Viciously attacking the wound was a sort of combat wisdom that only humans possessed. Even a fiend beast at Mind Opening might not understand the concept.
And from the actions of the mantipede, it seemed that while it could regrow its ordinary legs, its most formidable blade legs could only be reconnected. It was clear from this that if one wanted to regrow a more formidable power, it would come at a higher price and greater difficulty.
The two of them were attacking the mantipede’s strongest point. The mantipede knew that Tang Jie’s attacks were fierce, and it hastily waved its left blade, successfully blocking the Heartbreak Saber. But it couldn’t block Cai Junyang’s Tsunami Sword.
The recovering blade leg was at its weakest point, and the protective scales had yet to emerge. The Raging Wave Slash splashed green blood into the air as it cut off the unfortunate blade leg once more.
Hisss! The mantipede was verging on madness. It curled its upper body back and swatted at Cai Junyang with the remainder of its leg, throwing him back. Meanwhile, its lower body thrust itself into the ground like a spear, and its entire body radiated red light.
Tang Jie knew that this was a bad sign and shouted, “Get back! It’s about to use its ultimate!”
Cai Junyang didn’t understand what “its ultimate” meant, but he knew that the situation was bad. Pushing through the pain, he rolled on the ground and ran. He saw the mantipede with half its body buried in the ground and madly spinning around, its single blade leg flailing around and creating 360 degrees of flashing blade light. It was a bladed tornado that spat out saber energy in all directions.
“Get down!” Tang Jie roared as he lunged to the ground and covered his head. The golden thread turned into a gauntlet that he used to protect his face. A moment later, he felt countless sharp saber energies howling overhead, the trees behind him creaking as they tumbled to the ground, and the fields cut down as if the grass was being given a haircut.
The forest was instantly turned into a plain.
Once the winds had died away, Tang Jie raised his head and saw that the Quadeye Mantipede was still where it had been, but the red light had faded and its eyes were dim. It no longer appeared as savage as before.
Tang Jie didn’t immediately charge in. He cautiously examined the fiend beast, and while the fiend beast didn’t move, it continued to stare at Tang Jie with its two pairs of eyes.
“Junyang! Junyang! Are you okay?!” Tang Jie cautiously called out.
With the mantipede in the middle, he couldn’t see how Cai Junyang had fared.
“Shit, my butt…” Cai Junyang painfully groaned.
Tang Jie tilted his head and saw Cai Junyang lying on the grass. His giant sword that he had placed in front of his face was now full of holes, and his butt was a bloody mess. It appeared as if some of its flesh had been shaved off.
“Don’t raise your butt so high next time.” Tang Jie shrugged.
“You think I can’t think of that? I really didn’t think that guy would be hiding a move like that,” Cai Junyang continued to groan.
The explosive attack just now had probably been the Quadeye Mantipede’s strongest move, supremely powerful and covering a vast range. This was already beyond the domain of a “spell” and in the realm of “art”, and among real arts, it ranked quite well.
Fortunately, Cai Junyang had cut off one of its blade legs, and the mantipede’s blade tornado had clearly been based on two blade legs. Without one, it was somewhat weaker, allowing the two of them to survive.
Otherwise, even if they had been lying on the ground, they might not have been able to avoid the attack. Even if they didn’t die, they would still be heavily injured.
But the attack had also been a very heavy load for the mantipede to take. The red light around its body had faded—a sign that it had consumed much of the fiend pellet’s power. Even much of the energy of its body had been consumed.
Seeing that Tang Jie and Cai Junyang were okay, it stopped attacking and began to back away.
It seemed like it was planning to run.
Tang Jie held his wound and stood up, pointing the Heartbreak Saber at the mantipede. “Wouldn’t it be a waste if we let you run? How can a cultivator shed blood in vain?”
The mantipede shrieked at Tang Jie as if it was about to put up one last struggle, but then it turned around and ran.
It moved very quickly and had soon fled beyond their attack range. Suddenly, it screeched as its body was sliced in two, the standing half separated from the running lower half as it plunged into a bush. All that was left was a red line in the air, dripping blood.
“This is…” Cai Junyang stared in shock at that bloody line.
“My secret spell weapon. Don’t tell anyone.” Tang Jie waved his hand, taking the golden thread back.
When swinging his saber just now, he had silently thrown out the golden thread, and the Nullight spell had prevented the mantipede from noticing.
“So sharp! Where did you get it?” Cai Junyang was so surprised that he didn’t even feel the pain in his butt anymore.
Tang Jie had pierced through the mantipede with the golden blade, which could be written off as the effect of a spell art, but now, he had used the golden thread separately. At Tang Jie’s cultivation level, there was no way he could control weapons from a distance. This could only mean that the weapon itself was extremely sharp.
“Everyone has their secrets.” Tang Jie smiled.
Cai Junyang bitterly said, “This isn’t the first time I’m hearing such things…”
The two of them went up to the mantipede, which still wasn’t entirely dead. It twisted its body, and as the two came over, it thrust its blade leg at Tang Jie.
Tang Jie casually blocked it with his saber and then stomped on the mantipede’s head. The mantipede madly opened and closed its mandibles, but it couldn’t bite at Tang Jie. Gradually, it ceased to move.
