Jiang Chen hesitated for a split second. In the end, he still decided to wait until the prince and his aide had walked ahead for a while before proceeding. He didn't want to take the risk of being simultaneously assaulted by the bone apparitions as well as the Prince of Shangping. Thirty minutes after the latter had left, Jiang Chen saw that those bone apparitions still didn't seem to want to attack. He glanced down at Huang'er. Although she had completely sealed off her five senses, she would still be affected by the insidious yin qi within the valley.
"Can't wait any longer." Jiang Chen grit his teeth and bounded forwards. He hadn't expected the bone apparitions to remain completely docile, as if they were asleep. They were like terracotta soldiers that had been buried underground, completely still without any signs of aggression. How could Jiang Chen dally when this was the case? He swiftly passed through the area.
However, even after crossing the tombstone district, Jiang Chen remained alert. In such a strange valley, these tombstones were probably just the opening act. Moreover, why had those bone apparitions not attacked him and the Prince of Shangping? This was incredibly suspicious.
"Someone must be controlling these bone apparitions. Otherwise, these transforming monsters couldn't possibly possess such a high level of intelligence, even if they'd retained some form of knowledge from their previous life. They should have some offensive capabilities. Why did they suddenly decide to let us pass?" The more Jiang Chen mulled over this, the more the hairs on his skin began to prickle. He constantly felt as though there were a pair of eyes on him, closely watching everything he did.
"Huang'er's situation doesn't look too encouraging. I have to find the Requiem Wood as soon as possible. No matter how powerful the demon race here might be, I must obtain that Requiem Wood." Jiang Chen was fully aware that there was already no path of retreat. Currently, apart from the threat of the demon race, there was also the unreadable Prince of Shangping who really troubled Jiang Chen. Hence, even though a sense of urgency burned in his heart, he couldn't travel any faster.
On his way, Jiang Chen suddenly stopped in his tracks again. He stared at the ground and then at his surroundings before his expression twisted into a grimace. Alarm bells rang out in his head as his acute intuition warned him that a source of extreme danger was surging madly towards him. In response, Jiang Chen clawed the air in front of him, his fingers clamping around a talisman.
It was the Imperial Advent Defense Talisman that he had received from the young master of the Coiling Dragon Clan. Simultaneously, his other hand closed around the Featherflight Mirror. His gaze swept the area around him as he listened for any noise. Suddenly, an arrow shot out from the undergrowth on his right. Its momentum far surpassed Jiang Chen's expectations. He didn't even need to think as he brandished his Featherflight Mirror. With a swish of the mirror, the arrow instantly lost speed.
Without any delay, he raised a finger towards the heavens. The powerful force of his Supernova Point slashed outwards in a criss-cross arc, towards the direction where the sneak attack had been launched.
It was at this moment that Jiang Chen suddenly felt the scenery before his eyes shift. The next moment, the duo's bodies were sent into a formation. When he regained his bearings, one by one a series of majestic statues began to stretch into existence before his eyes. Each of these golden divine statues possessed the terrifying eyes of a guardian deity. Immense pressure bore down on Jiang Chen under their heavy gazes.
The eight statues suddenly floated up into the air and subsequently charged ferociously at Jiang Chen as if they were living beings. An attack from eight different directions instantly placed Jiang Chen into an exceedingly vulnerable position. He instinctively activated the Imperial Advent Defense Talisman. Golden radiance erupted three feet into the air. As the brilliant rays engulfed Jiang Chen, they gently turned into streaks of flowing light, circling his entire body. The next moment, the defensive measure of the talisman reinforced Jiang Chen's body as the eight statues simultaneously struck.
To his immense shock, Jiang Chen realized that each one of these eight statues possessed the offensive power of the initial emperor realm. Moreover, the attacks made by these eight statues even corresponded to formation-type attacks. As formation after formation rained down upon him, Jiang Chen was no longer even sure which side he should defend from.
Although he was protected by the Imperial Advent Defense Talisman, Jiang Chen didn't dare to relax. Without warning, he activated his body tempering arts. Ten feet of golden light covered his torso. He hugged Huang'er tightly, pressing her body against his chest. Even if he was injured, he didn't want Huang'er to be hurt by these statues. Attacks were coming from his right, his left, and from behind… Jiang Chen could no longer pay attention to them. He knew that what he had to defend was his front.
Because Huang'er lay in his embrace.
The Imperial Advent Defense Talisman could protect him but not Huang'er. The blows from the two statues charging head on at him must be deflected by his own strength. Thankfully, Jiang Chen possessed so many strategies that he instantly stopped the assaults with a swish of his Featherflight Mirror. At the same time, the attacks of the other statues landed heavily on his body.
Crash!
Streaks of golden light poured out from Jiang Chen's body. It was as if he was being gently pummeled by a baby's fists. Although he could feel the attacks, they didn't bring the slightest sensation of pain. He was inwardly delighted. This Imperial Advent Defense Talisman definitely lives up to its name!
