Chapter Thirty-One: Chi You's Evil Device

  Suddenly, a knight rushed out of the enemy army, holding a longbow and rushing towards Jiuying, who was being held back by Moli Hong and Moli Hai. The knight drew his bow and aimed at Jiuying, and for a moment, a brilliant red light filled the air, surrounded by colorful lights, and after the shock passed, two flashes of lightning-like sharp lights almost simultaneously entered Jiuying's two heads. Jiuying let out a long whistle, and rolled around on the ground in agony, with countless soldiers around him being blown away or crushed, Jiuying struggled for a while, and finally lay motionless on the ground, and surprisingly, he had no vital signs.

  The face of the Witch King changed suddenly, his eyes gleaming like a torch, and he saw that the one holding the bow was none other than Moon Princess Wang, who had been taken away by the Shang army. What was even more unbelievable was that she didn't know what kind of treasure bow she held in her hand, yet she could kill the ancient demon Nine Infants with such ease. Because Moon Princess Wang's cultivation time for the Su Nu Double Xiu Great Law was too short, she couldn't freely use the power transferred from Zhang Zixing, and after shooting these two arrows, she seemed to have lost all her strength, panting constantly on horseback. With Nine Infants dead, the four demon generals suddenly felt a great reduction in pressure, concentrating their powers entirely on dealing with Feng Hou.

  Feng Huang's strength was not to be underestimated, especially with its special ability to inflate its body, making the Mo Family's four generals' magic treasures unable to inflict substantial damage on it. The Mo Family's four generals were not in a hurry, fighting while retreating, gradually luring Feng Huang away to an empty space on one side. Witch King had just killed nine infants and saw Feng Huang recklessly chasing after the Mo Family's four generals, sensing something was amiss, he hastily activated the Chi You flag to make Feng Huang return, but as soon as it turned back, the Mo Family's four generals launched another fierce attack, repeating this several times. Feng Huang was provoked to the point of losing control and furiously chased after the four generals with its life on the line.

  When chasing near a mound, the seal suddenly felt empty under its feet and fell into a previously dug pit. The pit was over 10 meters deep, and although the seal was powerful, it didn't have excellent jumping ability, so for the time being, it couldn't climb out, frantically howling in distress. What's more, a large team of merchants who had been preparing for a long time appeared around the pit, starting to throw sandbags and fill the soil, seemingly wanting to bury this giant beast alive.

  This method was thought of by Zhang Zixing: since you, Feng Nian, are a big wild boar, I'll use the hunter's trick to deal with the wild boar. Isn't there an idiom from later generations? A wild boar in a trap - only one dead end.

  The Witch King did not expect that his two greatest reliance would be easily defeated by the opponent, and he spat out a mouthful of blood in anger. King Cangjie also showed a tense expression, because those merchants who had previously "escaped" to this side finally revealed their true purpose, they quickly formed into two large teams, led by Huang Feihu and Jiang Wenhuan, and attacked the Dongyi army from both sides.

  The Dongyi army encountered this desperate situation and immediately fell into chaos. Due to the premature failure of the two great demons, the flag of Chiyou lost its effect, so the power consumption of the Witch King was greatly reduced. However, he soon discovered the danger of the situation and knew that if he didn't fight with all his might today, the entire Dongyi army would be destroyed. Looking at the commercial army's king flag in front of him, a fierce light flashed across the old eyes of the Witch King, who gritted his teeth and took over a long box from the hand of a guard from the Wu Shenjun army, then dismounted and sat down on the ground.

  In the long box was a dark golden, oddly-shaped short spear. The spear body was slightly flat, with strange and delicate patterns carved on it. The sharp blade of the spear tip shone with a fierce light, making the entire short spear look ancient and exquisite, worthy of being called a perfect work of art. However, the gaze of the surrounding witch god guards looking at this short spear seemed to be extremely terrified, as if this "work of art" was a very frightening thing.

