Chapter 353: Surrounded

Chu Qiguang was making his way down a mountain path when over twenty bursts of heat suddenly swept toward him in unison. Yi Siman and the others sprang out of the undergrowth, surrounding him.

"I've finally caught you, Chu Qiguang," Qiu Yuebai said with a faint smile.

"Who're you?" Chu Qiguang asked with a puzzled expression.

"Get him! Don't let him stall for time!" Yi Siman yelled as he drew his Heavenslash saber and charged at Chu Qiguang.

Meanwhile, high up in the sky, the eagle fiend was constantly scanning the ground below for anything suspicious when a huge shadow suddenly appeared above him.

He hurriedly dove to the side and looked up, only to discover that two giant Chongming Birds had appeared above him without warning.

The Chongming Birds were several times his size, and he had no intention of engaging them in battle. Thus, he descended to a lower altitude in an attempt to shake them off, but they immediately swooped down after him.

Do they see me as prey?

A cold gleam flashed through the eagle fiend's eyes as a burst of heat erupted from his body. At the same time, he flapped his wings, spending waves of gale force sweeping toward the two Chongming Birds.

The Chongming Bird veered to the side to evade the attack, but just as he thought he had successfully driven them back, he felt something land on his back. Before he could even react, a burst of excruciating pain shot through his back.

As it turned out, Qiao Zhi had leaped down from the back of one of the Chongming Birds and was unleashing his Raging Tempest, digging his claws into the eagle fiend's back like a set of razor-sharp hooks.

Clumps of flesh and feathers were instantly torn from the eagle fiend's back, and he let out an agonized cry as he frantically tried to shake Qiao Zhi off. However, Qiao Zhi continued to dig his claws deeper and deeper, using them like grappling hooks to keep himself firmly in place.

Before long, the eagle fiend had fallen unconscious, and one of the Chongming Birds carried him away, while the other flew toward a nearby mountain with Qiao Zhi on his back.

***

Meanwhile, Chu Qiguang had dismounted from his steed, and despite the formidable lineup of assailants surrounding him, he remained calm and fearless.

Without uttering a word, he unleashed his Star Shifting Shadow Movement Techniques and raced toward Yi Siman and the wolf fiends behind him.

The Imperial Heavenly Dao martial artists immediately closed in, but it would take them several seconds to catch up to him. During that brief window, Chu Qiguang would only have to take on Yi Siman and the six wolf fiends.

The plan was for Qiao Zhi and the Chongming Birds to incapacitate the eagle fiend above before notifying Wang Cailiang to call for reinforcements.

Given his current location, Chu Qiguang estimated that it would take around fifteen minutes for the reinforcements to reach him.

Faced with Yi Siman's Heavenslash saber, Chu Qiguang unleashed the first of the Twelve Infernal Palms. Although the saber instantly sliced through the barrage of gale force released from his hand, it was momentarily stopped in its tracks.

Chu Qiguang seized the opportunity to rush at the six wolf fiends behind Yi Siman, and thanks to his Undying Seal, he was able to take on all six of them at once.

He was struck simultaneously on multiple parts of his body by attacks from all directions, but thanks to his incredible physical constitution, he was able to withstand them before redirecting the force of the attacks.

His skin took on a glowing golden hue as he channeled the Primordial High Zenith Demonic Arts. At the same time, he unleashed the second of the Twelve Infernal Palms at one of the wolf fiend martial artists.

He quickly followed up with the third and fourth palm strikes, shattering the wolf fiend's cheekbone before smashing his head to bits.

During this exchange, he was struck by another barrage of attacks, and even with his physical constitution, he was unable to emerge completely unscathed.

By this point, he had already sustained several minor injuries, and expended some of his qi and blood. Even so, the fact that he had managed to kill one of his assailants while taking on so many enemies at once was undoubtedly a powerful statement. Intimidated by his brutal display of power, the others instinctively stopped in their tracks for a moment.

Meanwhile, the headless body of his first victim crumpled to the ground.

"Don't be scared!" Yi Siman yelled. "There's no way he came out of that unscathed! The fact that he's fighting so recklessly just to get a single kill shows that he knows he's no match for us, so he's trying to intimidate us!"

With Yi Siman steadying the ship, the others quickly composed themselves and surrounded Chu Qiguang once again. ℯℯ𝑙.

The battle resumed, and this time, Chu Qiguang was forced to take on all of his assailants at once.

Chu Qiguang had supreme confidence in his own abilities, but he was well aware that anyone below the Dao Comprehension state was still within the realm of mortals. There was no way he could hope to defeat so many formidable opponents at once without revealing his Ring of Ignorance.

However, he was confident that he could either break out of the encirclement or hold out until reinforcements arrived.