Chapter 365: Exorcism Squad

　　“I have an idea. Our mystic arts are all ineffective, and I believe that this demonic beast’s poison is capable of snatching away the lives of all living beings, using them as its own.” Zhu Yao analysed. “The way to restrain it must be mystic arts that do not possess life.”

　　Nangong Cheng was stunned for a moment. With widened eyes, he said. “You’re saying, earth and metal type attacks are able to harm it?”

　　“Mn.”

　　“No wonder fellow Daoist Beichen and Daoist Ximen are the only ones able to harm it.” Nangong pondered for a moment, looking enlightened. “That sword formation is metal-type.”

　　“That demonic beast is nimble and fast, though the sword formation can harm it, the formation cannot restrain it for long. Nangong Huang, how’s your earth-type arts?”

　　I already told you I’m Nangong Cheng!

　　“I don’t specialize in wood-type mystic arts, though…” He turned to look at Zhonggu Lu who had been producing negligible damage.

　　“What?” The muscular Zhonggu Lu said with a despised look. “I don’t want to go. That demonic beast is so disgusting! What am I supposed to do if I accidentally injure my flowery and jade-like face when I approach it?”

　　“…” Is this the time to care about your image?

　　Roar~~~

　　Suddenly, that demonic beast once again let out an angry roar. Under Yu Yan’s and Yue Ying’s sword formation all-round attack, its body was covered in injuries. As though it had grown anxious from being pushed back, its roar sounded especially violent and mighty. It suddenly placed its four limbs on the ground, changing its stance. Poisonous liquid began to pop out from all over its body.

　　“Not good, it’s about to use the poisonous liquid to attack.” Nangong Cheng’s face changed. It had intentionally released such a huge amount of poisonous liquid, and if it were to shake its body, the deadly poison would definitely fall in all directions. Even if they were to return to the Purifying Pool, they wouldn’t be able to hold on. What to do?

　　They could not drag it out any longer, they had to finish the battle quickly. However, the rough man Zhonggu Lu of the good-looking club actually backed out at this critical moment.

　　“Then that settles it.” Squad Captain Nangong Cheng said with a serious look, and he took this time to send a voice transmission to the two people at the front. “In a moment when the earth-type mystic art restrains it, the four of us will unleash our attacks at the same time and kill the demonic beast.”

　　“I don’t want to head over! That poisonous gas isn’t a joke.” Zhonggu Lu had a determined look. As he said that, he flew straight towards the Purifying Pool. “I have such good looks, I don’t want to…”

　　Before he could even finish, Nangong Cheng had already silently cast an art and summoned a human-sized water mirror in front of him. What reflected in it was a face that was stained with the purple poisonous gas.

　　Two seconds later…

　　Nangong Cheng silently covered his ears. Before Zhu Yao could even understand his intentions, a scream instantly broke through the skies, causing everyone’s body to tremble.

　　“Ah——-! My faaaace!!!!”

　　After entering this poisonous mist, every single one of them had already been contaminated with a slight amount of poison, though he seemed to have been contaminated slightly more than the rest. Furthermore, the symptoms appeared directly on his face.

　　It felt as though Zhonggu Lu’s entire being had changed. The divine energy on his body instantly exploded forth. Zhu Yao could faintly see what might be known as ‘flames of fury’ being emitted out from his body, and it was burning with rage. Stomping his feet forward, his entire body was emitting out killing intent in all directions. He ruthlessly glared at the demonic beast behind him. “You trash, you dare to harm my face!”

　　In a flash, he suddenly charged out. A few rumbling sounds could be heard as earth thorns popped out from the ground, directly pinning the demonic beast’s two claws. The demonic beast let out a scream as its poisonous liquid attack was interrupted. However, that was not the end. Right below it, a fist made from the earth suddenly appeared at high speeds, directly smashing the demonic beast onto the ground. In an instant, countless earth thorns and stone pillars popped out from the ground, smashing the demonic beast from all directions.

