Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 454 Ambush and Chase [Please Subscribe]

The desolate desert.

Since the demonic cultivators from the Yuanmo Realm invaded the Tianling Realm through the Jue Ling Desert, there have been many rumors about this dangerous place.

According to legend, the Desolate Desert did not exist in ancient times.

Back then, that place was not the desolate place of spiritual veins it is today, but a prosperous place in the cultivation world where spiritual veins converged.

However, in ancient times, a great battle took place there between sixth-tier powerhouses. In the earth-shattering battle between those sixth-tier powerhouses, not only were the underground spiritual veins destroyed, but the life force of the earth was also completely destroyed and severed by the great supernatural powers of the sixth-tier powerhouses, and it was difficult to recover for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

Today, the Desolate Spirit Desert is not only devoid of spiritual energy and life, but also retains the perilous influence of the power of great supernatural beings from ancient times.

In those dangerous places, even Nascent Soul stage cultivators could get injured!

The real Desolate Desert is actually more treacherous than the rumors suggest.

After Zhou Chun and the others arrived at this place in the magical artifact [Hidden Dragon Boat], they saw that the ground was full of ravines, with exposed rocks and hard soil everywhere. Many places looked as if they had been burned by high-temperature flames, showing a crystalline state.

In some places, the accumulated water has formed ponds and rivers, but there are no fish or shrimp in the water, and no vegetation grows on the banks.

Even insects, which are ubiquitous, are extremely rare to see here.

Zhou Chun had been to quite a few places that could be described as desolate, but even the deserts and snowfields he had been to were considered a good place compared to this place.

The place feels desolate and lifeless, as if the earth itself has died!

"By the way, there's something I need to tell you all. When fighting in this desolate desert, the power of spells and magical abilities will be significantly weaker than outside. Some spells and magical abilities that require communication with the spiritual energy of the outside world cannot be used here. Therefore, when you fight, you'd better act according to your abilities and be careful to conserve your magical power!"

In a ravine, Zhang Dongyang piloted the Hidden Dragon Boat to a stop. He saw Zhou Chun and many others worried about the situation in the Desolate Spirit Desert, and then he told them some news that weighed heavily on their minds.

Actually, many people had heard about this before.

Without personally visiting the Desolate Spirit Desert, one cannot truly grasp its profound meaning.

"I'd heard that the spiritual energy in the Desolate Spirit Desert was scarce, but I never imagined it would be like this!"

"With spiritual energy so scarce, how did those damned demonic cultivators manage to cross the entire Desolate Spirit Desert and reach my Heavenly Spirit Realm?!"

An elderly man with late-stage Purple Mansion cultivation muttered aloud, expressing the doubts that many cultivators present had.

Even though the two sides have been at war for almost twenty years, the question of how the demonic cultivators crossed the Desolate Spirit Desert from the Yuanmo Realm to reach the Tianling Realm remains a mystery.

This is true at least for cultivators like Zhou Chun, and Zhou Chun is certain that many Golden Core cultivators are unaware of this as well.

Zhang Dongyang clearly had no intention of answering their questions. He simply waved his hand and said, "Alright, you can complain about these things privately later. Now, get ready for battle at any time!"

Hearing this, Zhou Chun and the others had no choice but to abandon their plans and focus on conserving their energy.

After waiting quietly for more than two days, Zhang Dongyang suddenly seemed to sense something and took out a mirror-like magical artifact to examine it.

After a short while, he said in a deep voice, "The target has appeared. Now I will lead you to the path the target is sure to take and ambush them!"

With that, he took control of the [Hidden Dragon Boat] again and flew away from the dock, heading towards a certain place in the desert.

After some time, the [Hidden Dragon Boat] stopped and lay in wait at a high point on the ground.

After waiting for about half a day, Zhou Chun and the others finally saw the figure of the demonic cultivator in the distance.

On the rugged and desolate land of the Desolate Spirit Desert, giant centipede monsters, each over ten zhang long, were linked head to tail and sped across the land at great speed.

The bladed legs of these giant centipede monsters are well-suited for moving across such rugged terrain. No matter how steep the ravines and valleys, they move as if on flat ground.

