ASER – Chapter 22

Zhang Cheng and the others were shocked. Could this evil technique truly summon a Spirit Gate artificially?

If so, wouldn’t that mean… Zhang Cheng subconsciously glanced at the 23 children, then at the array diagram, only to find that A’Diao was blocking most of its core.

He couldn’t memorize it.

But it seemed the Spirit Gate was truly about to appear. The Spiritual Energy was too strong. It was hard to say how it compared to other Spirit Gates, but the fluctuations were definitely much greater than those of the Banyan Tree Spirit Gate in Qishan County!

For A’Diao, she didn’t know if the appearance of the Spirit Gate was a good thing. She couldn’t care less if the other four people, including the 23 children serving as energy sacrifices, lived or died. But she herself would die too! Those insects were already crawling from her calves towards her internal organs.

The only ones who would benefit were these 9 cultists of the Five Elements Cult!

Only one more mark until the Great Heavenly Cycle!

A’Diao was frantic. She had no choice but to bite her uninjured right finger, blood flowing from both hands as she drew talismans simultaneously… Her fingers moved rapidly, speeding up the talisman drawing. Finally, at the last one-sixth mark, an ancient Daoist talisman sigil formed.

A’Diao raised her hand and pressed her bloody palm onto the Daoist talisman.

Buzz!

The burning bloodline and the rotating marks stopped, halted by this talisman. And this talisman began to burn, incinerating from within and without, trapping and disintegrating the evil pentagram.

The moment the pentagram disintegrated, the rotating stone disk suddenly paused. The old man and the other eight felt their hearts pound. Before they could react, they saw it move again.

Excellent!

This wretched girl’s trick has failed!

But that’s not right, it’s moving in reverse!

The reversing stone disk pushed back… The next second, all the insects were dragged out by the counter-flowing Spiritual Energy.

Evidently, this Daoist talisman was specifically targeting these insects.

Admittedly, there were other array-breaking Daoist talismans, but they were too complex, and there wasn’t enough time to draw them. She had discerned that these insects were a crucial link in this formation, and the simplest insect-repelling talisman could achieve the most direct effect.

As expected, they were driven out.

The insects on everyone were dragged out, including those on the children.

The same naturally happened to A’Diao, but the Elder and the other eight all vomited blood.

Damn it, the formation backfired.

“This is bad, quickly…”

The Elder, his face contorted after vomiting blood, was about to stand up when his vision suddenly darkened. Someone lunged at him, and while he was severely injured and vomiting blood, kicked him in the chest. After knocking him down, she swiftly drew the blade from his waist… and plunged it directly into his heart.

The old man looked at A’Diao in disbelief.

Thwack! A’Diao got up and stomped hard on his head!

Her expression was also fierce, her cheeks puffed out.

Everyone was stunned.

From Pang Sha +550!

From Zhou Yuan +170!

From…

The group of 9 minor leaders from the Five Elements Cult gave her a burst of Mental Energy. Especially the old man Pang Sha, whose Mental Energy surge just before death shot straight up to 550.

This works too?!

A’Diao had initially just been angry about suffering so much and stomped on the old man to vent her frustration. Suddenly, she discovered it could generate Mental Energy… Her eyes instantly lit up. She then kicked over another minor leader, Zhou Yuan, squatted down, and delivered a fierce stab to his heart—but she stabbed his right chest.

From Zhou Yuan +99!

It wasn’t an instant kill, as it wasn’t the heart. Zhou Yuan, in pain, closed his eyes and feigned death.

This girl was probably a poor student and didn’t know the heart was on the left. This was perfect; he could play dead and maybe escape this!

However, after three seconds, A’Diao suddenly stabbed him fiercely in the left chest.

Damn, his heart was pierced.

Zhou Yuan, who was playing dead: “!!!”

Sorry, he was dead. Instantly.

From Zhou Yuan +370!!

From Geng Qiu +50!

From…

From Zhao Xu +50!

From Zhang Cheng +35!

A’Diao finally smiled.

Zhang Cheng: “…”

Although he couldn’t understand what she was doing, it was utterly perverse.

Crying and whimpering, seemingly weak and boneless, but then a flurry of actions as fierce as a tiger?

How was this some easily manageable village Daoist priestess?

The Jiang father and son have misled me!

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Facts proved that if you were ruthless enough, even your allies would be frightened by you.

A’Diao was thrilled. The highest realm of PK was to beat the crap out of enemies, squeeze value from allies, gather all resources, and become the strongest MVP.

She estimated her Mental Energy value was at least 3000. What a windfall, what a windfall.

However, even with three thousand Mental Energy points, no new skill exchange options had appeared?

