Lanke Chess Edge-Chapter 324: Collapsing At the First Blow

[T/n: note on chapter title]
1
Ji Yuan now somewhat believed what Zhang Fu had said earlier. Judging by this current situation, it was indeed possible to scare away some weaker demons, and perhaps even some demons with a small measure of power, as this formation truly seemed to have been arranged by a master.
“Demons, leave this place! Shout with me! Demons, leave this place!”
The expert at the front roared, and the villagers behind him followed, shouting in unison.
“Demons, leave this place!”
“Demons, leave this place!”
At first, their voices were disorganized, but soon they grew increasingly unified, their shouts seemingly influenced by the long line of torches in formation. They were exceptionally aloud, advancing forward as echoing along as the formation array of torches stretched out over three hundred zhang.
The surroundings had originally been pitch black, but now they were completely illuminated by the torchlight. Being coastal fishermen, they were very careful of their footing along the shore, ensuring they wouldn’t accidentally fall into the sea. Under the expert’s guidance, whenever a large wave crashed into the shore, the villagers’ shouts would grow even louder.
“Demons, leave this place!”
“Demons, leave this place!”
Although the torchlight seemed to only extend out so far, in Ji Yuan’s supernatural eyes, the human vital energy had coalesced into a rolling formation, constantly spreading and affecting more and more of the nearby area, as if suppressing the very essence of the surrounding ocean. The oppressive aura intensified.
“Blub blub blub…”
On the surface of the distant sea, bubbled surged in waves. It wasn’t very noticeably due to the interference of the waves, but underwater, the currents on the seabed were already churning, creating a spot of murky water.
“Crash, crash…”
The waves ahead grew larger and later, but the expert at the front was not afraid. He did not cower — instead, he raised his torch and ran directly towards the nearby shore, the long line of villagers following behind him.
“Thousands of households’ vital flames surge forth; humans, gods, ghosts, and demons, none shall infringe upon any other; treading on heaven and earth to send forth this dragon of fire, surging celestial Yang energy sweeping forth. If any aquatic spirit dwells on this shore, flee quickly—”
The Taoist shouted with all his might, the waves of his voice instantly spreading throughout the entire procession.
He had already investigated the entire coastline and learned the details of this coastal area over the past year or so. The fishermen had never been attacked by monsters, nor had they encountered any monsters when they went out to sea; at most, there was simply no fish.
This definitely didn’t seem like the work of some powerful demon. It was more likely that some aquatic creature had gained spiritual enlightenment and cultivated a consciousness, and was roaming around nearby, scaring off the fish. For this kind of being, it sufficed to use a torch formation and human vital energy to assist in the creation of a grand array based on the fire of human vitality. Any inexperienced minor demon would be terrified!
The shoreline of this coast was all rock, but the water below was extremely deep. Ordinary areas of shallow water could never sustain spiritual creatures or demonic beings, so it could only be here.
“Leave this place!”
“Leave this place!”
All the villagers roared in unison. To mortal eyes, waves were simply surging and crashing against the shore, but in Ji Yuan’s supernatural vision, a dragon formed of the fire of human vitality had actually swept into the sea, stirring up the waters even more ferociously than the waves.
As the crowd held their torches and formed the formation, their courage soared to unprecedented heights. More importantly, everyone was willing to believe the in the Taoist priest’s immense power. For an instant, a surging celestial Yang energy erupted, like a massive wave crashing towards the ocean surface, and even threatening to sweep across the shoreline.
At that moment.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
A great wave suddenly rose wildly from the sea, with a momentum far exceeding what it could have achieved with the wind on this night, crashing towards the group at the front of the line. By the time the villagers saw it in the torchlight, the great wave was already upon them.
“Oh no! Get out of the way—”
The expert at the front cried out, rushing to the very front of the enormous wave. The horsetail whisk in his hand spun wildly as he circulated the spiritual energy within his body to try and resist, but the moment the very tip of his spiritual energy made contact, he felt a devastating blow, and his entire body was wracked with unbearable pain.
The great wave struck so suddenly that the crowd, in their confusion, had no time to dodge.
“Boom—”
The giant wave smashed into the front of the torch formation, seemingly hitting a transparent sphere. Countless crashes of water exploded all around, surging upwards and downwards. Many villagers stared blankly at the sky above, as if witnessing the a heavenly river in its full glory.
“Crash-shhh-shhh-shhh…”
A large amount of water and ocean spray fell onto the beach behind them. Many villagers were still caught in between bewilderment and fright, but at this scene, their hearts were suddenly filled with excitement.
“Leave this place!”
“Leave this place!”
Many villagers continued to shout after regaining their senses, screaming their throats raw in fervent excitement.
In the procession, the Taoist priest, still holding his horsetail whisk, clutched at his furiously beating chest, his eyes suspiciously scanning back and forth along the procession.
He knew that the absolutely could not have blocked that wave just now with his own power; even the torch formation would have been directly shattered.
Moreover, when that great wave struck, it carried a strong, fishy stench, clearly indicating something powerful had created this wall of water. The expert had instinctively wanted to block it, but he regretted it the moment the great wave collided with his whisk’s spiritual energy and divine light.
