American variety show world begins with subduing Jason

Bai Ziyuan leaned against Sam, who was riding the same horse, silently circulating his energy to heal his wounds, and casually explained:

"The cleanup and interference have erased any trace of our actions. The divination techniques within the secret realm have been severely disrupted. As long as we hide well enough, it will be difficult for the lurking, mysterious enemy to discover us."

"What a thoughtful guy, plus he's got such a great physique, no wonder he can keep Michelle smiling every day..."

Recalling the muscular physique she had seen by the lake that day, a blush crept onto the blonde, haughty girl's face.

Zhu Mingyao, who was impersonating Tarzan on the tree branch, heard his companions' conversation but didn't pay much attention. He was busy holding his peach staff, making hand seals and chanting incantations, and casting spells.

"The Great Mystery descends, the Seven Gods rush to the court. The Yellow True One shines with its horns, its fiery bells blazing. Purple characters and jade words illuminate the four seasons. The Nine Heavens and the Six Heavens, the essence of the Four Heavens. Outwardly, it transmits the Mysterious Ancestor, inwardly, it protects and commands the troops. Left and right, fire and wind simmer. It commands the slaying of ten thousand demons, the destruction of a thousand spirits. The Golden True One shakes, the Nine Demons are annihilated. I wear the True Talisman, commanding all spirits. Ascending to the Three Realms to join the Imperial City. Hasten, hasten, as the law commands!"

This is the Taoist "Commanding All Spirits Incantation," which is specifically designed to command all kinds of ordinary creatures in nature.

Once this method was activated, the once peaceful jungle instantly became like a hornet's nest that had been violently disturbed, with beasts running and rats scattering, birds flying and rabbits running away, and even various insects from under the dead leaves and soil scrambling out of their burrows.

With divination and telepathy both restricted, the only way to track someone down is to slowly find them by following the traces they leave behind. So he used the [Command All Spirits Spell] to create a massive animal frenzy, scattering all traces of their presence and making it impossible for them to find anything.

While casting spells, Zhu Mingyao remained vigilant, keeping his Heavenly Eye constantly open and cautiously scanning his surroundings.

His caution paid off not long afterward, though deep down he probably wished he had gone to the unnecessary lengths...

Just over half an hour after everyone had been running, a thick cloud of yin energy suddenly rose up from their side and rear.

With the outcome finally decided, Zhu Mingyao felt a slight sense of relief. He said to his companions, half urging and half comforting them:

"As expected, there were enemies lurking in the shadows. Luckily, we ran in time. They definitely can't pinpoint our exact location now. Everyone, speed up..."

Before he could finish speaking, the yin energy suddenly surged, stretching out in a huge arc several miles long, sweeping across this large area!

All those animals that were running around like wolves and pigs were swallowed up without a sound, like pebbles thrown into water!

Zhu Mingyao's expression froze. Faced with such a massive and overwhelming pursuit by an unknown enemy, his elaborate and deceptive tactics had become a joke.

You were planning to play hide-and-seek with someone using micro-management skills? But they just went straight for the grass and rabbits, unleashing a massive army of basic attacks!

The yin energy moved extremely fast, and in a short while it had come very close. A faint, chaotic whistling sound came, as if countless ghosts and monsters were hiding in the wind, emitting mournful cries. If you listened carefully, you could also hear the continuous sound of trees breaking.

Zhu Mingyao flicked his hand, and a ball of clear light transformed into a shimmering mirror, reflecting the distant scenery before the sun set.

Undead! Undead! Still undead!

A half-rotten, striped python roamed the ground.

The long-armed ape with exposed white bones swung through the air, pulling on vines.

The description of the withered, zombie-like rhinoceros rampaging wildly.

More numerous were countless bizarre and eerie shadows, swirling in amidst the thick gray mist.

The intense aura of death caused all the plants along the way to wither and shrivel up!

Chapter 223 Appearance, Covering the Rear 1

A violent, ominous aura of death surged into the sky, coalescing into a hazy, gray mist that dimmed the setting sun.

Zhu Mingyao made a plan in the blink of an eye, and sent a wisp of sound into the ears of his companions.

"Everyone, turn around and run back to the fortress on the coast where you came from!"