  The Witch King muttered incantations, pulled out a short spear, and the first thing he did was to viciously stab his own thigh. The spear tip was incredibly sharp, instantly piercing through his leg. He let out a muffled groan from the pain. The terrifying spear seemed to have a life of its own, absorbing all the flowing blood, and the flower patterns on it began to emit a faint glow.

  When the glow of the Witch King's flower pattern turned completely golden, he gritted his teeth and pulled out the short spear. At this time, the muscles on that leg had withered and dried up, leaving only bones, as if something had sucked them dry. The Witch King didn't care about all this, muttering to himself, the short spear suddenly extended and lengthened in mid-air, and those recessed flower patterns also miraculously protruded, amidst the glorious golden light, transforming into a terrifying giant mantis, pouncing towards the main commander of the Shang army, aiming directly at the Son of Heaven of Great Shang - as long as he could kill the commander-in-chief of the Shang army, the enemy's troops would definitely disperse!

  When the Moon Goddess saw this golden halberd, she was shocked and lost her composure. This halberd is the most treacherous treasure left by Chi You, "Devouring Soul", which was also used by Chi You to resist Huang Di in the past. The "Devouring Soul" is extremely ferocious, its horror lies not only in its shocking destructive power, but also in its ability to cause great harm to the soul. Many powerful cultivators under Huang Di were destroyed by the "Devouring Soul". This is a truly terrifying weapon that can make an enemy's body and spirit perish in an instant.

  This weapon is even more terrifying than the Chi You flag, and the backlash it causes is also astonishingly powerful, far surpassing the Chi You flag. It's almost impossible to control, and legend has it that only the war god Chi You himself can wield it with ease. That's why it's usually sealed away in a forbidden area, never to be used. But this time, the Witch King actually brought it out. Of course, the cost of the Witch King forcibly activating it won't just be one leg - after using it once, the Witch King's magical powers will completely dissipate, and even if he doesn't die, he'll become a complete cripple.

  The Moon Goddess did not expect the Witch King to be so reckless and desperate, originally with the Heaven-Shaking Bow and Cloud-Piercing Arrows she might have been able to contend with the Devouring Spirit, but the two previous arrows had consumed too much of her strength, and one of the three Cloud-Piercing Arrows had been "wasted" by Zhang Zixing, who knew where it had flown off to, and the other two were still stuck in Jiu Yin's head, unable to be retrieved in time. The Moon Goddess was frantic, recklessly urging her horse forward towards the central army.

  Facing the ferocious golden beast, Zhang Zixing felt an unprecedented strong sense of crisis surge up in his heart, as if he had already stepped into thin air on a cliff thousands of feet high and was about to shatter into pieces at any moment. He knew it was a matter of life and death, and the power inside him began to operate at high speed, concentrating his mind to confront it, but he didn't notice that the bracelet on his wrist had also begun to emit a faint glow.

  The momentum of that sound was so swift and fierce, the large defensive shield erected by the Shang army was broken through in one charge, as if it were a withered tree being uprooted. The soldiers who rushed forward to resist were already corpses on the ground. The four generals of the Mo family, who were organizing the Shang army to deal with Feng Hu, and Huang Feihu and Zhang Guifang, who were surrounding Dongyi, also discovered the danger of the Son of Heaven, but it was too late to rescue him.

  At that moment, the giant golden tortoise had broken through all defenses and swallowed the Great Merchant Tianzi in one gulp. The war chariot where Zhang Zixing was located also shattered into pieces, and the soldiers and horses around the king's flag were torn apart by this terrible force, their limbs flying far away in a strong energy field, a gruesome sight. Yuemei felt her eyes darken, almost falling off her horse, while the other generals were shocked and pale. Wuji Wang watched this scene from afar, his tense expression suddenly relaxing, as if he had put down a thousand-pound boulder. Cang Jie Wang and the other generals all showed joy on their faces - with the Great Merchant Tianzi dead, the Shang army would lose its leader and surely collapse without a fight.

  For a moment, the killing sounds on the battlefield seemed to have all stopped, and all eyes were focused in Zhang Zixing's direction.

