When the old man in front of him finished speaking, Ji Yuan had no thoughts other than a cold laugh.
If the current situation were not so dire, he might have pointed at the other man's nose and cursed him. Such a demon deserved no respect for age or courtesy.
It was a pity that his dantian, his purple mansion, and his sea of consciousness were all damaged. His physical body had already shown signs of collapse from the previous blow.
If he had not used the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda to suppress his dantian, and its radiance to protect his internal organs, and had not desperately circulated the fundamental principles of the Xuan Tian Dao Sutra, his body would have long since been in ruins.
"How about it? As long as you are willing to become my disciple, not only will you live, but you will also have a great chance of reaching the Third Realm in the future!"
The old man of the demonic path spoke slowly, subtly employing a technique to infuse his words with a hint of demonic intent.
This was a common tactic among demonic cultivators, often used to bewitch people, tempt them into acting against their better judgment, or even to directly lead them down the demonic path.
Although Ji Yuan's sea of consciousness was damaged, his soul light would have largely dissipated if not for such soul-refining secret arts as the Miao Yuan Yan Shen True Method.
However, his origin was inherently strong. After cultivating soul-refining secret arts, his soul's strength alone was comparable to a cultivator in the middle stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm, and even close to the late stage of the Spirit Manifestation Realm.
A mere whisper of demonic temptation could not affect him.
Yet, he feigned hesitation, as if contemplating whether to agree, his hand clutching the unsheathed small knife, tightening and loosening its grip, putting on a convincing act.
In secret, Ji Yuan was diligently circulating two cultivation techniques: one was the fundamental principles of the Xuan Tian Dao Sutra, to stabilize his physical injuries and recover enough strength to fight; the other was the soul-refining secret art, slowly repairing his purple mansion and sea of consciousness.
However, to regain the ability to move freely and use even a fraction of his cultivation would take time.
"Stop pretending. I know this little trick can't affect you."
The old man sighed. Although he smiled, a killing intent gradually surfaced in his eyes.
After all, few demonic cultivators had good tempers. They were often extremely volatile, with their emotions and desires exposed, without any attempt to control them.
For him to speak so calmly and extensively was already exceptional, a result of two hundred years of accumulated composure.
Any ordinary demonic cultivator would have likely attacked recklessly, resulting in mutual destruction.
"There's no need to stall for time. Your injuries are not something that can be healed in a mere two or three days."
Killing intent gathered between his brows, and his voice gradually turned cold again. "Or are you hoping that an elder from the Nine Profound Sect will appear here in time?"
His words were tinged with mockery, as if he had no expectation that an elder from the Nine Profound Sect would appear and rescue them.
In his view, those Third Realm elders of the Nine Profound Sect might still be trapped somewhere within the dojo, unable to break free anytime soon.
"If an elder appears, that would be excellent. But if not, then we'll just wait for someone else."
Ji Yuan shrugged. Even this simple movement caused him considerable pain.
Even speaking so much had aggravated his internal injuries, and a sharp pain surged through him like a tide.
However, a smile flickered in his eyes, making the demonic old man frown. A bad premonition surfaced in his heart.
Before the man could ponder further, a dazzling beam of lightning erupted from behind him, and with a flash, it appeared directly above his head.
As countless bolts of lightning rained down, a thunder bead materialized within the light, and streaks of heavenly punishment power circulated around it.
"Thunder Prison!"
Lin Yubai, having caught his breath, let out a furious roar.
In an instant, the lightning bolts that were striking down intertwined, forming a cage that enveloped the demonic old man!
A thunder bead hovered above, spewing forth myriad bolts of lightning, each emanating a potent aura comparable to the peak of the Second Realm!
Silently, several wisps of heavenly punishment power flowed, hidden within the descending lightning, concealed within the thunderous cage.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. He had been stalling for time, and his true hope was not solely placed on the elders of the Nine Profound Sect.
In fact, his real expectation had always been on Lin Yubai!
Compared to a faint hope, the person in front of him was more reliable.
"Impossible! Even if you weren't dead, you should be severely injured!"
The demonic old man exclaimed, his face filled with disbelief.
No one knew better than he did that his previous strike was sufficient to annihilate any Second Realm cultivator, even a prodigy from the Nine Profound Sect!
Yet, Lin Yubai appeared to have suffered no fatal blow. In fact, his aura was even stronger than before.
Despite only possessing the cultivation of the middle stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm, his current aura was comparable to the peak of this realm, only one step away from the Dao Manifestation Realm.
While filled with suspicion, thick demonic energy surged from within him, igniting itself in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, blazing flames shot upwards, filling the entire thunder prison.
As the lightning flashed, invisible flames quietly appeared within the rolling demonic energy.
As soon as they emerged, all the scarlet flames transformed into nourishment, continuously feeding these invisible flames.
Within a mere three to five breaths, half of the scarlet flames were converted. As the invisible flames expanded, they were able to burn through the lightning!
