Compared to Lin Yubai beside him, Ji Yuan showed no surprise.
As someone skilled in calculations, how could he overlook the Demonic Path cultivators of the Three Realms who had been chasing them all the way?
Stepping into the formation at this moment, the surroundings shifted rapidly, and countless formation patterns obscured the sky, appearing to completely seal off this piece of heaven and earth.
He felt no surprise at all. Seizing the moment before the formation was fully formed, he slowly raised the sheathed saber in his hand, then gently brought it down.
As torrents of spiritual energy poured into it, a faint glow flowed across the blade, which had yet to be honed. Then, the countless formation patterns before him were silently split in two.
It was as if a sharp divine sword had suddenly cut them apart!
Ji Yuan's expression was calm. Holding the sheathed saber, he repeatedly brought it down, tearing the newly formed grand formation to pieces, and even crushing its foundational key formation patterns.
A meticulously arranged formation collapsed in a mere ten breaths of time. The pre-laid formation bases cracked under the spiritual energy backflow, and some even exploded.
The surrounding scenery gradually returned to normal. Apart from residual formation patterns and surging spiritual energy, nothing else remained.
"It seems you obtained quite a few good things from that ruin!"
A sinister voice rang out, and amidst rolling demonic energy, the figure of the old Demonic Path cultivator slowly emerged.
He hovered in mid-air, surrounded by dense demonic energy, his gaze slowly falling upon the sheathed saber.
With his cultivation of the Third Realm and his keen eyesight, how could he not recognize that this was a Sage artifact?
Not to mention, it exuded the aura of a Sage all over; it would be difficult not to recognize it.
"However, I must admire you. You are truly fearless, like a newborn calf. Such a dense Heavenly Punishment rule, coupled with the shrouded Great Dao mist, and you dared to charge right into it."
The old Demonic Path cultivator spoke slowly, his tone carrying a hint of lament.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan's expression shifted. Numerous speculations arose in his mind, as if Xuanhuang City in the other party's eyes was different from what they had seen.
"I admire your persistence, senior, just as you admire ours."
His expression flickered slightly, and he replied with a hint of a smile.
Upon hearing this, a fire of rage ignited in the other party's eyes, as if he wished to tear the two before him to shreds immediately!
"If it weren't for an ignorant brat who laid all sorts of traps along the way, I would not have been this persistent for over a hundred years."
The old Demonic Path cultivator chuckled, his voice exceptionally cold.
Indeed, if he didn't hold a Sage artifact in his hand, he would have long since attacked ferociously, smashing their physical bodies with a palm strike, and then placing their three souls and seven spirits into an oil lamp to suffer the torment of tens of years of burning!
A Sage artifact, even in the hands of a mortal, could kill a Golden Core cultivator. He dared not treat it carelessly.
Ji Yuan maintained his smile, knowing the other party's thoughts as well as he did. He also wished to avoid conflict for now, and to stall for time as much as possible.
Now, with a rough calculation, the ambush by the five great Demonic Path sects should have concluded, and perhaps Hong Tian and the others would already be on their way.
As for whether the Nine Profound Sect would fall into the trap and have all their elders ambushed and killed, he simply didn't believe such a thing would happen.
With the strength of those elders, how could a mere seven or eight Demonic Path cultivators of the early to middle Third Realm truly harm Hong Tian and the others?
Three of those Nine Profound Sect elders possessed late-stage cultivation, and even one in the middle stage was capable of killing several late-stage cultivators.
Such power would require someone with heaven-reaching means to defeat them, or at least several times their numbers. To kill them on the spot, even if the Demonic Path cultivators joined forces, they would suffer heavy casualties.
The longer they delayed, the more advantageous it would be for them. Perhaps at any moment, Hong Tian and the others would come searching, and then they could completely escape danger.
However, the other party naturally understood this line of thinking. Even with his deep apprehension of the Sage artifact, he could not truly allow time to be dragged out indefinitely.
Both sides fell into silence, neither speaking another word. Their gazes met in mid-air, and a chilling aura quietly permeated within a radius of ten meters.
As time passed, a layer of cold sweat appeared on the backs of Ji Yuan and Lin Yubai. Facing a Third Realm cultivator, even if the other party was already severely injured, they still bore immense pressure.
In the next breath, the old Demonic Path cultivator's finger moved slightly. Without any apparent disturbance, their hearts tightened uncontrollably.
Lin Yubai immediately transformed into a bolt of lightning, instantly shooting towards the sky. He then fiercely collided with the churning demonic energy.
At the same moment, Ji Yuan put away the sheathed saber into his sleeve. He then rapidly formed hand seals. Six heavy water pearls, their spiritual energy largely restored, flew out from his acupoints.
The six heavy water pearls emitted abundant spiritual energy. As soon as they appeared, water-like light interwoven into a screen, and then they shot through the air, appearing on the left and right sides of the old Demonic Path cultivator.
The falling water-like light pressed down on the churning demonic energy, causing it to shrink by several circles!
