"Sword Cleaves Mountains and Rivers!"
Zhao Yuansong shouted, pouring half of his spiritual power into a long sword.
He also spat out a mouthful of his own vital energy, causing the sword's radiance to flare, forcibly activating several restrictions within the artifact.
The next breath, the long sword suddenly slashed down from the sky. Earth-yellow light flashed along its blade, and the phantom image of a mountain peak materialized, unleashing an immeasurably heavy force!
However, the demonic shadow before him merely glanced at it, then clasped its hands together, trapping the descending sword between its palms, preventing it from falling even an inch further.
Though the sword was blocked, the heavy force it transmitted caused the demonic shadow to sink downwards, its legs sinking into the earth.
Seeing this, Wu Chengqing, who had been waiting for his opportunity, immediately prepared to fully swing his great banner. But just as he was about to, he saw two demonic shadows charging towards them.
The aura of a mid-stage Spirit Point Realm cultivator emanated from them, sweeping over from several yards away, creating considerable pressure.
Wu Chengqing's mind raced, and he immediately swung his great banner with all his might, conjuring dozens, even hundreds, of wind blades that whistled towards the two demonic shadows several yards away.
Simultaneously, a crimson cauldron ascended. As soon as its lid opened, endless flames erupted, engulfing both demonic shadows.
"Kill!"
Yu Qingling let out a fierce roar, fully unleashing the long sword in his hand. The rippling sword light instantly fused together and then pierced the chest of the demonic shadow before him.
In an instant, the dense demonic energy in the area surged, with sword light flashing incessantly within, emitting a sharp aura.
However, Yu Qingling's joy soon vanished, his face turning pale.
He couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood, his eyes reflecting a flying long sword. Its radiance had dimmed, and demonic energy clung to it, indicating its spiritual essence was damaged.
"Break!"
Ji Yuan gritted his teeth and rushed forward in two or three steps, his long sword slashing horizontally.
Abundant sword intent continuously flowed into the long sword. A sword light, not particularly dazzling, flashed, and the rolling demonic energy before him was instantly split in two.
Before the blade even struck, the sword intent alone had pierced the demonic shadow's chest, revealing the cultivator from Scarlet Flame Mountain within.
This person's expression darkened. He hadn't expected the young Daoist before him to have comprehended an artistic conception that only cultivators of the Three Realms could attempt to comprehend.
And it was sword intent, among many artistic conceptions, that possessed the most powerful killing force!
However, before he could ponder further, a sword intent as heavy as a mountain erupted from the long sword trapped between his palms!
At this moment, even with his late-stage Spirit Point Realm cultivation, he felt the threat of death. A chill surged within him and rapidly spread throughout his body.
He unhesitatingly pulled his arms from the demonic shadow. Innumerable heart flames condensed upon them, forming a pair of arm guards.
Clang!!!
A crisp sound followed, and sparks flew. The opponent had used his bare arms to block the sword!
In an instant, Ji Yuan felt his sword intent falter. A feeling of unreleased frustration arose in his heart, and his spiritual power surged outwards.
The long sword, imbued with half of his spiritual power, immediately emitted a dazzling sword light, which in turn caused fine cracks to appear on the arm guards, and these cracks were rapidly expanding.
But just as he was about to shatter the arm guards, decisiveness flickered in the opponent's eyes.
Ji Yuan felt a sense of foreboding and immediately tried to retreat. However, the opponent, with a reversal of his hands, directly grasped the sword body flowing with sword light!
The next moment, the demonic shadow's arms moved on their own, grabbing the hilt of the earth-yellow sword shadow and then, following the heavy momentum, forcefully slashing downwards!
"Not good!"
Zhao Yuansong exclaimed, hastily attempting to dissipate the spiritual power on his sword.
But the thought had barely formed before the opponent had already grasped the sword shadow he had conjured and was slashing down!
Rumble!!!
A deafening roar echoed. For a time, dust filled the air. Others could only see demonic energy churning within, and earth-yellow sword light bursting forth.
