his teeth and said, “City Lord, I will protect your rear. Please escape first. If not, both of us would die here. Once you break through the surface—if you’re lucky, you could avoid the god bandits…”
“No!”
Jiang Yi’s eyes flashed with a red glow. He gritted his teeth and said, “Zhang Hai, enter my Chaos Essence Pearl. Wait for me to kill these yellow sand worms; you can bring me and escape after that!”
