There was no fierce gunfire as Wang Daozhang had expected.
The moment he pulled the trigger, the hairs on his arms stood up, and a distinctive blue light appeared in his vision.
Whoosh!
The mini laser cannon shaped like a rifle made a noise, and the targeted blade beast didn’t have time to react before green goo suddenly exploded from above its mouth!
It really worked!
The blade beast rolled over, its three-meter-long body struggling and convulsing. The vital spot for these creatures was where their soul energy was most active, just above their mouths!
Wang Jixuan immediately aimed his gun at another blade beast.
Blade beasts had basic intelligence.
At this moment, it noticed Wang Jixuan, letting out a terrifying roar as its long, crimson tongue shot out, creating a visible wave that rushed toward Wang Jixuan in the tunnel’s light!
The four miners in the cart screamed in terror.
This was a mental shock!
A foul wind hit him, and his eardrums throbbed!
Wang Jixuan’s ears buzzed!
If it were an ordinary human soldier, they would surely be unable to stand at this moment.
But now, Wang Jixuan knelt with his gun steady, the sight already pointing at the blade beast’s mouth.
Just one more second, and he could unleash the energy…
Suddenly, the blade beast jumped sideways!
Its strong limbs burst with incredible power, crashing into the smooth stone wall of the mine, then it charged toward the fork in the path where Wang Jixuan was, leaping over the moving mine cart!
The blade beast collided with the mine cart almost simultaneously!
Wang Jixuan firmly pulled the trigger.
Dark green blood exploded from the left side of the blade beast’s mouth, and its forelimbs were severed like blades!
Wang Jixuan held the mini laser cannon in his right hand and rolled forward, bracing himself against the alloy box behind him.
Screech—
Two figures brushed past each other!
The metallic scraping sound was piercing, and the blade beast’s forelimbs sparked against the alloy box.
The mine cart sped out of the fork, turning along the track and escaping with the four miners.
The blade beast, propelled by inertia, surged forward over ten meters before turning back to roar at Wang Jixuan.
Wang Jixuan, with the alloy box on his back and wearing powered armor, calmly sidestepped two steps.
He turned off the intercom on the powered armor to ensure that his spell wouldn’t be transmitted back to Wan Xiaoqi later;
He casually threw a high-explosive grenade, accurately placing it inside the still-twitching blade beast’s mouth before jumping back.
Boom!
In the dull explosion, the blade beast’s mouth spewed green blood, but only cracks appeared on its tail and waist.
Finally, the blade beast stopped trembling;
It had been released from within.
The blade beast at the tunnel entrance was clearly enraged, roaring again to unleash a mental shock, all six limbs pushing forward, its back spikes standing upright!
It charged at Wang Jixuan in a wheel-like form!
There were still a few blade beasts deeper in the side tunnel, and Wang Jixuan didn’t dare to rush in too deep.
He steadied the mini laser cannon in his hands, not caring about precision, and pulled the trigger for the third time.
Holes appeared in the blade beast’s shell!
Wang Jixuan leaped, his legs with the power device performing a split in mid-air, and he lowered his head to brace against the top of the tunnel.
The blade beast’s spikes were only a few centimeters from his vital spots;
The diamond talisman on his thigh almost activated.
Hiss—
The blade beast roared again, extending its limbs, its blades screeching against the ground and the mine wall as it skidded to a stop, turning to look at Wang Jixuan.
Wang Daozhang had landed steadily, securing the mini laser cannon in the armor’s chest mount, squinting slightly as he waved at the blade beast.
The blade beast jumped and charged again, green liquid dripping from its two wounds.
Wang Jixuan casually threw out a dozen talismans.
In the dark tunnel without surveillance, fireballs exploded one after another.
The blade beast was blasted around, continuously roaring as it charged forward.
Wang Jixuan quickly formed seals with his hands, chanting spells, stepping backward with the Seven Stars Step, moving back as fast as it charged, trying to maintain distance and find opportunities!
The blade beast roared again!
Whoosh!
Whoosh, whoosh!
Three bone-piercing nails shot out!
Made from the outer bone of the blade beast, these nails, infused with spiritual energy and enhanced by restrictions, solidly pierced into the blade beast’s mouth!
The reason these items were called magical tools was that cultivators could use them to cast spells.
The blade beast continued to charge, while Wang Jixuan steadily retreated, his sword finger moving rapidly, reciting spells without stopping.
The three bone-piercing nails embedded in the blade beast’s mouth glowed with a blue-green light!
“Heaven and Earth, the Way is profound,
“Filth disperses!
“Purple Mansion, recite my Taiyuan!
“Eight directions converge, Six Divine Swords!
