Chapter 904: Fierce Bandits Attack the Mountain

Is this a bandit group?!

The people on the Fourth Long Mai were completely stunned by the slogans shouted by Xu Bang's forces.

They had heard that Yun Lun Shan Mai had a contingent from Xu Bang that could sweep through thousands of troops.

But after truly experiencing the momentum of this bandit army, they all... hesitated!

What in the world is this?!

Based solely on that slogan and this team, do they truly live up to the great name of "Xu Bang"?

The leader of the attacking side and Luo Yin from the defending side, each with dozens to over a hundred people, didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Going down to challenge them was out of the question.

They couldn't afford to lose face like that.

Besides, the enemy looked casual, but they actually had over a thousand people!

"Report—"

Before they could react, another scout rushed up from below, panting, "Xu Bang, Xu Bang's people are attacking!"

They're attacking?

Everyone's hearts tightened.

From below came waves of chaotic battle cries, the clashing of weapons, and intermittent booming explosions.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The entire mountain of the Fourth Long Mai shook violently, as if enduring an unbearable frenzy of impacts.

"What's happening..."

Even Luo Yin was bewildered.

Even if a thousand or more people charged up the mountain, it wouldn't cause such a racket, would it?

Were they attacking the mountain or blowing it up?

"Report—"

In the nick of time, another scout ran up.

"Boss, boss, the spiritual array at the foot of the mountain was disabled by some traitor, and it didn't do a thing."

"Xu Bang's people have broken through the first defensive line and are pushing toward the second. Our people... can't hold them back at all!"

Luo Yin stepped forward, grabbed the scout by the collar, and asked, "Who's leading them?"

He had to confirm if the one leading Xu Bang this time was the Xu Shao he had encountered before.

"The leader is a little girl. She's terrifying! Her Ling Yuan seems endless. Wherever she goes, she blows everything up, and our people are sent flying in all directions!"

A little girl?

Luo Yin was taken aback, and his mind flashed back to the Tian Luo Zhan, where he had faced that wood-attribute girl.

But she didn't seem that strong!

If it wasn't Xu Shao leading them, how could the attacking side with over a hundred people be reduced to such utter chaos?

"Worthless!"

Luo Yin couldn't figure it out, so he just cursed under his breath.

He turned to face everyone on the attacking side and said gravely, "Gentlemen, our only option now is this—if you still want a share of the Fourth Long Mai, everything must follow my lead. I'll take command of all of you!"

"You?"

The people on the attacking side were immediately amused and annoyed.

One moment they were enemies.

Now that a bigger enemy had shown up, did he think he could just gather everyone and turn them into his own troops?

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend!"

Luo Yin ignored the others and looked straight at the attacking side's leader. "You can't be that foolish. You can see Xu Bang has no intention of sparing any of us. If we keep delaying, we're all dead!"

The attacking side's leader froze, caught in a dilemma.

He didn't want to hand over his command so easily.

But Xu Bang was even more ruthless—if they attacked, everyone would die anyway.

What to do?

"Report—"

Just as he was deciding, another scout rushed up the mountain.

"Xu Bang's people have broken through four layers of the spiritual array defenses and are already at the midway point. Their firepower is insane—they're like they're on drugs, just overwhelming us with numbers..."

"No, they're actually taking drugs while going berserk, crushing us with sheer force!"

"Our people have been fighting all night and are in no condition. We can't hold them back now..."

"Boss! What do we do?"

Hearing that the Fourth Long Mai had been taken up to the midway point in such a short time, everyone panicked.

What kind of speed was this?

It had only been moments since Xu Bang shouted their slogan, right?

Were their own people that incompetent?

Even if you called it "sweeping away like withered grass," it shouldn't be this fast!

"We're done for..."

Luo Yin heard the news and knew there was no turning back.

With Xu Bang's army charging up, and the remnants on the mountain not even at three-tenths of their full strength, even with his abilities, he couldn't salvage the situation.

"You two, go pull out the Long Wei flags right now. I'll buy you a quarter of an hour!"

Luo Yin boldly took charge of the attacking side's leader, showing his sincerity by offering two Long Wei positions.

But the condition was that these people had to obey.

The attacking side's leader still hesitated.

Luo Yin was furious.

"Are you complaining that the time is too long? Is this how you lead? Watching your brothers die one by one while you hesitate here?"

"Go pull out the Long Wei flags. I'll protect you for a quarter of an hour."

"Once the eight Long Wei flags are pulled, I'll go straight for the Long Zhu flag and use the Long Mai power. Maybe then, we still have a slim chance."

Luo Yin issued the orders methodically.

He was certain that since Xu Bang had mobilized their full forces just for the Fourth Long Mai, something must have delayed them last night.

