Time trickled by. Seeing his subordinates die or get injured, with over ten more being killed by Lei Hu, You Meng Mo Shi began to grow impatient.
Bai Mu Tian Jun stood by with his arms crossed, watching like an onlooker, a mocking smile on his lips.
“You Meng, old ghost, do you want this seat to help you?”
Unexpectedly, You Meng Mo Shi coldly agreed, “Fine. If you help me take down this beast, I owe you a favor.”
Bai Mu Tian Jun was momentarily stunned by his agreement, then said, “Alright, you said it. This seat remembers. Sima, send your puppet up.”
Sima Kun immediately responded, “As you command, sir!”
He turned to look at Su Luo and Shang Xie Shao Qing. Just as he was about to tell Su Luo to go, uttering the single character ‘you’, Lu Ji Xing had already shot out like lightning.
Sima Kun was stunned. “Hey, I didn’t call you… Come back! Who told you to run out?”
He watched Lu Ji Xing’s retreating back, calling out in exasperation, “Damn it, why isn’t this puppet listening? I only glanced at you, and you ran out on your own… Sir, your subordinate doesn’t know what happened. I just looked at him, and he ran out. I clearly intended for her to go out and kill this giant tiger.”
He pointed at Su Luo, fearing Bai Mu Tian Jun might misunderstand.
Ahead, Lu Ji Xing continuously attacked Lei Hu, his evasive maneuvers agile, showing no signs of being outmatched.
Bai Mu Tian Jun glanced at him a few times before saying calmly, “Never mind. Since this puppet has gone, let’s watch for now. If it dies, we’ll replace it. You should also check yourself thoroughly. How can a puppet disobey orders? Be careful not to have problems again at a critical moment.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sima Kun finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to examine Su Luo and the others.
He looked for a long time but couldn’t find any issues, becoming increasingly perplexed. The Black Insect Pill couldn’t have gone wrong, and these puppets were all obedient. Why were there occasional control malfunctions? It was too strange.
The battle in the great hall began to intensify.
After Lu Ji Xing joined the fray, the demon disciples, who were initially no match for Lei Hu, gradually stabilized. Fireballs and spiritual lights continued to land on the beast. Coupled with Lu Ji Xing’s sharp attacks, which specifically targeted Lei Hu’s eyes, the battle shifted from a one-sided affair to a more balanced one.
Su Luo did not use the Divine Sealing Art to assist Lu Ji Xing.
Although the Divine Sealing Art was heaven-defying and almost unstoppable by any opponent, it consumed her lifespan. She would not use it unless absolutely necessary. Furthermore, fighting a semi-divine beast could provide valuable combat experience. As long as its weakness was known and there was no fatal crisis, her third senior brother would surely win.
Lu Ji Xing’s sword was sharp and continuous. Every strike that hit Lei Hu left an unhealable wound on its body. Ever since he obtained the Poison Sutra from Su Luo, he treated it like a treasure, even coating all his weapons with poison.
Lei Hu roared incessantly, bleeding profusely, its wounds rapidly festering.
As expected, its resistance to poison was poor!
Lu Ji Xing rejoiced inwardly but grew calmer, unwilling to fail at the critical moment.
Seizing an opportunity, he flung another handful of rotten flesh powder. Lei Hu roared, and a fierce wind reversed, blowing the poisonous powder onto other demon disciples. Instantly, they cried out in pain.
“Ah—!”
Everyone screamed in agony, desperately swatting at the poison powder on their bodies. To their horror, even a touch of their hands caused them to fester.
Anyone who came into contact with the rotten flesh powder found their skin and flesh immediately decaying, turning into blood. The pain was excruciating. Some had their faces, necks, and hands rotten, looking monstrous and terrifying. The pain made them forget their own perilous situations.
Lu Ji Xing chuckled inwardly, dodged Lei Hu’s attack, and scattered another handful of poison powder. With a fierce roar, the fierce howl once again blew the poison powder away. Clearly, Lei Hu had also suffered greatly and knew these powders were dangerous, not daring to touch them at all.
Everyone’s eyes widened. Seeing the poison powder blowing towards them again, they all dodged, but they forgot about Lei Hu’s threat. They happened to run right into Lei Hu’s maw, and several of them were immediately swatted to death by its claws.
For a moment, chaos erupted in the hall.
