“Since the Alien Detection Disk has already sounded the alarm, if we don’t investigate, we’ll still face severe punishment upon returning. Most alien scouts don’t possess formidable combat strength. As long as we remain cautious, we should be able to handle this scout smoothly,” the elderly man in green armor frowned and commanded.
Hearing the words of this Nascent Soul-level elder, the other Black Iron Guards, despite their reluctance, had no choice but to fall silent.
Following a series of orders from the elder, the group immediately split into several teams and advanced toward the direction indicated by the Alien Detection Disk.
After changing course and flying only a few dozen miles, the cultivators suddenly found themselves above a chaotic pile of rocks.
The rock pile appeared ordinary, but nearby was a swamp bubbling with purple foam.
“It seems this is the place. Don’t let them escape,” the elder said, nodding firmly after glancing at the Alien Detection Disk in his hand. With a wave of his right hand, he issued the command.
Immediately, the dozen or so Black Iron Guards behind him remained silent, each summoning protective treasures to shield themselves before releasing their spiritual senses to scan the area below.
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the expressions of all the cultivators, including the elder, changed slightly.
“At such a close distance, our spiritual senses still can’t detect anything! It seems we’ll have to search manually. Fellow Daoist Qin!” The elder took a deep breath and suddenly turned to a middle-aged man with narrow eyes.
“Captain, rest assured. I know what to do,” the middle-aged man replied shrewdly. With a single pat on his storage bracelet, a handful of strange black orbs appeared in his hand.
He raised his hand and scattered the orbs downward while chanting incantations.
A series of crackling sounds erupted as blue lightning flickered across the orbs’ surfaces. Suddenly, they expanded wildly, transforming into fist-sized iron wasps wreathed in arcs of electricity. Their wings buzzed eerily as they dispersed in all directions.
The others remained hovering in the air, unmoving, while the narrow-eyed man slowly sat cross-legged, forming hand seals. The swarm of iron wasps descended to about thirty feet above the ground before scattering in every direction.
It seemed this patrol team had learned from past mistakes—they refused to land recklessly in treacherous terrain where alien scouts could ambush them.
Given the unpredictable and bizarre methods of these alien scouts, even if they succeeded in killing them, casualties were inevitable.
Thus, it was far safer to send puppets to investigate.
However, shortly after the iron wasps dispersed, the Alien Detection Disks in everyone’s hands trembled violently, emitting piercing shrieks. Some even erupted with blinding spiritual light, a terrifying sight.
“Damn it! The alien is approaching us—already within three hundred feet and still closing in!” A fierce-looking man shouted in alarm upon seeing the anomaly on his detection disk.
Not just him—everyone else also grew restless, their eyes darting around frantically.
Yet within a radius of three hundred feet, the surroundings were completely empty, with no trace of anything unusual.
“Cast your spells now! Break its concealment before it gets too close!” The elder roared, his voice booming like thunder, startling his subordinates. He then flipped his hand, producing a bronze mirror.
Tossing the mirror above his head, it transformed into a radiant full moon. With a flash of spiritual light, a thick azure beam shot out, sweeping in all directions. Yet, wherever the light passed, nothing unusual was revealed.
The other cultivators also summoned banners and other treasures designed to break concealment, but despite the waves of spiritual light, they found nothing.
Yet the shrieks from their Alien Detection Disks grew even more shrill, indicating the alien was now almost within arm’s reach.
At this point, panic spread across their faces—even the elder paled.
If they still couldn’t detect the alien at such close range, it was undoubtedly one of the most dreaded types of alien scouts—not only unafraid of them but actively seeking to kill them.
“Quickly form the Five Elements Spirit Light Formation! Ordinary defenses won’t hold!” The green-armored elder bellowed, his voice strained.
Without hesitation, he ignored the bronze mirror above him and instead produced a crimson arrow-shaped treasure. He hurled it into the sky, where it burst into a flickering red light.
The other Black Iron Guards, spurred by the elder’s warning, hastily retrieved similar artifacts, preparing to activate them.
But it was already too late.
Several loud cracks echoed as three of the Black Iron Guards’ Alien Detection Disks shattered simultaneously.
Beneath their feet, faint shadowy figures materialized out of thin air.
The moment these shadows appeared, they elongated and lunged at the cultivators.
“Ah!”
The three Black Iron Guards finally noticed the gray shadows and cried out in alarm. But their protective treasures and spiritual barriers were useless—the shadows slipped through effortlessly, invading their bodies.
