Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 167: Hundred-Footed Centipede

Si Zhijie and Si Zhiheng stared at Wang Hao in grief and anger.

Si Zhijie formed hand seals. Green light flashed, and a dragon made of poisonous mist swept toward Wang Hao.

Wang Hao sent out a fire dragon to meet it.

The two dragons coiled around each other, and the fire hissed against the poison. The other Wang and Li cultivators raised their defenses and took antidote pills to avoid inhaling the mist.

Si Zhiheng activated two second-grade talismans, sending fire rain down on them. Si Zhijie scattered handfuls of talismans too, turning them into an array of spells.

“Spread out!” Wang Hao called.

Green light flashed beneath his feet as he carried several clansmen aside. If they stayed together, they would be easier targets, and some of their own methods would be harder to use.

The spells overwhelmed the hill where they had just stood. A few attacks followed them, but lacked the force to reach them effectively and were easily blocked.

Si Zhijie roared and attacked Li Yaozu and the others. For a while, three of them had to join forces to withstand him.

Si Zhiheng went after Wang Hao.

Though his cultivation was lower, he believed that fighting desperately could badly wound Wang Hao. Si Zhijie had given him a chance to fight one-on-one, and he meant to take it.

“Sending your spirit beasts after my clansmen was your greatest mistake. You’ll see why.”

He tapped his spirit-beast bag.

A brown centipede about three zhang long emerged. Small wings grew above every pair of legs, allowing it to fly. Its shell had a dark sheen, and its aura marked it as a middle-tier second-grade poisonous beast.

“How do you know I have no other spirit beasts?” Wang Hao smiled.

He shook the bag at his waist.

Two Phantom Moon Butterflies flew out, their broad wings fluttering.

“Keep that beast occupied,” Wang Hao ordered.

The butterflies worked best as support, catching opponents unaware and confusing them. But Wang Hao had not fully recovered and chose the safer approach. Wang Longyou’s three-on-one fight should end soon, and the others could then help him.

“You still have more spirit beasts?” Si Zhiheng said in disbelief.

Most cultivators could scarcely afford to keep one, let alone two. Wang Hao had four. A second-grade spirit beast consumed almost as many resources as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“They won’t save you,” Si Zhiheng said coldly.

He had resolved to die, but meant to take Wang Hao with him.

He drew a red flying sword, the Red Light Sword.

The middle-tier second-grade spiritual sword had cost him three thousand Spirit Stones. The essence of a second-grade fire fox had been refined into it, giving it powerful fire attacks.

He flourished the sword and made red fireballs hover around him. More followed until hundreds of fireballs as large as water vats floated in the air.

“Go!”

He sent over a hundred fireballs toward Wang Hao.

“Using fire against me?” Wang Hao smiled.

Poison might have troubled him, but he worked with fire often and could defend against it.

He used a stack of Chain Fireball Talismans to intercept the attack.

The two volleys collided. Si Zhiheng’s fireballs were stronger, and some of their remaining force came toward Wang Hao.

Surprised, Wang Hao retreated on a flash of green light.

“Why are attacks from an ordinary middle-tier spiritual weapon so strong?” he muttered.

He raised his Chaos Earth Seal in front of him, then used the Child-Mother Green Light Sword to shatter the remaining fireballs.

He had lost the exchange by half a move: one attack from Si Zhiheng had taken him two moves to counter. Wang Hao’s injuries and his misjudgment of the attack had both played a part.

Si Zhiheng sent more fireballs at him.

One struck Wang Hao and engulfed him in flames.

Yet he was unharmed. A thin shield of fire covered his body and kept the flames out.

Si Zhiheng took out a bead crackling with lightning.

It was a Heavenly Thunder Bead.

He had obtained it in a chance exchange. Its force equaled a full-strength strike from a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, beyond what an ordinary second-grade artifact could withstand. It had cost almost as much as an upper-tier spiritual weapon.

But in a fight to the death, its price no longer mattered. He had to act before Wang Hao’s allies came to help. If he won and aided Si Zhijie, they might both survive; if he lost, they would both die.

Si Zhiheng flicked the bead toward Wang Hao.

The small bead made no sound, making it difficult to notice.

Wang Hao had seen Lei Liheng use one before. He recognized the danger as soon as Si Zhiheng brought it out.

He could not easily flee beyond the blast with his movement technique.

Wang Hao placed the Chaos Earth Seal above himself and poured spiritual power into a thick protective barrier.

Still unsatisfied, he brought out his long-unused Cloud Billow Shield and set it on the outside.

The Chaos Earth Seal could grow far stronger in the future. Wang Hao would rather sacrifice the Cloud Billow Shield, an upper-tier spiritual weapon.

The Heavenly Thunder Bead exploded as it neared him.

A huge mushroom-shaped cloud rose around him.

Sand, stones, and violent spiritual power filled a hundred-zhang area, smashing what lay within.

Wang Hao saw a flash of gold. Repeated impacts struck his Cloud Billow Shield like hammer blows.

The pressure was heavy.

He might have borne it at full strength, but the Gu cultivator’s self-destruction had damaged his meridians.

His face flushed, and he began to struggle.

Si Zhiheng sent more fireballs into the cloud toward Wang Hao at its center.

Their impacts lit the Cloud Billow Shield with bursts of flame.

Meanwhile, the poisonous centipede faced the Phantom Moon Butterflies.

The butterflies were better at support than direct combat. They concealed themselves in mist and attacked now and then, keeping the stronger centipede occupied.