  In the blink of an eye, Zhang Zixing only felt a fierce and murderous aura coming from all directions, not daring to slack off. He concentrated all his strength in his hands and went forward to meet it. He had intended to use the new True Martial Spirit Incantation he had just comprehended, but unfortunately, he was unable to do so. Because he had only just begun to cultivate the True Martial Spirit Incantation, he needed both his spirit and body to be in a state of perfect harmony before he could merge the seven forms into one and transform them into the power of the Black Tortoise. However, due to the exhaustion of his vital energy from eliminating the Nine Infants, he had been continuously using the Great Transference Technique on Moon Maiden for several days, causing his own vitality to be greatly depleted, making it impossible for him to use it at this moment.

  The killing intent released by the golden spear was truly terrifying. As soon as it came into contact with him, Zhang Zixing felt a chill in his heart and was pressed down by an extremely ferocious power, making his entire body almost unable to move. In an instant, he was enveloped by a vast and ominous aura, like being wrapped in a golden cocoon. This cocoon had a terrifying magical power, causing Zhang Zixing's strength and life to rapidly drain away without his control, as if being swallowed up by the cocoon. In just a moment, his consciousness began to blur, and although he knew the situation was critical, he couldn't stop it - could it be that Zhang Zixing's great ambitions would remain unfulfilled, and he would lose his life here?

  At the critical moment, a yellow glow emanated from Zhang Zixing's Pixiu bracelet, spreading out to form a light screen that protected his entire body. Zhang Zixing, who had fallen into a semi-coma, was suddenly awakened by this yellow light. However, the golden light was too powerful, and after a brief struggle, the yellow light began to weaken, and the light screen gradually dissipated. The shadow of death loomed once again. Zhang Zixing did not expect that even the Pixiu bracelet given by Duobao Daoist could not withstand this fierce creature. The pressure he bore began to increase gradually, and he knew that if the light screen disappeared, it would be his time of death. He gritted his teeth: "I'll give it my all!"

  Taking advantage of the temporary support of the Qiong Qi's light curtain, Zhang Zixing took a deep breath and withdrew the force that was resisting the pressure. He allowed his body to be pressed down like a mountain, concentrating all his energy to forcibly compress the power of the War Soul Technique within him. Just as the Qiong Qi's defense was about to be broken through, Zhang Zixing's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and the power that had been brewing for a long time suddenly burst forth. The Seven-Style Heart Method finally merged into one, and the power of the Xuanwu reappeared, charging towards the terrifying Golden Cocoon with all his might.

  Zhang Zixing didn't know whether this step forward would be life or death for him; all he knew was that no matter what, he couldn't give up.

  Just as the Xuanwu image and the golden cocoon came into contact, the golden cocoon's energy field suddenly underwent a strange change. The ominous aura surprisingly dissipated thread by thread, finally disappearing without a trace, leaving only an ancient golden spear floating in mid-air. Zhang Zixing had thought there would be a fierce battle, or even that his life would be in danger, but he hadn't expected it to go so smoothly.

  The golden spear suddenly flashed and flew forward, Zhang Zixing was shocked and activated the True Martial Spirit Incantation to grasp the blade with one hand. The golden spear was so sharp that he only felt a pain in his palm, and it had already been cut open, but he still grasped it tightly and dared not let go.

  At this time, in the eyes of the generals on both sides of the battlefield, it was a strange sight. After the golden beast swallowed Zhang Zixing, a strange image suddenly appeared on its head. First, there was a double-horned monster, with the head of a dragon, the body of a horse, and the feet of a unicorn, similar in shape to a lion. Its whole body emitted a bright yellow light, and it wrestled with the beast. Just as the beast was about to overpower the monster, a giant turtle with a snake-like neck appeared. The turtle's shell was black with eight trigrams pattern. When Wu Jiwang saw this turtle, his face suddenly changed greatly.

  Yesterday, I had a fever of 39 degrees, with inexplicable body aches all over. I received an IV drip until 2 am and continued to have a low-grade fever throughout the night after returning home. My right ear started throbbing in severe pain, feeling worse than death itself. I'm posting this from my stored drafts, on my way to the hospital again for another round of injections...

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