Chapter 113: Thirty-six Stratagems: Retreat Is The Best?
The Tail bypassed the Seven Stars Sealing Spirit Gourd, conjuring a pair of large hands and grabbing toward Huanlong.
Huanlong sneered disdainfully, still thinking she was the strongest fragment of Liaoyuan?
Now, even if Liaoyuan were reborn, she wouldn’t take her seriously, let alone a mere part that composed Liaoyuan.
Huanlong resisted the suction of the Seven Stars Sealing Spirit Gourd and slightly shifted her body, conjuring a tail that fiercely whipped the Tail, sending it flying toward the Seven Stars Sealing Spirit Gourd.
“Holy shit!”
Accompanied by the Tail’s curse, facing the powerful suction, the Tail had no power to resist and was instantly sucked into the gourd.
“Lord Tail!” Huo Huo exclaimed in surprise.
Meng Huaifeng covered his face. Are you here to be funny?
Jing Yuan unleashed several sword strikes toward Huanlong again.
Huanlong didn’t dare vent her anger on Meng Huaifeng, fearing she would be controlled again in public, and she was already powerless to stop everyone. Destruction Power blocked the gourd’s suction, and she instantly crashed toward the Jianmu seal.
The powerful seal couldn’t stop Huanlong, and she directly entered the seal!
Dan Heng reverted to human form, his face cold as he continued to undo the seal.
“Lord Han Ya, quickly release Lord Tail.” Huo Huo ran to Han Ya’s side and said concernedly.
Han Ya stopped inputting Imaginary Energy, the gourd’s suction instantly ceased, and the Tail flew out of the gourd cursing and swearing.
“Like that sword, if you give this gourd to General Jing Yuan, can it directly suck Huanlong in?” Meng Huaifeng asked.
“No, the Seven Stars Sealing Spirit Gourd’s suction power has an upper limit; earlier was already maximum power. Sealing spirit artifacts’ main function has always been to seal and contain Suiyang, usually after weakening the Suiyang’s spirit body, then taking in the weakened Suiyang. The Seven Stars Sealing Spirit Gourd’s suction is already top-tier among all sealing spirit artifacts.” Han Ya replied.
Meng Huaifeng shook his head. These things from the Ten Lords’ Commission were indeed somewhat useful, but not very useful.
Although the Spirit Severing Money Sword dealt astonishing damage to Huanlong, that was also because of Meng Huaifeng’s strong control.
Jing Yuan wasn’t skilled at wielding swords; when wielding a sword, Jing Yuan could only exert eighty or ninety percent of his strength. It might seem like not much weakening, but in front of an envoy’s powerful base of power, that one or two percent loss in combat power was extremely terrifying.
If Huanlong was on guard, it would be hard for Jing Yuan to actually harm her with a sword; the final result might not even be as good as landing a few more hits with the Formation Blade.
After all, only hits on Huanlong’s body could activate the Spirit Severing Money Sword’s special attack. In a clash between Destruction Power and Hunt Power, the Spirit Severing Money Sword couldn’t double Jing Yuan’s attack.
Instead, using an unfamiliar weapon reduced his attack power.
Huo Huo reapplied the seal to the Tail. Xing frowned and walked up to the Tail, smashing a baseball bat onto the Tail’s head.
“Damn brat! What are you doing?” An angry # appeared on the Tail’s forehead as it roared.
“Strange, I clearly hit it.” Xing was puzzled.
“I’m sealed now! Coward, unseal me again! I’ll let this bastard see the power of Suiyang!” the Tail ranted furiously.
“Tail, don’t be angry. Don’t stoop to the level of an idiot.” March 7th hurriedly pulled the Tail back.
“You’re the idiot.” Xing retorted unconvinced.
March 7th elbowed Xing in the stomach, and Xing’s eyes instantly bulged.
“Hit her, hit her hard! Young girl, I support you. If there’s anything later, I’ll definitely help you!” the Tail said gleefully.
“Tail, let me ask you something: what are the limitations of Suiyang possession?” Meng Huaifeng patted the Tail and asked.
Meng Huaifeng suddenly thought that if Huanlong directly possessed Miss Himeko or Dan Heng, they would be in big trouble.
Why didn’t Huanlong do that?
The Ten Lords’ Commission had deep research on this, and the Tail didn’t hide it, saying directly: “Our Suiyang clan can instantly fully control those with weak mental power. For slightly stronger ones, we can only follow their desires, slowly guide them, and eventually fully control them.”
“Normally, the stronger the strength, the stronger the mental power. With Huanlong’s strength, instantly controlling someone like you is no problem, but for those like them, it’s troublesome and can’t fully control them, especially in situations full of hostility and vigilance.”
The Tail first pointed at Meng Huaifeng and Huo Huo, then at Himeko and Dan Heng.