And since this was their first attack, perhaps the people in Xu Bang knew nothing about the Long Wei flags, the Long Zhu flag, or the Long Mai power gained after taking the mountain.

It was an information gap!

Luo Yin was racing against time to exploit that gap.

Faced with such pressure, the attacking side's leader had no choice but to bow his head. He thought Luo Yin was right—right now, using the "Long Mai power" was the most practical option.

"You two, go!"

The attacking side's leader turned and shouted, "A quarter of an hour, and make sure no one disturbs you. Pull out those Long Wei flags no matter what!"

At the midway point of the mountain.

"Wahaha..."

"Little tree tree, explode, explode!"

The trees were detonated, and the exploding seeds landed, turning into towering ancient trees that joined the explosive torrent, repeating endlessly without stop.

Xu Xiao Shou, transformed into Mu Xiao Gong, seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of Ling Yuan. He didn't care about the cost, popping pills while wildly blowing things up.

In reality, Xu Xiao Shou's Ling Yuan was indeed endless, and taking pills was just to keep up appearances.

He had "Yuan Qi Man Man."

And this was the first time "Yuan Qi Man Man" had fully unleashed its power because of an attribute.

The imitator was too strong!

After transforming into Mu Xiao Gong, Xu Xiao Shou truly experienced the terrifying might of a wood-attribute Lian Ling Shi in mountain forests.

His use of wood attributes was quite basic, limited to summoning ancient trees and exploding them in the first stage.

But it was enough!

At the Zong Shi level, grasping Dao Ze was roughly like this.

From the morning march to the Fourth Long Mai, under orders from "Xu Shao," Xu Xiao Shou as Mu Xiao Gong led the vanguard in the mountain assault.

He commanded seven hundred Xu Bang troops, truly sweeping through like a force of nature to seize the mountain.

The defending forces were as fragile as paper dolls, weak and depleted.

Meanwhile, Xu Xiao Shou's Xu Bang army was well-fed and at full strength.

In no time at all...

They were sent flying!

"This is exhilarating."

Stepping back from the battle, Xu Xiao Shou surveyed everything around him.

For the first time, he felt how perfectly the imitator suited him.

As one of the continent's top ten exotic weapons, the imitator's true power was likely far more than just its transformative abilities.

Its greatest strength probably lay in helping the host deeply understand and comprehend the various attributes during imitation.

Yi might not have fully realized this, or perhaps he knew but couldn't do anything about it.

Because Yi only had his innate spiritual attribute—mental system—and had no use for other attributes' Dao Ze insights.

But Xu Xiao Shou was different.

He was full-attribute.

The imitator in his hands could achieve far more than it did in Yi's.

Right now, for instance.

After transforming into Mu Zi Xi, Xu Xiao Shou could feel his Ling Yuan, altered by the imitator, had become wood-based.

He sensed the nature of his internal Ling Yuan changing from forces like Chen Zhao power and sword intent to a strange, endlessly vital energy.

This was wood-attribute power!

By channeling wood-attribute Ling Yuan and manipulating wood elements slightly, combined with the spiritual techniques he had seen his junior sister use before, Xu Xiao Shou could imitate about seventy percent of her abilities.

He finally understood why Yi had such versatile powers.

The imitator could truly change a person's fundamental traits from the root!

"If I want to cultivate space attributes, the best path now would be to imitate Ye Xiao Tian, using the space source stone alongside it to fully experience his abilities..."

Xu Xiao Shou felt he had found a shortcut to grasping Dao Ze.

Yi, that gift-bearing kid, had come at just the right time, perfectly aligning with his Zong Shi stage, when he needed to comprehend the heavenly Dao.

"Besides, with the imitator, as long as I can fight the boss of Yan Wang and witness his abilities..."

Xu Xiao Shou entertained some wild ideas.

He thought that, given time, he might even master the "time" attribute.

The only downside was that time attributes were extremely rare.

Among the younger generation, no one had mastered it.

So, he could only unrealistically fantasize about fighting Huang Quan, the boss of Yan Wang, and then imitating his abilities through that battle.

That would be too dangerous...

"Hold on!"

A flash of inspiration hit Xu Xiao Shou as he thought about the imitator's traits.

Did he really need to fight Huang Quan himself?

Not necessarily!

If he schemed to stir up conflict between Ba Zun An and Huang Quan, making them fight each other while he observed from the sidelines...

That way, he could see Ba Zun An's other abilities and Huang Quan's moves, all in full view.

Double imitation!

Brilliant!

"Mu Bang Zhu, Mu Bang Zhu!"

While Xu Xiao Shou was lost in his thoughts, Xu Bang members at the midway point rushed over to report the situation.

