Chapter 58
“Is this your companion mount?” Lin Jia Lu asked, full of doubt.
Long Hao Chen nodded.
Lin Jia Lu’s eyes were filled with a bit of pity, “Well, his figure cannot be clearly seen at all. Let’s set off for now.”
Long Hao Chen took out the Radiant Shield as well as the Light Sword, silently walking at the rear. The five people formed a rhombus battle formation, crossing the hills before finally entering into the territory of the demon race.
There was a wide plain ahead, but their sight did not even reach its boundaries. When wind blew, a faint scent of blood could be smelled in the air.
From the time that the demon race appeared and humanity’s history entered the dark age, 6,000 years had already passed.
Lin Jia Lu held the magical staff that she did not use in the duel against Long Hao Chen, lifting it slightly while chanting a magical incantation. A bird shaped transparent light soared in the sky, flying forward at a high altitude. A faint radiance could be subsequently seen in Lin Jia Lu’s pair of eyes.
[Eagle Eye Method], this magic spell was a required skill for any mage, enabling one to look down from the sky and observe far distances. The higher one’s cultivation level, the further the range of the spell increased.
Li Xin slightly frowned and said: “The terrain is too open. It is unfavorable for us to set up an ambush here. Look for a place where we can hide.”
Li Jia Lu slightly nodded and said: “2.5 kilometers ahead, there are hills at the left. The hills are ahead, shrubs are densely clustered there, we should go in this direction first, slowly advancing. There are no enemies in a 5 kilometers radius around us, let’s go.”
Li Xin lowered her head. Everyone advanced forward at a slow pace under Lin Jia Lu’s instructions.
Long Hao Chen discovered to his astonishment that these two pretty ladies that used to quarrel every day back in Hao Yue City did not show the slightest sign of dispute this time. The party of five was precisely led by the both of them with Li Xin at the front and Lin Jia Lu in the middle of the formation, scouting. The Chen brothers and Long Hao Chen were quite relaxed, they just had to follow after them.
Under the command of Lin Jia Lu and her [Eagle Eye Method], everyone was quite cautious. For a duration of one hour, they made use of the few bunkers on the field that were found approximately every 5 kilometers (10 li) and advanced. Every time they found a place where they could be concealed, Lin Jia Lu would leave a mark on the ground before continuing to head forward.
They entered the route through of the demon race territory that the leaders of Hao Yue City selected very carefully for them. From the demon race territory, the nearest garrison was only 100 kilometers (200 li) away. Although the terrain was not the most favorable, the garrison was quite close, making it very convenient for retreating while maintaining their guard when it is needed.
Night fell little by little, and after continuing to advance for 40 more kilometers (80 Li), Lin Jia Lu found some shrubbery and gave the order to rest here.
“We cannot continue to approach them for now: if we keep going forward, we will enter the range at which the demon mages can detect us.” said Lin Jia Lu in a low voice.
Li Xin nodded, speaking at her turn: “I also heard from Father that the demon barracks contained some powerful mages that have a range longer than 50 kilometers using the [Eagle Eye Method]. If we keep advancing, we will likely be detected, so we should wait here for our opportunity instead.”
They started eating to replenish their physical strength, and calmly waited at this place. All along, Lin Jia Lu unceasingly used her [Eagle Eye Method] to detect any movement in the surroundings.
A full night passed very calmly. The sky was gradually lighting up.
They had already waited for a night, but they did not even spot half of a demon patrol, so the five youth could not help but feel disappointed. It was especially the case for Lin Jia Lu, who was already quite tired because she kept using her [Eagle Eye Method].
“Strange, where have the demon patrols gone?” Chen Si asked in an uncomprehending tone.
The five youths looked at each other in dismay, their faces showing helplessness. They were the best of the young generation of Hao Yue City, but they had never participated in a war before; this task that seemed to be quite easy had become a little more troublesome. To gain the qualifications to enter, they also had a time limit. Altogether, they only had three days. If they exceeded this time limit, they would not have the time to leave for the Temple Alliance to take part in the Selection Competition.
Li Xin frowned and said: “That won’t do. I will ride Rose and enter further, investigating in their range. In that case, they should react to some extent.”
Lin Jia Lu immediately reacted: “Impossible. It’s too dangerous. Your Rose Unicorn is too obvious. If you try, there’s a risk that you attract some enemies that are so powerful that we’ll be completely wiped out.”
While they were talking among themselves about the countermeasures for dealing with the situation, Long Hao Chen who was listening to the surroundings all along suddenly said in a loud voice, “Be careful, there is an enemy!” As he spoke, he held the Light Sword and suddenly lifted it. A gold-colored mantle instantly enveloped the five people inside. It was a [Divine Light Mantle]!
Almost instantly after this, a violent shock was transmitted from under their feet and, with a _puh_ sound, the [Divine Light Mantle] was shattered. Also, at this very moment, another [Divine Light Mantle] was launched right under their feet, obstructing this attack that came from below.
A 1.5 meters tall entity attacking with an extremely thick thorn was stopped by the [Divine Light Mantle] surrounding them; if Long Hao Chen had reacted a step later, they would have endured this attack with their bodies.
It had a total of seven or eight thick and sharp stings. They were purple black colored and emitted faint purple black colored ripples in the air around it.
The second layer of [Divine Light Mantle] was actually not sent out by Long Hao Chen: the time it took him to use the skill twice in a row was not so quick. It was naturally Hao Yue who was beside him, using its gold-color eyed lizard head to spread the skill, perfectly imitating Long Hao Chen’s [Divine Light Mantle] and covering everyone in this defense.
“The Luke Clan.” These five youths were the elite of their generation in Hao Yue City, but they were so shocked that they could not react at all in this brief moment. When Li Xin shouted in a loud voice, a red-colored radiance glinted in her longsword that she used to ferociously stab at the ground.
Long Hao Chen, Chen Si, and Chen Chen reacted the same way.
Continuous _Pu Pu_ sounds rang, violently shaking the ground.
Lin Jia Lu lowered the magical staff in her hand a little, shooting a blue ray toward the ground while simultaneously calling out: “Take out your weapons!”
As the thick, bloodied weapons were pulled up from the ground, immediately afterwards, everyone felt a chill under his feet; the ground had already been frozen with ice that was as thick as steel. Lin Jia Lu’s [Ice Wall Method] was directly launched under their feet.
A group of thick and solid sharp stingers encircled the five youths of the group and, immediately afterwards, new figures jumped out from the ground, encircling the group of five including Long Hao Chen.
They had a fierce and evil looking appearance, quite similar to monstrous abominations that were shaped like humans. Their height was roughly 1.7 meters, they were naked, and on the lower part of the body were meticulous black-colored scales. On the upper portion of their bodies, their skin was purple black-colored and the head had three eyes; but the fact they had four arms was the most peculiar. That’s right, each of these monsters had four arms and each of these arms were shaped similarly to a needle: their little arms ended in a point. Their sharp tips of these stingers emitted a cold light.
Despite the fact that everyone in Long Hao Chen’s group had sufficient knowledge in regards to demons, when confronting one for real, they could not help but feel somewhat nervous.
6,000 years earlier, the 72 Demon Gods suddenly descended on the mainland of Shengmo Dalu, leading to the mutation of a great amount of life forms which were mutated into demons of various strength. The demons that appeared before their eyes belonged to the Luke Clan, one of the 20 major clans of the demon race.
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form of a losange with Lin Jia Lu at its center
*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes
*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap