Forty Millenniums of Cultivation - Chapter 181

Holding his breath, Li Yao tried to lower the rate of fire of the Six Barrel Rotary Cannon to the minimum, as he consciously tried to control the firepower and press the trigger along with the rhythm of his heartbeat.
For the first few seconds, the line of fire was consistent with the trajectory he had calculated.
The spiritual energy explosive rounds struck dead right at the center of Gold Armored Saber Mantis' head. And obviously, the power had also greatly elevated. After just a dozen rounds, the armor of the Gold Armored Saber Mantis was opened and a large mass of sticky liquid burst forth from inside.
However, after a few seconds, Li Yao was unable to hold on.
With every shot fired, the muzzle would slightly deviate. Meanwhile, the Gold Armored Saber Mantis also had a very quick reaction time; it would constantly jump here and there, dodging most of the bullets.
Every second, the distance, position, speed, and all kinds of information would have subtly changed; each parameter was having all kinds of varying changes.
Analyzing and calculating the new bullet trajectory in accordance with the new variables would at the very least take a second or possibly more. Meanwhile, the Gold Armored Saber Mantis would have long moved to a new location, thereby turning the new line of fire null and void.
Li Yao's computational ability was elevated to the extreme, yet he could barely calculate for a few seconds before he felt dizzy. All the values of the parameters had turned into series of stars that were revolving around his eyes.
This kind of dynamic calculation of madly changing variables was ten times more difficult compared to the calculating the static magical equipment structure!
If he forcibly continued down this path, perhaps even before the Gold Armored Saber Mantis was killed, his brain would overdraft and he would faint.
"The difficulty of calculating the bullet trajectory in real time is really too high, I can not easily master it for now. Even if I entered the super perceptive state so that my brain activity is elevated to more than 150%, I am afraid I am still unable to do it! Perhaps if my brain activity was elevated to 300% or more, I could barely calculate once every second. However, this way, I will simply be unable to hold on for too long and quite possibly have Qigong deviation."
Having thought this, Li Yao abandoned the plan of entering the super perceptive state. It was his secret life-saving method, and since he still had control over the current situation, there was no need to display it so early.
Under the Thunder-Palms and everyone's fire, even before 10 minutes were up, all the Saber Mantises were blasted into nothing but slag.
"Let's keep going!"
The six continued down the stairs, cleaning floor after floor. After they had killed four low-level demon beasts, they finally encountered big guys at the trading hall on the seventh floor.
There were seven 2 meters long and over 500-pound demon beasts that looked like huge lizards. Their entire bodies were covered in colorful and gorgeous scales, and no matter where they crawled, the scales would change their colors with the surrounding environment instantaneously. At first glance, they seemed to completely blend in with the environment, making them extremely difficult to distinguish.
The seven lizards were lazily gnawing the corpses of a few Green-Skinned Saber Mantises. When they caught a whiff of human smell, they became completely vigilant; their scales turned red as blood before they returned to their previous color of the surrounding environment in the blink of an eye. They shook their heads and flicked their tails before surrounding the six humans silently.
"Mystic Chameleons? We hit it big this time!"
Ma Jiao mischievously laughed as he glanced at the trio from the Grand Desolate War Institution with a provocative look. "What do you think? The Mystic Chameleon is one of the strongest middle-rank Demon Soldiers. Not only does it have an inherent camouflaging ability, it can also release peculiar demonic fluctuations that could disrupt our telepathic senses, making it very difficult for us to sense its accurate location. In addition, it also has an extremely corrosive and long tongue; it’s a very nasty piece of sh*t!"
"There’s nothing wrong with being afraid. Our way of escape is not yet closed off, it's not a big deal for us to retreat. We can end this mission right here, right now!"
Zhao Tianchong, Li Yao, and Lu Tieshan glanced at each other, and upon noticing the sharp war intention flickering in the depth of the eyes of the others, they sneered.
"Ma Jiao, there is really no need to goad us, we are all cultivators and have long been playing with fire and skating on thin ice, risking everything for just for one thing and one thing only, 'bravery'! Beheading a Mystic Chameleon is many times more beneficial than cutting ten Gold Armored Saber Mantises. If we are not going to fight them, then what did we come here to do? Then wouldn't it better to obediently return to the university and tuck our heads under the blanket?"