On the backs of these giant centipede monsters sat or stood demonic cultivators from the Yuanmo Realm.

Their cultivation levels varied, with the highest reaching the Purple Mansion stage and the lowest only the Qi Refining stage. They included men, women, young and old.

Meanwhile, above the giant centipede monster, several demonic birds carried Golden Core stage demonic cultivators as escorts.

At a rough glance, the number of demonic cultivators on the backs of those giant centipede monsters must be at least 20,000 to 30,000!

"Although the enemy outnumbers us, our forces are all elite troops; in fact, we have a numerical advantage!"

"Therefore, during the upcoming ambush, each of you should act according to your own capabilities. Those with stronger abilities should take care of the Purple Mansion stage demonic cultivators, while those with weaker abilities should try to kill as many mid- to low-level demonic cultivators as possible. The goal is to maximize the casualties against the enemy!"

Zhang Dongyang stared intently into the distance at the approaching army of demonic cultivators, delivering a pre-battle pep talk in a low voice.

After saying that, he quickly added, "Also, remember to kill those ground centipedes first when you make your move. Once those beasts are all wiped out, even if those low-level demonic cultivators haven't died here, they'll have no hope of leaving the Desolate Spirit Desert!"

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Chun and the others naturally agreed.

After waiting for about an hour, when the earth-walking centipede demonic beasts had reached within thirty miles of the [Hidden Dragon Boat], Zhang Dongyang suddenly steered the flying boat to the center of the demonic cultivators' group.

Then Zhou Chun and the others inside were flung out, flying in all directions like scattering flowers.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Dongyang and the other Golden Core cultivators rushed towards the Golden Core demonic cultivators who were escorting the demonic cultivator army, preventing these demonic cultivators from having a chance to attack Zhou Chun and the others.

After Zhou Chun and the others were thrown out of the [Hidden Dragon Boat], they immediately used defensive artifacts and protective spells to protect themselves, while also using artifacts and spells to attack the ground-walking centipedes and demonic cultivators.

Zhou Chun didn't have time to see what the others were doing. He immediately activated the [Mysterious Gang Pearl] and the Silver Bell magic weapon to protect himself, and then unleashed the "Golden Flame Demon-Suppressing Blade" that he had just acquired and was still warm, and slashed at a ground centipede.

At the same time, he took off the spirit beast pouch from his waist and waved it, and countless "Mysterious Armor Golden Feather" demonic insects roared out and rushed straight towards the demonic cultivators on the ground.

Furthermore, the golden-armored mountain-carrying tortoise stone also flew out and landed on the ground.

When it comes to easily defeating weaker opponents, he's probably the most skilled among these cultivators!

Those demonic cultivators clearly did not expect that there would be cultivators from the Heavenly Spirit Legion ambushing them in the Desolate Spirit Desert.

This place, which can now be considered their rear base as demonic cultivators, should have been a very safe place.

For this reason, whether it was to conserve their magical power or to relax their mindset, these demonic cultivators on the march did not take any precautions.

After all, they had Golden Core stage demonic cultivators protecting them in the sky. Even if an enemy appeared, those Golden Core stage demonic cultivators would give a warning first!

Little did they know that the Heavenly Spirit Legion was exploiting this psychological imbalance, ambushing them in the Spiritless Desert, a place they thought was impossible to be attacked in!

The result was obvious: the ambush by the Celestial Legion was a great success.

In his first move alone, Zhou Chun killed a ground-walking centipede demon beast and instantly killed hundreds of demonic cultivators.

The "Mysterious Armored Golden Feather" demonic insects that then spread and slaughtered in all directions, as well as the Golden Armored Mountain-Bearing Turtle Stone that landed on the ground, continued to create victories for him.

Fortunately, he had activated the recording bead in advance to record the events; otherwise, he would have had a hard time collecting all the corpses of the dead demon cultivators and calculating their battle merits one by one.

It was only after his first attack succeeded that the demonic cultivators finally came to their senses from this shock and launched a fierce resistance and counterattack.

On Zhou Chun's side, two demonic cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage roared and attacked him, unleashing sinister demonic weapons and demonic spells.

These two demonic cultivators both seem to follow the Yin Ghost Sect's methods. If Zhou Chun releases the Thunder Python Bai Bai, he can teach them a lesson in pain in an instant.

