The whistling wind sounded like the roars of demons from hell, and the crane's cry was filled with immense resentment. In an instant, the cultivator felt a sharp pain in his divine sense, nearly losing consciousness and control of his body.
Wan Lei donned his armor, dispelled the illusion array, and brought his hammer down upon the cultivator's head. With a deafening boom, the cultivator's skull exploded like a rotten watermelon, and his nascent soul was shattered by Wan Lei's lightning.
This sudden attack stunned everyone in the small courtyard. None of them knew what was happening. A figure clad in blue armor had suddenly appeared and instantly killed one of them with a single blow.
"Who are you, man? You just show up and start killing people? At least explain the situation first, or say a few threatening words."
"Why isn't this going according to script?"
Alas, Young Master Lei, who didn't even respect the author, could hardly be expected to follow the script written by these esteemed directors.
"It's Wan Lei!" The lead director immediately recognized him. They had thoroughly investigated all of Wan Lei's information, and this blue armor and short hammer were all too familiar.
Then, he glared fiercely at Qi Manyao. "You actually brought Wan Lei here."
Young Master Lei was taken aback. "What the hell? Didn't you ask Man Yao to bring me here? Now that she's completed her task, not only are you not rewarding her, but you're also speaking ill of her?"
"Ah? I didn't, I didn't... how could he be here..." Man Yao was a little flustered, but then she realized something and became even more panicked. "Wan Lei, why are you here? Run quickly, these people want to kill you!"
Wan Lei raised his hand and cast the Lightning Ward, protecting both himself and Man Yao with a shield of lightning.
"Why are you here?" Man Yao looked up, her brow furrowed, gazing at Wan Lei anxiously. A strand of her hair, disheveled by the wind, still carried a few glistening snowflakes.
"I heard you were kidnapped, so I came with money to ransom you. Such a beautiful girl can't fall into the hands of these bad guys." Wan Lei gently flicked the snowflakes from Qi Manyao's hair.
"Ah... ah? But this just happened! How did you get here so fast... No, you were following me the whole time, weren't you?"
"Yo, your little brain is working now. That's right, I've been following you since you left the sect."
"You... Oh dear, this is so dangerous, run quickly, let's run!"
"Run? Why should we run? You were kidnapped by these people, so naturally, I have to resolve the matter."
Seeing the two of them still in the mood to flirt, the captain became furious. He let out a cold, sarcastic snort. "Do you think we'll let you go just because you paid the ransom?"
"Paid the ransom? What ransom? I came here to... rob." The corners of Wan Lei's mouth curved into a cold smile beneath his mask. Paying ransom was impossible, but robbing was something he excelled at.
"Hmph, as expected, a villain who does all sorts of evil..."
"No matter how evil I am, I'm not as evil as you Heavenly Condemners. You preach your extreme ideologies under the guise of justice, and how many innocent people have you harmed without understanding the truth? In the past, I never offended you, nor did I kill any of your people, yet you Heavenly Condemners targeted me, and I didn't care. I even tolerated you sending people to kill me. But this time, you inhumane kidnappers actually want to use my Man Yao against me. To kill a target that has no enmity towards you, you are willing to harm an innocent girl. What a fine organization. Therefore, today, for Man Yao, you all must die."
"Hmph, arrogant and self-important! You chose the path to damnation when heaven's gate was open and walked right into our trap! Brothers, form the Qian Jue battle formation and kill him!"
"Boss, we lost one, so we can't form the battle formation." The captain only then remembered that Wan Lei had killed one of them as soon as he appeared.
"No wonder you killed someone first, you must have overheard us." Wan Lei sighed. He really couldn't adapt to this kind of wuxia-style dialogue and didn't intend to waste any more words. He directly summoned the thunderclouds and charged towards the enemy. For a group of enemies, large-scale area-of-effect attacks were the most effective.
In an instant, waves of lightning rained down. The small courtyard, along with the formation, was instantly reduced to ashes, and countless rock fragments cascaded down the mountain. The captain waved his hand, leading his men to surround Wan Lei.
Wan Lei unfurled his wings and soared upwards, flying towards the mountaintop. The Heavenly Condemners, thinking he was trying to escape, immediately pursued him.
Upon reaching the summit, the Heavenly Condemners caught up. Wan Lei immediately took out a formation bead and activated it. The Samsara Annihilation Formation instantly enveloped the entire mountaintop. The open terrain here was ideal for Wan Lei to unleash his divine abilities against his enemies.
"Hahahaha, now you'll experience what it's like to be a turtle boiled in a pot." After successfully trapping everyone, Wan Lei laughed heartily and then manifested his Sword Immortal Incarnation. He was holding Qi Manyao in his arms, and direct combat would easily injure her, so he included her within his Sword Immortal Incarnation.
"You mean 'catching a turtle in a jar,' don't you?" the captain sneered.
"Idiot." The glowing Sword Immortal Incarnation stood in mid-air, its giant sword pointed at the enemies.
"Wrathful Ghost Incarnation!" the captain shouted, and the nineteen Heavenly Condemners transformed into wrathful ghosts in unison. The glorious and majestic Sword Immortal formed a stark contrast with the wrathful ghosts exuding dark energy of sin, like a confrontation between justice and evil, light and darkness.
"Samsara Annihilation Formation, activate!" Wan Lei roared, and the entire Samsara Annihilation Formation began to operate. Vitality and death energy circulated, devouring the enemies' life force while increasing their death energy.
"This formation is bizarre. Let's finish this quickly. If we kill this brat, the formation will break on its own."
"Yin-Yang Domain!" Wan Lei shouted again. A chaotic domain appeared and pressed down on the nineteen individuals. Instantly, they felt as if a great mountain was crushing them.
Wan Lei was a bit puzzled. When did his Yin-Yang Domain become like this? It felt much more powerful. His mind became active. Since he had such good opponents this time to fight to his heart's content, why not try out all the moves he had learned? It would be good practice.
"Summon Wind!" The Sword Immortal Incarnation roared again. Five dark dragons appeared behind him, their eyes blood-red. They opened their massive mouths and let out roars, and a visible gust of black, baleful wind emerged, sweeping towards the Heavenly Condemners with the intent to annihilate all life.
"Summon Rain!" From the thunderclouds in the sky, purple raindrops began to fall. These raindrops were devoid of life, carrying only the aura of death and annihilation. As they landed on the ground, the trees and grass withered and died in an instant.
On the mountaintop,
Lightning flashed and thunder roared,
Gales howled,
Purple rain poured down,
Heavy snow drifted,
Painting a bizarre and breathtakingly beautiful picture.