Chapter 259: Chapter 162: Where Did You Get That Muddy Water Round Shield?

However, the difference in strength between the Eastern Wanderer and the Southern Wanderer wasn’t actually that significant. Only the Western Wanderer’s power was far superior.

The realization that the third-ranked Eastern Wanderer had met with disaster immediately put him on edge.

Fortunately, the Southern Wanderer had lived his entire life by the principles of caution and prudence. Not only had he set up an Array in advance this time, but he had also brought plenty of Talismans with him.

He took out a Signal Arrow and fired it, leaving a fiery red distress beacon in the sky.

Simultaneously, he snatched four Talismans from his Storage Bag and cast them all without hesitation.

Xiao Chen waved his hand, unfurling the Fringed Tassel Brocade Handkerchief to defend.

He hadn’t expected all four to be Defense Talismans. They formed a Triple Protective Spiritual Light before the Southern Wanderer, adding a round Spirit Shield that circled around him.

?

’Isn’t this a little overkill?’

Xiao Chen felt the Southern and Northern Wanderers should trade titles. ’This guy should be the Black Tortoise.’

’I’ve seen so many Demon Cultivators, but this is the first time I’ve ever met one so afraid of dying.’

However, the other Demon Cultivators were all young. Only the Southern Wanderer looked to be at least a hundred years old.

’Maybe that’s how he managed to live this long?’

"Xiao Chen, the Signal Arrow is visible from much farther away at night."

The Southern Wanderer even had the audacity to offer a reminder. "I advise you to leave now. If you wait, you won’t be able to escape even if you try."

.

Xiao Chen looked up at the beacon in the sky. It was indeed quite conspicuous.

’Then again, if this really attracts the Western Wanderer, that’s a good thing. It saves me the trouble of having to find him myself.’

Thus, far from being intimidated, he was actually looking forward to it.

He skillfully deployed the Small Three Talents Sword Formation, using the Sword Array to wear down the Southern Wanderer’s defenses.

Following that, Xiao Chen used his Fire-Storage Treasure Gourd to directly destroy the temporary Array behind the Southern Wanderer.

However, the Southern Wanderer’s preparations were even more thorough than he had imagined.

The Sword Array had him trapped for a full half-hour before he finally ran out of Talismans, at which point he whipped out a Top-Grade Magic Shield to continue his desperate defense.

Even while blocking the Sword Qi, he kept shouting at Xiao Chen, repeatedly stressing that the Western Wanderer was on his way.

"Xiao, as the saying goes, one should be merciful when possible."

"Xiao, I’m not kidding. If you don’t leave now, my leader is really going to be here."

"Xiao, I actually have some Spirit Stones on me. If you’re willing to let me go now, I can give you twenty thousand Spirit Stones. Why must this end in a life-or-death struggle?"

...

It was hard to say whether it was because he’d repeated himself too many times or because the Signal Arrow had actually worked.

In any case, after a few more minutes, a streak of Sword Light truly did flare up in the distance.

Seeing this, the Southern Wanderer’s face broke into a wide grin. "Hahaha, you brat Xiao Chen, our leader is here!"

In Magical Combat between top-tier Foundation Establishment Cultivators, numbers were an extremely important factor.

After all, every Cultivator’s total reserves of Magical Power were finite, and Top-Grade Magical Artifacts were especially draining.

So far, Xiao Chen had already activated a full six Top-Grade Magical Artifacts.

This not only exceeded the limits of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but did so by a significant margin.

Even if the Fringed Tassel Brocade Handkerchief didn’t consume much Magical Power, and even if he had some method of increasing his Magical Power capacity, he had to be reaching his limit by now.

Facing the fresh Western Wanderer at this point would put him at a massive disadvantage.

Furthermore, if Xiao Chen dared to deactivate the Sword Array, he would face a pincer attack from two people, making his situation even more precarious.

The Southern Wanderer’s mind completed the analysis in an instant. In short, it all came down to a single thought: ’The advantage is mine!’

In truth, his deduction was not without merit.

Xiao Chen indeed only had thirty-six streams of Magical Power left, enough to activate one more Top-Grade Magical Artifact at most.

But that didn’t mean he had no way of dealing with the Western Wanderer.

After all, he hadn’t consumed so many Spiritual Objects and learned so much Magic just for show.

Xiao Chen typically preferred using the Small Three Talents Sword Formation simply because it was the easiest and most convenient method.

Now, seeing the Sword Light rushing over from the distance, he flew straight toward it, intercepting his opponent halfway.

The newcomer was none other than the furious Western Wanderer.

After setting up the Array Plate earlier, he had been secretly guarding it from nearby.

But after standing guard for two days and two nights without seeing any Orthodox Cultivators coming to destroy it, he had left for a short while to plunder the Spiritual Objects and Spirit Stones of two nearby minor families.

He had been delayed by the time it took for the Refinement of a Storage Bag and for forcefully breaking through the families’ Defensive Arrays.

He never expected that upon his return, the Array Plate he had buried would be gone without a trace.

Even the Array Base had been hacked to pieces with a Flying Sword.

The Western Wanderer instantly panicked. This mission had come with personal instructions from Daoist Qian Hong, and absolutely no mistakes were permitted.

If he was the source of the problem and delayed the Holy Sect’s grand plans, then even if he was lucky enough to make it out of Lingyuan Sect territory alive, Daoist Qian Hong would never forgive him.

But he truly couldn’t figure it out. The surrounding three-hundred-li radius was clearly under the complete control of the Divine Fire Sect.

’Who could be so audacious as to venture deep into territory controlled by the Divine Fire Sect and destroy the Array Plate I left behind?’

Panicked and furious, the Western Wanderer immediately began a search via Sword Control.

And just as the Southern Wanderer had said, the fiery red distress beacon was especially conspicuous in the night sky.

The enraged Western Wanderer quickly spotted the disturbance and rushed over at once.

From a great distance, he instantly spotted the Southern Wanderer trapped within the Sword Array.