Moreover, A’Diao noticed something off about Zhou Yuan’s glasses. After he lay on the ground, the reflective texture on the lenses didn’t quite resemble real lens material; it looked more like the optical computer screens sold on the market, or at least the ones she had seen at the Ministry of Revenue office in the Jinling government office.

The texture felt somewhat familiar.

So these glasses were? Just as A’Diao was about to take them off to have a look, the main door suddenly burst open, and a group of cultists rushed in.

Not good, it’s people from the Five Elements Cult!

Those few weakened minor leaders immediately perked up.

“Kill them for me!”

How could A’Diao and the others be their opponents now, especially since these people were all armed with guns…

Bang, bang, bang!

Beams of laser fire swept across. A’Diao couldn’t bother with the glasses anymore; she dived and rolled behind a pillar. The others also dodged wretchedly. Zhang Cheng, being cunning, ran towards the area where the children were.

These cultists probably didn’t want to kill the children yet, perhaps intending to use them again, so he ran over there.

“The matter is exposed, we need a full retreat.”

“Kill them all, leave no one alive!”

As a result, once the minor leader gave the order, those cultists immediately prepared to strafe the area of wine vats where the children were.

Zhang Cheng cursed his bad luck. Just as he was struggling to avoid the bullets, the ground suddenly trembled.

The sound was a low hum, and his body vibrated along with it.

People on both sides were startled.

What happened?

Crack! The ground split open.

There were already some cracks, but when did they become so large?

And the sand and soil particles on the ground were still trembling…

Liu Guang suddenly said with a trembling voice, “Wait, why is that array disk still spinning?”

What?!

A’Diao turned her head and saw the rotating array disk being pierced through.

Pierced through???

A’Diao suddenly recalled that the literature mentioned these profane sacrifices were considered unorthodox paths not only because their methods were too cruel and evil, but also because they were highly unstable and not a sustainable, proper way.

For example, when you normally absorb Spiritual Energy, the amount absorbed doesn’t just depend on your own aptitude; you can use auxiliary Spirit Gathering Spiritual Vessels or Forbidden Items. Such methods are flexible.

But if you insist on capturing children, using them as a medium to purify Spiritual Energy, and then draining them dry, the efficiency is higher, and the quantity is greater. However, if interrupted midway, there will be a backlash.

Like the consequences of the backlash suffered by the old man and the other eight, the array disk itself could also suffer a backlash, though the probability was very low and random. This array disk was undoubtedly created to summon a Spirit Gate, but an accident occurred midway. The Spirit Gate didn’t arrive, but the powerful Spiritual Energy fluctuations might have attracted other existences.

For example… a Demonic Spirit?!

A’Diao turned to run, but it was too late. After the stone disk was pierced through, a large black shadow emerged from the ground.

Its massive head alone was about a meter wide in diameter. Its body width was similar to its head, but its length seemed endless, segment after segment. It rapidly climbed out from underground, moving on its dense, sharp abdominal claws.

The horn on its head that was exposed was about one and a half meters long, very sharp, and had strong piercing power. After piercing the forty-centimeter-thick stone disk, it flung it aside… Bang!

Some dodged, some didn’t make it in time; three people were directly crushed to death.

A’Diao didn’t see clearly who was crushed to death; anyway, she dodged it. But this giant Unicom Centipede had completely crawled out. Its body coiled, blocking the way to the main entrance, cutting off everyone’s escape route. And from the hole it had broken in the ground, many much smaller centipedes rustled out. These centipedes were a bluish-green color all over, slimy, and it was unknown where they came from. Each was about the length of an arm.

Compared to the big one, and the Earthworms she had seen before, these small centipedes seemed manageable, but there were too many of them, and… they were poisonous.

“Damn it, it’s a Level 2 Demonic Spirit! We can’t beat it at all.”

“Forget that one, these small centipedes are so fast!”

“Fuck, don’t run towards me!”

It wasn’t just them in chaos; even the Five Elements Cultists panicked. Their guns had to focus fire on these large and small centipedes, especially the big one. Its size was too immense, and its destructive power… Its abdominal legs could easily pierce human bones. A thrust of its horned head could pierce a pillar. A sweep of its body sent four or five people flying.

Of course, what was even more terrifying was that when the laser beams hit its shell, they only produced metallic clanging sounds. There were slight dents on the shell surface, but nothing more. Instead, under its slaughter, everyone was like cabbage, cut down row by row.

Even if they dodged, the small centipedes swarmed up densely.

Demonic Spirits were not allies they had summoned; to Demonic Spirits, these people were all food.

