"Hm?"
Zhang Ergou frowned, realizing he was in a swamp. If he hadn't been cautious, he would have plunged right in.
Just as he turned to leave and change direction, a whooshing sound came from behind him.
"Die, Zhang Ergou!" Before Zhang Ergou could fully turn around, a cold sword energy accompanied by a sinister voice lunged at him from behind.
"Hmph! Impatient, aren't we? If you dare to attack, why don't you show your face?"
Zhang Ergou snorted. Without looking, he could guess that the attacker was one of the four disciples who had entered this grove before him.
As he spoke, he swung his iron spear backward, swiftly turning. With a single thrust, Zhang Ergou deflected the incoming sword.
Before he could regain his footing, a blade's glint flashed from his right, heading for his head.
"Shameless!" Zhang Ergou cursed. His movements didn't stop. His spear's momentum had waned, so as he retracted it, Zhang Ergou thrust it directly to his right.
The attacker hurriedly changed from a chop to a block, and Zhang Ergou's move was instantly neutralized.
"Hmph, petty scoundrels! Come out if you dare, and I'll show you what a real sneak is."
After deflecting two attacks, Zhang Ergou anticipated a third but it didn't come. He couldn't help but speak.
"Aren't you afraid of your tongue being twisted by the wind?"
As Zhang Ergou remained on guard, two figures appeared simultaneously behind and to his left. One wielded a whip, the other a staff, both charging at him.
*Bang!*
Zhang Ergou hurriedly blocked with his spear, intercepting the staff from the person on his left. Then, he thrust his spear backward, instantly nullifying the attacking advantage of the whip wielder behind him.
In just four moves, Zhang Ergou had neutralized the four attackers, leaving them astonished.
They had thought their surprise ambush would deal a significant blow to Zhang Ergou. To their surprise, in their first exchange, Zhang Ergou was already holding the upper hand.
What was happening? Zhang Ergou had only just broken through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, while all four of them had been in the late stage of Foundation Establishment for a long time.
Four people ambushing one, and not gaining any advantage. If this were to get out, they would be laughed at.
In the hazy grove, the four exchanged glances and then attacked Zhang Ergou again, their moves now even more vicious.
Judging by their techniques, they were determined to cripple Zhang Ergou.
"Child's play." Zhang Ergou sneered, suddenly retracting his spear. He unleashed his Shadow Illusion to its extreme, becoming a blur of afterimages.
Their attacks all landed on the afterimages. Because Zhang Ergou was so fast, none of them noticed him flash behind the swordsman.
Taking advantage of their simultaneous attacks, Zhang Ergou slammed his palm into the swordsman from behind, forcefully pushing him towards where Zhang Ergou had been standing.
Then, the other three's attacks landed on the swordsman, one after another.
"Ah!"
A piercing scream rang out. They saw the swordsman suffering three visible wounds from a saber, a whip, and a staff.
"Insidious!" The other three cursed when they realized their comrade was injured. They immediately turned and attacked Zhang Ergou again.
"Heh, your grandpa is right here. Come on!" Zhang Ergou dodged and cursed. To conserve spiritual energy, he tried his best to avoid using spiritual-energy-consuming spells, relying only on Shadow Illusion to evade rapidly.
How could their speed match Zhang Ergou's? For a time, Zhang Ergou led them around in circles.
"Tch, with such strength, you still dare to ambush? How embarrassing." Seeing one of them isolated, Zhang Ergou seized the opportunity, flashed behind him, and kicked him directly towards the one still howling in place.
The swordsman felt someone approaching and, without looking up, raised his long sword vertically.
"Ah!"
"You!"
After a scream, an incredulous voice followed. The sword in the man's hand had pierced the one Zhang Ergou had kicked, passing straight through his body.
Instantly, blood flowed.
At this point, two of the four who had planned to ambush Zhang Ergou were injured. The remaining two's faces changed drastically. In such a short time, they had already injured two.
This was a complete disaster.
The two exchanged glances, preparing to flee. They abandoned their fallen comrades; the ultimate goal of entering the beast forest was to pass the trial.
Crippling Zhang Ergou was just a side task. However, they had clearly underestimated Zhang Ergou's strength, or rather, overestimated their own coordination.
Seeing the situation turning bad, the two feigned an attack and fled left and right into the grove.
Watching the two disappear, Zhang Ergou did not give chase. This grove was already peculiar, and it was best to get out first.
Before that, he still had some things to do.
Chuckling twice, Zhang Ergou approached the two injured individuals.
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
One kick each to their backs, and the two collapsed on the ground, unable to rise again.
Zhang Ergou rubbed his hands together and walked to their side, then removed their storage rings and plundered all their valuables.
This was not all. After stripping them of their possessions, Zhang Ergou stripped them of their clothes completely.
Then, with a punch each, he knocked them unconscious. Finally, Zhang Ergou kindly crushed their jade tokens. The two had no time to thank him. Sudan Novel Network
...
At this time, disciples who had not yet left the outer sect of the Misty Sect suddenly saw two naked figures being teleported out, causing a great uproar.
This was the first time since the inner sect's beast forest trial in the Misty Sect that disciples had been eliminated so quickly, with two disciples teleported out in less than half an hour.
Even more bizarrely, both were naked and unconscious.
"Did they encounter inner sect disciples? These inner sect disciples are too brutal! Not only did they knock them out, but they didn't even leave their clothes."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't those two senior brothers look like they're from the Xiayang Sect?"
...
Unlike the uproar outside, Zhang Ergou had already changed his appearance, taking on the guise of the disciple who wielded the staff.
He stepped once more into the depths of the grove, moving cautiously. He did not find any trace of the two who had escaped.
Perhaps they had experienced Zhang Ergou's might and were now too intimidated to confront him directly, having already headed towards the beast forest to put distance between themselves and Zhang Ergou.
*Roar!*
Just then, a beast's roar suddenly sounded. Zhang Ergou looked in its direction and saw many beasts running back and forth not far away.
*Bang!*
While walking and observing the beasts running ahead, Zhang Ergou failed to watch his step and suddenly fell into a huge trap.