However, Zhou Chun did not do so immediately because he was wary of Zhang Dongyang, who had cultivated the Spirit Eye Divine Power in the sky.

He activated his magic power to use the silver bell magic artifact for defense, and rings of silver sound waves rushed towards the several attacking Yin demons.

These incorporeal demons are difficult to harm effectively with magical artifacts like flying swords, but sound waves can have a certain restraining effect, making their souls unstable.

At the same time, Zhou Chun made a hand seal, and a golden crystal embedded in the "Golden Flame Demon-Slaying Blade" suddenly shone brightly. The golden light transformed into flames that adhered to the blade, turning the treasured blade into a flaming golden blade that slashed horizontally at a mid-stage Purple Mansion demon cultivator.

This sword is the masterpiece of a master craftsman from the Flame Sun Sect, and its brilliance lies in its golden flame.

This golden flame is very effective in refining Yin and evil demonic energy. With it attached to the blade, not only are many demonic and corrupt magical artifacts' supernatural powers and spells ineffective, but it can also add demonic flame damage when attacking demonic cultivators.

The demonic cultivator Zhou Chun attacked was unaware of the blade's power. He had only summoned a ghostly gray-black shield magic weapon to defend against the flaming golden blade's attack, but after just a few strikes, cracks appeared all over the third-tier mid-grade magic weapon shield, and it quickly shattered into pieces!

This fierce and domineering attack terrified the man so much that he hurriedly switched to a defensive stance to resist Zhou Chun's attack.

As for the other mid-stage Purple Mansion demonic cultivator, Zhou Chun used another newly acquired magic weapon, the "Golden Light Demon-Slaying Mirror," to deal with him.

A golden Bagua mirror hovered in the air. As Zhou Chun activated his magic power, golden light gathered on the mirror's surface and soon burst forth with a beam of golden divine light that blasted towards the demonic cultivator opposite.

The golden divine light moved with lightning speed, reaching the demonic cultivator opposite in an instant.

This demonic cultivator had been using a thick cloud of Yin energy to protect himself, and he was hiding inside the cloud when he launched an attack on Zhou Chun.

As a result, when the black demonic cloud was illuminated by this golden divine light, it instantly dispersed like ice and snow melting away.

The demonic cultivators inside only realized what was happening afterward, and in their panic, they could only wave the demonic banner in their hands to shield themselves.

Although he narrowly escaped death, the Yin Soul Banner he had painstakingly refined was shattered by the golden light, with the banner and part of the flagpole broken, rendering it useless.

Such a loss caused this demonic cultivator immense heartache.

He had originally hoped to take advantage of this expedition to the Heavenly Spirit Realm to collect the souls of cultivators and mortals to refine this magic weapon, so as to upgrade it to the third-tier superior grade as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, before he had even truly set foot on the land of the Heavenly Spirit Realm, this magical artifact that had been with him since his Foundation Establishment stage had already suffered severe damage!

Meanwhile, Zhou Chun was very satisfied to see that his two newly acquired magic weapons had suppressed two mid-stage Purple Mansion demonic cultivators as soon as they were used, and he sighed that the money was well spent.

Without these two magical artifacts, even if he had broken through to the late stage of the Purple Mansion realm, he would never have been able to suppress two mid-stage Purple Mansion demonic cultivators so easily and effortlessly.

Since the two magical artifacts were so powerful, Zhou Chun was even less in a hurry to release the Thunder Python for nothing.

Immediately, while fiercely battling the two demonic cultivators, he also took the opportunity to release his long-unused Golden-Winged Tiger to bully the Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivators and earn battle merits for himself.

After fighting the two demonic cultivators for about a quarter of an hour, Zhou Chun seized the opportunity and flicked his finger. A green light shot out, instantly piercing through one of the demonic cultivators' protective shields and entering his body.

"Ah! The needle is poisoned! How despicable of you!"

The demonic cultivator who was hit by the needle let out a miserable scream, and his face quickly turned black as he hurriedly fell to the ground to take medicine to suppress the poison.

But he had no idea that the poison from that needle was beyond the reach of most antidotes; it was practically a death sentence for anyone hit by it!

