Chapter 972: Land of Deities

“Argh!”

A Connate Level Fiend Soldier charged at them with a bronze battle blade. He was wearing a black scaly armor and had a menacing face with two protruding fangs.

Xu Na produced a fiery red bangle to stop the enemy’s charge. Failing that, she shouted, “Help me, somebody!”

However, the other cultivators were also mired in a tough fight. Even as Xu Rou turned into a bundle of nerves and unsure about what to do, Xiao Mang flew past her, leaving a smear of golden glow trailing behind her.

Boom!

Xiao Mang punched the Connate Level Fiend Soldier and shattered his body in an instant. Amidst the explosive impact, one could even see the shadow of a snarling True Dragon.

“Such power!”

The sight exhilarated the Xu Sisters.

Sima Tai and the other cultivators were also taken aback by Xiao Mang’s strength. They thought that Xiao Mang was only a Connate Cultivator, however, her power was on par with a Golden Core cultivator. When she was in battle, she had impeccable defense and overbearing offense. She seemed inexperienced in the deadly arts she used at first, however, her proficiency increased after each engagement. By then, she had killed the most amount of Fiends among the team members.

“You’re doing great!”

Chen Fan nodded approvingly.

He had been sitting on the flying vehicle ever since he met Sima Tai. If the Fiend Soldiers got close to him, Chen Fan simply lifted a finger to summon six black holes to devour them. Not even the Golden Core level Fiend Generals could escape the black hole maws.

As they progressed further, they met more and more Fiend Soldiers.

Once they reach places beyond level thirty, appearances of Golden Core Fiend Generals had become more frequent. It wasn’t long before death and injuries started to occur in large numbers.

“Boom!”

A Golden Core Fiend General charged his undying horse into the cultivating formation, brandishing a huge battle halberd. The Ancient Demons had extremely tough physiques and excelled at melee battles compared to Tianhuang cultivators. He swung the halberd and killed half a dozen cultivators. Although he was killed by many Dharma Spells hurled at him, he had caused a few casualties.

However, it was only the beginning.

As they pressed forward, more and more Fiend Generals broke their ranks. Any one of them could take three or four lives with them before they were killed. Low level cultivators started to drop like flies.

“Damn it! Are we there yet?” Sima Tai cursed.

He was struggling to hold his ground, and so were the Xu Sisters. Without Xiao Mang’s protection, they might have already been killed.

However, Chen Fan was still sitting motionlessly in the vehicle.

He had cast the Starry Sword Array, forming a web of Sword Qi above them. Even though the Starry Swords were only Spirit Artifacts, they were extremely deadly in the hands of Chen Fan. Everyone watched as the Sword Qi eviscerated fiend soldiers within the web. Bits and pieces of the fiend soldiers were quickly absorbed by the black holes.

“We won’t be able to last long. We should ask Heavenly General Hu and Lady Zi if we can turn back. I have done this many times, but never this far. ”

A senior cultivator suggested.

Many agreed with his notion.

They quickly send Divine Wills to Heavenly General Hu, but his reply disappointed them.

“Damn it!” the cultivators cursed loudly.

“We are at level thirty five now. They might be able to pull through, but we are just ordinary cultivators trying to make a living,” Sima Tai fumed.

However, they had gone too far and there was no turning back.

Even if they turned around and headed back, they would never be able to make it through thirty levels of the Ancient Demons Loch alive.

Chen Fan sat still with a furrowed brow.

He knew the temperament of Ancient Demons well and rarely were they so foolish to throw their soldiers to the front line. They were a shrewd and cunning race, therefore, the mindless aggression had to be a ruse they often applied to lure the expedition deeper into their trap.

By then, even Sima Tai noticed that something was amiss. “Something is not adding up. I have never seen the Ancient Demons fight so mindlessly. ”

Suddenly, a booming alarm was heard emerging from the left flank of the expedition team as a tsunami of Fiend Soldiers charged at them from all directions. A few hundred Fiend Generals led the charge in a unique formation. At the head of the formation was a Fiend General in silver armor.

“Damn it! It’s the battle formation of the Ancient Demons Race! I thought it would only show up past level fifty. Why is it here now?” Sima Tai’s face paled.

Even Chen Fan was taken aback.

He had seen the Battle Formation once during the battle at the Two World Peak. He learned that the Battle Formation was as deadly as a Heavenly Lord and could easily overpower this group of cultivators.

