CHAPTER 553: CHAPTER 551 OVERLAPPING

The river water churned tumultuously in the riverbed, forming monstrous waves three stories high, carrying countless deformed Human-faced Tadpoles surging downstream.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The vine platform under Wanli Fengdao’s feet extended onward, rising slowly from the river like the arched back of a Giant Beast stirring from the river bottom.

The Swordsman trod upon the vines, charging forward alone.

A hazy mist of white vapor gradually enveloped his longsword. That vapor seemed alive, swirling around the blade, its speed increasing from slow to fast as it expanded with each passing second. By the time Wanli Fengdao reached the surging torrent, it had grown to the size of a millstone, spinning rapidly and whipping up fierce gales.

"Slash! Wave!" the Swordsman bellowed, swinging his longsword horizontally.

The white current cloaking his right arm suddenly dispersed, transforming into a long, silken ribbon that traversed the river surface, shooting toward the waves.

[Skill Name: Wave Slash]

[Type: Fighting]

[Grade: Excellent]

[Special Effect: Cleaves through waves. When using a bladed weapon, unleash an arc-shaped Sword Qi forward. The width, thickness, speed, distance, and destructive power of the Sword Qi are determined by the user’s weapon-swinging gestures and Spirit Power Value.]

[Consumption: At least 500 points of Spirit Power Value]

[Cooldown Time: 1 hour]

[Usage Condition: Spirit Power Value must be at least 500 points and fully charged]

[Note: White waves vast as the sea join the horizon, endless sands lie vast and boundless.]

The pale Sword Qi skimmed low over the river surface, slamming into the monstrous waves. It tore through all the tadpole monsters in its path like splitting bamboo, even slicing the entire torrent from its base. The unsupported torrents slowly toppled forward, as countless Human-faced Tadpoles shrieked in unison, their overlapping cries like those of infants echoing to the heavens.

On both sides of the Ling Shui River, the people of Chenzhou first stared blankly at this scene. After a moment, they belatedly processed what had happened. A cold fear gripped their bodies, and they cried out, scattering as they fled.

The covered bridge was teeming with people. The flower girl instinctively gripped her basket tightly but was still knocked by the jostling crowd. Her basket tumbled to the ground, and a few flowers fell out from the woven bamboo, only to be instantly trampled into the mud by countless feet.

"Hold steady."

A hand reached out, grabbing the wrist of the flower girl who was about to fall, and pulled her up. She instinctively looked up. The young fortune-teller had already released her wrist. He now stood on a bench on the covered bridge, casually straightening his black cloak.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The thousands of vine pillars laid across the riverbed acted like hydraulic jacks, obliquely pushing up the vine platforms downstream and on both banks of the river, forming a vast fishing net that rolled upwards from below, seemingly slow but incredibly fast.

The net itself was woven from vines of varying thickness, with larger, spindle-shaped nodes at intervals. Inside each spindle resided hundreds of Brain Worms, crafted from bandits and White Lotus Cult members. All the Brain Worms worked in concert: some controlled the vines to contract or expand, changing the size of each hole in the net to filter the river water; others made the vines grow barbs to slash the Human-faced Tadpoles; or they directly manifested vine spears robust enough to shatter wooden city gates and pierce through the horde of Deformed Monsters.

Wanli Fengdao stood at the very top of the green vines. His right hand wielded his longsword, while his left hand grabbed a wine flask to take a hearty swig. He looked up at the approaching wavefront, sneering as he swung his sword again, releasing slightly smaller arcs of Sword Qi, continuously cutting down the Deformed Monsters.

Simultaneously, a Wooden Arrow flew through the air, suddenly exploding above the net. It burst into thousands of wooden splinters that rained downwards.

The defenses of the Human-faced Tadpoles weren’t particularly strong, and within seconds, they had suffered heavy losses. The Brain Worms hidden within the spindle-shaped nodes controlled the vines, filtering the confirmed dead Human-faced Tadpole corpses through the net’s holes into the layer below, thereby easing the pressure on the fishing net.

Liu Wu Dai, speeding across the riverbank rooftops, also loosed an arrow every second, unleashing a constant rain of arrows. She worked in conjunction with Wanli Fengdao to slaughter the Deformed Tadpoles attempting to surge over the top of the fishing net and escape their confinement.

But the sheer number of monsters was overwhelming... an inexhaustible, unkillable tide.

"Haaa..."

Li Ang, standing on the covered bridge, took a deep breath. Even though he had previously hidden the Engineering Worms at the bottom of the Ling Shui River, making thorough preparations, simultaneously controlling and coordinating hundreds of Brain Worms was still an immense, almost unbearable burden. The Swamp God Power he had painstakingly accumulated within his Divine Mark was evaporating at a terrifying rate. Once this Divine Power was exhausted, the vine trap would instantly collapse, and the Human-faced Tadpoles would swarm out, rushing towards Chenzhou.

Then, Li Ang, standing on a bench on the covered bridge, took a step forward. He did not fall into the river. Instead, several translucent Soldier Bees, their color blending with the sky, dived down. They shot out grappling hooks that caught Li Ang by his shoulders and arms, hoisting him into the air like an actor on wires. Furthermore, the Soldier Bees emitted a dazzling light, forming a splendid, multicolored circular halo behind Li Ang, reminiscent of a Bodhisattva’s aureole.

In the eyes of ordinary people, Li Ang, clad in his black cloak with a sacred, Buddha-like radiance suspended behind him, appeared to walk on air—holy, solemn, and powerful.

"People of Chenzhou City! If you wish to live, then chant the name of Daoist Xi Menzi in your hearts!"

His grand and sonorous voice, amplified by the Soldier Bees, resounded in every corner of Chenzhou.

Li Ang floated over the Ling Shui River, his black cloak swirling intensely. He felt the Power of Faith gathering from all over Chenzhou, accumulating bit by bit. Pointing a finger to the sky, he manipulated the massive fishing net, causing it to slowly tighten, and roared, "Net, draw in!!"

「Aboard the towering ship on the Ling Shui River.」

The group of Cultivators, upon hearing Luo Siyuan’s words, instantly realized something was gravely amiss. Without time to digest the immense amount of information in his speech, they followed their rational instincts and struck with full force, unleashing all their Mana in a bombardment aimed at Luo Siyuan.

The deck of the towering ship, though constructed by the Wude Guard from special, incredibly sturdy wood, still fractured and exploded under the barrage of Spells, caving in and collapsing.

Luo Siyuan, enveloped in a faint aura, ignored all the Spell attacks. He simply took a few steps to the side, bypassing the collapsing section of the deck. The corners of his mouth tilted up slightly, his eyes narrowed, and a peaceful, tranquil expression appeared on his round face, one that made it difficult to harbor any hostility towards him.

In a few more seconds, the Human-faced Tadpoles flowing downriver should be wreaking havoc throughout Chenzhou’s water systems, collecting Souls and accumulating Energy to awaken the deity. His master’s legacy, his long-cherished wish, was finally about to be fulfilled.

One second, two seconds, three seconds passed...

Luo Siyuan’s eyes snapped open in disbelief.

"Your next line is," Scholar Zhu stated coldly, "’what’s going on.’"

"What’s going on?!" Luo Siyuan’s astonished cry overlapped with Scholar Zhu’s cold statement.

Eyes wide with shock, Luo Siyuan, as the designer and authority of the Ling Shui River Formation, activated his Spiritual Sense to perceive the situation downstream.

Downstream, the Human-faced Tadpoles seemed to be ensnared by something and were being efficiently slaughtered. They hadn’t collected a single human Soul.