Agonized screams erupted as the three clutched their heads and plummeted toward the ground, their fates unknown.
“Shadow Puppets! It’s the Shadow Race! Unleash lightning-based techniques and treasures!” The elder’s face twisted in horror as he recognized the dark figures.
He immediately spat out a silver-white flying sword, which transformed into a crackling arc of lightning, shielding him.
A gray shadow that had stealthily appeared behind him lunged but was repelled by the lightning, unable to get close.
The other uninjured cultivators were no strangers to the infamous Shadow Race. However, aside from two who also summoned lightning-based treasures, the rest felt a chill run down their spines—lightning was one of the rarest and most overpowering attributes, and not everyone possessed such treasures.
The Shadow Race was an extremely elusive alien species, resistant to most techniques except those involving lightning or specialized cultivation methods.
In that brief moment of hesitation, gray shadows also emerged beneath the feet of the remaining Black Iron Guards.
Terror flashed in their eyes before they suddenly scattered in all directions, attempting to flee.
But the shadows clung to them like their own silhouettes, transforming into streaks of gray light that pursued relentlessly.
In the blink of an eye, the fleeing cultivators and their shadowy pursuers vanished into the distance, leaving only the green-armored elder and the two Black Iron Guards with lightning-based protections.
Yet now, seven or eight more gray shadows materialized before them, relentlessly attacking. Each time, they were repelled by the crackling lightning, yet they showed no signs of pain or retreat.
The elder took a deep breath, no longer concerned about his subordinates’ fates. Instead, a stack of unknown talismans appeared on his wrist in a flash of red light.
“Filthy beasts, seeking death!”
He glared at one of the advancing shadows, his face twisting with fury. With a flick of his wrist, the talismans transformed into over a dozen blue lightning bolts, crisscrossing and striking the shadow.
A deafening thunderclap erupted as the bolts exploded, enveloping the shadow in a net of electricity. The shadow let out a mournful wail as its body disintegrated into mist under the relentless assault.
The elder’s heart leaped with joy—the expensive lightning talismans he had prepared were indeed effective.
He immediately summoned another stack and unleashed another barrage of blue lightning.
But just as the bolts were about to strike another shadow, a cold snort echoed from all directions.
Simultaneously, a massive green hand materialized before the shadow. With a mere flick of its fingers, it effortlessly caught all the lightning bolts.
A muffled explosion later, the lightning vanished without a trace.
“Green Shadow!”
The elder’s pupils contracted as he uttered the name in a near-whisper.
“You will all die.”
A voice devoid of emotion emanated from the green hand before it twisted and morphed into a humanoid figure wreathed in green light.
At first glance, it resembled a person, but its head was grotesquely large—two or three times the size of a normal human’s. Its face shimmered with green light, and its eyes glowed a sinister, blood-red hue.
Seeing the high-tier Shadow Race being he had feared, the elder’s face turned ashen.
While lightning could suppress most Shadow Race beings, those of the Green Shadow tier—equivalent to human Nascent Soul cultivators—had developed resistance to it. Historical battles between Nascent Soul cultivators and Green Shadows almost always ended in defeat or death for the humans.
Moreover, this Green Shadow was controlling multiple Shadow Puppets alone, suggesting it was among the highest echelons of its kind.
No wonder the elder’s heart sank.
Meanwhile, distant explosions echoed from the horizon—the other Black Iron Guards had been overtaken by the Shadow Puppets, plunging them into desperate battles.
The Green Shadow paid no heed to the elder’s terror. Without hesitation, it took a single step forward, instantly closing the distance. Raising a hand, it fearlessly grabbed at the thick lightning arc protecting the elder.
It intended to tear through the elder’s defenses with brute force!
The elder’s heart nearly stopped. The Green Shadow’s speed was too fast—he had no time to dodge. Gritting his teeth, he channeled all his spiritual power into his protective treasure.
The silver lightning crackled and thickened by a third.
Yet the Green Shadow’s crimson eyes flashed with disdain. Its grip tightened, and with a thunderous boom, the lightning arc shattered, revealing a small sword wreathed in electricity.
The sword trembled violently, struggling in the Green Shadow’s grasp, but it couldn’t break free.
The elder’s face drained of color.
With a sinister chuckle, the Green Shadow prepared to strike again.
But at that moment, another thunderclap resounded above the elder. A figure with wings on its back materialized amid a flash of blue-white lightning.
Without hesitation, the figure raised both hands and unleashed—
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