Lin Yubai suddenly let out a muffled groan, and then spat out a large mouthful of blood. While still in mid-air, an invisible flame spontaneously ignited, incinerating it.
Witnessing this, Ji Yuan's expression darkened. He was all too familiar with this invisible flame. It was unique to the cultivation technique inherited from Scarlet Flame Mountain, known as the Heart Flame!
This flame specialized in burning spiritual energy and the seven emotions and six desires, most effectively igniting the desires within people's hearts, and then using them as nourishment to fuel the cultivator's advancement.
Historically, a great power who had just ascended was consumed by this flame as it ignited various desires within his heart. In the end, all his cultivation and realm were burned away, becoming nourishment for an elder of Scarlet Flame Mountain, helping him reach new heights.
"Heavenly Punishment - Manifest!"
Lin Yubai took a deep breath, suppressing the surging desires and the Heart Flame, and pointed towards the thunder bead in the sky.
The bead spun, and an unfathomable aura emanated from it. The wisps of heavenly punishment power he had secretly embedded then erupted.
The next moment, a black lightning bolt flashed, easily tearing through the blazing Heart Flame and the surging demonic energy, entering the demonic old man's body at an extremely rapid pace.
In less than the time it takes to snap one's fingers, the old man's face was covered in black light, and an aura of heavenly punishment began to emanate from within him.
"Go! A few wisps of heavenly punishment power won't hold him for long!"
Ji Yuan gritted his teeth and shouted, the sharp pain in his body never ceasing.
As his words fell, lightning flashed beside him, and Lin Yubai appeared.
However, the bald young man's complexion was as pale as his own, drenched in cold sweat that soaked much of his robe.
"Go!"
Lin Yubai gritted his teeth and grabbed Ji Yuan, then dashed towards the distance.
Before leaving, he did not forget to reach out and retrieve the six heavy water beads that had fallen to the ground with his spiritual energy, then turned into lightning and flashed away.
In just a few flashes, the two had traveled over a mile away, their speed considerably faster than before.
A quarter of an hour later, with a flash of lightning, they had reached tens of miles away, surrounded by mist-filled marshland.
Lin Yubai took a deep breath and prepared to use his evasion technique again, but suddenly felt dizzy. The spiritual energy he had finally gathered in his body dispersed throughout his meridians.
The lightning around him gradually subsided, and an unbearable tearing pain resonated from within him, his bones cracking audibly.
Worry flashed in Ji Yuan's eyes, and he quickly placed a hand on the other man's back. Although he couldn't use spiritual energy to investigate, as a highly skilled alchemist with profound knowledge of medicine, he could roughly ascertain Lin Yubai's condition with a mere touch.
At this moment, Lin Yubai's body could not be described as merely bad. More than half of his muscles were torn, his meridians were damaged in multiple places, and seventy percent of his bones were cracked!
If he had not distributed sixty to seventy percent of his spiritual energy throughout his body, he would have collapsed long ago.
Such severe injuries, if inflicted upon an ordinary mortal, or even a cultivator in the Enlightenment Realm, would have been enough to kill them seven or eight times over.
But even with Lin Yubai's profound cultivation, he could not maintain this state for long. Moreover, a trace of poison had quietly appeared within him and was rapidly growing.
Ji Yuan glanced around and his gaze fell upon the mist filling the marsh. He immediately realized it was likely some form of miasma.
He quickly took out several types of pills, some for detoxification and others for dispelling miasma, and fed them to Lin Yubai one by one.
After taking the pills, Lin Yubai's breathing finally calmed down, and the poison within him weakened considerably, though it was not completely expelled.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan let out a deep sigh. Using the last bit of strength he had accumulated, he dragged the young man, who was two or three heads taller than him, through the marsh with great difficulty.
After only ten feet, both of them were covered in mud, and a stench of decay accompanied by miasma lingered around them.
It took a good quarter of an hour before Ji Yuan dragged Lin Yubai to the entrance of a tree hollow. Despite the unpleasant odor emanating from within, they both endured and hid inside.
As if fearing pursuit by the old demon, Lin Yubai, despite his exhausted body, gathered some vegetation from the marsh and carefully placed it around the tree hollow.
He dared not make the vegetation too dense, only managing some meager concealment. Fortunately, the marsh was flowing water, and any traces they left were quickly washed away.
After completing this, Ji Yuan returned to the tree hollow. He took out a pill, gathered his strength, crushed it, and then sprinkled it around.
A faint fragrance spread, quickly dispelling the unpleasant odor in the tree hollow, and then the scent became so faint it was inaudible.
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and sit down beside Lin Yubai, his body completely drenched in sweat and marsh water.
It was hard to say who was more seriously injured. However, there was no doubt that if they delayed any longer, irreversible damage would occur, possibly even threatening their lives.
Ji Yuan's mind stirred, and a pile of jade bottles fell from his emerald ring. Then, enduring the constant, excruciating pain in his body, he took out two of each pill and administered them to himself and Lin Yubai.