After Zhou Chun successfully launched a sneak attack using the poisoned needle he obtained from the demonic cultivator Xu Qinglin, he quickly focused all his strength on dealing with the remaining demonic cultivator.

Not long after, just as the poisoned demonic cultivator on the ground was about to die from the poison, he successfully used the "Golden Flame Demon-Slaying Blade" to break through his opponent's defenses and behead him.

"These two demonic cultivators seem weaker than the previous Yin Ghost Sect demonic cultivators. Could it be that the first batch of cultivators to arrive in the Heavenly Spirit Realm were all elites from this demonic sect?"

Zhou Chun glanced at the two demonic cultivators he had killed and secretly made comparisons and guesses in his mind.

Then, after collecting the corpses and belongings of the two demonic cultivators, he drew his sword and charged towards the low- to mid-level demonic cultivators.

Just as Zhang Dongyang had said before, although this demonic cultivator team had a large number of cultivators, the total number of demonic cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage was only about 160 or 170, which was barely comparable to the number of cultivators in their Demon Extermination Camp.

However, these people in the Demon Extermination Camp are all elites carefully selected, and many of them, like Zhou Chun, have the strength to fight two opponents at once.

Even three of the "Seven Heroes of Heavenly Spirits" have come!

Therefore, when Zhou Chun killed the two demonic cultivators, almost all the demonic cultivators in the Purple Mansion stage on the battlefield had already been chosen as targets, and twenty or thirty of them had already perished!

In this situation, if Zhou Chun were to deal with those Purple Mansion stage demonic cultivators who had been chosen as targets, he would be suspected of stealing credit.

He didn't want to do something that would provoke public outrage.

In any case, even killing a Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivator can still earn you battle merits.

However, by this time, the demonic cultivators had scattered and fled, so they could no longer be slaughtered as easily as before.

Zhou Chun could only try to kill one mosquito with a cannon, taking down as many as he could, and picking the bigger ones to hunt down first.

Time passed slowly, and before they knew it, more than an hour had passed since Zhou Chun and the others ambushed the demonic cultivators.

After more than an hour of fighting, nearly 70% of the Purple Mansion stage cultivators among the demonic cultivators were killed, and the rest scattered and fled, having suffered severe damage to their vital energy.

However, whether they, who have suffered heavy losses, can return to the Yuanmo Legion alive in this desolate desert is hard to say.

Tens of thousands of low- to mid-level demonic cultivators also suffered heavy casualties under the dimensional attack and pursuit of Zhou Chun and other Purple Mansion stage cultivators, with less than 20% surviving by sheer luck!

Such a victory is truly remarkable.

At this point, they could have easily retreated.

However, seeing that things were going so smoothly, Zhang Dongyang, who was in charge of the operation, felt that he could seize the opportunity to kill one or two more Core Formation stage demonic cultivators, so he did not rush to order a retreat.

After all, the opportunity was indeed rare. This time, there were only eight Golden Core stage demonic cultivators being escorted, and not a single one was a late-stage Golden Core demonic cultivator.

If given more time, they could achieve even greater results!

Then he quickly shouted, "Yang Tianxiong, Gu Jinyan, Peng Wuji, the three of you, use your protective techniques to help me slay the demon!"

The three people he named were the three cultivators on the "Seven Heroes of Heavenly Spirits" list who had come with him.

These three had all been outstanding in their previous battles, each killing an average of four Purple Mansion stage demonic cultivators, demonstrating truly terrifying strength.

When Zhang Dongyang singled them out and asked them to deal with the Golden Core stage demonic cultivator, the three of them not only showed no fear or resistance, but instead exchanged glances, laughed heartily, and flew into the sky to join the battle.

At this moment, Zhou Chun truly witnessed the terrifying strength of the three.

These three individuals either possessed "pseudo-magic weapons," or, like him, carried fourth-tier puppets, or were protected by fourth-tier demonic beasts.

With these methods, the three of them are fully capable of participating in battles against Golden Core cultivators and posing a significant threat to them.

In fact, once the three joined the battle, they quickly created an excellent opportunity for Zhang Dongyang and other Golden Core cultivators.