“Boom!”

The shock continued as a flood of enemies rushed toward them.

Many low level cultivators turned into bundles of nerves. Some wanted to turn on their heels, some were determined to fight back but most of them looked to Heavenly General Hu for help. If Heavenly General Hu and the Golden Core Cultivators stood at the frontline, they might be able to hold out against this wave of onslaught.

To their disappointment, Heavenly General Hu and the rest of the Golden Core Cultivators abandoned them and darted deeper into the Ancient Demons Loch.

“Are they trying to flee? What are we? Mere lures for the enemy?”

Sima Tai and the others felt a chill in their bodies.

“I see.”

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes.

He had wondered about the purpose of bringing so many low level cultivators with the expedition team since the terrain in the Ancient Demons Loch was suitable for deployment of smaller battle groups. It turned out that these low level cultivators had been used as cannon fodder.

“Argh!”

As soon as the elite forces of the team pulled away, the Ancient Demons’ battle formation annihilated their defense, crashing into the ranks of low level cultivators.

“We are done for!”

The other cultivators were seized by despair.

Chen Fan heaved a sigh after seeing Sima Tai’s hopeless eyes.

“Fine,” he said, “Come with me!”

He started the Six Sacred Ancestor Fiend Art and sent out six giant Fiend Gods into the enemy. They created six bloody paths among the sea of Fiend Soldiers

“Go.”

Chen Fan dragged Xiao Mang and Zhao Juexian onto one of the paths.

Sima Tai and a few other cultivators quickly followed them. However, the rest of the cultivators were swallowed by the sea of enemies and disappeared forever.

“Arhhh, Arhhh, Arhh!!!”

The six Fiend Gods snarled.

The blood of the fiend generals exhilarated them, lending them more power and substance to their intangible forms. Their physical existence in the real world would mark Chen Fan’s mastery in the Six Sacred Ancestor Fiend Art.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Sima Tai followed Chen Fan and rammed through many waves of attacks. He had lost sense of direction as they followed Chen Fan blindly. By the end, he even lost count of the level they were in. His flying swords were depleted, and his Dharma Power exhausted; they were on their last legs.

“Boom!”

Chen Fan killed the last Golden Core Cultivator.

The group finally got to stop and take a breath.

“Whew. We are finally out of harm’s way.”

The senior cultivator sat down to take a break. Chen Fan scanned around him and noticed that only Sima Tai, the Xu Sisters, their senior cultivator and a handful of Golden Core Cultivators had made it out with him.

The Brawny man and the young cultivator were nowhere to be seen.

“The Zi family outright disregarded their lives. ”

Chen Fan lamented.

Although Chen Fan saved them, he didn’t feel bad for them being ditched by the Zi family. After all, they should have been aware of the risk.

Sima Tai said, “Thank you Cultivator Chen for saving us. We’d be dead without you.”

The other survivors also rose to their feet and thanked Chen Fan and Xiao Mang. They were the few Golden Core Cultivators that looked down on Chen Fan in the beginning, but now their hearts were filled with complicated feelings. Meanwhile, The Xu Sisters thanked Xiao Mang for her extra attention for them.

“My friend, your power must be on par with Heavenly General Hu,” a Golden Core Cultivator praised Chen Fan.

At the end, Chen Fan was fighting alone. The six Fiend Gods had even uprooted the Ancient Demons’ Battle Formation. Everyone was impressed by the strength of the Demon School Cultivators in the Ancient Demons Loch.

However, no one knew that Chen Fan had been holding back his power all the while.

By then, Chen Fan’s power had gone beyond their wildest imagination. Xu Rou cast a suspicious glance at Xiao Mang and Chen Fan as she felt the duo reminded her of another pair.

“We are safe for now. But how are we going to get back home?” someone cried.

The question darkened everyone’s mood.

They were at the deepest part of the Ancient Demons Loch, and they were bound to encounter more Ancient Demons on their way back.

The thought made Sima Tai’s face pale.

Chen Fan then said, “Don’t worry, look there.”

Everyone looked up at the sky and were shocked.

“Oh my god!”

Even Xiao Mang and Zhao Juexian were taken by surprise.

A land of immeasurable brightness appeared before them. It looked out of place in this bleak landscape.

“Is that the Deity Realm?”