MJWCATFPITWOC Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Chapter 55 Monster

“Someone, help! Those two on the stage have gone mad!”

The cultivators were forced to flee in disarray by the attacks raining down from above the arena, screaming in panic.

“Is there anyone who can stop them!”

Above the arena, dazzling light and fire soared, golden threads and crimson flames intertwined into a net, covering the sky and earth like a giant spiderweb, threatening to catch everyone in one fell swoop.

The five who initially held the advantage were now completely at a disadvantage. Had Shen Yucheng not shown mercy, they would have already lost their lives on the arena. At this moment, the five were covered in wounds, barely standing, and clearly had no strength left to fight. Shen Yucheng looked down from above: “So, who exactly are they? Why did they suddenly attack?”

Below the stage, Fu Lingxuan glanced at the few, his gaze darkening: “Are they the Foundation Establishment cultivators who have gone missing these past few days?”

A disciple hurriedly stepped forward to check, his face pale: “…That’s right! These few are the first five who disappeared. Now, the number of missing people has exceeded a hundred, and their whereabouts are still unknown!”

Before the words could fade, just as Shen Yucheng was about to descend from the arena to check the situation, suddenly, the surrounding air vibrated. His brow furrowed, and in his spiritual perception, hundreds of completely different spiritual energy fluctuations appeared out of nowhere.

Normally, if the disciples were not in a combat state, their spiritual energy would unconsciously converge. Moreover, in such a chaotic situation just now, everyone was only concerned with escaping for their lives and could not possibly actively activate their spiritual energy. This sudden burst of spiritual energy seemed to erupt out of thin air in an instant, without any warning.

Shen Yucheng’s heart suddenly tightened, and a sense of impending danger followed closely, like thorns on his back.

Sure enough, from all directions surrounding the arena, several sharp sounds of tearing through the air rang out. With several “whoosh” sounds, countless black shadows descended upon this place.

Mo Yifeng looked at it and smiled: “What’s going on? So lively? Yucheng-ge, you didn’t attract all this, did you?”

Shen Yucheng rolled his eyes, just about to retort, when the facts ruthlessly slapped him in the face.

After those black shadows appeared, they turned out to be cultivators wearing the clothing of various sects. Like the five on the stage, their eyes were hollow, their expressions dull, like empty shells without souls. As soon as they saw Shen Yucheng, they launched a frantic attack.

The black shadows surged like a tide, and the attacks rained down like a storm. Even Shen Yucheng found it difficult to instantly defend against attacks from all directions. The arena around them flashed with blinding spiritual light, and then was shaken until the earth trembled. Disciples hundreds of miles away could feel the power of the aftershocks.

As the thick smoke dissipated, Shen Yucheng was protected in the center of the arena. Mo Yifeng stood in front of him, his back to him: “Yucheng-ge, I was right. How are you? Are you alright?”

Lingyi was on the right: “Shen Yucheng, what exactly did you do? How come you’re always offending people…”

On the left, Li Yuan’s face was calm: “This kind of attack, I can solve it with a single talisman.”

Li Juemu followed up with a cutting remark: “Brother, the sleeve of your right arm has a big hole in it.”

Shen Yucheng had originally prepared to withstand the attack with all his strength, but was protected by everyone in this way. Seeing this scene, he paused, speechless, and felt a mix of emotions, an indescribable feeling in his heart. He stood there, unable to recover for a moment.

This feeling was so unfamiliar that it made him somewhat at a loss.

“Still have time to space out? Master said that the first person he wants to see after coming out of seclusion is you. Don’t you dare die here right now.” Fu Lingxuan was behind him, his tone unkind, but on closer inspection, most of his body was blocking Shen Yucheng, protecting him tightly.

The others blocked the attacks from their respective positions, and Shi Wen and Shi Huan also stepped forward to help.

Although these disciples were only Foundation Establishment cultivators, their cultivation was far inferior to Shen Yucheng and the others. However, they could not use heavy-handed attacks to harm people, and had to subdue them without killing them. This constraint was undoubtedly more difficult than attacking with all their strength.

