As several disciples of Chiyan Mountain were distracted by their techniques being countered, a sudden gust of wind howled, sweeping in like sharp blades. In an instant, the area was awash in blood.
At the brink of death, the demonic cultivators snapped back to their senses, hastily channeling their spiritual energy to fend off the wind blades that sliced towards their bodies.
But at the same moment, a sword shadow of earthy yellow appeared, cleaving down heavily like a mountain peak, unleashing countless potent sword Qi.
In a flash, several Chiyan Mountain disciples perished, their vital points pierced by the heavy sword Qi. Their life force rapidly ebbed away, and their bodies crashed to the ground.
Only the one with the strongest cultivation managed to barely withstand the surging sword Qi. However, the previously underestimated earthy yellow sword shadow had nearly cost him half his life.
He continuously unleashed his profound spiritual power, channeling demonic energy to block the descent of the sword shadow. Had it been any other time, a casual strike from him would have easily shattered such a formidable technique.
But now, after suffering consecutive grievous injuries, although his spiritual energy was still abundant, his overall strength had been severely depleted.
"Shatter!"
The man roared, mustering all his spiritual power to break apart the earthy yellow sword shadow!
Yet, the moment the sword shadow shattered, a small pagoda, no more than a few inches tall, plummeted from the sky. It spun rapidly and then, in an instant, grew to dozens of feet in size!
Boom!!!
As the pagoda, dozens of feet tall, smashed down, even the ground trembled, and dust billowed into the sky.
The Xuanyuan Spirit Devouring Pagoda directly crushed a late-stage Point Spirit realm cultivator. Then, amidst a flash of light, it shrank back to its original size and returned above Ji Yuan's head.
Within the pagoda, the cultivator's spiritual power and essence blood were being refined, releasing a surge of potent spiritual energy.
"Go!"
Lin Yubai's expression changed, and he immediately shouted.
Before his companions could react, he had already darted away, his direction not towards their pre-arranged breakthrough point.
"That is..."
Ji Yuan turned his head and saw a figure enveloped in demonic shadows suddenly descend from the sky, exuding an imposing aura like a descending demon god.
Lightning flashed on the figure's chest, revealing a bloodied wound deep enough to see bone, where a heart pulsed with rich blood.
Despite being severely wounded and his aura incredibly weak, he still exerted immense pressure on the group. Under his gaze, they felt an intense palpitation.
The figure merged with the demonic shadows, enveloped by crimson flames and surging demonic energy, giving an impression of overwhelming demonic might.
"Not good! It's a third-realm cultivator!"
Yu Qingling cried out in alarm, his face paling.
As soon as he spoke, Lin Yubai had already shot towards the third-realm cultivator, his fists slamming down with boundless lightning.
However, a strike potent enough to kill an ordinary early-stage second-realm cultivator, or even easily injure a mid-stage second-realm cultivator, was blocked by the constantly surging demonic energy!
Despite Lin Yubai's vibrating spiritual power and the countless flashes of lightning on his fists, he could not penetrate the demonic energy before him. Furthermore, under the scorching of the contained heart flame, his state of mind began to sway violently.
His anger was ignited, giving rise to a sense of sorrow and a deep fear of death.
Sensing his mind on the verge of collapse, Lin Yubai suddenly spat out a bead. The moment it appeared, it released a fierce lightning power.
As streams of spiritual energy poured into it, brilliant lightning pierced through the surrounding demonic energy and tore apart the encroaching heart flame!
With a fierce roar, he unleashed his lifeblood magical artifact, fully activating the power of the lightning bead. With countless bolts of lightning, he forced the third-realm cultivator before him to retreat several feet!
It seemed that even with his realm and cultivation, he dared not confront the power of the countless lightning bolts head-on at this moment.
"Hurry!"
Seeing that Lin Yubai had temporarily repelled the third-realm cultivator, Ji Yuan shouted sternly.
The next moment, he produced two Divine Speed talismans. One was directly ignited, releasing all its contained spiritual energy to empower those around him.
The other Divine Speed talisman was encased in spiritual energy and sent flying, instantly breaking through the air to Lin Yubai's side, where he snatched it.
Having done all this, he unhesitatingly grabbed Zhou Lianying's arm and sprinted with all his might towards their agreed-upon escape route.
The other few, seeing this, though they wished to stay and fight, gritted their teeth and quickly followed.
After all, they were disciples meticulously trained by the Nine Profound Sect, and they understood the situation clearly. Even if they stayed, they would offer no help and would only become a burden.
Six to seven breaths later, seeing that they had fled dozens of feet, Lin Yubai instinctively grinned.
At this moment, he could finally fight without restraint, engaging in a full-blown battle!
With this thought, he looked at the demonic third-realm cultivator before him, his eyes filled only with infinite fighting spirit.
In an instant, the lightning-strewn lightning bead above Lin Yubai's head, his entire body flashing with endless lightning, transformed into a bolt of lightning and shot towards the third-realm cultivator!
Boom boom boom!!!!!
Thunderclaps echoed behind them, and dazzling lightning flashed incessantly.
But the group could only grit their teeth and run with all their might, not daring to stop or even look back.
With their cultivation, they could handle a late-stage Point Spirit realm cultivator, even without combining their strength; with all their techniques unleashed, Ji Yuan alone could achieve such a feat.
However, the difference between a late-stage second-realm and an early-stage third-realm, though seemingly a mere small realm, was like the difference between the foot of a mountain and its peak, a peak that pierced the clouds!
Even a severely injured third-realm cultivator, with less than ten percent of his strength remaining, would not find it difficult to deal with them.
