Humanity's Great Sage

Chapter 475: Desperate Measures

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Her life flashing before her eyes, Kitty Shen did everything in her power to save herself. She pulled her ribbon into a multi-layered barrier in front of her and channeled all of her Spiritual Power into it.

Unfortunately, the gap between her cultivation level and Niu Meng’s was just too wide. Not only did the Spirit Artifact lose its power instantly, Niu Meng’s hoof continued to travel toward her as if her protective aura didn’t exist. Her mind was on overdrive, but there was nothing she could do except watch death slowly approaching her.

It was at this moment a fat man rammed her out of the way. He was none other than Pang Dahai.

The despair in Kitty Shen’s eyes morphed into shock as she sailed across the air. The last person she expected to save her—if at all—was a spell cultivator, even though Pang Dahai and the other spell cultivator were the only ones close enough to save her. It was because spell cultivators were notoriously fragile. He might be a Ninth-Order cultivator, but it was still incredibly unlikely that he would be able to survive Niu Meng’s kick.

There was a loud bang as the hoof smashed against Spiritual Power. All the fat on his body began rippling violently as his face flushed bright red in an instant.

It was then something unexpected happened. Everyone was expecting the worst, but not only did the spell cultivator not explode into a shower of gore, he did not move an inch from his spot. Instead, the force of Niu Meng’s kick was converted into a shockwave that knocked over everyone behind him.

For a second, Niu Meng’s hoof was trapped inside Pang Dahai’s massive belly as if he had stepped into a swamp. Then, Pang Dahai let out a mighty roar, puffed up his belly, and actually sent the sect master flying across the air.

As it turned out, Pang Dahai wasn’t just a spell cultivator. An unimaginable amount of blood red vitality churned out of his body and surrounded him in a layer of protective energy. It was such a jarring transformation they could almost believe that he was a different person altogether.

“Take out the other cultivators while I keep him busy!” Pang Dahai said quickly before launching himself into the air with both feet and ramming into Niu Meng. The man had never felt more awe-inspiring until now.

Unfortunately, Niu Meng wasn’t at a level where Pang Dahai could keep him busy all by himself. Despite his best efforts, the fat man was knocked back to the floor after just a series of exchanges. While climbing back to his feet and hissing in pain, he shouted, “Actually, please help me, Brother Zhou Hai! This bastard is too strong for me to handle alone!”

He then rushed Niu Meng again before the sect master could attack anyone else.

Zhou Hai knew that Pang Dahai would never cry for help if it was even remotely possible for him to handle Niu Meng by himself. Not daring to waste even a second, he immediately broke out of the enemy’s encirclement and slashed at Niu Meng. It was only then that they just barely managed to keep the sect master pinned.

Although the enemy’s strongest was kept busy for the moment, it took two of their strongest to do so. Not only that, two of their combat cultivators were dead, and their formation was in disarray. To say that their situation was bad would be an understatement. Nearly everyone was fighting multiple cultivators on their own.

Lu Ye was currently fighting against three Black Tortoise Sect cultivators, and if they were on the same cultivation level as him he would’ve annihilated them in the blink of an eye. However, two of them were Fifth-Order cultivators, and the third was a Seventh-Order cultivator. If these cultivators were in full possession of their faculties, Lu Ye would be long dead already.

Even so, Lu Ye had to spend most of his time running away from his attackers. The trade-off for losing their intelligence and the ability to execute even the simplest of skills was explosive power and speed. Like all the crazed Spirit Beasts they had fought until now, the cultivators’ only goal was to tear all enemies into itsy-bitsy pieces.

Lu Ye dodged an attack and landed a massive blow on his opponent’s neck. However, it wasn’t powerful enough to behead him outright. The price of that failure was his opponent catching his shoulder in a vice-like grip and digging into his flesh with his talons. Lu Ye managed to pull free, but not without losing his sleeves and a good chunk of the flesh on his shoulders. Blood immediately poured profusely out of his wounds.

That wasn’t all. The other two enemies leaped into the air and descended on his position like a pair of bloodthirsty hawks.

Lu Ye hurriedly rolled on the floor and just barely dodged the assault. He was just climbing to his feet when he felt another blow flying toward his face. He hurriedly spun around, channeled a massive amount of vitality into his right arm, and slashed at the enemy.

Flash!

The skill didn’t just kill his opponent, it cut him in half and splayed their blood and organs all across the floor. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to catch a breather. The other two Black Tortoise Sect cultivators were already flanking him from both sides.

On Lu Ye’s shoulder, Amber growled menacingly as its vitality intermingled with Lu Ye’s. Thanks to the Beast Imprint, the white tiger’s vitality was empowering Lu Ye’s every move. Without the increased endurance and power, he might’ve succumbed to his opponents already.

Lu Ye reversed his grip on the Inviolable and swung it into a blur. His saber slashed and thrust from multiple angles so quickly that it was unthinkable that it was the action of a “mere” Second-Order cultivator.

If there was one silver lining about the situation, it was that the desperation of the battle spurred his and Amber’s Vitality to merge faster than ever before.

Lu Ye wasn’t the only one who was pressed. Lan Ziyi was running and taking potshots at the Black Tortoise Sect cultivators chasing after her. Kitty Shen was injured in the first place, and now her shirt was entirely drenched in blood. One of the body-tempering cultivators was lying motionless on the ground and probably dead, while the other was holding back four Black Tortoise Sect cultivators as they tore chunks of flesh from his body with every swipe.