Regardless of whether these disciples were acting on their own or were truly being manipulated, the mastermind who dared to use their kindness against them was undoubtedly intelligent and ruthless.

The elders quickly evacuated the audience, taking the low-level cultivators to a safe area, clearing the field, and leaving space for these few devastating cultivators to deal with the situation freely.

Although it took some effort, the group finally knocked all the puppet disciples to the ground.

Li Juemu gasped for breath, leaning on his knees and complaining: “This is the first time I’ve fought so frustratingly. If I hit too hard, I have to save them; if I hit too lightly, I’m the one who gets hurt.”

Shen Yucheng raised his hand in agreement. It was still more refreshing to fight Mo Yifeng, at least he could fight to the death without any worries.

Fu Lingxuan stepped forward to check the disciples’ condition and suddenly said, “Come and take a look at this.”

He pointed to the neck of a unconscious disciple. There was a faint wound on it, neither deep nor shallow, but the edge of the wound had turned brown, indicating that it was not a mark left by the battle just now.

“There’s one here too.” Li Yuan shouted from the other side.

Everyone checked separately and found that all the unconscious disciples had similar wounds on their necks.

Li Juemu touched one of the wounds, frowning: “Why do they all have this kind of wound? Does this prove that they were being controlled?”

Lingyi frowned: “From what we can see so far, this is the only reasonable explanation. But the problem is, I’ve never heard of any spell that can control a living person with just a cut.”

Even the talented lady of spells said so, and her words undoubtedly made everyone more uneasy.

Shen Yucheng then learned that while he was suffering from insomnia due to his injuries, several disciples had already gone missing within the sect. The sect immediately checked the barrier, but found nothing abnormal, which meant that the perpetrator was very likely lurking within the Lingfeng Sect all along.

Such a daring person was by no means ordinary. Thinking of everything just now, a name floated into Shen Yucheng’s mind.

Bai Guchen, a branch of the Puppet Dao—the Crimson Puppet Dao, whose greatest feature was the ability to completely control living people.

Thinking that the Crimson Puppet Dao’s control required specific conditions to be activated, Shen Yucheng said, “The purpose of these wounds may not be to directly control them, but to obtain some kind of medium.”

Mo Yifeng took over the conversation, a cold light flashing in his eyes: “Blood.”

Shen Yucheng nodded: “The other party should be using blood as a medium to achieve control. These wounds are of moderate depth, just enough for a large amount of blood to flow out. If that’s the case, as long as the other party obtains the blood, they can control people at any time.”

Before the words could fade, those disciples who should have been unconscious suddenly stood up again, like zombies, and launched another attack on them.

Everyone had no time to think deeply and had to enter the battle.

Shi Huan said angrily: “Is this ever going to end! Can’t we just cripple them!”

“If we really kill them, the enemy will achieve their goal. If the cultivation world slaughters each other, it will only cause chaos among the people if it spreads out.” Although Shi Wen’s cultivation talent was not as high as Shi Huan’s, his stability and experience in these matters were clearly revealed.

Shi Huan clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, but said nothing more.

Shen Yucheng knocked the last disciple unconscious again. At this moment, a burst of soft laughter suddenly came from above the arena: “It seems that your eyesight has recovered faster than I expected.”

The voice lingered around the martial arts arena. Everyone’s nerves tightened in an instant. They didn’t realize that there was still someone hiding on the scene. However, only Shen Yucheng’s face suddenly changed. He was all too familiar with that voice. It was the last laughter he heard before he fell unconscious.

Mo Yifeng stood beside him, his gaze sinking, as if he sensed Shen Yucheng’s unease. He subtly moved, silently protecting him behind him.

“It’s only been half a month, and the good dog by your side has become even more loyal.” The voice was accompanied by a light-hearted teasing, “However, you were able to defeat these wastes twice, so I haven’t been disappointed.”

After saying that, the fallen disciples on the ground suddenly began to twitch and wriggle unnaturally again, as if being forcibly driven by some force, trying to stand up again. However, their bodies were already overwhelmed. After two fierce battles, both their bones and meridians had reached their limits.