The deeper you go into the island, the stronger the weakening effect becomes. Coupled with the restrictions on levitation and high-speed movement, it is difficult to escape pursuit. With powerful enemies lurking in the shadows, being surrounded by a large number of undead creatures could be disastrous. However, things are much better when you reach the coastal area—there are no rules or restrictions there.

What's even more ingenious is that the stronghold, as the main gateway to and from Skull Island, is also a node for the spiritual energy of the secret realm's ley lines. By setting up some measures and relying on the terrain advantage in battle, it can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

They can either shut the tall stone gates of the fortress and hold it off, or they can simply fly out onto the sea. Apart from a bunch of ghosts, the remaining enemies can only watch helplessly. They can fight or leave as they please!

At that moment, the expressions of the group changed simultaneously, and they all turned around to look.

With their keen sense of crisis, they all sensed an extremely dangerous undercurrent.

It felt like sharp steel needles were hanging on my eyelids, bringing a phantom pain, or like someone had suddenly stuffed a lump of ice into my heart, causing my muscles to twitch.

Seemingly having detected something, the undead army shifted its focus, and more than a dozen hazy, indistinct black and gray mists intertwined and merged, converging into a column of smoke twenty or thirty meters thick. Circumventing the no-fly zone, it clung to the treetops of the jungle, coiling towards this place like a venomous dragon or a giant python.

"Come on!"

Amidst cries of alarm, a single point of eerie light within the column of smoke rapidly expanded, transforming into a long, twisted black shadow that whooshed through the gloomy mist and burst forth.

The shadowy figure was pointing towards the group of people who were fleeing at full speed, clearly indicating that they had locked onto their target.

The treetops and leaves along its path instantly turned into withered yellow dust, fluttering down like snowflakes, displaying a fierce and menacing power!

"You take the wounded and retreat first! I'll hold them off!" Zhu Mingyao shouted in a deep voice, turning around and leaping forward to meet them.

Given that Bai Ziyuan and Knight Gavin were injured in the temporary team, and the remaining two little witches were pure spellcasters who were not good at melee combat, while Sam, the witcher, was a melee fighter with short legs and poor mobility, he would have difficulty escaping once surrounded. Therefore, it was only logical and reasonable for him to step in and cover the rear.

Everyone here is a clear-headed person who understands the current situation. They are not the kind of fools in chuunibyou comics who insist on staying behind to fight together. They took the priest knights thrown over by the Yaksha demon general, summoned a few elemental creatures to help out, and then hurriedly left the scene.

Standing on a thick branch, Zhu Mingyao raised his peachwood staff and tapped it against the tall larch tree beneath him. His eyes gleamed, and he formed a hand seal with one hand, shouting loudly:

"Demonic Lord Mengzhang, Azure Dragon of the Eastern Azure Heaven, retreat your ten thousand troops! So be it!"

As soon as the incantation was uttered, the lush green forest below immediately swayed and danced, with countless plants floating in the air. They clung to a wisp of azure wood energy, intertwining and weaving together to form a green dragon with vines as its body and leaves as its scales, baring its fangs and claws as it lunged at the dark figure.

Both were moving at extremely high speeds, and they collided in the blink of an eye!

The dragon, which had been so aggressive just moments before, turned out to be all show and no substance. The moment the two clashed, they scattered like branches thrown into a wood chipper, turning into a pile of tree sap and powder, revealing a clear light within which the talisman exploded with a deafening roar!

The Dragon Transformation Spell is just the outer shell; the real killing move is the Azure Dragon Mengzhang Divine Lord Spell inside!

This technique of concealing a spell within a spell is a skill he only mastered after upgrading the [Maoshan Miscellaneous Yang Talisman Scripture] to LV5, and most enemies he encounters for the first time will find it difficult to defend against.

The clear light sliced ​​upwards like layers of swords, bursting out clusters of colorful light, cutting away the defensive spells of the distorted black shadow and exposing its true form.

It was a ferocious flying serpent, over ten meters long, with colorful plumage and fleshy wings. A black-haired youth with a surprised expression sat on it, holding a short black staff.

"That's a really interesting little trick..." the young man clapped his hands in praise, looking quite appreciative.

