"Alright, hurry up and recover from your injuries."
Sensing their gazes, Ji Yuan said indifferently.
With that, he sat down cross-legged, took a deep breath, and slowly closed his eyes.
Seeing this, the others also withdrew their gazes and began to meditate, refining the elixirs they had just consumed to quickly heal their wounds.
As for Wu Chengqing and the other two, whose magic power was damaged but not physically injured, they took out spirit stones, absorbed the spiritual energy to restore their magic power, and remained vigilant of their surroundings.
Soon, only the faint sound of breathing filled the forest, and darkness seemed eternal, with only a faint glow emanating from some plants.
As his mind sank into his body, Ji Yuan couldn't help but sigh heavily. This was the most serious injury he had sustained since embarking on the path of cultivation.
Even when fighting three seasoned wild cultivators outside the mountain gate of the Nine Xuan Sect, his injuries had not been as severe as they were today.
"The injuries to my physical body can be quickly healed with elixirs, but damage to the meridians is not so easily repaired."
Ji Yuan muttered to himself, feeling a headache.
He didn't have any elixirs for healing meridian damage on him.
This was partly because such elixirs were difficult to refine, and partly because the necessary spiritual materials were hard to find.
Furthermore, under the current circumstances, meridian damage was secondary. The most critical issue was the uncontrolled dissipation of magic power within his body.
This collapse was not something that could be restored by replenishing spiritual energy; it was equivalent to his cultivation base dissipating on its own every moment.
If not for the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda suppressing his dantian, he would have lost at least one to two months of cultivation in the past half hour!
However, even with the pagoda, it could only prevent the magic power from leaking out and being converted into pure spiritual energy. It could not control the trend of dissipation.
After much thought, Ji Yuan carefully circulated the Nine Yuan Heavy Water Scripture within his meridians. While nourishing the meridians, he hoped to use the water attribute of this technique to re-condense the dissipated magic power.
After just a few small cycles, although a layer of watery light adhered to his meridians, ensuring that the injuries would not worsen for the time being and allowing him to circulate some magic power to a lesser extent, the dissipation of magic power could not be stopped, let alone re-condensed.
After a moment of contemplation, seeing that the Nine Yuan Heavy Water Scripture was ineffective, he immediately switched to the Xuan Tian Sword Art. However, as soon as he started circulating it, his meridians felt a sharp pain, and the watery light adhering to them almost collapsed!
Ji Yuan immediately stopped circulating the technique, let out a deep sigh, and placed his last hope on the fundamental principles of the Xuan Tian Dao Scripture.
As profound incantations were silently recited in his mind, the magic power in his dantian began to circulate on its own, emitting a balanced and peaceful aura that slowly flowed through his meridians.
After one small cycle, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the dissipated magic power in his body showed signs of re-condensing!
It seemed that with two to three more small cycles, he would be able to gather some of the dissipated magic power, and then refining and re-condensing it would just be a matter of time.
With this, Ji Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. Once this problem was solved, nothing else would be a problem.
For the next period, he repeatedly recited the fundamental principles of the Xuan Tian Dao Scripture, gathering as much dissipated magic power as possible.
As time passed, the magic power he could mobilize gradually increased. Coupled with the supplement from the elixirs and the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda, a considerable amount of his depleted magic power was replenished.
Excluding the previously dissipated portion, his magic power had recovered to about three to four tenths.
Feeling his condition improving, Ji Yuan's tense mind relaxed somewhat, and a wave of fatigue surged through him.
Even with his current cultivation and the soul power cultivated through the Divine Body Refining Art, enduring such an intense battle had taken its toll.
Not to mention being severely injured, even with the help of spiritual elixirs and medicines, it still required time to refine their medicinal properties.
However, as the fatigue washed over him, he suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if something was about to happen.
In an instant, Ji Yuan's spiritual sense warned him, and a strong palpitation suddenly occurred!
He quickly stopped circulating his technique, his eyes snapped open, and he released a surge of magic power, waking up the people around him.
This method was more direct and faster than speaking, and it was less likely to be detected by anyone lurking in the shadows.
No one asked what had happened. The moment they felt his magic power vibrate, they immediately became alert and scanned the surrounding dark forest with their eyes.
However, to their senses, there seemed to be no abnormality around them; everything remained as quiet as before.
But even setting aside Zhao Yuansong and the other two, whom they knew, Li Buwei and Lin Yubai, whom they had just met, trusted that Ji Yuan would not have acted without reason.
Moreover, it had been nearly two hours since they broke through the encirclement. If the demonic cultivators were not easily deterred, it was about time they came pursuing.
As expected, after about twenty breaths, Lin Yubai's expression immediately sank, as if he had sensed something.