Just as Zhao Yuansong and the others were filled with anxiety, a watery light suddenly rose, and its flow calmed all fluctuations.
When the dust dispersed, everyone saw six heavy water beads rapidly circling Ji Yuan's body, spewing forth wave after wave of watery light that blocked the descending sword shadow.
"Slash!"
He roared hysterically, and his sword intent erupted completely!
As sword light flashed out amidst countless sword Qi, the opponent's arms were suddenly mangled into dust.
The sharp sword body directly severed the opponent's head. Then, the vast sword intent surged outwards, pouring into the opponent's body and annihilating his entire form!
However, even as he died, the opponent controlled the demonic shadow and slammed a fist downwards!
Almost simultaneously with killing the opponent, Ji Yuan was struck by the demonic shadow's fist, and he was sent flying backward with a 'boom'!
He flew back several yards before, protected by the spiritual power of others, he landed steadily on the ground.
But as soon as he stopped, he couldn't help but spit out several mouthfuls of blood, his aura wildly unstable, and even the spiritual power within his body threatened to dissipate.
Yet, he didn't even have time to retrieve a pill to take!
At this moment, two demonic shadows charged forward, shaking off dozens of wind blades that fell on their bodies and the scorching flames that swept towards them.
Behind them, four cultivators from the Blood Fiend Hall also went berserk. Disregarding the damage to their own foundations, they unleashed streams of blood with all their might, collectively reforming a sea of blood that surged towards them.
"Damn it! Let's go all out!"
Li Buwei gritted his teeth. As he retrieved the crimson cauldron, he took out a bead no bigger than a fingernail and flung it out.
Over a dozen iron beads shot through the air. The next moment, they unleashed dazzling firelight that swept in all directions. Within the raging winds, there were also explosions like peals of thunder!
However, after the firelight dissipated, apart from the sea of blood being torn apart and the several Blood Fiend Hall cultivators collapsing powerlessly on the ground due to the backlash, the two demonic shadows were not significantly harmed by such a fierce explosion!
Amidst the surging demonic energy, the bodies of the demonic shadows that had collapsed due to the explosion of over a dozen iron beads were rapidly regenerating, soon appearing no different than before.
"Anything else! Again!"
Wu Chengqing grunted, continuously swinging his great banner, unleashing dense wind blades.
However, these attacks were difficult to inflict any significant damage on the demonic shadows, only having a slight restraining effect.
Hearing this, Li Buwei roared, "Those aren't stones by the roadside! Each one costs a thousand taels of silver! They're all gone!"
No wonder he was so agitated. As a rogue cultivator from the mountains and marshes, despite some fortunate encounters, his financial resources were still not substantial. Expending such a handful of iron beads caused him immense pain, no less than having a piece of flesh cut from his body.
Wu Chengqing took a deep breath and exchanged a look with Yu Qingling beside him. They immediately decided to disregard any damage to their foundations and employ techniques that they couldn't currently use at their cultivation level.
At this point, Zhao Yuansong was affected by the backlash, and coupled with his sword intent being shattered, he was completely incapable of fighting.
Ji Yuan's situation was even worse. Not only was his spiritual power showing signs of dissipation, but he was also severely injured. To resist the attacks earlier, he had even used the heavy water beads at all costs.
The only ones still capable of fighting were the two of them.
Rumble!!!
Just then, a thick bolt of lightning struck down, completely engulfing the two demonic shadows!
When the lightning dissipated, they saw a bald young man appear before them with a hearty laugh.
"Mother's curse, that old geezer was too ruthless!"
Lin Yubai spat out a stream of lightning, his pale face as he approached the group. Although he appeared full of vigor, his appearance was indeed somewhat disheveled.
The inner disciple robe of Thunder Marsh Peak he wore had already turned into rags, barely covering him for decency.
Beneath the tattered robe were gruesome wounds, and blood had already stained more than half of his body.
"You all look even worse than me!"
Lin Yubai glanced at them, then scooped up Ji Yuan with one hand and slung him over his shoulder.
"Quick, quick! That old geezer is about to break free!"
He waved his hand, casting a Talisman of Swift Travel, and unleashed all its spiritual energy, attaching it to everyone.
