A rapid whistling sound cut through the air.
The Zhenqi bullets arrived in an instant, piercing through three monsters like candied hawthorns!
The monsters' terrifying regenerative abilities seemed completely ineffective at this moment!
The bullets passed through their bodies, leaving holes as large as washbasins.
Lingering energy around the wounds rapidly destroyed the monsters' flesh!
Within two or three breaths, the hit monsters were vaporized!
Ye Fan adjusted his aim and fired again.
"Swish, swish, swish—!"
After a few shots, the last monster also vanished.
Temporarily safe, everyone collapsed onto the ground ungracefully, gasping for air.
Ye Fan surveyed their surroundings.
His bullets were finite; this approach wouldn't work in the long run.
But the damned fog was too thick, obscuring even the surrounding scenery.
If this continued, they'd even lose their sense of direction...
Just as he thought this, Ye Fan's eyes suddenly felt a burning sensation.
Ye Fan thought his eyes were strained and rubbed them instinctively.
When he looked up again, he was surprised to find the fog had thinned!
The previously ink-black fog had become only a faint layer!
Ye Fan didn't know how this change had occurred, but he didn't have the leisure to ponder it.
About ten zhang to their front right stood a tall palace.
The fog there was much thinner than the surroundings, almost to the point of disappearing!
"Follow me."
Ye Fan gave the order and led the way towards the palace.
The others exchanged bewildered glances and quickly followed.
"Screech—!"
With a grating friction sound, the great doors were pushed open.
Inside the hall, it was empty.
Apart from the four walls and a roof, there was nothing!
This was rather strange.
"Clang!"
Just as everyone was wondering, the hall doors automatically closed!
Purple-black mist surged from the doors, instantly covering all the walls and the roof.
From the center of the hall, a figure slowly coalesced.
It was an old man, radiating purple-black mist.
His attire bore a resemblance to Gusna's from before.
His clothes were inscribed with ancient and mysterious symbols, and he wore some adornments used in sacrifices.
"The prophesied heroes..." The old man's eyes were covered by an eerie, dark red glow. "You should not have come."
"If I'm not mistaken..." Ye Fan glanced at the old man. "You are the High Priest that Gusna spoke of, aren't you?"
"You could say that," the High Priest nodded. "Or rather, I once was."
Things had suddenly become interesting.
The High Priest, who had once strenuously sealed the source of evil, now seemed to have joined its ranks.
And judging by his words, he didn't seem to welcome their arrival.
"This makes things difficult," Ye Fan said, shrugging. "If we don't deal with the thing in the depths, we won't be able to live."
"I used to think so too," the High Priest tilted his head slightly, seemingly lost in thought. "But I later realized that doing so was a mistake!"
"The existence of the King transcends our understanding!" The High Priest suddenly fixed his gaze on Ye Fan, the red light in his eyes flickering violently. "If you persist, you will only bring greater disaster and destruction!"
Ye Fan raised his sniper rifle, aiming at the High Priest.
Damn it!
He hated riddlers the most in his life!
However, before he could pull the trigger, the High Priest's figure suddenly vanished!
When he reappeared, he was already at the rear of the group!
Then, the High Priest waved his hand, and the purple-black mist surged towards them!
The mist spread incredibly fast, and several sect leaders nearby were immediately hit!
Their clothes corroded, and their flesh began to rot!
In just one exchange, over a dozen sect leaders transformed into monsters!
Among them were even three or four at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage!
"The King's majesty shall not be offended; you shall all meet your doom."
With these words, the High Priest vanished again!
"Roar—!"
The sect leaders who had turned into monsters immediately attacked their former comrades!
They not only retained their pre-transformation strength but were even faster than before!
Everyone immediately forgot about the High Priest and could only brace themselves to fight.
If it were just this, it would have been manageable.
Although their strength was considerably greater, these transformed monsters fought purely on instinct.
They lacked the combat experience and techniques of their former lives, making their actual combat effectiveness somewhat weaker.
The sticky fluid that splattered during their fights was the truly troublesome part.
Less than a minute into the battle, everyone was struggling to cope.
Sorcerous attacks landed on them but caused no substantial damage.
Their sticky fluid, however, could instantly dissolve everyone's Zhenqi shields!
Even Patriarch Yad, wielding the Flaming Sword, could only inflict minor damage on these monsters.
And this damage was clearly not enough to keep pace with their healing speed...
Although the High Priest remained invisible, he was not idle.
He would occasionally launch a surprise attack with his mist, infecting a few more sect leaders each time.
Within the first minute or two of the fight, over half the sect leaders had been hit and assimilated!
Ye Fan did not participate in the fight, having moved away from the battlefield from the start.
To others, the High Priest had indeed disappeared.
But to him, he hadn't disappeared; he could see a faint cloud of purple-black mist.
Ye Fan crouched behind cover, aiming his sniper rifle at the High Priest hovering in mid-air.
The High Priest in mid-air sensed Ye Fan's action and instantly flashed away.
"Whoosh!"
The bullet missed the High Priest, grazing the mist beside him.
Although it didn't injure the High Priest, it did dissipate some of the mist around him.
As the saying goes, retaliation is polite.
The High Priest immediately fired a ball of purple-black mist at Ye Fan!
Ye Fan's current strength was only at the Nascent Soul stage, so his speed was naturally no match for others.
He didn't even have time to react before he was engulfed by the mist!
After dealing with Ye Fan, the High Priest continued to attack from the shadows.
By the third minute of the battle, only about ten sect leaders remained uninfected!
At this point, everyone had almost no strength left to fight back, relying entirely on Patriarch Yad to hold on.
But looking at his state, he probably wouldn't last much longer...
Despair descended upon everyone's hearts...
Perhaps in the next moment, they would all remain here forever...
The High Priest, hidden in the shadows, raised his hand again, condensing a ball of purple-black weapon.
Suddenly.
"Whoosh!"
A rapid whistling sound echoed again!
At this moment, the High Priest was in a brief stiffening after his attack.
It was clearly too late to dodge now...
"Bang—!"
The bullet struck the High Priest, emitting a fierce explosion!
However, this shot didn't kill him, merely leaving a shallow wound on his body.
The purple-black mist that enveloped him was instead scattered by a large portion.
The High Priest turned his head in disbelief.
Seeing Ye Fan standing there unharmed, he clearly couldn't accept it.
"This is impossible!"
His response was the next bullet!
This goes to show, don't waste your breath during a fight...
"Bang—!"
The bullet hit the stunned High Priest.
This time, it not only scattered a large portion of the mist again but also deepened his previous wound!
Disgusting sticky fluid spurted from the wound!
Ye Fan pulled the trigger repeatedly.
The sniper rifle transformed into a Gatling gun, bullets firing one after another!
The High Priest, regaining his senses, frantically dodged.
Unfortunately, having been hit twice before, his speed was clearly lagging...
Without the High Priest's surprise attacks and interference, the pressure on the others finally eased.
After a hard-fought battle, they finally dealt with the infected monsters.
And the unlucky High Priest was thoroughly weakened under Ye Fan's relentless barrage of shots.
The mist that enveloped him had long since dissipated, and several bowl-sized holes had been shot through his body.
Finally.
"Bang!"
With the last bullet piercing through, the High Priest's emaciated body fell heavily to the ground!
"Hoo—"
Ye Fan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When he was engulfed by the High Priest's mist earlier, he had indeed been startled.
He had thought he would also turn into one of those ugly monsters.
A strange thing happened.
The purple-black mist caused him no harm; it was directly absorbed by his body!
More precisely, it was 'eaten' by the stone in his spiritual sea!