The cheering and shouting fishermen had no idea of the danger that had just passed, but as the expert directly involved, he had been scared half to death.
‘Just which expert is assisting me?’
“Master, are we not moving forward anymore?”
The villagers’ shouts gradually subsided. One of the village chiefs, seeing the expert staring blankly around, unmoving, couldn’t help but shout a question.
The Taoist came to his senses and flicked his whisk.
“No need to move. Just stand here. Everyone come closer, stomp your feet and shout towards the sea, keep your steps in unison!”
The expert no longer sought out the master who was assisting him; either way, since the other party was helping, it was now time for all of them to redouble their efforts.
Over a thousand people gathered together. Some torches were about to burn out, so they immediately lit their spare ones. More and more people stomped their feet alongside the expert.
“Thump thump. . . thump. . . thump.”
With over a thousand people stomping in rhythm, even if each person’s footsteps was only just a tiny sound, together they created a powerful momentum. Combined with the scene of the large wave having been broken, everyone’s spirits soared.
Ji Yuan’s immediately thought back to the “Song of the Hand-Forged Blade”
2
and other common methods the military used to boost morale.
“Rooooar!”
A roar echoed from the water. Bubbles surged on the ocean surface, accompanied by a strong, fishy stench. A mass of seawater rose from the ocean floor, streams cascading down from above to reveal a massive, jet-black spine.
“Crash-shhh-shhh-shhh…”
Amidst the continuous sound of flowing water, the stomping sounds petered out. The villagers fell silent. Some instinctively backed away, including the Taoist priest.
“M-monster? Master, a monster has appeared!”
“Master! Master, there really is a monster!”
“Is that a giant whale? “
“It seems so!”
“M-master, what do we do? How do we exorcise the demon?”
“Where’s the master?”
“Master!”
“Master, quickly come to the front!”
In their panic, some fishermen pushed the Taoist priest, who had retreated to the back, to the very front.
Rising from the sea was an enormous whale, much larger than any whale the fishermen had ever encountered. To those nearby, it was practically a small hill.
“Gulp.”
The master gulped hard, and stood trembling with fear at the very front, facing this great whale that seemed capable of crushing him to death with a single blow.
“Y-you, what domain do you hold, demon? This coast is the livelihood of the surrounding fishermen. You’re driving away all the fish here, making it impossible for thousands of coastal fishermen to survive. Do you know how a great sin this is?”
Seeing that the sea monster didn’t react, the sorcerer forced himself to gather his courage and loudly rebuked it. However, his tone was rather gentle, and his eyes kept darting around.
There must be a powerful master present tonight. He hoped that master would see things through from beginning to end and help him. Hopefully, they hadn’t left yet.
One of the giant whale’s eyes turned to look at the Taoist priest. That gaze made the priest’s heart tremble, and his muscles tensed.
“Scram—”
“Boom!”
A tremendous sound suddenly exploded. Endless waves erupted around the giant whale. The water surged skyward, then fell back down to the ground , crashing like heavy rain, soaking many of the villagers’ torches.
For a moment, everyone retreated in disarray, disheveled, covered in dust and mud. The Taoist priest even collapsed directly on the ground.
The giant whale glanced contemptuously at the priest on the ground by the shore, its gaze sweeping back and forth over the cowering fishermen. The once-magnificent torch formation had long since been broken, and even the human vital fire energy in the crowd now seemed to have dispersed.
“Where is the great master? May I see you?”
The entire procession remained silent, looking around before finally turning to the Taoist priest, who had now stood back up. However, the latter quickly shrank to the back, not daring to get too close to the shore again.
“Can you reveal yourself?”
The giant whale’s voice rang out again, still as loud as before, and its body moved even closer to the shore, frightening the villagers into continuous retreat. However, Ji Yuan did not reveal himself.
Although this monster’s aura was powerful, there was no killing intent.
“I am General Giant Whale. Since the master will not show himself, these fishermen have offended me, so I shall slaughter them all! Rooooar!”
The giant whale let out a beast-like roar, its massive tail lifted high.
But at that moment, Ji Yuan had already gripped the Green Vine Sword in his hand. He unsheathed three inches of the blade and flicked it with his finger.
“Clang!”
An invisible Sword Qi emanated from the immortal sword, striking the giant whale with its tail raised.
“Whoosh!”
“Boom!”
The whale’s tail crashed back down, failing to churn any large waves. The giant whale tumbled away, appearing to be in extreme pain.
“Crash-shhh!”
Water flew everywhere as the whale directly parted the seawater, enveloped in a large amount of ocean spray, swimming rapidly downwards, headed for the open sea.
‘Heh. General Giant Whale.’
Ji Yuan chucked as he watched the whale disappear into the distance. Then, his figure faded away as he stepped on the waves and gave chase.
Meanwhile, the surrounding fishermen and the expert were still dazed and frightented.
T/n: Soon may the Wellerman come~
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, FRIENDS!
Can also be translated as “Pathetic”
See ch. 218