Chapter 381 Youâll Turn Into This!
âProtect the senior!â
Wang Shouyi furrowed his brows and shouted sternly, drawing his greatsword.
Wang Debiao immediately stepped in front of Chen Huaian, becoming the second human shield.
The sight made Chen Huaian a little speechlessâit felt like déjà vu from Journey to the West.
Replace "senior" with "master," and everything would make perfect sense.
Li Qingran was Sun Wukong, Wang Shouyi was Sha Wujing, and Wang Debiao was Zhu Bajie.
Add the rest of the Ascenders together and youâd get a white dragon horse. Perfect party assembled!
âSenior, there are way too many of these ghost pawns, and theyâre pretty strong⦠They look like dead Ascenders and Awakened ones killed by that Mountain Lord.â Wang Shouyi squinted at the ghosts and vaguely recognized a few familiar faces.
Even after becoming ghost pawns, their strength hadnât dropped much.
Which meant⦠they were now up against thousands of extra enemies!
âD*mn it, the intel team was totally useless. So many ghost pawns hidden in the Qinling Mountains and they didnât spot a thing!â
Still, the thought of his hidden trump cards kept him from fully panicking.
âSenior, you and Sister-in-law just stay here. Leave the rest to us.â
Wang Shouyi was terrified that Chen Huaian might die. After all, Chen hadnât even wanted to come on this mission.
And along the way, when they were hunting monsters and harvesting demon cores, Chen had shown almost zero interest.
To him, those demon cores were basically trash-tier resources.
And in fact⦠they kind of were.
There were loads of monsters in the Cangyun Realm.
Cultivators there rarely used demon cores for cultivationâwhile they did contain spiritual energy, extracting it was troublesome and carried the risk of backlash.
Usually, demon cores were used as supplementary ingredients in alchemy or forging, and even then, only the high-grade ones with special properties were valuable.
These tiger demonsâ cores didnât qualify.
The Tiger Kingâs core, though⦠that might pique Chenâs interest a bit.
But there were just too many ghost pawns.
Wang Shouyi led the Ascenders in fierce battle, only to discover that the ghost pawns didnât die for goodâtheyâd revive shortly after being destroyed.
Although they came back weaker each timeâ¦
There were just too d*mn many of them.
Chen Huaian hadnât planned to get involved. Heâd brought Bajii and Li Qingran here for the sake of experience, and to level up, you had to fight strong monsters.
These low-level demons and ghost pawns werenât going to help with that.
But seeing Zhao Ying and the others struggling under the swarm of ghost pawns⦠he couldnât just sit there. He gave his little discipleâs hand a squeeze and said:
âQingran, go help Zhao Ying and the others.â
Li Qingran hesitated.
âBut Master, if I go help Zhao Ying, your safetyââ
âNo worries.â Chen Huaian ruffled Bajiiâs head on his shoulder with a grin. âIsnât Bajii still here? Itâs a demon beast at the Demon Core stageâwhoâs getting past it to harm me?â
Li Qingran glanced at Bajii and puffed up her cheeks.
Ugh, she really wanted to be patted by Master like that too.
That jealous, slightly resentful gaze instantly made Bajii, who was dozing on Chenâs shoulder, snap to attention. It suddenly felt an icy chill crawl up its back.
Wait, what the h*ll was that look?
Was this lady planning to chop it up and have it with wine?!
It hadnât even done anything! Not a word!
âHmph, then I guess Master can let Bajii protect you for life. Iâm going to protect Zhao Ying!â Li Qingran pouted, turning her face away on purpose, refusing to look at Chen Huaian.
Though she said that, she still drew the Su Xian Sword and traced a circle around Chen Huaian and Bajii.
With a solemn expression, she sternly warned:
âMaster, this circle will protect you. Once I go help them, I wonât be able to watch over you. You must not step outside this circle!â
Chen Huaian: ââ¦â¦â
Okay, this plot development felt a little off.
Was the White Bone Demon about to show up for Round Three?
âDonât worry. Your Master wonât take a step out of it.â
With Chenâs promise, Li Qingran relaxed. She drew her Su Xian Sword and charged toward Zhao Ying. With a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator like her joining the fray, the C Province Exorcist Divisionâs pressure dropped significantly.
As the battle grew increasingly intenseâ
Wang Debiao and Wang Shouyi were covered in blood, fighting like madmen.
Gradually, Chen Huaian and Bajii, relaxing under a tree, turned into the side characters.
And the so-called âprotected centerâ became a completely exposed target.
Still wrapped in that glowing golden circle.
The light from it could be seen clearly from a kilometer awayâ
Like a giant sign screaming: âCome get me, monsters!â
â¦
âHereâs our chance.â
In front of the Demon-Locking Tower,
Blood Amber Mountain Lord withdrew his gaze from the bronze mirror.
Reviving ghost pawns required energy.
That stream now dyed red was the energy sourceâand it was fading fast.
Luckily, the lure-away strategy had gone pretty well.
He was controlling the ghost pawnsâ resurrection points to slowly shift position.
The key target had gradually moved from the core to the edge.
Time to act.
âTiger Da.â
Blood Amber Mountain Lord growled low.
His eldest son stepped out from behind.
âFather?â
The young tiger demon knelt respectfully before the Tiger King, eyes slightly gleaming.
He seemed excitedâfinally able to help his father.
âYouâre skilled in transformation. Go lure that man out of the circle,â the Tiger King ordered.
âHuh? Me?â Tiger Da pointed at himself, baffled.
He thought he was going to fight.
But all he had to do was use a transformation spell to fool someone?
Kinda disappointingâ¦
âYes, you!â Blood Amber Tiger King continued, âLure him out, and Iâll immediately strike and drag him into the Blood Amber Realmless Void. The Ascenders outside wonât be able to save him!â
âSo this is the ultimate father-son combo attack?â Tiger Daâs eyes sparkled. He pointed behind his father at another small tiger demon: âWhat about Tiger Er? If Iâm hunting the target with you, whatâs he doing?â
âTiger Er has brute strength. Heâll take my place guarding the gate.â
Blood Amber Tiger King glanced behind him at his second son, who had a vacant look in his eyes.
âAll right, Tiger Er, those intel-gathering Ascenders wonât be coming again. No need to pretend to be a little tiger anymore.â
âYes, Father.â
Tiger Er responded, his voice growing rougher. As he spoke, his body quickly swelled into a massive beast with thick limbs and bulging musclesâhe was even bigger than the Tiger King. A brutal aura radiated from his entire being.
He looked so fierce, no one would doubt he was the real Tiger King.
Tiger Da, meanwhile, transformed within a misty haze into the form of a seductive woman.
Confidently, he said, âFather, humans are lustful. I once ate an Ascender who was quite the lookerâmaybe I can use this skin to lure him out.â
âFool!â
Blood Amber Mountain Lord shook his head.
In this godforsaken wilderness, where would a pretty woman even come from? It made no sense!
Even if she were an Ascender, sheâd have to be part of that group.
A stranger showing up would instantly raise suspicionâand attract even more attention.
Tiger Da was scolded into silence, head hanging low.
After a long pause, the Tiger King handed him an object and pointed.
âYouâll turn into this!â
â¦
â¦