In less than a quarter of an hour, a demonic cultivator in the early stage of the Golden Core realm had his natal magic weapon shattered on the spot and died directly under the claws of the fourth-tier wolf demon released by Gu Jinyan!

The fall of this Golden Core stage demonic cultivator directly triggered a domino effect, and the Golden Core stage cultivators who had free time, along with Gu Jinyan and the others, immediately joined other battlefields.

In just a quarter of an hour, three Golden Core stage demonic cultivators perished.

The remaining Golden Core stage demonic cultivators were terrified upon seeing this, and each of them tried their best to break through and escape.

But at that moment, an accident occurred!

Suddenly, a sharp whooshing sound came from the distant horizon. A white streak approached and soon came to the vicinity of the battlefield, revealing the silhouette of a white bone flying boat.

On that white bone flying boat stood dozens of demonic cultivators, including eight Golden Core stage demonic cultivators, and the rest were all late-stage and mid-stage Purple Mansion stage cultivators!

Seeing this, Zhou Chun and the others immediately understood that the enemy's reinforcements had arrived.

It was obvious that the arrival of these enemy reinforcements had suddenly made the situation extremely unfavorable for them.

Because in terms of the number of Golden Core stage cultivators, they suddenly became the minority, having three fewer Golden Core stage cultivators than the enemy!

"Oh no! Enemy reinforcements have arrived! You all must scatter and evacuate immediately!"

After a brief change in expression, Zhang Dongyang immediately gave the order to retreat and then took the lead in heading towards the white bone flying boat.

He knew in his heart that his momentary greed for credit might have led to a serious mistake.

But now that the mistake has been made, there's no use thinking about anything else. He can only try his best to make amends for his mistake!

At the same time, the instant Zhang Dongyang ordered a retreat, Zhou Chun sprang into action.

He took off his spirit beast pouch and put the Golden Armor Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone, along with other spirit pets and demonic insects, into it. Then, he activated the "Flowing Golden Rainbow" secret technique with all his might, transforming into a golden rainbow and flying away.

There were hundreds of other monks doing the same thing as him.

Everyone knew that if they stayed, even if they could temporarily hold off the demonic cultivators' attacks, they would be in a passive position and would likely be surrounded and killed by the second or even third wave of demonic cultivator reinforcements.

After all, they are currently behind enemy lines, and even if the Heavenly Spirit Legion wanted to rescue them, it would be too far away for them.

On the contrary, now that everyone is choosing a direction to escape alone, and the number of demonic cultivators is not advantageous, many people will definitely be able to escape, or after avoiding Golden Core stage demonic cultivators, they will have the opportunity to fight one-on-one with Purple Mansion stage demonic cultivators.

As Zhou Chun had predicted, the three extra Golden Core stage demonic cultivators immediately chose to pursue and kill the three "Seven Heroes of Heavenly Spirit" who had previously made a great splash.

This put his mind at ease, and he knew he was in a safe position.

With his true strength, he is not afraid of anyone unless he is being hunted down by a Golden Core stage demonic cultivator.

But Zhou Chun had barely breathed a sigh of relief when his brows furrowed again.

Because he was also being hunted down, and he even remembered the person who was hunting him down.

This person was the same demonic cultivator who knew the art of wind escape that he had seen on the way when he first went to the battlefield of Feng Kingdom to deliver things to Zhou Daoquan.

Back then, he even used the Golden Armor Mountain Tortoise Stone to save Zhou Daoquan's life from this man.

"Could it be that seeing the stone just now reminded him of what happened back then?"

A thought flashed through Zhou Chun's mind, and he vaguely guessed why this person was chasing him.

Regardless of the reason, since this person dared to come after him, it means his path has come to an end!

Despite thinking this way, Zhou Chun had no intention of stopping to wait for the other party to pursue him.

His "Flowing Golden Rainbow" escape technique was naturally inferior to the opponent's wind escape technique, but he had the advantage of distance. Without a chase of hundreds of miles, the opponent would definitely not be able to catch up with him.

Once they are more than a hundred miles away, even a Golden Core cultivator wouldn't be able to see clearly what's happening, so he naturally wouldn't be afraid to reveal some of his trump cards!

(End of this chapter)