Once activated, the talisman could last at least eight hours. Jiang Chen didn't need to worry about the talisman losing its potency any time soon. At this point, he could no longer conceal his true power. He unleashed his Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice, entrapping the two statues in front of him. With a hand seal, the numerous vines of the lotus lashed violently towards the two statues.
The lotus was incredibly powerful at both binding and shattering, but these two statues had clearly also been constructed extraordinarily well. While Jiang Chen couldn't tell what exactly had been used to create them, even the combined strength of hundreds of vines couldn't grind them down. Finally letting his frustration get to him, Jiang Chen repeatedly sliced into the air with a fingertip.
The fourth move of the Supernova Point: Galaxy Slash!
This Supernova Point had been coined by an authority from the ancient era. Its formidable might could slice even the Milky Way apart. Jiang Chen had been training this technique for a very long time. Just because his Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice couldn't break these things didn't mean that the Galaxy Slash would fail to. The powerful blow sliced into the statues. As expected, cut after cut carved into them. Just as Jiang Chen repeatedly deployed the Galaxy Slash, another arrow hurtled out from the distance. It pierced through space, careening towards him with a deadly trajectory.
Anger flared up within him as he pushed his hand downwards, slamming the mint ginseng into the ground. "Go and drag out that bastard shooting these arrows." The fellow launching sneak attacks on me must definitely be rather weak. Otherwise, he wouldn't keep relying on these unseen arrows.
The mint ginseng was still quite terrified of Jiang Chen. When it saw that this was its chance to prove its usefulness, it was naturally extremely happy. On the other hand, Jiang Chen only had one goal in mind as he continued to slice those two statues apart. When the other statues realized that they had no way to attack him, they consecutively surged towards his frontal side. How could Jiang Chen allow them to do as they wished? He shifted his position continuously as he called out, "Prince of Shangping, is this your so-called cooperation?" If he still couldn't figure out that this was the prince's dirty ploy, then there must be something wrong with his brain.
In the darkness, the Prince of Shangping seemed slightly dumbfounded as he manipulated his formation disk. He had received this formation disk thanks to a stroke of good luck in an extremely fortuitous situation. The disk could compel eight divine golden statues to attack simultaneously. With the Prince of Shangping's potential, he could only tap into a third of this power. The eight statues were only able to materialize strength of the initial emperor realm. After all, his own level of cultivation was only in the emperor realm. These eight statues were akin to an alliance between eight initial emperor realm cultivators. One could easily imagine their resulting power.
Moreover, these eight divine statues were different from ordinary emperor realm cultivators. An ordinary cultivator might possess slightly higher offensive power, but their defensive capabilities might not be up to par. The defense of these eight statues was truly insurmountable. A normal attack couldn't even hope to scratch them. After all, they didn't fear pain. This kind of perverse durability would definitely cause an ordinary opponent to suffer a severe headache.
Hence, when the Prince of Shangping had set up the formation as a ploy against Jiang Chen, he had felt fairly confident. Who would have expected that these eight golden divine statues would be unable to ruffle the feathers of this mysterious young cultivator? This brat actually possessed such an impenetrable defense that the attacks of his statues had no effect on him! If he hadn't had to protect his companion, he might very well have taken out all the statues already.
In that moment, the Prince of Shangping was both shocked and furious—shocked because his opponent possessed a defense more formidable than his eight golden divine statues, and furious because all his efforts seemed to have gone to waste. If the first attack failed, any further aggression would be much more difficult. Moreover, his location had been discovered by his opponent. At this moment, the Prince of Shangping had almost given up. However, he was a very determined person. Some glowing thing covered this brat's body just now. He must have used some kind of strange defensive talisman. Defensive talismans last for an hour at most. After one hour, the effects will naturally disappear…
When he thought of this, the Prince of Shangping regained his fighting spirit. This brat is decked from head to toe with so many treasures. If he didn't snatch them for himself, then he would truly have wasted all this effort. When he realized this, the Prince of Shangping chuckled before springing out from the darkness. One of his hands grasped the handle of a silver longsword.
"Since Daoist Huang possesses such strong enmity towards me, then don't blame me for being too harsh on you!" This Prince of Shangping was completely shameless. It was obviously him who had initiated the attack, yet he continued to speak of himself in such a pompous manner.
Jiang Chen only sneered at him. His gaze was fixed on the Prince of Shangping as he said, "I knew an old codger like you would be up to no good. You can't hide your sly fox tail anymore, can you?"
The Prince of Shangping was completely shameless. When he heard Jiang Chen's mocking words, he acted as though he couldn't hear anything. "Brat, things have already reached this stage. What's the point of spouting such nonsense? Tell me your background so I can see if I can afford this offense."
Jiang Cheng was too lazy to even converse. "Fight if you want to. What's the point of chit chatting?"
A nasty grin appeared on the Prince of Shangping's face. "Quite arrogant huh, brat? But even if you're the disciple of a famous sect, do you really think you have any right to mess around after you've entered my formation? Today, I will send you straight to hell. All your valuables… I'll take them for safekeeping. I'll send your companion to accompany you after I've toyed with her. Ahahaha…"