Even if Ji Yuan exerted all his strength, he could only guarantee a one or two percent chance of escaping from a severely injured third-realm cultivator. As for defeating or even killing him, there was no need to even think about it.
A sense of powerlessness suddenly washed over him. Since embarking on the path of cultivation, this was the first time he had felt such a sensation.
Previously, no matter how formidable the enemy, even a strong opponent like Yang Qianhe, he had never felt powerless. Even when facing a dozen cultivators attacking him, he was confident in his ability to handle it.
But before a third-realm cultivator, even one severely injured, he found that all his means were hard-pressed to inflict any damage.
Perhaps only by disregarding the collapse of his Purple Mansion and the destruction of his lifeblood flying sword could he hope to injure, or even kill, a severely wounded third-realm cultivator.
But the price for that would be no different from mutual destruction.
This was the second time Ji Yuan had felt the urge to rapidly increase his cultivation!
The cultivation of the Point Spirit realm, in the eyes of ordinary cultivators, was already a sign of great strength.
In some minor forces, it could even be enough to become a core high-level figure, even a person in power.
But before true powerhouses, they were merely at the beginning of the cultivation path, having not traveled very far.
"If I could reach the late-stage Point Spirit realm, perhaps I would have the ability to fight against an early-stage third-realm cultivator!"
Ji Yuan mused to himself, and at the same time, he realized the true strength of the inner sect prodigies of the Nine Profound Sect.
With his myriad techniques and the cultivation of two profound and esoteric techniques, he could only dare to contend with a third-realm cultivator upon reaching the late-stage Point Spirit realm.
Yet, Lin Yubai, despite his severely depleted condition, was able to contend head-on with a third-realm cultivator at the mid-stage Point Spirit realm!
Even though the opponent was severely wounded, not just anyone could provoke him. Ordinary second-realm cultivators would be dealt with in one or two spells.
"Careful!"
As Ji Yuan's mind wandered, a startled cry suddenly reached his ears.
He instinctively turned his head and saw Zhou Lianying looking ahead with a tense expression.
Following her gaze, they saw seven demonic cultivators appearing about ten feet away. Judging by the anomalies on their bodies, they belonged to Chiyan Mountain and Blood Fiend Hall.
"Full power! No lingering!"
Ji Yuan commanded in a low voice. With a thought, the Xuanyuan Spirit Devouring Pagoda above his head cast down rays of light, enveloping everyone.
The next moment, Wu Chengqing acted first, channeling his spiritual energy into the banner in his hand. As he swung it, dozens of wind blades, like sharp knives, swept out.
As the dozens of wind blades shot forth, the Blood Fiend Hall cultivators strode forward, spewing streams of blood from their bodies, which then converged into a sea of blood.
As blood-red light surged and waves of blood rolled, they instantly swallowed the dozens of wind blades, rapidly refining them into pure spiritual energy within the sea of blood.
The four Blood Fiend Hall cultivators looked as if they had consumed some potent tonic, their faces ruddy, and their auras seemed to have slightly increased.
Seeing this scene, Ji Yuan's eyes turned cold. He drew the long sword from his back, and his entire demeanor changed, becoming like a sharp, gleaming divine sword.
He unleashed a sword strike from afar, expending a full third of his spiritual power to condense the sword Qi. It was imbued with his flowing sword intent and shot forward through the air.
Even the surging sea of blood was instantly split in two. After breaking through the blood sea, it suddenly fractured in mid-air, dividing into four smaller sword Qi, each about one or two sizes smaller.
The expressions of several demonic cultivators changed, but it was too late to dodge. The four sword Qi had already appeared before them.
Boom!!!
Several fierce spiritual energy fluctuations erupted. As powerful sword intent rose, several angry shouts were heard.
At the same moment, Ji Yuan and the others had already fled into the parted sea of blood. The small pagoda above their heads spun gently, casting more brilliant light that instantly swept away more than half of the blood sea.
"You court death!"
The Blood Fiend Hall cultivators were furious. This was the foundation of their cultivation and their very life force. Now that more than half of it had been siphoned off by the enemy, the situation had become irreconcilable.
Originally, if they were at a disadvantage, they might have chosen to retreat to save themselves. They would absolutely not engage in a head-on fight. If they were accidentally severely injured, their own sect members might even strike them down.
But now, it was different. Even though they knew they were outmatched, they would not retreat half a step!
However, Ji Yuan paid no heed to the resolve in their eyes. His Xuanyuan Spirit Devouring Pagoda was now a natural nemesis to the unique cultivation technique of the Blood Fiend Hall.
If they had no other means, he would naturally not take them seriously!
As expected, as the Xuanyuan Spirit Devouring Pagoda's light swept over them, the Blood Fiend Hall cultivators' techniques were completely neutralized. Layer after layer of blood-red light was devoured, being constantly converted into pure spiritual energy within the pagoda.
However, at this moment, a sudden anomaly occurred!
A demonic shadow leaped into the air and then slammed down before them. Its fists, the size of millstones, carrying whistling gusts of wind and demonic energy, struck the pagoda directly.
The Xuanyuan Spirit Devouring Pagoda, possessing extremely strong defensive capabilities, was instantly sent flying by these two blows. The light on its body flickered erratically, nearly collapsing on the spot.
Ji Yuan's expression darkened. He had clearly not expected such a situation, but upon sensing the aura of the figure, he no longer felt surprised.
The demonic shadow that suddenly appeared had the cultivation fluctuations of a late-stage Point Spirit realm cultivator!