"Lord Ghost King, dead... dead?!"
Ling Shu crawled up from the smoke-filled pit, and before he could say anything, he saw the head Xu Mu was carrying. It was Wei Daolin's head.
Wei Daolin was dead.
The espers from the three major forces all stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at Xu Mu. The scene fell silent.
"He actually did it," Wan Yan Zhenyao sighed, then looked at Qian Qian with a complex expression, "I didn't believe you before, and it seems that was my loss."
"It's alright. If it were me, I wouldn't believe it either. After all, this kind of thing is too unbelievable. I don't blame you," Qian Qian pushed himself up, wiped the blood from his hands, and then patted Wan Yan Zhenyao's shoulder.
The reason he believed in Xu Mu so much was because Xu Mu had once slapped the face of the domain lord of Medicine King Valley in front of them all. And not only was the domain lord not angry, but he had even rewarded their Jiang family's collateral branch because of it.
If he were to tell Wan Yan Zhenyao about this, what would he think?
Wan Yan Zhenyao remained silent, and Qian Qian stopped talking. Jiang Sheng, Qian Qian, Xu Jingchu, and the others were also filled with surprise and excitement. Although they had always believed in Xu Mu, when he actually killed Wei Daolin, the outcome was still a little dreamlike.
"Brothers, launch a counterattack. Our chance has come. Eliminate all of Wei Daolin's subordinates for me!" Wan Yan Zhenyao snapped back to his senses and let out a roar, leading his men to charge towards the remnants of the enemy, their momentum surging.
As he moved, the cultivators from the other two forces in the field also reacted and accepted the fact that Wei Daolin was dead.
Because of this, the espers in Wei Daolin's team had no fighting spirit and only wanted to escape.
Since the Four Ghost Generals who were supposed to lead them, and their Ghost King, were all dead, they were leaderless. How could they continue to fight against a complete team?
"Everyone, surrender and you will not be killed. From now on, we are all family. I only want the territory, and I won't take your lives!" Xu Mu casually tossed Wei Daolin's head aside and then shouted to the espers in the field.
In the next second, some espers with wavering resolve gave up their resistance and squatted in place with their hands raised.
But not everyone was willing to surrender. Almost everyone in Wei Daolin's team had thought of escaping, but when they found it difficult to escape and had no will to resist, they chose to surrender.
As Wan Yan Zhenyao and the others charged, more and more people gave up their resistance. Soon, almost all of Wei Daolin's two to three hundred subordinates gave up their resistance, holding their heads with their hands. In the blink of an eye, the enemies in the field were reduced to only Ling Shu's side.
Ling Shu's men had just recovered from the shock of Wei Daolin's death and the speed with which Wan Yan Zhenyao cleared the field.
"Brothers of the great Ghost King Wei, what are you afraid of? Wan Yan Zhenyao's men are just putting up a brave front. Even if they have another strong fighter, can he fight against so many of us?!"
Ling Shu flew back to his team in a sorry state, gritted his teeth, and shouted. He tried to reawaken the fighting spirit of Wei Daolin's subordinates, but Wei Daolin's head had fallen right beside them, and Xu Mu was still floating calmly above their heads. How could they dare to do anything else?
"Heh, fine." Seeing that his words had no effect, Ling Shu sneered coldly at Xu Mu and Wan Yan Zhenyao and then said, "You win today. We're leaving!"
Saying that, he was about to lead his team to retreat the way they came, but at this moment, Xu Mu plummeted from the sky like a meteor. With a rumbling sound, he landed directly in front of Ling Shu's team.
"Ling Shu, you are surrounded. Surrender and you will not be killed. I will not take even half a point from you." Xu Mu stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the crowd in front of him.
"Surrounded?" Ling Shu held the broken formation disk, glanced back at Wan Yan Zhenyao and his team who were putting up a brave front, and then looked at Xu Mu in front of him. He couldn't help but laugh.
"Kid, I admit you are stronger than me and can kill Wei Daolin and his Ghost Generals by yourself, but that doesn't mean you can kill all of us, or you wouldn't have allied with Wan Yan Zhenyao."
"Wan Yan Zhenyao's men have no substantial combat power now. To put it bluntly, they are almost like paper. The only one who can fight should be you."
Ling Shu held his injured chest, smiled with a pale face, and said, "Besides, you just finished killing Wei Daolin. I don't believe you suffered no damage."
