Chapter 40: Silver Rainbow Spine-Cleaver, The Poisonous Leech Revealed

Sensing the threat, the Stone-Skin Boar Demon attempted to dodge, but it was too late. It let out a furious roar as its skin suddenly bulged like stone armor, bracing itself to take the strike head-on.

*Clang—!*

The sound of metal striking stone exploded. Where the frost-laden edge of the Frost-Condensing Sword passed, the so-called invulnerable stone armor was cleaved open, leaving a bloody wound three inches deep.

Dark red demonic blood sprayed out, freezing into ice shards amidst the frost and falling to the ground with a rustling sound.

Seeing this, Wei Changfeng felt a surge of excitement. The true disciples of the Tai Xuan Sect were indeed worthy of their reputation!

When he had faced this Stone-Skin Boar Demon before, he had been unable to break through its stone armor defense at all. He had only managed to kill one by risking a mutual destruction to strike its eye socket by sheer luck.

Yet Xie Jingxing had managed to wound the demon before even closing the distance. If he were to land a single blow on the creature's weakness, he would surely kill it on the spot!

Despite the effectiveness of the strike, Xie Jingxing’s brow was furrowed tightly.

According to his expectations, this strike should have cleaved the beast in two; instead, it had only broken the surface. The defenses of these mutated boar demons were indeed several times stronger than those of ordinary ones.

Taking a deep breath, Xie Jingxing gripped the Frost-Condensing Sword once more and engaged the demon in a fierce struggle.

The other disciples were not idle either. Three disciples in white moved with practiced coordination to surround another Stone-Skin Boar Demon. Qian Zefei led Jiang Youling away from the main battlefield, moving swiftly through the ruins to assist the injured civilians and relocate them to safety.

Wei Changfeng, meanwhile, joined the other demon hunters to deal with the remaining boar demon.

With the addition of the Tai Xuan disciples and Wei Changfeng, the original tide of defeat began to ebb.

As for the Stone-Skin Boar Demon fighting Xie Jingxing, it was struck by several sword strikes in quick succession, leaving its stone-like skin riddled with wounds!

But at that moment, the wounded boar demon tilted its head back and let out a roar, spitting a toxic arrow composed of dark green mucus directly at Xie Jingxing.

The other two boar demons seemed to receive a signal, as they all opened their mouths to spit arrows simultaneously!

As the dark green toxic arrows tore through the air, Xie Jingxing’s figure swayed, dodging with the lightness of willow catkins in the wind.

The three Tai Xuan disciples also displayed their movement techniques, parrying the toxic arrows as they flickered through the air.

"Watch out!" Wei Changfeng bellowed, leading the demon hunters into a rapid retreat.

However, two people were unable to dodge in time, and the toxic arrows grazed their arms.

A strange blue-black hue instantly surfaced on the wounds. The two men let out muffled groans and fell to their knees as their entire arms began to rot at a visible speed.

"You beast!"

A cold light flared in Xie Jingxing’s eyes. The Frost-Condensing Sword suddenly erupted with a dazzling silver light, its tip pointing directly at the bloody wound on the boar demon's spine.

"Thunder Moves the Nine Heavens!"

As his light shout rang out, the sword light cascaded like the Milky Way, accompanied by a series of booming roars that sounded like thunder piercing the ears.

Realizing the danger, the boar demon struggled desperately to twist away, but the strike still landed squarely on its wound.

With a crisp *crack*, the boar demon's thick spine snapped where the blade passed. Its massive body crashed to the ground, the lower half of its body rendered completely useless, leaving it to emit only shrill, agonizing wails.

The group’s spirits lifted. One of the three Stone-Skin Boar Demons had been slain; it wouldn't be long before the source of this demonic calamity was purged.

However, at that very moment, an unexpected change occurred.

From the mouth of the fallen boar, a brownish-green soft worm, as thick as a baby's arm and a foot long, flew out!

The moment the soft worm emerged, it sprayed a massive cloud of toxic mist toward Xie Jingxing!

"What is that thing?"

"Could it be that the mutations in the Stone-Skin Boar Demons all stem from this?"

