Chapter Sixty-Four: The Spear of Ice

The scream was so piercing and mournful, reminiscent of an ape's howl, that everyone around instinctively turned their gaze toward Chen Qi, suspecting he had been gravely wounded by the sudden attack. At that moment, Chen Qi stared at his long blade, which had been snatched away, feeling utterly bereft and on the verge of tears. He even wished that the long tongue had struck him instead, tearing away a piece of his flesh.

The surrounding beasts showed no sign of pausing for the humans; in front, the giant serpent, its camouflage exposed, sprang at them without hesitation, while behind, the familiar poisonous miasma surged forth. Clearly, the beasts had established a tacit cooperation.

No one spared a glance for the stunned Chen Qi, as humans and beasts clashed in a chaotic melee.

Yun Tianxin confronted the strongest serpent beast, aiming every strike at its vital seven-inch point, intent on ending the battle swiftly. The other two inner disciples lunged at the Hundred-Eyed Miasma Demon, which was still spreading its toxic fog, obviously trying to neutralize the ranged threat among the beasts.

Sensing the sudden disruption of its poisonous haze and the danger brought by the rapidly approaching humans, the Hundred-Eyed Miasma Demon grew flustered. It ceased its efforts to intensify the toxic cloud, the myriad eyes across its body blinking rapidly as it unleashed an eerie cry.

The sound was cacophonous and shrill, like vengeful ghosts demanding repayment, but even more overwhelming, making Chen Qi, who stood behind the group, feel a wave of agitation and confusion.

Apparently, the two long tongues emerging from the swamp beneath the Hundred-Eyed Miasma Demon were also provoked by the sound, lashing out to block the inner disciples' advance.

The round-faced young woman and the man with sword-like brows exchanged a glance in midair; she bent slightly, her fingers tapping swiftly as she struck repeatedly at the tongues, while he summoned another burst of true energy, accelerating to attack the Hundred-Eyed Miasma Demon.

This was not their first encounter with such beasts; they knew well not to give the demon time to gather its strength.

The outer disciples beside Chen Qi also charged forward, pressing straight into the swamp, surrounding the points where the tongues emerged, seemingly creating opportunities for the inner disciples.

As everyone drew near, the beasts that had repeatedly lashed out their tongues finally exposed their full forms under the veil of light.

They were two toads, each as large as a young calf, their bodies mottled with brown and black patterns, the skin pitted with venomous glands from which pus dripped constantly. Besides their incredibly tough tongues, each over ten meters long, their fierce eyes held two crimson pupils, filled with madness.

Now, only Chen Qi stood alone in the center of the group. After a brief hesitation, he withdrew the pistol he had already summoned, his body catching up in a few quick movements.

He would not entrust all hope of reclaiming his weapon to his companions!

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Outside the Cloud Sea Sect, in a nearby forested mountain.

A bird’s cry sounded abruptly, followed by a small avian shadow circling midair. Its form was blurred by its speed, yet unnaturally silent.

Responding to the call, a figure leaped high from a nearby tree, defying gravity by lingering in the air, a stick of incense burning in his hand.

Drawn by the scent, the bird approached rapidly—a delicate hummingbird, its feet bound with a roll of parchment nearly its own size.

The figure took the parchment in one hand, released the bird, and hurriedly unfurled it, examining its contents.

After a while, the parchment ignited without wind, burning to a heap of foul-smelling ash.

Sunlight filtered through the dense forest, illuminating the silver hair atop the figure’s head, revealing the deeply lined face of an elder. Beneath his aged features was a sumptuous robe of purple brocade, gold-threaded clouds woven across it, attesting both to the richness of its material and adding an air of nobility.

He lingered a few minutes, as if contemplating something, then vanished, blending into the mountains.

Had anyone viewed the scene from above, they would have seen that the elder’s mountain lay southeast of the Cloud Sea Sect...

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Meanwhile, within the black poison marsh, thick miasma blanketed the broad swamp, yet could not obscure the shimmering veil of light within.

Inside the veil, the battle was divided into three fronts.

On one side, a woman and a serpent fought fiercely. The green-robed woman had seized the advantage; the serpent’s body bore several bloody gashes where its scales had been stripped away, and near its vital seven-inch spot there was a bloody hole, foul-smelling blood streaming out.

Elsewhere, two red-eyed venomous toads worked in concert, their tongues alternating attack and defense, frequently spitting poisonous saliva. As the humans held their breath in the swamp, their combat ability was impaired, and they only managed to evade the beasts’ attacks under the round-faced woman’s guidance.

Though the struggle appeared deadlocked, the humans' strength continued to wane with time, and defeat seemed inevitable.

Notably, one of the red-eyed toads had its tongue wrapped around a long blade, treating it like a toy, the blade swaying as its tongue moved, clashing with the other weapons.

The final front was a pursuit: the Hundred-Eyed Miasma Demon circled above, trailing its toxic mist to slow the humans behind. The man with sword-like brows already showed signs of poisoning, barely tracking the beast by the glint reflected from its body amid the thick black miasma.

The situation on the field was clear to Chen Qi; he suddenly halted, producing an object he had prepared long ago.

It was a spell scroll seized from the mage girl.

As the pale blue scroll unfurled, Chen Qi felt strange new knowledge flooding his mind, and a mysterious connection forming between himself and the scroll.

Following this connection, Chen Qi began to chant, uttering syllables even he could not comprehend. A chill surged through his body.

After a second or two, he felt himself sinking again, yet forced himself to continue chanting, resisting the urge to break free.

A few breaths later, as his chanting continued, a thin layer of white frost appeared on his skin, thickening with each moment.

At that instant, all the beasts sensed that the human blood scent at Chen Qi’s position had almost vanished, replaced by a growing aura of cold.

As the chill threatened to become a deadly frost, the two red-eyed toads facing Chen Qi could no longer hold back. They abandoned their advantage of long tongues and charged for close combat.

Driven by instinct, they tried to break through the humans’ defenses and stop the cold from spreading.

“Stop them!”

Before the round-faced inner disciple could issue the command, all the outer disciples tacitly unleashed their blood energy, revealing their best techniques and forcing the toads to retreat.

Finally, Chen Qi’s chant reached its conclusion.

Though most of his body was submerged in the marsh, above his head a several-meter-long spear of ice was taking shape, ancient patterns forming upon it.

Seeing they could no longer prevent Chen Qi, the red-eyed toads made a move that stunned everyone.

Instead of fleeing, their tongues twisted into the shape of a bow, and the long blade wrapped at the tip was shot out with incredible speed, leaving only a shadow.

Its target, naturally, was Chen Qi, whose body was mostly submerged in the swamp.