Their postures were twisted and stiff. Although they could barely move, they had long lost any threat.

Lingyi glanced at the zombie-like disciples, her eyes full of disgust: “Scum.”

However, just as everyone was preparing to meet the attack, those disciples who should have stood up again suddenly fell back to the ground, losing all movement.

Li Juemu: “What’s going on? Did the enemy give up?”

Shen Yucheng’s gaze swept over the seriously injured and unconscious disciples, his eyes deep, but he understood in his heart that Bai Guchen was definitely not someone who would give up so easily.

Sure enough, the next moment, the laughter sounded again: “You’re right, these wastes are indeed not strong enough. But… weak things can always be modified.”

As soon as these words fell, everyone’s hearts tightened, and an ominous premonition made the air even more suffocating.

At this moment, a disciple lying on the ground next to Shi Wen suddenly began to twitch violently. His back bulged inexplicably, as if being propped open by some unknown force. The flesh squirmed as it split open, as if a small mountain was taking shape inside his body.

Something’s wrong!

Shen Yucheng shouted in alarm: “Get back!”

However, Shi Wen seemed to be frightened and stood there, unable to move.

Seeing the bulge on the disciple’s back getting bigger and bigger, as if it might burst at any moment, Shi Huan suddenly rushed forward and knocked Shi Wen to the ground. At that moment, the disciple with the bulge on his back exploded with a bang.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and a fishy stench swept over, making the scene bloody and disgusting. Li Juemu covered his mouth, his face pale, his stomach cramping, and he almost couldn’t help but throw up.

Mo Yifeng stood in front of Shen Yucheng, the spiritual power in his hand condensed, isolating the splashing blood and flesh from the outside.

Shen Yucheng’s gaze was fixed on the location of the disciple. The next moment, his pupils shrank, and he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

What was standing there was no longer a person.

After the disciple’s back exploded, a pair of hideous wings stretched out, bone spurs protruded from the flesh, his arms were thick, and his fingertips grew dark green claws. His legs were deformed, his feet were wide, his entire body became wild, his eyes rolled back, his mouth was slightly open, and he exhaled white breath.

Fu Lingxuan’s face couldn’t be any uglier, and Li Yuan also frowned: “Is this still a human being…”

Shen Yucheng gritted his teeth, his eyes like knives, and he was certain that Bai Guchen’s abilities had already exceeded the scope of the Crimson Puppet Dao. What he said before about coming from a thousand years ago may be true. This method of transforming living people into monsters was unheard of, even in the cultivation world.

The voice came: “Actually, this is my first time trying it. It’s a good opportunity for me to see how powerful it is.”

As soon as the voice fell, the disciple’s eyes turned and locked onto Shi Huan on the ground. His giant feet, covered in veins, suddenly lifted, and the next moment, he stomped down hard on Shi Huan’s body!

“Hiss—!”

Sand and dust flew everywhere. With the disciple as the center, cracks appeared throughout the arena, and the ground sank deeply, the force of which was shocking.

Bai Guchen chuckled: “Speed, strength… not bad. Perfect.”

He was waiting to admire Shi Huan’s corpse, but when the monster retracted its giant foot, there was no bloodstain under its foot.

“Huh?” Bai Guchen was slightly startled.

Could it have missed?

Just as he was wondering, Shen Yucheng’s voice came: “The speed is quite fast, but—”

Before he could finish speaking, a black magic circle suddenly appeared under the monster’s feet, golden threads wrapped around it, firmly binding the monster’s feet. At the same time, a Stasis Talisman was stuck on the monster’s face, and the sharp purple light of the spell stopped less than an inch in front of it.

Above Shi Huan and Shi Wen’s heads, the crimson-gold sword hovered, spiritual light lingering, protecting them layer by layer without leaving any gaps.

Shen Yucheng said softly: “But this speed is slow for a Nascent Soul cultivator.”

On the side, Li Juemu looked at everything in front of him blankly. He opened his mouth, but couldn’t say a word for a long time. To be honest, he couldn’t see what happened just now…

Is this something you can say?