"So, Meng Zizhong changed his tactics once again, adopting the Earth Python Technique. Since his offensive moves were ineffective, he chose to use control methods to restrict the Black Wind Tiger Demon, striving to maintain the initiative himself."
"I've learned something."
Ning Zhuo carefully reflected and constantly pondered the choice of tactics by Meng Zizhong. The latter was continuously probing, quickly adjusting the types of spells through the outcomes, thereby always keeping control of the battlefield in his hands.
Effacing himself in the role of Meng Zizhong, Ning Zhuo asked himself, "If I were Meng Zizhong, could I achieve this?"
He shook his head inwardly.
On the surface, what Meng Zizhong achieved was unremarkable and ordinary.
But ordinary things are not necessarily easy to accomplish.
Ning Zhuo was self-aware, knowing he lacked combat experience and skilled spellcasting, which made it easy for him to lose rhythm.
Although it seemed there was no close combat, the frequency of encounters was actually quite high.
Ning Zhuo, if he were just a bit slow, would think for a moment and miss his opportunity, allowing the Black Wind Tiger Demon to force its way to the front.
Once this situation arose, Ning Zhuo's position would become very passive.
"Meng Zizhong is clearly deeply versed in Earth Element Magic, having studied it for many years. His Earth Spike Technique, with its tricky and precise angles of attack aimed at the lower parts, specifically targets the enemy's weaknesses. Truly a role model for our generation."
"I've learned, I've learned."
The wave of attacks from the Earth Spike Technique left a deep impression on Ning Zhuo. He secretly noted it down, determined to thoroughly learn this technique, to absorb others' strengths and transform them into his own, to become even better.
The Black Wind Tiger Demon roared, its roar filled with agony.
While maintaining the Earth Python Technique, Meng Zizhong forcefully squeezed his spirit, controlling his Golden Core and bursting with Mana to cast the Earth Spike Technique.
Compared to before, this casting of the Earth Spike Technique was especially difficult and slow.
It was like two strong men wrestling, neither having spare strength for additional attacks.
Earth Spike, Earth Spike, Earth Spike!
The first Earth Spike hit the Black Wind Tiger Demon's thigh, breaking its leg bone.
The second Earth Spike aimed to pierce the Black Wind Tiger Demon's eye socket, but it narrowly dodged, slicing off half of the skin on its cheek.
The third Earth Spike targeted the immobile chest of the Black Wind Tiger Demon, aiming straight for the heart!
If this strike hit, the Black Wind Tiger Demon would either die or be crippled.
At the crucial moment, the Black Wind Tiger Demon unleashed its potential and deployed Meat Shield Blood Swallowing Technique.
The muscles around its chest suddenly thickened, forming a vortex shape that caught the Earth Spike's attack. After a few moments of deadlock, the muscles, acting like a living thing, exerted force and directly crushed the tip of the spike!
The Black Wind Tiger Demon cried out, wildly exerting force, gradually propping up its arms.
Sounds of cracking continuously emanated from the Earth Python, like a large bow repeatedly being strung.
Cracks spread rapidly across the entire body of the Earth Python.
Eventually, the Black Wind Tiger Demon suddenly swung up its arms, breaking the two Earth Pythons into more than a dozen pieces.
The Black Wind Tiger Demon roared skyward, breaking free and charging at Meng Zizhong.
"What a pity," the Fox God sighed, "Meng Zizhong's mastery of the Earth Python Technique is limited. If he could perfect the Earth Dragon Skill, he would definitely have been able to trap the Black Wind Tiger Demon."
Sun Lingtong, watching the charging Black Wind Tiger Demon, said, "Its Gigantification Technique, in fact, is also not first-rate."
"The reason it's effective in battle mainly stems from its cultivation of Meat Shield Blood Swallowing Technique."
"This Demon Skill is best at developing flesh and blood, allowing it to increase its defense even after gigantification."
"The battle isn't over yet!"
Meng Zizhong, with a stern expression, kept retreating while creating distance and casting the Earthen Wall Technique, doing his utmost to delay the Black Wind Tiger Demon's momentum.
But his previous rounds of forceful spellcasting had greatly depleted his own Mana, dimming his Golden Core.
Bang, Bang, Bang!
The Black Wind Tiger Demon repeatedly collided, shattering the earthen walls directly. Its speed increased instead of decreasing, roars continuously emitted from its mouth and its momentum surged violently.
Meng Zizhong helplessly discovered he wanted to deplete the Black Wind Tiger Demon's energy with long-distance attacks, but after a few rounds of powerful spellcasting, he found his own Mana had been overly consumed, temporarily falling into a trough.
"No more retreating!"
Meng Zizhong reached the limits of where he could retreat!
If he retreated further, it would affect the combat of his subordinate army. Though entering their battle formations would grant him powerful enhancements and other aggressive techniques.
But in doing so, even if he emerged victorious, it would be a pyrrhic victory. Other cultivators would be treated as cannon fodder, heavily expended.
Meng Zizhong, who diligently trained his troops, cherishing the elite squad he had painstakingly developed over a great deal of time and effort.
He gritted his teeth and murmured, "Enough."
He made a decision and lit a Summoning Talisman!
The spiritually potent Summoning Talisman burned to ashes in the blink of an eye.
"Immortal of the Colossal Spirit, quickly descend upon me!" Meng Zizhong bellowed.
In the next moment, divine light like a pillar pierced the clouds from the high sky, enveloping Meng Zizhong almost instantaneously.
Meng Zizhong screamed in great agony.
His body, within the divine light, swelled continuously and in a moment, he too became a giant!
"Immortal of the Colossal Spirit!" the Fox God murmured, his expression revealing envy and longing.
Between gods, there are distinctions.
