Chapter Fourteen: Battle

At this moment, Gu Linglong was suffering in silence. After the six-winged gray angel closed in, she felt as if a piece of chewing gum had stuck to her—no matter how she tried, she could not shake him off. Judging by his casual demeanor, it seemed he had not even exerted his full strength.

So this is the power of a six-winged white angel?

A wave of sorrow washed over Gu Linglong. She had rushed forward instinctively to save that young man earlier, without considering the consequences. Now, looking back, did she regret it? Or not?

But there was no time for such distracting thoughts now.

The six-winged angel watched Gu Linglong grit her teeth and resist his attacks, a strange smile curling his lips. Explosive energy surged from his weapon, striking directly at Gu Linglong's chest.

In desperation, Gu Linglong raised her celestial sword to block. With a resounding crash, white light burst forth. Then, everyone saw Gu Linglong shoot out of the radiance, staggering as she plummeted toward the ground.

"Master!" cries of alarm rang out as everyone leapt onto their flying swords, racing to where Gu Linglong fell.

"Ha ha, where do you think you're going?" The six-winged angel laughed gleefully. With a sweep of his weapon, he shot it out like a stream of light, piercing through two cultivators at the merging stage, pinning them to the ground.

Damn! Li Chengzhu stared, dumbfounded at the sudden turn of events.

Powerful! Far too powerful! This six-winged angel was not someone these people could hope to defeat.

Before anyone could recover from the shock, the six-winged angel twisted, vanishing from their sight, and in an instant appeared beside the two impaled cultivators. Reaching into the void, he snatched out their nascent souls.

The two tiny figures seemed bewildered by their predicament, looking left and right in the angel's hand. Only when they faced their enemy did they realize their fate, and began to struggle in terror.

"Ha ha!" The six-winged angel watched their expressions with satisfaction, relishing the torment.

"Let them go!" Gu Linglong flew over from nearby, forcing herself not to spit blood, her voice low and steady.

The six-winged angel grinned wickedly and ignored her. Instead, he opened his mouth wide and stuffed the two nascent souls inside, chewing and swallowing them with relish. He licked his lips, pleased. "Delicious."

"Monster!" Li Chengzhu cried out in his heart.

What angel? He was nothing but a demon!

Everyone glared furiously at the six-winged angel, but none dared to step forward.

The six-winged angel pulled his weapon from the bodies of the fallen cultivators, waved it arrogantly, and declared, "Come over here. I'm feeling rather hungry."

Gu Linglong cast a sorrowful glance at the group. She had not expected to encounter the six-winged angel so soon. The only option now was to hold him off herself, giving the others a chance to escape. Having made up her mind, she whispered, "When I start fighting him, run as far as you can. Don't worry about me."

"Master!"

"I have my own ways to escape. Don't worry about me." Gu Linglong smiled beautifully at them. "It is my fortune to have your loyalty. Linglong thanks you all." She then glanced in Li Chengzhu's direction, formed a hand seal, and controlled her celestial sword to strike the six-winged angel without hesitation.

That look from Gu Linglong made Li Chengzhu feel as if his heart had shattered. To hell with it—he would risk everything, even exposing his true strength, to save Gu Linglong and Xiao Ying. As for the others, he cared not for their fate.

Yet, after Gu Linglong spoke, no one moved away. Instead, they all stepped forward with their swords, ready to assist her.

"Run!" Gu Linglong cried in alarm.

"If the master does not leave, neither do we!" Qiu Feng replied coldly, and the others nodded with determined faces.

"You think you can challenge me?" The six-winged angel sneered, and his weapon shot forth again.

A streak of light flashed. Two more cultivators were impaled, their nascent souls captured before they could escape, then stuffed into his mouth.

"Everyone, be careful!" Gu Linglong no longer tried to persuade them. Now, all depended on whether their combined strength could quickly defeat the six-winged angel and win a chance to escape.

Facing death, none dared hold back. Each unleashed their most powerful attacks against the six-winged angel. For a moment, even with his overwhelming strength, he was forced to evade left and right.

Though these cultivators posed little real threat to him, if he was even slightly careless, Gu Linglong would seize the opportunity to leave a wound upon him.

The battle had barely begun, yet over twenty cultivators on Gu Linglong's side had already fallen. Even Gu Linglong herself was breathing heavily. The six-winged angel, though unharmed, had lost his earlier leisure.

While chaos reigned above, Li Chengzhu crouched behind a large mound, hiding like a thief. He summoned the Extinction Bow and the Amethyst Bracelet, using the bracelet's shielding to perfectly conceal his spiritual pressure. He drew upon the essence of wood with most of his nascent soul's celestial energy, preparing the Extinction Arrow.

To prevent the six-winged angel from noticing the arrow's green glow, Li Chengzhu took out a garment from his storage ring and draped it over the bow. With the dust storm concealing him and his own disguise, he was confident the six-winged angel would not notice anything amiss.

Though he was ready, the six-winged angel moved too quickly, darting up and down, while everyone remained in the melee. If his shot missed and struck someone else, Li Chengzhu would be to blame.

Yet he believed that this arrow's power would utterly annihilate the six-winged angel.

His nascent soul cultivation was already at the late stage of soul division, and he was using celestial energy.

Li Chengzhu had no extra celestial energy to prepare another such powerful arrow. This shot must not miss.

As the battle raged, waves of spiritual pressure from afar began swiftly approaching.

The six-winged angel laughed heartily. "My allies are here. Let’s see how you die this time!" With that, he intensified his attacks.

Panic seized everyone’s hearts. One six-winged angel was enough to torment them; now, with unknown numbers arriving, their doom was certain.

That moment of anxiety caused a lapse in concentration, and the six-winged angel seized the opportunity to slay another cultivator—one of the triplets.

"Yuan Lin!" two cries rang out together from the other two triplets, Yuan Mu and Yuan Sen.

By now, the other angels had arrived at the battlefield. The six-winged angel grabbed Yuan Lin’s nascent soul, retreated to the side, waved his hand, and commanded, "Kill them all!" Then he opened his mouth wide, preparing to absorb Yuan Lin’s energy.