The demon disciples dared not approach Lu Ji Xing, fearing being affected by his poison powder, and also had to guard against Lei Hu’s attacks. Within moments, another four or five died.
You Meng Mo Shi watched, furious, and shouted, “Bai Mu, control your people! He’s supposed to kill this beast, not poison my subordinates!”
Bai Mu Tian Jun crossed his arms and said unhurriedly, “What are you shouting about? This person is a puppet. It has no consciousness and fights purely on instinct. Even I cannot control it. If you have the ability, then go and control it.”
You Meng Mo Shi was enraged, “You…”
He had long wanted to get rid of these puppets. His eyes sharpened, and he immediately unleashed a palm strike towards Lu Ji Xing.
“What are you doing?” Bai Mu Tian Jun shouted.
You Meng Mo Shi ignored him. He drew a large circle in the air with both hands, sending out streaks of green light towards Lu Ji Xing and Lei Hu. They were about to be ensnared.
Su Luo inwardly thought it was bad and immediately transmitted, “Quickly dodge, don’t get caught!”
This was one of You Meng Mo Shi’s ultimate techniques, Serpent Spirit Tu!
The spiritual energy carried the mixed toxicity of dozens of snake venoms, making it extremely vicious. Once touched, not only the body but also the soul would be damaged. It seemed he intended to kill the third senior brother!
Lu Ji Xing saw the green light approaching. Just as Lei Hu lunged at him, he quickly performed a sliding tackle, evading under Lei Hu and hiding behind it. The green light rapidly wrapped around Lei Hu’s body, coiling like green vines, causing Lei Hu to tremble in pain.
The green light, though seemingly soft, rapidly corroded deep marks into Lei Hu’s body. Its fur and flesh stuck together, and the corrosion continued, revealing bone.
“Third senior brother, hurry, or Lei Hu will be killed by You Meng Mo Shi!” Su Luo reminded him promptly.
Upon hearing this, Lu Ji Xing grabbed his sword and desperately hacked at Lei Hu’s head, making the beast howl in pain, its cries echoing through the hall.
By this time, the semi-divine beast was severely poisoned and had lost its initial ferocity. Its body was corroded into several pieces by the Serpent Spirit Tu. Its entrails spilled out from its abdominal cavity, turning a tragic black and emitting a foul odor.
Lu Ji Xing’s attacks further prevented it from raising its head, and its hard skull was also breached.
“Roar…”
With a pained cry, Lei Hu gradually weakened. The upper half of its body could no longer stand.
Lu Ji Xing was unsure whether to count the kill as his or You Meng Mo Shi’s. He simply took advantage of the beast not being dead yet and struck its neck again with his sword, completely severing its tiger head.
Dark blood surged out. The tiger head rolled to the side, emitting a foul stench. Lei Hu finally became completely still.
Instantly, a mysterious and vast power surged into Lu Ji Xing’s body. Although Su Luo had told him about it, and he was mentally prepared, he hadn’t expected the power to be so formidable. It directly propelled the spiritual energy within him to surge forward.
With an inaudible roar, Lu Ji Xing easily broke through to the eighth stage of the Venerable realm.
His cultivation, which had been stagnant for over two years, finally broke through again!
He stood stunned for a long moment before controlling his excited emotions and refraining from shouting. Walking back with a blank expression consumed all his self-control. Standing beside Su Luo and the others, his hands in his sleeves trembled.
You Meng Mo Shi naturally noticed Lu Ji Xing’s subtle abnormality but merely dismissed it as him being exhausted. He glared fiercely at Lu Ji Xing, thinking the brat had narrowly escaped this time.
In the great hall, the crowd was temporarily safe. Some cheered, some went to check on Lei Hu’s condition, and others, poisoned by Lu Ji Xing, quickly took detoxification pills, only to find them useless. Wails erupted everywhere…
Bai Mu Tian Jun nodded with satisfaction. “Sima, your puppets are all quite good!”
Sima Kun’s eyes lit up at the praise. “Sir, if we let these puppets fight next, our brothers won’t have to worry about getting hurt.”
Bai Mu Tian Jun, in a good mood, said, “We’ve fought four exotic beasts in a row. Let everyone rest for a bit.”
“What, you want to stall for time?” You Meng Mo Shi questioned with a cold tone.