　　“You granddaddy, you dare to harm my face, you motherf**king dare to harm my face! This daddy here has cultivated for so many years, yet no one has ever dared to harm my face. You garbage, you piece of trash, you actually dare to injure me! Die, die, die…”

　　As he pummeled and shouted at the demonic beast, his mystic arts were both quick and ruthless. Even his hair was standing straight up from his fury. Zhu Yao watched as the a bunch of damage counters floated above the demonic beast’s head. -1,000, -2,000, -3,000…

　　The corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched. Was this truly that smug party member that only knew how paddle on water? Why did it feel as though some sort of incredible seal had been released, hey!?

　　“Girly, let’s attack then.” Squad Captain Nangong waved at her with a calm look. “Mn, everything is going according to plan.”

　　“…” Plan my ass! Flips table! Don’t look as though everything is in the palm of your hand! You fellow gay friend has evidently gone berserk, hey!

　　After Zhonggu Lu vented off his steam with his earth-type arts, that pitiful demonic beast no longer had any strength left to retaliate. He managed to muster out a crazed growl, and then used his claws to slam away the thorns. It wanted to take back its dignity as a boss monster, but Zhonggu Lu suddenly circulated all of the divine energy in his body to cast an art. In an instant, the earth began to shake, and at the moment he finished his hand seals, he instantly activated the art. “Mountain Collapse.”

　　In an instant, the ground began to rumble and then split to the two sides like an earthquake. The demonic beast did not have a stable footing and ended up slipping into it. However, the moment it was about to fall, its body began to change. It grew out a pair of wings and flew. Just as it was about to escape the fissure, Zhonggu Lu gritted his teeth and in an instant, several stone pillars stretched out from the ground at high speeds. Like chains, they restrained its body and directly pulled it back down.

　　“Now!” Squad Captain Nangong commanded. The other four people circulated their divine energy at the same time. Four enormous spiritual swords with the size of mountains appeared in the air. Carrying boundless might, they instantly scattered the surrounding poisonous gas and smashed exactly downwards where the demonic beast was.

　　A scream instantly resounded through the entire secret realm. Four rows of the same numbers instantly floated above the demonic beast’s head. Fatal damage -100,000! It desperately flopped about for a moment, and then, slowly, it lost all signs of life.

　　The surrounding poisonous mist began to scatter at this moment as well, revealing the initial blue sky.

　　They succeeded!

　　Zhu Yao felt a little fatigued. That sword earlier had drawn out a large half of her divine energy, and for a moment, her legs were a little wobbly. Her body shook, and suddenly she felt a grip by her waist. In the next instant, she leaned against a familiar chest.

　　“Master…”

　　Yu Yan glanced at her, and after realizing that nothing serious had happened to her, he habitually stroked her head. He wanted to praise his disciple for her exemplary performance, but he did not know how he should go about doing it. I’m not familiar with praising people, what to do?

　　Zhu Yao however had already pulled him towards where the demonic beast’s corpse was. She had to say that this boss monster was really hard to beat. Compared to the monsters she had encountered before, it had hard skin and thick blood. Only Gods and Devils were stronger than it. The key thing here was that it even had enhanced magic defense, which made it highly resistant against divine arts.

　　Fortunately, they still managed to bring it down. Squad Captain Nangong mentioned that the Nascent Divided Pearl was located in its belly. Zhu Yao glanced at this mountain-tall corpse, and her expression darkened. “This… Do we really have to cut it open?” She had no interest in dissecting corpses at all!

　　“Cut it?” Squad Captain Nangong looked at her strangely. “Why!?”

　　We’re not cutting it? How are we going to retrieve the quest item then? Just as she was about to ask, a lustrous light suddenly shone out from the pitch-black poisonous corpse. The corpse then slowly began to turn foggy, and finally, it actually turned into a dark purple poisonous mist. Compared to the poisonous mist from before, it was at least a hundred times thicker. “This… This is?” She was frightened.

