Chapter 2210: Persistence and Despair

Boom!

A huge noise filled the air, immediately followed by a teeth-aching grinding sound.

The Bloodthirst Crocodile screamed miserably and instantly returned to his humanoid form. He clutched his mouth, two bloody teeth appearing in his hand. ????????ℯℯ????ℯ????????????????????????.????????????

Just then, in that instant, streaks of divine light had appeared at Shang Liuyu and Zu An’s side as defensive formations lit up. The Bloodthirst Crocodile had ended up biting down straight on the formation, causing powerful light to flicker. Two teeth had been blasted off as a result.

The Shadowhorror Devil cursed the Bloodthirst Crocodile for being an idiot. With how calm she seemed, he had immediately realized that Shang Liuyu definitely had something backing up her confidence. Even if she didn’t, that crafty and cunning bastard definitely did. How could he leave his fleshly body here without any protection at all?

Only that idiot Bloodthirst Crocodile would rush over as if he was fighting over something good. But this wasn’t a bad result either, since they could now see what Zu An's trump card was. That wasn’t all; the Bloodthirst Crocodile's bite in his true form was incredibly strong, too. Even though two teeth had broken, the bite still shattered the outermost formation.

The Shadowhorror Devil's gaze landed on the Human Emperor Seal right above Zu An’s head and he sneered. “So he was borrowing the power of this divine weapon. No wonder the formation is so strong. But aren’t you looking down on us a bit too much? Do you really think that trifling weapon can really stop us?” As soon as he spoke, countless figures appeared around him to attack the enemy.

Shang Liuyu didn’t dare to show any carelessness. She quickly used the formation’s defenses to block the Shadowhorror Devil’s attacks one by one. But after blocking so many attacks, the formation outside grew dim, and then it completely shattered.

She didn’t panic, and manipulated the formation disk again. Soon after, a new formation appeared.

The Shadowhorror Devil’s brows furrowed tightly. Even though he had just shattered one formation, he couldn't bring himself to feel happy at all. It seemed he had laughed a bit too early. This woman’s understanding of formations seemed to be greater than he had imagined!

If it was just this woman controlling the formations alone, she would still be too weak. No amounts of tricks would be enough to make up for the difference in their strength. Or if it was just the Human Emperor Seal maintaining the formation, it wouldn’t be hard to deal with either. After all, it would just be a dead formation. There would be too many areas to exploit. But when the two sides worked in tandem, the effect was far greater than the sum of its parts.

The Shadowhorror Devil began to admire Zu An more and more. These weren’t techniques this woman could think of alone; Zu An had actually been able to teach in line with her ability and achieve this result in such a short amount of time.

The Bloodthirst Crocodile snapped out of his daze. He charged angrily and shattered the next layer of the formation together with the Shadowhorror Devil.

“This is too slow.” The Shadowhorror Devil examined the changes in the formation and said seriously, “I can tell from a rough estimation that there are still dozens of formations left here. At this rate, that guy might already be on his way back by the time we finish.”

“That’s right, it is a bit tricky.” The Bloodthirst Crocodile grimaced in pain.

If they were beyond the borders this world, they naturally wouldn’t fear Zu An, but their strength was restricted by this world, so they did feel some apprehension. After all, the War Priest and so many experts in the sealed land had fallen to his hand. Just a random setup here could even deflect their combined attacks. If he was allowed to regain consciousness, what would happen after?

“We can’t hold back anymore. Bring out your strongest skills so we can get this done in the shortest time possible,” the Shadowhorror Devil said.

Just then, a bell appeared in his hand. With a gentle shake, the surrounding space seemed to distort. Visible sound waves appeared in the formations. The outermost three formations seemed to resonate with the sound and instantly shattered.

Shang Liuyu was horrified. She was proficient in the laws of sound herself, so how could she not recognize the bell's power?

Dealing with sound waves was normally easy enough, since one could release the opposite frequencies to neutralize them. Unfortunately, the difference in cultivation was too great, and the power coming from the bell didn’t seem to be much weaker than the Human Emperor Seal. Her own weapon couldn't compare at all.

That wasn’t all. Even while inside the formation, she could hear the bell tolls. All of the blood in her body seemed to freeze up, making her feel endless dread.

Still, she quickly reacted. Her fingers gently moved across the formation disk, and a sound-blocking barrier manifested. Her surroundings immediately became quiet. Only then did she discover that her back was drenched.

