Celestial Taoist

Chapter 38 The Shadow of the Dao Foundation

In the center of the secret battlefield, amidst a large group of dark figures, a ball of flame several meters high stood out conspicuously. In the distance, Li Mofan floated high in the sky, occasionally unleashing a blade of light towards the most densely packed enemy. These enemies emerged from the ground, making it less likely for them to stick to the sky. Meanwhile, the other slaves had already been completely corrupted.

Huo Di has awakened his bloodline and completely transformed into flames, greatly increasing his destructive power and range. However, these things continue to emerge without any sign of diminishing.

"Huodi! How long can you maintain this state?" Li Mofan shouted at the huge fireball in the center of the battlefield after unleashing a light blade from his Dao Foundation.

The ball of flame, several meters high, suddenly swelled several sizes, the flames carrying scorching waves that swept in all directions. The pitch-black monster sizzled as it was burned, and a voice tinged with laughter exploded from within the fireball: "I've only just begun my warm-up!"

Before he could finish speaking, something unexpected happened.

"Ugh—!" A shrill scream suddenly came from the giant fireball's mouth. Huo Di's originally arrogant voice instantly turned agitated. "Damn it... It's the power of the Awakening Realm!... It hurts!" The fireball rolled violently, and the flames kept retracting. Under the flames, Huo Di's body could be vaguely seen being corroded by the black shadow's slime. His body, which was originally burning with flames, had become somewhat dim.

Li Mofan's pupils shrank sharply. This enemy at the Awakening Realm was so strange. His attack arrived before his figure did, and it was an invisible attack.

Huo Di writhed in agony, his body torn apart by an invisible force, appearing to be in excruciating pain. "Since you're hiding in the shadows playing tricks, I'll burn all this scum to ashes!" Huo Di's roar, though hoarse, carried a resolute intensity. Before his words even finished, the nearly extinguished flame suddenly erupted with a blinding golden-red light, several times brighter than its peak. The scorching heat instantly blasted away the surrounding monsters, and the ground cracked and smoked from the heat. Huo Di's body trembled violently in the flames, the flames around him condensing into countless tiny fire needles, densely packed and suspended in mid-air, each radiating a sharp, penetrating aura. With his last ounce of strength, he swung his hands violently.

Countless golden-red fire needles shot out like arrows from a bow, whistling across the battlefield. Wherever the needles passed, the air was scorched and distorted. Just as the fire needles were about to cover the entire battlefield, humanoid black figures appeared from the black mist. They emitted invisible waves that blocked the fire needles.

These dozen or so dark figures had withered, claw-like limbs and heads consisting of only large mouths. They were clearly Dao Foundation Realm enemies hiding in the shadows. However, perhaps due to their origin in the secret realm, they seemed to lack any consciousness; otherwise, their attack would have likely achieved significant results had it landed on Li Mofan.

As soon as these figures appeared, Li Mofan unleashed a merciless sword strike, cleaving four Dao Foundation Realm black figures in the path diagonally in two. Unlike the slime monsters, these black figures dissipated into the black mist immediately after being severed.

The remaining shadowy figures seemed to sense the threat and immediately disappeared again.

Within moments, another change occurred. Huo Di let out a rapid, muffled groan as his fiery body was once again entangled by the black mist. Huo Di was still recovering from detonating his bloodline essence and had no time to react; his screams echoed across the battlefield once more. Almost simultaneously, Li Mofan, on the other side, on high alert, also sensed several invisible energies silently approaching.

With a thought, Li Mofan's Dao Foundation transformed into a giant light shield, floating in the direction from which the attack came. The shield trembled violently, and only one attack from the other side managed to tear a finger-sized gash in Li Mofan's armor. Although he had activated the spiritual energy defense of his basic Dao techniques to the fullest extent, blood still seeped from the gash. Li Mofan let out a muffled groan, and the spiritual light beneath his feet brightened even more as he flew higher.

More attacks erupted from the shadowy figures all around, some targeting Huo Di, others attempting to distract Li Mofan. The attacks were ruthless and intangible, relying entirely on stealth techniques for guerrilla warfare. Li Mofan found it much easier to defend against ground attacks from high above, but the continuous depletion of his spiritual energy was causing him some anxiety. Huo Di's flames grew increasingly dim, and his aura became increasingly weak. If he were to be ambushed a few more times, even his bloodline flames might be completely extinguished.

A stalemate ensued, and Li Mofan's expression darkened. Was he about to abandon the mission and become a slave? He stared at the endless stream of slime monsters below, then glanced at the lingering red flames around Huo Di, and suddenly realized: Something's not right! Huo Di's bloodline fire needles, aimed at the slime monsters, had instead forced out those shadowy figures, and those figures seemed to have never strayed far from the slime monsters' gathering place. Could it be that these Foundation Establishment realm shadowy figures were dependent on the slime monsters for their existence? And considering the fire needles hadn't been completely blocked earlier, disinfecting twenty percent of the slime monsters...

The moment this thought crossed Li Mofan's mind, his eyes lit up. Although he couldn't be certain the shadowy figure was attached to the slime monster, he had no choice but to gamble; continuing like this would leave him with no chance. He launched another large-scale attack to completely wipe out more slime monsters and sever the shadowy figure's reliance on him! He immediately roared at Huodi, "Huodi! Hold on! Cooperate with me one more time, use a large-scale fire attack to eliminate these slime monsters, I have a way to break this deadlock!"

Huo Di struggled to steady his churning flames, his voice hoarse but resolute: "Fine... I'll risk it! I can only fire the Origin Fire Needle once more, so hurry up!" As soon as he finished speaking, the last flames around him began to surge again, though not as dazzling as before, they still exuded a scorching power.

The flames surrounding the fire giant grew increasingly concentrated, the red light gradually gathering into a dense array of fire needles. This was his final attack, a culmination of his bloodline's essence. Unlike Li Mofan, he had no way out; he could only fight for his life. "Now!" Huo Di roared with his last ounce of strength, his hands slamming forward. The fire needles, whistling through the air, covered all the black monsters on the ground like meteors. Li Mofan had already condensed his Many Affection Swords; a black shadow appeared to block him, immediately launching an attack to annihilate him.

Intimidated by Li Mofan's Taoist magic, the fire needle landed smoothly, and a violent explosion resounded. Red flames instantly swept across the entire battlefield. The gaps from which slime monsters emerged from the ground were burned away by the flames. Countless dark shadows sizzled and screamed in the flames, instantly turning into ashes. The originally densely packed monsters were wiped out in the blink of an eye, leaving only a few struggling at the edge of the flames.