Several flashes of lightning flickered around him, and the sound of thunder emanated from within his body, clearly indicating that he was ready for a fight.
But after a few more breaths, his face suddenly became extremely gloomy, and a deep look of dread appeared in his eyes.
"Go! That old geezer is catching up!"
Lin Yubai shouted, immediately getting up from the ground.
The others quickly followed suit, fleeing with all their might in another direction.
While thinking, Ji Yuan took out a stack of body-lightening talismans and distributed them to the people around him. He had already used up most of his Divine Speed Talismans to distance themselves as much as possible.
Now, he had only one or two left, which he intended to use for self-preservation, only to be used at critical moments.
Not long after, even Zhou Lianying felt more than ten powerful auras approaching them rapidly from behind.
Among them, one aura was particularly unsettling, causing his entire body to tremble involuntarily, as if it were a persistent shadow, constantly shrouding them.
Without a doubt, this aura must have come from a third-realm cultivator, otherwise, the killing intent emanating from it alone would have caused them to lose their composure.
"With just body-lightening talismans, at most thirty breaths from now, we will be caught!"
Wu Chengqing whispered, his face solemn.
The group of them were only at the Spirit Nurturing Realm cultivation. Even with the enhancement of body-lightening talismans, the speed increase was very limited, and they could not possibly outpace a cultivator in the Ming Dao Realm.
Ji Yuan sighed lightly and was about to take out the last two Divine Speed Talismans. He had originally intended to save them for self-preservation, but if he didn't use them now, he would likely have no chance if they were caught.
However, unexpectedly, someone was even faster than him. As soon as the thought arose, a spiritual energy that was somewhat familiar quietly attached itself to everyone.
The speed of the group suddenly increased dramatically. With a slight infusion of magic power, their speed could easily triple or quadruple!
At such speeds, in the dense forest, they were not much slower than a third-realm cultivator carrying someone.
Indeed, they could clearly feel themselves moving further and further away from the dozen or so auras behind them, and it seemed like escaping the pursuit was only a matter of time.
Ji Yuan subconsciously turned his head and saw Li Buwei looking pained, still holding two unactivated Divine Speed Talismans.
"I told you, I'm good at escaping."
Sensing Ji Yuan's gaze, the latter couldn't help but force a wry smile.
In fact, if it were just Li Buwei himself, or only one or two people, he was confident that he could temporarily shake off the pursuers with his escape techniques if he went all out.
However, the current number of people exceeded his capabilities, and if he did so, he would also fall into an extremely weak state.
Being targeted by demonic cultivators, such an action would be no different from seeking death.
"This can't go on!"
Lin Yubai frowned. "Once the Divine Speed Talismans are used up, or our magic power is depleted, we will definitely be caught by those people."
By then, they would have little magic power left, leaving them at the mercy of their enemies.
As soon as he finished speaking, they all felt the auras behind them suddenly increase their speed, and the distance between them was closing.
Li Buwei, without hesitation, activated another Divine Speed Talisman. The superposition of the spiritual energy from the two talismans instantly increased their speed considerably.
But this was already their limit. Even if they activated one or two more Divine Speed Talismans, their speed would not increase much; everything in the world had its limits.
"I'll go and hold off that old geezer, and you guys escape in another direction!"
Lin Yubai gritted his teeth and said.
Among them, only he had the strength to temporarily stop an injured third-realm cultivator.
"No, besides that third-realm cultivator, there are more than a dozen second-realm cultivators following!"
Ji Yuan directly shook his head, disagreeing with this plan.
He had to admit that Lin Yubai, as a top disciple of the Nine Xuan Sect, was indeed extremely powerful, capable of confronting an early-stage Ming Dao Realm cultivator with his mid-stage Spirit Nurturing Realm cultivation.
But now, with his injuries and heavily depleted magic power, holding off a third-realm cultivator in this state would be extremely difficult, with the risk of eternal damnation.
If he had to face more than a dozen second-realm cultivators as well, there would be no chance of survival!
If the opponent turned back now, it would be equivalent to walking to his death. No matter how many tricks he had, they would be useless without sufficient magic power to support them.
"Then what do you suggest? We all stall for time and wait to die?"
Lin Yubai retorted ungratefully.
In his opinion, if he turned to face the enemy, they would still have a glimmer of hope. If they continued to drag on like this, it would undoubtedly be a self-inflicted death.
"Senior Brother Lin, you are a proud disciple of the sect, you absolutely cannot perish here!"
Wu Chengqing and Yu Qingling exchanged glances, and then a look of acceptance appeared on their faces.
Without any fear, they stopped their steps and prepared to turn back to face the enemy.
Compared to a proud disciple of the sect, it would minimize the losses for them to undertake this suicidal mission.