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墨書 Inktalez
The Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device swiftly approached, as Xunuo skillfully tossed out a flurry of Talismans. From a distance, these Talismans appeared as a massive circle, but upon closer inspection with Divine Sense, one could discern that this circle had layers.
The Mad Dog grinned maniacally as he activated his artifact and charged into the Talismans, stirring them up. However, he quickly realized a problem: these Talismans were arranged in at least five layers, with each layer not following the same trajectory. He could instantly break through one layer of the Talismans, but to breach the next layer, he would have to jump onto a different path. The Talismans were flying towards him at high speed, making it impossible for him to change his flight trajectory in an instant.
Confident that he had a second line of defense, the Mad Dog sneered and directed his weapon towards a Talismans layer that was one level apart. Just as his weapon was about to strike the surrounding Talismans, the Golden Sword darted into the trap. The Golden Sword seemed to have an edge in speed; in an instant, it shattered over ten Talismans from this layer. Yet just as it was about to cut through the last Talismans, that particular Talismans inexplicably jumped and narrowly avoided the attack.
Sweat pouring down his face, the Mad Dog urged the Golden Sword Artifact and turned back to slash at that Talismans, causing it to explode. When he looked back again, he saw that the next layer of Talismans seemed to come alive, leaping and flashing towards him. The Golden Sword flickered and destroyed two more Talismans, but the remaining ten or so passed by the Golden Sword Artifact unscathed.
The Mad Dog was taken aback by this sudden turn of events, but he had no time to ponder. He shouted "Retreat!" while summoning a stele-shaped artifact. The Bearded Man also noticed this change; in fact, he was even more focused on potential shifts because knowing Xunuo's identity as an Alchemist made him aware that the White-Faced Cultivator ahead possessed exceptionally strong Mind Power, which could lead to unexpected changes in controlling the Talismans.
As the Mad Dog shouted angrily, the Flying Artifact suddenly darted sideways. But then a loud crash flipped the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device over, sending it tumbling through the air. The Bearded Man was drenched in sweat as he struggled to control the Flying Artifact and prevent it from crashing to the ground. Meanwhile, the Mad Dog roared incessantly as he controlled three artifacts around the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device, performing wide-ranging maneuvers to clear out both incoming and hidden Talismans.
However, this desperate attempt by the Mad Dog came too late; dozens of Talismans around the out-of-control Flying Artifact activated one after another, unleashing various Spells directly onto the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device. The Bearded Man almost blindly urged the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device into chaotic movements in mid-air. This artifact had completely lost its speed and direction. Yet this blind evasion prevented Xunuo's methods from taking effect and allowed the Flying Artifact to escape disaster.
Just as the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device stabilized its flight state, the Mad Dog shouted loudly, "Who is he?" Naturally, he had begun to suspect Xunuo's identity. The Bearded Man hurriedly relayed all the information he knew to the Mad Dog. With this revelation, much of the Mad Dog's frenzy dissipated; he cursed through gritted teeth but dared not get too close.
Xunuo had just wrapped several high-level Attack Talismans within an invisibility talisman earlier. Although only one high-level attack talisman struck the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device, it nearly brought it down. The current situation aligned perfectly with Xunuo's expectations; it was time for his plan to unfold—he would send a group of winged beasts ahead to deal with them.
Not far ahead lay a territory inhabited by Fire Crows; these creatures rarely advanced beyond level two, with most being first-level beasts. However, Fire Crows reproduced rapidly; a single group could number in the thousands and could easily overwhelm higher-level beasts through sheer numbers. While Fire Crows had average evasion speed, their Fire Attribute Spells were still quite powerful.
Xunuo thought that if he charged in recklessly, it would be tantamount to suicide. However, possessing a Great Illusion Concealment Talisman gave him a chance to take a risk. As he neared Fire Crow territory, Xunuo first summoned a Blue Flame Shield that transformed into a fiery net enveloping his Black Iron Boat.
The speed of the Black Iron Boat suddenly slowed down. Xunuo needed to rely on the Great Illusion Concealment Talisman, and it wasn't a problem to reduce speed; in fact, Xunuo had to continue slowing down to maximize the invisibility effect of the talisman. He took out the Great Illusion Concealment Talisman and infused it into the Black Iron Boat. Instantly, the Black Iron Boat shimmered and became blurry. Xunuo glanced back at the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device, gritted his teeth, and reduced speed once more.
At this moment, while the Black Iron Boat was not truly invisible, it resembled a massive wave of light gliding through the air. Most importantly, while it became harder to detect visually, it also effectively shielded against Divine Sense.