Then, carrying Ji Yuan, he ran forward at full speed with long strides, not forgetting to unleash streams of spiritual power along the way to retrieve several mountain and river pouches.
Seeing this, the group was momentarily stunned, then quickly reacted.
Yu Qingling immediately carried Zhao Yuansong, while Wu Chengqing used his spiritual power to pick up the magical treasures Ji Yuan had dropped, and the group hurried to follow behind Lin Yubai.
"Forgive me!"
After running only a few steps, Li Buwei apologized and scooped up Zhou Lianying beside him.
With her cultivation at the initial Enlightenment Realm, even with the spiritual energy from the Talisman of Swift Travel, it would be difficult for her to keep up with the group's speed.
In just twenty to thirty breaths, the group had run a considerable distance and then disappeared into a forest, leaving no trace of them.
After a short while, a cage formed of lightning suddenly collapsed. The Three Realms cultivator that Lin Yubai had delayed was immediately freed.
This elder with white hair and beard immediately ascended on his magical artifact, then swept his gaze across the surroundings, only to find that the disciples of the Nine Mysteries Sect were nowhere to be seen.
As far as the eye could see, countless corpses littered the ground. The disciples of the five demonic sects, apart from those who had pursued and left, the rest were still engaged in a fierce battle with other cultivators who had been drawn here by the setup.
After a quick scan, the enraged elder looked up at the ongoing battle in the sky, then swooped down, venting his fury upon the other two-realm cultivators.
Half an hour later, with the help of a few Talismans of Swift Travel, Lin Yubai had led the group dozens of miles away.
Finally, with their spiritual power nearly depleted, they had to stop in a dense forest to rest.
After the battle, coupled with half an hour of desperate flight, even Wu Chengqing and Yu Qingling had only three to four tenths of their spiritual power left. Not to mention the severely injured others.
Especially Ji Yuan and Lin Yubai, both of whom had sustained critical injuries, their spiritual power nearly exhausted.
Compared to the latter, the former's situation might have been even more dire. Despite his best efforts to suppress it, the spiritual power within his body was uncontrollably dissipating.
If this continued, he might even drop from the Spirit Point Realm and return to the Enlightenment Realm.
Finally able to stop and rest, Ji Yuan quickly took out a pile of pills and, under the complicated gazes of the others, swallowed them whole.
After pondering for a moment, he still felt it wasn't enough, so he took out several talismans from his robes and pasted them all over his chest, limbs, and other areas. Immediately, spiritual light emerged from them, flowing throughout his body.
These were specially made talismans, imbued with the power of medicinal pills and pure vital energy, possessing miraculous healing effects.
Once his internal injuries were stabilized and he could muster a little spiritual power, Ji Yuan immediately retrieved his magical artifacts, returning the six heavy water beads to his acupoints and using the Profound Sky Spirit Devouring Pagoda to suppress the dissipating spiritual energy in his Dantian.
With his long sword sheathed behind his back, he finally let out a long sigh. Leaning against a large tree, he took out various spiritual pills and elixirs.
He took at least one of each pill and then tossed the rest to the others, explaining their effects and letting them choose what to take.
Including Lin Yubai, this was the first time the group had enjoyed such treatment. Even as a prodigy of the inner sect, he had never had the opportunity to consume pills like they were candy.
Not to mention that the cheapest of the dozen or so types of pills could fetch hundreds or even thousands of taels of silver in the market.
This scene even brought tears to Li Buwei's eyes, making him regret not being injured so he couldn't experience such extravagance.
In the eyes of the others, such an action could indeed be called extravagant. They had never spent over ten thousand taels of silver in one go!
"Does your family own a spirit mine?"
Lin Yubai also leaned against a large tree and couldn't help but look at the young Daoist he had carried all the way.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan shook his head and pondered for a moment before saying, "I am a Pill Master."
In this world, besides cultivators with deep family fortunes, only Pill Masters could afford such extravagance.
After all, for Pill Masters, these pills only counted as cost, which was several times cheaper than their selling price.