“What about me? What about me?” March 7th hurriedly asked.
“I don’t know; after all, I’m not an envoy either. This is all I can confirm.” The Tail conjured two hands and shrugged.
So she and Xing might be instantly fully controlled, or might have some resistance? March 7th tilted her head. What’s the difference from not knowing?
“Knowing this is enough.” Meng Huaifeng said. It seemed they needed to be even more careful against Huanlong’s true body directly possessing him.
Jing Yuan held the Spirit Severing Money Sword and asked the train crew: “Does anyone among you excel at swordsmanship?”
Jing Yuan also realized that using the Spirit Severing Money Sword himself was somewhat not worth the loss.
If he didn’t use it, Huanlong would still be wary of him; if he did, she would still be wary. Not much difference.
Giving the Spirit Severing Money Sword to someone else could make Huanlong wary of one more person, with better effect.
No one spoke; March 7th hesitantly raised her hand.
“How is March’s swordsmanship? Have you comprehended Sword Intent?” Jing Yuan asked delightedly.
“Um, I can learn.” March 7th said.
Jing Yuan laughed wryly: “March, I can arrange for someone to teach you later, but I’m afraid it’s too late now.”
In the end, Jing Yuan sighed helplessly. No one was skilled at swordsmanship; it seemed he still had to use it himself. Perhaps he should have brought Yan Qing along.
On the Xianzhou now, aside from Jing Yuan this envoy, the top-tier pathfinder Fu Xuan barely counted as one, and there were no more after that.
Yan Qing was already advanced combat power on the Xianzhou. Though somewhat inferior to the train crew’s Xing and March 7th, he could barely participate in battles against envoys.
Xueyi and Han Ya, the faces of the Ten Lords’ Commission, had combat power slightly inferior to Yan Qing’s.
……
Inside the Jianmu seal.
Turned into ghost fire again so quickly?
The Great Annihilation Lord isn’t that impressive either.
Dan Shu scorned inwardly but didn’t dare show it.
“How much longer?” Huanlong asked urgently.
“Under my catalysis, Jianmu will sprout in at most three hours.” Dan Shu said.
Three hours?
No way to wait that long!
Even occupying this Medicine King leader’s body wouldn’t last that long.
Without that damn Meng Huaifeng, it might have been possible. Huanlong harbored resentment.
Meng Huaifeng’s control methods could fully be called half an envoy.
Or rather, he was half an Envoy of Joy.
No envoy-level power, yet envoy-level methods.
A half-envoy plus an envoy and several top-tier pathfinders was completely different.
Though she couldn’t deal with several top-tier pathfinders at once temporarily, their influence on her was also extremely limited, only able to restrain her.
Instead, Meng Huaifeng could truly and completely affect her, allowing the other envoy to attack freely without worrying about missing.
At this point, achieving the goal was basically impossible.
Huanlong felt heartbroken; the perfect physical body she had plotted for so long was ruined just like that!
Now, she could only settle for second best.
This Jianmu Profound Root’s Power of Abundance seems tempting enough!
Hesitation leads to chaos!
Huanlong immediately made up her mind, no longer waiting for Jianmu to sprout, directly using the Power of Abundance contained in the Jianmu Profound Root to fabricate a body for herself.
Though definitely inferior to a body fabricated from complete Jianmu, it should be enough to use for a few centuries.
In these few centuries, it would be fully enough for her to replan against Luofu and revive Jianmu.
“Huanlong, what are you doing? Stop! If you do this, the time for Jianmu to sprout will only get longer!” Dan Shu’s expression changed drastically as she glared angrily.
“Little pawn, still dreaming? The plan is doomed to fail; we can only try to make up for the loss.” Huanlong didn’t care about Dan Shu’s thoughts at all.
Abominable Medicine was completely useless now.
“Damn it!” Dan Shu’s expression changed repeatedly. What was the purpose of all she did?
Wasn’t betting everything just to make Jianmu sprout?
Three hours, only three hours!
In the face of the Xianzhou people’s long lifespan, three hours was so short, yet so long.
Three hours; there was clearly hope, definitely hope!
How could a Great Annihilation Lord not hold out for three hours?
Maybe she could, but Huanlong clearly wouldn’t risk her life for something with low probability.
Though Huanlong was a Destruction Envoy, she herself was very fond of life.
Her time was still long; she could plot slowly. Desperate fighting?
Not worth it, completely not worth it.
Dan Shu was like a gambler who bet everything and lost, eyes red.
“Great Lord, you really won’t stop your actions?” Dan Shu asked hoarsely.
Huanlong remained unmoved, immersed in face-sculpting, ignoring her completely.
A bit bigger here, legs a bit longer there…
“Jianmu, Rite of Transfiguration!”
Dan Shu’s scepter lit up, heavily slamming into the ground!