Like the Fox God, belonging to the Earth Spirits, bound within Mist Hidden Mountain, it is extremely difficult to leave the mountain.
Contrasting with the Earth Spirits, there are Heavenly Spirits.
The Immortal of Colossal Spirit is a Heavenly Spirit who can roam freely under the sky without any restriction to his range of movement.
Boom boom boom!
The Black Wind Tiger Demon finally forced Meng Zizhong into close combat.
The fist and foot assaults of the Black Wind Tiger Demon were as ferocious as a hurricane, clearly gaining the upper hand.
Meng Zizhong, relying on his long-handle war hammer and gritting his teeth, continually held his ground. Employing the Divine Summoning Technique, he managed to steady his footing and traded blows with the Black Wind Tiger Demon.
Ning Zhuo watched intently without blinking, gaining insights from the sight.
"The pace of close combat is too fast. Although Meng Zizhong is adept in spells, after being suppressed for so long, he has only managed to cast the Stone Armor Technique to bolster himself."
"This time, it's the Black Wind Tiger Demon's turn to take the initiative."
Their skirmish momentarily fell into a stalemate.
By now, Ning Zhuo had roughly assessed the combat abilities of the Black Wind Tiger Demon and Meng Zizhong.
The Black Wind Tiger Demon specialized in close-quarter combat, with limited methods for long-range attacks. Meng Zizhong, having a certain degree of proficiency in both distance and close combat, was comparatively balanced. For long-range attacks, he primarily used Earth Element Magic. In close combat, he enhanced himself by obtaining Summoning Talismans through regular worship and prayers.
Given the swift response from the Immortal of Colossal Spirit, Meng Zizhong must be highly devout, or he must have made significant offerings to the Divine Temple.
"If these two Golden Core Cultivators fail to determine a victor, then the outcome of this battle might very well depend on their subordinates."
Realizing this, Ning Zhuo shifted more attention to other parts of the battlefield.
The Demon Cultivators, following their leader, rushed down the mountain howling and deliberately circumventing the clash between the two Golden Core Cultivators, aiming their sharp fangs at the Human Clan's Cultivator army.
The Demon Cultivators, like battering rams, charged directly into the crowd.
Human Clan Cultivators were successively knocked away!
But they quickly got up as if nothing happened and ran back into the fray.
These Cultivators were clad in uniformly designed heavy armor. The main material of the heavy armor was Jade Dark Steel. Combined with the defensive magic arrays on the armor, the assaults by the Demon Cultivators, when hitting the heavy armor, often had part of the force deflected ineffectively.
Ning Zhuo immediately thought of the Oil Slick and Smooth Talisman he possessed.
"No, the heavy armor alone could not achieve such defensive effectiveness."
"There must be a large-scale array amplifying the effect, benefiting every single cult soldier immensely."
Ning Zhuo immediately spotted the clue.
This was the result of the array previously formed by the Human Clan Cultivators.
The Demon Cultivators struggled to inflict fatal casualties on the heavily armored Cultivators. They fell into the formation as if stuck in a quagmire, with every move hindered, and their speed greatly reduced.
"This must be the Earth Sinking Formation, right?" Ning Zhuo asked, his tone uncertain.
He had augmented his knowledge with books, knowing of the Earth Sinking Formation but had never witnessed it personally.
The Fox God nodded, "Exactly the Earth Sinking Formation."
While they were speaking, suddenly turmoil erupted at the center of the Cultivator army.
A mole-like Demon Cultivator launched an attack from underground, successfully breaching the Array Plate buried four feet below.
Once the Array Plate was destroyed, the entire Earth Sinking Formation quickly started to crumble.
The Demon Cultivators were freed, their speed restored to normal, and seized the opportunity to counterattack, causing a storm of bloodshed among the Human Clan Cultivators.
Many Human Clan Cultivators, burdened by the backlash from the broken array, found themselves in poor condition and miserably died at the hands of the Demon Cultivators.
At this critical juncture, the core members of the Meng Family among the Cultivators stepped forward and issued a loud command, "Form the Battle Formation!"
After some disarray, though the Cultivator army suffered many casualties, they also managed to catch a breath and established the battle formation.
This time, the formation was a Dynamic Formation, differing significantly from the previously used static formation based on an Array Plate.
The heart of the formation was the chief commander, and the Array Eye was the elite officers.
Once the Battle Formation was raised, it amplified every Human Clan Cultivator's capabilities. Especially the elite officers at the center felt a surge of immense power due to the strong amplification, giving them an illusion of omnipotence!
With the leaders enduring the pressure, other Cultivators felt relieved, maintaining the Battle Formation became much smoother and easier.
This eased posture even accelerated the operation of the Dynamic Formation, granting more amplifying power to the leaders.
The leaders of the Human Clan gradually started to overpower numerous Demon Cultivators.
The scales of victory began tipping toward the Human Clan Cultivators.
One by one, the Demon Cultivators fell under the Cultivators' coordinated assault, dying on the spot.
Seeing this, the frustrated Black Wind Tiger Demon, unable to breach defenses, vibrated its entire body and deployed the Innate Night Shadow Yin Fiend.
In the next moment, its body burst out with Yin Fiend Qi, and the shadow cast on the ground came alive, actively standing up like a bucket of pitch-black ink.
Just as the Night Shadow was about to pounce on Meng Zizhong, surprisingly, Meng Zizhong reacted with joy rather than fear and shouted, "I've been waiting for this move!"
Having already revealed the Black Wind Tiger Demon's Innate capabilities, Meng Zizhong led the army to attack, how could he not have a contingency.
From his bosom, a mirror flew out.
The mirror hovered above Meng Zizhong's head, radiating beams, illuminating the Tiger Demon's Night Shadow.
The Night Shadow, severely restrained, quickly wilted and ultimately dissipated!