　　“Don’t you know these demonic beasts are undying?” Squad Captain Nangong had a expression that looked as if it was saying ‘my party member has no common knowledge’.

　　“Undying?” Zhu Yao was stunned for a moment. She then turned to look at the half-mistified corpse. “It can actually resurrect?”

　　“That’s right!”

　　“…” Do you have to tell me such a terrifying setting with such a calm look, hey?

　　“This demonic beast is birthed from the poisonous gas of these lands in the first place.” Nangong explained with a matter-of-factly look. “After all, how can poisonous gas have life? We had simply scattered it off. In three days, these poisonous gases will once again gather and form a new demonic beast.”

　　“…” It really is a dungeon mob. It can spawn limitlessly, hey.

　　After Squad Captain Nangong finished explaining, he looked towards the center of the poisonous mist. A red light flashed, and following after, a red pearl slowly raised up into the air. It continued to fly even higher, and it looked as though it was about to charge out of the poisonous mist. Nangong had an excited look as he pointed at the pearl. “That’s the Nascent Divided Pearl. I shall first contact the groups from the other secret realms.”

　　Zhu Yao took a closer look. Above the red pearl, six white words were floating. One of the secret key fragments

　　Just as the pearl was about to fly out of the poisonous mist, Zhu Yao took a step forward and reached out her hand, attempting to retrieve the boss quest item. She then glanced at the strand of purple gas that was being carried by the pearl, and she could not help but hesitate for a moment. A figure suddenly flashed and appeared next to her. That person was a step ahead and obtained the Nascent Divided Pearl.

　　“I never expected that with just a few of you people, you were able to defeat this demonic beast.” A few foreign faces suddenly appeared in the air. Their attires were all different, and there were a total of seven men and one woman. Their eyes were faintly filled with excitement. And, the person who snatched away the Nascent Divided Pearl was a blue-robed male Deity that was leading them.

　　“Who are you people?” Nangong Cheng frowned deeply as he cautiously looked at this crowd of people who harboured ill intentions.

　　“Naturally, we’re people who are here to look for treasures.” The leader coldly snorted as he looked with contempt at the five people who were evidently fatigued. “Seeing how you lot took desperate measures to kill this demonic beast, you all hold merit for your hard labour. I won’t kill you guys. Leave now.”

　　“You’re trying to steal our treasure!” Squad Captain Nangong had a furious expression.

　　“So what if I am?” That man said without the slightest of guilt.

　　Squad Captain Nagong clenched his fists, his teeth grinding. Stealing treasures was a very common occurrence, and such people could be found everywhere in these secret realms. The Nascent Divided Pearls were not hard to obtain, what’s hard were protecting the Nascent Divided Pearls and finding the opportune time to leave the secret realms together. That was why he had done the necessary countermeasures before attacking the demonic beast. However, he never expected that these people in front of his eyes would be this shameless. They charged right out to steal the treasure the moment the demonic beast was killed. Evidently, they had their eyes on Zhu Yao’s group right from the start. Yet, their divine energy had still yet to recover, after all, they used up a large amount of them during the battle earlier. This was especially so for Zhonggu Lu who seemed to have expended all of his strength. There was completely no victorious outcome when up against these people in their current states.

　　“You guys have already done pretty well. A mere five of you was actually able to kill this demonic beast, and even I can’t help but feel impressed.” Though that man was speaking a respectful manner, he looked as though he was gloating with that smile on his face.

　　Squad Captain Nangong was already grinding his teeth noisily from his anger, while Zhonggu Lu looked like he wished he could destroy that person’s face. The other three on the other hand had slightly strange expressions. Yu Yan still had the expressionless face that looked like a block of ice from ten thousand years ago. Yue Ying was simply looking intensely at Zhu Yao on the side. Zhu Yao on the other hand, had a… worried look?

　　“Umm…” Zhu Yao could not help but call out to the leader who snatched their treasure.

　　“Oh?” That man coldly snorted. “What? There really is someone who is unafraid of death?”