Even Xia Qianqian and the Great Elder, two of the strongest cultivators in their group, weren’t doing much better. They might be Ninth-Order Cloud River Realm cultivators, but so were their opponents. They were both fighting off a group of Eighth and Ninth-Order cultivators each.

As for Zhou Hai and Pang Dahai, one only needed to hear Pang Dahai’s high-pitched screams to know that they were faring poorly. They might be able to pin down Niu Meng for the moment, but there was no chance they would be able to slay the bastard.

This was literally the worst case scenario. If nothing changed, then it was only a matter of time before they were destroyed one after another.

Lu Ye was still desperately trying to escape his pursuers despite his earlier success. Considering his strength, skill and foundation, he should have no problems handling two opponents at the same time. With proper planning and execution, he could even turn the tables and slay them both. The problem was that two more Black Tortoise Sect cultivators had appeared out of nowhere and joined in the hunt. Now that he thought about it, they were probably the opponents of the body-tempering cultivator on the ground.

He was just a Second-Order Cloud River Realm cultivator. How could he possibly fight four opponents at once when they were all multiple minor realms stronger than him? He did not hesitate to empower himself with Windwalk and run circles around the periphery of the insectoid nest.

He was just delaying the inevitable, however. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before he and everyone else was overwhelmed. Realizing that the situation could not get any worse than it already was, Lu Ye finally decided that it was time to use the last resort.

He pulled out an aquamarine orb from his Storage Bag. The orb was only the size of a longan, but it burned his skin the second he held it in his hand. Not only that, the Tree of Glyphs responded immediately by releasing a massive amount of gray smoke. This only happened when a deadly poison had invaded Lu Ye’s body.

The orb was none other than the Omnipoison Pill Hua Ci had gifted him, of course.

Hua Ci had told him how to use it when she gave him the orb. All he needed to do was to inject it with Spiritual Power and tossed it on the ground.

The orb was useless to him on the Spirit Creek Battlefield because he was the apex predator of apex predators of that battlefield. But now, it was finally time to use it.

Honestly, he did not know how effective it would be. After all, his opponents were all Cloud River Realm cultivators. He didn’t think it would be completely useless, but there was a chance the effect would be mild enough that it wouldn’t impact his enemy’s combat capabilities.

He did not have a choice though. It was that or dying and becoming into the puppet of the insectoids.

He was well aware that his allies would be affected by the poison as well, but the situation couldn’t get any worse than it already was. Plus, most cultivators carried some antidotes on their person at all times. Ideally, they could simply swallow a handful of antidotes and cure themselves.

On the other hand, the Black Tortoise Sect cultivators were just mindless beasts. There was no way they would know how to use an antidote, not to mention that they weren’t carrying anything on their person.

All in all, the Omnipoison Pill should benefit his side more than the enemy’s.

His mind made up, Lu Ye channeled his Spiritual Power into the orb. There was a soft pop before an unimaginable amount of poison gas flooded the entire chamber in an instant!

The mist was so thick that it was almost solid. He could hold his fingers in front of his eyes and still not see a thing.

It was even thicker than the mist that permeated the Myriad Poison Forest.

The Omnipoison Pill was the culmination of Hua Ci’s own cultivation level. Naturally, it was several times more toxic than even the deadliest poison at the center of Myriad Poison Forest. It was even more effective than normal since the insectoid nest was completely sealed.

His allies were caught completely off guard by this turn of events. One second there was nothing, and the next their vision was completely blocked by the poisonous mist.

Xia Qianqian sensed the changes within her body and cried out in alarm, “Watch out! Poison!”

She then held her breath and channeled her Spiritual Power to keep out the poison.

To everyone’s shock, the poisonous mist that seemed to be everywhere was capable of corroding their protective aura. It easily entered their bodies and worsened their condition. It wasn’t long before they started feeling light-headed.

Everyone except Lu Ye thought they were goners. They were already facing the worst case scenario, but now they were poisoned as well. They were sure that they were going to die here.

However, the group quickly discovered that they weren’t the only ones who were poisoned. The Black Tortoise Sect cultivators were facing the same problem. Their movements suddenly slowed dramatically, and their strength wasn’t nearly as explosive as it was before.

There was no time to waste. They hurriedly swallowed their antidotes and hastened its digestion with their Spiritual Power. It was only then that their symptoms lessened a little.

They were Cloud River Realm cultivators. It was incredible that Hua Ci’s Omnipoison Pill, something she had created as a Spirit Creek Realm cultivator, was effective even on their strongest, but the symptoms definitely weren’t unmanageable.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye discovered that the four Black Tortoise Sect cultivators chasing after him suddenly slowed down drastically. Their auras had turned completely green as well.

When he looked within himself, he discovered that the Tree of Glyphs was working overtime and consuming its fuel non-stop to purge the poison. 𝓯𝑟𝓮ℯ𝘸ℯ𝘣𝑛ℴ𝘷ℯ𝓵.𝘤𝑜𝑚

[I think I underestimated Hua Ci’s Omnipoison Pill!]

He wondered if Hua Ci had more. Considering how potent the orb was, he would love to get his hands on more Omnipoison Pills.