"What is it?" Xu Xiao Shou snapped back. "Are they all dead?"

As soon as he said that, the members were startled.

How ruthless!

Mu Bang Zhu was even more vicious than in previous battles, adding a layer of ferocity to his cunning.

Was it because Xu Shao was overseeing from the rear, making Mu Bang Zhu completely uninhibited?

This devil...

The members grumbled inwardly but didn't dare show it.

"Mu Bang Zhu, we're almost at the mountaintop. Those guys must have just gone through a night of battle and are in bad shape. The decision for our bosses to rest last night was spot on!"

The member flattered him first, then said seriously, "Some of our members sneaked up to the mountaintop and were spotted, so they retreated, but his trial jade pendant picked up several messages."

"Messages? What messages?" Xu Xiao Shou was puzzled. Did these message prompts have location triggers?

"It's all here. He's recorded it and wants you to hurry to the mountaintop before it's too late." The member handed over a jade slip.

Xu Xiao Shou took it and scanned it with his spiritual sense.

The jade slip recorded the exact notifications from the trial jade pendant.

"Drip."

"Congratulations, trial participant 'Zhao Xiao Xiao,' for reaching the peak of the Fourth Long Mai, triggering the core task of the Nine Long Mai conflict."

"The Nine Long Mai conflict involves two identities: 'attacking side' and 'defending side.' Whichever side seizes the 'Long Wei flags' and 'Long Zhu flag' at the peak can fully control the Long Mai."

"There are eight Long Wei flags. Pulling one takes a quarter of an hour of continuous Ling Yuan infusion. Due to Long Mai power restrictions, the person pulling the flag can't move during that time."

"The Long Zhu flag can only be pulled after all Long Wei flags are up. Pulling it grants the 'Long Zhu' title."

"Once the Long Zhu flag is pulled, the trial participant's identity automatically switches to 'defending side,' unlocking the 'Long Mai great array' to fend off all 'attacking side' participants, and allowing distribution of eight Long Wei titles."

"Trial participant Zhao Xiao Xiao, your identity is: attacking side."

"Current progress for the Fourth Long Mai conflict: Long Zhu: 0/1, Long Wei: 6/8."

"Keep going, attacker! You're just one step from Long Zhu!"

After reading the message, Xu Xiao Shou raised an eyebrow.

This thing was even encouraging internal competition for the Long Zhu position?

But he quickly focused, realizing that wasn't the point.

The key was, the current flag-pulling progress for the Fourth Long Mai was already "6/8," meaning those on the mountain only needed a couple of quarters of an hour to unlock the "Long Mai great array"?

Or maybe just one quarter!

The Long Wei flags didn't say they couldn't be pulled simultaneously, right?

Xu Xiao Shou realized time was critical. He didn't want those on the mountain to control the "Long Mai great array."

Though he didn't know how powerful it was, as a defending tool, even if weak, the "Long Mai great array" had to be capable of repelling multiple attacks, right?

"No more delays!"

Mu Xiao Gong, as Xu Xiao Shou's transformation, leaped up, his green skirt fluttering, and shouted, "Everyone, drop what you're doing and follow me to the mountaintop... Wait, no, all come to me first."

With a wave of his hand, the little girl summoned them.

The Xu Bang members were stunned.

Not fighting?

What for?

But with Mu Bang Zhu giving orders, no one dared disobey, so they all dropped their tasks and hurried over.

The Xu Bang members didn't have much to do anyway—the fights were quick, resolved in a single move.

The enemy was just too depleted—no Ling Yuan, injured, like a ragtag army of the weak and wounded.

This battle for Xu Bang was like bullying.

Soon, everyone gathered around Mu Bang Zhu, watching expectantly.

Xu Xiao Shou flicked his sleeve, scattering a bunch of high-strength mutated spiritual plant seeds from his Yuan Fu world, shooting them onto the members' heads.

"Each of you take a handful! The situation has changed. When we get to the mountaintop later, the first thing you do is plant these seeds for me."

Plant seeds?

Everyone froze as they caught the seeds.

This tactical setup was familiar, but...

Usually, it was just a few seeds per person. Why a whole handful now? Was Mu Bang Zhu planning to blow up the entire Fourth Long Mai?

Before they could ask, they saw the smug Mu Bang Zhu flick his sleeve again, this time sending out many pill bottles.

"These are antidote pills. Not sure if they'll work... Ahem, anyway, once you plant the seeds, run down the mountain. You'll be fine. If you accidentally get poisoned, take an antidote pill."

The Xu Bang members: ???

This time, everyone's heart skipped a beat.

Oh no, what was Mu Bang Zhu up to?

In this fight, the enemy wasn't scared yet, but we are!