Cai Junyang had by now found a small red pearl in the lower half of the mantipede’s body. This was the mantipede’s fiend pellet. He looked at it and sadly said, “It already used the majority of the essence, leaving only a little. It’s worthless… This was a loss.”
He looked at his Tsunami Sword as he painfully said this.
Let alone getting anything from this battle, his weapon had been severely damaged.
Even Tang Jie’s Heartbreak Saber was sporting several small dents.
If a spell weapon had minor damage, if it had a recovery seal, it would normally be able to heal on its own.
The Tsunami Sword had a large blade and was often used as a shield, so it undoubtedly had a recovery seal. The problem was that the Tsunami Sword had been too badly damaged, and even if it could recover, it would take some time. And in this period of time, unless Cai Junyang decided to use his beloved sword with abandon, he wouldn’t have a weapon to use.
“There’s nothing to be done,” Tang Jie sighed. Unlike what many people imagined, challenging something above one’s level was rather unprofitable.
When confronting a more powerful opponent, one would have to pay two thousand coins to get one thousand coins back.
This was what had happened when Tang Jie went against the fiend tiger, and now, the same had happened against the mantipede.
Combat was no game, and death showed no mercy. True profit was made by bullying the weak.
When the weak fought against the strong, surviving was already a good deal, drawing even was a victory, and making money was a miracle!
Fortunately, the Tsunami Sword hadn’t been completely destroyed, so this wasn’t strictly a loss. It was just that it would have a rather major effect on them for the next few days.
Tang Jie snapped off the mantipede’s blade leg, got the other one, and threw them to Cai Junyang. “Make do with these for now.”
Cai Junyang waved one around. While it was rather ugly, he could accept it. “Look at me. I’ve gone from a broadswordsman to a dual wielder.”
“There’s also this,” Tang Jie said as he dug out the mantipede’s four eyes.
These four eyes could fire paralyzing eye beams, which could be rather effective at crucial moments. It was just that the mantipede wasn’t smart and didn’t know when to use them, or else there would have been no saying how that battle would have ended.
Tang Jie looked at the four eyes and said, “There’s still some lingering fiend energy, so they can be used for the next three days. If you activate them with spiritual power, you can paralyze a person once. As for the power… it depends on the opponent. We split it fifty-fifty.”
He gave Cai Junyang two eyes.
Cai Junyang took the eyes and handed over the fiend pellet. “I have the blade legs, so you can have this. You contributed more to this battle, so fifty-fifty is already too much for me.”
Tang Jie was just about to express his thanks when the little tiger rushed over and ate the fiend pellet.
Tang Jie was left dumbfounded.
Cai Junyang blurted out, “I say, this little tiger you’re raising is really something else. It doesn’t do anything in battle, but it seems very anxious to share in the spoils, doesn’t it?”
Tang Jie spread apart his hands. “There’s nothing I can do. After all, I owe his dad.”
He was referring to Wang Poguan, but Cai Junyang thought he was talking about the big tiger he had supposedly killed. He laughed, “You’re rather generous. Even if this fiend pellet isn’t worth a lot, it would have still gone for several hundred at least.”
The little tiger had finished eating the fiend pellet and was now circling around the mantipede.
But the mantipede had green blood and its flesh was slightly poisonous. The little tiger sniffed a few times before giving up on eating the flesh. He began to work on the legs, which had no poison, and crisply snapped.
Tang Jie looked over and frowned. “Junyang, take a look at this guy. Don’t you think he’s gotten bigger?”
Cai Junyang looked over and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Tang Jie knew that this was because Cai Junyang had only met the little tiger recently, but he recalled what the little tiger had been like right when they had entered the valley and compared it to his current state. He felt as if the little tiger really had grown bigger.
For him to have changed so much in a day and a half, it was clear that the little tiger was benefiting enormously from the fiend beast meat he had consumed.
As no one could bring pill furnaces or other such tools with them, much of the material from the fiend beasts in the valley was bound to be wasted. The little tiger’s presence actually avoided this waste.
Perhaps it won’t be long before this guy starts getting useful? Tang Jie couldn’t help but think.
As he pondered, Cai Junyang came over with a small bundle and said, “Hey, help me out.”
“With what?”
“Applying medicine,” Cai Junyang said, pointing at his butt.
He didn’t have Tang Jie’s outstanding recovery ability. He needed to apply medicine to this wound for it to recover quickly.
But Tang Jie couldn’t help but inhale sharply when he looked at the position of the wound, and he instinctively looked aside.
“Hurry up! What are you thinking about?” Cai Junyang impatiently said as he leaned on a tree with his hands.
A pure child didn’t think about too much. Tang Jie had no choice but to take the medicinal pouch.
A conversation was carried deep into the forest.
“Lighter! I said to not use too much force.”
“Just bear with it. I’ll be done soon… What are you shrinking back for? Keep your butt there.”
“It hurts, duh! Shit, this is all because of you. I won’t be able to sit for the next few days.”
“What does it have to do with me?”
“Didn’t you say to fight it directly? If not, I would have never… AGH…”