“If I didn’t want to continue using this identity and had to kill all the witnesses, I would still be willing to mercifully bestow my blessing and turn a promising young man like you into a member of my family.”

Completely unmoved by his pretentious words, Zhu Mingyao simply stood on the branch and coldly observed.

The young man frowned slightly, and a wisp of ink swept across, shattering the opponent's figure into two burning pieces of yellow paper. The long tail of the flying snake beneath him swayed, deflecting the silver-white sword light that appeared behind him. With a backhand, endless black energy condensed into a giant palm, pressing down like a mountain.

Zhu Mingyao's figure was forced out of the void, and with a sway of his body, he manifested eight clones, each holding aloft an apricot-yellow wooden plaque carved in the shape of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), which circled the flying serpent from afar:

Qian Yuan Heng Li Zhen, Dui Ze Yun Ling Run,

The Kan River surges with waves, the Li Fire drives its flaming wheel.

The mountain of Gen seals the path to the underworld, and the earth of Kun suppresses the gates of the netherworld.

Thunder destroys demons and evil spirits, wind disperses the roots of wickedness.

We enter the central palace, and all the gods descend to vanquish the demonic forces!

The eight wooden plaques faced each other in pairs, and the gold-lacquered talismans emitted beams of yellow light, intersecting and connecting to form a cage.

Zhu Mingyao had used seventy to eighty percent of his power in the Azure Dragon Mengzhang Divine Curse just now, only managing to strip away a few layers of the enemy's protective spells while remaining unharmed himself. He knew that the young man's strength far surpassed his own, so he immediately decided to avoid his sharp edge and focus on entanglement and delay.

Even though he had tried his best to be lenient with his opponent, he still underestimated him.

"Hmph, what a laughable trick!"

Echoing the mocking voices, a deathly, violent storm arose out of nowhere, carrying hundreds of gray-black lightning bolts that swept across all directions, easily tearing apart the light net cage and engulfing all eight clones.

Thunderbolts composed purely of negative energy rained down, instantly rotting any plants or animals struck. Everything within a radius of tens of meters was swept away, leaving only dust filled with the stench of decay. The once vibrant and lush jungle transformed in the blink of an eye into a ghostly ancient tomb in the deep mountains!

With his index and middle fingers pinching a fragment of a peach wood Bagua tablet, Zhu Mingyao emerged from behind a large tree in the distance, glanced at the fragment in his hand, and looked quite grim.

The Eight Trigrams Demon-Subduing Formation was broken in an instant. Before he could even feel sorry for the ruined magic weapon, his mind suddenly went blank, and his body suddenly sank, just in time to avoid a great sword that appeared out of nowhere, its dark light as if it were carved from black jade, thrusting at him!

Even though he dodged in time, the protective golden armor spell on his body was still scratched open, and it took a long time for it to slowly close up!

The first strike missed, and the greatsword, floating in mid-air, swung around and slashed horizontally again. The blade swept across, and the spruce tree, as thick as a person's embrace, snapped in two, leaving a smooth, mirror-like cut, showcasing the demonic sword's sharpness.

Zhu Mingyao flicked his sleeve, and a silver-white sword light darted out, blocking the pursuing vicious weapon. A white light and a black mist separated and merged, like a dragon and a phoenix dancing. The clear and melodious sound of swords clashing was continuous, and in an instant, they had exchanged dozens of blows.

Despite being a five-foot-long broadsword, it was as light as a phantom, its attacks were as swift as lightning, and it could cut through iron like mud. The evil energy attached to it could penetrate defensive spells. If it weren't for his strong cultivation and the high quality of the sword pellet, this sudden, fierce attack alone could have turned most superhumans below the Innate Realm into mincemeat!

Seizing an opening, Zhu Mingyao unleashed a burst of sword light, striking and deflecting the demonic sword. Taking advantage of the moment, he lightly tapped his toes, flashing a hundred meters away in one breath, leaping onto a tall, solitary bamboo stalk, and creating distance between himself and the slowly drifting flying snake.

"How is it... Eastern sorcerer? How does my sword compare to your flying swords?"

The black-haired youth lowered his mount and said with an arrogant expression.

