Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1493 1465. The Center of the Barrier
After Lan En's [Spiritual Vision] was activated, he could see the power wrapped around the Qilin, causing it to lose its strength like a flood.

These forces extended from various mountains of Jiulin Mountain in an ingenious way, involving the Qilin that had just crashed into the mountain gate.

The barrier of Changzai Temple is more than that.

Because Qilin took the lead and rushed directly to the middle of the mountain, he suffered the greatest suppression from the Changzai Temple barrier.

But just as the monk soldier that Lan En threw down just now said: they were actually all suppressed by the barrier.

However, the force of suppression was much smaller than that of Qilin, the main bearer.

But even so, the bodies of normal creatures are far from those of the ancient dragons of the New World.

For example, Wuming and Fluffy Ball, the physical energy consumption of each of them is estimated to be one twentieth faster than normal, and the physical energy recovery speed is also about one twentieth slower.

And it can be predicted that the higher they go in the mountains, the stronger the suppression they will face.

This is the result after Qilin endured half of the mountain road alone.

So although Lan En didn't know whether this large temple in Meinong was on high alert and had defensive measures on a daily basis because it was in a turbulent time, or whether there were some special circumstances recently that made them more vigilant.

But the moment the pressure of the barrier was upon him, Lan En immediately and flexibly changed his response strategy.

To be on the safe side, let's dismantle the barrier first.

"You huh~" Wuming's breath was slightly scattered, but he immediately adjusted it with great skill, "Don't you feel tired?"

"Of course I am tired." Lan En continued to look at Qilin and the sky with deep eyes while responding to Wuming. "But I am in good health, so it is not obvious."

This is the truth.

The barrier of Changzai Temple seems to accelerate physical strength consumption and slow down physical strength recovery at a certain ratio.

So a creature like Qilin, which normally has bottomless physical strength, can be depleted to this extent.

Lan En is of course no exception.

But on the other hand, Lan's extraordinary martial arts skills allowed him to change his exercise strategy immediately after he realized that his physical energy consumption was not right.

Now every movement of his body is in 'energy saving mode'.

The [Gene Seed] and [Holy Glands] assisted Lan En in achieving perfect control over his body's metabolism.

On the other hand, the body's "second heart" accelerates the pumping of blood, and the high-energy blood carries an energy density far exceeding that of normal people and is transported throughout the body.

Although still not as good as the monsters in the New World, let alone the ancient dragons, Lan En's physical reserves in normal state are already like a monster compared to normal humans.

His physical strength was indeed being consumed at an accelerated rate, but it had not dropped to a level that allowed Lan to catch his breath for a long time, so he certainly did not look tired.

"But isn't your skill of directly recovering a large portion of the consumed energy also very powerful?" Lan En praised sincerely, "[Zanshin] is really useful."

"You don't know how to use [Zanshin]?" Wuming looked at the demon hunter in surprise. "Basic! This is the basic skill! No matter what weapon you practice, anyone who practices martial arts must know it, right?"

"I'm sorry." Lan En shrugged. "I practice something else. The control of physical strength and life energy is different from here."

Wuming nodded thoughtfully: "That's very interesting. Do you want to learn [Zanshin]?"

"Oh? Is that okay?"

"I've already told you, this is just the basics. Basics! Everyone can do it."

"Thank you very much." Lan En thanked him sincerely, "Let's go down the mountain. We have to finish this [Residual Filth] matter first."

Wuming nodded: "Of course."

Then, the demon hunter heard Mentos' steady report in his head: "Data collection is complete."

"Based on the analysis of the power veins and distribution, I have marked four hub locations. I do not rule out the possibility of other hubs, but the probability of these four is all above 96.32%, sir."

"Well done, Mentos."

"It's my pleasure to serve you."

While communicating, the biochemical intelligent brain projects its calculation results onto the corners of the subject's retina.

Lan En saw it clearly in an instant and set off immediately.

We deviated from the upward mountain road and headed straight for a remote, difficult, and densely vegetated wild road.

The fluffy ball bit its little tiger teeth and pushed the tired Qilin forward.

Although Wuming didn't understand where Lan En was going, he followed him.

The undeveloped and unmaintained wild mountain road was completely difficult to walk on. Coupled with the extra physical exertion caused by the barrier, Wuming couldn't help but push the evil ghost mask up to his forehead to make it easier for him to breathe.

The monster hunter looked in confusion at Lan En, who was walking as if on flat ground, and at Qilin and Flannel Ball, who were walking freely on the wild mountain road even though they were very tired.

It seems that what they practice is indeed different from what we practice here.

The warriors here are very wary of such rugged and dangerous environments, because the display of their martial arts and the precise control of their physical strength through [Zanshin] require a stable environment.

To put it simply, your lower body must be stable and your breathing must be steady.

If a person has superb martial arts skills and a calm mentality, and is not afraid at all even when a blade is approaching him, it is possible that he can find a relatively stable moment during the movement and complete [Zanshin].

But most people probably won't be able to reach this level in their lifetime.