“Fierce demons dissipate, the Way naturally!
“Quickly, as the law commands!”
He thrust his sword finger forward, sending out a glimmer, and the three bone-piercing nails exploded with blue light simultaneously!
The blade beast’s mouth suddenly shrank, its charging body rolling to the ground, desperately lifting its head, but it couldn’t let out a single cry before its body fell helplessly.
The beast’s soul dissipated!
Wang Jixuan lightly swept his left hand, and the three bone-piercing nails slowly flew back into his palm.
One broken magic spell drained one-fifth of his energy.
‘This cultivator is still quite weak now.’
Wang Jixuan didn’t dare to waste time, glancing around and spotting a few miners hiding in a corner.
He immediately shouted, “Run! Major Ling Tong is here to save you!”
The miners scrambled to their feet, helping each other as they ran toward the fork.
Wang Jixuan waited a moment, and after ensuring no one was around, he quickly turned around.
Where was the blade beast’s crystal core?
He didn’t care about the mess, placing his right hand on the blade beast’s body to sense the location of the crystal core, pulling out the alloy dagger from his leg.
Though this dagger couldn’t cut through the blade beast’s outer shell, it could pierce the connection points at the edges.
Wang Jixuan had to pull it out by hand.
Then he ended up stepping on it, using both hands to pull, channeling energy throughout his body.
After more than ten seconds.
“Open!”
With a low growl, Wang Jixuan raised his hands high, directly lifting the blade beast’s skull along with part of its back armor!
Inside was a thick green liquid!
Oh, the heavens!
When did the Daoist ever do such dirty work!
He forced himself to endure the discomfort, carefully sensing, holding his breath as he reached in with his right hand to grab the area with the most concentrated spiritual energy…
Found it!
Wang Jixuan pulled out a crystal core the size of a pinky finger.
Uh, the spiritual energy didn’t seem very abundant.
This crystal core, also from a low-level basic blade beast, was larger than the six he got from the Energy User’s home, but it had a third less spiritual energy.
‘Is there really a selection process at the Energy User’s home?’
Wang Jixuan raised an eyebrow and smiled.
A sense of stability and satisfaction he had never felt before rose in his heart.
Wrapping the blade beast’s crystal core in a sealing talisman, he hurried to the other blade beast that had swallowed a grenade and was on the verge of death.
Having gained experience, opening the shell and digging out the crystal core was much quicker now.
The blood of a living blade beast was green, full of spiritual energy;
After peeling back the outer bone, the green muscles also contained spiritual energy;
Their internal organs did too.
In a more stable environment, Wang Jixuan would have already set up some talismans, made a barbecue grill, prepared some flatbreads, sprinkled some cumin and sweet sauce… doing anything to gather spiritual energy!
But the current environment didn’t allow for that; his spiritual sense had already detected the presence of other blade beasts, chasing after miners who couldn’t escape.
‘Poor mortals.’
The real battlefield was further down; there were probably six more blade beasts in this side tunnel.
The explosions below were extremely dense; Ling Tong was slaughtering blade beasts…
Wang Jixuan thought carefully.
He couldn’t just collect crystal cores in front of Ling Tong.
Knowing Ling Tong’s character, she would definitely report this to the war zone, and then the higher-ups would know about his power increase, likely alerting the Thirteenth Institute.
Wang Jixuan leaned against the wall, mentally sorting through his experiences fighting the blade beasts, and opened the intercom of his powered armor.
On the other end, he heard Wan Xiaoqi sobbing.
Wang Daozhang was instantly confused.
“Dad, Mom, there’s really no sound from Wang Zheng; he might have been eaten by a blade beast, and the positioning signal is still moving; he could be in the blade beast’s belly! Sigh, what a handsome young man!”
“Alas,” Uncle Tai sighed, “How do we explain this to Ling Tong?”
Sister Wan sighed, “Little Wang is a good kid; if Ling Tong knows he died supporting her, she will definitely feel very sad… doesn’t he have a pulse signal? Alas, we didn’t even have time to install a pulse detection chip for him.”
Wang Jixuan: …
Should he let them continue to misunderstand?
He searched for the next hunting target with his spiritual sense, quietly saying, “The signal was just interfered with; I’m fine.”
“Little Wang!”
“Wang Zheng is still alive!”
“Don’t shout; don’t let Ling Tong hear!” Uncle Tai hurriedly called out.
Wang Jixuan quietly asked, “How’s it going with Ling Tong?”
“She’s suppressing the blade beasts; a tunnel has been dug out in the mid-level rest area, and a small group of blade beasts rushed out, but they’ve all been contained by the boss!”
Wan Xiaoqi quickly asked:
“How’s it going on your side?”