"Alright!"
Ma Jiao's pair of eyes almost turned blood-shot as he pulled out a magazine that was laced with blood-colored tattoos to reload. He burst into laughter and said, "Teaming up with brothers of the Grand Desolate War Institution is the best thing ever, you guys aren't people who are afraid of how others would perceive you running away, and try to tuck your heads under the blanket. Getting rid of these few Mystic Chameleons would be greatly rewarding, so please take out all your aces in the holes!"
"Whoosh!"
Before Ma Jiao's voice could fade away, Lu Tieshan had already torn away his body armor. Even the melee combat suit was torn to pieces, revealing his black-iron-tower-like majestic body.
His body was painted with gorgeous tattoos which gave the impression of golden snake-like lightning dancing amidst the billowing dark clouds one after another that flashed and rumbled with the bulging of his muscles. They looked quite alive.
With a roar from Li Tieshan, the lightning tattoos, like a living thing, actually jumped up as they ran around his body, forming an armor of lightning. The two iron-hammer-like fists, in particular, had hundreds of lightning bolts running around each of them, and when he smashed them with each other, they subsequently burst forth with lightning and thunder; it was quite deafening!
Unarmed body practitioner, sword cultivator, and firearms cultivator, these three professions had launched all their tyrannical, odd, and marvelous skills at this moment. This not only caused Li Yao to secretly be astounded, but the three firearms cultivators of the Federation's First Military College were dumbfounded as well; they felt their scalps tingle.
Zhao Tianchong coldly snorted as he drew an oddly-shaped longsword from his back. With distinct edges and corners, the blade consisted of segments upon segments, as though it had been forged from the spine of a demon beast. Even though no blood had been drawn, it was exuding an intense bloody aura.
"Kacha Kacha!"
The three firearms cultivators changed their bullets with the precious blood bullets that had been baptized with their own blood essence, and as they started chanted something, their eyes turned brighter and brighter. In the outer rim of their pupils, ring after ring of aura emerged, and each ring of aura was rotating at high speed.
Battle started!
Zhao Tianchong and Lu Tieshan protected the forefront, whereas Li Yao started his crazy onslaught of spiritual explosive shells, suppressing the few Mystic Chameleons in the front. As for the three remaining firearms cultivators, they were outpouring their firepower together on a Mystic Lizard at the rightmost side.

The bullets baptized with their own blood essence were incomparably powerful. The air was filled with ear-piercing howls. The Mystic Chameleon didn't even have the time to react before it fell backward with its limbs in the air. Just as it was flipping backward, a scorching hot sniper bullet drilled its way into its right eye, ruthlessly blowing away the inside of its head.
It didn't even have the time to scream before twitching for a moment and laying flat on the ground, with a light yellow liquid pouring out from its eyes, nose, and ears
"Whoosh!"
Watching this, the six remaining Mystic Chameleons entered the camouflage state and blended with their surrounding environment. Meanwhile, they started emitting demonic fluctuations, disrupting the spiritual energy perception of the six humans.
Li Yao pursed his lips into a smile as he aimed the Six Barrel Rotary Cannon at the ceiling and aimlessly started firing.
Under the large range of suppressive fire, a few Mystic Chameleons were bound to be hit by the aimless bullets. Although it wasn't enough to cause them significant damage, it was enough for the rest to lock onto their position!
"Hiss! Hiss!"
After a moment, the six Mystic Chameleons were laced with bruises, bleeding a large amount of yellow brown mucus. They were unable to hide their traces anymore.
One of the Mystic Chameleons was even hit in the heart by a sniper bullet, causing it to writhe on the ground and scream.
The remaining five Mystic Chameleons no longer concealed themselves either; they revealed themselves from the various corners of the ceiling as they vigorously jumped towards the six.
At this time, it was the cultivators' turn to demonstrate their close combat might. Even Li Yao threw the Six Barrel Rotary Cannon down and drew the Windcutter, greeting the demon beasts.