Therefore, anyone who practices martial arts would be very averse to this kind of terrain, especially on a battlefield, and would not easily go there.

Wuming now feels a little insecure and panicky.

"You're tired too, meow?" The fluffy ball was pushing Kirin up with its back, and the kitten's face was squeezed together because of the force. But after sensing the uneasy inner feelings under Wuming's calm expression, the fluffy ball still took the time to look through his small waist bag.

He took out a bamboo tube, uncorked it and took a sip himself.

"Pooh!"

Then he jumped onto the Qilin's back and poured the rest of the drink into its still drooling mouth.

Then he took out another bamboo tube from his small waist bag and handed it to Wuming.

"It seems to be called [Divine Water], which can speed up the recovery of physical strength! Here you go, meow!"

Through the guardian spirits, although they did not know what the other party was saying, they could directly feel each other's thoughts.

Wuming was no stranger to the divine water. She even knew a few small shrines that could provide regular supplies.

But when Wuming took the bamboo tube from the kitten, she looked at the flannel ball with a calm look: ".Kawaii."

The demon hunter expressed his feelings in a very calm tone.

The fluffy ball was a little confused at first and let out a soft "meow", then he turned his head around, holding up his little helmet.

"Oh, you make me feel embarrassed when you say that, meow!"

The effect of the sacred water sent by the chief priest of Jusanzakura Village is uncompromising.

It increases the drinker's physical recovery speed, which is better than nothing for Qilin, but for Wuming and Flannel Ball, it has offset the effect of the barrier.

But if you continue to go up the mountain, the pressure of the barrier will become greater, and the sacred water will only be effective in a small area at this altitude.

With Lan En leading the way, they seemed to have walked quite a long way as they walked along the winding mountain road, but in fact, in a straight line they were only about six or seven hundred meters away from the main mountain road.

But even after these six or seven hundred meters, one can't see any trace of the main mountain road when looking back.

Finally, Lan pushed aside a patch of thick weeds.

A stone pillar about two people tall and one person thick appeared in front of them.

Each side of the octahedral stone pillar is engraved with verses from the Lotus Sutra, the only true Dharma believed in by the Nichiren sect.

The base is shaped like a lotus platform.

Now that the barrier has been activated, a faint golden light is flickering on the stone pillars, which are made of ordinary material.

"Nexus confirmed. It appears my calculations were correct, sir."

Mentos erased one of the four marks on the corner of Lane's retina.

Lan nodded silently, and the Alondate in his hand was slightly raised.

But then he dodged sideways.

Behind him, even though Qilin was still drooling from exhaustion, he had already found someone to vent his anger on. He lowered his head and summoned up his remaining strength to crash into the lotus pedestal stone pillar.

Lan En was standing next to it, looking at it with his head tilted.

There is no doubt that the Kirin's horns are sharp, but when the Kirin lowered its head and pushed forward, the top of the crystal horn was still five or six centimeters away from the main body of the stone pillar.

The golden light that was originally flowing smoothly on the surface of the stone pillar suddenly expanded outwards, blocking the sharp horns of the Qilin outside.

Qilin itself doesn't have much strength left, so why would it bother thinking about breaking a pillar?

As a result, he was hit by the golden light from the opposite side, his feet slipped, and he fell to the ground with a thump.

"It's easy to imagine that the core of the mountain gate barrier is not protected at all."

Wuming came from behind and complained at the fallen Qilin.

Qilin cursed as he struggled to stand up from the ground. The strength he had just replenished with the divine water was gone again.

"This pillar looks like it has been recently maintained." Lan En said as he helped prop up Qilin. "There are traces of wiping and polishing on it. It looks very new."

"That is to say, you need a specific method or token to approach it." Bai Ze appeared in the void, stroking his beard and said, "Well, it is also a common formation setting."

"So, do we have to go and look through the bodies of those monks we just killed?"

Wuming's shoulders suddenly slumped.

"It's not certain that you can find it." Bai Ze added, "After all, the status of the monk soldier is not that high. He may be in the hands of the governor or the hall master."

"How can we find them? They must be in the main temple on the mountain. I don't even know if I'll have the strength to stand after I get up there."

"Then let's not look for it." Lan En interjected. At the same time, the sword of the Lady of the Lake in his hand moved back and forth on the golden light on the outer layer of the stone pillar, as if aiming at a target that ordinary people could not see.

As soon as he finished speaking, the long knife in his hand stabbed in directly and neatly!

With a "crack" sound, like the sound of glass breaking, the golden light that Qilin had not been able to break through when he lowered his head and rushed forward was pierced directly by the tip of the knife.

"We've already entered the mountains, why bother with the bullshit rules?"

The golden light shattered into light particles as if it were real, followed by a "crackling" sound.

Lan En pulled out the blade and swung it again smoothly. The upper half of the entire stone pillar slid down along the smooth cut surface and shattered to the ground.

The scripture above was also cut off, and the feeling of being restrained by an invisible pressure on the people suddenly became lighter.

(End of this chapter)