The crowd was struck with horror. The toxic mist sprayed by the worm was foul-smelling, and wherever it passed, the vegetation withered instantly. Xie Jingxing retreated rapidly while simultaneously twisting his blade, using a sharp sword qi to disperse the toxic mist.

"So it's you causing all this trouble!"

With a cold shout, the Frost-Condensing Sword transformed into seven afterimages. The sword light formed a net, surrounding the soft worm.

The soft worm let out a piercing shriek, its body twisting and deforming unnaturally as it managed to dart through a gap in the sword net.

Frowning, Xie Jingxing launched another fierce sword strike.

Unable to dodge, the soft worm secreted a slippery mucus from its body, which caused the sword's force to be largely deflected upon contact.

After more than ten rounds of combat between the man and the worm, Xie Jingxing finally gained the upper hand.

Seeing the situation turning against it, the soft worm suddenly contracted its body and shot toward the forest like an arrow.

"You think you can escape?"

Xie Jingxing’s sword momentum shifted abruptly, his strike descending through the air like a rainbow piercing the sun.

As the sword light passed, the soft worm was severed in two.

Unexpectedly, the two severed halves continued to wriggle upon hitting the ground, with flesh buds growing wildly from the wounds as if they were about to regenerate. Xie Jingxing frowned, his left hand forming a seal, and a streak of spiritual fire shot from his fingertips.

*Sizzle—*

The moment the flames touched the worm's corpse, a ghostly green fire erupted.

The soft worm writhed frantically within the flames before finally dissolving into a pool of foul-smelling, bloody pus.

When Xie Jingxing regained his composure, he saw that the other two Stone-Skin Boar Demons had taken advantage of his struggle with the worm to break through the encirclement and vanish into the depths of the dense forest.

Zhao Cheng stepped forward. "Senior Brother Xie, those two boar demons have escaped. Should we pursue them?"

Xie Jingxing shook his head. "If I am not mistaken, the soft worm I just killed was a Corrosive Toxic Leech. The other two boar demons likely have leeches parasitizing them as well."

"A Corrosive Toxic Leech?"

The group was shocked. Although the Corrosive Toxic Leech was also a Mortal-grade demon, it was two full ranks higher than the Stone-Skin Boar Demon—it was a High-grade Mortal demon!

Not only was the Corrosive Toxic Leech highly poisonous, but it could also parasitize other demons to enhance the host's innate talents.

The Stone-Skin Boar Demon, for instance, had become several times stronger under the control of the leech.

Xie Jingxing nodded slightly, his Frost-Condensing Sword emitting a faint tremor as it returned to its sheath.

"This demon is cunning and intelligent. It can not only parasitize other demons to drive them as its puppets but can also regenerate its body. If not for the suppression of fire magic, it would be truly difficult to kill."

Though he had appeared decisive in slaying the boar and the leech, his internal spiritual energy had been completely exhausted by the battle.

"No wonder these boar demons suddenly knew how to surround and ambush us; they were being controlled by the leeches."

Zhao Cheng frowned slightly. "Since these leeches are so troublesome, should we send word to the sect for reinforcements?"

"There is no need."

Xie Jingxing took out a green jade bottle and poured out several Qi-Replenishing Pills to distribute among the group.

"Let us meditate to recover first. Once we have regained our strength, we will hunt down the other two leeches."

"Understood."

Glancing at the carcass of the dead boar demon, Zhao Cheng turned to Jiang Youling, who was tidying up the aftermath.

"Junior Sister Jiang, stop worrying about the chores. It is more important to deal with the boar demon's corpse first."

Hearing this, Qian Zefei replied with a grin.

"Senior Brother Zhao is right. We do need to deal with the corpse quickly, but there is toxic fluid everywhere nearby. It's hard to get close!"

Zhao Cheng looked up at Qian Zefei. Seeing that the man was still smiling as usual, he gave a cold snort and produced two medicinal pills, handing them to the pair.

"These are Detoxification Pills. Take them, and you will have no fear of that toxic fluid."

"As expected, Senior Brother is always so thoughtful."

Qian Zefei smiled as he took the pills and swallowed them in one gulp.

(End of Chapter)