The Mad Dog realized where Xunuo intended to lead him. However, he believed that his Flying Artifact could not breach the territory of the Fire Crow, and neither could his opponent. When he saw the Black Iron Boat gradually becoming indistinct and sensed that Divine Sense probing seemed faint, he understood that this White-Faced Cultivator might actually have a chance to get through. This realization triggered his wild instincts; after two reductions in speed from the Black Iron Boat, the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device now had a brief opportunity to close in on Xunuo. The Mad Dog thought that as long as he could strike this White-Faced Cultivator outside of Fire Crow's territory, even if he couldn't guarantee a kill, heavily injuring him was a certainty. Then he wouldn't have to risk pursuing into Fire Crow's domain. If his opponent were severely wounded, retreating or advancing would both lead to death.
The Mad Dog gripped tightly onto his artifact and poured his mana into it fiercely, coldly commanding, "Full speed ahead, pursue."
The bearded man’s face turned pale; however, he dared not defy the Mad Dog. He struck the front of the Flying Artifact, and the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device flickered rapidly toward Xunuo.
Xunuo did not increase speed but estimated the distance between them before throwing out a pair of talismans forward and backward.
The bearded man was already frightened out of his wits; seeing Xunuo throw out more talismans made him want to retreat. The Mad Dog shot him a glare and ordered, "Go around."
Feeling relieved, the bearded man thought: Thankfully, I wasn't told to charge in. The Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device flickered several times and maneuvered around this area filled with talisman traps before quickly closing in.
Since the opponent did not force their way through, Xunuo had no way to ambush him; however, this brief delay was sufficient. As the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device circled around the talisman traps, another talisman thrown by Xunuo surged into Fire Crow's territory and exploded with a loud bang, destroying an entire grove of fiery red fir trees within.
In an instant, a swarm of Fire Crows burst forth from the flames and rushed over with frantic cries. Xunuo had already prepared for this; he reduced speed once again for the Black Iron Boat and lowered its altitude to about ten feet above ground level, allowing the faintly visible Blue Flame Shield to blend into the flames rising from the ground.
The bearded man turned pale as he glanced back at the Mad Dog, feeling a chill run down his spine. The Mad Dog's eyes were bloodshot and his expression ferocious as he let out a chilling laugh. The bearded man secretly spat in disdain; he knew that the Mad Dog had entered a frenzied state—defying him now would only lead to a quicker death.
The bearded man could only urge on the Flying Artifact while summoning a defensive artifact shaped like a shell in one hand and secretly holding onto a high-grade flying talisman in the other. He did not have another Flying Artifact; soon he would have to rely on this high-grade flying talisman to escape.
Xunuo flew slowly along the ground towards the approaching swarm of Fire Crows above him. The Fire Crows ignored Xunuo’s presence entirely and focused their attention on targeting the flickering Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device instead. Even the bearded man thought that under these circumstances, his artifact's rapid assault on the Fire Crows was too conspicuous. It was practically providing cover for that White-Faced Cultivator; it would be better to turn around and flee instead—it would make it easier for them not to expose Xunuo’s location.
The mad dog, in its frenzied state, was truly fearless, its eyes fixed solely on the ground-hugging Black Iron Boat, ignoring the overwhelming Fire Crows that swarmed around it.
Xunuo, flying at this speed, could not fully utilize the invisibility effect of the Great Illusion Concealment Talisman. The bearded Flying Artifact was simply too dazzling, causing the group of Fire Crows to overlook the presence of the Black Iron Boat. However, the mad dog's nearly suicidal actions made Xunuo's heart race. Xunuo had no intention of testing whether it could withstand a blow from the mad dog and was prepared to accelerate and escape at any moment.
As the swarm of Fire Crows swept over Xunuo's head, the mad dog suddenly struck. A fire blade longer than five zhang leaped from the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device and slashed toward Xunuo. The approaching Fire Crows, seeing the sudden attack, thought it was aimed directly at them. Yet, their magical power was insufficient to support an attack on the Dragonfly-shaped Flying Device. The Fire Crows shrieked as they flapped their wings, unleashing countless Fire Feather Arrows toward the Fire Blade.
The mad dog cursed loudly and urged its magical power; the Fire Blade flashed with golden light as it sliced through the incoming Fire Feather Arrows, exploding them into a sea of flames. By the time the Fire Blade emerged from this fiery sea, the Black Iron Boat had already revealed itself and fled far away.
Behind Xunuo, a large number of Fire Crows had engaged in close combat with the mad dog. Some smaller groups of Fire Crows posed little threat to Xunuo. What Xunuo needed to guard against was being trapped by them since a large group of Fire Crows had followed closely after Xunuo revealed itself.
Fortunately, the speed of the Fire Crows was not exceptional. Xunuo positioned the Flame Fork at the front of the Black Iron Boat and dealt with any obstructors with swift and decisive strikes. After an hour, Xunuo finally shook off this group of pesky creatures while recovering magical power and checking the map to plan its route.
Moving forward, Xunuo intended to take a straight path without deliberately avoiding certain beasts. In fact, there were very few markings close to the third layer on this map; they were vague at best, consisting only of rough guesses and records from years or even decades ago. Naturally, there would be no mention of the third layer on this map either. Thus, this map had lost its practical significance by this point. Xunuo put away the map and sped toward the third layer.
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