After feasting on the blood of Martin Yang’s unlucky bodyguards, the two Demon Infants licked the blood from the corners of their mouths with their tiny tongues, tossing aside the shriveled corpses with a look of lingering hunger. Then, they raised their heads again, staring at Shawn Young and Jade Swann. Their pitch-black eye sockets glimmered with a sinister red light. "Kwa—kwa—" they screeched, leaping forward with terrifying speed.
"Let me take them on!" Jade Swann, feeling competitive, stepped forward and quickly summoned her true energy. She formed a Spirit Condensation gesture with her hands and chanted rapidly: "Heaven and Earth, mysterious origin, all energies return to the root, all spirits pay homage, command the thunder, gather the heavenly lightning, let ghosts and demons tremble, by law and decree—banish!"
As Jade Swann finished her incantation and raised her hands, two blue bolts of lightning appeared along her arms, snaking forward and forming two blazing spheres of electricity in front of her. Seeing the Demon Infants charging at her with fangs bared, Jade Swann flicked her wrists—sending the lightning straight at them.
"Boom—boom—" Two violent explosions flashed with lightning, striking the plump bodies of the Demon Infants dead-on. The force sent them tumbling more than ten meters away.
"Hmph, let’s see how tough you really are—" Jade Swann raised her delicate brows, shaking her shoulders with pride.
But before she could finish speaking, the Demon Infants crawled up from the ground again, screeching "Kwa—kwa—" as they dashed toward Shawn Young and Jade Swann.
"Ah! So freaky!?" Jade Swann gasped in shock, firing off two more lightning spells—"Boom—boom—" The lightning flashed again, but this time, the Demon Infants only paused, their bodies shuddering, then kept charging forward.
"Woo—kwa—" The Demon Infants stopped about three meters in front of them, making strange noises. Suddenly, their plump bodies began to tremble, and a jet-black liquid oozed from their skin, splattering onto the floor as their limbs shook.
Soon, the spilled liquid began to wriggle as if alive, spreading out in lines and encircling Shawn Young and Jade Swann. In the center of the strange fluid, tiny round dots appeared, sprouting up like bean shoots, and in the blink of an eye, they grew into clusters of brilliantly colored poisonous mushrooms.
The clusters of poisonous mushrooms kept spreading and growing at a frightening speed, quickly merging into a colorful carpet. In no time, Shawn Young and Jade Swann found themselves surrounded by a field of dazzling toxic fungi.
"Uh—what the hell are these things!?" Jade Swann gulped nervously.
"Heh heh heh—this is the Demon Infant’s exclusive technique: Soul-Spore Toxin! Pretty entertaining, isn’t it? You two enjoy yourselves!" Grandmaster Zenith cackled gleefully from across the room.
Suddenly, the colorful mushrooms on the ground began to burst one after another—"Pop—pop—"—spewing clouds of rainbow smoke. With no wind, the smoke swept toward Shawn Young and Jade Swann all on its own.
In a panic, Shawn Young quickly clasped his hands together and chanted: "Five directions converge, a yard beyond, recite ten thousand times, let the body shine, golden light appear, protect the true one, by law and decree—banish!"
With a crackle, Shawn Young slapped his hands onto the floor, and a barrier of golden light instantly enveloped him and Jade Swann. This was the Taoist Adamantine Shield Spell, famous for warding off most evil magic and supernatural attacks.
The rainbow smoke rolled in, swirling and crashing against the shimmering golden barrier, making a series of popping sounds like beans bursting. The Adamantine Shield Spell rippled violently, as if battered by a raging storm.
"Ah—the corrosive power of this toxic mist is insane—" Jade Swann, ever perceptive, could tell that Shawn Young’s move was just a desperate stopgap.
Sure enough, Shawn Young frowned in thought, then suddenly clapped his hands together. A flash of red light burst from his palms, swirling around his clasped hands. He chanted: "Nature of heaven and earth, disperse foulness, banish evil, preserve Dao energy, cloud script fills the void, reveal the spirits, return the rat to truth, appear swiftly—manifest!"
With a flash of red light, a swarm of strange, gray-brown creatures appeared in midair. Jade Swann looked up and saw a group of flying, bizarre-looking rats—each with oversized ears and long, whirling tails. They spun rapidly, hovering in the air like tiny helicopters, looking both odd and strangely amusing.
"Huh? What kind of mice are these? How come they can fly?" Jade Swann couldn’t help but ask Shawn Young, her curiosity piqued.
"These are Sky Mice—spirits from the Spirit Realm! They love devouring toxins and can break any poison in the world. But summoning them isn’t just about the spell, you need luck too. If this place didn’t have such abundant spiritual energy, I couldn’t have called them out!" Shawn Young explained.
As they spoke, the Sky Mice circled around the barrier, opening their tiny mouths and greedily sucking up the rainbow poison gas. In no time, they had cleared the air and then swarmed the poisonous mushrooms on the ground, munching away with gusto.
The Demon Infants seemed wary of the Sky Mice, pacing helplessly outside the circle and doing nothing else. Soon, the colorful mushrooms vanished under the Sky Mice’s ravenous chewing.
The Sky Mice quickly finished off the poisonous mushrooms, then soared into the air and dove at the Demon Infants, surrounding them and launching relentless attacks. The Demon Infants flailed their arms to drive off the mice, but couldn’t fight back. Their plump, snowy bodies were torn open by the Sky Mice, leaking jet-black fluid!
"Ah! Damn it—how can this be happening?!" Grandmaster Zenith, seeing things go south, hurriedly began chanting to try and recall his Demon Infants, which had taken him decades to create!
But Grandmaster Zenith was no match for the Sky Mice’s speed. The Demon Infants struggled weakly, but before they could be recalled, the Sky Mice swarmed them, knocking them to the ground. In just minutes, nothing was left but two gleaming little skeletons—chilling to behold.