"Whoosh!"
The five Mystic Chameleons simultaneously projected their long tongues, which were full of barbs. Their tongues were covered in a light yellow corrosive substance, which, upon contact with the ground, hissed and caused white fumes to rise into the air.
Li Yao's eyes quickly went wide as spiritual energy madly burst forth from every pore of his body, forming thousands of large and small airbags which bounced off the two long tongues. Meanwhile, taking advantage of the situation, he stepped forward and swung the Windcutter forward from bottom to top, drawing a perfect semi-circle!
This strike was the perfect attack line he had drawn after repeated calculations, enough for him to unleash his strength and speed to the extreme. Even if it was the Armored Snapping Turtle's most solid shell, this strike could chop it in half, needless to mention the soft tongue of the Mystic Chameleon!
With a flash of the blade, half of the long tongue was ruthlessly chopped off. It writhed on the ground like an earthworm burning in the sun.
The Mystic Chameleon threw caution to the wind as it desperately shook its head and revealed its fragile jaw, which was subsequently blown off by the crossfire of the three firearms cultivators.
Since there was a team behind him for protection, Li Yao had nothing to fear. After swinging that strike with all he had, not only he did not halt, he, purely relying on his calf muscles and ankle movements, forcibly took a large step forward. His entire body drew a semi-circle, dragging the saber, whereupon by virtue of the subsequent centrifugal force, its speed reached a whole new level. The blade's tip almost broke through the sound barrier as the Windcutter ruthlessly landed upon another Mystic Chameleon.
This strike was not looking for the weakness of the Mystic Chameleon at all, instead contending with just pure strength. The Windcutter ruthlessly cut the hide of the Mystic Chameleon and embedded itself deep inside its flesh. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li Yao activated the oscillating array glyphs to the maximum, causing the Windcutter's edge to madly vibrate thousands of times every second. The blade cut through the flesh and bones, forcibly chopping off the Mystic Chameleon’s foreleg.
Just as the Mystic Chameleon opened its mouth to scream from losing its foreleg, its brain had been blown away by a quick sniper shot.
Li Yao clicked his tongue in marvel as he raised his thumb towards his back without looking.
A prideful whistle responded from behind.
The female sniper Bei Jingjing was not as cold and proud as her appearance suggested; after getting along with her for a long while, one could see her secret half.
The six became more and more skilled in coordinating. After five minutes, the final Mystic Chameleon fell on the ground with lightning running all over its body. It convulsed for a moment before finally remaining still.
Among the six, only Lu Tieshan happened to have his chest hit by the long tongue of Mystic Chameleon, leaving a seared line. However, from the calm look on his face, it was quite clear that it wasn't any life-threatening injury; he could hold on long enough to reach the medical center at the campsite.
"We made it big this time!"
"Seven Mystic Chameleons! On average, everyone has killed a little more than one Mystic Chameleon, which is enough for us to proudly return!"
Ma Jiao gasped for breath; apparently, he was very excited.
Zhao Tianchong also agreed as he nodded and said, "Everyone is quite exhausted and we have used up most of our ammunition. Our close combat equipment has also suffered some losses. We ought to return, any undue delay may bring us trouble!"
"Alright, let's return. Chunyu Peng, how many rounds do you still have left?" Ma Jiao did not turn his head for a reply.
In response to his question, only a muffled sound came as two hundred plus pound Chunyu Peng ruthlessly flew out like a sack. While spewing blood, he flew for twenty or so meters before heavily crashing into the wall, drawing a human-shape pit.
"Slither! Slither!"
A new demon beast, which was surrounded by the matchless aura of a leader, slithered out from the complex criss-cross ventilation pipes in the ceiling. Its narrow eyes seemed like topaz as they coldly stared at everyone, while its eyes flickered with a sliver of ridicule.
The complexions of Li Yao, Ma Jiao, Zhao Tianchong, Lu Tieshan, and Bei Jingjing all changed at the same time.
"Such an intense demonic energy, is it a high-rank Demon Soldier?"
"No way, it is stronger than the high-rank Demon Soldiers. It's...it's a Demon General!"