Chapter 224 Appearance, Covering the Rear 2

"So you're from the Sorcerer's House... Mr. Michael, right? You bunch of male wizards, instead of properly studying bloodline magic, when did you switch to practicing swordsmanship? Perhaps you want to become apprentices of my Xuanmen sect and forge a new path for sword-wielding mages by combining Eastern and Western techniques?"

At this moment, Zhu Mingyao recognized the enemy's appearance; he was one of the two people sent by the Sorcerer's House to participate in the exploration of the secret realm.

Although he didn't understand why this guy had hidden his strength and even plotted to attack his group, he was happy to chat with him since the other party had spoken up, hoping to buy some time for his companions to get further away.

"That's typical Seris arrogance about their own civilization, but your strength attribute is indeed as clear as a mountain spring, very refreshing to eat..."

"The rules of the secret realm forbid beings of the Knight rank or above from entering. How did you get in?" Deliberately ignoring the cruel malice in the other party's words, Zhu Mingyao changed the subject.

"Heh, I'm still a knight. It's simple. Since the level of power is restricted, then we can find a way to increase the numerical value of power. The magic power I currently possess is probably twenty or thirty times that of yours. So don't even think about it... Hmm?"

The young wizard's pupils suddenly darkened, as if he had remembered something, and he let out a soft hum of realization.

"So it was you... Your strength has increased rapidly. You must be an elite seed being groomed by the organization..."

Hearing this seemingly random question, Zhu Mingyao's heart skipped a beat, and he seized the opportunity to probe further, asking, "Have we met before?"

Michael smiled, his gaze deep and thoughtful. "What do you think? We can talk slowly, with your companions, inside my belly..."

Zhu Mingyao looked up alertly and saw the giant serpent of mist that had just sheltered the enemy skimming past the treetops, seemingly slow but actually fast, drifting towards the direction where everyone had fled. Tigers, leopards, jackals, eagles, hounds, snakes, and lizards were vaguely visible within it, and hundreds of animal ghosts appeared and disappeared. At the same time, a dark light flickered, and a black greatsword, leaving a trail of afterimages, viciously attacked again.

"Want to eat us? You have quite the appetite, here's a firework for you to try!"

Zhu Mingyao cursed and kicked with all his might. The lush green bamboo beneath his feet suddenly split at the joint, turning into dozens of bamboo tubes with shimmering vermilion runes. These tubes crashed down on the enemy, bursting into bursts of hot, golden-red flames.

He hadn't been standing there idly chatting with the enemy; he had secretly cast a spell. Now, using the wood to start a fire, with the amplification of the Five Elements Daoist arts by the Five Internal Organs Gods, the rolling pure Yang flames, carrying the power to burn away evil, spread out a net of demon-refining fire and ignited the dry branches and leaves all over the ground, and in an instant, smoke filled the air.

Using the kick to propel himself backward, he unleashed a lightning-fast silver strike to block the greatsword, then raised his peachwood staff and thrust it skyward.

"Wandering spirits, listen to my truth! I ascend to Mount Tai, pay homage to the Imperial Lord Laozi, and ask him to dispel the ghostly whispers. I summon the Jade Maiden to subdue the ominous, ascend to the Heavenly Left Contract, wear the seal, and be executed by the Six Ding and Six Jia, the Divine Master, without fear of the powerful. Those who disobey will be beheaded and handed over to the Kui Gang. So be it!"

The power of the spell transformed into vast, transparent ripples, like an invisible river dam, which stretched across the giant serpent of mist formed by ghosts. The two collided and annihilated simultaneously, leaving only specks of grayish, snowflake-like phosphorescence scattered in the air.

With Zhu Mingyao's current level of cultivation, if he were to unleash the full power of the [Ghost-Banning Spell], which is specifically designed to target spirits and ghosts, he would be able to annihilate dozens of vengeful spirits in one strike.

Although the animal spirits that make up the fog are numerous, they are extremely weak. Not to mention the vengeful spirits and the evil spirits and malevolent spirits above them, even the strongest ones are just ghosts. In fact, most of them are not even the lowest-level wandering souls, but just remnants of souls. If he had enough time, he could clear away the seemingly overwhelming and powerful fog of spirits all by himself.