Chapter 195: The Old Cicada Technique
The child-like, exquisitely crafted Sun Lingtong crossed through the spatial ripples and traversed to the underground base.
However, before his feet touched the ground, his pupils suddenly contracted as he felt a vast force of mana surrounding him.
The mana was filled with a chilling yin energy, like a cold tide surging and waves swallowing the shore.
“An enemy!”
“I’ve been ambushed!”
Sun Lingtong instinctively tried to activate his spell again, wanting to retreat.
However, Luo Shang had been waiting here for many days, fully prepared, and had already set up half of a formation around the underground base.
As soon as Sun Lingtong appeared, Luo Shang immediately sent his ghost servants into the formation, completing it in an instant.
The formation activated, and as Sun Lingtong stepped back, there were no ripples in the air.
The battlefield environment changed abruptly, rendering his spell ineffective.
“Kid, you must be tired of living, daring to slay the Golden Core of my Soul-Devouring Sect!”
“Speak!”
“Where is Qi Bai’s corpse? Hand it over.”
“If you cooperate obediently and surrender, I can spare your life, waiting for the No-Void Sect to ransom you.”
Luo Shang appeared, surrounded by a sinister wind and countless ghostly shadows.
“A Golden Core demon cultivator!”
“You are Luo Shang, the true disciple of the Soul-Devouring Sect.”
In an instant, Sun Lingtong recognized Luo Shang’s identity.
He couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart.
Sun Lingtong had long anticipated that the Soul-Devouring Sect would retaliate against him. He just hadn’t expected that their demon cultivators would already infiltrate the underground base.
Luo Shang had laid in ambush for many days, waiting patiently for his prey to arrive!
“I shouldn’t have returned here!” Sun Lingtong regretted inwardly.
But soon, he thought: the strategy of relocating every once in a while was still correct.
“If I had stayed in one underground base the whole time, I would’ve been discovered even sooner.”
“But how did he manage to find me?”
“Could it be because I risked opening Qi Bai’s storage bag last time?”
Sun Lingtong immediately thought of this because the clue was obvious—he had disassembled Qi Bai’s storage bag right here.
“I clearly extinguished the smoke at that time.”
“Wait, now is not the time to dwell on these trivial details.”
“The urgent matter is to find a way out immediately!”
Although the underground base had been surrounded by the formation set by Luo Shang, making it impossible for Sun Lingtong to teleport directly, there was still a glimmer of hope to break through with his physical body.
“Hehehe.” Sun Lingtong sneered, “Do you really think you can catch me like this?”
As he spoke, he reached into his robes and took out a stack of talismans.
Phantom Body Talisman!
He quickly scattered the talismans.
The talismans ignited in mid-air, swiftly activating and transforming into replicas of Sun Lingtong.
Dozens of Sun Lingtongs fled in all directions. For a moment, Luo Shang needed specific methods to distinguish the real one from the fakes.
Since both Sun and Ning had long expected retaliation, they had made preparations early on.
These Phantom Body Talismans were specially made in large quantities by Ning Zhuo’s subordinates, specifically for confusing enemies, making them an excellent escape tool.
“Thanks to Xiao Zhuo.”
Sun Lingtong blended in with the phantoms, fleeing towards the outermost wall.
“Right, I need to alert Xiao Zhuo!”
Sun Lingtong employed three methods in succession, afraid the alarm wouldn’t go off.
But after doing so, he immediately regretted it.
“What am I doing?”
“If Xiao Zhuo knows I’m in danger, he’ll definitely come to save me.”
“By then, if he gets caught up in this, won’t I be dragging him down?”
“After all, he no longer has the Battle Ape, Dasheng!”
Sun Lingtong’s expression kept changing.
Suddenly, he felt a chill in his heart, and goosebumps rose all over his body.
In an instant, cold sweat dripped from his forehead, as he realized something strange: “Ever since I entered this underground base, my mind has been filled with distracting thoughts.”
“I’ve fallen into a trap!”
“Luo Shang practices the Soul-Dimming Art, which is skilled at stirring up people’s emotions, making their thoughts chaotic, while he himself remains calm.”
Thinking of this, Sun Lingtong immediately summoned the power of the Emptiness Seal deep within his soul.
He was naturally gifted and highly perceptive. After the battle with Qi Bai, he had reflected and improved in many areas.
The same applied to the Emptiness Seal.
Sun Lingtong was now far more capable of borrowing the power of the Emptiness Seal than before.
The seal activated, immediately clearing his mind, sweeping away all distracting thoughts.
Sun Lingtong’s gaze steadied, with no hesitation remaining.
Luo Shang was secretly using his spell, trying to detect which of the many “Sun Lingtongs” showed the most emotional fluctuations.
Just as he was about to make progress, everything suddenly dissipated, as if a net had been cast into the water, only for the fish to escape back into the depths.
“Interesting,” a sharp glint flashed in Luo Shang’s eyes, his face expressionless.
With a thought, ghost generals emerged from the ghostly mist surrounding him.
Four ghost generals, all at the Foundation Establishment stage, silently moved toward Sun Lingtong.
Although the Phantom Body Talismans were convincingly realistic, they had no combat power, so the ghost generals easily shattered them one by one.
Sun Lingtong tried to break through the wall but was intercepted by the ghost generals.
The four ghost generals discovered his true body and immediately surrounded him.