Wooden thorns bloomed endlessly under Huanlong’s feet, covering the entire space with thorns.
“Annoying!”
The thorns did no harm to Huanlong in spirit body state. Destruction Power flashed on Huanlong, instantly turning all thorns to flying ash, and Dan Shu was struck hard, sent flying.
Huanlong casually followed with two blasts of Destruction Power; the first put Dan Shu on the brink of death, but Power of Abundance stubbornly kept her alive, the second instantly made Dan Shu follow the thorns’ fate.
It had to be said that Huanlong in spirit body state truly lacked attack methods, or rather, pathfinders of the Abundance path had tenaciously strong life force.
“Ridiculous.”
……
Over ten minutes later, Dan Heng coldly reminded: “The seal is about to be undone!”
Huo Huo had redistributed amulets to everyone.
Meng Huaifeng looked toward the Jianmu Profound Root, wanting to see how big the real Huanlong truly was.
“Dan Heng, Miss Himeko, please help me hold Huanlong back. The rest of the train crew, please seal the Stellar Core first. I have a feeling Jianmu is about to revive.” Jing Yuan arranged.
With Dan Heng’s final strike, space distorted at the Jianmu Profound Root, and the seal was finally undone!
At first glance, there was no sign of the “big” Huanlong Meng Huaifeng had been anticipating.
With the seal undone, an ink-green figure instantly flew out from the Jianmu Profound Root position toward the sky. The figure wasn’t huge, just slightly taller than an average person.
“This time, I admit defeat. But after the Stellar Train leaves, will Luofu Xianzhou be so lucky next time against me?” Huanlong’s voice came from the sky.
This is really a Destruction Envoy? Running so decisively!
Jing Yuan was greatly surprised and hurriedly took to the air chasing Huanlong.
Meng Huaifeng activated the original Map Teleportation to delay Huanlong but found it failed.
Clearly, Huanlong had learned and disrupted the surrounding space, making space skills ineffective.
Meng Huaifeng hurriedly used the Soul-Capturing Camera to snap a photo of Huanlong.
“Bastard!”
Accompanied by Huanlong’s final curse, her figure completely vanished from sight.
A photograph generated in front of Meng Huaifeng.
Even as Huanlong moved at super high speed, the generated photo was still perfectly clear.
In the photo, Huanlong struck a flying-back pose, making a heart gesture with her hands, dressed in gold and ink-green, elegant and luxurious. Her skin was somewhat dark, yet had a unique charm.
93 points!
Such a high rating; tearing it up wouldn’t hurt much.
Collected.
Meng Huaifeng stored the photo in the Ticket Space.
“Let’s go seal the Stellar Core first.” Himeko said.
Himeko and Dan Heng acted, and the mere Stellar Core was easily sealed.
Meng Huaifeng scratched his head, feeling it ended anticlimactically.
In the original script, Huanlong fused with the complete Jianmu’s Power of Abundance, which made her so arrogant.
Now, she only fused with a remnant Power of Abundance from one Jianmu Profound Root, plus Meng Huaifeng this off-spec auxiliary.
Huanlong would be crazy to fight them head-on.
As Huanlong said, personally fighting didn’t fit her aesthetic of destruction; a temporary retreat was perfectly reasonable.
Shortly after Himeko and Dan Heng sealed the Stellar Core, Jing Yuan descended from the sky.
“Didn’t catch up?” Meng Huaifeng asked.
“Didn’t catch up; she got away.” Jing Yuan shook his head, somewhat regretfully.
If she weren’t so cowardly, there really would have been a high probability of capturing her alive.
It could be called a great victory.
Unfortunately…
“This time, the Xianzhou paid such a small price to thwart the Great Annihilation Lord’s conspiracy, all thanks to the Stellar Train crew. After handling the aftermath, the Xianzhou will surely reward you generously!” Jing Yuan clasped his fists toward everyone.
“General Jing Yuan is too polite; the train crew couldn’t just stand by.” Himeko smiled.
“Haha, I’ve already sent people to prepare a celebration banquet for you all. It should be ready by the time we return. Please.” Jing Yuan invited.
“Yay, big meal time!” March 7th cheered.
“Yay prohibited.” Meng Huaifeng said.
“Yay!” Xing indicated rules were meant to be broken.
“Right, I saw online that the Xianzhou’s specialty delicacy is Soda Bean Juice. Is it at the celebration banquet?” March 7th asked curiously.
“This… it can be. But I don’t recommend you try it.” Jing Yuan said, somewhat surprised, reminding them.
“No, I want to drink it!” Xing said.
“Alright then, I’ll have someone prepare a few servings of Soda Bean Juice.” Jing Yuan agreed.
“Though it feels like nothing good, I’ll try it anyway.” Meng Huaifeng said somewhat conflicted. Without tasting, no right to comment.