"Let us go. Let's pretend that tonight's events never happened. You can take over the spring eye, and I won't stop you. It's good for both of us."
"No." Xu Mu shook his head.
Ling Shu's expression changed, and he said gloomily, "What? Do you really think that a group of heavily injured people like you can defeat our team?"
"Although we just went through a big battle, we are still in good condition. Are you sure you want to fight?"
"Sure." Xu Mu nodded, then looked at Wan Yan Zhenyao behind him and said loudly, "Wan Yan, Qian Qian, Qi Lan, Jiang Sheng, and all the espers who can still fight, listen to my command."
"Put aside all other objectives. Everyone focus on Ling Shu. The king is captured first, kill!"
As the word "kill" was uttered, Xu Mu was the first to clench his fist and rush out. Under the vast night sky, the youth fought like a dragon and a tiger, with a single punch creating a large clearing, sending dozens of espers flying.
Before Ling Shu could react, Wan Yan Zhenyao and the others arrived. Just as Xu Mu had commanded, they ignored the other espers and their interference and charged directly at him.
With their heavily injured bodies, they could only unleash one ability. They directed it towards Ling Shu. Those who still had combat power also bypassed others and charged at Ling Shu.
Qian Qian, Wan Yan Zhenyao, Qi Lan, and other powerful espers immediately rushed to within ten meters of Ling Shu. They were like a sharp knife, piercing directly into the heart of Ling Shu's team. It seemed that as soon as this knife reached its target, Ling Shu would die.
"You are too arrogant! I am also a physical cultivator. Do you really think you can defeat me in close combat?" Ling Shu punched his chest and then roared, increasing his body size to dozens of times that of a normal person, like a giant gorilla with immense pressure.
The appearance of this form immediately boosted the morale of Ling Shu's subordinates. They all felt that victory was within reach, as their leader was very strong.
Ling Shu rushed to Xu Mu and exchanged a punch.
*Boom!*
Instantly, Ling Shu's body was sent flying dozens of meters back. He staggered for a while before stabilizing himself.
This punch made Ling Shu realize the gap between him and Xu Mu. It seemed that it was indeed not something that individual strength could overcome.
But fortunately, he had many subordinates.
Ling Shu looked around, then took out a new formation disk and formation map. At the same time, his expression became solemn, and he whispered, "Everyone, help me stall for time with all your might. I'm going to set up a killing formation!"
"Don't worry, boss, we will defend you to the death!" Ling Shu's subordinates shouted, and then unleashed their abilities with all their might, stubbornly blocking Xu Mu and Qian Qian who were charging from the sides.
"Stop your futile resistance. That punch just now proved the outcome. You are no match for us. Surrender quickly!" Qi Lan stepped on Cang Lan and shouted loudly.
"Pfft, when our boss finishes setting up the formation, it will be your death day!"
The man shouted mockingly and then continued to fight fearlessly.
On the other side, Ling Shu, who was surrounded by everyone, was outwardly shocked but inwardly anxiously setting up the formation. As time passed, he soon completed the final rune seal with the formation disk.
The formation map radiated light, illuminating Ling Shu's body. He looked happy, and then glared at Xu Mu with some resentment.
"Hahaha, your death day has arrived. The boss's formation is ready!" Ling Shu's subordinates roared with laughter. Qian Qian and the others also looked solemn. Wan Yan Zhenyao quickly led his men to retreat, no longer charging, for fear of being trapped in the formation again like before.
Among these people, only Xu Mu kept trying to charge forward, but he couldn't break through.
"Quick, retreat! Don't rush, don't get caught in the formation, it will be troublesome!" Qian Qian reminded him loudly, his face anxious, but Xu Mu seemed not to hear him and continued forward.
His eyes were calm, and powerful forces continuously erupted from his body, but there were too many people around, and he couldn't interrupt Ling Shu.
"Alas, it seems I can only let you escape." Xu Mu shook his head helplessly, then withdrew from the crowd and looked at Ling Shu quietly. Suddenly, a mocking smile appeared on his face.
"Goodbye, I will return." Ling Shu stared at Xu Mu, and then his body instantly disappeared from this space.
Thus, the espers who had expected Ling Shu to turn the tide of battle and wreak havoc were all stunned in place.
"What he set up was not a killing formation at all, but a spatial teleportation formation."
Xu Mu looked at the crowd opposite him and said expressionlessly:
"In simple terms, it means he ran away."
...