That was probably the Shadowhorror Devil’s special ability.

If she was completely overwhelmed by fear, he would be able to move straight into her shadow and ignore the formation.

The Shadowhorror Devil cried out inwardly in regret.

This woman’s cultivation might not be high, but her talent is extraordinary and she reacts quickly. If this were a different time and place, I might’ve even taken her in as my disciple.

The Bloodthirst Crocodile roared with laughter. “Just watch me.”

He took out an enormous pair of crocodile-tooth shears and snipped in the direction of the flickering formation. With loud cracking noises, two formations were immediately cut through.

Shang Liuyu was alarmed. The giant shears seemed to be some kind of extraordinary demonic weapon. If things continued at this rate, even the dozens of formations Ah Zu had left behind wouldn’t last that long at all!

The Bloodthirst Crocodile cursed, “Damn! If I weren't missing an arm, I would’ve definitely broken through more formations than you!”

The Shadowhorror Devil said in annoyance, “Hmph, do you even recognize what kind of situation we're in? And yet you’re still bickering over something like that. Hurry up and focus on breaking more of these formations so we can kill that Zu bastard. I have a feeling that he’ll be back soon. Things will be really bad for us then.”

He wasn’t trying to praise Zu An on purpose; rather, it was that Zu An had really brought their monster worlds much shocking news. Countless experts had died at his hands, and they had just experienced a bitter battle themselves and weren't in peak condition. They couldn't help but feel a bit lacking in confidence.

“Agreed!” Even though the Bloodthirst Crocodile wasn’t that smart, he knew how important this was right now. He screamed while brandishing the shears against the formation.

Even though Shang Liuyu used everything she had learned and was already using her wits to the fullest extent to use all kinds of formations, she was facing off against two individuals at the peak of the earth immortal rank, both of whom had weapons that weren’t any weaker than the Human Emperor Seal. How could she be a match for that? She could only watch as the formations shattered one by one under their joint attacks, and all she could do was slow down the rate at which they broke. She started feeling more and more anxious, and prayed that Zu An would return sooner.

After three days passed, Shang Liuyu only had one last formation left.

The Bloodthirst Crocodile rubbed his sore wrist and complained, “Why is this woman this strong?” He was even starting to feel admiration for her. She had managed to use the formations in ingenious combinations with her pitiful cultivation, slowing their attacks for so many days.

The Shadowhorror Devil couldn't help but say, “We have fifteen minutes left at most before we can break this final formation. Miss Shang, your wits have earned our respect. We promise you that as long as you surrender to us, not only will we not kill you, we’ll even take you in as a disciple. In the future, you'll be high above others even in the monster world. There's no reason for us to carry out this kind of life and death struggle.”

He was also starting to panic. Even though they were going to break through the final barrier soon, they had used up way too much time. That Zu bastard could just show up at the final moment, which would end up ruining everything. At first, it had just been a bit of worry, but he was now starting to feel a bit scared.

He knew that even though Shang Liuyu was of crucial importance, these miraculous formations had been left behind by Zu An. The formations had become harder and harder to break through toward the end, making each subsequent one take longer. If even the formations he had left behind were this strong, what if their creator appeared?

Shang Liuyu clenched her teeth and said with a sneer, “I’ve already heard similar attempts at recruitment so many times. Did you really think I would agree?”

Her face was completely pale. She had already practically exhausted everything she had over the last few days. But against the attacks of two at the very peak of the earth immortal rank, how could she afford to be distracted for even a second? She had almost completely drained herself to maintain the operation of the formations. The only reason she didn’t fall down on the spot was because she was hanging on through sheer willpower.

“I'll definitely hold on until he comes back!” Shang Liuyu exclaimed, biting her lip until blood came out to remain clear-headed.

“Hmph, how pigheaded. Do you not believe me when I say that I’ll ruin you first before killing you? No, once I finish, I’ll hand you over to the monster army and let them all have a turn with you each. You’ll really know what it means to wish you were dead then.” The Bloodthirst Crocodile was now completely furious. They had actually been stopped by this woman for so long! How ridiculous!

“You’re shameless!” Shang Liuyu’s entire body trembled when she imagined that situation, but she still had more pressing concerns. The only thing she could do was to stall for time at all costs so Zu An could have a chance to come back.

A while later, the final formation began to be covered in cracks. Shang Liuyu finally fell into despair, as Ah Zu still hadn’t been able to return.

There’s already no time left...