“I’m fine; can you see how many blade beasts are left in front of me?”
“I can see energy responses; there’s a small group, six of them! They came from the mid-level rest area! They’re in groups of three!”
“I’ll try to deal with them; don’t tell Ling Tong, so she doesn’t get distracted.”
Wang Jixuan calmly said:
“This laser cannon isn’t very useful, and the blade beasts know how to dodge; are there any other powerful individual weapons? I mean for later use.”
“Huh? You really can defeat the blade beasts?” Uncle Tai’s voice was full of shock.
“I have some unique combat tricks… let’s leave it at that for now; contact me later! If new blade beasts enter this side tunnel or if support troops rush into this area, please inform me immediately!”
“Okay, okay!”
Wan Xiaoqi spoke a bit nervously.
They had already noticed that behind Wang Jixuan, the energy signals of two blade beasts had completely disappeared.
Wang Jixuan turned off his microphone, stepping in his powered armor, holding the laser cannon, and rushed forward.
Around the corner ahead, three blade beasts were gnawing on human corpses, and he could still hear a few humans who had been cut in half screaming in agony.
Wang Daozhang had already devised a battle plan.
First, he would set a simple ambush, then use the mini laser cannon for a sneak attack, locking onto a blade beast’s vital energy spot to burn through it.
Then he would use the bone-piercing nails and broken magic spells as his main methods to take down the other two.
The rest would be improvised.
Wang Jixuan didn’t put down the alloy box on his back; it was indeed tough and could serve as a shield in critical moments.
For Wang Daozhang, his cultivation level was the only limiting factor for his combat power.
He jumped and charged forward!
Talismans, spells, body, and tools, all four methods moved together!
Exorcising demons and safeguarding the way!
…
Alas!
A skilled woman can’t cook without rice.
Wang Jixuan stood beside the three blade beast corpses, finally feeling the pain of being limited by his cultivation and insufficient magic power.
To save time, Wang Jixuan could only set up a few simple traps; aside from using the laser cannon to take out one blade beast, he fought the other two head-on.
The situation was dire, and the battle was extremely fierce.
He was just a hair’s breadth away from being taken down by these low-level basic blade beasts.
By the time he finished off the second wave of three blade beasts, he was left with only a third of his energy, his talisman stock was nearly exhausted, one of the three bone-piercing nails had exploded, and the other two restrictions were unstable.
After he lifted the skull and outer bone of these blade beasts to dig out the crystal cores…
The energy in his dantian had diminished even further.
‘When the mountain is exhausted, don’t force it.’
‘Five crystal cores are enough; three cores will be used to gather spirit, and two will be made into a magical tool with spirit stones.’
Wang Jixuan thought this through.
The three blade beasts were still some distance away, still hunting other humans.
Wang Jixuan looked around; dozens of human corpses were in a more tragic state, most having been decapitated or cut in half.
According to Wan Xiaoqi’s feedback, the military’s support forces would probably arrive in about three minutes.
‘Forget it; I need to act according to my abilities; I’m not a match for three demon beasts right now; as long as I have the green hills, I won’t fear running out of firewood.’
Wang Jixuan steeled himself, ready to turn and leave.
Gulp—
What was that noise?
Was it an auditory hallucination?
It felt as if, behind the thick rock layers of the mine wall, a pair of eyes was watching him.
Wang Jixuan felt a chill all over.
And at the edge of his spiritual sense, the three blade beasts that had previously been far away suddenly abandoned the miners and charged toward him!
Damn it!
Wang Jixuan turned and ran; he didn’t have enough energy to take down three blade beasts!
If it weren’t for the sneak attack, or if he didn’t have teammates covering him, the mini laser cannon would be useless!
An even more horrifying scene unfolded within his spiritual sense:
The three blade beasts were originally running in a triangular formation—Wang Daozhang simply labeled them A, B, and C—when A suddenly lunged at B, its mouth opening wide, revealing a tongue like a tentacle that latched onto B’s back. B’s back glowed brightly, and this light quickly flowed into A’s body.
Spiritual energy was gathering!
The spiritual energy was transferring to A!
B, being absorbed, collapsed weakly.
A then pounced on C, and the same situation occurred in two seconds.
Wang Jixuan’s feet didn’t stop, sprinting at full speed; it was already too late to take off the powered armor.
A’s six blade limbs expanded, its bloated belly shrinking significantly, and a layer of crystal formed outside its mouth, greatly increasing its speed as it charged forward.
A low-level mutated blade beast!
It chased after Wang Jixuan, and in just five or six seconds, it saw Wang Jixuan’s back, transforming into a wheel shape!
(End of Chapter)