If the few leaders hadn’t suffered the backlash, they might have been able to take down this large centipede together. But not now. Not to mention them, even Zhang Cheng and A’Diao were at the end of their strength.

They truly hadn’t expected this formation to attract a Demonic Spirit.

They were miserable, and the children were about the same—they had been miserable all along. A’Diao and the others could still dodge and slash at these small centipedes, but the children couldn’t get out of the wine vats at all and could only watch…

Zhang Cheng didn’t care about these children. When he saw the muzzles turning his way, he wanted to dodge, but then he saw… a monkey on a pillar not far away.

He saw that A’Diao clinging to the pillar and climbing upwards, probably trying to reach the skylight via the roof beams.

Clever, yes, but she looked remarkably like a monkey.

However, the large centipede probably liked to eat monkeys, so its tail slapped towards the pillar.

Whoosh! A’Diao had to jump to the ground. Just as she was about to dodge, the large centipede lunged forward… A beam of light shot in from outside the main gate.

This light was different from the previous laser beams. It was more powerful, with greater destructive force. It should be some kind of Forbidden Item. It hit the large centipede’s abdomen and directly burst its shell, splattering some liquid.

The large centipede let out a piercing shriek. A’Diao and the others also saw dense halos of light outside the factory building.

That was the light of flying vehicles!

My god, they’re finally here!

Just as A’Diao was rejoicing, her vision suddenly went black…

Seeing the large centipede, incredibly agile, sweep up many people with its tail and dive underground, Feng Ting and his men flew into the factory on their flying vehicles. After a quick scan, Feng Ting decisively ordered, “Second squad, secure this area! Don’t let anyone escape! First squad, follow me down!”

Each squad had 12 people. Unwilling to waste time, Feng Ting led his men to jump directly from the flying vehicles into the hole below. The others used their flying vehicles to release high-voltage discharges onto the ground, frantically slaughtering the small centipedes and controlling everyone.

After Feng Ting and his men entered the hole, they activated the lighting systems on their equipment, and the dim underground space instantly brightened. But they didn’t need to bother searching for the Unicom Centipede’s movements because they had jumped down right after it and were, in fact, just behind it.

The Unicom Centipede was considered a solitary species, but it formed a clan only with its own offspring, so their numbers were vast, as evidenced by the dense swarms of small centipedes on the surface. Moreover, the Unicom Centipede inherently contained toxins; it was estimated that not many people above would survive.

Just a fleeting glance earlier, and they had already seen several children foaming at the mouth.

Everyone was furious, firing madly at the Unicom Centipede’s rear. Their weapons were already much more powerful than the low-grade guns the Five Elements Cultists had acquired from the black market. Even if one shot couldn’t break its defense, two would be enough. Furthermore, these bullets were imbued with a spiraling, burning power; the pain alone would be enough to make this large centipede writhe in agony.

But what the large centipede feared most was the Forbidden Item in Feng Ting’s hand.

“Surround it! Don’t let it escape into the tunnels, we won’t be able to catch it!”

Feng Ting commanded while firing. The weapon in his hand looked a bit strange: a black shark-head, fish-bone body, gun-shaped object, yet it was fitted to his wrist like a bracer, neither hindering his control of his long saber nor his ability to snipe from a distance.

The beams fired by this thing could directly pierce the armor of the Unicom Centipede, whose hard shell was comparable to thick metal. Even if the Unicom Centipede dodged, the beam could instantly blast a large rock to pieces. Therefore, while dodging, the Unicom Centipede also began to devour the group of people it had just swept down whole with its tail.

Flesh and blood could help it recover from its wounds.

It was too chaotic. No fewer than a dozen people had tumbled down, A’Diao among them. She was wretchedly mixed in the mud and hadn’t even reacted before she saw the gunfire sweeping from behind.

The people from the garrison told them to hide where they were, but that depended on one’s skills… As soon as A’Diao landed, she rolled and dived in the mud. Just as she hid in a corner by the wall, she saw several people about a meter in front of her impaled by sharp abdominal legs, their dismembered body parts transported by the abdominal legs into the Unicom Centipede’s mouth.

Just like food being transported on a factory production line.

A’Diao, splattered with blood, didn’t need any reminder from the garrison members and ran towards a side path without looking back.

When immortals fight, the fish in the moat suffer. Given her streak of bad luck, she couldn’t stay here long!

Feng Ting saw how quick-witted A’Diao was and, for a moment, didn’t know whether to praise her or feel helpless.

Such quick-wittedness… it always felt like a proficiency honed by a series of unfortunate events.

A proficiency that made one’s heart ache.

But it seemed someone had followed her.

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