For a moment, the old Demonic Path cultivator felt as if he were being crushed by immense forces, unable to move even a finger.
Moreover, the lightning bolts before him whistled, gradually tearing apart the demonic energy!
"You court death!"
The old man snorted coldly, and then powerful spiritual energy surged out from within him!
Under the impact of the violent spiritual energy, the six heavy water pearls were sent flying back, their water-like light shattering. The immense pressure around them vanished.
He thrust a palm forward. The dense demonic energy around him surged and then condensed into a giant palm, which he heavily slammed onto the person before him, sending him crashing down from mid-air!
RUMBLE!!!
A blur of afterimages flashed, and Lin Yubai slammed fiercely into the ground. The immense force caused the area within several meters to collapse by half a meter!
However, in the next instant, the wide pit was suddenly filled with countless lightning bolts, and a bolt of lightning shot towards the sky, striking the massive demonic shadow that had already taken shape.
The newly formed demonic shadow trembled under the strike of this lightning bolt. The boundless demonic energy in its chest dispersed, revealing the old Demonic Path cultivator within.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan let out a low cry, and the hand seals in his hand changed.
In the next breath, six heavy water pearls shot out, lining up in a straight line, bringing with them boundless spiritual energy and water-like light.
"Demonic Infusion of the Azure Sky!"
The old man roared to the sky. The demonic shadow on his body swung its arms, unleashing torrents of demonic energy.
As soon as this demonic energy appeared, it transformed into surging crimson flames, the terrifying heat even causing the void to distort slightly!
This was a heritage skill of the Crimson Flame Mountain, the Heart Flame, which possessed the power to burn spiritual energy and the seven emotions and six desires, and could convert that which was burned into nourishment for one's cultivation.
Ji Yuan's expression sank. Spiritual energy surged out of his body and poured into the six heavy water pearls.
In the next moment, a large amount of water-like light converged, transforming into waves that crashed forward, directly extinguishing some of the Heart Flame!
Having experienced this several times, he did not show any signs of joy. Instead, his expression was solemn as he channeled spiritual energy, fully activating the six heavy water pearls to continuously release their water-like light.
In mid-air, the blue and red lights intertwined, and countless water mists rose, gradually forming a thick layer of clouds in the sky.
"Old Lin!"
He suddenly let out a loud shout, simultaneously channeling another surge of powerful spiritual energy.
Instantly, the water-like light in mid-air increased by several folds, pushing back the opponent's crimson flames. More evaporated water vapor rose, making the clouds above even denser.
As his shout echoed, a bolt of lightning shot up into the sky. Lin Yubai, who had been accumulating his power, suddenly plunged into the dense cloud layer.
"Go!"
In the next breath, Ji Yuan took out a talisman crackling with spiritual energy and cast it into the clouds above.
This was a Cloud Manipulation Talisman. It had already reached a certain grade. Although it possessed no martial power, it was perfectly suited for the current situation.
In the blink of an eye, the entire white cloud churned and was dyed a deep black, with countless lightning bolts flickering within.
In just two or three breaths, heavy rain poured down. The seemingly ordinary rainwater contained extremely abundant spiritual energy, which extinguished many crimson flames as soon as it fell.
And the six heavy water pearls, now fused with a large amount of rainwater, emitted even stronger radiance. The spiritual energy within them erupted without regard for consumption, merging into the water-like light that suppressed the crimson flames.
"Sword Rain - Descend!"
Ji Yuan's eyebrows shot up. As his voice began, his aura plummeted. As his voice fell, a powerful aura surged forth!
That small figure seemed to transform into a sharp divine sword, so sharp that even the pouring rain parted, unable to fall upon him.
He maintained hand seals to control the heavy water pearls with one hand, and with the other, he formed another hand seal. In an instant, the abundant sword intent flowing around him shot straight into the dark clouds above.
The entire world suddenly paused. Countless raindrops floated in mid-air, emitting a colorful glow under the spiritual light they contained.
Silently, thousands upon thousands of raindrops emitted a wisp of sword energy, and when a mass of sword energy intertwined, it formed a complete, sharp sword intent!
As if the frozen world returned to normal, countless raindrops fell rapidly, each containing a wisp of sword energy. When they merged, they formed a complete sword intent.
Instantly, it was as if countless sharp swords were piercing down, tearing through the surging crimson flames and the rolling demonic energy on the demonic shadow.
The entire massive demonic shadow was instantly shattered, riddled with tiny holes pierced by raindrops.
Perhaps a single drop of rain could not pierce the rolling demonic energy, but when thousands upon thousands of drops fell, even a steel ingot forged from fine iron would be torn into pieces.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!
At this moment, thick bolts of lightning struck down from the dark clouds, instantly impacting the already shattered demonic shadow!
"You... are truly... courting death!!!"
The old man within the demonic shadow roared. Terrifying spiritual pressure surged out, and boundless spiritual energy erupted towards the sky!
He had not expected that what he initially intended as a probing strike would be met with a series of attacks by the other party. Although the entire process seemed very long, it had only lasted a little over ten breaths of time!