Sun Lingtong dodged left and right with astonishing speed and agility, evading their grasp and making the ghost generals appear clumsy.
However, the situation didn’t last long.
Sun Lingtong couldn’t rely on the power of the Emptiness Seal for too long, as it greatly drained his mental energy.
He had to stop using it, and once he did, he again fell into a state of fluctuating emotions and chaotic distractions.
His movements became more hesitant, and his expression shifted with uncertainty.
The four ghost generals, being ghosts refined by Luo Shang, had little emotion or thought and were barely affected by the disruptions.
As a result, Sun Lingtong quickly found himself in danger.
Seeing this, Luo Shang seized an opportunity, directing the four ghost generals to strike together.
Using them as the foundation, he formed a battle formation.
The formation created a light barrier, enclosing Sun Lingtong and continuously tightening.
Seeing himself trapped, Sun Lingtong could only fight with all his strength!
With a flip of his wrist, two daggers appeared in his small hands.
Using his spiritual sense, he retrieved a vial from his storage palm.
The vial fell, and Sun Lingtong shattered it mid-air with his dagger, spilling the potion inside.
Sun Lingtong, who specialized in Divine Storage, used his spiritual sense to wrap the potion and coat his daggers with it.
In the next moment, while dodging the ghost generals’ attacks, he poured mana into the daggers.
The daggers began to glow with a brilliant blue light.
The light was sharp and clear, like the reflection of diamonds.
Sun Lingtong’s self-created blade technique—Falling Star!
His face was filled with determination.
The Falling Star blade technique was created for desperate situations.
It had immense power but severe side effects, making it a forbidden technique among Sun Lingtong’s self-made skills!
The daggers, like falling stars, shone with the last radiance of the night.
Whether it was the stars or the enemy that would fall depended on Sun Lingtong’s own performance.
Sun Lingtong merged with the daggers, transforming into a blue comet, shooting out violently.
His speed was astonishing, crashing through the light barrier.
The four ghost generals tried to dodge, but Sun Lingtong shattered and killed each of them!
Without the foundation of the formation, the light barrier disappeared.
Seizing the opportunity, Sun Lingtong rushed towards the outer wall.
Luo Shang’s face remained expressionless as he suddenly pointed a finger.
A hidden ghost, at the Foundation Establishment level, suddenly appeared in Sun Lingtong’s path, blocking his escape route.
Sun Lingtong, already exhausted, saw the ghost lunging at him and had no time to change tactics, so he could only engage in a direct confrontation.
To his surprise, the ghost exploded upon contact.
Boom!
The starlight around Sun Lingtong was scattered.
In an instant, ghostly energy and starlight intertwined, colliding and shooting in all directions.
“Everything is under control,” Luo Shang remained emotionless.
Just then, space suddenly rippled, and a crossbow bolt shot through the air, aimed at Luo Shang’s back!
The tip of the crossbow bolt was covered in purple venom, exuding an intense feeling of extreme toxicity just by looking at it.
The crossbow bolt was silent but erupted with a piercing cicada cry when it reached Luo Shang’s back!
In an instant, the atmosphere of the battlefield shifted.
It was like an old, dilapidated, damp, and dark house, filled with the stench of rot and decay. Suddenly, one of the walls collapsed, allowing sunlight and fresh air to rush in.
It was the summer sun!
Along with the rolling heat came an endless force of life.
To deal with Luo Shang, Yang Chanyu had deliberately chosen this move, infused with powerful yang energy.
The same amount of time Luo Shang had spent preparing
his ambush for Sun Lingtong, Yang Chanyu of the No-Void Sect had spent preparing as well!
She cultivated the Old Cicada Technique, which excelled in storing up energy for attacks.
When she cast a spell, she gathered her mana in secret, with not a hint of it leaking out. But when she released it, the spell burst forth with a cicada’s cry, its power far exceeding the norm, with an overwhelming impact.
How long had Yang Chanyu been storing energy for this strike?
Almost as long as Luo Shang had been waiting in ambush!
Therefore, the crossbow bolt, carrying the power to pierce through anything, struck Luo Shang.
Luo Shang had already activated his protective robe during the battle.
However, this robe was like paper, easily pierced by the crossbow bolt.
Luo Shang’s eyes widened, and at the brink of life and death, he threw all caution aside and erupted with full force!
An inner armor appeared, pierced.
A long banner flew out, its pole snapped, and the banner fell.
A token manifested, shattered.
Finally, a clay pot blocked the crossbow bolt but was also broken.
Sealed inside the pot was a Nascent Soul-level ghost general!
She had curled into a ball, with four talismans stuck to her surface to aid in suppression and sealing.
The ghost general was struck by the crossbow bolt, taking a heavy hit.
She had been resting quietly but, now enraged, expanded her body into a towering nine-foot-tall female ghost.
She tilted her head back and let out a piercing shriek, her ghostly wail shaking the entire underground base.
“Granny Qiushui, save me!” Luo Shang called out to the ghost general with his spiritual sense.
The ghost paid him no attention, enraged as she charged at Yang Chanyu.
Hiss.
In the next moment, Luo Shang’s body violently trembled as the poisonous crossbow bolt pierced through his heart.
Despite his best efforts to defend himself, Luo Shang’s defenses ultimately failed, and he was struck by Yang Chanyu’s devastating, long-prepared blow!